Chapter 13: The Male God Is Beautiful and Kind-Hearted

The next morning, Jin Shan City, the Liston Hotel.

Last night, the Xia Country Rescue Team stayed here.

Originally, after resolving the Fire Demon incident, Director Zhou was to take Yang Yi back non-stop—such a precious treasure, how could one rest easy leaving her in another country? Even though the Jin Shan City government repeatedly urged them to stay, offering to hold a banquet to thank Xia Country for its staunch assistance, Director Zhou firmly refused.

But subsequent events made Director Zhou halt his steps; the Ark Country spoke nicely, but showed no weakness in the distribution of the Fire Demon corpses—they actually wanted to monopolize them all!

Their reason was that the Fire Demon appeared on Ark Country soil, Jin Shan City paid a heavy price, and furthermore, the Xia Country Rescue Team came to support at the request of the United Nations; how could they share Ark Country's assets?

How could this be allowed? Xia Country was the main force in slaying the Fire Demon! Without our Xia Country's support, Jin Shan City would now be a wasteland!

Moreover, the Fire Demon is a newly discovered intelligent race from another world, possessing a method of energy utilization different from humans; by studying its body structure and genes, one can obtain crucial information regarding the otherworld's environment, geography, and culture.

And those armors clearly bore casting marks. That black giant blade, Yang Yi's telekinetic force couldn't even cut through, remained completely intact; what substance was it made of? Who wouldn't covet it?!

For these legacies left by the Fire Demons, Director Zhou, with extreme reluctance, left Yang Yi behind to maintain order.

Domestic researchers also rushed over overnight to study that pile of corpse fragments on the beach.

——————

Liston Hotel, Presidential Suite.

On the vintage champagne-colored silk bed, Yang Yi slowly woke up.

Beside the bed was a floor-to-ceiling window, controllable by voice or remote; she was too lazy to move and too lazy to speak, so she used her telekinesis to "manually" pull the curtains open. Sunlight shot in, and the azure sea outside rushed toward her face.

The sea, the blue sea, she had gazed at that boundless blue countless times in the secret base.

At five years old, a neighbor brother gave her a candy; the wrapper was transparent blue, depicting the sea and white waves. The candy was sweet, orange-flavored, so in her childhood imagination, the sea was also orange-flavored.

She kept that wrapper all along, first hiding it in wall cracks, under stones, in dog kennels; later when she went to school, she tucked it inside her books.

But her cousin tore the book, and the wrapper was lost.

Her small heart was filled with fantasies: the sea was so vast, so much seawater, all orange-flavored; how happy were the people living by the sea! When she wanted candy, she could just go to the seaside and drink some seawater.

When I grow up, I must live by the sea, never lacking candy again. When I want candy, I'll just dive headfirst into the sea.

She once had a glass marble, thumb-sized, also blue. The outside was clear glass, the inside had blue patterns like a flower.

She found it in the grass along the way home from school; surely some playful child had been competing with a friend to shoot marbles and it rolled into the grass.

She treasured that glass marble greatly; it was her only toy. She hid it inside her buckwheat husk pillow core, taking it out every night before sleep to admire and play with it; her back of the head would ache from the pressure while sleeping, but her heart was satisfied.

That day, her cousin accidentally saw it, snatched it away in one grab; she cried and demanded it back, but her cousin mocked her as a "nobody's unwanted brat," saying, "Everything in my house is mine; I take whatever I want."

Back then, to win the elders' favor, she studied extremely well, ranking first in her grade. She thought this was her confidence, gathered her courage to complain to her grandmother, but her grandmother glanced at her sideways, impatiently, "It's just a glass marble; if he wants it, give it to him."

"But he has a whole box, and I only have one," the childish voice sobbed.

"A thing born but not raised, it's already good enough they give you a bite to eat; where do you get off with so much nonsense, get out of the way..."

In her rental room hung a wind chime made of seashells, which she made herself by collecting shells on the beach; whenever the wind blew gently, it tinkled, and she treated it as a greeting from the sea.

Chris's eyes were also blue, azure blue, the same color as the sea. She had never seen such pure blue; the world's most beautiful sapphire couldn't compare to his eyes. If he could just look at her once, she would surely drown in those eyes.

He must be orange-flavored.

'You're at it again, love-struck fool; no one is orange-flavored.'

"Perhaps he might be?" Yang Yi used two uncertain words.

'Ha~' it mocked: 'See, even you aren't sure. What you're infatuated with is nothing but a phantom image you created yourself, having nothing to do with the male star himself.'

"So, you finally deigned to pay me attention, just to crush me?"

'Your love-struck appearance truly disgusts me; why can't you have higher aspirations?'

"Rule the Earth? Ha ha..."

'Your vision is limited to just that much.'

"Yes, yes, yes, you naturally know best what I'm like; you are my other personality..."

'Arrogant fool! You are you, I am I; I don't even look down on your moldy, unfixable state, doing nothing all day, moving only when pushed, and if not pushed, just sitting still. Cowardly and incompetent, self-pitying, escaping reality...'

"If you're so capable, you do it!" Yang Yi flew into a rage out of shame.

'Then go die and give me the body! Let me do it!'

"I'm not going to die; seafood is so delicious, the scenery is so beautiful, Chris is so handsome..."

'Hmph, the cowardly philosophy of making do.'

"Evaluate me however you like!"

"Ding-ling-ling—" the phone alarm rang; Yang Yi turned off the phone screen and continued arguing with herself.

But she or he or it left again; no matter how she called, it no longer paid her any attention.

Fortunately, there was nothing to do today; she could stare blankly at the sea outside the window all day.

After all, she was "very tired" and "very hardworking" yesterday; falling from the sky, she was "pale-faced, unsteady on her feet, physically drained, and spiritually depleted"; she needed a long time to rest to recover.

Best to give her leave immediately upon returning, finding a scenic sanatorium for a year or a year and a half.

As long as she acts a bit weak, the threat she presents is smaller—but it seems meaningless now; ever since slaying the Fire Demon, she has been rated online as "the world's only S-level Awakener" and "a human nuclear bomb."

Regarding her, friendly wooing is needed, but even more so, caution and vigilance, perhaps even defense plans, or worse—if power cannot be controlled in one's own hands, it is a threat and should be completely eliminated.

The bedside phone rang; she felt slightly puzzled, picked it up, and it was the Presidential Suite's exclusive account manager, Iris, asking if she needed breakfast delivered to the room, her tone respectful.

Breakfast at a super five-star hotel, free! Of course.

Five minutes later, a luxury food cart was pushed into the room, accompanied by Liu Liu Siyuan—Director Zhou's designated assistant and driver for her, who had just rushed over in the morning and had been standing outside the door for less than half an hour.

Under Iris's lead, two tall waiters in suits and vests quickly and elegantly set the breakfast on the dining table.

"Captain Yang, Director Zhou sent me to assist with your work and life." Liu Liu Siyuan was over 1.8 meters tall, with dark skin and solid muscles all over; he smiled somewhat shyly, with a red pimple on his forehead.

"Captain Yang? Me?" Yang Yi was utterly confused, "When did I get promoted?"

"Last night; a text message should have notified you." Liu Liu Siyuan chuckled.

Yang Yi flipped through her messages and indeed found a new one: "Notice regarding Comrade Yang Yi's appointment: To all units under the bureau and offices of the agency, with the approval of superior leaders, Comrade Yang Yi is hereby promoted to Captain of the Special Operations Division of the Awakener Administration Bureau..."

Seeing this news at first glance, Yang Yi's head felt dizzy; she quietly asked Liu Liu Siyuan, "Did my salary increase?"

"You'll have to ask Director Zhou about that." Liu Liu Siyuan scratched his head.

The breakfast was lavish, or rather, excessively so. It included her accustomed Xia Country morning fare: soy milk with fried dough sticks, buns, pan-fried buns, various porridges, desserts, and even spicy pepper soup—this was a morning delicacy from her hometown, one she rarely even found elsewhere in Xia Country.

Beyond that, there was English black tea, coffee, sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, and more; it was practically a compendium of breakfasts from every nation in the world. A dining table large enough to seat over a dozen people was almost completely covered.

Well, is this the enjoyment of a super five-star establishment?

"May I ask, is there anything else you require?" Iris was a brown-haired young man with an impeccable smile; his Xia Country speech was standard, without any strange accent.

"No, thank you," Yang Yi said, looking at the laden table.

Iris politely took his leave with the waiters, when suddenly a blond waiter stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at Yang Yi, hesitating as if he had something to say but holding back.

Iris frowned and reminded him of the hotel's rules.

Liu Liu Siyuan tensed his body, keeping his expression unreadable, and slipped his right hand behind his lower back.

Yang Yi felt a bit puzzled and smiled at the blond waiter: "What is it?"

The blond waiter had brown eyes, which made him appear very sincere: "Thank you for saving Jin Shan. My parents and sisters work in the city center. If it weren't for you, I would be searching for their bodies in the ruins today instead of working here."

It seemed this sentence had been hidden in his heart for a long time; after speaking it, he sighed with relief.

"Anyone capable would do the same," Yang Yi said.

"No, not everyone," the blond waiter smiled.

Iris glanced at him, lost in thought, and then led them out of the presidential suite.

Yang Yi thought that even if some people and factions were wary and on guard against her, at least in moments like these, it was worth it.

Yang Yi prepared to eat happily, but Liu Liu Siyuan stopped her.

"Captain, please don't eat yet." Liu Liu Siyuan took a long box from his person, then removed a pair of specially made forks from it. The forks had a small, precise screen; whenever he thrust a fork into the food, a series of data would flash rapidly across the screen.

Yang Yi was dumbfounded.

Not only that, Liu Liu Siyuan also took a bite-sized portion of every dish to taste-test.

"This is too cautious, isn't it? Is it necessary?" Yang Yi was speechless.

"Of course it is necessary. You are now of paramount importance; your safety is of great consequence. No amount of caution is excessive," Liu Liu Siyuan said seriously.

"Uh, alright."

After a few minutes, once all the food had been tested and Liu Liu Siyuan remained unharmed, Yang Yi was finally able to start eating with her chopsticks.

"Please sit down and eat with me!" Yang Yi invited somewhat awkwardly. "There is too much; I might not finish it all."

"That does not conform to my work regulations." Liu Liu Siyuan scratched his head and smiled apologetically: "Besides, I am already full from just tasting."

He withdrew from the room on his own accord, leaving Yang Yi to dine alone.

With only Yang Yi remaining in the room, this familiar solitude made her sigh with relief. She skillfully opened her mobile browser, scrolling through novels while eating, until a pop-up notification informed her that the Chris she followed had posted a new personal blog.

She immediately abandoned the novel and opened the pop-up.

"The disaster in Jin Shan is heartbreaking. Thanks to the Young Lady Yang Yi's timely intervention, a more severe catastrophe was averted. We pray for the people of Jin Shan!" Below was news of Chris donating five million Card Yuan to the Jin Shan Post-Disaster Relief Foundation, along with a link for him to raise funds for Jin Shan.

My male god is truly beautiful inside and out!

And he praised me, woo—