As someone in sequence 001, I also want to give up today.

On the other side of the city, in Li Xian's apartment.

Let's rewind to 1 p.m.

Li Xian did not sleep until dark.

After dropping that overly energetic little troublemaker off at school in the morning, he did go home and catch up on a good nap.

I wasn't awakened until noon by the sunlight outside the window (and a little bit of hunger).

After a hearty meal, he collapsed on the sofa, finally experiencing a long-lost sense of peace and quiet that belonged to a single man (ignore the fat orange cat at home).

Then, he remembered the persistent ghost of his manuscript-demanding behavior, Su Qianqian, who haunted him like a nightmare.

And his own novel, titled "Urban Superpowers: The Unemployed God".

"It seems like...it's been almost a week since I last wrote anything?"

Li Xian scratched his messy hair, feeling a rare pang of guilt.

It wasn't that he felt guilty towards the readers (he was used to being a slacker), but mainly because Su Qianqian had come knocking on his door not long ago with the attitude of wanting to skin him alive, and the "food shortage" threat she might have in her hands—his royalties.

After careful calculation, I realized that the royalties from the previous book and my previous savings had been completely depleted in the past few months.

Especially recently, after the addition of the "money-devouring beast" bell (for snacks, new clothes, and daily expenses), it has indeed visibly shrunk.

Although his younger sister Li Yu has a job, Li Xian, no matter how thick-skinned, is too embarrassed to keep asking his sister for money (mainly because he's afraid of being nagged).

Moreover, Li Yu herself works at the Bureau of Supernatural Abilities, so her expenses are probably not small.

"Tsk, it seems that relying solely on past savings and occasional royalties won't be enough."

Li Xian stroked his chin, his gaze drifting out the window, his thoughts beginning to wander.

"How about... finding a part-time job?"

Once this thought came to mind, it was like flipping a switch.

He used to prefer lying down to sitting, but now there's another mouth to feed at home, and a little darling with unlimited potential (meaning he might spend even more money in the future).

It seems we can no longer "arrange" things as we please.

"Isn't my little sister in the Special Abilities Bureau? And a top-tier S-class expert at that..."

Li Xian's eyes lit up slightly.

"Does the bureau have any kind of... easy job that pays well, is close to home, preferably doesn't require clocking in, and you can get paid just by showing up occasionally? With my current '7,800' disguise skills, plus some actual 'methods,' I should be able to get by, right?"

He thought the idea was very promising.

It would solve his economic problems, provide him with a legitimate identity as a cover, and perhaps even give him access to some "insider information," making it easier for him to conceal himself and the bell.

As for the job duties?

Ha ha.

With the [All-Encompassing Power] he currently possesses and a bunch of optimized top-tier abilities, as long as he's not dealing with some kind of apocalypse, he can probably handle most tasks "easily"—of course, in a way that fits his "low-sequence" persona.

"Hmm, I'll ask Xiaoyu when she gets back tonight."

Li Xian made up his mind, and his mood improved slightly.

Next, he finally had a change of heart (mainly because he was afraid that Su Qianqian would come knocking on his door again), and opened the "dusty" laptop to prepare to deal with the manuscript.

Li Xian wrote slowly, but steadily.

He doesn't need to come up with a concept, because the protagonist is, in a way, his idealized embodiment.

All he needs to do is describe in words the lazy routines and clever ways he uses his top-tier superpowers to slack off in his mind.

He even used the [Consciousness Segmentation] technique to directly convert his thoughts into a stream of text.

Although the speed was controlled to be similar to that of a normal person in order to maintain the illusion of "hand-typed".

I wrote on and off for more than two hours, managing to produce over four thousand words.

I checked it over; it's smooth and fluent, with natural humor. It should keep Su Qianqian quiet for a few days.

He saved the document with satisfaction and casually sent it to Su Qianqian's email address, with the note: "Freshly baked, still hot, urge me to download it again."

After doing all this, he stretched and felt like he had accomplished something amazing.

Then, he habitually glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen—

16: 47.

Li Xian froze instantly.

He blinked and looked again.

That's right, 16:47.

4:47 PM.

He remembered clearly that Lingdang's school dismissal time was... 4:30 PM.

"We're doomed."

These two words clearly appeared in Li Xian's mind.

He didn't forget; he was just so engrossed in writing (and daydreaming about finding part-time work) that he completely ignored the passage of time.

Seventeen minutes!

A six-year-old girl was made to wait in vain at the school gate for seventeen minutes!

Instantly, an image flashed in my mind of Lingdang puffing out her little face, looking like a pufferfish, and breathing heavily into the air; she might even have her eyes reddening with grievance.

"Oh no, oh no..."

Li Xian was unusually flustered.

Although he usually teases Bell and teases her, this is the first time he has left her waiting alone for so long.

With that little brat's vengeful and arrogant nature, he's probably going to cause a huge scene tonight.

There's no time for regrets.

Even if you rush there normally, it would take more than 20 minutes, and by then it would be too late. Lingdang would probably be so angry that she would run home (and get lost).

Almost subconsciously, Li Xian thought of the ability he had only acquired a few days ago, but had already mastered to perfection—[Spatial Folding (Optimized Version)].

"Short-distance folding transition"!

In the blink of an eye, a vast amount of spiritual power (which was just a drop in the ocean for him) quietly surged forth.

He located the coordinates of a relatively secluded and deserted alley near the school that he had previously "marked" with his senses.

His mastery of space is exquisite; he can not only fold distances but also, to some extent, blur the spatial fluctuations and light and shadow distortions that may occur during leaps.

This can avoid attracting the attention of ordinary people or low-level superpowered individuals.

The air in the living room rippled slightly, like ripples on the surface of water.

The next moment, Li Xian's figure had vanished without a trace from the sofa.

Only the chubby orange cat remained, lying on the cat tree, and meowed in confusion.

Almost at the same instant, several kilometers away from the apartment, in the shadows of a small alleyway piled with miscellaneous items behind the school, the air also rippled almost imperceptibly.

Li Xian's figure seemed to emerge from an ink painting, shifting from ethereal to tangible, and he stood firmly on the ground.

The entire process was silent and effortless, consuming negligible amounts of mental energy—not even as much as the mental energy he had used to write the novel using his telekinesis.

He quickly straightened his collar, which was slightly disheveled from teleporting (it wasn't actually that messy), and stepped out of the alley.

At the school gate, the flow of people picking up and dropping off students had already thinned out considerably.

Several children who had not yet been picked up were being gently comforted by their caregivers.

Among the group of children, Li Xian spotted that familiar little figure at a glance.

Lingdang, carrying her little schoolbag, stood alone a little distance away from the crowd, not anxiously looking around or crying like the other children.

She simply lowered her head slightly, her small face tense, her golden pupils fixed on the tips of her shoes, her lips pressed into a straight line.

But Li Xian could see clearly that the small bumps that marked the cat ears, beneath her disguise and what appeared to outsiders as just slightly fluffy golden hair, were trembling slightly at an extremely high frequency—a sign of her extremely unstable emotions.

Her small hands, hanging by her sides, quietly clenched into fists.

What made Li Xian's heart skip a beat was that he saw Lingdang's shoulders twitch slightly.

Then, facing the empty air in front of him, he let out a very small but extremely fast "Ha!"

It was a suppressed breath, tinged with grievance, anger, and a touch of helplessness, like a kitten left standing still, too afraid to protest loudly.

Li Xian suddenly felt as if he were... deeply sinful.

He quickly adjusted his expression, adopting the look of someone who had just rushed over (even though he wasn't sweating at all), and strode over.

"Clang!"

He shouted.

The bell suddenly looked up and saw him; its golden pupils instantly flashed with an extremely complex light.

First came a sense of relief, then a burning rage, and finally, all of it turned into resentment.

She didn't move, but stared intently at him, her small fists clenched tighter, her lips pressed together more firmly, her silent accusation almost tangible.

Li Xian walked up to her, squatted down, and tried to make his tone sound as sincere as possible (to him).

"Sorry, Bell, Daddy... I was busy and forgot the time. Have you been waiting long?"

Lingdang remained silent, only staring at him with her large, expressive eyes, her eyes visibly reddening.

I'm so sorry.

Li Xian reached out and ruffled her hair as usual.

But with his hand halfway out, he felt that it might not be appropriate to do this action at this moment, and stopped awkwardly in mid-air.

"Um... as compensation, I'll make you your favorite steamed fish tonight, double the portion, and... crème brûlée, as much as you want. How about that?"

Upon hearing "steamed fish" and "all you can eat pudding," Lingdang's eyes visibly wavered for a moment, but were quickly suppressed by an even stronger anger.

She finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly with suppressed emotion, no longer the usual boisterous or deliberately feigned innocence:

"Old Deng...do you know how worried I was! I thought...I thought you didn't want me anymore!"

The last few words were uttered with a clear sob in his voice.

The sense of relief that Li Xian had felt from the "trouble" vanished instantly, replaced by a strange and bittersweet feeling.

He realized that this was important to the little guy who had lost his original world and whom he had taken in.

Being "forgotten" may not just be the frustration of waiting, but also touches on her deepest unease.

No, it won't.

Li Xian withdrew his hand, his tone becoming much more serious. Although his face still had that lazy look, his eyes, unusually, did not dodge.

"I promised I'd pick you up, and I definitely will. Dad was wrong today; I promise it won't happen again. From now on, I'll set an alarm and wait here half an hour... no, an hour early, okay?"

Lingdang looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

She sniffed and then let out a loud "Ha!" this time, facing Li Xian's face.

"Liar! Big liar! Old Deng, you liar!"

She accused him with a sob in her voice, but her tightly clenched fists loosened slightly.

"Yes, yes, I'm a liar, I'm Old Deng."

Li Xian readily agreed and extended his hand again.

"Well... would the deceived little cat girl be willing to give this unreliable old man a chance to correct his mistakes and atone with delicious food? If we wait any longer, the fresh fish might be sold out."

Bell stared at him for a few more seconds.

It seems they are weighing the pros and cons between "staying angry" and "steamed fish with unlimited pudding".

Ultimately, the food (and the deep-seated dependence on the "old man" in front of him) prevailed.

She gave a loud "humph!" but still placed her little hand into Li Xian's waiting palm, then awkwardly turned her face away.

"...If the fish isn't fresh, or the pudding isn't sweet enough, I'll...I won't talk to you for three days! Ha!"

"Okay, okay, whatever you say."

Li Xian held her small, slightly cold hand, feeling a sense of relief, but also secretly resolved to be more mindful of time in the future.

Raising a child seems to require more "responsibility" than he imagined.

He led Lingdang, who was still sulking but whose steps had unconsciously followed his, away from the school gate.

The setting sun cast long shadows of two people, one large and one small.

"How's school? Is the food in the cafeteria?"

Li Xian tried to change the subject.

"It's awful! There wasn't even pudding! What a fraudulent school! What a fraudulent old man! Ha!"

"Oh...and what about that classmate?"

"On the left is a delusional, delusional girl, and on the right is an arrogant, energy-guzzling idiot! So annoying! Ha!"

"Sounds...quite lively?"

"Not good at all! Ha!"

……

The conversation continued on their way home amidst the bell's sullen "Ha!" and Li Xian's helpless replies.

In Li Xian's mind, besides planning how to use delicious food to completely quell the "public anger" that night, the idea of ​​"asking his sister about part-time jobs at the Supernatural Abilities Bureau" also became clearer.

After all, raising a Sequence 004 cat-eared loli with unlimited potential seems to be more expensive than imagined, and requires a more stable "cover" income.