Chapter 7

In the morning, Xu Qiao caught up on two hours of sleep. After waking up, she felt refreshed, changed her clothes, and went to the living room, where Lu Yang was preparing lunch.

“You should rest. We agreed I’d cook on weekends,” Lu Yang said cautiously through the transparent kitchen sliding door, worried that Xu Qiao would rush in and grab the spatula from him.

Xu Qiao treated Lu Yang like a younger brother, but her 1.8-meter-tall brother could certainly share household chores. So, she was happy to enjoy the meals he prepared.

She leaned on the sofa and turned on her tablet to watch.

Over a hundred years ago, humanity entered a new era in an extremely tragic way. When the four major bases were first established, survivors were busy every day building the new bases and earning enough points to survive, leaving no time for entertainment. It wasn’t until the base constructions were completed and survivors started living relatively stable lives again that industries like film, music, and art re-entered the public eye.

Unlike the old era, the new era’s TV dramas mainly featured ability users. There were inspirational dramas about ability users born into ordinary families striving to succeed, romantic idol dramas about kind, beautiful, and strong ordinary heroines encountering powerful ability users, lavish melodramas showcasing the luxurious lives of high-level ability users, and, of course, many military dramas or heroic battles against alien beasts, which received substantial official support.

Xu Qiao had eclectic tastes; as long as a show was well-made, she would watch it. When there were no good shows, she would even watch beast-slaying dramas.

Recently, a new genre had emerged: human-beast romance.

Lu Yang reopened the sliding door and saw Xu Qiao staring intently at her tablet, her black eyes sparkling, and her face filled with a sweet smile.

Lu Yang brought over the dishes and glanced at the screen.

A giant tiger was sitting on the ground, and the beautiful yet heroic-looking heroine stood in front of it, holding its head with both hands, their foreheads touching.

The distant sunset cast its light, enveloping the tiger and the woman in a soft golden halo.

Lu Yang: “How did such a misleading show pass the review? If you really encountered such a beast outside the base, the heroine would be nothing but bones by now.”

Xu Qiao: “Ability users who dare to fight alien beasts won’t let a TV show make them careless. And those who don’t dare, what’s wrong with them having some fun watching it?”

“Besides, in this show, only this tiger is good. The other alien beasts and insects are depicted very realistically. They even marked it as unsuitable for minors.”

After saying this, Xu Qiao suddenly remembered that Lu Yang was a middle school student and quickly closed her tablet.

Lu Yang: “…”

Soon, a meat dish and a vegetable dish, both generously portioned, were set on the dining table.
—-
Xu Qiao talked about running into an old schoolmate.

Lu Yang: “You still haven’t found a team? Meng Li is so strong, why not ask her?”

Xu Qiao: “She’s very aloof and always keeps to herself. When we graduated and did our practicum, out of the five team members, four exchanged contact info, but she didn’t.”

She had seen two team members ask Meng Li for her contact info, and she had heard Meng Li coldly refuse. So, she and the other team member sensibly didn’t ask.

Lu Yang: “She can be a loner at school, but does she still go out alone for tasks after graduation?”

The simplest mercenary teams usually consist of two combatants and a healer, unless there are special reasons they can’t find teammates.

Xu Qiao: “I’m helping her out of schoolmate loyalty. For things unrelated to healing, she doesn’t want to tell me, and I don’t want to intrude by suggesting we team up and make it seem like I’m expecting something in return.”

Lu Yang: “Then hurry and find a reliable team. The longer you wait to sign up for basic tasks, the more part-time mercenaries there will be, and you might not get a spot on the aircraft.”

Basic tasks rotate every six months. The brave ones do them early, while the cautious ones tend to procrastinate until the deadline.

Lu Yang thought, this would be the last time. After the high school entrance exams, when he awakened his spirit, he could accompany Xu Qiao on her missions, just like their dad.

Xu Qiao was more concerned about finding a team than Lu Yang. After spending another afternoon selecting, she set out early Sunday morning with a small bag.

Lu Yang wanted to go with her, worried she might be mistreated at the mercenary association. He was tall, and others couldn’t tell if he had awakened his spirit, so at least he could intimidate people a bit.

Xu Qiao: “If I need someone to accompany me to the mercenary association, what team does want to recruit a healer like me?”

Mercenaries will work hard to protect the healer in their team, provided that the healer is self-sufficient and not a timid person who relies on teammates for everything.

Lu Yang was at a loss for words.

When Xu Qiao closed the door and walked out of the apartment building, she unexpectedly saw that the new neighbor had placed a wicker chair inside the fence gate of the Lu family’s small courtyard. The morning light was bright and warm. He was lounging comfortably in the chair. Just by looking at his back, she couldn’t tell if he was enjoying the sunlight with his eyes closed or admiring the vibrant life in the small yard.

Xu Qiao instinctively lightened her steps.

As she was about to quietly walk away to avoid disturbing the neighbor’s tranquility, Qin Chi suddenly turned his head from the wide chair back, saw Xu Qiao, and shifted from a reclining to a naturally relaxed sitting position, greeting her with a smile, “Good morning, Miss Xu. Heading out so early?”

Xu Qiao was already accustomed to his polite manner. She smiled back, “Yes, I need to go to the mercenary association. Better to go early to avoid the crowded subway.”

The headquarters of the mercenary association is located in the central district, with four subdivisions in the east, south, west, and north second rings to serve professional or part-time mercenaries in each area.

Mercenaries can accept tasks via their tablets. They usually go to the association to submit tasks, exchange points, purchase weapons, and register or change team members.

The hall on the first floor of the association is spacious and bright, with security personnel maintaining order, so mercenaries also like to recruit new team members or conduct offline transactions there.

Qin Chi had moved in on Friday. Over the past two days, besides interacting with the two young landlords, he had also met other neighbors from the five buildings while walking, shopping, or entering and exiting the building.

Qin Chi dressed meticulously and spoke politely. Ordinary office workers didn’t have much time to socialize with him, but some retired elderly folks enjoyed chatting with him. Among them were “enthusiastic” individuals who voluntarily told him about the Lu and Xu families, including the fact that the Xu family had passed down a lotus spirit for four generations and that Xu Qiao was a C-class healer.

Qin Chi wasn’t very interested in these trivial matters, but he was very patient and always listened to the elderly neighbors with a smile.

Among his neighbors, he paid more attention to the one living across from him, who was also his landlord, than to the other residents. So, he asked with some concern, “Miss Xu, are you going to the association for…?”

The same inquiry can feel intrusive from some people but like casual small talk from others.

From Qin Chi, Xu Qiao felt just the right amount of concern. It didn’t seem like he was prying into her private affairs, nor was it idle chit-chat.

Standing behind the waist-high fence, Xu Qiao said somewhat helplessly, “I’m going to try my luck and see if I can join a reliable mercenary team.”

This matched Qin Chi’s guess.

His gaze moved from the fair-skinned face of his young landlord to the other small courtyard behind her.

Qin Chi was very satisfied with his current living environment. At least for the next two to three years while he recuperated, he hoped to maintain this comfortable situation.
—-
According to base law, residents’ property can only be inherited by direct relatives within three generations and cannot be transferred to other friends or relatives.

If Xu Qiao died during a mission, the adjacent Unit 101 would revert to public property and be sold by the authorities to new buyers. Would the new neighbors make the small courtyard as comfortable?

Qin Chi said, “By the way, I just moved from another base. I haven’t completed any tasks in the past six months and don’t have any teammates. If you don’t mind, could I join you?”

Xu Qiao was surprised: “You, you should be a high-level ability user, right? I’m just a C-class healer, and the teams I can join are all C-class…”

Qin Chi smiled and said, “I’m honored to have caused such a misunderstanding for Miss Xu. I forgot to introduce myself: I’m a C-class Wind and Space ability user, skilled in close combat, long-range attacks, and control.”

Xu Qiao responded happily, “That’s great! With you around, I can join a more excellent team.”

Every space ability user is highly sought after. Someone like Qin Chi could easily join a B-class mercenary team, and with some luck, even a lower-level A-class team would be willing to take him in.

Qin Chi said, “Wait a moment, I’ll go change clothes.”

Xu Qiao nodded and watched him put the rattan chair into his space and then go inside through the gate.

Three minutes later, Qin Chi reappeared at the unit door, wearing a black tactical jacket, black combat pants, and black leather combat boots.

At first sight, Xu Qiao thought her new neighbor had a cold appearance, but his gentle smile and polite demeanor quickly dispelled that impression. Now, seeing Qin Chi in all black, Xu Qiao was reminded of that initial fleeting impression.

Seeing her surprised gaze, Qin Chi’s lips curved into a smile, and his eyes softened again. “I don’t particularly like this style of dressing, but when applying to join a mercenary team, wearing suit pants and a dress shirt might attract unnecessary scrutiny and trouble.”

Xu Qiao replied, “Indeed, dressed like that you look more like a scholar.” And a wealthy heir, she thought.

Qin Chi asked, “Shall we drive?”

Xu Qiao said, “Sure, I’ll take advantage of your ride.”

As they walked to the street, Qin Chi brought out his understated luxury car and slightly bent down to open the passenger door for Xu Qiao.

“Thank you,” Xu Qiao said, awkwardly getting in.

The car had a faint, pleasant fragrance. While Qin Chi was still outside, Xu Qiao quickly scanned the front seat area and found a small box of lightly golden car incense.

Lowering her eyes, Xu Qiao thought to herself, he’s only a C-class but dares to flaunt his wealth like this. Isn’t he afraid of attracting attention from ill-intentioned people?

However, this man didn’t seem like the naïve rich second generation from TV dramas. Perhaps he had some hidden means of protection?

As Qin Chi got into the driver’s seat, Xu Qiao stopped overthinking.

Qin Chi, new to the Southeastern Base and unfamiliar with the area, set the navigation before starting off.

To ease the little landlord’s awkwardness, Qin Chi turned on the car music, asked Xu Qiao about her preferences, and selected random play.

But just listening to music felt awkward, so Xu Qiao tried to start a conversation, “Mr. Qin, have you started working at the Second Military Academy?”

Qin Chi replied, “I’ll officially start tomorrow. Which military academy did you attend?”

Xu Qiao answered, “The Third Military Academy.”

Qin Chi said, “Then you’re impressive. I heard the Third Military Academy is very hard to get into, only the best C-class students can enroll.”

Xu Qiao said, “It’s impressive that you can teach at the Second Academy.”

Qin Chi smiled and said, “To be honest, I have some personal connections with the headmaster of the Second Academy, so…”

Xu Qiao was left speechless.

The heads of the nine military academies were all S-class powerhouses. She knew it, her new neighbor was no ordinary person!

Guessing her thoughts, Qin Chi added, “It’s not a particularly close relationship. Helping me get the job was a favor, but I’ll have to handle the rest on my own.”

Xu Qiao replied, “Yes, I’ve heard that the heads are very busy. For example, at our Third Academy, I’ve only seen Headmaster Dong twice at the opening and graduation ceremonies.”

Qin Chi was about to respond when a voice message popped up on his communication bracelet from Dong Mingliang.

Qin Chi converted the voice message to text.

Dong Mingliang: [You really came to our Southeastern Base? Old Wei just told me, I couldn’t believe it!]

Qin Chi didn’t have time to reply.

Dong Mingliang: [I just got back to school, let’s have lunch together?]

Qin Chi raised his left wrist and replied via voice, “I have something in the morning. If it gets resolved by eleven, we can.”

Dong Mingliang: [What’s the matter? Maybe I can help.]

Qin Chi said, “Just a small thing, no trouble.”

Dong Mingliang: [Alright, let me know if you’re free, don’t forget!]