This person is so unreliable

The next evening.

In a hidden office building.

Captain Xu Rong sat at her desk, her coffee long gone cold, untouched as she gazed absently at the distant streets.

Li Weiwei finished her report in a low voice, slowly closing the folder.

"All the manifested wraiths have been eliminated. Only a few low-level entities remain—none capable of harming civilians. We’ll continue the search for the next three days until every last one is purged..."

Seeing the captain lost in thought, guilt welled up in her eyes again.

"Boss, it’s my fault yesterday."

"If I had trained harder, I wouldn’t have held you back against the Blood Wraith. That person wouldn’t have gone missing..."

Hearing this, Xu Rong turned her head and nodded, her usually cold eyes softening with rare reassurance.

"It’s not your fault."

"You’ve worked hard enough. Improving combat strength isn’t something that happens overnight."

Even these brief words, coming from the famously ruthless "Asura," were an unprecedented display of leniency.

Yet this only made Li Weiwei feel worse.

The captain had never made a mistake before. Her strength and skills were unparalleled. Losing a civilian last night might be common for other teams—sometimes, they just weren’t strong enough—but for the captain, it was an unforgivable failure.

And Li Weiwei had played a part in it. Even if the captain didn’t blame her, she couldn’t forgive herself.

Silence settled between them.

Li Weiwei clenched her teeth, vowing to train harder, to redeem this shameful failure, and to one day see the captain smile.

Thanks to her mention, Xu Rong found herself thinking more about that unforgettable young man.

Objectively speaking,

this wasn’t part of their mission, nor could it be blamed on her. But a living civilian had vanished right before her eyes in the city—a failure she couldn’t shake.

Since childhood, Xu Rong had displayed extraordinary talent and sworn to serve the nation and its people.

This incident, unprecedented, replayed in her mind again and again.

An ordinary person.

Disappearing into the night, especially during the "Crimson Hour"—how could he possibly survive?

And worse,

it happened right after the Blood Wraith appeared!

Even seasoned operatives might not return unscathed from an encounter with something of that level. The young man from last night, frail and lazy, was likely already torn apart by those monsters...

If only she had been stronger.

If only she had shielded him tightly from the start, prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Maybe things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

If there was any way to make amends now, it would be to find his family and offer condolences—a small gesture of goodwill.

With that thought,

Xu Rong lifted her gaze.

"Look up that person’s address from yesterday. Go there for me."

The captain still couldn’t let it go.

Li Weiwei looked up in surprise, then nodded solemnly.

"Yes, boss!"

When it came to combat, Li Weiwei might only be average. But paperwork and computers? That was her forte. With her special clearance, even without a name or exact ID number, this needle-in-a-haystack task wasn’t too difficult for her.

Before long,

Li Weiwei arrived at an old residential complex in the western district, carrying gifts and compensation money from her own pocket.

Unfortunately,

her search revealed that Wu Tao was a loner with no family. Visiting his home now would hardly make a difference.

The further she walked, the heavier her heart grew.

Wandering through the shabby complex, her emotions became a tangled mess.

Before she knew it,

she was standing in front of Unit 1, Apartment 2.

After a long internal struggle, she still didn’t know how to proceed.

Then, the door suddenly creaked open—as if nudged by the wind.

"Creak..."

The peeling iron door swung inward slowly, as though someone lived there.

Li Weiwei looked up in surprise, laughing bitterly at herself. She reached out to close the door properly for the absent resident.

But when she glanced inside,

she froze.

Beyond the first door was another identical, peeling security door!

Talk about paranoid...

Most people had just one security door. But Wu Tao had installed two? In a rundown place like this, with nothing worth stealing—was it really necessary?

Sighing, Li Weiwei couldn’t help but find the man strange, even if he might no longer be alive. Somehow, she couldn’t forget him.

Maybe as a cautionary tale, or a reminder to herself.

Either way, Wu Tao’s lazy demeanor stuck in her mind, growing more vivid the more she thought about it.

Through the security door, she could almost hear footsteps.

"Tap... tap... tap..."

Just as unhurried as last night, the same leisurely rhythm.

As the sound drew closer,

Li Weiwei’s eyes widened. She tentatively called out,

"Is anyone home?"

The footsteps grew louder in response!

Then, a pair of eyes peered through the door before it suddenly burst open with a series of sharp clicks!

"Click!"

"Click!"

"Click-click-click!"

There were still a full eight doors ahead, each nearly identical to the previous ones, lined up one after another. Combined, the doors were thicker than the walls themselves!

By the time the eighth door swung open, a familiar figure in lazy shorts stood before them.

"Oh, it's you."

Li Weiwei's eyes widened in shock.

"You—you—you're alive?! Where did you disappear to yesterday?!"

Wu Tao responded calmly.

"I saw you all seemed to be fighting, so I figured you wouldn’t have time to escort me. I just went home by myself."

Whoosh!

The moment his indifferent words left his mouth, the young girl’s face flushed red with anger.

What did he mean, "went home by himself"?!

How could he say it so casually?!

All that worry for nothing—this guy had no sense of concern at all!

Absolutely infuriating!

Though seeing Wu Tao safe and sound did ease Li Weiwei’s mind, his complete lack of regard made her blood boil. All that anxiety for nothing!

What kind of weirdo was this guy? Unbelievable!

The more she looked at Wu Tao, the more irritated she became. Even the nine thick doors seemed obnoxious now, as if everything about this man radiated absurdity. His sluggish demeanor was downright exasperating—she couldn’t even vent her anger properly.

Puffing her cheeks, Li Weiwei shoved a bag of fruit into Wu Tao’s hands and stormed off in a huff.

Wu Tao stood there, utterly bewildered.

Holding the fruit, he retreated into his room, carefully shutting the door behind him.

After inspecting the fruit to ensure it wasn’t poisoned, he decided to keep it rather than toss it aside. Then, he returned to his work, meticulously drawing talismans.

"Hmm…"

"Now I’ve got 56,327. Just 43,673 more, and I’ll hit 100,000 clones. Even if they’re not as threatening in this world, it’s always better to be cautious, right?"

At this point, a hint of resentment flickered across Wu Tao’s face.

"Ugh, it’s all because this world’s population is too small!"

"Only a few billion people—makes me hesitate. Otherwise, I’d have already spawned a billion clones, and my safety rating would skyrocket instantly."

"Ah, whatever. Adding a billion people out of nowhere might cause too much commotion. Better stick with 100,000 for now. But if even one gets used up, I’ll make another 100,000. That should be enough to keep me safe, right?"