Hearing Gu Lian’s words, Eric glanced at the stack of plates in front of him, which was nearly waist-high, then looked at Gu Ye’s belly, which finally showed a slight bulge, and fell into a brief silence.
“To be honest, instead of asking for a bonus, you’d be better off using this as a joining gift to enter the Hunter Division.”
Eric paused for a moment, noticing that Gu Lian was still picking her teeth with an expression that said she was listening. He sighed and continued, “With… with your appetite, I feel like 10,000 credits might only be enough for a single meal. Instead of taking the money to go on a binge, why not come to us? At the very least, we provide food and housing…”
“That sounds pretty good, but I refuse.”
Gu Lian gripped a toothpick between her middle finger and thumb and flicked it. The toothpick spun through the air, tracing an arc before landing precisely in the trash can by the cafeteria entrance.
“I don’t have that kind of plan for now, so I’m going to say this in a very firm tone: no!”
“Is your personality… always this unpleasant?”
Eric covered his eyes. It felt as if his entire worldview had been refreshed today. At first, he thought she was a cold and aloof young girl. Then, after bringing her to eat, he felt that her aloofness was just a disguise. Now, she looked like a complete hoodlum…
“Don’t worry. Under normal circumstances, I have a very good personality. Well, probably.”
Aside from becoming strangely dazed while eating, this trait was definitely related to the existence that had turned her into an Anomalous girl!
“…”
Eric looked skeptical, but he still pulled a card from his pocket.
“Give me your hand.”
“What are you doing?”
“This is a card I used a long time ago. It has 30,000 Alliance Credits inside, and the password is six sixes. I can tell you’re in a hurry for something, so take this for now. Your bonus will be sent to this card later, too. I’ll report your situation. If all goes well, you should be able to get rid of your status as an unregistered citizen.”
Eric pressed the card into Gu Lian’s hand. Gu Ye narrowed her eyes, staring at the Hunter before her, and asked plainly, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“In this world where the Anomaly runs rampant, shouldn’t people help each other?”
Eric chuckled and rubbed the back of his hand. On his right index finger, he wore a ring set with a red gemstone. The smile on his face gradually faded as he spoke. “However, I’ll give you a fair warning first. If you plan to abuse your power, I will personally ‘hunt’ you. It’s fine to have power and not do what you’re supposed to do with it, but you must never use that power to do things you shouldn’t!”
“…”
After a moment of silence, Gu Lian stood up and walked out of the small restaurant. As she reached the exit, she stopped. “Maybe. But I have my own judgment.”
Leaving behind those faint words, she stepped out of the cafeteria. Inside, Eric pushed back his chair and stood up.
“Sigh, I really can’t figure out what’s going through her head.”
Smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes, Eric prepared to leave. As he passed a table, he gave a simple, honest smile. “Another promising sprout.”
“Eric, are you dissatisfied with your current life again?”
A woman dressed as a magician spoke up. The Parrot Puppet on her shoulder was rolling its large, beady eyes, scanning the room.
“Vixen Hunt, it’s rare for me to find a kid I like. I feel…”
“You feel what? Can a minor become a veteran Hunter? Or are you certain she’ll even come to the Hunter Division?”
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Vixen Hunt rested a high-heeled shoe against the wall. Her brilliant red lips curled slightly — a curve that had once enchanted many men and struck terror into the hearts of many enemies.
“She’ll come. Don’t you think so, Cain?”
Eric looked toward a white-haired man with an expressionless face. Although Cain rarely spoke, he was the strongest among the three.
“As long as you’re happy…”
Cain spoke a rare sentence before walking to the kitchen, picking up a bowl of noodles that had been prepared, and began slurping them down. Amidst the sound of slurping, Eric and Vixen Hunt laughed together with a lack of conscience.
“Next time, let’s tell Big Dog not to buy noodles. All he knows is how to slurp them all day.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Cain huffed. “Hmph… boring!”
***
After walking several dozen meters away from the cafeteria, Gu Lian stopped in the middle of the street. She fished a lollipop out of her pocket, tore off the wrapper, stuffed the trash back into her pocket, and popped the candy into her mouth.
She tilted her head slightly. The prosperous night scene enveloped the open-air shopping center. Starlight and shop lights converged, looking magnificent and grand.
‘Am I human, or an Anomaly…’
With a *crunch*, Gu Lian bit through the candy. She pulled the bank card from her pocket and held it in front of her. After staring at it for a moment, she tucked it back away.
“Whatever. I just want to live a good life. Whoever dares to mess with me, I’ll cut them.”
Resuming her walk, Gu Lian was quite aware of her current situation. An Anomalous body with a human mind — but did that matter?
She never resented the owner of that voice in the darkness. Being resurrected was already a great blessing. Now, she just wanted to live well, find an easy job, and slack off. That was all.
After wandering around, Gu Lian returned to the custom digital shop. Pushing open the door, she saw that the young man at the counter had changed. The previous clerk had finished his shift, and the one on duty now was a man with short hair.
Noticing a customer, the new clerk stopped his work and gave a professional smile. “Welcome. How can I help you?”
“Ah, I’m the one who came earlier to order a custom battery. It should be ready, right?”
Gu Lian strode to the counter and sat down, speaking plainly. “I’m here to pick it up and pay for it.”
“It’s ready. May I ask how you’ll pay…”
“Card. Don’t bother with anything fancy.”
With a *thud*, a bank card was tossed onto the counter. Gu Lian crossed her arms and stared at the new clerk with her purplish-red eyes. “I want to know the specific parameters and instructions. I hope this thing is worth 5,200 yuan.”
That was the price that had forced her to retreat earlier. If it weren’t for the fact that a Hunter — the one named Eric — was in the area, she definitely would have given the previous guy a beating.
The male clerk leaned down and pulled a battery about the size of an electronic keyboard from under the counter. The dark solar converter looked very sophisticated.
“This battery is made with the latest solar converter technology. It only uses a 20-centimeter solar panel — “
“Get to the point. Stop rambling or I’ll think you’re trying to upsell me.”
“Ahem.”
The clerk cleared his throat and continued, “This battery meets your requirements. Under normal sunny conditions, it can collect 15 kW of power in 1 hour. The conversion rate when connected to appliances reaches 95%. However, after the solar panel collects 6 hours of sunlight, it needs to cool down for 12 hours.”
“So… that’s it?”
“Yes…”
“Are you sure you aren’t slaughtering me like a sheep?”
“…”
The clerk gave another professional smile, though it was a bit awkward this time.
After all, the battery was indeed worth 5,200 yuan, but he knew full well that a normal battery didn’t need such high specs. This was entirely a mess left behind for him by the previous guy!
That jerk had screwed him over again. When he got back, he was definitely going to lose points on all of that guy’s game accounts!