Chapter 608: I

"So, you hit a wall with both of them in succession?"

Lei Zhao had just brought Yang Yixie and Bai Mu Yun back for examination, then turned to ask the female Special Division staff about the outward office procedures.

This step is primarily public‑facing; Lei Zhao and Jiangdu are considered external hires, so they haven't undergone this training.

As a result, the first time they acted under the Special Division's name, they presented credentials twice in a row.

Back in the wasteland, they lacked the kind of internet that could verify documents' authenticity; compared to that, a uniquely wielded Aberrant Arts was more emblematic.

This left Lei Zhao a bit puzzled.

"He could only say that both of them are the more cautious type."

The woman could only give Lei Zhao a brief rundown of the standard office procedures.

"Ordinary people tend to cooperate when they hear of the Special Division, but because fraud cases have surged in recent years, how to verify a civil servant's identity has become common public knowledge."

Consequently, Lei Zhao ran into a dead end twice in a row.

"…That's fine," Lei Zhao said after a long silence, managing only three words.

Indeed, being wary of strangers is quite good.

Although this world lacks Aberrant Arts and Aberrant Species, human conflicts have never vanished; on the contrary, universal equality has spawned endless scheming and fraud.

Wasteland folk aren't that scheming; they just jump straight to fighting.

But this is a rule‑of‑law society.

On the other hand, the official testing devices have already scanned both Bai Mu Yun and Yang Yixie; as an Aberrant Species, Bai Mu Yun, even faintly, showed a trace of Mutation factor, so they are marked as 1.

Yang Yixie, as his mission panel indicates, is 0.

Seeing the results, Zhiruo immediately let out a sigh of relief.

The woman just felt a bit regretful.

"If that Yang Yixie truly awakens Aberrant Arts, he'd instantly become a hot commodity for the Special Division."

After all, everyone knows how terrifying Ying Duo is, and no one would doubt his talent in Aberrant Arts and Rune.

As Ying Duo's counterpart, Yang Yixie not awakening Aberrant Arts is fine; there's still internal debate, but if he does awaken them, they'd have to welcome a colleague both loved and feared.

However, that person is exactly the acquaintance Lei Zhao mentioned…

【4】 The woman glanced at Bai Mu Yun, finding their face somewhat familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint why.

The girl glanced at Bai Mu Yun, feeling his face was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't tell where exactly it was familiar.

That shouldn't happen—if this person were famous in the game, she would certainly recall them, but it just lands on a familiar edge she can't identify.

"He's already dead in the game."

Lei Zhao sensed the woman's confusion and said lightly.

If it's someone already dead, no matter how dangerous, there's no need to remember them.

During that period, the incident at the Dome was so huge that after the player forum opened, there finally was a place to exchange information; just the gossip about that matter alone spanned at least ten thousand floors of discussion.

Lei Zhao forced himself to read all that content.

Including many familiar faces that had died, but the only consolation for him was probably that among those involved, none were a girl with brown plaited braids who loved wearing a red hat.

The airport flight was ultimately delayed, but because Lei Zhao and Jiangdu's reassignment to Shoudu was urgent, a special flight to Shoudu would be arranged.

Since the counterparts of Bai Mu Yun and Yang Yixie both hold certain standings in the game, they were both invited to board this extra plane for the trip to Shoudu.

They naturally agreed; previously Yang Yixie hadn't found a chance to have Bai Mu Yun appear properly before his mother, so he didn't miss this doorstep opportunity, naturally exchanging contact info with Bai Mu Yun, the two looking as if they got along well.

Seeing that, Lei Zhao and Jiangdu behind them fell silent.

How to put it…

It's hard to imagine that the Bai Mu Yun who despised Ying Duo the most could switch worlds and chat so easily with Yang Yixie.

The scene itself is somewhat fantastical.

In fact, to make future interactions with Bai Mu Yun more natural, Yang Yixie worked hard to appear, in front of his mother, as if he and Bai Mu Yun were old friends.

It had reached the point of making conversation just to fill silence.

"By the way, is your hair dyed?"

Yang Yixie blinked, looking very curious.

"No, it's natural; I'm mixed‑blood."

Bai Mu Yun, recalling the false ID they had forged, shook their head.

"What a pity, I still wanted to ask where you dyed your hair; right after the college entrance exam I also wanted to dye my hair and considered several colors."

Come to think of it, Xiao Xie seemed to have mentioned it to her a few times.

Zhiruo also recalled that Yang Yixie had once talked about planning to dye his hair, but it never materialized.

"Xiao Xie, didn't you say before you wanted to dye Ying Guang Lu?"

Yang Yixie didn't expect his mother to suddenly join the topic, and to bring up something he mentioned long ago as an excuse for his hair turning green due to synchronization rate!

"…Ying Guang Lu?"

Jiangdu, upon hearing the term, subconsciously muttered it again, looking deeply shaken.

Better not, that face alone is enough to set someone off; if the hair were dyed too…

"No, I'm not going to be Liu Xing."

Yang Yixie, speaking at lightning speed, dismissed it; he had mentioned it to his mother a few times as a preventive measure, but now there's no threat, and he doesn't want his mother to develop a strange impression of him.

Even though Bai Mu Yun has learned many things about this era, they haven't yet mastered every meme.

But when they heard the words "Ying Guang Lu", a blatant disdain immediately crossed their face; after hearing Yang Yixie's swift boundary‑drawing retort, they recalled something someone had said.

"But don't you think it's fashionable?"

"One shouldn't be prejudiced against a color; a color is just a color. People just like to label it, and no color should be stigmatized."

Lei Zhao's eyes widened sharply at him, while Bai Mu Yun, still looking at Yang Yixie, spoke through clenched teeth.

"Although I… don't… really… understand… trends, I know many fashions incorporate Ying Guang Lu as an indispensable element, even as the finishing touch for many outfits."

Facing Bai Mu Yun's lecture, Yang Yixie nodded in agreement, as if humbly accepting instruction.

"You're right."

"I think...... this isn't a problem of color discrimination, is it?"

The woman from the officials also couldn't help joining the conversation; although what Bai Mu Yun said was correct, she also feared Yang Yixie would be persuaded, so she decided to dye her hair Ying Guang Lu.

"To dye that color, you'd probably have to bleach your hair many times, right? If you run into a bad hairdresser, it's really damaging to the hair roots."