Chapter 1 I Need to Go to Europe

"I have to go to Europe. It's a mission." Hao Ren tried hard to imagine himself as a special agent of the Special Administration Department wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses. When he said this, his face was so serious that it didn't even look like him. In any case, the identity of an employee of the Space-Time Administration could still change a person's words and deeds—he was now paying special attention to his image, but only when he was in front of these two unusual creatures at home.

Lili immediately lit up, as if an invisible tail was wagging furiously behind her: "Going out to play?! I'm free! I'm free!" It was just as Raven 12345 had said, there was no need to worry about this idiot refusing.

Vivian's focus was on something else: "Uh, I can be an air conditioner to save on electricity bills and pay rent? Okay, okay..."

Hao Ren felt that this useless vampire's focus was completely in the wrong place.

"Speaking of which, can you make it cold, or can you make it hot?" Lili tilted her head and looked at Vivian. The cold air swirling around the latter was spinning happily. This cold breeze was fresher than an air conditioner. "If you can save on heating bills in the winter, it'll definitely be enough for your rent."

Vivian thought for a moment, a look of embarrassment on her face: "Blood clans are originally low-temperature creatures. Making some cold air is fine..."

"Ahem, let's talk about serious business," Hao Ren quickly brought this increasingly bizarre topic back on track. "Lili, you're coming along, right? What about Vivian? Do you have anything to do? If not, let's go together. I'm not very familiar with Europe either."

Hao Ren was telling the truth. Not to mention that he wasn't very familiar with Europe, the truth was that this guy hadn't traveled far in his life. Aside from knowing the one acre and three points of Nanjiao, everything beyond the Third Ring Road was basically another world to him—now this was the first time in his life that he planned to go abroad, and it was still a publicly funded trip "arranged by the organization." How could he not be a little excited!

*I can be considered a civil servant too, even if it's for a foreign country,* Hao Ren thought.

"Me? I don't have anything to do," Vivian said, lowering her head slightly with embarrassment. "I just lost the job I found a few days ago, and now I'm free. Heh, heh, heh heh... Landlord, can I be your guide to cover half a month's rent?"

Hao Ren curled his lips: *Could this tough girl retain some dignity as a vampire? We won't consider a noble of the night or anything, but you should at least maintain the level of a ten-thousand-yuan household of the night!* Now she was so down and out that even Lili next to her couldn't stand it...

"Don't worry about the rent," Hao Ren sighed to the sky. "I signed a contract to sell myself to Raven 12345. How can I drive you away? I'd be satisfied if you'd be willing to help with housework at home. As for finding a job... I suggest you stop tormenting those merchants in our area who are about to die of poverty. I heard that when you went to work at McDonald's a while ago, God killed hundreds of food companies in one breath to keep you poor..."

Vivian quickly coughed: "Cough cough... That's not my fault!"

At this time, Lili was still immersed in the excitement of going out to play. She simply transformed into a werewolf form and shook her tail vigorously (perhaps this was the only way she could express her special mood): "Landlord, landlord, when are we leaving? Should I pack my luggage now? Where are we going? How many days are we staying? Is there a time limit for the mission you mentioned? Also, when are we eating?"

Hao Ren waved his hand vigorously to press down the overexcited werewolf: "Don't worry, don't worry. I haven't even booked the plane tickets yet. Let's wait for Raven to send over the specific information. Oh, right, let me show you something fun—this is high technology! Standard equipment for employees of the Space-Time Administration... Crap! Where did I throw it?!"

Hao Ren rummaged through the pockets on his body, and suddenly sweat dripped from his forehead. Even the slow, cool breeze blown out by Vivian next to him was no longer useful: he clearly remembered that he had stuffed the awesome data terminal into his pants pocket, but now he only pulled out two pieces of thread from his pocket!

"I'm in trouble now!" The first thing Hao Ren thought of was what the consequences would be if this ultramodern gadget fell into the hands of ordinary people. It might create a protagonist of "Urban Alien Superbrain," or it might create a reinforced company of experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but the most likely result was that Raven 12345 would parachute in and smash him to death: this was definitely a major work error!

However, just as Hao Ren was frantically searching without success and was already preparing to go out and look along the way, he suddenly heard a slight buzzing sound beside him. Then, a small vortex-shaped space gate appeared in mid-air. The hexagonal "data terminal" squeezed out of the vortex crookedly and landed lightly in his hand. In mid-air, there was also a line of subtitles projected by a hologram: "User, please note that when carrying this device, do not discard it on transportation at will. This device has limited route-finding capabilities—this isn't what a data terminal is supposed to do! If you do this again, this device will report to the higher-ups."

Hao Ren: "..." He now understood what Raven 12345 meant by "not much dumber than you." This data terminal clearly had artificial intelligence! At the very least, he had never heard of any other computer that could curse at its owner...

Lili was immediately attracted by this novel gadget. Her tail wagged into a cloud of afterimages, and her eyes sparkled as she leaned over: "Landlord, can I play with this?"

Hao Ren thought for a moment, and confirmed that there were no prohibitions in this regard in the core guidelines of the employee regulations he had read before, so he handed the data terminal over: "Be careful. Although Raven 12345 said this is very sturdy, there's nowhere to repair this thing if it breaks."

Lili excitedly took the data terminal and fiddled with it for a long time, but the thing didn't react at all. Finally, the data terminal reluctantly popped up a line of text: "Insufficient permissions. Stop wasting your energy, okay? This device has integrity."

The three people on the scene: "..."

Vivian was very glad that she had controlled her curiosity just now and didn't go up to embarrass herself like a bumpkin. She laughed dryly and walked towards the kitchen: "Big Dog, you keep playing. I'm going to cook."

Lili awkwardly returned the data terminal to Hao Ren, and then suddenly remembered something and ran to the kitchen: "Hey, wait! I'll go with you!"

"You can cook? Aren't you just good at eating?"

"I'm going over to use the air conditioning. It's so hot in the room."

"..."

While Vivian and Lili were busy clanging around in the kitchen, Hao Ren grabbed his newly received data terminal and began to study it, mainly to see what the Space-Time Administration actually did. Then, in the next half hour, the more he looked, the more shocked he became.

The beginning was still normal work rules, things like prohibitions, but the subsequent regulations and case references were difficult to understand:

* 《Notice on Observation and Guidance Procedures for Type iii Civilizations》
* 《Registration Methods for the New Six Categories of World Endings》
* 《Guiding Plan for Strictly Regulating the Local War Declaration Process》
* 《Precautions for Examiners Intervening in Stellar Wars》
* 《Basic Common Sense Regarding the Extinction Order and the Role of the Examiner in the Corresponding Process》

At the end of those basic work rules, there was a pile of jaw-dropping things like this attached.

"Consulting about something," Hao Ren knew that his data terminal had the ability to communicate, so he asked cautiously in his mind, "What exactly is the meaning of these things that look particularly high-energy...?"

"Literal meaning," a line of text appeared on the data terminal. "But that's something that formal inspectors need to handle. It's not related to you for the time being. Inspectors are the empire's agents in local areas. Converted to the religious system, they're equivalent to living saints or sons of God. Is there a problem with handling these daily tasks?"

Hao Ren immediately said that there was no problem, and then went back to comfort his pounding little heart.

In the afternoon, he had temporarily put those high-energy "employee notices" behind him. Who knew when that would happen? He should still complete his "mission" first: Raven 12345 had already sent the mission details.

His destination was England, but not some famous place, but a remote small town that couldn't even be found on the map. His new tenant was waiting for him there.