I had finished eating, and the testing was over.
I took a shower, changed into my dinosaur pajamas, and sat on a bench in the response division office, dazing off.
“Hello, yes, this is the response division… I understand. Please move to a safe area first; we will dispatch an Agent to handle it immediately…”
“Understood… mm-hmm…”
I looked toward the glass-enclosed area. Several people were making and answering calls, and occasionally, an Agent would walk by, give me a curious look, and then hurry back out.
They all seemed so busy.
Then again, I used to be that busy too.
It was only because of these special circumstances that I could temporarily slack off.
As I thought about it, I sat cross-legged and tilted my head back to watch a spider on the ceiling swing from one side to the other. I opened my mouth, waiting for it to make a mistake and fall right in.
However, after waiting for a long time, the spider just wove a large web and never fell.
‘Fine, I guess I’m out of luck today.’
I closed my mouth and looked at the door not far away.
Inside, Lu Xiu was talking to Qu Le, likely about me.
‘I suppose they really care about me.’
‘What a good person.’
I continued to sit there, kicking my legs at the air, when I accidentally kicked someone’s suit-clad leg.
Startled, I looked up.
It was the One-eyed Monster!
The One-eyed Monster who had pointed a gun at my head!
I immediately perked up, stood from my seat, and glared at him warily.
‘If Lu Xiu hadn’t told me not to bite people, I’d definitely gnaw two big holes in him.’
But the man just stared at me. After about one minute, he turned around and sat back down in a nearby cubicle.
‘This guy is so weird; I have no idea what he’s thinking.’
I rubbed the dinosaur nostrils on my hood and sat back down to continue dazing.
The spider on the ceiling had disappeared to who-knows-where, probably to weave a new, large web.
“Abba, abba, abba…”
I opened and closed my mouth, blowing bubbles.
“Oh? Whose child is this? Why are you here?”
Following the voice, I saw a pretty sister crouching beside me.
“Hello.” She waved at me.
“…Uh, hello.”
“How strange. Do you want something tasty?” she asked, pulling a chocolate bar from her pocket and handing it to me.
“Wow! Thank you, you’re a good person.” I took the chocolate bar and chewed it up, wrapper and all.
*Munch, munch, munch.*
It was a little bitter.
The pretty sister’s smile froze on her face. “Eh? Little girl, that paper… you can’t eat the paper…”
“What?”
Seeing how happily I was chewing, she choked on her words. “N-nothing. It’s fine.”
She shifted to another question.
“Where is your adult?”
I pointed the chocolate bar toward the Director’s Office.
“Eh?”
She was clearly stunned.
“Are… are you the Director’s child?”
I shook my head.
“It’s… *munch, munch*… Lu Xiu… *munch, munch*…”
Her eyes widened even further, and she even covered her mouth, looking at me in disbelief.
“Really?!”
“Mm-hmm.”
‘Lu Xiu is my… companion? No, we’re Partners!’
I nodded even more vigorously.
“Holy crap! This is a massive scoop!” She stood up and clutched her mouth, her entire face turning red from the excitement.
*Crunch —*
I stuffed the rest of the chocolate bar into my mouth.
I was still a little hungry.
I really wished 500 apple-flavored Kuyan Fire Villages would appear in front of me right now.
*Click.*
Just then, the door that had been closed for so long finally opened. As soon as Lu Xiu walked out and saw me, his gaze shifted to the woman standing nearby, and he paused.
“C-Captain Lu!”
The woman immediately became nervous, shrinking back like a startled quail.
“Yes.”
Lu Xiu gave a slight nod and glanced at me, seemingly asking what was going on.
I pointed a finger at my mouth, indicating that I didn’t know either.
Finally, the woman sensed the awkward atmosphere, reacted quickly, and made an excuse to leave.
“Lu Xiu, I’m hungry.”
“Hungry, hungry, hungry. Didn’t you just eat a feast? A newly opened buffet has already put us on their blacklist.”
“That’s not my fault. I’m in my growing phase,” I said righteously.
“Seeing as you eat so much, yet you’re still this short and your IQ hasn’t grown… I’m really curious where all that food goes.”
“Power! Everything I eat turns into my mighty power!” I flexed my arm to show off my muscles.
He sighed.
Then, he sat down beside me.
“You’re sitting on my dinosaur tail!” I tugged at my clothes and punched him in the butt.
“Sorry.” He stood back up, and since I was still tugging on my clothes, I lost my balance and almost tumbled off the bench.
“You’re laughing!”
“I’m not… I just thought of something funny…”
I climbed back onto the seat, leaned against the wall, and looked at the ceiling.
“Lu Xiu.”
“What is it?”
“I think I’m a little bored.”
“If you’re bored, you can go study.”
“Then I’ll be even more bored.”
“Then stop being bored,” Lu Xiu grumbled, taking out his phone to play the hajimi song.
We passed the time like that.
Suddenly, a ringtone sounded.
It didn’t come from the glass cubicles or the office desks. I reached out and realized the sound was coming from the little dummy phone watch on my wrist.
‘Eh?’
‘Someone is calling me?’
But I only had Lu Xiu’s contact information saved.
I looked at Lu Xiu.
“Try answering it.”
“Oh, okay.”
I nodded.
I pressed the answer button.
*Beep —*
Lu Xiu and I leaned in.
One second, two seconds…
There was no sound.
“Eh? Is it a wrong number?”
Just as I said that, an incredibly familiar voice came through the watch.
**[Supreme]**
My eyes widened.
It was the voice of that Angel monster!
Instantly, Lu Xiu and I tensed up, holding our breath.
Was this a provocation? A demonstration of power? Or a declaration of war?
Immediately after, her voice rang out again.
“Have you finished considering whether to cooperate with me?”
I looked up and locked eyes with Lu Xiu.
“I do not have much patience left. This is your final choice.”
“Um… how did you get my phone number?”
“Heh, a foolish question. My Heavenly kingdom has millions of followers, including many grotesque demons. Such a trivial matter is insignificant.”
“Now, give me your answer.”
*Click.*
I hung up the phone.
I looked at Lu Xiu.
“Um… what should we do now? The bad guy called us.”
Lu Xiu’s expression was hard to describe. “Let me think for a moment. I’m a bit overwhelmed myself.”
“Okay.”
***
But a moment later, the watch rang again.
It was a brand-new, unknown number, and the watch answered automatically.
“Do you think hanging up on me will let you escape? My patience is very limited — “
The call was cut off again. I simply turned the device off, took off the watch, and stuffed it into Lu Xiu’s hand.
“Here, you can have it. I don’t want it anymore.”
“You sure are decisive.”
He took the watch.
Then, the phone on the nearby desk rang. Immediately after, every phone in the entire office began to ring.
*Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!*
The noise was so loud it was deafening.
“Wow! I’m going to be deafened!” I shouted at Lu Xiu while covering my ears.
As soon as the words left my mouth, all the ringtones emitted a distorted, dying wail and stopped abruptly.
“Eh? It stopped?”
“It’s the response division’s countermeasures.”
Lu Xiu showed no surprise as he stood up.
“The target aberration has been eliminated! The final coordinates have been sent to the database!”
A person opened the glass door and shouted to the office.
*Buzz.*
Lu Xiu’s phone vibrated, but he didn’t take it out. Instead, he looked at me.
“The Heavenly kingdom has moved up its schedule. Sui, we need to speed up your training.”