Chapter 1 The Burden

After nearly an hour of research, Hao Ren finally confirmed one thing: the data terminal in his hand wasn't suffering from any major problems, but it was plagued with minor ones. Even as a novice who had never touched such high-tech gadgets before, he could tell that something was wrong with the system inside this little device. Many functions seemed inexplicable, many materials were completely irrelevant to him, and he even asked the data terminal's AI about it, but even the AI didn't know what these things were for – Raven 12345 told it to install them, so it installed them all.

That's right, Raven 12345 ordered them to be installed, rather than being part of the system by default. Every data terminal issued from the Space Administration headquarters was actually initialized, and in theory, they should all be the same after being sent to the grassroots level. However, local managers had the right to add some special-purpose programs to these data terminals based on local conditions, such as a local encyclopedia of biology, a local interstellar route map, or a guide to prenatal care and calming the nerves specifically for female inspectors. In any case, no matter how strange the things were, they could be found in the data archives of the Xiling Empire, so there was no end to the programs that could be installed on the data terminal. The problem was that Hao Ren's local superior was a woman (goddess?) with a screw loose. She clearly didn't know anything about technology, but she didn't bother to apply for a few more mystical devices. On top of that, she was the kind of person who liked to get involved in everything, so after Hao Ren's data terminal was sent here, Raven 12345 played with it for quite a while…

Now Hao Ren and Vivian were staring blankly at the vast number of "PT-385 Encyclopedia Universalis Series" (a set of two thousand books) on the data terminal. He found that this headache-inducing thing couldn't be deleted. In fact, all the messy things that Raven 12345 had installed on the data terminal couldn't be deleted, as they were locked with high-level permissions…

"This unit advises you – to make do with it," a line of text appeared on the data terminal. "This unit's functions are still complete, and you have everything you need. You just need to suppress your obsessive-compulsive disorder and accept that your personal device contains a massive amount of junk information. Because if you ask Officer Raven 12345 to exchange the device, she will only give you something worse than the current situation. This unit discovered this after querying the local network message board – everyone who has dealt with Officer Raven 12345 has complained about similar incidents, and the repeat complaint rate is 100%. She is very good at messing things up."

"Forget it," Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. He was only depressed for a short while, and then his optimistic spirit took over and he put the matter aside. "Anyway, you're the one who manages the system data. When I need something, I'll just ask you to help me find it. I'll just ignore those messy things and pretend they don't exist. That's not a problem, right?"

A line of boastful text immediately popped up on the data terminal: "This unit has excellent performance and powerful search functions. The user need not worry."

In the near future, Hao Ren would realize how correct a decision he had made today.

"Let's go down to eat too," Hao Ren stuffed the data terminal back into his pocket, completely forgetting about the matter. Then he looked up at the elegant and stylish antique grandfather clock in the corner of the wall. "Lili has been down there for an hour, why hasn't she made a move? Did she get lost or something?"

"That big dog is a glutton. They offer a buffet for breakfast here, she definitely wants to eat her fill," Vivian said with a curl of her lip. "No manners, that's all she's good for."

Hao Ren shrugged silently, led Vivian out of the room, and soon arrived at the restaurant on the first floor.

England is a slow-paced country, and in many situations, it is permeated with a slightly lazy and unhurried atmosphere. The local people's day generally starts at nine in the morning, including their breakfast – Hao Ren obviously couldn't adapt to this timetable yet. His jet lag hadn't caught up, and he was greeted by an unprecedentedly deserted breakfast: there were only a few people in the huge buffet restaurant, so he and Vivian easily spotted Lili in the center of the restaurant. The werewolf girl's presence was exceptionally high. She occupied a large table by herself, eating like a tiger devouring its prey, with three or four empty trays already in front of her…

Hao Ren blinked: "They all say England is the headquarters of the dark cuisine world, but looking at Lili's eating habits… it doesn't seem as serious as the rumors say?"

Vivian was very disdainful: "She's just an omnivore, born to be an unpicky eater."

Hao Ren carried a plate and walked around the long food counter. He was lucky to find that not all British dishes were as bizarre as unidentified substances. Of course, this might also be related to the nature of the buffet. In short, he successfully pieced together things he dared to eat from some strangely colored foods, and then he carried his plate to Lili's side: "Still not full?"

"Uh-huh," Lili's mouth was stuffed full, and she tried hard to swallow while trying to speak clearly. "The vegetable salad here is delicious! The fruit is also delicious! I just don't like the roast meat here, it's not as good as at home…"

Hao Ren looked at Lili's eyes and muttered in a low voice: "As a werewolf, don't you feel ashamed of your diet?"

Lili said with a straight face: "Who told them not to sell big bones here!"

Hao Ren felt that he couldn't communicate with this werewolf anymore.

Then he turned his head and saw Vivian sitting on the other side, and couldn't help but say a few words: "You were just saying that people were useless, where do you think you're useful?"

The plate in front of Vivian could almost be described as a moving mountain. Some things that Hao Ren thought could be described as mysterious food were picked up by her. The bloodsucking girl, who was used to being poor, couldn't suppress the restlessness in her heart when she came to this buffet restaurant where she didn't have to pay. She had just complained that Lili was useless, and in the blink of an eye, she was more of a bumpkin than anyone else!

"I've never experienced such a good life before!" The vampire girl's mouth was soon stuffed with a lot of things, and the second half of her sentence was as vague as ventriloquism. "If I don't eat quickly today, who knows when I'll have the chance to eat like this again…"

Hao Ren was now extremely grateful that most people in England started their daily lives around nine o'clock, and there were only a dozen people in the entire restaurant, including the service staff. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to afford to lose face with these two starving ghosts!

While the three of them were busy dealing with breakfast, a tall, thin man walked over with his food at some point. Hao Ren only heard a very gentle voice from above him: "Excuse me, can I sit here?"

Hao Ren looked up and saw an unfamiliar man. The other party was wearing a white thin shirt and black trousers. He was tall and thin, clean and neat, with a spirited black short hair. His appearance couldn't be said to be handsome, but he had a very capable and reliable feeling. Of course, the most noticeable thing about the other party was his oriental face. Hao Ren only took one look and was almost certain that the other party was Chinese.

"Oh, there's no one here, feel free," Hao Ren noticed that there were empty seats across from his table, so he nodded. However, he also noticed that there were empty tables everywhere in this restaurant, and the tall, thin man in front of him didn't need to "share a table" with him at all, so he subconsciously became a little curious and wary of the stranger in front of him.

He still remembered his "top secret mission", and his vigilance was much higher than usual.

With an outsider suddenly appearing, Vivian finally remembered her status as a high-level blood clan, so she quickly slowed down her eating speed and tried to put on a dignified aristocratic demeanor – it would be more convincing if she could wipe the oil off her face.

"It's not easy to meet a fellow countryman here," the tall, thin man sat down and spoke very kindly, not as unapproachable as Hao Ren had initially thought. "Are you here for tourism?"

"Fellow countryman?" Hao Ren really didn't expect that he had guessed correctly. Because of the existence of the translation program, he couldn't tell from the language whether the other party was speaking Chinese or something else. At this time, he finally dared to confirm his guess when he heard the other party call himself a fellow countryman. "You're from China too?"

"A true Chinese, but I often travel around the world," the tall, thin man said with a cheerful smile. "It's not easy to meet a fellow countryman here, so I came to join you at this table… Did I cause you any trouble?"

Hao Ren quickly waved his hand: "It's okay, it's okay."

"That's good," the tall, thin man nodded, and then said as if casually, "Are you looking for a place called Yoford?"