GRMFBS CH218

Zhan Jinli stared at Zhan Yan seriously and earnestly. After seeing the muscles on his younger brother’s face start to twitch, he typed with concern:

Zhan Jinli: [Does it taste bad?]

Zhan Yan took advantage of his brother looking down to type, frantically trying to control his facial muscles to forcibly swallow the cake. He finally managed to control his facial expression just before his brother looked up again.

He forced the corners of his mouth up into a smile, “It’s very good. Ge, I prefer eating bread.”

Zhan Yan was crying tears of blood in his heart. Bread could be kneaded into breadballs, but cake couldn’t! It was so overwhelmingly sweet bite after bite, how was he supposed to eat it…

Zhan Jinli nodded thoughtfully and typed:

Zhan Jinli: [Then I’ll make bread for you next time.]

After his brother left, Zhan Yan poured a large pitcher of water and took the cake back to his room.

Before eating the cake, he’d give classmate Xiao Gu a call.

Gu Jiancheng answered almost the moment the phone rang.

“I’m home,” Zhan Yan said. “What are you doing?”

Gu Jiancheng was house hunting.

In the past, he had no need for fixed assets. When he was in school, he lived on campus, and during holidays, he went around hunting anomalies. Sometimes he stayed in hotels, and sometimes he just found a random place to stay in the wilderness.

But that wouldn’t do now. After meeting the parents, if Yan Yan’s parents asked him where he lived, he couldn’t just say he had no fixed residence, right?

But what kind of house did Yan Yan like?

“I’m planning to travel around during the holidays,” Gu Jiancheng said. “Do you have any places you like?”

“Me? I like rather unique places. I want to see the bottom of the sea, and treehouses in giant trees in the forest…” Zhan Yan remembered his dad and Da Wule taking shifts using bubbles at the bottom of the sea, and the Xunmu Demon King hiding the tree crowns of many large and small demon clans. Just thinking about it was interesting; he really wanted to go and play!

While chatting idly, he opened the Gossip System and saw Gu Jiancheng’s latest gossip strip.

[Gu Jiancheng is taking notes based on your casual chat, preparing to use it as a reference for buying a house.]

Hmm, nowadays there are those underwater hotels, though he didn’t know if they sold them. As for treehouses… only ancient trees in deep mountains and old forests could support a treehouse. He remembered there were treehouse hotels too, just didn’t know if any served as residences. If all else fails, building one would work too.

Zhan Yan: ? What?!

Zhan Yan hurriedly changed his tune: “These places sound pretty fun to visit. Going there occasionally for a trip is nice, but living year-round in such places far from the crowds would definitely be inconvenient hahaha.”

Gu Jiancheng’s hand paused while taking notes. He changed the title from “House Buying Notes” to “Notes for Traveling with Boyfriend in the Future.”

Zhan Yan breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the gossip strip in silence.

He didn’t know why, but even though Gu Jiancheng already knew the melodramatic TV show was a misunderstanding and was no longer obsessing over domineering CEO declarations, he still felt his romantic partner was becoming more and more like a domineering CEO.

This tendency to want to buy giant underwater hotels and treehouses at the drop of a hat really gave off a “let the Wang family go bankrupt” vibe!

Fortunately, before Gu Jiancheng lost his secret identity, they hadn’t yet reached the step of meeting the parents, otherwise Zhan Yan wouldn’t even know what his casual words might have caused Gu Jiancheng to purchase.

What kind of situation was this!

Zhan Yan kept the gossip strip open while cautiously chatting with Gu Jiancheng, terrified of accidentally giving any more wrong hints.

It was too exhausting. He had just endured hours of a car ride home, why did he have to suffer like this?

Classmate Xiao Gu was clearly very earnestly trying to treat him well, and being in love was supposed to be very sweet, so why did it turn into this!

Zhan Yan found an excuse to hang up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and looked down at the cake he had just taken one bite of.

…Ah, is this the trouble of things being too sweet?

Zhan Yan took a bite of cake, then half a glass of water; a bite of cake, then half a glass of water.

“Burp.” He was full just from drinking water.

Zhan Yan continued unpacking, and after finishing, went downstairs to return the plate.

The pastries Aunt Bai sent were still on the table. After tossing around for half the day, the water in his stomach was mostly absorbed. Seeing Aunt Bai’s pastries, Zhan Yan felt a little greedy; it had been a while since he ate pastries made by Aunt Bai.

Zhan Yan picked out a salted egg yolk meat floss pastry and took a bite.

Wuwuwu, with this sweet and salty pastry, he could only taste the saltiness now. His tongue had been ruined by his brother’s cake!

Zhan Yan aggrievedly put the pastry down. His tongue should recover by tonight, he would eat it then.

The door lock clicked, and Zhan Suiru opened the front door.

Zhan Yan’s eyes lit up and he leaned over, “Sis, you’re back.”

Hehe, Yang Ran’s matter was almost resolved, so his sister should be in a good mood now, right? Although he couldn’t let his sister know he had contributed, he still really wanted some praise!

Zhan Suiru felt her younger brother was circling her like an excited little puppy.

She ruffled Zhan Yan’s curly hair, looking with satisfaction at the protective barrier she made still tied in her brother’s hair, the little blue crystal swaying back and forth.

Zhan Suiru handed him the small cookies Yang Ran made, “Here, for you.”

The freshly baked cookies smelled amazing.

Zhan Yan: QAQ

But I can’t taste sweetness right now…

Boohooo. His brother-in-law’s cookies made with love…

“What’s wrong?” Zhan Suiru asked.

“Nothing, I just ate too much earlier and can’t eat right now,” Zhan Yan said. “I’ll eat it later. Sis, there are pastries from Aunt Bai on the table.”

He carefully put the small cookies away. He had seen it in the gossip strip: Yang Ran had baked three ovens full of cookies for him, picked the sweetest (…) batch based on harmonious flavor standards, and hand-selected the perfectly shaped ones to pack for him.

Zhan Suiru: Did her brother not like the cookies? But his reaction didn’t look like it.

Sigh, her brother had grown up. He had his own little secrets now, and even a romantic partner.

Zhan Jinli walked out of the kitchen.

Seeing flour on his hands, Zhan Suiru couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows.

Sparks and lightning flew between the siblings’ gazes.

—What are you doing in the kitchen?

—Making bread for our brother.

Zhan Suiru understood. No wonder her brother wasn’t eating the cookies. She began considering the idea of giving Yang Ran the sweetener she had researched previously.

She was carrying a long, rectangular bag.

“Sis, what is this?” Zhan Yan asked curiously.

“For our brother.” Zhan Suiru placed the bag on the coffee table and unzipped it.

Inside was a folding fishing rod.

After making the bait last time, Zhan Suiru had started designing this fishing rod. Originally, she planned to wait until Zhan Jinli’s birthday to give it to him, so she was in no rush. But later, she encountered the Chronicle of the World looking for her, so she put the rod-making aside and hadn’t finished it even on the day Infinite bordered them.

On the day she took the studio to block Infinite, she looked at the unfinished fishing rod with some regret in her heart. She thought at the time that if she had the chance to return, she must finish it.

Of course, after she returned, she postponed the task of making the fishing rod. She waited until Yang Ran’s situation was secured before she finally had free time to finish it.

Zhan Jinli stared silently at the fishing rod. It was hard for this thing not to make him think of a certain broken cat who wanted to fish all day.

Xingxing curiously hopped onto the coffee table and pawed at the fishing rod with his head lowered.

Zhan Jinli: …

“Does Xingxing want to fish too?” Zhan Suiru said.

Zhan Jinli: …

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if his sister giving him this was a joke or serious. Just like that fish bait last time.

Zhan Yan: Wuwuwu, Ge, hurry up and say you really like it! It wasn’t easy for Sister to make this fishing rod!

Although his brother was a fish in his past life, that wasn’t important!

Zhan Yan desperately winked at his brother.

Zhan Jinli looked at him in confusion for two seconds, then looked down and typed:

Zhan Jinli: [You want it?]

Zhan Yan: …

He typed back:

Zhan Yan: [You want it!]

Zhan Jinli: …

Zhan Jinli: [Thank you, I’ll take it with me to go fishing next time.]

Zhan Jinli typed the message to his sister with a blank expression.

The siblings’ gazes clashed intensely.

Zhan Suiru: Heh, older brothers are just troublesome. He absolutely refused to wear the protective barrier jewelry she made for him.

Zhan Jinli: Hmph, always with the whimsical ideas. Instead of giving him a fishing rod, she’d be better off wearing his Ghost King Seal.

Zhan Yan didn’t notice their hidden visual exchange; he was very satisfied and took his cookies and the salted egg yolk meat floss pastry with one bite taken out of it back to his room.

Tonight he was going to enter Dawn World and give Yang Ran’s soul map to his sister.

Hmm… Approaching Science knew about Rong Sui being the Artisan and about Yang Ran’s situation, so it was perfectly normal to know that Rong Sui also had an online-type boss alter-ego, right?

It’s just that he’d have to use the Dragon Head persona in Dawn World to give his sister the soul map. Sigh, he had just put on the Dragon Head persona, and now he had to drop it and reveal himself as Approaching Science.

This identity reveal was way too fast, much easier than when he stripped his sister’s secret identities!

Should he use the Approaching Science identity to give his sister a heads-up first?

Zhan Yan logged onto the chaofan forum, and out of habit, clicked into the general discussion area before checking his private messages.

{I have someone I deeply, deeply desire, and I know he is also someone many people deeply, deeply desire. Now this person has suddenly disappeared, and we don’t even have the chance to desire him anymore. Does anyone know what is going on?}

Wow, this title immediately piqued Zhan Yan’s curiosity. He couldn’t help but click into the thread.

LZ:

That person’s three tags disappeared. Although I know I might never get him in this lifetime, now I don’t even have the chance to fantasize about it.

Does anyone know what happened? Who got that person?

1L:

Who is the original poster talking about? What three tags?

2L:

Sounds like a total heartthrob. Someone practicing charm arts?

3L:

The original poster couldn’t be talking about that person in the quest area, right?

LZ:

Nods furiously, it’s that person. Every time I go in, I see him hanging high up there. Even though I know I can never get him, I’ve always lusted after him, hoping every day that getting even a tiny scrap of news about him would be great.

6L:

Yikes! The original poster sounds like such a gross creep. Which boss in the quest area is so unlucky to be targeted by you?

8L:

I know who the original poster is lusting after. To tell the truth, I lust after him too.

Although I haven’t managed to get any news about this person so far, I can’t help but fantasize every time I click into the quest area. Now that this person’s tags have suddenly disappeared, my fantasies have disappeared too.

12L:

What are the three tags? I went to the quest area to look and didn’t find anything related to tags.

18L:

I’m different. You all fantasize about getting this person, but I don’t dare. I only hope to get a piece of exclusive news about him.

21L:

What are you guys talking about? Why can’t I understand?

28L:

Sounds like a bunch of perverts…

33L:

If you don’t understand, don’t join in. Not understanding means you haven’t crossed the threshold yet.

37L:

What threshold? Is there no one here who can speak clearly? What’s wrong with doing this creepy encrypted talk?

49L:

Sigh, this overwhelming wealth didn’t fall upon me, who knows who it fell upon.

52L:

Fang Pai? In the quest area rankings, there’s only one boss whose abilities are related to cards/tags.

53L “Hacker”:

It has nothing to do with Fang Pai. They are talking about the hidden wanted posters.

You don’t know because you can’t see the hidden wanted posters.

55L:

Catching Boss Hacker!

Boss, can you explain what the hidden wanted posters are? I didn’t even know this existed.

57L “Hacker”:

Many high-risk anomalies have information contamination, so the wanted posters for high-risk anomalies or other entities that might cause information contamination are hidden. They aren’t open to ordinary superpowered individuals. Only superpowered individuals with enough ability who have passed the assessment can see these wanted posters.

60L:

Everyone is unwilling to say because they’re afraid someone with bursting curiosity will insist on investigating.

61L:

Ah? Then I understand why everyone before was acting like the Riddler.

But Hacker has already said it…

62L “Hacker”:

People who want to seek death will seek death sooner or later. The world is not a kindergarten.

63L “Fang Pai”:

I tell you pufferfish is poisonous if not prepared properly, and you insist on eating it yourself. If you get poisoned to death, are you going to blame me for telling you pufferfish exists in the world? Stop being passive-aggressive, it’s disgusting.

65L:

Hahahahaha

66L:

Boss, since you’ve already mentioned it’s about the hidden wanted posters, could you censor the details and explain what happened? It’s making me so anxious not being able to eat this melon.

70L: Simply put, the top of the hidden wanted poster board is a badass wanted by three parties: the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, the Wan Yao Alliance, and Mount Chaofu. The three wanted posters are referred to as the three tags. The rewards offered by the three-party wanted posters are very high; even just getting news about him can earn a large amount of points. So everyone lusted after this overwhelming wealth.

72L:

Shock! First time knowing there’s someone wanted by three parties. Did this person destroy the world?

75L:

Can’t say much more, haha. In short, all three of this person’s wanted posters disappeared today. I don’t know which boss arrested him and brought him to justice.

77L:

Sigh, I’m drooling with envy.

Every time I enter the hidden section, I see this person’s wanted posters hanging high at the top. It feels quite strange not having them there today.

78L:

So can we guess which boss caught the person now?

82L: I’m guessing a boss from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. I clicked in at a rather coincidental time. Of the three wanted posters, the one taken down first was the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s. The Wan Yao Alliance and Mount Chaofu’s wanted posters were only taken down afterward.

83L:

Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau? Could it be Tianshi?

85L: Why is it always Tianshi whenever the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau is mentioned? It’s not like the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau has no other bosses.

88L: Don’t argue, haha, otherwise it’s going to turn into a power-scaling war again. But I really think it might not be Tianshi. The fact that this person managed to hang on the wanted list for so many years means their concealment ability must be super strong. Not being caught might not be because their combat power is hard to handle, otherwise the commotion from several fights couldn’t have been hidden. I guess it might be that an information-type boss who specializes in tracking finally found some news.

Zhan Yan finally deciphered it halfway through reading. What was all that creepy talk at the beginning… it made it so he didn’t even guess that the one being lusted after by this group of people was actually Xiao Gu.

What “deeply desire,” what “always lusted after him,” what “even a tiny scrap of news is fine”…

Yikes!

Even knowing that they were actually lusting after the quest rewards, he still got goosebumps all over!

How could he not forward this post to Boss Deep Shadow?

Zhan Yan cheerfully sent the thread URL to I Just Saved the World!.

He clicked into the hidden section of the quest area for another look. Hmm, the three-party wanted posters at the very top had indeed disappeared. It felt very fulfilling!

At the same time, Deep Shadow’s mega-fan in the Retirees’ Alliance, Zong Xiaoping, also saw this thread. Relying on his special abilities, he had managed to get an identity that allowed him to enter the hidden section.

After reading the thread, he checked the hidden section again, then immediately jumped up and rushed into the Alliance Leader Zhuo Xun’s office.

“Zhuo-ge, this is bad! Boss Deep Shadow has been taken away by the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau!”