Xu Xiaoyou blinked.
The expression on the grey-haired girl's face vanished, returning to its eternal frost. Her face was calm, as if everything just now had been nothing but an illusion.
Xu Xiaoyou didn't think much of it, assuming she had seen wrong. She continued to sit in her seat, sipping the fruit juice in her cup while she waited.
A few minutes later, a light shadow condensed. A figure appeared in the seat to her front left. The girl had long brown hair and iris-purple eyes. She wasn't particularly tall, but her floral-trimmed purple dress added a touch of nobility to her temperament, and the arrogance in her eyes was unconcealed.
"So you're the newly promoted S-rank employee? You don't look like much."
The girl did not hide her opinion in her words.
"Genius Little Viya."
That was the girl's ID.
Just then, two more light shadows emerged. Two other figures appeared in the seats to Xu Xiaoyou's front right and directly in front of her.
"Apologies, everyone. I am one minute and one second late. I believe this is a very impolite mistake," said the figure to Xu Xiaoyou's front right, his voice echoing with a mechanical synthesis.
He wore a suit, but where his neck should be sat a goldfish bowl. A small goldfish swam inside, occasionally blowing a few bubbles. Its tiny, grain-sized eyes were looking at the others present.
Xu Xiaoyou looked at the person's information: "Genius Little Goldfish."
"Hiss, wait."
The man with the ID "Genius Little Goldfish" quickly ran to a corner. He let out a sigh of relief after confirming that the virtual hugging flower he was growing in a pot hadn't died. He walked back to Xu Xiaoyou's side in a few steps and, without a word, formally shook her hand out of gentlemanly etiquette.
"Thank you very much, beautiful lady. You have saved a life."
"I believe you must have a kind, beautiful, and pure heart."
Xu Xiaoyou's lip twitched slightly. "You're so sure I was the one who watered it?"
"Yes, because Vieraya and Darwin never arrive early, not even by a single second," the man said in a lowered voice.
"Charles, is your goldfish hungry? I can hear the bad things you're saying about me,"
the girl said.
Charles gave an awkward but polite smile and silently sat back in his seat.
Xu Xiaoyou's gaze followed suit, landing on the last person sitting at the other end of the conference table, directly opposite her.
The figure rested their chin on their hands, also wearing a suit and bowtie. Instead of a head, they had a small television. Even though it had no eyes, Xu Xiaoyou felt as if a pair of ghostly eyes were watching her.
"Genius Little TV."
This was his ID. A powerful and steady aura emanated from him. Just as Xu Xiaoyou was starting to feel uncomfortable under the stare, the girl named Vieraya stepped forward and slapped the metal frame of the television.
"Stop fucking sleeping, Darwin."
Darwin, with the small television head, looked up abruptly. A steady line flickered across the black screen, which then began to fluctuate up and down.
"Sorry, everyone. Not long ago, I was still dealing with matters related to the Chi family. Their new head just took office, and the political situation is unstable. I'm feeling physically and mentally exhausted from handling their affairs for the past two days."
As he spoke, a sad expression appeared on Darwin's television screen.
Xu Xiaoyou observed the three of them and the layout of the room. There were twelve seats in the conference room. It seemed there were currently twelve S-rank employees in Universal Heavy Industries, but only three had come to this meeting.
She was at the bottom of the hierarchy.
"I've been annoyed with that Diamond 9 for a long time. If she weren't my direct supervisor, I wouldn't bother attending such a boring exchange meeting!" the brown-haired girl, Vieraya, complained.
"I'm very busy. I have a ton of things to deal with every day. I don't have time to socialize with others."
"Don't be so impatient, Little Viya. The company hasn't had an S-rank employee promotion in a long time. We should be kind and patient with our new colleague," Charles, the Little Goldfish, said kindly.
Little TV Darwin: "Zzz."
"Corrupt Hive City—that dump doesn't even have a tenth of Chichutian's annual economic output. What kind of quality can an S-rank employee from there have? Probably just did some debt collection work and got rated as S-rank."
Vieraya's tone was arrogant and bossy. "Why should I bother making friends with some low-class person? How does that help me?"
"But the puppeteer Yorick and his brother Yorif—their commissions were completed by this lady," Charles said. "Oh right, and there was also that debt collection commission regarding the Heart of Desire."
Little TV Darwin: "Zzz."
"I remember the Heart of Desire wasn't actually resolved by her, was it? Speaking of which, that reminds me. Have you heard, Little Goldfish, about the matters regarding Corrupt Hive City?"
"Of course. I never expected a hive city with a population of millions to be destroyed by an urban legend in just a few days," Charles said in a regretful tone. "It's a cruel and saddening world."
"The Association underestimated the Heart of Desire's grade. Who could have thought such an urban legend would initially be rated as only disaster-level?"
Darwin woke up. "Want to hear a ghost story? It's about Corrupt Hive City."
Vieraya and Charles were both intrigued. The former didn't keep them in suspense.
"News of Corrupt Hive City's destruction has already leaked out. Perhaps before long, the people in the Star of Art and Chichutian will all know about it."
"Here's the scary part. A destroyed, pale hive city, like a ghost, yet a train called the Heart's Desire drove to that place and picked up a ghost-like passenger."
Darwin lowered his voice, his tone mysterious, only to find everyone present looking at him coldly. He scratched the television on his head. "Isn't that scary?"
"The point is, why would a passenger of the Heart's Desire train appear in a place that has already been destroyed?"
"The Association knows about it, of course. They judged that the passenger—a silver-haired girl—merged with the traits of the Heart of Desire, becoming a new world-class urban legend, and has headed for the Star of Art," Darwin said.
"Speaking of which, didn't something happen over at the Star of Art this morning too?" Vieraya asked.
"It was Chihong, the grade 5 standard-bearer. She led the Association's Section 6 in an encirclement operation against that silver-haired girl. Unfortunately, they only managed to heavily wound her in the end, and she escaped," Charles said.
"That Chihong is incredibly strong. She's known as the Red Rose of the Battlefield, bringing victory and dawn. With the support of her battle flag, almost the entire Section 6 has the combat power of grade 5. Their frontal combat strength is definitely not lower than a prism grade fixer. Given Chichutian's situation over these years, she's the reason they've managed to hold out until now."
Listening silently to the conversation, thoughts flickered through Xu Xiaoyou's eyes. The intelligence network held by these S-rank employees far exceeded hers. Through their talk, she had learned some inside information.
So Anya was facing an enemy of this caliber—a grade 5 standard-bearer.
At this point, everyone else stopped talking and turned their gazes toward the blonde girl in the corner who had a weak presence. Vieraya huffed and spoke up:
"So you'd better show us what you've got quickly. Give us a reason to stay here and keep holding this boring meeting."
Xu Xiaoyou thought for a moment and then did something that exceeded everyone's expectations. Under the surprised gazes of the three S-rank employees, she slowly propped her legs up on the table and leaned back against her chair:
"I won't see you out."
Rate on N.U.
