On a late autumn night, layers of withered leaves covered the bulky trash bins in a secluded corner.
A tabby cat nimbly lept past one of the bins. Suddenly, its ears shot straight up, and its eyes fixated intensely on the trash bin’s direction.
A flash of white light seemed to pass through the thickly layered leaves, flickering briefly for an instant.
The rag doll, having just finished his work, had no idea that his return to the department had been noticed by a tabby cat. Still, this wasn’t a major blunder and wouldn’t cause too much trouble later.
Teleported into the elevator, the rag doll was checking his mission completion progress.
“The Fear Value was just right.” The rag doll stared at his watch. Its face was green, signifying that his mission had been executed perfectly. He’d collected enough Fear Value without leaving the child with an excessive psychological shadow.
Humming a tune, the rag doll reached behind his back and pulled a briefcase out of thin air.
He took off his denim overalls and striped T-shirt, changing into a suit and leather shoes that suited him better.
The rag doll’s feet were round nubs, so his leather shoes looked more like shiny little black pouches.
The rag doll was very pleased with his outfit, especially these shoes. They were custom-made and had cost him quite a few points.
He did a spin in front of the elevator mirror, checking for any unseemly details.
“Hah.” The rag doll let out a heavy breath, then used his round, fingerless hand to neaten his hair, which was composed of black cloth strips. “Good. It won’t be impolite.”
With a ding, the rag doll arrived at his destination.
The elevator doors slid slowly open, and the rag doll walked out, briefcase in hand.
Both sides of the long white corridor were lined with elevators. Countless toys were bustling in and out, busy with their own affairs.
A toy soldier preparing to enter an elevator noticed the rag doll who had just returned to the department. He greeted him with happy surprise, “Senior Tao! Is your mission over?”
The rag doll, addressed as Senior Tao, nodded at him. “It’s done. Everything went smoothly this time.”
“You’ll be able to exchange for a body and get permanent employment as a Warden soon, right?” the toy soldier asked, a tinge of envy in his voice.
“I’ll take those auspicious words.” The rag doll smiled.
The so-called “Wardens” were actually prison guards. But their prison didn’t hold human criminals; it confined all sorts of monsters that brought disaster to the Mortal Realm.
The Wardens were tasked with guarding and reforming those monsters. It was a sacred and deeply meaningful job.
Toys like themselves, on the other hand, were Wardens in the Reserve. They needed to collect fear, prepare for their future work, and, as a side task, monitor if the reformed monsters re-entering the cycle of reincarnation were in a stable condition.
It was no easy job either.
Once a problem arose…
Ding!
The elevator door to the rag doll’s right opened, and a lump of ash tumbled out.
The clump of ash was stuck together, straining and wriggling its way out of the elevator.
“Hey!” The ash noticed the rag doll. “Tao Fangyi? You’re back?! What a coincidence! Want to go grab a drink together after we hand in our reports later?”
Tao Fangyi tilted his head to the side. “And you are?”
“Me! Han Yuxiang!” The ash extended a small tendril to point at itself.
A toy fire engine came speeding around the corner, its siren wailing.
The fire truck was a Reserve who had only just come into being. Newly born toys like him had to spend a period of time shadowing official Wardens before they could be sent out to collect Fear Value.
So these newborn toys ended up helping with odd tasks around the department.
The fire truck wailed its siren and drove up next to the ash. “Senior Han, please climb onto me. Your body needs major repairs.”
Han Yuxiang and Tao Fangyi were Reserves born from the same batch. Toys from the same batch were always especially close.
Tao Fangyi quickly helped Han Yuxiang onto the fire truck. “How did you end up like this?”
“Scared a kid a bit too much. They used fire to exorcise the devil and burned me.” Han Yuxiang shifted his position on top of the fire truck. “I’m probably in for a scolding this time.”
Once Han Yuxiang was properly seated, the fire engine wailed its siren again and drove forward.
Han Yuxiang waved a small tendril made of ash. “I’m off! Remember, let’s grab that drink later!”
The toy soldier who had just been chatting with Tao Fangyi suddenly let out a soft sigh. “I hope I don’t end up like Senior Han this time.”
“You won’t. Don’t worry. Most Mission Targets don’t have much destructive power.” Tao Fangyi comforted his junior toy soldier.
“Mr. Tao, you always carry out your missions perfectly. For you, there probably isn’t even such a thing as a destructive Mission Target,” the toy soldier said helplessly. Managing a Mission Target’s Fear Value was an incredibly complicated task, and not everyone could do it flawlessly. “But I’m not the same.”
The toy soldier suddenly felt something soft pressing down on top of his head. He looked up and saw that it was Tao Fangyi gently patting him.
“You’re already very impressive and adapting very quickly,” Tao Fangyi said as he pulled a plastic lollipop from his pocket. “Didn’t you perform excellently last time? You’re a very promising newcomer. Don’t sell yourself short.”
The plastic lollipop was tucked into the toy soldier’s arms. The soldier let out a “Wow!” “Th-this, are you giving this to me?”
“I hope it cheers you up a bit.” Tao Fangyi bent down. His plastic, round eyes couldn’t squint, but the toy soldier could tell this senior was smiling.
“This is way too expensive. I can’t accept it.” The soldier panicked slightly, hugging the plastic lollipop that was far too large for him, wanting to push it back into Tao Fangyi’s arms.
“It’s not expensive. Like you said, I’m a very capable senior, and I have plenty of points.” Tao Fangyi patted his briefcase. “This isn’t a burden for me. It’s just a bit of encouragement for my junior.”
“Make sure to work hard and become a great Reserve,” Tao Fangyi said to the soldier.
The toy soldier hugged the lollipop tightly. “Senior Tao…”
“I’m off to report now. You go hurry up and get to your mission.” Tao Fangyi waved at the toy soldier.
The toy soldier nodded his head firmly and let out a sound of agreement.
Tao Fangyi walked briskly through the long corridor of elevators. Reaching the end, he knocked on an office door.
This corridor was shaped like a T. The elevator hall was a transmission passage to the human world. The walls of the corridor forming the top bar of the T were embedded with countless doors. It was an endless corridor; no matter how far you walked left or right, you’d eventually return to this intersection.
It was a special space, a “transfer station” connecting various dimensions.
The door Tao Fangyi had just knocked on belonged to the management department specifically responsible for dispatching Reserves on field missions.
The door opened, revealing a vast office space inside, bustling with countless people in black uniforms.
Those people were all exceptionally beautiful. They possessed the kind of looks most sought after in the human world, yet the aura around them was strangely intimidating.
They were the Wardens, and the aura they naturally carried was the Fear Value they’d collected during their probation period.
Tao Fangyi clutched his little briefcase tightly and headed quickly toward his target office within this space.
He threaded his way between countless pairs of black boots. The people who noticed him would raise a hand in greeting and smile.
They were all great colleagues.
It was just that, within the entire Special Biological Management Bureau, their group of Wardens, burdened with an innate Terror Buff, were the least popular bunch.
Tao Fangyi submitted his report to his superior. His mission this time had once again been flawlessly executed, and the reward points were extremely generous.
His superior pulled him aside to express concern about his future development, chatting for a long while before finally letting him go.
Tao Fangyi prepared to return home and rest, and to casually tidy up and adjust his future body.
After stepping out, he found a group of seniors in black uniforms gathered in a circle. They seemed to be discussing something.
Tao Fangyi squeezed closer. He circled the Wardens’ shins, hopping up and down twice, trying to see what they were staring at.
One of the Wardens noticed him, reached out, lifted him, and placed him on the Warden’s shoulder.
Then Tao Fangyi discovered that his seniors were surrounding a sign that read: “No Fighting.”
“This is a newly replaced sign.” The speaker was a female senior. She had beautiful phoenix eyes, thin lips, a high and graceful nose bridge, and a terrifying aura that made one not dare meet her eyes. “The Bureau recently changed its Image Ambassador.”
Tao Fangyi looked back at the sign. Sure enough, on the left side of the board, a male and a female Image Ambassador were pictured smiling.
The woman had an oval face and almond-shaped eyes, with dimples appearing on either cheek when she smiled. The man had eyebrows like swords and star-bright eyes, a very handsome face, yet his smile seemed exceptionally gentle.
“I heard they’re Reserves from the Combat Department,” one Warden said.
“Aren’t the Combat Department Reserves a bunch of warmongers? Can they even pick an Image Ambassador from among them?”
“When will a couple of Image Ambassadors come out of our Warden department?” a Warden sighed.
When it came to looks, the appearance of their department members was the best in the entire Special Biological Management Bureau. There were no ugly Wardens. You couldn’t even find a single one with a plain, ordinary face.
“Impossible.”
