"Take a look at this."
Yi Fan rummaged in the beer bottle and found an electronic device, lighting up the screen.
On it was a task points ranking for the City Guardian Squad of Deep Blue City.
Yi Fan scrolled to the bottom, and the name of Squad 0527 was right there, proving he wasn't lying.
"There's a little over two months until the end of the year, and the City Guardian Organization will conduct a clearance for the underachieving teams, which means layoffs."
"The dismissed City Guardians will all be sent to the Lower City District."
Again with the Lower City District.
Zhao Hu really seemed intent on sending him to the Lower City District.
Han Zhan took a closer look at the task points ranking sheet; Squad 0527 was at the bottom with 0 points, while the next was 1250 points, a gap of over a thousand!
Did the two of them really fail to complete a single task in over nine months?
This truly was a massive mess.
Just as Yi Fan said, getting out of here as soon as possible was the best choice for Han Zhan now.
"Get lost." Yi Fan waved his hand impatiently.
Han Zhan glanced at the inner room where Red Iris had just gone, and suddenly said, "What if I insist on staying?"
"Suit yourself."
Yi Fan tossed the electronic device onto the table and walked toward the door without looking back.
The drink was finished; he needed to buy a new one.
Watching Yi Fan ignore the titular captain, Youwei fumed, "How can he be like this?"
"When he talked about layoffs to the Lower City District, his tone was casual and his eyes were calm."
In that brief exchange, Han Zhan noticed this detail.
"This shows he truly doesn't care and harbors a death wish."
"He wants to die himself, but dragging the whole team along? How can someone be so selfish?"
Youwei's words made Han Zhan nod in agreement.
"You're absolutely right."
"Huh?" Youwei was momentarily confused.
"He can't drag the whole squad to the Lower City District, so if we want to resolve this, we should start with the other squad member."
The other squad member Han Zhan referred to was the dancer, Red Iris.
"Are you really planning to stay with this squad?"
Youwei didn't quite understand Han Zhan's thinking.
"Youwei, avoiding problems only makes one accustomed to cowardice; only by conquering them can one truly grow."
"Even if we leave here, slinking back and being reassigned to a new squad, do you think Zhao Hu will just let us go?"
Han Zhan's words made Youwei ponder deeply.
She was the campus belle of Qingteng Academy, academically outstanding, quick to understand.
After thinking it through, she nodded emphatically.
"Then we'll stay and turn it into the number one squad in Deep Blue City! Ruin Zhao Hu's plans!"
Gazing at the confident Youwei,
Han Zhan smiled and tousled her soft hair.
Yes, it felt nice.
He suppressed his smile.
Han Zhan knew this wasn't a light challenge.
The issues with Squad 0527 were like a long-buried wooden box encased in cement, force would only hasten its destruction.
Han Zhan needed to find a crack he could pry open.
And that crack was Red Iris.
With this thought, he and Youwei stepped over the shards of glass on the floor and pushed the door to the inner room.
Compared to the chaos outside, the inner room was immaculate.
Red Iris, who said she needed to catch up on sleep, stood there, lost in thought.
Apparently surprised by Han Zhan and company's entry,
Red Iris frowned, her expression somewhat cold.
"Get out," she ordered.
"This is all City Guardian Organization property, a workplace, are you sure you want to speak to me like that?"
Han Zhan's words made Red Iris frown even deeper; without a word, she grabbed her things and headed for the door.
Just as she brushed past Han Zhan, he suddenly spoke.
"Do you really wish to continue deceiving yourself like this?"
"Red Iris? Or should I call you, Bai Shuang."
The "Red Iris" who was just about to leave the inner room froze upon hearing Han Zhan's words.
Han Zhan's Spirit Contract Master talent, [Divine Radiance].
Under his gaze, Red Iris's contracted spirit information was already crystal clear.
[Bai Shuang, A-Level contracted spirit.]
[Illusion Form, Sentimental Ring.]
[Trait, Lie. Able to truly change appearance, body shape, and height.]
No, her name wasn't Red Iris.
She used [Lie] on Han Zhan, and the scope of this deception likely wasn't limited to them.
After her lie was exposed, Bai Shuang's gaze turned dangerous.
"What do you want to do?"
"If you want to use this to threaten me, I'd advise you to give up."
Bai Shuang didn't care if someone saw through her lie.
Because the person she most hoped to deceive never was deceived.
She has always been just a substitute.
What Bai Shuang cared about was what this young man, Han Zhan, intended to do with the already riddled "0527" squad!
"Join me in taking on a task."
"Starting today."
Han Zhan waved the electronic screen in his hand.
"Yi Fan intends to move to the Lower City District, harboring a death wish, but surely you don't want that?"
"Otherwise, you wouldn't work so hard as a dancer to make money; it wouldn't cost that much just for alcohol."
Bai Shuang wanted to live, and she wanted Yi Fan to live as well.
Her crack was pried open by Han Zhan.
"Oh, and keep up the 'Red Iris' front." Han Zhan added.
With the look of "Red Iris," Bai Shuang tightly pursed her lips, as if pondering hesitantly.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not interested in whatever melodrama you might have going on, I just want to be a good squad captain."
"I don't have a fixation with interfering in others' fates, but I'm obsessed with things or people that affect my fate."
In this apocalyptic Insect race crisis, being a bit cold is more normal than being warm.
After hearing Han Zhan's blunt words,
Bai Shuang's expression instead became much calmer.
"Alright, I agree to work with you guys on tasks, but I have one condition: I want half of the task's profits."
City Guardians can receive rewards for completing tasks, with the profits varying depending on the difficulty.
"No problem."
After Han Zhan finished speaking, he handed the electronic screen to Bai Shuang.
"As a subordinate, you'll be in charge of task selection."
Bai Shuang, unperturbed, quickly found three tasks suitable for their squad.
Task One: Search for missing City Guardian personnel, task points 50.
Task Two: Resolve emotional disputes between Spirit Contract Masters and contracted spirits, task points 10.
Task Three: Escort a client's child to school, task points 10 per day.
Seeing the three tasks Bai Shuang selected, Han Zhan smirked.
"Low difficulty, few points; doing tasks like this, when could we ever catch up?"
"Search for the task with the highest points."
Upon hearing Han Zhan's words, Bai Shuang obliged, despite her reluctance to discourage him.
Soon, a new task emerged.
Task Description: Exterminate the Insect Race. Life monitoring detected Insect Race activity within Deep Blue City's sewer system; the City Guardians are requested to cleanse it!
Task Points: 300 (additional possible profits from Insect Race materials not included)
Danger Level: High.
Recommended Personnel: 6-8 people.
"Excellent, this is it!"