Or rather, Bo Ting didn’t have it at all.
Xu Qinglai vaguely realized this guy was extremely self-centered, doing things only for his own amusement without caring about the outside world—or “friends'” opinions.
Xu Qinglai suspected that even if the “friend” opposite Bo Ting was a rock, he’d still message it daily, happily building their bond.
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the odd thought and typed: “Nothing else.”
“Oh, okay.” Bo Ting was a bit disappointed, thinking he’d learn more.
But you couldn’t chew too much at once. He could digest this and ask Mr. Xu again later!
…
It wasn’t until that afternoon that the Resurgence Management Office meeting wrapped up.
This contact had been a major breakthrough, not only clarifying the true nature of the Light Shadow Heart-Shatter Incidents but also gaining further insight into [Taiping Luxury Garden]’s abilities.
Though the insight wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Zheng Shangyun came out of the office, dazedly touching his nearly bald head from recent worries, now giving him a headache.
“Where the hell did this neighborhood even come from?!”
“Cough, Brother Zheng, haven’t we been asking that since day one?”
Xue Hengfu, passing by, couldn’t help but answer.
Zheng Shangyun: …
Was that what he meant?
But they really hadn’t figured out [Taiping Luxury Garden] yet. Anomalies all had origins—they couldn’t just appear out of thin air. That was practically an iron rule.
Truth be told, Zheng Shangyun had even suspected ties to some ancient entity. But no matter how they investigated, it didn’t fit.
The neighborhood was too modern.
Shaking his head slightly, he thought of the issue raised at the meeting and grew worried.
This was tricky.
Before, it had just been a simple probe, tossing anomaly info at [Taiping Luxury Garden] with no further contact.
But now…
After unanimously rating [Taiping Luxury Garden] as extraordinarily high-level, they had to confirm whether the neighborhood truly couldn’t be moved or entered/exited.
This directly affected the Resurgence Management Office’s danger assessment.
After all, the “helpful citizen” on the other side could stomp a Shadow Bug with one foot. If he could freely roam Mengjia City, that would be too terrifying.
Zheng Shangyun snapped back and saw Xue Hengfu still there, so he casually instructed:
“Have your captain and the Third Esper Squad come over.”
“Yes, Captain Zheng.”
Xue Hengfu scratched his head, knowing tasks were being assigned, and hurried off to find his captain.
Before long, Lu Jingshan and Si Ning arrived.
Zheng Shangyun looked at the two.
“We need a plan figured out within the day.”
“How do we confirm that the other side won’t come out?”
“Or rather—what should we do if they do come out?”
As he said the last sentence, Zheng Shangyun’s expression grew a bit more serious.
Lu Jingshan, however, wasn’t intimidated by Captain Zheng’s look.
“Just ask them directly.”
Si Ning choked for a moment, staring at this senior over forty who still acted so shamelessly, unsure of what to say.
Zheng Shangyun glared at him.
“Be serious! No joking around!”
Lu Jingshan sighed. “I am being serious.”
“How are we supposed to confirm? We can’t beat them, so are we supposed to gang up and besiege Taiping Luxury Garden to force them out for a test?”
“When facing this kind of unknown and hard-to-assess weird, we can only use the gentlest methods to observe.”
“Results in the short term are impossible.”
As the person in charge of the Taiping Luxury Garden incident for the longest time, Lu Jingshan spoke with absolute certainty.
Zheng Shangyun looked toward Si Ning and, seeing that he didn’t speak up, frowned.
“Then what do you say we do?”
Lu Jingshan rubbed his nose.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
Zheng Shangyun’s expression darkened, suspecting that this guy was just messing with him.
Si Ning beside him reacted first and pondered. “I think Captain Lu means that we’ve already made brief contact with Taiping Luxury Garden twice and delivered two weirds inside.”
That should have satisfied their appetite for now.
What if they didn’t continue delivering any more?
If no other weirds entered Taiping Luxury Garden in the neighborhood, would there be any movement?
If the other side remained completely quiet, or kept trying to break through on the internet without stopping,
Then it would prove that Taiping Luxury Garden truly lacked the ability to move.
Or that the cost of moving was too high, not enough to support entering Mengjia City.
That would make things much easier to handle.
His brief analysis wasn’t hard to understand; the only difficulty was the time issue.
The meeting demanded a quick conclusion, but the Third Esper Squad’s method clearly required some time.
Fine.
These things couldn’t be rushed anyway.
Zheng Shangyun took a deep breath.
“I’ll handle the time issue.”
“Start operations as soon as possible, with a maximum of one week as the cycle.”
“At the same time, the Sixth Esper Squad will assist and collaborate in the judgment.”
“Yes, Captain Zheng.”
Only then did Lu Jingshan perk up, flashing a mouthful of big teeth.
Zheng Shangyun felt his heart clench at the sight and quickly waved him off, out of sight, out of mind.
“Get out.”
In the office, Lu Jingshan dragged Si Ning and the others back in, then patted the table.
“Alright, this will be our base for the next week.”
Si Ning nodded, not minding the office environment at all.
…
It wasn’t until the next day that Bo Ting still hadn’t received a reply from the Citizens Exchange Platform.
Hm?
Were the previous replies all random, and his luck was just bad this time, so it wasn’t seen?
He had thought that every email sent would get a response.
Bo Ting felt a slight pang of regret. It seemed there was no way to persuade Mengjia City’s cleaning department to clear out the city’s bugs now.
However, the only good news today was that the app sending those curse ads hadn’t bombarded him with 365-degree omnidirectional pushes anymore.
Heaven knew how moved Bo Ting was when he woke up, opened his phone, and saw a clean page!
His phone inbox had been nearly stuffed full of those spam ads over the past couple of days.
Fortunately, the advertiser had finally shifted targets and stopped fixating on cursing just him!
Bo Ting breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the empty page, feeling that without the curse buff, his morning energy was much better.
Even seeing Doudou and Tang Yuan fighting over pet treats didn’t make him angry.
They were just kids, Bo Ting told himself.
The next second, he saw Doudou and Tang Yuan charging out while fighting, and one swipe of a paw sent the boxed meal he’d left in the living room flying to the floor.
Doudou pounced with a flying leap, its dog paw stomping through the distinct grains of fried rice, followed immediately by the pitch-black calico cat sliding in with a tackle to join the fray.
In an instant, Bo Ting’s blood pressure spiked, and he heard his system panel buzzing.
“Stop!”
A gritted-teeth voice suddenly rang in their ears. Doudou, just about to turn and snap, suddenly realized something. Its body stiffened, and it lowered its head to look at the fried rice on the floor.
It then instinctively glanced at the cat opposite, with only one thought in its mind: Dog’s done for.
the calico also obediently stopped, screeching to a halt behind the small tea table. With rice grains still on her paws, she wisely didn’t jump on the sofa but stood innocently in the corner and let out a “meow.”
Bo Ting: …
Fine, fine, acting cute wouldn’t help now!
After angrily rehanging the calico and the dog on the door, Bo Ting surveyed the mess on the floor. With a dark face, he took photos for evidence and instinctively pulled out his phone to message Mr. Xu.
After all, he now had a good friend too. How could he not share this daily mishap?
“Never let a cat and dog with clashing vibes live together.”
[Despair image.]
—“The filial piety of two great unfilial brats.”
The scattered boxed meal appeared on the screen. Bo Ting took a deep breath, glared fiercely at Doudou and Tang Yuan, then grabbed a broom to start cleaning up.
Xu Qinglai opened the photo of the “dog” and “cat” hanging on the door, glanced at the emoji pack Bo Ting sent, and surprisingly found it a bit amusing.
Hm.
So, raising the Bone Dog and Giant Power Cat together could lead to this kind of chemical reaction?
His knuckles tapped lightly as he imagined his usually machine-like friend with steam coming out of his head. He let out a soft chuckle.
“Indeed, they should be taught a lesson.”
“Maybe punish them by withholding treats tomorrow.”
Bo Ting deeply agreed, feeling that Mr. Xu was still too kind. Withholding treats wasn’t enough—from tomorrow, he would make this cat and dog learn to get along harmoniously!
Bo Ting’s tone was resolute.
Xu Qinglai smiled.
“Mm, we’ll see.”
“But what about your lunch?”
The food had been ruined by the “cat” and “dog.” Wouldn’t Bo Ting feel hungry?
Though he didn’t think human food was necessary, the Bo Ting across from him clearly did.
What else could he do?
Bo Ting sighed.
“It’s past ordering time now; delivery would be too late.”
“I’ll just go down to Lele Fast Food Restaurant and grab something myself.”
Come to think of it, he’d always been curious about what Wu Ge and the Boss Lady’s kitchen looked like.
—How had they not finished all that stock after so long?
