On the Ark.

Is that kind of thing worth worrying about?

"well enough."

"Then it's up to you." Mephistopheles shrugged, folded the handkerchief neatly, and put it in his pocket. "I can always find someone else. That child is indeed very suitable for us."

"Will it be used as a bomb?"

“With that kind of fusion rate, even if you were to make a bomb, it would be the best bomb ever,” Mephisto said with a smile.

W glanced at Mephisto: "What about Rhodes Island?"

"It's just a pharmaceutical company," Mephistopheles said indifferently. "Even if it has some military force, so what? We can just kill as many organizations as there are that betray their own people for survival."

……

……

Author's note: Thirty-one chapters still owed.

Chapter 155 An Invitation from a Rich Woman (3K)

After a whole day of twists and turns, Lin Ye finally arrived at the cigarette shop just as the mall was about to close. At that moment, he felt like Tang Sanzang returning from his pilgrimage, having endured so many hardships and finally achieved enlightenment... But thinking about it carefully, the "hardships" he encountered today seemed to be all his own doing, having provoked demons and monsters, so he couldn't blame anyone else.

Fortunately, it's all over now. He just needs to buy the cigarettes and finish what ACE asked him to do, then he can go home, wash up, and go to sleep. From now on, even if he has nothing to do, he will never go out shopping alone again. The most suitable place for a homebody is indeed his own warm bed.

As Lin Ye stood in front of the shop, overwhelmed with emotion, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"I'm not going to back down with you! That damned old hag, I'll never let her get away with this. All she does is target me, slander me, and give me the cold shoulder, as if I've offended her. What have I done? All I did was try to take over the Guard Bureau from her..."

Lin Ye turned his head expressionlessly and saw Shi Huaiya, who had been arguing with Chen at the police station just a few hours ago, walking up behind him and making a phone call. She then saw Lin Ye and was slightly taken aback.

"Hey, what are you doing here, you good-for-nothing?"

At this moment, Lin Ye thought to himself, "Well, it seems the ordeal isn't over yet."

……

"Looking to buy cigarettes?" Swire looked at the shop in front of her, thought for a moment, and said, "The cigarettes sold in this shop are pretty average. I suggest you go to a better-end one. By the way, do you smoke?"

Lin Ye shook his head: "I don't smoke, it's a gift for a friend."

Shouldn't you give your best when gifting to a friend?

"No, it wasn't a gift for a friend," Lin Ye changed his tune. "My friend asked me to buy it for him, and he specifically asked me to buy it from this store."

"Oh, I see." Swire nodded. "Did you just have dinner with Chen?"

The topic jumped so quickly that it took Lin Ye two seconds to react: "Yeah, that's right."

"That breakfast shop across the street?"

"Hmm, how did you know?"

“Tsk, that’s the kind of place she loves to go to.” Swire shrugged. “She’s so stingy, you don’t even need to guess.”

"I think that place is pretty good," Lin Ye said. "The steamed buns are delicious too."

Swire glanced sideways at Lin Ye: "That gossip isn't here, so you don't need to keep speaking up for her behind her back, do you?"

"I wasn't speaking up for her; I genuinely think that store is great."

“That must be because you haven’t been to any good places,” Swire asked. “Where are you from? Where were you from before Rhodes Island?”

Lin Ye thought for a moment and replied, "Chernobyl."

"Chernobyl, it's such a small place, no wonder. Once you've been to the most upscale places, you won't like those dirty little restaurants anymore."

Lin Ye turned to look at Shi Huaiya.

For some reason, even though Swire's words sounded quite pretentious—in other novels, those who say such obnoxious things usually only survive a few chapters as silly rich kids—coming from Swire's mouth didn't feel out of place at all. Such pretentious words sounded as ordinary as "I think red isn't as pretty as blue" coming from her. It was as if she genuinely thought the most upscale places were better than shabby little restaurants, without any disdain, just stating the facts, which made Lin Ye feel strange.

“It seems that just talking won’t convince you,” Swire shook her head and said, “I have to let you experience it for yourself.”

"Uh, no need, I'm quite convinced."

“How can that be? Only through practice can one gain true knowledge. That’s something a great man once said.” Swire seemed to remember something and began rummaging through her backpack. “Although you started this whole thing, your intentions were good. It’s just that you mistook someone for someone else. As a result, not only did I beat you up, but you were also dragged to the Guard Bureau and wasted so much time. It’s only now that you can come here to buy cigarettes. Thinking about it carefully, it was my fault. In that case… here you go.”

As she spoke, Swire pulled two tickets out of her backpack and waved them in front of Lin Ye: "These are tickets to a stage play that someone gave me, for tomorrow night, two VIP boxes. You can have them."

"No need," Lin Ye said, not taking it.

"Tsk, you still won't forgive me?" Swire sighed. "I've already apologized to you, don't be so petty."

"No, it's really not necessary. And you don't need to apologize to me; it was my fault to begin with," Lin Ye said. "I don't watch stage plays much, and I don't have anyone to go with me anyway; all my colleagues are working."

"Huh?" Swire tilted her head, quite surprised, and said, "Why would you want to go see a stage play like this with your colleagues? Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"

"...I don't have a girlfriend."

"What? I think you're in your twenties too. Still no girlfriend in your twenties? That's so lame, you loser." Swire said with a click of her tongue.

Lin Ye felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest. Sure enough, this guy was the last obstacle on his way to buy cigarettes.

Swire noticed the change in Lin Ye's expression and chuckled, "Alright, alright, just kidding. You don't seem like a rigid person. Since that's the case..." She took back one ticket, "Then I'll give you one."

Lin Ye was completely baffled by Swire's thought process: "It's even more impossible for me to go alone."

"Who said you were going to go alone?" Swire rolled her eyes. "This young lady... this superintendent will go with you, okay?"

"Huh?" Lin Ye was stunned. "Why?"

"There's no need for so many questions. Consider this an apology." Swire placed the ticket in Lin Ye's hand. "And thank you for not complaining about me today. Actually, if you had complained about me as Chen said, it would have been very troublesome for me too."

Lin Ye was both amused and exasperated: "But this really isn't necessary. It's a small matter to begin with."

Swire pointed to the tickets in Lin Ye's hand: "It really is a small matter, it's a small matter. Also, let's go for coffee after the play, it's on me. As a way of repaying me, next time you meet Chen, you must tell her that I treated you to dinner, especially to explain where I treated you. Let that gossip understand that taking someone to a high-end restaurant is basic etiquette."

Swire said this with a hint of smugness.

Lin Ye was utterly speechless at Swire: "You did this for nothing?"

"Okay, that's enough." Swire waved her hand, preparing to leave. "If I had to say something more, although I beat you up, after thinking about it carefully, you don't seem to be that deserving of a beating, haha."

After saying that, Swire turned and left, her long tail swaying in Lin Ye's eyes.

Lin Ye held the stage play tickets that Swire had given him, and he didn't know what to say.

"Oh, right." Swire seemed to remember something and turned to look at Lin Ye, "When you buy cigarettes, mention my name and you can get a discount."

"why?"

Swire shrugged: "Duh, of course it's because my family owns this shopping mall."

Lin Ye: "..."

……

An hour later, Lin Ye returned to his room.

ACE was sitting by the window with her back to him, holding a book in her left hand and a can of beer in her right. She turned around after hearing the door open, and looked at Lin Ye with a smile: "You've been away for quite a while, haven't you? Are you that nostalgic for the nightlife of Lungmen?"

Lin Ye sighed and sat on the bed: "I don't know if I'll miss Lungmen's nightlife, but I certainly miss Lungmen's Guard Bureau."

"Oh?" ACE turned his chair around. "What do you mean?"

"I've had a lot of bad luck today, I don't even know where to begin, but here, take this first." Lin Ye handed the cigarettes he had bought to ACE.

ACE took it and glanced at it, saying with some surprise, "Why is it this brand? I remember this brand of cigarettes isn't cheap, why did you buy so many? The money I gave you isn't enough, is it?"

“That’s enough, there’s even a little left.” Lin Ye handed back the remaining Lungmen Dollars. “Here you go.”

"...How did you do that?" ACE opened the cigarette pack and sniffed it. "This isn't a fake."

"Of course it's not fake. I bought it from the store you told me to go to," Lin Ye said. "The owner just gave me a discount."

"Tsk, such a big discount, does the boss's daughter have taken a liking to you?" ACE asked with a smile.

"...It's not the owner of the tobacco shop, but the daughter of the shopping mall owner. It's impossible for her to be interested in me, but it does seem a bit troublesome."

Then Lin Ye told ACE about what had happened that night. ACE listened as if it were a story, and then laughed out loud.

"As expected of you, Lin Ye." ACE gave Lin Ye a thumbs up. "Your popularity with women is probably better than all the men on Rhodes Island combined."

"Is this what you call being popular with women? I got beaten up today, and then locked up for half a day."

“But you also received a great reward, didn’t you?” ACE said with a smile.

"I don't think there's any great reward," Lin Ye said irritably. "I just feel unlucky."

"Tsk, they really don't know how lucky they are."

Lin Ye was speechless at ACE.

"So, are you planning to go tomorrow night?" ACE asked.

"I don't know, but I feel bad about refusing."

"It's hard to refuse, so go ahead. Besides, Rhodes Island needs to maintain good relations with Lungmen anyway. If Kal'tsit or Amiya were here, they would encourage you to go."

"The way you put it, I feel like I'm from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

“You can take on a side job,” ACE said. “But before that, you need to do your job well. There’s also a woman who’s been waiting for you for a long time.”

Lin Ye was taken aback: "Who?"

Before ACE could speak, there was a knock on the door.

"Lin Ye, Lin Ye! Has Lin Ye come back yet?"

That's Ifrit's voice.

……

……

Author's Note: Let me talk about updates and paying off debts. It's actually quite simple. Previously, I was updating twice a day, each chapter containing 4,000 words. Any updates beyond that were considered paying off debts. However, I found writing three chapters a bit troublesome, so I increased the word count per chapter. During this debt-paying period, each chapter is 3,000 words, so two updates would be 6,000 words, equivalent to three regular updates. Therefore, every night after the second 3,000-word chapter, I counted one chapter as a debt-paying update. You should be able to see this when you buy chapters: 2,000-word chapters cost 10 coins, and 3,000-word chapters cost 15 coins. So, I've been consistently paying off debts lately, not just using regular updates to get by. That's all.

Chapter 156 The So-Called Adult (3K) (30 chapters owed)

Lin Ye opened the door and saw Ifrit standing in front of it, her face full of anger.

Before he could speak, Ifrit interrupted, "I've been looking for you all day, why are you only just getting back?"

"Huh?" Lin Ye was a little confused. "I went out because I had something to do. Why did you look for me? You've been looking for me all day. Didn't you know to call me?"