(Extra Story) Trash No. 01

"Your Majesty, where is this place? I... I've become young again!" Fuhai said, looking at his hands with some excitement.

Fang Zhiyi just stared at the half-open office door in front of him, nervously swallowing.

Little Hei said, "That's nothing. Look, even your family jewels are back!"

Fuhai froze at that, then quickly looked down.

"Fang Zhiyi! You still have the nerve to come back!"

A deafening shout rang out, and Fuhai looked up in confusion to see a woman stomping toward Fang Zhiyi, her face full of fury. "If you've got the guts, don't come back at all! You just left me here and slipped away yourself? Do you have any idea..."

Fuhai flew into a rage and stepped in front of Fang Zhiyi, just as he always had. "How dare you show disrespect to the Emperor, woman!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire world fell silent.

Fang Zhiyi slowly turned to look at Fuhai, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

Little Hei quietly gave a thumbs-up. This old eunuch had some serious balls!

"Emperor, is it?" Yue Anyao calmed herself down, squinting with a smile. "Then tell me, who exactly are you?"

"Xiao Yao, he's the new guy I brought back. I wanted to let you know so you could sort out an arrangement for him..."

"I want to hear it from him." Yue Anyao waved her hand dismissively.

Fuhai puffed out his chest. "Listen well. I am the Director of the Eastern Depot by the Emperor's side, Fuhai! You may call me Lord Hai... agh!" His self-introduction was cut short as Yue Anyao sent him flying with a single kick.

Little Hei reacted quickly, dashing out to catch Fuhai before he hit the ground.

"Why is this woman so ferocious! Oh no, the Emperor is in danger!" Even as Little Hei held him back, Fuhai's mind was still on protecting His Majesty.

Little Hei was at his wit's end. "Eunuch Hai, Master Hai, just calm down already. That's your Emperor's wife!"

Fuhai blinked. "Wife?"

"Er, I mean, the Empress."

Fuhai sucked in a sharp breath and bolted back at lightning speed, which startled Yue Anyao. Was this guy actually going to fight back? A longsword suddenly materialized in her hand.

But instead of attacking, Fuhai slid directly to his knees in front of her. "Fuhai failed to recognize the Empress! I have been gravely disrespectful, and I deserve death ten thousand times over!"

Yue Anyao's sword froze mid-air.

Fang Zhiyi shrugged. "He's a last-minute recruit. He hasn't gotten used to things yet..."

"You... get up."

"Please punish me, Empress!" Fuhai remained on his knees, and Yue Anyao looked at him with a helpless sigh.

"Zhiyi!"

Fang Zhiyi turned around to see a familiar face. Liu Shishi came jogging over.

"I heard all the commotion from Sister's office earlier. I thought she was scolding someone again, but it turned out you were back." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

Little Hei muttered under his breath, "Still got the touch, huh? One sentence and she's already thrown shade at Yue Anyao."

Liu Shishi acted as if she hadn't heard a thing and gave Fang Zhiyi a playful smile. "You must be tired, right? Sister's office doesn't have an extra chair, so let me go get you one!"

Ignoring Fang Zhiyi's protests, she quickly returned with a chair decorated with cute little patterns. "Here, have a seat. Don't mind it, I just like cute chairs."

Yue Anyao frowned. "Why are you looking at me? Didn't you hear her tell you to sit?"

"Sister's just worried about you, that's why she's so harsh. Don't take it to heart. Tired? Want me to give you a massage?"

Fuhai watched in stunned bewilderment, but then it suddenly clicked. "This... this must be the Noble Consort?"

Liu Shishi turned to look at Fuhai and burst out laughing. "Noble Consort? Well, I wouldn't say no to that..."

Little Hei clapped a hand over Fuhai's mouth. "Leave your Emperor a fighting chance, will you?"

Just as Liu Shishi was about to reach out, she felt Yue Anyao's killing intent radiating from behind her. After a brief weighing of her options: "Forget it, forget it. With Sister Yue around, who am I to be massaging your shoulders..."

Yue Anyao's face was a mask of exasperation. "Don't you have anything better to do? Take this... Fuhai and get his onboarding paperwork done. And teach him the ropes while you're at it!"

Liu Shishi pouted playfully. "Yes, ma'am." She flashed Fang Zhiyi a grin. "Take care of yourself, and don't make Sister and the rest of us worry~"

Fuhai looked at Fang Zhiyi, and at this point, he realized the best course of action was to leave immediately. So he followed the Noble Consort out.

"Coughed... so... why wasn't she sent out on a mission?" Fang Zhiyi asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Yue Anyao suddenly started speaking in a mocking, saccharine tone. "Take care of yourself~ Zhiyi~"

"You, I, she..." Fang Zhiyi was starting to regret ever recruiting Liu Shishi in the first place.

Seeing how flustered he was, Yue Anyao suddenly burst into laughter. "I'm just messing with you! Do you really think I'm that petty?"

Little Hei and Fang Zhiyi both muttered under their breath at the same time: "Yeah, you are."

"What did you two say?" Yue Anyao asked.

Little Hei and Fang Zhiyi answered together: "Nothing, nothing, nothing."

Yue Anyao grabbed Fang Zhiyi and started walking toward the end of the corridor, chatting as she went. "That girl might be a bit of a schemer, but she's got great people skills. This place needs someone to play the good cop and someone to play the bad cop for easy management. Besides—" She turned her head to look at Fang Zhiyi. "If I sent her out on missions, wouldn't Brother Zhiyi be worried sick?"

Fang Zhiyi was speechless.

As the door swung open, he saw a machine. If he remembered correctly, this was that piece of junk left behind by that madman. Little Hei had taken over custody of it but never used it.

Mainly because Little Hei couldn't fix it, and Fang Zhiyi didn't want to fix it.

But now the machine was glowing.

"Xiao Yao, you fixed it?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Yue Anyao looked at the machine. "Yeah. A tasker who came back to turn in a mission mentioned that a certain substance in the world he visited emitted energy that could replace regular electricity, so I thought I'd give it a shot."

"How did you fix it?"

Yue Anyao answered matter-of-factly. "Same way I fixed the washing machine."

"Huh? You..." Fang Zhiyi was shocked.

"Nothing that a good kick can't fix. If it doesn't work, kick it again." Yue Anyao replied so naturally.

Little Hei marveled once more: "Truly capable people stay capable no matter where they go."

"Is it possible for our system to provide items or tools in the future?" Fang Zhiyi thought of that possibility.

Yue Anyao shook her head. "What are you thinking?" She glanced at Little Hei. "It doesn't have that kind of function. Providing item assistance would require an astronomical amount of energy. That's why that madman you two keep talking about was plundering the world's destiny energy from so many different worlds all at once. I thought about it, and if we were to do the same, the final outcome would be dragging a whole bunch of worlds down with us to destruction."

Fang Zhiyi nodded repeatedly. Little Hei looked a bit unconvinced.

But then Yue Anyao suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Didn't you send back three people?"

Fang Zhiyi paused, looking at Little Hei. Little Hei nodded. "Jiang Mubai already brought back his two senior brothers."

Fang Zhiyi nodded with satisfaction. "Right, my three martial nephews. They're capable, aren't they?"