This meal was eaten in relative peace.
Even though Bai Yu ate very slowly because he was not accustomed to eating various foods that required chewing, Long Chixuan patiently waited for him, though his eyes held a trace of obscure scrutiny.
Bai Yu did not notice the other person’s gaze, simply chewing every mouthful of food earnestly and enjoying the sensation of the food being broken down in his mouth.
Swallowing the final bite of roasted meat, Bai Yu let out a satisfied sigh inwardly, picked up the glass of plain water provided by the restaurant to wash down the food, and cast his gaze back toward Long Chixuan, who was watching him.
“Finished eating?” Long Chixuan asked with a light laugh. He had put his face covering back on, but the spirited look in his eyes still clearly betrayed his teasing.
Feeling somewhat awkward, Bai Yu felt his cheeks heat up slightly, yet he maintained a placid exterior, nodded slowly, and said, “Thank you.”
Long Chixuan said nothing more, simply giving Bai Yu a deep look before standing up from his stool and turning to walk outside.
Seeing this, Bai Yu hurriedly stood up and gave chase.
He prepared to ask Long Chixuan where they were heading next, and whether they were going to handle his identity documentation. Right then, however, the other person suddenly halted and raised the holographic bracelet on his left wrist.
Bai Yu stopped in his tracks as well, looking toward the other’s holographic bracelet. Yet the signal light on the bracelet merely flickered, with no holographic projection popping up. He found it rather strange, though he was certain Long Chixuan was looking at something.
Sure enough, the next second the other person confirmed his guess: Long Chixuan’s expression suddenly turned solemn, as if he had just acquired some major news.
A jolt of shock went through Bai Yu’s heart, and a bad premonition surfaced.
Long Chixuan glanced swiftly over the encrypted information on the holographic projection visible only to him, then quickly closed it. In just a fraction of a second, he resumed his calm and collected composure.
Dropping his hand, he turned sideways to look at Bai Yu, who was frowning slightly. Before Bai Yu could speak, the other asked in a somewhat heavy tone, “What happened?”
Long Chixuan looked deeply at Bai Yu, a smile returning to his eyes as he simply said, “Let’s go get your identity documentation sorted out first.”
Seeing Long Chixuan return to his usual expression, Bai Yu experienced another flash of astonishment. Was the information the other person received that he couldn’t see actually not that important? Right now, the other was still able to spare time to help him process his identification, even though the solemn expression that had flashed across the other’s face moments ago was no illusion.
“You…” Bai Yu trailed off, hesitating on how to phrase his inquiry. Yet if he were to proactively suggest that they could postpone the ID processing for now, he couldn’t bring himself to do it either, because he dared not guarantee whether missing this chance would leave him with any other opportunities to quickly establish a foothold in this dream world.
Noticing Bai Yu’s conflicted expression, Long Chixuan merely gave a light laugh and said, “I promised you. Let’s go.”
Bai Yu was momentarily stunned, a subtle feeling welling up in his heart. Never before had he felt such a sense of goodwill from this mysterious person. Though he didn’t know whether the attitude the other displayed was genuine or hiding some purpose, it struck right at the center of his current needs.
Having said that, Long Chixuan turned around and continued walking outside. Snapping back to his senses, Bai Yu hurriedly followed, staying about half a step behind him.
“Where are we going to process it?” he asked, quickly suppressing the rising thoughts in his mind.
Long Chixuan only replied, “You’ll know in a moment.”
Bai Yu stopped asking and fell silent.
True to Long Chixuan’s word, a moment really meant a moment. Walking for less than five minutes, they cut through a small alley not far from the restaurant they had just exited, walked straight ahead, made a left turn out of the alley, and saw a gray-blue building standing opposite the pedestrian walkway. It was five floors high, with large red characters embedded across the very top reading Civil Administration Bureau Service Office, while the electronic screen at the first-floor entrance scrolled with the words Documentation Hall, followed by a string of precautions regarding mutated creature attacks.
Outside the service office was a small plaza with a national flag erected. On the left side near the perimeter wall stood several billboards plastered with defense measures against mutated creature attacks, as well as key points for ling pollution disposal and ling infection treatment.
Seeing this government agency that bore the exact temperament of the apocalyptic reality, Bai Yu felt a momentary sense of disorientation. If there was anything particularly different, it was perhaps that the architecture here was somewhat mottled; the walls, which should have been gray-blue, were stained a long-aged yellow, and the first-floor walls bore numerous scarred dents and impact marks, with dried blood or unknown black substances smeared across them.
Long Chixuan glanced sideways at Bai Yu, then took the lead, crossing the zebra crossing toward the entrance of the service office, which had a barricade gate pulled across it.
Bai Yu snapped out of it, reined in his inner shock, and hurried after him.
Realizing that this place for processing identification documents was located just a short distance from the restaurant where they had eaten, he felt once more as though he had been played by this mysterious person. When he thought the other was bringing him to handle ID papers, the other took him to eat instead; and when he thought the other was simply taking him out for a meal, the ID processing office happened to be right nearby, yet the other hadn’t bothered to explain it proactively.
Frowning slightly as he stared at Long Chixuan’s back, Bai Yu curled his lips and let out a sigh.
Fine. Since this man was currently his meal ticket and shelter, as long as the other was happy, so be it.
Entering the service office gates, Long Chixuan led Bai Yu toward the documentation hall on the first floor. Once inside, a staff member quickly rushed over to greet them.
Bai Yu heard Long Chixuan utter something resembling a secret code, after which the staff member became even more respectful, pulling together a haggard expression to cautiously receive Long Chixuan as a client.
Watching from the side, Bai Yu felt secretly alarmed, growing increasingly certain that this mysterious person possessed immense capabilities. This certainty solidified further when he subsequently followed the other through smooth, unobstructed procedures to record his identity information, acquiring a basic-model holographic bracelet distributed free by the government, capable of meeting basic living needs, in less than half an hour.
Whether in reality or in this alternate world, he was not naive enough to think that obtaining an identity was an easy matter.
Yet settling this matter had taken less than an hour, and he had formally known this mysterious person for less than half a day. In that brief span of time, the other had already arranged everything in meticulous order.
This mysterious person was a vagrant, but undoubtedly a vagrant standing at the very peak of the pyramid.
Bai Yu took the holographic bracelet from the staff member, handled it cautiously, slipped it onto his left wrist, and fastened the clasp securely.
“Let’s add a communication code,” Long Chixuan said suddenly.
Bai Yu looked up at the other in a daze for a moment before asking nervously, “How… how do we add it?”
He felt a twinge of guilt right then, because he had no clue how to operate the holographic bracelet of this alternate world. It might function similarly to the one in reality, but in front of this mysterious person, he didn’t have much opportunity to fumble around and figure it out.
Even so, matters had reached this point; revealing a bit more of his hand in front of this man didn’t seem like a big deal anymore, since the other practically knew everything anyway.
Yet Long Chixuan showed no major reaction to Bai Yu’s guilty tension, simply saying, “Your ID code is your communication code. Of course, you can also apply for a separate communication code; after all, using your ID code as a communication code is something only intimately related people should know.”
Hearing this, Bai Yu let out a soft ah. He hadn’t expected the communication codes in this alternate world to work this way. Before he could ask how to apply for a separate code, however, the mysterious person slowly leaned in closer. At that instant, Bai Yu even caught the faint, cold fragrance of traditional Chinese medicine lingering around the other.
The next moment, the other decisively grabbed his left wrist, tapping his right fingertips across the holographic bracelet to pop up a holographic projection screen. After a few quick operations, the other released his left wrist, gently brought his own holographic bracelet close, and with a soft beep, Bai Yu’s projection page flashed a notification that the communication code had been successfully added.
The whole thing took less than half a minute, leaving Bai Yu to watch helplessly as this mysterious person operated his holographic bracelet and added the communication code corresponding to his ID number.
He didn’t think there was any intimate relationship between them warranting the use of his ID number as a communication code; rather, he knew very well that the other did this primarily for better surveillance.
Thinking of this, Bai Yu felt a mix of anger and helplessness. Relying on this mysterious person always meant coming up short!
“I’ve pinned my communication code to the top for you. Contact me directly if anything comes up, and I’ll transfer some money over to you in a bit.”
Hearing this, the lingering frustration scurrying through Bai Yu’s heart instantly plummeted, unable to bare its fangs any longer. What else could he do? Even if the other wanted to monitor him, the other was handing over sweet carrots at the same time, treating him so well and even giving him money to spend!
What an absolute, ultimate good guy!
Yet this emotional surge lasted for barely a moment before Bai Yu’s mind grew calm and rational once more, pondering how to secure a footing of equal dialogue with this mysterious person as much as possible.
“Thank you,” he said, looking at Long Chixuan with a sincere tone. “Consider it borrowed from you first; I’ll pay you back later.”
Long Chixuan merely grunted indifferently, seeming entirely unconcerned about the money. He tapped a few times on his popped-up holographic projection, and a second later, Bai Yu’s holographic bracelet chimed.
“Ten thousand yuan has been deposited into your default bound personal account. Please check it in time.”
Hearing the transfer notification left Bai Yu momentarily dazed. When this mysterious person spent money, he really transferred it.
Back when they ate earlier, that meal had been quite sumptuous with both vegetables and meat included, yet it cost less than a hundred yuan. Inflation here was much better than in reality, making a transfer of ten thousand yuan a considerable sum of money.
He truly hadn’t expected this mysterious person to make such a generous move right off the bat.
“镇上，现在我是你的债主了,” the mysterious person said suddenly.
Bai Yu froze once more, feeling that phrasing sounded rather odd. He knew the mysterious person was his creditor, but hearing the other emphasize it again gave the words a completely different flavor.
This sense of bizarreness, however, lasted for less than a second before Bai Yu realized instantly: this mysterious person was definitely doing it on purpose!
The other wanted to use debt to bind him deeply!
Moreover, the other had also taken his ID-linked communication code, the intent behind that was self-evident!
To think he had trusted the other so much just a moment ago!
Bai Yu felt an instant wave of regret, inwardly condemning himself for letting a single meal wash away his vigilance and guard against this mysterious person. When all was said and done, though, the other’s heart was simply too dark!
Observing Bai Yu’s cold, alternating facial expressions, Long Chixuan suppressed his inner amusement and couldn’t help smiling.
Without saying anything further, he left Bai Yu to stew in his own dilemma.
Turning around, he continued walking outside the documentation hall. Snapping back to his senses, Bai Yu hurried to follow.
However, rushing out to catch up to Long Chixuan in his haste, Bai Yu nearly collided with a citizen walking inward. He dodged hurriedly, brushing past the person by a hair’s breadth.
Just as he was still recovering from the shock, someone grabbed him firmly by the arm, and a harsh voice pierced his ears: “Is it you?”
Hearing this, Bai Yu gave a violent start, his pupils contracting sharply. Turning his head to look at the man who had grabbed him beside him, whose face was ferocious, cruel, and heavy with murderous aura, looking like a man drenched in blood, who else could it be but the fierce-looking middle-aged man who had dragged him off for testing and locked him up right after he time-traveled?
Bai Yu’s heart instantly leaped into his throat. Damn it, why is my luck this terrible?!
He had thought that once his identity was sorted out, his fortunes would finally change for the better!