Chapter 362: with translation of chapter title

— possesses volatile gas, with a hint of oceanic brininess…

Guai Ke He: 【Eh? Lin Dun isn't coming today either?】

Lin Dun: 【There's official business to handle, also counts as a problem the office mercenaries cannot avoid bearing】

Magic Dragon: 【Keep up the work~ My gang also got the signatures, each one's work enthusiasm has risen~】

Lin Dun: 【If so, should I be asked to make a meal with the extra output?】

Guai Ke He: 【Ugh… really two terrible people】

— The simmered red beans overflow with fragrance, originally a good product……

Yuan Gong Jun: 【Magic Dragon already did it, scolding the capitalist again is useless unless you plan to prepare a streetlight for him】

Guai Ke He: 【Finding someone who can bear a streetlight weighing hundreds of tons is too hard; do I have to look for those super-series robots?】

Mo Li Ya Di: 【Sorry to interrupt, I'm not going to the exhibition today either, I have other things】

Kan Long: 【I'm not coming either, not on Earth, by the way, any movement from that merchant guy?】

Guai Ke He: 【I don't really want to care; knowing one guy who's always in prison is enough】

Lin Dun: 【Sounds really touching, any story?】

Guai Ke He: 【No! Have! Prohibit probing and opening boxes!】

Lin Dun: 【That serious? I was just asking for a story】

— The ground coffee beans stall and extract in the filter, the boiling water is being stained black by them……

It hides a mellow fragrance, making enthusiasts intoxicated.

Mo Li Ya Di: 【This netizen's story contains elements easily exposed, right? Lin Dun, do you have the enthusiasm to explore now?】

Lin Dun: 【This is incitement, old sir】

Guai Ke He: 【In front of the person involved, you two are going onto the blacklist!】

Yuan Gong Jun: 【Then let's pause, you two; actually I've received a message from the merchant, 【image】】

Kan Long: 【You're really kind-hearted, Yuan Gong Jun, why bother?】

Yuan Gong Jun: 【After all, I'm a member of the chat room, unlike the hermit who has no concern left】

— Red beans, seaweed, coffee; when combined, they become the desktop cup's contents.

Of course, more importantly, we need to add some digital soul (crossed out), intention.

Sea grape red bean paste coffee, someone's confident creation.

But just hearing the name makes it easy to suspect it's a mysterious product from Dongyan Yangcheng, enough to make Aomo look solemn.

Staring fixedly at the light screen before him, as if it displayed some grave situation.

Yuan Gong Jun: 【In short, the merchant sent a message hoping we'd help him break out of prison; the wording in the message is almost pleading.】

【How about we discuss it—how should we respond?】

Lin Dun: 【Asasa xi nie. jpg】

【But since he didn't send it to me, I won't bother~】

【But I need to remind you that this S‑class wanted criminal with a 40‑year sentence has no visitation rights at all, and will furthermore be sent to an interspatial prison.】

Guai Ke He: 【Sounds like a cosmic prison.】

Lin Dun: 【The merchant doesn't have Belial's summoning power, and the chat room doesn't have Zaraab aliens on duty, right?】

Kan Long: 【I'll be stationed in Heaven's Gate City for the past two months, and I've already returned the card to Yuan Gong Jun.】

Stranger: 【Your reaction is a bit quick.】

Guai Ke He: 【Quickly taking the assigned seat……】

【Huh? Who topped my number?】

Kan Long: 【Is it He?】

Lin Dun: 【?】

Yuan Gong Jun: 【It's Ke, I had a feeling like him midway.】

Lin Dun: 【Shared account?】

Mo Li Ya Di: 【Right, but Lin Dun, are you really handling official business? The water group frequency is high.】

Lin Dun: 【Of course I am, but now I need some online interaction to escape reality.】

Guai Ke He: 【?】

【Is mercenary work really that terrifying?】

Kan Long: 【Maybe yes, maybe no.】

Yuan Gong Jun: 【Looks like everyone really doesn't want to deal with the merchant.】

「I think this is normal. 」

Yuan Gong Jun's remark was too much nonsense, to the point that Aomo couldn't help but let out an actual sigh.

Then……

Upon realizing this, he immediately regretted it.

「What's normal? 」 someone asked.

That voice was intelligent and calm, inherently possessing the charm of a mature person, and even a hint of familiarity, as if heard in some game or some anime.

But just as the legend says there are always three people in the world who are exactly like you, the threshold for vocal similarity is much lower than for appearance.

Aomo even once had the experience of hallucinating familiar voices in some virtual streamer's live room.

In this era where sound‑effect cards prevail, some familiarity should be decisively discarded.

But right now is not the time to judge timbre; in fact, what he should discard is attention itself.

This way he can continue the carefree water chat room.

But unfortunately… there was a hand, a hand wrapped in a black leather glove.

He pushed that cup of coffee, white steam swirling, a little further.

It had come so close that it had already passed the hovering distance of the terminal screen, almost directly above Aomo's head.

Thus that rich aroma surged straight to his nostrils, making Aomo lean back slightly, but it felt as if he had bumped into half a wall.

He was clearly sitting on a stool, with no such thing as a backrest.

"Tuohai?"

Aomo turned his head and saw the embarrassed smile of the red-haired, blue-eyed youth.

"Lindun bro, I have no choice either."

Before he could scold, a sense of warning spontaneously rose in his heart, prompting Aomo to turn his head immediately.

Upon turning, he saw the owner of that hand.

The director of the Mu Hai Detective Agency, the amalgamation and spokesperson of the Alfa Beast, Mu Hai Xingzi.

That golden-haired, brown-eyed beauty leaned forward and picked up that cup of coffee.

This pose made the already low-necked outfit even more alluring.

The seemingly vacuum-tight white shirt, viewed straight on, revealed the player's hemispheric quality, enough to make any vigorous young man's mouth go dry and his throat twitch.

But Aomo didn't!

He strained to hold it in!

Although he had never had overly intimate contact with the opposite sex in nineteen years, and was still a young man who thought "what's the big deal with a little lust?" limited to online study materials, he withstood it with astonishing willpower.

This also owed something to their recent cohabitation.

But more so, it stemmed from fear.

People in the past lamented how distant fear was, an unknown only experienceable in a super-dream simulation.

But this year's experience with fear has been overly diligent.

Even now there is this fear, of a black liquid still containing some soaked residue in a cup.

Making him dare not, at this moment, in front of the other party, make any motion resembling swallowing.

He didn't even dare to open his mouth!

Afraid that if he opened his mouth, the mere smell of normal coffee would be poured into it.

But now there is no retreat.

Even his rear was blocked by that guy Xiangyu Tuohai.

Although he could directly break the countermeasure with demonic personification power, doing such an overturn-the-table move would somewhat conflict with his purpose.

He was originally someone who came to express thanks and seek help.

But how did things come to this?

Aomo's thoughts raced like lightning, recalling how ordinary yet sufficiently steady the visitation and gratitude procedure had been when he arrived, the mutual reception also being quite normal, until……

——The director suddenly walked toward her hand‑ground coffee machine.

Moreover, the Xiangyu Tuohai he had asked for help also told him to sort out the relevant data and wait a moment.

So he went with the flow, and used this to shift his restless, needle‑on‑cushion mindset.

But as for the result, it was obvious.

So‑called diverting attention was merely covering one's ears while stealing a bell—like trying to stave off a falling blade.

The breath of death finally arrived, and the knife‑wielding executioner, holding a cup of coffee, stepped up before him, his smiling face full of hope and expectation.

You still have no clue about your own coffee, right?

The sacrifice of Zhouri Ningjing seems to have been completely for nothing.

So then, at this very moment, how can we break the deadlock?

Think!

Think hard! Aomo Lindun!

If you still can't think of anything, you're gonna die!

"Master?"

A sudden doubtful call made all three turn their heads; Aomo instinctively looked at the expressionless horse girl and said:

"You're back, Bohang."

"Expressionless? Mechanical?"

"No, mechanical isn't stable—ah, I've got it!"

Aomo reacted with divine speed, slipping his hand into his pocket.

In the concealed card case, the black current on the first card surged, and a strange laugh flickered and vanished.

But it's fine!

Aomo didn't expect to release any power from it; it was merely a resonance.

Then!

In one swift motion he snatched the coffee from Mu Hai Xingzi's hand—precise, smooth, not spilling a drop, as quick and decisive as an instinctive act.

In the gaze of the youth behind him, full of guilt and profound sympathy.

He raised his head and drained it in one gulp.

Mu Hai Xingzi's CV is… Sakamoto Maya; in a sense, this counts as the book's popular voice (x

By the way, I slipped in her bonus chapter; there's a certain chance it'll get banned, after all, remember when the Beirestat Beast posted by readers got banned once.

If so, just treat it as a short‑lived perk for those keeping up; if you gain weight and catch up late, you won't see it (x