Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 62: With-the-Grain Skills

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: With-the-Grain Skills

Cultivating new energy.

Duan Mingyuan committed this view to heart. Just as the three were about to dive into a discussion on the topic, the door to the break room burst open.

The towering figure at the door instinctively made Tang Qianqian retreat behind Duan Mingyuan. The pale blue light emanating from the helmet swept over them, and with the cold mech suit standing before them, it was difficult for Tang Qianqian not to conjure some terrifying associations.

For instance, the member of "Long Branch" in front of her could suddenly disappear from sight, followed by a cold and merciless mechanical chorus behind her saying the classic line, "Your curiosity is too great," and then a hand blade would penetrate her chest from behind, leaving a hole in her heart.

"Why are you still here?"

The newcomer demanded sternly of everyone in the break room.

Familiar with such occurrences, both Duan Mingyuan and Tang Qianqian furrowed their brows, while Jiuyue, who had not experienced the trials of the workplace, wore a look of disbelief. "Wasn’t it your boss who told us not to go over there?"

Could it be that this so-called cosmic-level powerhouse had his brain damaged on the battlefield and was suffering from intermittent amnesia?

"The order was for you to stay, and the others to leave."

The personal guard hesitated, then added coldly, "After communicating with Director Fu Ling, the boss has decided to give you a chance to prove your worth. Head to the top floor immediately to investigate the cause of the flying vehicle accident."

"Why should we go just because you tell us to..."

"Let’s go, Jiuyue, this is also part of the job."

Duan Mingyuan patted Jiuyue’s shoulder comfortingly. The little fox was so irritated by the other’s tone that her tail stood on end, looking like she was about to explode.

The thinking of clients is always whimsical and baffling; first, they’ll ask you to buy them a coffee, and when you deliver it, they angrily question why you brought coffee when they wanted beef noodles.

The department Duan Mingyuan had originally been part of regularly dealt with such projects, and they were all too familiar with such scenes.

But just as he had said, there was no need to resort to killing over such trifles.

He never liked to waste time on arguments that were doomed to lead nowhere.

"I happen to be curious about the cause of the flying vehicle’s crash as well."

The personal guard watched as the three left, issuing an ultimatum as they did so, "One hour, you’d better have some substantial progress."

...

"This is infuriating!"

Once inside the elevator, Jiuyue seemed to swell up a bit because of her anger.

She had never had any fondness for extraterrestrials to begin with, and now here was one standing before her, bossing her around. Even though the fault was their own, they shamelessly shifted the blame onto others!

Good fox that she was, she could no longer stand it even for a single day.

It’s utterly despairing when you encounter scum and yet are constrained by the law from killing them.

Jiuyue began to strangely pity the good guys’ camp. Compared to that, villains were much freer.

"Stop being angry. I know of a great steam pot chicken place nearby. I’ll take you there after work,"

Duan Mingyuan gently stroked Jiuyue’s head. Her sharp ears felt the warmth of his hand, and the fluff that had puffed up in anger suddenly smoothed out. The sensation was novel to her, and she instinctively rubbed against the warm palm.

Even though she was still upset when she thought about it, the consoling words of Mr. Mingyuan, along with the promised steam pot chicken, dissipated much of her displeasure.

Tang Qianqian watched the scene enviously.

Although Li Hua at home allowed her to pet and smooth his fur too, his expressions could never match Jiuyue’s richness since their companion spirits could not take human form. The transition from an angry demeanor to one of enjoyment from a petting was truly enviable.

She saw Jiuyue wiggling her head willingly, and by the way her tail moved, one could tell she had become happy.

Li Hua!

When will you be able to transform like Jiuyue!

After coming home at night, Tang Qianqian planned to interrogate the Li Hua cat demon living with her.

"Ding——"

The elevator’s chime interrupted this warm scene, as Tang Qianqian regretfully watched Duan Mingyuan’s palm leave Jiuyue’s head, both stepping out of the elevator one after another.

Suddenly, Jiuyue thought of something and asked, "Mr. Mingyuan, did you often encounter such people at work before?"

"Oh, there were plenty."

Before Duan Mingyuan could speak, Tang Qianqian cut in, "This mechanical clod was still alright, just unpleasant to talk to. Those who like to make trouble, who don’t clarify things, sending you running back and forth four or five times for one issue—really make you want to shove their heads into the computer desk!"

Duan Mingyuan remained noncommittal.

Years of working experience had shown him that although some individuals appear human on the surface, their harmfulness is not much different from evil spirits.

They might be a new form, a new subspecies of evil spirits not yet detected.

He had thought this more than once.

At that moment, Jiuyue gained a new appreciation for Mr. Mingyuan’s broad-mindedness. In such a hostile environment, that Mr. Mingyuan had not turned into a serial killer was an act of immense compassion.

For her, this discovery was also splendid.

The broader the chest, the more stable it felt to rest upon it.

Three solemn-faced workers approached the frozen flying vehicle; the previous conversation reminded Tang Qianqian of those contacts who nearly drove her mad, Jiuyue thought of the chicken stew waiting for her that evening and how she had to find a way to test Mr. Mingyuan’s broad chest after getting home.

Only Duan Mingyuan took his duties seriously.

This was the best opportunity to understand the Night Disaster. "Tang Qianqian, listen carefully, the flying vehicle started smoking and catching fire above the clouds. If this was caused by the Night Disaster’s ability, what does that indicate?"

"It indicates they’re damn lucky, how come they didn’t fall to their deaths... Ah, that’s not right!"

Distracted, Tang Qianqian accidentally voiced her true thoughts. She nervously glanced around and seeing no one, she heaved a sigh of relief and said, "It indicates that the Night Disaster’s ability has a very long range, and deserves an A-grade rating."

"Correct answer."

Duan Mingyuan nodded in satisfaction. It seemed Tang Qianqian had studied carefully the "Six Criteria for Barrier Assessment" he had proposed during the past few days at home. Although she couldn’t detail every aspect of the ability, she was able to quickly assess the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses through the Six-Dimensional Chart.

But this was by no means good news. The ability to control disasters and kill was highly lethal; so far, no one had escaped the pursuit of a disaster. Even Mr. Da Jiang had returned to the battlefield only after his death, by exploiting a bug.

If we add an A-grade range to it, then it means the Night Disaster could fully initiate the ability from several blocks away without showing themselves.

An ability perfect for assassination, combining destructive power, stealth, and range.

What puzzled Duan Mingyuan even more was that at the time of the flying vehicle’s crash, he had not detected any significant Life Energy fluctuations.

As he pondered, a member of the security department emerged from inside the flying vehicle. Seeing the three of them below the ice stairs, the worker asked, "What are you doing here?"

Duan Mingyuan responded, "Mr. Bai Kou entrusted us to come here to assist in investigating the cause of the flying vehicle accident. Have you discovered anything?"

"It’s unclear; the flying vehicle’s program shows everything is normal. The smoke and flames seem to appear out of nowhere."

"Appear out of nowhere?"

Duan Mingyuan was slightly startled; this answer was a far cry from what he had imagined, "It’s not due to a screw suddenly failing, or a sudden glitch in the program?"

The security personnel stated definitively, "Impossible. We conducted a comprehensive check of the flying vehicle, all data is normal. The smoking and the fire just appeared out of thin air."