The waiter sighed softly, his head drooping as he conceded the point.
"In that case, under the restrictions of your crappy rules, you still can't directly act against them, can you?" Dr. Zhao frowned at the waiter, his tone filled with exasperation.
"I've said it before, if you're hosting an Instance like this, don't take on this kind of job."
"Right now, the only things that can be manipulated behind the scenes are the contamination I planted at the start and whatever ability that boy is using, right?"
The waiter didn't speak, only nodding silently in acknowledgment.
Dr. Zhao crossed his arms and rolled his eyes helplessly. "What a pain. In that case, I'll stay. I might be able to help out later."
"I didn't take it on! He barged in himself!" The waiter held his forehead, trying to explain his actions.
"It wasn't supposed to be my job, but because he seemed likely to clash with the God of Gamblers, it was assigned to me. And then..."
He peeked at Ren Yi. "And then I accidentally dragged other customers into it."
"Really?" Dr. Lin looked him up and down, looking like someone who enjoyed watching a disaster unfold. "Are you sure that's how the sequence of events went?"
The waiter shot him a glare and turned back to Ren Yi.
"I am truly sorry, Mr. Ren Yi. This matter was my mistake. I apologize for the trouble I've caused you. Please forgive me."
"Thank you very much for being willing to help me."
"Even though that person is no longer my responsibility, I will do everything I can."
"Within the limits allowed by the Instance rules, I will help you gather useful intelligence and try to figure out what his talent is."
"Relax, I don't think Xiao Yi will have any problems." Dr. Lin chimed in, his tone casual as he waved a hand dismissively. He looked quite pleased with himself right now.
Hearing this, the waiter stole a glance at Ren Man, who was still spaced out nearby. Seeing that he wasn't paying attention, the waiter turned back to Dr. Lin and said through gritted teeth, "Lin, you just wait. I haven't settled the score with you yet."
"Don't think this is over!"
Very good. It seemed all the grievances were now clearly laid out.
The Entertainment City and Ren Yi had formed a temporary united front.
In the upcoming proxy war, they would each pursue their own agendas to find a way to completely deal with their respective 'proxies.'
Dr. Zhao, for the sake of staying to watch the drama and assisting with the work, agreed to compensate Ren Yi according to the 'maximum value.'
Additionally, he had started a bet with Dr. Lin.
Dr. Lin had finally managed to screw over the entertainment city and vent his frustrations; he was likely still gloating inwardly.
However, he had also successfully drawn the entertainment city's enmity, so there would likely be more trouble later.
As for Ren Man, he remained in his spaced-out state, indifferent to the back-and-forth, only responsible for stepping in at the final moment.
"Alright, enough with the nonsense. Let's exchange information first."
Dr. Zhao was the first to break the silence. He turned to the waiter, his tone becoming serious again, his eyes filled with inquiry. "Tell me about the 'Work Description' you received."
The waiter clutched his head, looking like he had a massive headache. Speaking of which, do puppets get headaches?
"I only just received word from my superiors," the waiter said through gritted teeth. "That new Participant is likely from the 'Tiangan World.'"
At those words, Dr. Lin and Dr. Zhao exchanged a look, both showing expressions of sudden realization.
Ren Man, naturally, had no reaction. It was unclear if he already knew or if the news simply couldn't penetrate his deadpan expression.
Among all the Anomalies, only Ren Yi looked bewildered, completely clueless about what they were discussing.
Ren Yi looked around, taking in their expressions.
Great. It seemed he was the only one who didn't know what the Tiangan World was. He was being left out.
"What kind of place is the Tiangan World? Is it a powerful enemy?"
Seeing the serious expressions of the Great Anomalies, Ren Yi couldn't help but feel tense.
Is this world a rival power that can stand toe-to-toe with the Alliance? Am I... finally coming into contact with the Alliance's true enemies?
"Ah, not really. You're overthinking it." Dr. Lin waved his hand, seeing Ren Yi's furrowed brow, his tone a bit mocking. "It already blew up."
"Uh... okay." Ren Yi's tension froze on his face. He silently swallowed the follow-up question he had prepared.
Forget it. He shouldn't take things too literally when talking to someone with 'Doctor' in their name. Better not to speak up randomly, or he'd just get tangled in their logic again.
"It's been blown up for a while now..." Dr. Lin rubbed his chin, his tone somewhat uncertain. "Anyway, I remember it was after the last Awakening and before your current one."
He looked at Dr. Zhao inquiringly.
After getting a nod of confirmation from Dr. Zhao, he paused and then continued, speaking with careful consideration. "Let me think how to explain it to you... Do you remember why you were sent on that social practice mission?"
Ren Yi naturally understood that the 'social practice' Dr. Lin mentioned referred to the invasion of the Three Cities World.
He glanced at the parrot on his shoulder. Back then, his brother seemed to have mentioned the reason to him.
Ren Man's exact words flashed through his mind: "Alliance... encountered trouble. One world... failure... too many revivals. You all... eat too much. Energy... not enough."
Well, he'd just pretend he didn't hear the 'eat too much' part and ignore it!
Another major factor seemed to be that the Alliance suffered significant losses while attacking a certain world.
It seemed the 'failed world' his brother mentioned was this so-called Tiangan World.
Having figured this out, Ren Yi immediately became vigilant again, his brow furrowing as a look of gravity entered his eyes. "So, this world was very powerful before? Did many Anomalies die for the Alliance to conquer it?"
"Not really." Dr. Lin's tone became odd. The corner of his mouth twitched into a complex arc, filled with a mix of helplessness and embarrassment. "Like I said, it just... blew up."
Rate on N.U.
