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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: glitterypanda, serefina

nAfter hanging up the communicator, Ji Zuoshan said to Wang Xizhou, who was so tired that his tongue was lolling out of his mouth next to him, “Let’s go?”

nWho would have thought that the hero whom everyone was praising and who could drive countless women crazy was just wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, a black and white plaid sweater, and jeans, and was standing outside a maternity wear store.

nInside was Rosie and Wang Xiaoqing. The former pulled out a leopard print garment from the rack and held it up against Wang Xiaoqing’s body, before it was smacked down by the latter.

nWang Xizhou, whose arms were heavy with shopping bags, said in a small voice, “Ji-dage, I truly admire you. My greatest fear is having to go out shopping with my older sister. I really don’t know where they get all that energy.”

nJi Zuoshan said, “You’re an uncle now, just take it as accompanying your nephew.”

nThe moment his little nephew was brought up, Wang Xizhou’s eyes lit up, but when he lowered his head again he raged, “Ji-dage, Rosie’s only buying clothes for my sister, where does getting my nephew’s stuff come into this.”

nJi Zuoshan’s response was concise and comprehensive, “Haven’t I bought them?”

nHe raised the bags of male and female baby clothes, milk powder, and diapers he was holding. He had none of the air of the empire’s battle god.

nHe said, “When I was small, I used to help my parents take care of the children, so I know what to do.”

nWang Xizhou couldn’t hide his worshipful gaze. “Ji-dage, in the future, I’ll leave the care of mine and Junyun’s kids to you.”

nJi Zuoshan smiled.

nQin Junyun, born to civilian parents, was Wang Xizhou’s deputy company commander. Wang Xizhou was the company commander, but he was harassed by his subordinate, Qin Junyun, day after day. Both of them enjoyed it immensely. Every day, Wang Xizhou would use the best soap to wash his face in order to provide the other with the best pinching experience.

nWang Xizhou once boasted shamelessly that he was spoiling his future wife.

nBut Ji Zuoshan had seen recordings of Qin Junyun’s battles. No matter how he looked at it, he felt like Wang Xizhou was delivering himself to his doorstep, and even tying a nice, neat bow around his own neck.

nBut Ji Zuoshan wouldn’t be able to make this big-ego-ed Wang Xizhou come to his senses, so he simply let him do as he wished.

nWang Xizhou leaned on the railing. Overcome with boredom, he cocked his head and looked at Ji Zuoshan. “Ji-dage, the third sweep of the Zerg planet has already ended, so what do you plan on doing from now on?”

nJi Zuoshan raised his head and looked at Rosie’s back.

nSince the outside threat had already been exterminated, then, the long-standing military tradition lost its necessity.

nNow, there were already more and more people who were speaking out for equal rights in society. Ji Zuoshan planned on raising a suggestion to the military to make the annual compulsory mecha tournament non-mandatory, after letting public opinion ferment for a little longer.

nThey were originally already born as Betas, so if they wanted to stay as Betas, that was perfectly fine.

nIf they wanted to become Alphas, they definitely could, but the generous societal resources they would enjoy would be reduced by a considerable amount.

nAs for Omegas, there were definitely people who would want to become one, but the government would need to limit and control the number of Omegas, establish an Omega protection act, and limit Omegas to only those in aristocracy.

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nFollowing that, disarmament and other such matters would have to be continuously carried out, which would inevitably stir up a portion of the conservative faction.

nThis would be an incredibly long process.

nBut Ji Zuoshan would use his status as the empire’s battle god to make it happen.

nJi Zuoshan didn’t say too much to Wang Xizhou, simply giving the most basic summary of what he wanted to do, “……I want people to have more of a choice.”

nRosie and Wang Xiaoqing finished picking out clothes, paid, and left the store.

nHer hands filled with bulging shopping bags, Rosie smiled and said, “Alright, we’ve bought all the clothes we’ll need from the second month to the tenth month.”

nWang Xiaoqing pinched her waist.

nRosie kissed her face.

nWang Xizhou covered his eyes. “Aiya.”

nJi Zuoshan was smiling, when suddenly, a man burst out from the corner and rushed straight towards Wang Xiaoqing.

nJi Zuoshan took a quick step out to stand in front of Wang Xiaoqing, silently protecting her. He turned and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

n&#k2026;&#k2026;With Ji Zuoshan there, how could Wang Xiaoqing be afraid?

nEven if he randomly picked up a can of milk powder and threw it at the man, it would have the impact of a howlitzer.

nBut that man didn’t seem to want to attack anyone. When he was a few steps away from Ji Zuoshan, he slid to his knees, cutting a sorry figure as he shuffled forwards and wrapped his arms around Ji Zuoshan’s thigh. “Save me, please save me.”

nThis person seemed to be a matured Beta without any fighting ability. This was something Ji Zuoshan couldn’t quite believe—— A Beta without any fighting ability should have long since been eliminated in the tournament and turned into an Omega.

nHe was unkempt, with visible lice jumping around in his hair and the strong stench of stale garbage emanating from his clothes. It was extremely probable that he’d snuck in here by hitching a ride in a garbage truck.

nRosie held her hand over Wang Xiaoqing’s nose and ushered her backwards.

nJi Zuoshan squatted down. “Speak slowly.”

nThat person’s mental state was clearly not very good. His turbid eyeballs spun wildly as he grabbed his shoulders, his entire body trembling. “Please, send me back, bring me back to the Lord God’s space! I don’t want to stay here! He doesn’t even recognise me anymore, why the ** did I still want to come back here—— I want to go home, please take me back home ha ha ha ha——”

nWang Xiaoqing furrowed her brows. “Is he insane?”

nShe didn’t expect that Ji Zuoshan would actually be this patient towards a tramp who’d intruded into the military service area, even stooping down and asking with a serious expression on his face, “You’re from the Lord God’s space? Do…… you know Chi Xiaochi?”

nA pair of dirty hands grabbed him by that lapels. He was already unable to hear anything anyone else said to him. His sharp nails scrabbled neurotically at his sweater. “Take me back, I want to go back to my own world……”

nHearing the ruckus, bodyguards came over. After apologising to Ji Zuoshan, they grabbed his hands, wanting to drag him down.

nThat person struggled madly. “Lord God, that bastard Lord God, I want to kill him!! Kill him!!”

nJi Zuoshan thought for a moment. “Wait.”

nOne of the bodyguards already managed to recognise him. He sucked in a breath of cold air, and his hands began to tremble with excitement.

nJi Zuoshan quietly shushed the two bodyguards, then turned to look at the man with the crazed look in his eyes. He had a guess in his heart. “Take him away. Clean him up first, don’t treat him too harshly. I’ll take him with me when I leave.”

n……

nThe moment Chi Xiaochi completed his fourth world’s task, his information was instantly sent to the “Space Between Moments”.

nHost number: No. 1198

nHost name: Chi Xiaochi

nWorld Difficulty Level Assessment: A-rank

nDegree of world completion: 100

nHost status assessment: All functions are good and stable, can be transmitted at any time.

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nTotal entropy value: 98 (Below average of 4190)

nThat bright red 98 disgusted the Lord God to the point that the folds of his brain began to tense up.

nHis voice was so deep that it made the skin of one’s scalp tingle, “What exactly happened?”

nSince watching 061 become a mecha, the Lord God hadn’t paid any more attention to the progress of this world. After all, he still had a lot of other worlds to manage.

nThe AI was silent for a while. “My apologies, I was also busy with a lot of things during this period.”

nThe Lord God burst into a violent rage, “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on 061?”

nThe AI, “Is sir angry again.”

nThe Lord God, “……”

n“I’ve already prepared the next world for him.” After taking a moment to calm down, the Lord God’s mood was finally settling. “Call 089 over. It’s time for his report.”

nIn the “Space Between Moments”, 089 reported one by one the lottery numbers he’d recently registered. After determining that there were no errors with the data, he turned off the display screen in his hand. A pair of simple-minded peach blossom eyes curved like a crescent moon. “Laoda, is there anything else?”

nThe Lord God asked, “How much more before you finish your task?”

n089 took out a pen and wrote down a quick calculation on his hand, “About two thousand more.”

nThe Lord God said, “How is work?”

n089 said sincerely, “It’s just that I’m not allowed to snack while working. It’s really annoying, and 023 refuses to download films for me. He has something against me, there’s such a difference in treatment, Laoda, you need to do more about this self-centered thinking, and promote ‘one for all, all for one’……”

nHe went on and on with his rambling complaints for about a quarter of an hour.

nThe Lord God, “……” My head hurts.

nHe shut his mouth, then stared at the Lord God with clear eyes, as if eager to go on.

nThe Lord God, “……Alright, you can go now.”

n089 said, disappointed, “Laoda, you’re not going to talk about our feelings with me?”

nThe Lord God, “……” I don’t want to waste time talking to a chatterbox.

n089, who was unable to receive his boss’ care, resentfully left.

nThe Lord God asked, “Has the Trojan horse been implanted?”

nThe AI answered, “Yes.”

nThinking about the extent of his chattiness, even the Lord God couldn’t help but feel a little frightened. “……Next time, we should just implant it remotely after all.”

nEvery time he wanted to influence the task progress of a host, he would always install an interference Trojan into 089’s brain.

nIn order to avoid exposing itself, this Trojan wouldn’t have any impact on 089 himself. And after it succeeded in its interference, the Trojan virus would “commit suicide”, destroying the evidence of its crimes in one go.

nThe Lord God sneered.

n……It was all thanks to 089 being a hard-to-come-by idiot.

nNot long after 089 left the “Space Between Moments”, he just so happened to bump into 061, who was heading in the opposite direction to him.

nHe moved up close, his eyes brimming with tears of excitement as he said, “Oh yo, you devil, why haven’t you come back to visit even once in so long?”

n061 looked to be in a good mood. “Darling, don’t be angry, my heart only has you.”

n089 smacked the back of 061’s hand, and said shyly, “Ew, shameless.”

nThen he covered his face, let out a bell-like, coquettish laugh that was hard to describe in words, then pattered over to 023’s office, opened the door and went inside.

n023’s voice soon sounded from behind the half-closed door, “Security, security, a psycho came into my office, can you deal with him?”

n061, watching 089 leave, smiled slightly, then prepared to head towards the archive room, wanting to investigate his past performance record.

nHowever, after taking just a few steps, he sensed something strange.

n061 raised the hand that 089 had smacked, and found that it had been stained with ink.

nOther than a string of formulas of unknown meaning, there was a line of words that had been written upside-down, “Be careful in the next world.”

n061 frowned. He looked at the archive room still a few steps away, thought for a moment, then walked to the small store next to the archive room.

nAs he walked into the shop, a single, silent eye appeared in the keyhole of the doorknob of the door to the archive room.

nIt turned to the store 061 had entered, then narrowed slightly, as if trying to figure out his intentions.

nSoon, 061 came out of the store with a plastic bag. In the bag were 089’s favourite melon seeds and 023’s favourite waffles.

nThat eye immediately shut, the door’s lock returning to its original appearance.

nWhen 061 brought the stuff to 023’s office, the two were currently fighting, too absorbed in their own matter to pay him any mind. He smiled and returned to Chi Xiaochi’s body.

nChi Xiaochi had chosen to go back to the tube-shaped apartments during his break again. It seemed like other than that place, he didn’t have anywhere else he particularly wanted to visit.

nOne human and one system communicated through the phone, even discussing what pesky problems might pop up in the next world.

nThinking of the message in ink 089 had left on the back of his hand, 061 had a bad feeling.

nWhen the break ended, and he and Chi Xiaochi were successfully transmitted over and he saw the scene before him, he was even a little confused.

nBecause everything looked incredibly normal.

nWhen Chi Xiaochi opened his eyes, he was a little surprised by the furnishing around him.

nHe said to himself, “A dressing room?”

nThis place was the very picture of a modern film set’s dressing room. There were two rows of vanities, placed against the walls, facing each other. There were many clothing racks chaotically lined together. Other than him, there was no one else in the room.

nHe just so happened to be facing a mirror.

nChi Xiaochi raised a hand to the corner of his eye.

nThis was a good-looking face, but what was even more attention-grabbing was its pair of mismatched pupils.

nHis left eye was lake-blue, and his right was amber. Matched with Chi Xiaochi’s lazy gaze, he looked like a Persian cat licking its claws as it lay in front of the stove.

nHowever, as someone he suspected was an actor, his makeup wasn’t on, and his face was pale, looking to be in very bad condition.

nChi Xiaochi looked at the face in the mirror, and commented seriously, “Kidney problems, can sometimes occur after excessive activity.”

nBut 061 didn’t pick up on his play.

nAccording to what Chi Xiaochi and 061 had discussed beforehand, he had initially thought that this would be some ancient world. After all, from what 061 had once said, the more worlds he went through, the further they would be from his original world.

nJust as he wanted to get up and take a look around, he heard a female voice coming from the door, “Chunyang…… Aiya, why aren’t you done putting on your makeup?! The director’s getting impatient.”

nA woman appeared at the door of the dressing room.

nChi Xiaochi looked over.

n……The woman was gorgeous, with flawless makeup, but from her neck down, there was nothing but empty air.

nHer head floated in mid-air like a balloon, smiling at Chi Xiaochi.

nAfter that, the balloon drifted away.

nOnly after confirming that she had left did the breath Chi Xiaochi had been holding finally come out.

nHis voice sounded like a chicken that was screaming as it was being strangled, “……Liu-laoshi, what was that?!”

nAn unfamiliar male voice completely different from 061’s sounded in his mind, “Song Chunyang, your eighth mission has begun. Please arrive at the set on time and begin your mission.”

n……Only then did Chi Xiaochi realise, that since entering this world, 061 hadn’t said a single word.

nThe author has something to say:

nXiaochi in the next world:

nAh ah ah ah ah ah——

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nsere: tOO MUC H PLOT SUDDENLY?? My seal baby??? CXC??? 061??? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

nbaum: and with that, that’s the end of this arc! see you all next week~

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