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

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the face of Li Xian, who was fast asleep.

Li Yu has already taken Lingdang to school.

Li Xian lay in bed, his eyes half-open and half-closed, his mind oscillating between "get up" and "sleep for another five minutes".

Ultimately, "Sleep for five more minutes" won by an overwhelming margin.

He closed his eyes again.

In my drowsy state, my phone vibrated a few times.

Li Xian was too lazy to move.

It shook a few more times.

I'm still too lazy to move.

After shaking for about seven or eight times, it finally stopped.

Li Xian rolled over contentedly, preparing to continue sleeping.

Then--

the phone is ringing.

The ringing was particularly jarring in the quiet bedroom, like a death knell.

Li Xian took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He reached out and touched the phone on the bedside table. Without even looking at the caller ID, he answered the call directly.

"Feed?"

Lin Mo's voice, breaking down, came from the other end of the phone:

"Li Xian!! Why aren't you replying to my messages!!"

Li Xian held the phone a little further away, and only slowly put it back to his ear after the other person finished yelling.

"Just woke up."

Lin Mo was silent for a second.

"...You just woke up?"

"Um."

Do you know what time it is now?

Li Xian glanced at the time.

Nine o'clock.

"good."

Lin Mo fell silent again.

After several seconds, he finally spoke slowly:

"Li Xian, do you know what time I worked overtime until last night? Do you know how many files I went through at headquarters to find information on that old monster? Do you know I was called out for a meeting at six o'clock this morning?"

Li Xian didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"And what about you? You just woke up!!"

Lin Mo's voice was full of accusation.

"I sent you messages last night, and you didn't reply to a single one! I thought something had happened to you! Turns out you were just sleeping!!"

Li Xian waited until he finished speaking before speaking.

"Did you find it?"

Lin Mo: "..."

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

"Found it."

Li Xian hummed in agreement, waiting for him to continue.

Lin Mo began his report.

"That old monster is indeed recorded in the General Administration's files. But there aren't many records."

"The earliest record is from three hundred years ago. It appeared once in the deep mountains of the southwest and was discovered by an S-class that was passing by. The S-class chased it for three days and three nights but still couldn't catch it."

"There were a few more sightings later, but they would only be seen from a distance and then disappear. They never actively provoke humans."

"The most recent record was five years ago."

Lin Mo paused, his tone becoming serious.

Five years ago, it killed a person.

Li Xian raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"An S-rank member of the God Group."

Li Xian was taken aback.

S-rank in the God Group?

Isn't the God Group just God Emperor, one of the S-ranks?

Lin Mo seemed to have guessed his doubts and explained:

"At its peak, the God Group had two S-class members. One was the God Emperor, and the other was codenamed 'Actor,' a space-type individual who was elusive and elusive."

Five years ago, that "Best Actor" must have been out of his mind to go and cause trouble for that old monster. He ended up getting killed and was thoroughly annihilated.

"Since then, the God Group has only one S-rank left."

Li Xian listened and silently noted down this information.

That old monster killed an S-rank member of the God Group.

No wonder it is so sensitive to the "breath of God".

It has dealt with the God Group.

"And then?" he asked.

"And then?" Lin Mo said, "There were no more records after that. After that old monster killed that S-rank, he disappeared again and never showed his face again. Until yesterday."

Li Xian nodded.

"What did the General Administration say?"

Lin Mo sighed.

"What can we say? That old monster has lived for two thousand years, is at the peak of S-rank strength, and is incredibly cunning. It doesn't cause trouble, and yesterday it only came to 'negotiate,' without causing any substantial damage. The General Administration's intention is—forget it, don't pursue it."

Li Xian raised an eyebrow: "Not going to pursue it?"

"We can't catch up even if we try," Lin Mo said helplessly.

"That thing is spatial; who can stop it from running away? Even if we send five or six S-class monsters to surround and kill it, it can just use spatial teleportation and disappear without a trace. And if we push it too far, it might go for a fight to the death, which would be too costly."

He paused, then added, "The headquarters has assessed it and concluded that it has no intention of harming humans. As long as it doesn't cause trouble in the future, let it be."

Li Xian thought about it and felt that it made sense.

That old monster really didn't intend to kill anyone.

It just wanted to find a spiritual plant to prolong its life.

Upon realizing they had gone to the wrong place, they left immediately, without lingering or harming anyone.

This old fox, who has lived for two thousand years, knows better than anyone what he should and shouldn't do.

"Okay," he said. "Then let's do it this way."

Lin Mo hummed in agreement, then suddenly said, "By the way, that 'divine aura' it mentioned..."

"What's wrong?"

"Do you really have it on you?"

Li Xian remained silent for a second.

"Maybe God thought I was too handsome, so He secretly stuck some of His aura on me," he said dismissively.

Lin Mo remained silent for three seconds.

Then he sighed.

"Li Xian, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Don't try to fool me with these kinds of words."

Li Xian didn't speak.

Lin Mo waited a few seconds, but didn't receive a reply, so he sighed again.

"Fine, fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. You know what you're doing anyway."

He paused, and his tone suddenly became melancholy.

"But Li Xian, could you please tell me in advance next time if you have something to do? Don't make me stay up all night researching again! I was playing ranked yesterday and was called to a meeting in the middle of it. Do you know how many stars I lost?"

Li Xian's lips curved slightly.

"I'll definitely do it next time."

"You said you'd definitely do it next time too!"

"This time it's for real."

Lin Mo scoffed, clearly not believing it.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

Li Xian tossed his phone aside and stared at the ceiling for three seconds.

Then he got up and slowly went to wash up.

At 9:30, Li Xian strolled over to the branch office.

The rapid response team's office was completely empty.

Li Xian was taken aback.

What about people?

He glanced at the clock on the wall—9:30, that's right.

It's during working hours, not mealtime.

Why is there no one here?

He walked to his workstation, sat down, turned on his computer, and swiped around a bit.

Nobody came.

He made two more swiping motions.

Still, no one came.

"What's going on?" he muttered, just about to make a call to ask, when he suddenly heard a commotion outside.

The sound seemed to be coming from behind.

The building behind the branch office—a specially made prison cell.

Superpowered individuals are usually used to imprison exotic beasts or criminals.

Li Xian stood up, walked to the window, and looked out.

Then he saw a strange sight.

The entrance to the prison building, which is usually deserted, was now crowded with people.

Xiao Yuan, Lao Zhao, Su Lin, Ci Xian, Wang Tao, Director Zhang, and several unfamiliar logistics staff members all gathered there, craning their necks to look inside.

Li Xian: "..."

He suddenly understood something.

They strolled over slowly.

As I got closer, I heard Xiaoyuan's voice:

"Holy crap, it moved! It moved! Did you guys see that?"

Old Zhao's honest voice: "I saw it, it looks like it's glaring at you."

"Why is it glaring at me? I didn't do anything to it!"

"Maybe you were pointing at it and laughing for a while."

"Then it should be glaring at you! You're laughing even louder than me!"

"I was just going with the flow."

Su Lin said quietly from the side, "Can't you two have a little sympathy? It's so badly injured, and it's still locked in a cage like an exhibit. How pitiful."

Xiao Yuan blinked: "Sister Su Lin, do you feel sorry for it?"

"Of course," Su Lin said earnestly. "Look at its expression, how aggrieved it is. Why not just kill it? This is so humiliating."

Li Xian squeezed through the crowd and finally saw what was inside.

Inside the specially made cell, the lava worm was lying on the ground.

It's worse now than it was yesterday.

Originally, it had lost six limbs, and its carapace, charred black by Chen Zhe, now bore several more transparent cutting marks—the marks left by Li Yu when she reinforced the seal.

The only two movable limbs were curled up on either side of the body.

The enormous mouth was slightly open, and the countless sharp teeth inside were trembling.

The most expressive feature is its eyes.

Those two tiny, bean-sized eyes were filled with—

Wronged.

Yes, I feel wronged.

An S-class alien beast, a behemoth the size of a truck.

At this moment, it was looking at the group of two-legged creatures pointing and whispering at it with an expression that seemed to say, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Little Yuan pointed at it and laughed, and it looked aggrieved.

Old Zhao laughed along, making it feel even more aggrieved.

Su Lin expressed her sympathy for it, but it still felt wronged.

A support staff member took out his phone to take a picture, and it even used its two remaining limbs to hug its head.

That action, translated into plain language, would be roughly:

Stop filming! Stop filming! Don't I have any dignity?!

Li Xian's lips twitched as he watched this scene.

This thing was so impressive when it first appeared.

Emerging from the ground, it kicked up a shower of rubble, its eight segmented limbs cracking the earth, and its open mouth could swallow a small car.

What now?

Locked in a cage as an exhibit, surrounded by a group of B- and C-level humans pointing and whispering, they didn't even have the strength to resist.

Tragic, absolutely tragic.

Wang Tao stood to the side, looking helplessly at his subordinates who were watching the spectacle.

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse, stop crowding around." He waved his hand to shoo people away.

"What's so interesting about it? It's not like we've never seen strange beasts before."

Xiao Yuan turned around: "Boss Wang, this is an S-rank! Our branch hasn't seen a live S-rank beast in decades!"

Wang Tao: "...Now that we've seen it, can we go back?"

"Let's watch a little longer! Let's watch a little longer!"

Wang Tao was speechless.

Director Zhang stood beside him, saying nothing, but a slight smile played on his lips.

Clearly, he didn't really intend to kick people out.

Li Xian leaned against the wall, watching the farce unfold.

The lava worm's gaze swept across the crowd and suddenly landed on him.

The tiny, bean-sized eyes blinked.

Then it recognized it.

This person is the one who stood at the very back yesterday and didn't make a move.

He was also the one who made that terrifying old monster utter the "breath of a god".

A complex emotion flickered in its eyes.

There was a mix of grievance and curiosity, and a mix of curiosity and fear.

Li Xian met its gaze and remained silent for a second.

Then he nodded at it.

That was a way of saying hello.

The lava worm paused for a moment.

Then it did something unexpected.

Its two remaining limbs slowly rose and gestured in front of its chest—if it had a chest at all.

That movement...

It looks like it's waving?

Xiao Yuan exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, it's waving at Brother Xian?!"

Old Zhao was dumbfounded: "An S-class alien beast greeting people?"

Su Lin pondered, "Perhaps it's because Brother Xian has a more approachable demeanor?"

Li Xian: "..."

Friendly my foot.

This thing probably recognized him and is trying to be friendly.

After all, it must have noticed how "polite" that old monster was to it yesterday.

In the world of mythical beasts, those who can command "politeness" from even more powerful beings are those who are not to be trifled with.

It is now locked up and unable to move, its only hope being that this group of people will suddenly decide to dissect and study it.

Seeing Li Xian, an "unapproachable figure," present, it naturally had to show goodwill.

Looking at its clumsy "waving" gesture, Li Xian suddenly felt like laughing.

This thing is quite adept at getting things done.

He waved to it in response.

The lava worm's two tiny, bean-sized eyes lit up instantly.

It lowered its limbs and lay back on the ground, but the insect's overall state was noticeably more relaxed.

It's as if it's saying: This person is paying attention to me, so he won't have me sliced ​​up.

Li Xian: "..."

This bug is really silly.

Director Zhang finally spoke.

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse." He waved them away, "Go do what you're supposed to do, don't get in the way."

After the director spoke, everyone reluctantly dispersed.

Xiao Yuan turned back as she walked, asking, "Director Zhang, what are we going to do with these bugs?"

Director Zhang said, "We'll wait for headquarters to send someone to take it over. Our branch office can't keep an S-class alien beast."

"Can we still watch it before it's sent away?"

"...Yes. But you're not allowed to point fingers anymore."

Xiao Yuan laughed: "Okay!"

The crowd dispersed and returned to their posts.