In the Works

"What do these people you mentioned have in common?" Qi Yuan interrupted Dr. Malone's rambling during a pause in his speech.

Dr. Malone picked up the last skewer from the plate and raised an eyebrow at him. "Large numbers of people and monsters. Those sanctioned by the state will cooperate with official institutions to acquire them. Those not permitted by the state will acquire monster body parts under other pretexts. In smaller countries or regions, it's much more chaotic."

"Anything else?"

"That's all. The world is so chaotic. The upper echelons, having relied on the people to get through the most difficult times, are starting to forget..."

Qi Yuan's mouth twitched. "Go to sleep."

As the sky gradually brightened from dark to light, the harsh sunlight began to wake the young people who had been partying until midnight and were now lying asleep on the lawn.

Dr. Malone was lying face-up in a rocking chair, snoring.

"Wake up. Where's Mr. Oscar?"

Adrian woke Dr. Malone up.

It was then that Adrian noticed a pile of leftover barbecue on the table, and his father's beer mug was barely touched.

Well, well, old Malone actually managed to control himself.

This surprised him a bit.

"What's wrong?"

Dr. Malone, bleary-eyed, felt uncomfortable lying in the chair and sat up painfully, holding his waist.

"What did you guys talk about last night?"

Adrian picked up a note from the table, which briefly stated that he had to leave early due to some business.

"I drank too much and can't remember, just recall it was quite enjoyable."

Old Malone shrugged.

Too much?

Adrian looked at the beer in the glass, doubting if old Malone was past his prime.

...

"...That's how it went."

The day after returning from Bitford Country, Yin Qingran came to find him.

Qi Yuan summarized the key points for her.

At first, Yin Qingran seemed a bit disappointed, until she heard the last part, and then appeared thoughtful.

"Help me compile a list of places where S to SSS-class monsters might appear."

"SSS-class?"

Yin Qingran's expression turned peculiar as she mulled over this unfamiliar term.

Forgot this information was blocked by Dragon Country...

Qi Yuan briefly explained, then lit up his phone screen to check it.

"I have to go now. It's okay if there are misjudgments, the more the better."

Yin Qingran agreed without asking for reasons, watching him leave.

Despite being away in Bitford Country for so long, although he didn't need to write the report, Director Yu still wanted to understand the situation face-to-face, and seemed to have something to discuss.

Qi Yuan had no objections. He had only spent half a day solving the issue in Bitford Country, spending the rest of the time nurturing seedlings.

Work for five minutes, slack off for two hours.

He had just entered and sat down when Director Yu pointed at the content of the report, "How come the process of dealing with the monster is just one sentence?"

Is this for real?

Too much. Strongly condemn Xue Shizong for slacking off and not writing the report properly.

He leaned forward to take a closer look, then quietly stuffed it back into Director Yu's arms.

[...According to Captain Qi's description, the monster was directly crushed by his domain without any conflict...]

Couldn't he have embellished it a bit?

Even Hong Feiheng knows to do that.

"He didn't ask in detail. If I had known, I would have definitely described the details thoroughly."

Qi Yuan immediately shifted the blame, which was also the truth.

However, Yu Anhe didn't care whose fault it was. "Then can you describe it in detail now?"

Qi Yuan: ... I'm making it up as we speak.

"...I shouted loudly, 'How dare you show off your petty skills before an expert!'... Suddenly, mountains crumbled and seas split... In the end, it was crushed by my domain in one go, and was gone just like that."

Relying on the novels and TV shows he had previously consumed, Qi Yuan managed to cobble together a few more sentences.

"What else do you need to know?"

Yu Anhe fell silent, suspecting this young man was toying with him.

If you can't beat them, what else can you do?

Young people, it's normal to have some personality.

"After your trip abroad, other countries have all agreed to the cleanup plan and quickly signed the agreement."

Yu Anhe changed the subject and handed him the printed agreement to read.

Thinking about how other countries repeatedly confirmed that Qi Yuan was not in Dragon Country before they were willing to send people over to sign, Yu Anhe found it quite amusing.

Concerning the grand plan for the seedlings, Qi Yuan took the document and carefully read through the contents.

There were several clauses about Dragon Country sending the Duty Bureau for exchanges, showing no mercy to high-level officials and high-ranking ability users who defect to humans, talent training, sharing research on how ordinary people can awaken as ability users, and so on.

It seems those few SS-class ability users put in quite a bit of effort behind the scenes. Some of the regulations simply don't fit their national conditions.

"You kid."

Director Yu took back the documents he handed over, looking him up and down for a dozen seconds. "You don't seem surprised at all. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. They were inspired."

If he were one of the other four, he would also rush to promote the cleanup plan. As long as it's established, they could obtain support from SSS-class ability users at crucial moments. Only someone with a damaged brain would drag their feet.

Although agreements are made to be broken, this isn't a time of war.

He deliberately delayed the time for Dragon Country to learn about the battle situation, just to expedite the agreement. After all, the other four countries would certainly take the initiative to make concessions in order to sign the agreement. They didn't know that Dragon Country was unaware of the emergence of an SSS-class ability user domestically.

Every day of delay meant losing batches of his seedlings. It wasn't worth it.

Yu Anhe took a sip of chrysanthemum tea to suppress his anger.

Damn it, inspired indeed. If the other four countries were this conscientious, he, Yu Anhe, would cut off his head and use it as a football.

"Once the internal monster cleanup in the five major countries is complete, we will establish a divine punishment system to identify S-class and above monsters in other countries, as well as in dangerous environments like deserts, oceans, and glaciers."

"As long as they're not about to advance to SSS-class, we don't need to gather in a crowd like these two times. Two or three people acting together can basically ensure life safety."

Indeed, rather than standing by watching him show off, it would be better to go defeat a couple more monsters to nurture the seedlings. They wouldn't give him any extra attention anyway, so they're not even as useful as a live streaming camera.

Qi Yuan nodded, waiting for Director Yu to continue.

Director Yu put down his cup, wearing a meaningful smile on his face, and said leisurely: "Now that it's the students' winter break, the Zhang family wants your brother to stay with them for a few days. They asked me to pass on the message."

Qi Yuan was stunned upon hearing this. "They haven't come to visit for years, why suddenly... I see."

As his fame grew, that side probably figured that since both uncle and nephew were exceptional, the little brother might also be a once-in-a-century genius.

"But haven't you been in contact with them before? Why did they come to me?"

"Why do you say that?"

Qi Yuan caught the key point.

Yu Anhe's smile froze on his face, his attempt at probing backfiring. Such impatience was unlike his character; clearly, the news of old Qi's impending awakening had disturbed his state of mind.

He had no choice but to recount his previous speculations about Qi Yuan one by one.

Things like high school classmates asserting with certainty that luxury cars picked him up, Lv Cheng's testimony, failing to set him up on the day they met and getting set up instead, local bosses being respectful, secret guards, and so on.

Qi Yuan listened with a head full of question marks. Lv Cheng's imagination was too rich, directly leading Director Yu astray as well. Should he say, as expected of a web novelist?