Buy a house? Yun Tutu had never dared to dream of that before, but after selling off more than half of her gold, she could now consider herself somewhat wealthy.

Wait a minute, the houses in this first-tier city aren’t something a fresh graduate like her can afford. The property regulations here? She doesn’t meet any of them.

“I have the money, but I can’t buy a house,” Yun Tutu sighed in frustration, feeling the annoyance of having money but being unable to spend it.

“That’s true,” Song Song confirmed after pulling up some relevant information. “If it doesn’t work out, you could move to another city. There are many places without purchasing restrictions, and with all the people coming and going here, I have to spend energy each time I find an unmonitored spot.”

Even though that energy consumption was minimal, there is a saying that goes, “no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat.”

Yun Tutu looked around her cramped room. “But where could I buy a house?”

“You could return to your hometown. Although it’s just a county-level city, now that you have savings and future income streams, you can live comfortably there with no pressure,” Song Song couldn’t understand why so many humans liked to crowd into one place. A regular house here could easily get you a mansion in a smaller city.

Yun Tutu was momentarily tempted. If she bought a house back home, her grandparents and parents could all move in, and they wouldn’t have to deal with the constant drama of neighbors. But that wouldn’t work either—without that daily interaction, her grandparents would be bored.

In their old neighborhood, although everyone liked to gossip, they were long-time colleagues who genuinely helped each other out when needed. Her feelings about the old community were complicated. She had experienced kindness during her illness, but it didn’t stop people from talking behind her back.

Life was tough!

“You’re not a child anymore,” Song Song teased. “You’ve already proven you can live just fine on your own.”

“You don’t understand,” Yun Tutu replied, carefully arranging the items she had brought back on the table. “This is a society built on relationships. Even if I wanted to, my elders might not agree.”

“And more importantly, do you think I can talk about the kind of work I’m doing?” Yun Tutuogently stroked the bronze sword on the table. “My family would definitely know something’s up—this is all unaccounted income.”

Song Song was momentarily stumped.

“And what about these items? How could I even sell them?” Yun Tutu carefully cradled the jade ornaments in her hands. “You think something that made it into the hands of the First Emperor is ordinary?”

“These aren’t like the gold ingots,” she continued. “If I take one of these out, I’ll be pulled in for investigation.”

“… No need to be so pessimistic. Didn’t you already sell the gold without issue?” Song Song reminded her.

“That’s because it was all handled within this world,” Yun Tutu countered. “Are you saying you could transfer these items to another dimension?”

“… No, I can’t do that.” Transferring between dimensions would consume massive amounts of energy, and Song Song wasn’t capable of that at the moment.

Yun Tutu tapped her fingers on the table. “Then we need to talk. There are going to be many missions in the future, and if we keep ending up with items I can’t sell, am I supposed to bury them in the ground?”

“… That’s not out of the question,” Song Song muttered.

“And what about my payment?” Yun Tutu asked. “Would you compensate me for these?”

“How could I? I don’t have that kind of money.” Song Song was starting to panic. It had barely made any profit from the earlier transactions, and now Yun Tutu seemed like she was going to demand more.

“What am I supposed to do with these items? If someone finds them, I’ll be in serious trouble.”

Song Song felt like it was about to crash—how was it supposed to know what to do?

“I mean it,” Yun Tutu pressed on. “There are some things I won’t be able to handle on my own if this continues. If I encounter any strange missions, I won’t be able to complete them. After all, I’m just an ordinary person.”

“… I won’t accept missions that can’t be completed,” Song Song replied defensively.

“Do you even believe that yourself?” Yun Tutu shot back. “What about this last time? You almost got me killed.”

“…” Song Song was silent for a long while before finally asking, “So what’s your solution?”

“I need a protector, and a powerful one at that.”

Initially, Yun Tutu had only considered the idea vaguely, but now she had made up her mind. If Song Song didn’t agree, she would simply refuse to cooperate further.

“A protector? You mean an ally?” Song Song wasn’t thrilled by the idea. The more people who knew about it, the less control it would have. It preferred keeping things between the two of them, where it could maintain secrecy.

“If one person knows, it’s a secret. If two people know, it’s bound to get out.”

“You won’t always have what others need, and sending one person versus sending two takes significantly more energy—I can’t handle that right now.”

Yun Tutu smirked. “Who said I was talking about working with another person?”

“Wait… I think I get what you mean. But aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

“I’m not worried. I’m confident that our country wouldn’t hurt one of its citizens.”

“You’re really sure?” Song Song had suspected Yun Tutu had been considering this for a while, but now it seemed she was dead serious.

“I’m sure.” Yun Tutu stared at the items on the table, lost in thought. “Because I’m afraid the next batch of stuff I bring back will be uncontrollable, and I won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

Song Song remained silent. That was a valid concern.

After a long pause, Song Song finally said, “Alright, I’ll make contact.”

It had realized that constantly being on edge was no way to operate. Perhaps it was time to take a gamble.

If things went well, gathering energy might become easier. If not, it could always use up its remaining energy and continue wandering the multiverse.

“Wait, let me take photos first. It’ll add credibility.” Yun Tutu quickly grabbed her phone. “Send these along with the message.”

She felt the items sitting in her small apartment were a ticking time bomb. If they got damaged, she wouldn’t be able to repay their worth, even if she sold everything she owned.

“All the pictures?” Song Song still didn’t understand these humans—one moment, they acted like scheming merchants, and the next, they were willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

“Send them all,” Yun Tutu said, before closing her eyes refusing to look, fearing that she would feel heartbroken.