Li Qiang curled his lip resentfully and muttered, “Just a joke,” before turning to walk away.
The others also dispersed, though occasional curious or mocking glances still flickered his way.
He Denghong lowered his head, masking the awkwardness on his face. He endured the strange discomfort—his body felt as if it were falling apart, a sensation synchronized with burning pain and the feeling of shattering. He gripped the fiber bag again and continued clearing the construction waste in silence.
Every time he bent down, every time he dragged a heavy bag, it pulled at the pain emanating from his clone, along with a massive wave of mental exhaustion.
Meanwhile, at the Yulin City Branch of the Public Aid Society, outside the D-class unit of the living building.
Sui Luowen blinked her clear blue eyes, which featured a Lo Shu Square pattern.
She looked at the charred and broken He Jiulu before her. He Jiulu was still faintly emitting wisps of green smoke while making movements as if he were dragging something. She then recalled the words of the Crimson Rabbit and He Jiulu’s earlier agitated reaction.
She seemed to understand something, yet she did not fully grasp it.
She simply stood there quietly, showing no emotion despite He Jiulu’s sudden shouting and bizarre behavior.
The Crimson Rabbit, perched on a researcher’s shoulder, blinked its button eyes.
“Remember, both of you are to be on standby at all times—Sui Luowen, come with me first. I need to tell you some rules and common knowledge. After all, you are now the official employee number two of our Yulin City Branch!”
He Denghong continued to bury his head in his work, trying his best to ignore the occasional gazes from his surroundings.
Although Li Qiang did not mock him directly again, his ambiguous stares remained uncomfortable.
The afternoon work hours grew exceptionally long. During every break, He Denghong wanted nothing more than to fall asleep instantly, but he was always shouted back to work by the foreman.
Finally, at sunset, the work ended. The foreman, Old Zhang, settled the day’s wages for everyone.
Only when he held that thin stack of bills did He Denghong feel like he was finally grasping something real.
“Kid,” Old Zhang called out to him separately during the payout, his tone softer than it had been during the day. “If you’re not feeling well, don’t force it. Who’s to blame if something actually happens? Are you coming back tomorrow?”
He Denghong gripped the money and nodded. “I’m coming, Brother Zhang. Today… thank you.”
Old Zhang waved him off. “Fine, just get back quickly. Your face still looks terrible.”
He Denghong pushed his battered bicycle and walked back with heavy steps.
The setting sun stretched his shadow long. The city’s neon lights flickered on one by one, yet they could not reach the chaos in his heart.
Returning to his small, quiet apartment, he closed the door, shutting out the noise of the outside world.
He glanced at his clone, He Jiulu, who was standing quietly in the corner. He had controlled her to fly back through the window earlier. A sense of indescribable absurdity and exhaustion flooded his heart simultaneously.
He and she collapsed onto the bed at the same time, their sighs perfectly synchronized.
His phone vibrated; it was a message from the Crimson Rabbit.
[Zhi-gu~ Today’s work summary: Successfully sealed the ‘Anomalous Object’ Heart-Eating Worm Ginseng Fruit (archived) and repatriated the ‘Anomaly’ individual ‘Zhenyuanzi’ (suspected to be from a cultivation realm).]
[Eshu ‘He Jiulu’ sustained minor injuries; ‘Sui Luowen’ was unharmed. Reward: None. Tip: Keep your phone line open; the time for the next mission is unknown. P.S. Your new teammate is very quiet. Not bad, right?]
He Denghong and He Jiulu looked at the screen at the same time, their eye-rolls perfectly synchronized.
No reward. He had risked his life, almost been shattered by lightning, crushed, or parasitically transformed.
The result was just ‘minor injuries’ and a ‘no reward’ notice. Surely it was impossible for things to get even worse in the future?
He put his phone down and stared at the ceiling.
A hero? A savior? He touched the meager wages in his pocket.
At this moment, he was just an exhausted eighteen-year-old youth who needed to worry about tomorrow’s food and rent.
And his other self was a twelve-year-old girl in a military uniform, possessing eerie powers and constantly prepared to fight supernatural monsters.
Life was poor, the universe was vast, and his daily routine was completely split in two—bizarre, yet damnably grounded in reality.
Outside the window, the lights of Yulin City were beginning to glow. The Public Aid Society branch, composed of living cubes, operated silently in the night. No outsider knew of the horror and mystery within.
In the shadows of the city, perhaps new ‘Anomalies,’ ‘Anomalous Objects,’ or ‘Anomalous Zones’ were quietly penetrating.
Later, he almost mechanically heated some simple food and ate it in silence.
He controlled He Jiulu to sit on an old chair in the corner of the room while he collapsed on the bed, reflexively picking up his phone to check the news.
Sure enough, there were scattered reports of the midday commotion in the park, but most were vague, citing a ‘sudden mass mental breakdown incident’ or a ‘possible unidentified gas leak.’
The accompanying videos were heavily pixelated, making it impossible to see any details.
However, clearer versions were circulating in WeChat and QQ groups with sensationalist titles—
“Magical Girl vs. Creepy Old Man in the Park!”
“Cultivator Priest Goes Mad on Site, Passersby Eat Human-Finger Fruit!”
But the range of dissemination seemed limited by some invisible force, failing to become a large-scale trending topic.
‘It seems the Public Aid Society or the powers above have already begun to intervene…’ He Denghong and He Jiulu murmured simultaneously.
Just then, an emergency news notification popped up in the top corner of his phone screen and the corner of He Jiulu’s vision at the same time. It was from the national television station.
[At seven o’clock this evening, the Evening News will broadcast an important announcement regarding national security and the public’s right to know. All citizens are requested to tune in on time.]
Similar notifications appeared on everyone’s electronic devices across the country at nearly the same time.
A strange premonition seized He Denghong, and he immediately opened the live stream of the Evening News on his phone.
At seven o’clock sharp, after the familiar news intro music, the expressions of the two anchors were more serious than ever before.
“Good evening, viewers.”
“The main content of today’s program includes: The state has announced the establishment of a brand-new functional department, the ‘General Administration for Public Anomaly Affairs and Cosmic Overlap Response,’ abbreviated as the ‘Public Aid Society.'”
“Please see the following detailed report.”
The screen switched. The first thing to appear was the Public Aid Society branch in the center of Yulin City, composed of massive living cubes. The camera showcased its grandeur and eeriness from various angles.
Immediately after, the scene switched rapidly to show wonders in other major cities around the globe—
A massive clock tower composed of countless gears and light wings suspended over New York; a ring-shaped mountain covered in moss and runic monoliths rising from beneath London.
A vermilion giant tower surrounded by neon lights and torii gates that appeared out of nowhere in Tokyo Bay… Every building defied common logic and radiated an inhuman aura.
“It is reported,” the anchor’s voice-over sounded steady.
“The ‘Public Aid Society’ is not a local Earth institution, but a multi-universe joint organization established by a friendly civilization from a sub-universe closely linked to ours, known as the ‘Consciousness World.'”