"All right!" As if by design, or perhaps by coincidence, Li Kang walked calmly out of the District Government Office just as the group finished their conversation.

"Ah Zhu, it’s getting late. We’re going to go pick up the Wall Announcements next. You handled things here cleanly and efficiently, so headquarters has relented... Your application for both Artifacts has been approved!"

Li Kang paused, then smiled. "Congratulations! This greatly increases your chances of solving the problem."

"That’s good." Chu Bamboo nodded. "But you guys go get the Artifacts... I still have to go back and take care of some things!"

"After all, I’ve only just finished negotiating terms with that bunch of ’Vampires.’ If I don’t crack the whip a little, they won’t make a move. It took their sacrifices to finally create this one opportunity..."

At this, a shadow passed over Chu Bamboo’s eyes.

The fact that things had escalated this far, that the Factory Directors could be hassled so much without bringing down the government’s iron fist, was thanks to two ’MVPs.’ One was the policy the Lu City Governor had issued a month ago. The other was that high-ranking members of the union had died—a lot of them.

And the major Factory Directors were the prime suspects in these deaths.

And death carries a weight that can’t be ignored.

"...Are you serious?" Li Kang was silent for a moment, then asked abruptly, "By the way, how can you be sure the assassin will come for you at night? If you go off on your own, isn’t it possible we might never see you again?"

"Don’t worry, I have it under control." Chu Bamboo shrugged. He was genuinely confident. The source of his confidence was... ’if worst comes to worst, I’ll just get killed by the assassin.’

’You live and learn. I’ll just be more careful next time! What else is there to do?’

"..." Li Kang stared at Chu Bamboo for a long moment before nodding. "Fine. If you say so!"

"Um!" Ning Linglong suddenly spoke up. She looked at Chu Bamboo, her face shy and embarrassed. "Uncle Zhu, my dad is inviting you to dinner tonight... Will you!"

"Please decline for me." Chu Bamboo recalled the previous timeline, where Ning Linglong had seemed completely oblivious to the blind date setup.

But looking at her this time, Ning Linglong was obviously being much more proactive...

’Heh. Women!’

"...Oh." Ning Linglong’s shoulders slumped in dejection.

...

That night, it was the same dilapidated little building.

"...No, are you serious?!" Ning Linglong gaped in disbelief.

She truly couldn’t comprehend Chu Bamboo’s living conditions—

Her father was just an ordinary teacher, yet their home was far better than this place!

Not long ago, Ning Linglong had watched Chu Bamboo in the conference hall, authoritatively commanding and intimidating the major Factory Directors. Now, seeing this dilapidated room in this dilapidated building... The whiplash was so intense it felt like falling off a cliff, leaving her speechless!

"Perfectly normal!" Guan Fei said, repeating a similar line from the previous timeline. "This is Mr. Zhu, after all!"

Chu Bamboo glanced at Ning Linglong. He could clearly tell that, compared to the previous timeline, her attitude now was completely different. Last time, it was mostly just playful complaints, but this time, she was genuinely finding it unacceptable.

"First, this!" Li Kang, with a serious expression, pulled out a seemingly unremarkable... down jacket?

"???"

The corner of Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched. It was red, too.

’This is an Ancient Relic?!’

In the Dream World, winter clothes were mostly made from animal furs. A down jacket was something their current technology was incapable of producing!

"Number 2-52! The Blade-Deflecting Garment!" Li Kang said quietly. "What do you think? Pretty stylish, huh?"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

’No, no, no, this just looks like some cheap, knockoff down jacket! In the Real World, this is the kind of thing you’d find at a liquidation sale: "Boss went bankrupt and ran off with his sister-in-law, all clothes 90% off!"’

However, Chu Bamboo soon saw Ning Linglong’s eyes light up as she stared at the down jacket, her gaze filled with longing.

"..." ’Wait, so Li Kang wasn’t joking? This thing is actually considered stylish in the Dream World?’

Because Chu Bamboo hadn’t seen many down jackets before, even after resetting countless times, this was the first time he realized the status of down jackets in the current era.

But Chu Bamboo quickly accepted it. After all, in this era, even an old brick phone could be considered an Ancient Relic of ridiculously high status—

’I guess this is just how Ancient Relics are!’

"The ’2’ in the number means it’s a Spiritual Artifact for the Second Realm; the ’52’ means it’s ranked fifty-second among all officially recorded Level 2 Spiritual Artifacts!" Li Kang glanced at Chu Bamboo and explained seriously. "That’s high. Really high. I honestly didn’t expect... that they’d actually approve this! Put it on."

"Just like its name suggests, when you wear it, it deflects all attacks from sharp blades. It even protects areas it doesn’t cover, like your neck and lower body."

"That’s right. In theory, once you’re wearing it, if you wanted to die... the attack would have to exceed its upper limit—though it can theoretically even block a Level 3 attack for a moment. Or, you wouldn’t die from a blade, but from being surrounded and beaten to death by blunt force from fists, clubs, and the like..."

"...Alright then." Chu Bamboo immediately took it and put it on.

Although, he still felt it was all a bit surreal. His fingers gently rubbed the jacket... ’Hmm, it even provides warmth, just like a regular down jacket.’

"And next! Is 3-181." Li Kang’s expression became grim, with even a hint of fear.

’This piqued Chu Bamboo’s interest. The Li Kang he knew was a man of iron, not even afraid of death! For something to make a hardass like him look like that... Interesting. Very interesting!’

Li Kang gingerly took the case from Guan Fei and carefully opened it, revealing what was inside—

It was a baby!

A baby with cracked, pitch-black skin.

Its flesh was withered, stretched tight over its bones, giving it a hideous and ill-omened appearance.

Chu Bamboo’s eyelid twitched. ’But, that’s it? Not too scar— Huh?’

Chu Bamboo blinked hard, staring fixedly at the baby. After confirming that it wasn’t a trick of his eyes, he could no longer maintain his composure. "Wait, did it just move again!"

"...That’s normal." Li Kang instantly snapped the case shut, maintaining a calm facade.

"You don’t have to put on an act for me," Chu Bamboo said, exasperated. "Man, your hand is still shaking!"

"...Shut up," Li Kang snapped, flushing with shame and anger.

"So, are you going to explain?" Chu Bamboo asked, his interest piqued. "If you don’t, what happens if we need to use it and can’t figure out how?"

"Forget it! This one," Li Kang swallowed hard. "Let’s just not use it if we can avoid it... Besides, if it really comes down to it, I’ll be the one to use it..."

"Captain, let me do it instead!" Ning Linglong said, her brow furrowed. "If it’s used, your contamination index will skyrocket, and that’s a conservative estimate... You’re already a little...! Um..."