Chapter 1 The Pitiful Task

This damned task left him physically and mentally exhausted. Hao Ren, who had been an ordinary Joe for over twenty years, was clearly not yet adapted to the high-energy life of a behind-the-scenes hero—although he wasn't even qualified to be a behind-the-scenes grunt right now.

Contacting Raven 12345 went smoothly. That lunatic goddess was busy tending to her flowerbeds in the yard and happened to be free. Hao Ren saw Raven 12345 still carrying that giant machete on the holographic projection. She looked like a tough girl who had just returned from a cosplay convention.

With a weary expression, Hao Ren recounted his experiences of the past two days in a rambling manner, and finally, with a hint of expectation on his face, he said, "The matter has been successfully handled. Do you think my performance was passable?"

Raven 12345 nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty passable."

Hao Ren: "..."

It seemed he shouldn't have expected any compliments from this unreliable character in the first place.

"What, you want me to give you a first-class merit?" Raven 12345 easily saw the awkward look on Hao Ren's face. She smiled mischievously. "You think running halfway across the planet to pick up a harmless new tenant counts as a difficult mission?"

"I felt it was pretty difficult. You have to consider my situation," Hao Ren grumbled. "I even fought with hundreds of undead, and I also ran into a half-baked demon hunter. It was thrilling enough for me."

Raven 12345 pondered for a moment, and then surprisingly nodded slightly. "Well, that barely qualifies as exceptional performance. According to the instructions, your physical enhancements should still be in their initial stages, and your combat power barely exceeds 5. The fact that you didn't chicken out despite having little combat power is quite unexpected. I'll give you some reward when you get back then... barely enough to give you some military merit. Although you were performing a civil task, the Space-Time Administration's military merit system also includes such civil tasks."

Hao Ren became very interested and wanted to ask what military merit was all about, but Raven 12345 didn't seem interested in explaining the matter. So Hao Ren could only ask about another thing: "I've already picked up Izhaks. How do I transport him back? I just discovered something. You gave enough for the travel expenses... but you didn't get Izhaks any British immigration documents! He's still holding the information needed for the originally planned landing point, and he's holding a Chinese ID card..."

Raven 12345 immediately slapped her forehead. "Hey, I was wondering why I felt like something was missing! I only got the paperwork done for you three!"

Hao Ren immediately felt that it was the right decision not to have too much hope for Raven 12345 from the start.

"Wait a moment, Izhaks' immigration documents, right?" Raven 12345 didn't look embarrassed at all. "Logically, these things should be handled by my agents at all levels, but this time I'll handle it for you personally. Wait a moment, I'll start the procedures now... 1, 2, 3, done."

Hao Ren was originally about to turn off the data terminal when he heard that Raven was only just starting the procedures. He thought he would have to wait a day or two to get the results. However, he didn't expect that she would have settled everything in the blink of an eye. Raven 12345 cheerfully told Hao Ren to hold out his hand. "Open your hand, that's right, hold it steady, here you go!"

Hao Ren felt a weight in his hand, and when he reacted, a large file bag was already lying in his hand.

"Holy crap, this speed..." Hao Ren stared blankly at the complete set of documents produced in three seconds, cold sweat pouring out of his forehead. "I haven't seen any other skills yet, but how can your skill in forging documents be so strong! Instant printing plus hyperspace delivery..."

Raven 12345 heard Hao Ren muttering and immediately asked curiously, "What did you say?"

"Uh, nothing. I said your speed is pretty fast, hehe, pretty fast..."

"Nonsense, I'm still carrying the title of goddess. Alright, now that the procedures are complete, you guys shouldn't stay outside for too long. Come back quickly. The commotion you're causing is not small. If you stay for too long, be careful of attracting trouble."

After leaving this last sentence, which might or might not have been a word of concern, Raven 12345 unilaterally hung up the communication.

The remaining events were finally uneventful. Hao Ren and the others had originally wanted to rest in London for another day or two to recover from the physical and mental exhaustion caused by the high-energy night, but now even an unreliable person like Raven 12345 had taken the initiative to remind them to go home quickly to avoid trouble, and had also prepared plane tickets for them to leave the next day, so the group naturally hurried back to China.

When he stepped back onto his familiar homeland, Hao Ren took a deep breath of the not-so-fresh air in the southern suburbs. The experience in a foreign country seemed to drift away like a dream. Only the two-meter-tall behemoth standing next to him constantly reminded him of the reality of everything.

Hao Ren suddenly thought of the half-baked demon hunter he had met and parted ways with in a hurry. Perhaps it was because of the other party's special identity, and because the two had fought side-by-side (they had a brick-throwing relationship, after all), Hao Ren had a pretty deep impression of Nangong. Although he was a goofball, and an incompetent middleman, Nangong's die-hard "fighting" spirit was quite impressive. It was just a pity that Hao Ren didn't say goodbye to him when he left—in fact, Vivian wasn't willing to have anything to do with Nangong again, after all, the other party was hanging the title of demon hunter.

He just didn't know if there really was a demon hunter behind that Nangong, and didn't know if he would become some kind of hidden danger. It was slightly unsettling. Of course, Nangong had indeed been successfully fooled by Hao Ren before, and he hadn't suspected Hao Ren's identity. Furthermore, a meteorite that fell from the sky also prevented Nangong from continuing to investigate this matter. However, Hao Ren always felt that there was a big reason why the other party was so easily fooled was that he had hit him pretty hard with that brick. It was hard to guarantee that Nangong wouldn't be dizzy someday and would start to think about what happened that day...

But whatever, when the sky falls, there will be someone taller to hold it up. And there was a two-meter-tall one standing next to him.

After thinking everything through, Hao Ren felt refreshed. Just as his familiar big house appeared in front of him, he immediately became excited and patted Izhaks' elbow to introduce the great demon to his future new home: "Look, that's where I live!"

Izhaks didn't have any expression on his face. He was neither dissatisfied nor pleasantly surprised. He just nodded calmly. "Oh, quiet. As long as it's quiet. I can live a peaceful life from now on."

Hao Ren looked at Izhaks strangely. "Big guy, are you worried about something? Why do you look like you're not in the mood along the way? And sometimes you talk a lot, and sometimes you don't say a word at all."

Izhaks smiled kindly, but unfortunately, even if he made an expression, his face was still scary. "It's nothing. I've lived for a long time, and I'll always encounter some annoying things, but everything has passed. Now I'm tired of fighting and tired of being annoyed. I just want to find a quiet place where no one bothers me and stay there for the rest of my life. The Space-Time Administration promised to arrange such a place for me and let me live there until I don't want to anymore... By the way, you don't have any objections, right?"

Hao Ren thought to himself: The Space-Time Administration is really impolite, selling me off for life without asking. But thinking that he did sign a contract, he still put on an indifferent expression on his face. "Whatever, I'm just renting out the house anyway. It doesn't matter who lives there."

This was also the truth, but he left out half a sentence: He never thought that his tenants would become a bunch of non-humans!

The house was still the same as when he left it. It was just that no one had cleaned it for a few days, and there was dust everywhere. Fortunately, the main furniture and appliances had already been covered in advance by the meticulous and diligent Vivian with a large pile of tarpaulins she found in the basement, so it wasn't troublesome to clean up. Seeing the vampire running around the house happily, fetching water, wiping the floor, and cleaning the room, Izhaks finally had a strange expression on his face: "She... usually takes care of this?"

The great demon misunderstood that he had to be responsible for doing work here.

"Vivian's situation is special," Hao Ren explained with a dry smile. "She can't afford the rent, so she voluntarily does the work... but everything is completely voluntary. Anyway, Raven 12345 said that you can get reimbursed for your expenses from her."

Izhaks blinked. "Looks like there are quite a few things I need to familiarize myself with..."

Hao Ren continued to smile dryly, with only one thought in his mind: There are still many things you need to familiarize yourself with. "Roll" should be hearing the movement here and coming home soon. At that time, Izhaks will have to try to understand why a cat is the second-in-command in the house...

(Another colleague in the online literature circle died suddenly from overwork, which makes me feel sympathetic. It is said that like most authors, piracy is rampant outside, and their income is meager. Even if they die suddenly in front of the computer, the most they get is a barrage of curses from pirated readers for being eunuchs. I can't help but sigh that it's really not easy to work in this industry. May the deceased rest in peace, and may the living move forward.)