GRMFBS CH300

Although they had no intention of telling Zhan Jinli the truth, he still needed to be included in future cooperative operations.

So Ning Xi came to fetch him.

Zhan Jinli looked at his communicator as Ning Xi summoned him to a tri-organization meeting.

Lin Yuan: [Where?]

Ning Xi: [Next door.]

Zhan Jinli: …

Well, it didn’t seem like there were any issues.

He glanced at his younger brother and Deep Shadow sitting across from him, very much wanting to say something.

His brother blinked at him with pure, innocent eyes: “Ge, do you have something important to do? Go ahead and get busy first.”

Look at this obedient and lovely appearance! Resentfully, Zhan Jinli ruffled his brother’s hair, shot Gu Jiancheng a deadpan look, and left the break room.

As soon as he stepped into the conference room next door, Zhan Jinli noticed his sister constantly staring at his face, her desire to watch a good show glaringly obvious.

Zhan Jinli stared back with a straight face.

What? Want to see how shocked I am?

Heh, in your dreams.

I will maintain this deadpan face to the bitter end!

Zhan Suiru met his gaze with a beaming smile.

I’m just looking, what about it?

Ji Yueming interrupted the siblings’ visual crossfire: “Come sit here.”

Though they called it a meeting, there wasn’t actually much left to discuss.

While Zhan Jinli had been catching up on the missed background info with Zhan Yan, the discussion here had practically concluded; now they were simply syncing the information with him.

Upon hearing that Deep Shadow would be tasked with protecting Zhan Yan going forward, Zhan Jinli couldn’t help but furrow his brows: “Do you all believe in Deep Shadow’s feelings?”

Deep Shadow was a resolute individual, capable of enduring what others could not endure in order to achieve what others could not achieve; he was a good person, but being a good person didn’t equate to being a good partner.

Even if his brother was Approaching Science, the things he had experienced were still far less than Deep Shadow, who had tempered himself in Infinite for heaven knows how many years. If Deep Shadow wasn’t willing to take a step back on his own initiative, comparing their respective mental maturities, he still felt his brother would end up getting the short end of the stick.

As soon as Zhan Jinli finished asking, he saw his dad, mom, and sister exchanging subtle glances.

Zhan Suiru: “About this… I don’t think you need to worry.”

She proceeded to synchronize with Zhan Jinli exactly what Deep Shadow had done for their younger brother. Downing six cups of milk tea in one breath just to trade for her brother’s merch? That was nothing; what their parents had witnessed barely scratched the surface. Deep Shadow had even watched melodramatic soap operas for her brother, logged onto her brother’s account to play support for her, secretly bought a mountain of products invested in by the Shoude Company only to donate them all right after… Just the other day, she had discovered on the network that Gu Jiancheng had registered over a dozen burner accounts to wage a three-hundred-round war against her brother’s online haters.

Zhan Jinli:

(=_=)

(°A°)

(⊙A⊙)

Zhan Suiru looked at him with a beaming smile.

Still keeping that deadpan face?

Zhan Jinli was severely shaken.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming were equally shocked.

Even they hadn’t known about the mountain of things Deep Shadow had done.

Adjusting his glasses, Ning Xi said calmly, “Very well. Judging from these actions, Deep Shadow’s roots of love have been planted exceedingly deep; having him act as Zhan Yan’s secret protector is absolutely perfect.”

Zhan Jinli: “…Th-then I’ll go call him?”

Inside the break room.

Zhan Yan hadn’t cut his hair since he started his internship; his mop of little curls was tied back with a hair tie. Having previously ruffled it himself into a slightly frizzy state, after being aggressively rubbed by his brother just now, it was thoroughly unpresentable.

After his brother closed the door, he shot the door a couple of guilty, defensive glares.

Gu Jiancheng whispered, “Shall I retie it for you?”

Zhan Yan took off the hair tie and handed it to him: “Sure, help me sort it out.”

That was the troublesome part about curly hair—it tangled exceptionally easily, and once tangled, it was incredibly hard to undo.

With no comb around, Gu Jiancheng used his fingers to gently detangle the hair bit by bit; his slender fingers threading through the strands to touch the scalp.

Zhan Yan narrowed his eyes. It felt rather nice… especially those spots on the sides of his head, right where the dragon horns grew when he was in Dawn World; they felt a bit sore and tingly.

After smoothing out the hair, Gu Jiancheng didn’t stop; his fingers pressed gently against the back of Zhan Yan’s neck. As Zhan Yan involuntarily tilted his head back and closed his eyes, Gu Jiancheng leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Yan Yan, exactly when did you discover I was Deep Shadow?”

Zhan Yan’s eyes curved, his brow brimming with sly mischief. It had been a long time since he’d seen Xiao Gu blush.

“Since when… let me think about it…”

Gu Jiancheng turned his head slightly: “Can’t remember?”

Zhan Yan suddenly felt his ear grow hot and soft.

He hastily jerked away, covering his ear and turning back to glare at Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng pursed his lips slightly, looking at his flushed ears and smiling at him.

…Xiao Gu was still the exact same evolved Xiao Gu!

Zhan Yan gave two small humphs: “Of course I remember. It was when you dragged those six clouds over the lotus pond and yelled at me in the pouring rain, ‘No! I forbid you from leaving me!'”

Gu Jiancheng didn’t speak, merely looking at him. His eyes were as deep as a pool of water, with bright stars embedded in its depths one after another, trying to pull him in.

Staring into those eyes, Zhan Yan felt slightly dazed. A faint blush crept quietly from the roots of his ears onto his cheeks.

The break room door opened once more.

The young couple, who had been leaning closer and closer, jerked apart instantly.

Gu Jiancheng looked back toward the doorway, while Zhan Yan peeked out from over his shoulder.

Ahhh… it’s Ge at the door.

Why did Ge come back so fast? He already had a bone to pick with Xiao Gu.

“Ge…” Catching sight of the expression on his brother’s face, Zhan Yan suddenly trailed off.

Hm? Was Ge looking at Xiao Gu? Why did his face look so complicated?

Under Zhan Jinli’s stare, Gu Jiancheng felt a bit numb.

What was with this expression?!

Zhan Jinli’s mood was even more complicated than his expression.

Looking at Deep Shadow’s appearance—sharp bone structure, fierce brows and eyes, a pair of dark, profound eyes—You’re the guy playing the domineering CEO to seduce my brother and registering burner accounts to war with haters?

Zhan Jinli gave Gu Jiancheng a sweeping once-over from head to toe, finally drawing a bit of reality from the cattle farm work uniform and large rainboots he was still wearing.

If Deep Shadow could go do an internship at a cattle farm, why couldn’t he fall in love with his brother?

This must be perfectly reasonable.

Zhan Jinli: “Let’s go. We’re heading next door to discuss things together.”

Zhan Yan let out a massive sigh of relief.

Although he didn’t know why his brother’s attitude had changed, this was a good thing!

Catching Zhan Yan’s incredibly obvious little expression, the corners of Zhan Jinli’s mouth twitched.

Heh, his brother’s roots of love were planted pretty deeply too.

Zhan Yan stood up to leave, only to be lightly pressed back down by Gu Jiancheng’s hand on his shoulder.

“Wait a moment.” Gu Jiancheng quickly smoothed out his hair and swiftly tied a small knot at the back of Zhan Yan’s head.

Zhan Jinli: …

Why is he so practiced at this? How many times has he secretly done it? Yan Yan doesn’t like outsiders touching his hair! Did Deep Shadow do this in front of him on purpose?

Heh. Just as I thought, Deep Shadow is still an eyesore!

Returning to the conference room, the atmosphere was somewhat subtly bizarre.

A few days ago, in a similar conference room, roughly the exact same group of people had been present. At that time, Deep Shadow was just Deep Shadow.

At that time, Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King were just Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King. He could still push them to grind with zero psychological burden.

Upon learning that he would need to stay with Zhan Yan constantly going forward, the sharp arc of Boss Deep Shadow’s eyes actually softened.

Seizing the opening, Zhan Yan eagerly asked them, “You all agree?”

Does this count as successfully meeting the parents?

Zhan Suiru couldn’t even bear to look; her brother’s eyes were round and bright, looking as if an invisible tail behind him was about to start wagging.

“Agree to what? You’ve been targeted; don’t run around recklessly from now on, make sure you wear the new protective talismans given to you, and keep in contact at all times,” Zhan Yunkai said.

Honestly, they were discussing serious business regarding his personal safety, yet he still managed to turn his thoughts to romance. Why did it feel like his youngest son had a bit of a lovestruck brain too?

Zhan Yan: “…Oh.”

The invisible tail stopped wagging.

Zhan Jinli: …

He shot another stealthy glare at Deep Shadow.

“When I came this time, I kept calling you but you never answered,” Zhan Jinli stated flatly.

Zhan Yan silently pulled out his phone, to which the Ghost King Seal was still attached: “I couldn’t answer.”

The phone was charred and cracked, having heroically sacrificed itself. During the battle with Monster Doctor, it had managed to contribute a tiny bit of DPS by having its battery explode.

Zhan Jinli: …

Zhan Suiru laughed unceremoniously: “Why did you give him a phone charm?”

And one that triggered movement, no less. The protective talismans she and their parents gave wouldn’t suffer from the issue of forcibly dragging the phone along to deal damage together.

Zhan Jinli stared at her with dead fish eyes.

What else could he do? His brother was a boy who didn’t like wearing jewelry. Mom gave him a necklace, so he couldn’t very well give him another necklace to stack on top. The hair tie Sister gave him looked like a bracelet when worn on the wrist; any more wouldn’t be appropriate. Out of the things he could carry on his person at all times, he could hardly gift a ring or an anklet, right? All that was left was a phone charm.

Zhan Yan hurriedly interjected, “I really like the phone charm too! I’ll carry it in my pocket with me from now on.”

Zhan Jinli’s ruffled feathers were smoothed.

Watching them, Ji Yueming laughed: “We’ll issue you a bureau phone in a bit.”

“Awoo! Mom is the best!”

Zhan Yunkai’s gaze swept over them: “You two will return to Yunjin City first. Any other questions?”

“I have one.” Zhan Yan raised his hand. “What about my internship?”

…This child really loved studying way too much.

“Your internships here will all have to be paused. It’s already been arranged; someone will contact your university.”

Curious about what excuse they had used, Zhan Yan casually checked a gossip strip.

Whoa! The news has already been broadcasted!

“Meteorite Fall in Tailin Gao City Produces Toxic Gas Inducing Mass Hallucinations.”

A fairly well-rounded fabrication. The large crater was formed by the meteorite impact, the toxic gas was generated by the meteorite’s friction with the air, and whatever they saw was just hallucinations. They could even use this excuse to drag everyone present over for an in-depth medical exam.

One look at this style and you knew it came from the True Science News Agency.

Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng had no further questions, but Ning Xi still had one:

“Why did Infinite use Monster Doctor to test the waters?”

Infinite was currently lacking power, and Monster Doctor was absolutely one of the most useful pawns in its hands. Yet regarding the attack on Zhan Yan, Infinite hadn’t even attempted to salvage him.

Gu Jiancheng lowered his brows and said, “My guess is, it was to reclaim a skill—the Psychic Scalpel.”

This related to Infinite treating players like a kitchen.

Those seeds of rules were nourished by the players, growing into individual “skills” that became entwined with the players’ souls, somewhat akin to the divine abilities of this world.

Infinite could acquire a portion of a player’s “skill” through its rules, but could not completely control it. Only when the player possessing the skill died and their soul belonged entirely to Infinite could the skill containing the “rule” be fully absorbed by Infinite.

Infinite had preserved Monster Doctor’s soul, which also resulted in it being unable to apply the “Psychic Scalpel” as it pleased.

Previously, a self-aware Monster Doctor was more useful to Infinite; now, it desired the “Psychic Scalpel” more.

But Infinite hid far too deeply. No one knew exactly what it intended to do with this skill.

An ominous premonition swelled in Gu Jiancheng’s heart, and his aura unconsciously grew heavier and heavier.

Zhan Yan squeezed his hand. Gu Jiancheng instinctively turned to smile at him. The oppressive aura quietly dissipated, like a clear night illuminated by moonlight.

The two parents saw this scene with crystal clarity.

Whatever. If they want to be together, let them be together.

But tonight, while at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau base, they still have to sleep in separate rooms!

As usual, the young couple placed in separate rooms had to bid each other goodnight.

The tranquil night smoothed out the chaos of the day. Thinking back on the excessively colorful day, Zhan Yan actually didn’t feel too tired.

He picked up the new phone, thought for a moment, and put it down again.

He closed his eyes, opened the Gossip System, and logged into the chaofan forum.

Approaching Science: [You there?]

I Just Saved the World!: [Here.]

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but smile. Chatting through their secret identities truly offered a unique flavor.

I Just Saved the World!: [Can we change our forum names?]

Approaching Science: [I think so? I haven’t paid attention to that.]

Approaching Science: [Do you want to change your name?]

Approaching Science: [Why?]

I Just Saved the World!: [Don’t you think this name is too chuunibyou?]

Approaching Science: [What’s wrong with it?]

Approaching Science: [You genuinely saved the world, after all.]

The private chat interface fell silent for a while. Both of them stared at their screens, lying relaxed amidst the night.

Approaching Science: [It’s too late, I’m going to sleep.]

Approaching Science: [Good night.]

Staring at these two lines of replies, Gu Jiancheng felt as though he could see Zhan Yan’s lazy, tranquil face.

Without noticing his upturned lips, his fingertips gently typed out two words on the screen.

I Just Saved the World!: [Good night.]