The strongest intermediary in all realms

Zhou Ming was awakened by a loud "bang".

He jolted awake and sat up in his chair, only to find Gulu huddled on the windowsill, shivering, the light emanating from her crystal body dimmed by half.

And pressed tightly against his office window was a flattened, wet face.

A bird's face.

To be precise, it was a white crane, about the size of an adult golden retriever, pressing its chest and belly firmly against the glass, flapping its wings, sticking itself out of the window like a crane-shaped pancake.

The crane was carrying a letter in its beak, the envelope half-soaked with its saliva, and the words "To Mr. Zhou of Yorozuya" were faintly visible on it.

Zhou Ming and the crane pasted on the window stared at each other through the glass for a full five seconds.

Then the crane tapped on the glass with its beak, making a "clang, clang" sound. The bird's expression was one of righteous indignation, as if to say, "Open the window and let me in."

Zhou Ming walked over and opened the window. The crane immediately loosened its grip on the glass and plunged into the office with a thud. Its wings knocked over a stack of papers on the table, and its tail swept over Gulu's little nest on the windowsill.

Gulu screamed and jumped onto Zhou Ming's shoulder, curling up into a ball, its transparent belly heaving violently.

The crane struggled to its feet, shook off its feathers (spraying Zhou Ming's face with water droplets), then spat the wet letter from its beak onto the table. It then used its beak to straighten the feathers on its collar, striking a pose as if it were a majestic messenger bird, its neck held high.

Zhou Ming wiped the water off his face and looked down at the letter.

The handwriting on the envelope was elegant and flowing, the ink blurred by the saliva, but still barely legible. He opened the envelope and pulled out the inner page; a line of text was written on it:

"Young friend Zhou, it is a pleasure to meet you: I have long heard of the strange tales and anecdotes of the Oddities House, and I yearn to experience them. However, due to my advanced age and declining health, I am unable to travel to Blue Star in person. Therefore, I have dispatched my unworthy disciple to do so on my behalf—that foolish crane you see before you. I have recently acquired a young beast cub with a body that glows with golden light. It looks quite like a cat, but its appetite is astonishing. It needs five catties of spirit rice, three koi carp, and a dish of snow lotus from the Frost Realm mixed with honey as a snack every day."

"I cannot afford to raise this cat myself. I have heard that you possess great supernatural powers and can take on the business of fostering cats in other worlds. I wonder if you would be willing to take on this task? If so, I can send a crane to deliver the cat immediately. The reward is a copy of my treasured 'Wandering the Four Seas Map,' which can randomly locate the coordinates of ten unexplored planes. I hope you will grant my request. — Elder of the Outer Gate of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, Crane Elder."

Zhou Ming read the letter twice, then looked up at the crane that was still holding its neck high. The crane stared at him with an expression that said, "My master said you would definitely take me in."

"Your master... sent you to deliver this letter personally? You flew here yourself?"

The crane gave a haughty "caw" and shook its wings, as if to say, "What else?"

"When did you arrive?"

The crane tilted its head and thought for a moment, then tapped the table three times with its beak before pointing out the window—three feathers were stuck to the glass, trembling slightly in the wind.

"You flew here last night? And waited outside the window all night?"

The crane cawed again, its tail feathers slightly raised. Its expression, translated into human language, was probably something like, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, you lazybones, you only got up when the sun was high in the sky."

Zhou Ming rubbed his temples. He had been busy until 2 a.m. last night and hadn't gone to sleep at all, completely unaware that a crane had been waiting outside his window all night.

The bird stood in the cold wind all night, its face pressed against the glass as it watched him sleep soundly. Thinking about it now, the scene was both funny and a little embarrassing.

"Alright, I accept the letter." He patted the crane's back. "Go back and tell your master that I'll take this job. Send me that 'golden cat with an amazing appetite' he mentioned, and I'll raise it."

After receiving the reply, the crane immediately turned and rushed towards the window, but it forgot that it was indoors and not outdoors. With a "bang," the crane's head hit the top of the window frame, and the whole bird curled up into a ball of white feathers and bounced back from the edge of the window, falling to the floor and twitching its legs a couple of times.

Zhou Ming quickly went over and helped it up. The crane shook its head, its tiny eyes filled with a look of utterly shattered pride. It shook the feathers on its neck, readjusted its posture, and with great restraint, gracefully slipped out of the window opening.

Before taking flight, it pecked at the windowsill three times with its beak, as if expressing its resentment that it would never return.

Zhou Ming stood by the window watching the white crane wobble and fly away. He finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. Gu Lu chirped twice on his shoulder, as if it was also laughing at the silly bird.

Xiao Qi floated out of the system, her twin ponytails trembling with laughter: "So the outer sect elder of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion in the Heavenly Evolution Realm wants to hire you as a nanny? Five catties of spirit rice a day, three koi fish, and a dish of snow lotus honey as snacks? That golden cat must be a money-devouring beast."

"Not bad," Zhou Ming folded the letter and put it away. "The reward is the 'Wandering the Four Seas Map,' containing the coordinates of ten unexplored planes. This was provided by an elder of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, so its quality is guaranteed. The coordinates of ten new planes are enough for me to more than double my business radius."

He opened his notebook and added a line under the "Tianyan Realm · Tianji Pavilion" section: "Golden Cat Care Services Available."

Around noon, there was a knock on the office door. Zhou Ming opened the door, and the sight outside stunned him.

A thin old man in a gray Taoist robe stood at the door, with a cage about one meter tall made of Phoebe zhennan wood on the ground beside him.

Inside the cage was a small, golden animal, curled up asleep, its belly heaving.

The problem was that the old man was followed by six disciples in green robes, each carrying a large, heavy cloth bag.

"Excuse me," the old man said with a smile, "Young friend Zhou? This is the little thing mentioned in the letter, and also—" He pointed to the cloth bags in the hands of his six disciples.

"This is its food supply for the next three months. Five catties of spirit rice a day, three koi carp a day, and a dish of snow lotus honey a day. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to buy it all at once, so I've sent you a three-month supply."

Zhou Ming's eye twitched. Three months' worth of food! Carried by six men! He stepped aside, saying, "...Please come in, please come in."

Six disciples filed in and stacked six large cloth bags in the corner of the office, filling the room so much that there was only a narrow gap for walking.

When the golden cat was released from its cage, it slowly woke up and stretched out a huge yawn—its body stretched from the size of a fist to the size of a basketball, its golden fur shimmering with tiny sparkles, its ears pointed, and its tail fluffy like a handful of dandelions.

It strolled around the office with elegant cat-like steps, then stopped in front of Gulu's window, tilting its head to look at the crystal salamander that had shrunk into a transparent ball.

With a soft purr, the golden cat stretched out its paw and gently patted the edge of the windowsill. Then it turned around, walked to Zhou Ming's leg, rubbed against his trouser leg, and began to purr loudly—as loud as a small diesel engine.

The old crane watched this scene with a smile: "Its name is Jinbao. It's very well-behaved, but it eats a lot. I'm too old to keep it."

He handed over a yellowed scroll. "This is the promised 'Map of Wandering the Four Seas,' which contains the coordinates of ten unexplored planes. I collected them by chance during my many years of travels, but I haven't verified them in person. I'm giving them to you, young friend, for your exploration."

Zhou Ming took the scroll and weighed it in his hand. The old man's smile carried an air of certainty that "you definitely won't lose out on this deal."

"Thank you, Elder He Weng," Zhou Ming said, clasping his hands in a fist salute. "You can rest assured with Jinbao here. If you wish to take him back in three months, you can send him back anytime."

The old crane waved his hand and left with his six disciples. The crane didn't follow, probably still upset about hitting the window frame that morning.

After the office door closed, Zhou Ming stood amidst the bags scattered on the floor, looking at the purring golden cat beside his legs and the curled-up Gulu on the windowsill, remaining silent for several seconds.

"So now I have a newt that eats pure air and a cat that eats five catties of spirit rice, three koi fish, and snow lotus honey every day," he told Xiaoqi. "My office is practically a zoo."

Xiao Qi was already laughing so hard she was practically floating in mid-air: "You also took on the guidance mission for the Ocean Plane, the assessment and tutoring for the Celestial Evolution Realm, the musical rift for Shen Qinglan, the energy research for Plane Twelve, and now you've added raising Jinbao—boss, your to-do list is longer than my system log!"

Zhou Ming looked down at Jinbao, who was looking up at him. Jinbao's golden cat eyes reflected his own image. Gulu peeked out from the windowsill and looked down, meeting Jinbao's gaze. The two little animals stared at each other for five seconds.

Then Jinbao let out a soft "meow" and a gurgling "squeak," and the two little guys reached some kind of strange peace agreement.

Zhou Ming sighed, but the corners of his mouth curved up. He squatted down and stroked Jinbao's head. The golden fur felt warm and smooth to the touch, like a piece of flowing liquid metal.

"Alright, Jinbao, you're under my control from now on. Five catties of spirit rice a day, right? Let me see how long those six bags will last."

He stood up and unrolled the scroll of the "Wandering the World" painting, laying it on the table. Inside the scroll was a star map in ink wash style, with ten red dots marked in different directions, and a note written in tiny characters next to each red dot.

The third red dot is marked with "This world may contain rare mineral veins", the fifth reads "The creatures in this plane are all vegetarian and docile", and the seventh is noted as "Suspected to be a higher plane, proceed with caution".

Ten new dimensions. Each could be a completely new source of customers, a new channel for supplies, or even a new ally.

Zhou Ming carefully rolled up the scroll and put it in the drawer, where it became a neighbor to the Green Wave Sword, the Blue Crystal Ball, the Spare Box, and the Bronze Plaque.

The drawer is now crammed full, and when you close it, you can hear the crisp sound of the items inside colliding with each other.

He dusted off his hands and looked out the window. The afternoon sun warmed the sycamore-lined road, and the west side of the city was calm in the distance. It seemed that the purgers had not yet recovered.

Jinbao rolled over at his feet, revealing his golden belly hair.

Gulu jumped down from the windowsill, landed on Jinbao's belly and bounced twice, and the two little things rolled into a ball.

Looking down at the strange and wonderful things in the room, Zhou Ming suddenly realized that the scope of his "everything shop" had deviated from its original plan. But it didn't seem to be a bad thing.

"Xiao Qi," he began, "give me a schedule for the next week. Jinbao's meals can't be interrupted, the preliminary exploration of the ocean plane needs to be done, Fang Xiaotang's assessment tutoring case needs to be prepared, the stability of the crack on Shen Qinglan's side needs to be monitored, and at least one of the ten new coordinates on the Cloud Wandering Four Seas Map needs to be explored."

Xiao Qi floated in mid-air, her hands forming a seal on the light screen, quickly listing the to-do list.

The entire screen was filled with a dense list of task entries. She turned to look at Zhou Ming with a scrunched-up, childlike face.

"Boss, are you sure you're alone?"

"That's the current situation."

"Then I suggest you find a helper."

Zhou Ming leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. He really needed someone who could handle his daily tasks.

Chen Jianguo has to take care of his family, Lin Xiaowan has an internship at the Administration Bureau, Xu Ling has to attend classes and practice martial arts, and Fang Xiaotang is preparing for her assessment.

None of the people he's dealing with right now can help him manage the company full-time.

"Let's put this aside for now," he said. "We'll talk about it when we meet the right person."

Jinbao rolled over and continued snoring, while Gulu lay asleep on its golden belly. The two little creatures mingled together in the afternoon sunlight, forming a halo of light.

Zhou Ming tidied up the scattered documents on the table, turned to a new page in his notebook, and wrote at the top:

"Hiring."

He paused for a moment, then added another line below:

"Prerequisites: Able to withstand a crane's close-up touch, a golden cat's voracious appetite, a transparent newt's affectionate gestures, and the possibility of strange clients appearing at any moment."

He closed the notebook; the sunlight streaming through the window was just right.