The only things that could truly scare 0695 were the boss and the cancellation of vacation. The three hooligans shouting and yelling, besides eliciting a feeling of disgust, didn’t pose the slightest threat to him.

“Then what should we do?” Ding Yi looked at them indifferently, seemingly unfazed by their anger. “Unhappy?”

“Do you want to fight? It’ll save us a trip.”

“Cough cough, say less.”

0695 hadn’t expected her to exude such an unapproachable aura, but her mouth was genuinely something else.

“There’s no favoritism in the New World, let alone going through the back door.” 0695 stated flatly.

“If you have any objections, you can raise them. After verification, if what you say doesn’t align with the facts, then you’re engaging in slander and will be subject to additional punishment.”

Black Bear subtly tugged at the stubble-faced man’s sleeve and said in a low voice, “Boss, forget it, they’re probably all in the same gang.”

0695 was very unhappy with this statement and was about to retort when he heard Ding Yi interject, “Oh, you figured it out.”

“Anyway, it’s just the five of us here now, or we can lock you up again, until…” Ding Yi paused, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

“Ten minutes before you enter the instance?” she finished.

0695 looked at the gentle and seemingly harmless smile on her face, and alarm bells rang wildly in his mind.

Damn it!

He felt like he was seeing the boss’s shadow superimposed on Ding Yi!

“Don’t talk nonsense,” 0695 snapped, trying to regain control of the situation.

Ding Yi merely shrugged innocently.

0695’s head throbbed even more. He just wanted to escort her away quickly, but he still had to deal with the stubble-faced man who continued to shout. “Do you want to raise an objection?” 0695 asked, his tone sharp.

“Of course!” Although the stubble-faced man’s lips were pale with residual fear, his mouth remained stubbornly defiant. “But I don’t want you to handle it. Call, call someone who can actually speak with authority!”

0695’s face hardened. He had merely been extending a professional courtesy, but they were clearly mistaking his politeness for weakness.

They were simply courting death.

“We don’t want to,” the other two thugs mumbled, genuinely scared and no longer caring about saving face. They retreated slightly, shaking their heads vehemently.

“You two good-for-nothings!” the stubble-faced man roared at his retreating companions.

“Okay, I’ll report your request right away—” 0695 began, his tone dangerously even.

“Wait!” The stubble-faced man, who had been operating purely on anger and bravado, wasn’t foolish. Seeing 0695 take his demand seriously, he immediately backtracked. “Forget it, I won’t bother arguing with a woman.”

“Ah, but I’ve already reported it,” 0695 said expressionlessly. “Let’s go. Someone who can speak asked me to bring you all over.”

The words “someone who can speak” were heavily emphasized. The top light of the light screen projected a blue beam once again, solidifying into a functional door.

Ding Yi: “Wow.” No matter how many times she witnessed it, she still found the phenomenon amazing.

Seeing this, the stubble-faced man cursed under his breath and turned to flee.

0695 stood calmly in place and tapped on the light screen. A bolt of blue and white lightning crackled into existence from the void and struck the fleeing man directly, causing him to fall to the ground.

The other two who had also contemplated running froze in place, their eyes wide with terror.

Ding Yi raised her eyebrows slightly, secretly relieved that she hadn’t made any unnecessary moves during her recent encounter with 0695. Otherwise, that electric shock would have been quite unpleasant.

“Can I go now?” Ding Yi asked 0695.

0695 watched the robot that had been dispatched quickly approach the convulsing stubble-faced man and tilt his head. “Not yet, you’re also a party involved. The higher-ups said to bring you over, too.”

“The higher-ups?” Ding Yi echoed, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“What’s above the supervisors, managers?”

Ding Yi knew her casual guess had hit the mark when she observed the subtle shift in 0695’s expression.

“Managers, so vague. Are there any detailed positions?” she pressed.

0695 was now sweating slightly and turned his face away, no longer meeting her gaze. He quickly opened the light screen door to let the robot escort the three subdued men through efficiently.

“To what extent can the manager we’re going to see manage? Can they manage everything?” Ding Yi wondered aloud as she followed 0695.

---

The gigantic office exuded an atmosphere of understated but undeniable luxury.

Ding Yi’s eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly as she took in the sight of the man lazily stroking a three-eyed heterochromatic cat behind the expansive desk.

“Yo, you’ve been complained about,” Qin Yuan said, his voice casual as he glanced up at Ding Yi.

“Let me see,” she murmured, picking up a thin data pad.

“I told you it’s not good to be too arrogant,” Qin Yuan retorted, a playful smile on his lips.

Ding Yi wasn’t angry but laughed softly. “That’s right, look at me, I even forgot to leave you a piece of cake this time.”

Qin Yuan responded, a hint of amusement in his tone, “It doesn’t matter, it’s not like there won’t be another chance. Just remember next time.”

Ding Yi: This damn man. He was clearly enjoying her slight discomfiture.

Seeing Ding Yi momentarily deflated, Qin Yuan’s mood visibly improved. He directly retrieved the complete video footage of them entering the small dark room and played it back at double speed on a nearby screen.

The sped-up video clearly showed that although the four individuals didn’t enter and exit the small dark room simultaneously, there was no instance of anyone leaving halfway or not entering at all.

“Impossible!” The stubble-faced man, who had been dragged into the office by the robot, shouted vehemently. “Absolutely impossible!”

“It must be a problem with that damn door!” he insisted.

Seeing that the other two thugs didn’t dare to contradict him, the stubble-faced man shoved them roughly. “Speak! Are you two mute?”

Qin Yuan paused his hand, stroking the cat’s head, his expression hardening slightly. “Too noisy.”

With swift, brutal efficiency, 0695 delivered a sharp hand-knife strike to the stubble-faced man’s Adam’s apple, grabbed his wrist, executed a smooth turn, lifted him bodily, and slammed him heavily onto the polished floor.

“Since you seem to believe there’s a problem with that particular door, let’s arrange for it to be your exclusive experience,” Qin Yuan said, his gaze never leaving Ding Yi as he manipulated the light screen on his desk. A new ticket bearing the stubble-faced man’s information appeared on 0695’s light screen.

“Anything else?” Qin Yuan asked the remaining two thugs in a deceptively mild tone.

The other two shook their heads frantically and even bowed deeply to Ding Yi apologetically. “Sister, we were blind; we offended you, and we deeply regret it.”

Looking at Ding Yi, who was significantly smaller than them, ‘Sister’: …

---

0695 efficiently sent the still-groaning stubble-faced man back to the small dark room. The remaining three individuals required someone to escort them to their respective doors.

So, when 0723 and 0811 received the boss’s urgent summons, their hearts leaped into their throats. They instinctively assumed some terrible crisis had unfolded.

“Send them back,” Qin Yuan instructed, gesturing dismissively towards the two remaining thugs.

0723: …Σ(?Д?;)

0811: …(???)

Ding Yi, who had been squatting down and gently stroking the three-eyed cat, raised her head and looked at the newly arrived 0723 with his dazzling white buzz cut, greeting him as enthusiastically and familiarly as before. “We meet again!”

0723 froze momentarily, unsure how to react. He was about to announce that he would escort the two men when he saw 0811 already exchanging a brief acknowledgment with the boss and promptly leading the two terrified thugs away.

0723: You dead fish eyes, you ran away again!

0811 (mentally to 0723): They’re greeting you, hurry up, you can’t be rude.

On the way back, Ding Yi trailed slowly behind 0723. “Thank you for last time.”

“What?” 0723 asked, turning his head slightly, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“Didn’t you remind me not to resist? I saw the consequences of resisting today,” Ding Yi explained.

0723, still processing the unusual events of the past hour, could only offer an ambiguous “hmm” in response.

“Do you guys get punished too?” Ding Yi then asked, her tone casual.

After a brief internal debate about whether it was permissible to answer this question, 0723 replied carefully, “Here, no matter who it is, as long as they violate the rules of the new world, they will be punished.”

“For example?” Ding Yi pressed.

“For example?” 0723 thought seriously for a moment. “Being too close to Wishers, violating work regulations, etc. There are many possibilities.”

“I see.” Ding Yi sped up slightly, silently walking to his side, and asked in a low voice, “Then what would cause a manager to be punished and enter an instance with a Wisher to clear it together?”

She then abruptly shifted the topic. “Is death in the instances real death for you?”

The blue pupils hidden behind 0723’s sunglasses flickered almost imperceptibly. He was taken aback by the sudden sharpness of her questions and refused to answer. “This can’t be said. None of it can be said.”

“Don’t ask,” he added firmly.

“Quick, quick, it’s almost there. Walk faster,” 0723 urged, suddenly picking up his pace.

Looking at 0723, who had abruptly launched into what appeared to be a speed-walking exercise, Ding Yi had no choice but to quicken her steps to keep up.