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On the day of [No Tomorrow], Chen Miemie stayed home. Everyone was caught up in the novelty of moving into their new residence.

The oddities each carved out a territory for themselves, decorating their own little domains.

Though they were only a few meters apart, they managed to turn the place into something resembling a neighborhood where everyone dropped in on everyone else.

Strictly speaking, the construction crew’s completion of the house was only the first step. Chen Miemie still had to take care of some personalized interior decorating himself.

Qinghua used her abilities, transforming all the walls in the house into tiled surfaces.

From the spiderwebs hanging from the bedroom ceiling dangled quite a few paper creations, including paper cranes.

After discussing it with Water Gaze, Pure Water suggested to Chen Miemie that the fish tank should have a few fish in it. Otherwise, it looked a little empty.

After joining the new family, [Rebel Broom] had simplified its name to [Broom]. Since it had no authority over cleaning, it had little to do around the house.

[Forbidden Fruit Bestiary] was disappointed to discover that the house had no dedicated study. Chen Miemie promised it that he would convert one of the empty rooms later.

And so, amid everyone’s noisy bickering, [No Tomorrow] passed.

At 12:01 a.m. on the first day of the new week, Chen Miemie began sending out mass messages to pester people. The gist was that he had announced his return, and anyone who wanted to invite him out for a meal had better get moving.

He made himself right at home. Before eight in the morning, he was already standing at his teacher Dawn’s front door.

“Knock, knock, knock~”

It was the teacher’s wife, Cassan, who opened the door.

“Miemie, you’re back!” After not seeing him for three months, Cassan was beaming at their reunion.

“Of course I am. The first thing I did after coming back was visit you and Teacher.”

Chen Miemie followed Cassan into the house.

Dawn was dressed in casual home clothes, a rare sight.

“You’re up this early? You used to go out around noon,” Dawn said, knowing his student well.

“Teacher, I’ve been bullied. I came to ask for your help.” Chen Miemie got straight to the point.

That made Dawn curious. “You just got back. Who’s been bullying you?”

“An oddity.”

Dawn and Cassan both gave him a look that said, Are you joking?

Chen Miemie had already publicly revealed his identity as the representative of a new species, and the news had spread. The upper echelons of Sixiang City all knew about it by now. In everyone’s eyes, the oddities were his backers. How could one of them possibly bully him?

Chen Miemie launched into a tearful complaint.

“I accepted a cross-city mission from the Society. I braved countless dangers and overcame every obstacle to complete it. But when I finally got home, I discovered that my house had been occupied by an oddity named [Formaldehyde]. It’s enough to break anyone’s heart!”

After Chen Miemie described [Formaldehyde]’s characteristics, Dawn understood.

“So you’re asking me to air out your house.”

Chen Miemie’s eyes darted about. “That’s just an incidental benefit. The main reason is that my new home has finished renovations, and I wanted to invite you both over for a visit and liven the place up.”

“Just the two of us?”

“I only invited the two of you. I won’t even let anyone else who wants to come into my house.”

“All right. I’ll get ready, and we can leave right away.” Dawn walked into the inner room to change clothes.

That left only Chen Miemie and Cassan in the living room. Cassan was already dressed rather lightly, so she did not need to change.

Chen Miemie crept closer to Cassan and whispered, “Mistress, would you like to advance to Tier Six?”

Cassan’s eyes lit up. “You have a way?”

Chen Miemie pulled a small glass bottle from his pocket. It was filled to the brim with sand.

“This is [Footprints of the Tide]. Pour it onto a beach, and a trail of footprints will appear, forever imprinted on the sand. No matter how the tide rises or falls, or how much windblown sand covers them, they’ll reappear once the tide recedes.”

Cassan was a dancer, and she immediately understood the wonder of [Footprints of the Tide].

“You mean I’m supposed to step onto that trail of footprints and use it as the ritual for advancement?”

Chen Miemie shook his head. “The sand alone won’t be enough. You’ll also need the tide’s cooperation. And the ritual is highly personal. You’ll have to keep experimenting to find out whether it works for you.”

“The tide? Then we’ll have to go to the seaside.”

“No need to travel that far. I know a place with a sea of clouds and tides.”

Cassan glanced back at the inner room Dawn had entered, then lowered her voice as well. “Is it the same advancement method Dawn used?”

Chen Miemie nodded.

“Do I need to join that mysterious organization behind you first?”

Chen Miemie waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter whether you join or not. You’re already a member’s family. The organization isn’t lacking one more fighter like you.”

Cassan shook her head firmly. “That won’t do. I want to join. Otherwise, we’re neither relatives nor friends, so why should I take advantage of such a great opportunity for free? It might make things difficult for you in the organization, Miemie.”

Chen Miemie thought for a moment. “It wouldn’t cause me any trouble. But it would be good for you to join. You’ll be following the trend of the new era, and the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. [Mystery] 6 won’t be your final destination.”

Cassan nodded solemnly. “How do I join?”

“[As the Moon Endures] will be holding a meeting at its headquarters soon. Go there with Teacher. Once you arrive and sign the contract, you’ll officially be a member.”

Chen Miemie was lying. The moment Cassan had expressed her desire to join and he had approved it in person, she had already become a member.

His lie was simply because Chen Miemie did not want to reveal all of his identities yet. For the time being, he only wanted to present himself as the foreign minister of [As the Moon Endures].

Cassan looked a little nervous. “A contract? Is it the kind where they drain half your blood or freeze you into a block of ice? Some kind of evil contract?”

Chen Miemie was speechless. “What are you talking about? That’s an organization directly affiliated with the Eternal Moon. It’s a legitimate power, not the Church of the Mist.”

Dawn came out and saw Chen Miemie and Cassan huddled together, their heads nearly touching as they whispered to each other.

“What are you two doing?”

“Oh, I’m applying to join [As the Moon Endures],” Cassan said naturally.

Dawn paused for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.

“Mm. It was only a matter of time before you joined. By the way, Chen Miemie, what stance does the new species intend to take toward Sixiang City? Do you plan to step into the spotlight like the Moon Library, or remain hidden behind the scenes?”

On the day the Moon Library officially changed its name, when the news spread throughout the hundred cities, the three members of Sixiang City’s council had already discussed this matter.

The day the news reached them, Commander Sun, Dawn, and Dean Deng gathered in the conference room.

Commander Sun said, “Dawn, Chen Miemie is your beloved student. Now that the Moon Library has gone that far, I doubt Sixiang City will be able to avoid it either.”

Dawn folded her arms. “I’ve only been his teacher for a few days. The main responsibility lies with Dean Deng. Chen Miemie spent more than six years under his education before becoming the way he is today.”

Dean Deng stroked his beard. “Heh heh. There are so many students at the school. How could I possibly keep tabs on every one of them? Besides, I heard that it was you, Commander Sun, who agreed to look after Chen Miemie at the request of the Archwitch Chen Meow Meow.”

The three of them proceeded to shift the blame onto one another, trading verbal jabs. Though their words flew like bullets, the atmosphere was actually quite relaxed.

All three of them understood perfectly well that Chen Miemie’s performance during the trial had already shown that he was not someone who wanted to slaughter every living thing. He still possessed a basic human moral compass, and he recognized the existing order of the cities.

As long as he did not carry out large-scale massacres, they were content to let Chen Miemie turn Sixiang City into an integrated city if that was what he wanted. Sixiang City might even become stronger as a result.

After a round of joking, Dean Deng’s smile faded slightly.

“I’m not worried about Chen Miemie. But we still need to determine whether he’ll always be able to represent the new species’ position. If he were to lose power over there in the future, and someone evil and brutal took his place, we’d need to be prepared.”

That was the real issue on the agenda today.

Even Dawn, who was closest to Chen Miemie, couldn’t answer that question.

This was no groundless worry. After all, they had too little information. Going by ordinary logic, human leaders rose and fell as well. With such a vast organization as the Anomalies, they knew nothing about its internal factions, whether there were hidden conflicts, or whether struggles for power existed within it.

As the administrators of Sixiang City, they represented the interests and future of everyone who lived there. They had to consider these matters carefully.

“Dawn, Dawn!” Cassan called twice, waving a hand in front of her eyes.

“Ah.” Dawn came back to herself, emerging from her memories.

Chen Miemie gave his answer at that moment as well.

“For now, we should remain behind the scenes. The Moon Library is a special case. It has a huge population of book anomalies, as well as a deep historical and emotional foundation shared by humans, witches, and book anomalies.

“Sixiang City is different. There are very few new anomalies here, so there’s no need for them to step into the public eye. However, starting now, we can begin subtly spreading the word and guiding public opinion—letting everyone know that a new species exists in the city. Then, when they truly appear, people will accept them as a matter of course.”