GRMFBS CH290

There was no need for Zhan Yan to pull his parents into overdrive. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance were only idle for a few days before quickly becoming busy. Zhan Yan was also about to start his internship and wouldn’t be staying at school for much longer.

Nothing went wrong with this internship; both Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng were assigned to Antai Ranch. After booking train tickets together with their classmates, they grabbed their luggage and boarded a train heading north.

Zhan Yan took advantage of his time on the train to consume the experience pack courtesy of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

It had to be said that the codename “Librarian” wasn’t given for nothing; the information Tu Yue provided was concise and clear, making the experience pack exceptionally convenient to consume. Upon learning that Zhan Yan also needed new information in other areas, Tu Yue even bundled together directories related to “abilities” and “affairs” for him.

Tu Yue believed his attitude was so friendly that it would be easy to bring up gossiping later.

The moment he opened his mouth, Zhan Yan remembered.

Back then, it was you who went to my sister for gossip, which led to Xiao Gu losing his vest!

Checking the gossip entries again… Good grief, you even talked to Mom about it!

Fortunately, Xiao Gu and Mom didn’t share a bond forged by three months of mutual hunting, and fortunately, Mom wasn’t particularly interested in eating gossip or in Deep Shadow…

Approaching Science spoke with righteous severity: [Deep Shadow is my friend.]

[I don’t spread my friends’ gossip.]

Tu Yue: …

Is that so? I don’t believe it.

I think you just turn your back on people after taking the benefits.

Yet Tu Yue aggrievedly accepted it.

His parents were just too good at fighting.

Zhan Yan happily began consuming the experience pack, not wasting a single moment of the high-speed rail ride.

Along the way, he even opened the chaofan forum to browse for gossip.

He hadn’t browsed the Water Section for a while. Opening it up to take a look, there wasn’t much fresh news recently; it was still stuck on gossiping about Deep Shadow. Now, Deep Shadow’s image had settled into that of an enigmatic, deep-thinking, decisive, and ruthless big shot who nevertheless clung to his bottom line deep down.

Mm… It was a bit embarrassingly chuunibyou.

The enigmatic big shot had just pulled a bottle of juice out from his bag and handed it over: “Drink?”

Zhan Yan smiled at him: “Sure.”

Xiao Gu wasn’t just “clinging to his bottom line”; he was simply good, so good that no matter what situation he faced, he always wanted to do his best to be a good person.

He was so much better than the embarrassingly cool persona hyped up on the forum!

The very good Xiao Gu flashed eight bright white teeth at Zhan Yan. Seeing that Zhan Yan was resting, he lowered his head to play on his phone.

The private inbox in the background began flashing again.

Clicking inside to take a look—

I Just Saved the World!: [Is there still no news on the Monster Doctor?]

[Did you get injured last time when looking up Di Ting’s single horn?]

[Tell me if you need any medicine or props.]

[Or is your ability insufficient and needs an upgrade?]

[Your ability is very strong, but don’t stall.]

[Tell me if you need anything.]

Zhan Yan: …It would just be better if this drive to strive wasn’t directed toward him.

The inbox received another message. This time, the sender was Luowang.

Zhan Yan spaced out while replying to Gu Jiancheng’s message.

Luowang hadn’t logged into the forum much for a while, leaving Zhan Yan missing a person to share gossip with. But it wasn’t a big deal; the gossip he had been eating lately was all related to himself.

Now that he and Dad had mutually dropped their vests, the Wan Yao Alliance certainly wouldn’t send him missions through Luowang anymore.

Approaching Science: [Thanks, but if I push any harder, I’ll turn into a Swiss roll.]

Exiting the chat interface with I Just Saved the World!, he clicked open his private messages with Luowang.

Look, look, Luowang was here to relax and eat melon with him.

Living in this world required a balance between work and rest. How great was that!

Luowang: [I haven’t been here in a while. How come the forum is filled with Deep Shadow fan creations as soon as I open it?]

[They’re actually pretty good.]

Luowang shared a few links with him.

Zhan Yan clicked open to look; some were artwork and some were fanfics. They were indeed pretty good. He forwarded them to ‘I Just Saved the World!’

Approaching Science: [Proper rest and balancing work with play leads to higher efficiency.]

Zhan Yan stole a glance at Gu Jiancheng.

A moment later, he saw the corners of Gu Jiancheng’s mouth and eyes twitch a few times.

Satisfied, Zhan Yan continued eating melon with Luowang.

Approaching Science: [Once news of the collaboration between the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance leaks out in a while, the content in the Water Section should change to a new batch.]

The fight between his parents belonged to high-end gossip; both major organizations kept it well-hidden, so most people had no idea such a thing had happened. Deep collaboration between the two major organizations had only just begun, and word hadn’t spread yet.

Zhan Yan did manage to catch a related thread in the Chat Section. The original poster was very sharp, stating that the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance seemed to be collaborating more closely recently.

However, not many people replied, and those who did carried a lazy, indifferent vibe.

“Haven’t these two organizations always been breaking up and getting back together, squabbling constantly?”

“Is the OP a newcomer? We’re all used to it. They’ve always been on good terms one moment and at odds the next.”

“Just like a bickering couple.”

…

The gossip Luowang brought was from the recent collaborative affairs between the Wan Yao Alliance and the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

This was a case handled jointly by both sides. The case itself was quite simple: an octopus demon took human form and lived among mortals, only to accidentally get corrupted by all sorts of human inventions designed for slacking off and enjoying life. Unable to endure a life without money after being corrupted, the octopus demon came up with a genius idea: he first bought a high-payout insurance policy for himself, then staged an accident that led to his own amputation, allowing him to claim a massive payout from the insurance company.

The octopus demon lived happily in human society by committing insurance fraud; whenever he ran out of money, he would sever a limb to defraud them again. After all, octopus limbs could regenerate.

With technology so advanced nowadays, obtaining a problem-free identity wasn’t that easy. The octopus demon was reluctant to change identities every time he severed a limb, so he went from severing an arm to a leg, from arms to legs, section by section, fully utilizing every single human limb.

The octopus demon even felt it was a pity—why did humans only have four limbs? Their octopuses had eight tentacles, twice as many as humans. Sigh, humans really are inferior.

After paying out several claims on him, the insurance company suspected the octopus demon of insurance fraud.

They didn’t expect something as bizarre as a demon committing insurance fraud. They suspected it through normal logic:

What kind of person ends up with severed limbs section by section like slicing lotus roots? This client was either paying off immense bad karma from a past life by suffering a miserable fate in this one, or he was a ruthless pervert willing to amputate himself for money.

The insurance company’s investigator possessed great professional integrity. Earning a high salary, he responsibly and professionally began investigating and tailing the octopus demon.

Outdoors, the octopus demon was already using a wheelchair, yet he insisted on living alone, wanting neither a nanny nor a caretaker. How strange! Judging by his spending habits, he was clearly a person who loved luxury.

The professional investigator secretly snuck into the residential community where the octopus demon lived, harboring suspicions. When he snuck into the octopus demon’s apartment, he witnessed a terrifying scene through the window.

Their client, who was left with only upper arms and thighs and had to travel in a specially made wheelchair, extended several squirming tentacles from his body. They helped him move around, brought him drinks, sliced fruit for him… immensely convenient and nimble.

On the spot, the professional investigator lost a massive amount of Sanity points from this horrifying scene.

Realizing someone was in his home, the octopus demon used his tentacles to carry himself over.

The investigator witnessed an unforgettable scene:

A giant, wet, slimy tentacle supported a man with four severed limbs as he approached him.

The investigator let out a bloodcurdling scream and fainted dead on the spot from terror.

And thus, the octopus demon’s deeds were exposed.

Although this incident occurred in human society, the perpetrator was a demon who even had a relative serving in the Wan Yao Alliance.

In the past, the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau would have handled a case like this on their own. But weren’t they supposed to collaborate with the Wan Yao Alliance now? The Wan Yao Alliance had always complained that they meddled too much.

This case was perfect; it involved both human society and the demon race, and the consequences caused by the case weren’t severe. It was well-suited for members on both sides to work through their friction, serving as a stepping stone for deep collaboration in the future.

Members of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau felt quite miserable about it. For such a trivial matter, they used to wrap it up quickly by themselves in the past; with the Wan Yao Alliance stepping in, the explanations and discussions more than doubled, adding a huge amount of extra workload for no reason.

Members of the Wan Yao Alliance also felt quite miserable about it. They used to ignore things like this entirely. The demon race was loose and free; who spent their days caring about what crimes others committed? Besides, they didn’t really understand how human society operated. Things like “insurance,” “policy,” “policyholder,” and “beneficiary”—such a messy mess that was so hard to remember… These things couldn’t be eaten and didn’t aid in cultivation, so why did they have to learn this stuff…

Both sides found the collaboration quite painful.

The upside was that it indeed strengthened mutual understanding and tolerance.

The Wan Yao Alliance no longer felt the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau meddled too much. Wasn’t it great to let the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau handle such troublesome matters?

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, on the other hand, derived pleasure from tormenting… no, from teaching that group of demons in the Wan Yao Alliance. Free and loose? Heh heh, before managing affairs, enjoy the grind humans go through from primary school to adulthood with all those exams first!

Zhan Yan was quite satisfied looking at the feedback from the gossip entries. Look, wasn’t camaraderie being built right here?

Following this trend, collaboration between the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance would get better and better, no new conflicts or issues would arise between Mom and Dad, old troubles would be resolved bit by bit… Everything would get better and better.

While Zhan Yan was happily daydreaming, another private chat interface lit up with a small red dot again.

I Just Saved the World!: [?]

Stealing a glance at classmate Xiao Gu sitting beside him—

Brows slightly furrowed, corners of his mouth pulled down, looking very stern.

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but chuckle secretly.

He was caught immediately.

Thinking Zhan Yan had come across something fun, Gu Jiancheng leaned over and tilted his head to rest against Zhan Yan: “Yan Yan, you’re secretly being happy all by yourself without including me.”

How did I not include you? You’re currently sending me question marks.

The classmates in the same train carriage couldn’t bear to watch, happily chatting and playing on their phones while piling snacks on the small tray tables to eat.

While one side was all sticky and sweet, the other side was bustling and lively. Before long, a small shout came from the lively side: “Hey, Zhan Yan, is this you?”

“You went viral again.”

Mm, mm? Zhan Yan leaned over to look. His classmate’s phone was playing footage of him shooing a falcon, its large wings flapping right above his head.

Zhan Yan: …

Why wasn’t it the majestic sight of him calling the falcon over? Oh right, back then the phone was in the falcon’s talons, so there was no stable third-person perspective footage.

Zhan Yan felt Gu Jiancheng was secretly laughing. He turned his head sharply and sure enough caught the curve of Gu Jiancheng’s lips before he could flatten them in time.

He glared at him.

Gu Jiancheng instantly pulled up the video from the falcon-claw perspective: “Handsome!”

The scenery outside the window flew past, and the carriage was lively and bustling.

The bullet train moved fast, yet the journey felt as though it was moving very slowly.