[World Serpent Favor Unlocked. Current World Serpent Favor: 10 (Neutral)]
[Möbius Favor Unlocked. Current Favor: 10]
[Natasha Cioara Favor Unlocked. Current Favor: 20]
[Successfully joined World Serpent. Current Position: Lab Rat (Next Position: Unknown. Promotion Conditions: Unknown)]
What even is this? Even a lab rat needs career aspirations?
"Boss…"
"No, Little Guizi, don't look at me like that."
Liu Bai felt a chill under Guinaifen's pitying gaze.
"Haven't you realized you're a lab rat too?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess I am…"
Guinaifen started to protest, then thought better of it.
Who asked her to be this guy's bodyguard?
"You… seem to have quite a bit of money?" Raven asked Liu Bai, curiosity flickering behind her cold facade despite everything.
"Yeah. Let me out now, and when I get back to the stars, I'll gift you an entire planet."
"Heh."
Raven let out two dry laughs. Then Liu Bai calmly extended his hand toward her.
"…What are you doing?" Raven eyed the outstretched palm, suddenly uneasy.
"Living expenses for me and Guinaifen."
Liu Bai wiggled his fingers, urging her to pay up.
"…Don't get cocky just because you've got some looks." Raven's impassive face darkened in an instant.
"What if we starve? Right, Little Guizi?"
Liu Bai turned to Guinaifen. She immediately caught on, cleared her throat dramatically.
"Ahem! Family… pfft—restart! Ahem! I hail from the distant court of Camelot, with twelve brothers and sisters by my side~"
"That's not the script." Liu Bai thought he'd just asked for backup misery-selling, not this.
"Boss, you don't get it—misery needs buildup. Life was peaceful and joyful, until the ancestral ashes brought war. Parents took up arms to defend the nation, yet the enemy legion crushed everything—our home fell~"
Guinaifen belted it out at full volume.
Raven: "?"
She sang with real emotion… but could someone translate?
Raven's face was one giant question mark.
"Never mind, Little Guizi. Something more straightforward?"
Liu Bai glanced at Raven's expression.
Okay, understood. He used to make the same face in advanced math lectures.
"Ohhh, straightforward? Why didn't you say so earlier! Plenty of that around. Truth is, I only recently started practicing traditional arts—straight talk is my real specialty."
Guinaifen thumped her chest confidently.
"Family! Today I'm performing fire swallowing! If you like it, remember to follow and share!"
"Oh… ohhh…"
Raven's expression finally shifted to genuine interest.
"What… are you two doing?"
Gray Serpent, watching the farce unfold, could no longer stay silent.
But his arrival didn't stop Guinaifen from conjuring a fireball in her palm.
"Family! Watch closely! Little Guizi is going to swallow it!"
"Exactly—let her perform." Raven spoke as if it were obvious. "Though I guess you wouldn't understand, Gray Serpent?"
"No, I understand perfectly."
Gray Serpent watched as Guinaifen raised the fireball high, then moved it toward her mouth.
"That's why I'm wondering… what if the trick fails—"
Boom—!
"Ehhh?!"
Raven tackled Guinaifen to the ground and pinned her there. Guinaifen's face was pure bewilderment.
Raven's eyes flashed with lingering fear.
"Three thousand for the next three months' living expenses. From now on, no more dangerous stunts like that."
Damn it! Only just realized—if these two got hurt, forget the raise; the Herrscher would strap her to the operating table!
"Eh? I've got tons of experience with this."
"Experience doesn't matter! You might as well bite a lighter—no! No biting lighters either!"
"I wouldn't bite a lighter! How about sword swallowing instead?"
"You'd be better off biting the lighter!"
Raven roared, then fished three bills from her pouch and tossed them to Liu Bai.
"You're her boss, right? Keep her in line! No more of this!"
"Miss Raven, you wouldn't want Little Guizi to…"
"Five thousand!"
Raven snarled viciously. Her favor toward him dropped from 20 to 15 in the same instant.
[+5000g]
g stood for the currency of World Metropolis—simple abbreviation for gold, nothing fancy.
"So, Miss Raven, what about our room?"
"Can't you just live in the pot?"
…Fair enough. Staying in the pot was safer than outside anyway.
"One more thing—can my bodyguard and I go out normally?"
This time Liu Bai directed the question to Gray Serpent, not Raven.
"You may, but please wear these."
Gray Serpent nodded politely and produced two wristbands.
"Herrscher-sama has set your permitted hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you disagree… my apologies."
[Positioning & Communication Wristband]
"Rest assured, these are not dangerous devices." Gray Serpent explained as Liu Bai accepted them. "They are anti-abduction positioning and comms equipment… The entire city now knows about the 'extraterrestrial visitors.' Other factions have posted bounties. Your appearance hasn't been exposed yet, but caution is necessary. Not every organization maintains the same neutral stance toward extraterrestrials as we do."
Liu Bai very much wanted to roast that so-called "neutral stance."
But he didn't waste time on internal snark.
"Hm… you mentioned other factions? How many major powers are active in the city right now? Could you tell me about them?"
Though he suspected Möbius replacing Kevin tied into the Flame-Chasers' Moth plotline, he still wanted concrete confirmation on the other groups.
"Of course. I'll send the details to your wristband shortly… Wishing you a pleasant stay on Earth."
Being wished well like that felt oddly surreal…
"I don't have time to babysit you two. Contact me via wristband if needed." After securing Guinaifen's promise, Raven released her and stood. "If you try to run…"
"We won't—for now."
"The 'for now' is unnecessary—though refreshingly honest."
Raven turned and left without another word.
"Oww…" Guinaifen rubbed her backside as she got up, but her eyes quickly locked onto the green bills in Liu Bai's hand. "Boss, is this a lot of money?"
She'd already noticed—though her boss had crash-landed here, he seemed strangely familiar with the planet.
"Not a fortune, but enough starting capital for us."
"So… we can start streaming?"
"…I can tell you really love streaming."
"Hehe~ Trust Little Guizi's streaming skills, boss! I'll support you no problem!"