Otherworldly Affairs Office

Pei Yan knew he was dreaming but couldn't wake up. The battle scenes kept replaying in his mind with different endings: him defeating the Black-robed Man with great prowess, the entire team unfortunately sacrificed, or spending a peaceful night without incident. His mood was like a roller coaster ride, going up and down, because at the end of each story he could see that smiling young girl and a huge fish tail.

In a daze, Pei Yan seemed to hear someone softly calling him. After several attempts, he finally opened his eyes, his first reaction was a throbbing headache. Instinctively, he reached out with his right hand to rub his forehead, but felt something heavy tied to it. Unable to think much, he used his left hand to rub his nose, which was sore enough to make breathing difficult.

With thoughts slightly clearer, he looked around at his colleagues surrounding him, then at the military-green tent before turning to Wang Wenze in confusion, "Where is this? How long have I been out?"

"This is not far from the pond, you just fainted." Wang Wenze glanced at his phone and continued, "Less than ten minutes."

"Phew!" Pei Yan let out a long breath and sat up from the single bed, stretching his aching body. When he lifted his right arm, that heaviness returned, and he looked down to find a big fish tied to his wrist, not knowing when. Staring at the culprit that knocked him out, Pei Yan asked, "Why did you tie this thing to my wrist? And who is that young girl who hit me with a fish?"

After speaking, Pei Yan looked down at the fish again. It was indeed not the carp he usually ate, perhaps a grass carp? Its head was so large!

Wang Wenze suppressed his laughter and repeated Elder Lin's words seriously, "We also don't know who she is, nor why she hit you with a fish. Elder Lin just said that since she gave it to you, you have to keep it as it's a gift for you."

"Seems like the girl fancied you and gave you a betrothal gift. Pei Yan, you quietly managed to land yourself a big opportunity, huh? With a young girl as well, quite a beast. Wait a few more years and you can make a move." Ye Jiumu teased while devouring his boxed meal. Summer beside him, holding her boxed meal, considered saying something but recalled Captain Hu's instructions and remained silent.

"How absurd!" Pei Yan exclaimed, creating a metallic mirror with his hand to look at his face, swollen and red from the fish tail marks, he sighed and untied the big fish from his wrist, tossing it onto a nearby table before asking Ye Jiumu, "Do you have any boxed meals left? I'm hungry too."

"Just wait!" Ye Jiumu nodded, set down his chopsticks, and left the tent. He returned shortly after with four boxed meals, placing them on the table.

Pei Yan thanked him, taking one box to the edge of the tent, eating while watching the bustling crowd outside. The street had dramatically changed from their arrival; several tents had been set up, high-power generators dragged in, temporary lighting installed, and busy investigation personnel dashed around outside the tent. As Pei Yan used his Mechanical Eye to zoom in, he saw a dense fog rising around the pond's perimeter, with a long cordon of armed police standing guard at its edge.

"What's the current situation?" Pei Yan asked, stuffing a piece of Dongpo Pork into his mouth.

"Not sure, a planar invasion incident occurred outside our mission area. It's bigger than what we faced, so we can't leave yet. We need confirmation from the upper team and everything here is under martial law. Even if you wanted to leave, you couldn't." Ye Jiumu replied, eating his boxed meal without raising his head.

Hearing this, Pei Yan nodded and continued eating the boxed meal, his eyes never leaving the crowd outside. Just as he finished his first box and was about to start another, he saw a familiar figure among the crowd and shouted, "Hey! Feiyang! Here, over here!"

Feeling exhausted, Jiang Feiyang turned to the voice calling him, saw Pei Yan waving, and brought his companion to the tent.

Jiang Feiyang entered without courtesy, snatching the boxed meal from Pei Yan and handing it to his partner. He grabbed another box from the table and sat on the army bed, "You know everyone else. This is Pei Yan, my partner is Peng Lang, and this is...." After introducing them to Pei Yan, he looked at Zhao Yuanhu in confusion.

"I'm Zhao Yuanhu, newly transferred." Zhao Yuanhu stepped forward and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Jiang Feiyang, damn it, I feel like I'm a step-child!" Jiang Feiyang nodded and stabbed his chopsticks into the boxed meal, complaining.

Next to him, Peng Lang finished exchanging pleasantries with Pei Yan, raised his eyebrows at Jiang Feiyang and said irritably, "What's wrong with you again?"

"Other teams have male-female pairings for easy coordination. Why do they get matched up and I get stuck with you?"

"Who are you calling a 'thing'!"

"You're not a 'thing'!"

"Alright, you two, enough banter. Fatty Jiang, what exactly is going on tonight?" Wang Wenze kicked Jiang Feiyang's leg, knowing he would keep bantering endlessly.

Jiang Feiyang rolled his eyes disdainfully, "Huh, you don't know what it's like to be hungry. Let me eat first, Peng Lang, tell them."

"What else could it be, a planar invasion! A team was previously dispatched to support you guys, but they were caught by a sudden planar rift behind them. They suffered heavy casualties just as the battle began." Peng Lang drew out disposable chopsticks and sighed, "We departed with Gu Chu as the second wave rescue team, originally unaware of the accident here. Upon arrival, we found the situation outside was worse than yours. The planar rift opened wide with no peripheral defenses at all, our team was clearly too rushed trying to draw the enemies into Jiezhi Space for battle, unable to consider anything else."

Listening to Peng Lang, Pei Yan and the others exchanged glances. A situation worse than theirs? What could it be? They remained silent, quietly waiting as the two men sat on the bed eating.

Watching Jiang Feiyang devour his boxed meal, Pei Yan forgot he had only eaten half-full, handing over the last boxed meal to him. After Jiang Feiyang received it, Pei Yan finally asked the question everyone in the room wanted to know, "You encountered the enemy from that plane? What kind of enemy?"

"From the Spirit Monster Plane!" Jiang Feiyang opened the boxed meal, took a deep breath, and burped, glancing around with a bit of pride and boastful gaze in his eyes.

"Stop keeping us in suspense, what did you encounter!" Wang Wenze threatened to hit him, seeing his smug look.

The next word Jiang Feiyang spoke left Wang Wenze's hand suspended in midair.

"Dragon!"