Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 55: Happy Little September

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Happy Little September

Leaving the aftermath to the company was beneficial, at least they didn’t need to go to the police station overnight and explain to the officers why they had wrecked the rooftop of the Congyun Hotel.

Fu Ling didn’t bring it up, and Duan Mingyuan didn’t volunteer any information about Mrs. Bai Gu either.

For the sake of the newcomers’ growth, the day after he returned home, he sent them Mrs. Bai Gu’s abilities in the form of a Six-Dimensional Chart.

The efficiency of Universe Company was as high as ever.

After Qian Yun ran away, the company took over the hotel the next day. The plan was to demolish the old mansion of Congyun Hotel and build a commercial center. With that, the Qian Family’s troubles that lasted generations were conclusively drawn to a close. Despite the dissatisfaction expressed by supernatural enthusiasts online, their voices were too weak to stir up any waves of protest.

As for that high-ranking executive in the company high above, he could finally rest easy.

"Extraterrestrials are a bunch of bad news!"

Early that morning, Jiuyue declared her opinion after reading the news, holding a sandwich with egg and toast in her hand.

Duan Mingyuan found that whenever the topic involved Extraterrestrials, the little fox showed great aggression. According to her, the arrival of the Extraterrestrials destroyed the naturally friendly environment, causing the villagers to stop believing in the existence of Auspicious Foxes, and their species had no choice but to move back into the seclusion of deep mountains and forests.

"Why don’t you stay at home when we go on assignments?"

Duan Mingyuan looked up at Jiuyue.

He was very professional and, though he harbored no good feelings towards the Extraterrestrials, he definitely wouldn’t spout nonsense in front of his employer.

But Jiuyue was always frank and seemed to develop a hidden attribute of sassiness once she became familiar.

"No need, work is work, life is life, I can keep them separate,"

Jiuyue responded gleefully.

She had been in a good mood ever since they returned from the Congyun Hotel.

Mr. Mingyuan also had issues with the Extraterrestrials; what could be more delightful in the world than that?

Humming a tune, wagging her tail, she barely stopped herself from saying in front of him, "Mr. Mingyuan, you wouldn’t want others to know you’ve killed an Extraterrestrial, would you?"

Duan Mingyuan closed his notebook, which contained his latest evaluation of comrades Yang Ping and Tang Qianqian.

After the battle at Congyun Hotel, Yang Ping’s Life Energy had reached an astonishing 12, and just as he had predicted, he had begun to explore the edges of his Ability.

The activation condition was solving problems: using scattered clues to predict the imminent doom that was bound to happen at a future point in time.

It was all very fitting for a high school student from Yunlong City No.1 Middle School, still having to solve problems even when using his Ability.

As for Comrade Tang Qianqian, while her Life Energy remained at 2, she proved she was not a useless Adou, displaying a flexible mind at critical moments.

From a learning perspective, she might be the type whose grades aren’t great now, but who would suddenly improve dramatically once she caught on.

Then there was the significant insight brought by Mrs. Bai Gu and Qian Yun in the academic field.

Abilities had no direct correlation with malevolent forms; with proper methods, humans could also possess these potentials, and at a certain stage, even pass them on through some means.

The loss of these methods was very likely related to the Extraterrestrials.

Hence, Fu Ling’s position became particularly delicate.

The focus of the Life Science Department’s research was to unearth these lost pieces of knowledge, which was clearly at odds with the company’s strategy.

Based on his four years of working experience, if the higher-ups had given explicit instructions, not even a hundred times the courage would allow a department head to contradict them.

Therefore, Duan Mingyuan considered another possibility.

For instance, using this as an excuse to gather all the remnants with such knowledge together, to eliminate them all at once.

The recent increase in malevolent activities was not a good sign for Universe Company; the very things they had striven to suppress were showing signs of resurgence.

Duan Mingyuan massaged his forehead, having been sitting in front of the coffee table all morning.

Beside his notebook lay the "Yang Ping Full-Employee Promotion Assessment Standards (Trial)", marking a pioneering move as Yunlong City’s first official employee.

Yang Ping also wanted to make a push, but with the monthly exams approaching, he had to prioritize his studies, or else any decline in his grades would lead his parents to impose a series of unfair agreements upon him.

Jiuyue faced the same problem.

The Red-eyed Demon had to defend her position as top of her class. Although Qian Yun was temporarily staying at her provided accommodation, Universe Company was scouring Yunlong City under the guise of "debt tallying". It was obvious to anyone with common sense that the high-ranking executive above wanted to silence her.

Thus, the forces of good and evil in Yunlong City declared a truce due to Yunlong City No.1 Middle School’s upcoming monthly exam.

The incident at Congyun Hotel also served as a sufficient warning to Wangxu, and their activities temporarily ceased.

Seeing Duan Mingyuan stretch with a yawn, Jiuyue promptly stood behind him and began massaging his shoulders.

This was also recorded in the "Auspicious Fox Cultivation Notes," the result of countless real-world experiences summarized by her father.

"Jiuyue."

"Hmm?"

"You... Why have you been so happy lately?"

Duan Mingyuan was about to speak but changed his mind at the last moment. He had to admit that Jiuyue fulfilled her role as an assistant perfectly, although it was somewhat... demoralizing.

The feeling of having someone massage your shoulders when tired could easily lead to degradation.

Of course, it was a give-and-take relationship.

After getting used to him, Jiuyue would seek him out every night before bed, saying she couldn’t reach her own tail and asking him to help groom it.

This inevitably led Duan Mingyuan to wonder.

If Jiuyue couldn’t reach her tail, how had she managed it before?

"Because I’m happy every day."

Jiuyue smiled radiantly, "Living with Mr. Mingyuan fills my life with joy."

"You shouldn’t speak carelessly like that. It might lead to misunderstandings."

It was a feeling he’d never before experienced, alluring, but his rationality told Duan Mingyuan not to indulge in it too much.

Before he resigned, he had been voted the least suitable person for a relationship in his department for four consecutive years.

Although it was just a private assessment by his colleagues, such things always had a way of reaching the person in question.

It is important to be self-aware. Harboring unrealistic fantasies could easily result in becoming a clown and could turn an otherwise harmonious atmosphere very awkward.

He had personally witnessed how a male colleague in the department, misunderstanding the situation, had prepared a grand romantic gesture with flowers, only to be given a polite rejection amid the blessings of all his colleagues.

Duan Mingyuan was left with an indelible psychological scar from witnessing the entire incident.

If the person receiving the polite rejection had been him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to stay in the office for a second longer. After pondering the incident, he concluded that as long as he maintained a defensive counterattack strategy, he would never fall into such a passive situation.

"I don’t think there’s any misunderstanding."

Jiuyue’s gaze was clear, "Because that’s what I really think. By the way, Mr. Mingyuan, I am Ruihu, and I have many abilities. You’ve never taken the initiative to verify my abilities even though I have been living here for so long."

She had been reading the "Auspicious Fox Cultivation Notes" every day, eager to show off the skills she had learned.

Her goal was singular.

It was to make Mr. Mingyuan even more enthralled with her.

As mentioned in the notes, humans have been venerating Ruihu since ancient times, longing for Ruihu to enter their lives.

"Since you’ve mentioned it, there indeed is something,"

Speaking, Duan Mingyuan took out his phone and opened an app called "Universe Fund." The words "My Investment" instantly steadied his mood.

It was as if he’d entered a monk-like state of serenity.

The rows of numbers on the screen were decidedly green.

He handed the phone to Jiuyue, folded his hands and propped up his chin, then asked in a deep voice, "Can you turn these numbers red?"

"Huh?"

Jiuyue tilted her head, blinking her beautiful big eyes.

This question,

had apparently never been covered in the "Auspicious Fox Cultivation Notes."