At noon, Gadelia woke up.
She felt a bit strange to be in her bedroom. Getting up and throwing off the covers, Gadelia glanced around the room to confirm it was hers, then breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the bathroom connected to the bedroom to wash up.
Walking barefoot on the soft carpet, Gadelia noticed a stain on it.
With an unchanged expression, she continued washing.
After finishing, Gadelia changed into a set of loungewear and opened the door.
Zhou Ming was eating lunch. Hearing the door open, he looked up to see Gadelia walking out barefoot, wearing black loungewear.
“Gadelia, why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
This was already the second time Zhou Ming had seen her walking barefoot at home. Is this some kind of special hobby?
“It’s just a personal habit of mine.”
Gadelia replied briefly, glancing at the dishes on the table—there was no spiciness. She walked into the kitchen, got a pair of chopsticks and a bowl, sat down at the chair, and naturally started eating. On the contrary, Zhou Ming looked more like the one eating at someone else’s house.
“Zhou Ming, is there something you came to see me about?”
Although she roughly knew the situation, Gadelia still asked.
“Do you still remember the ability beast I mentioned yesterday that was at least Windstream level?”
“I remember.”
“Has the Order Society responded?”
“Without concrete evidence, the Order Society won’t act.”
“Do you know that ability beast’s power?”
“Mental type, at least it can affect human perception, or even create illusions.”
She continued asking while putting a slightly hot dish into her mouth: “And then? Is it conscious or unconscious? Is it Windstream level, or Windstream level, or even higher?”
“It’s conscious. Moreover, it gave me a thirty-day death countdown. As for the specific rank, I’m not sure.”
“I see.”
After eating a mouthful, Gadelia said calmly, “Zhou Ming, how do you plan to deal with it? Find someone to help resolve it, or improve your own ability and prepare to handle it yourself?”
Zhou Ming’s hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly, then he smiled wryly. “First, I’ll focus on staying alive. Gadelia, do you think I can grow to Windstream level within a month? Although I want to solve it myself, for now, forget it.”
“Improving your ability is possible, but dealing with ability beasts can’t just rely on the ones that appear in the city. The fictional province where our Yucheng is located is on the border, adjacent to the neighboring polar country consistent fictional country naming style, and faces many high-level ability beast activity areas inland. Many smuggling trades require superhumans to escort them.”
Zhou Ming was stunned, looked at her in shock, and couldn’t speak for a moment.
“Sorry, I said too much. I shouldn’t have told you all this at once.”
Gadelia realized she was going too fast, not taking it step by step. This kind of thing really isn’t suitable for Zhou Ming to get involved with now. She put down her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and spoke in a different way. “It’s not that there aren’t other ways to improve your ability.”
“There are?”
Gadelia breathed a sigh of relief—Zhou Ming was still willing to accept her help. “The Order Society regularly releases some missions, such as clearing ability beast problems in rural areas or mountains that the Lantern Bearers couldn’t handle in time, and give them to external personnel. You can go to the black market to find these people and take on missions, roughly earning a few thousand each time.”
“External personnel? And they pay that much?”
Zhou Ming was somewhat surprised; this income was even higher than ordinary jobs.
“Because the risk is high. The Order Society also knows that these external personnel often find helpers in the black market. Rather than letting unregistered superhumans and underground organizations act freely, it’s better to pay more and keep them occupied. If an accident happens, it also counts as reducing potential risks.”
“What if after thirty days, I still don’t have the ability to handle that ability beast?”
Gadelia smiled lightly, not giving a direct answer. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting you to solve it alone. In the end, I’ll pay an organization like the Order Society to take action.”
“An organization that protects humans and deals with ability beasts still needs to be paid to act?”
Zhou Ming was confused.
“The Order Society’s funds come from taxes, but the Order Society doesn’t collect your taxes.”
“So they take a one-time payment.”
Gadelia lightly tapped Zhou Ming’s head with her chopsticks, squinting her eyes, with a hint of dangerous smile on her face. “It’s not your money being taken, why does it hurt you?”
“I’m hurting for you.”
Zhou Ming rubbed his head and said with a smile. He picked up a few dishes for Gadelia, then bowed his head and shoveled a big mouthful of rice, speaking vaguely. “Let’s eat first, talk after eating.”
After eating, Zhou Ming voluntarily washed the dishes. When Gadelia changed clothes, the two drove together to the black market.
After entering the black market, Gadelia handed Zhou Ming a black card printed with a pattern.
“After this, you’ll have to come by yourself.”
Zhou Ming took the card, didn’t say much, just nodded, and followed Gadelia to the previous shop again.
“This is a contact point of the Order Society in Yucheng, with solid resources. You can go ask, but you’ll need to pay some intermediary fees.”
‘I didn’t expect my first contact with the Order Society to be like this.’
Zhou Ming complained inwardly. However, he also knew that this world was never simply black and white. But Gadelia… Forget it, don’t think about it. She’s still by his side.
“Gadelia, you’re not part of the Order Society, are you?”
Zhou Ming asked casually, trying to keep his tone natural.
“What do you think?”
“I think not.”
“Then let’s say I’m not.”
“Don’t read my mind!”
“It wasn’t me who said that.”
Zhou Ming couldn’t help but smile bitterly. This kind of ability is really both loved and hated.
“I don’t like this ability either.”
The conversation between the two gradually became lighter. Zhou Ming suddenly realized that chatting with Gadelia made him relax unconsciously, even forgetting the heavy thoughts from the morning. He quickly turned the topic to business.