Otherworldly Affairs Office

"Do you smoke?" Pei Yan squatted down next to the cross-dimensional traveler, who had a gloomy expression, and took out a cigarette to offer.

Just a moment ago, Pei Yan and his group hadn't even finished lunch when an alarm went off in the cafeteria, indicating a dimensional rift had been forcibly opened ahead of schedule.

Currently, the Investigation Bureau is extremely sensitive to such incidents of forced dimensional breaches. Whenever one is discovered, they raise the alert level and go all out—this time being no exception. Thus, Hu Wenjun deployed the entire squad of thirteen to the scene.

Fully armed and on high alert while heading to the scene, Pei Yan never expected to encounter a "familiar face" from another dimension here!

Glancing at the cigarette offered by Pei Yan, and then with a sidelong glance at him, the other party responded in fluent Mandarin with disdain, "What kind of crappy cigarette is this? No, thanks!"

Pei Yan looked at the Little Panda in his hand, regretfully put the pack back into his pocket, lit the cigarette hanging from his mouth, took a puff, and remarked, "You've got high standards. Even my dad can't bear to smoke this! And didn't you say you wouldn't come here, that you were headed to Japan or Italy? Why are you back here?"

After teasing the other, Pei Yan tilted his head, intrigued by the non-mainstream styling of the long-haired cultivator next to him—his first encounter with a cross-dimensional person, famously dubbed one of the "two eccentrics" of the bureau, Liu Xiantong.

Garbed and prepared for a hard battle, Pei Yan arrived at the scene only to find this eccentric engaged in an ungraceful scuffle with another cultivator,

and the entire squad, which had been tense, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the two.

Unperturbed, Hu Wenjun took out the Jiezhi Space to encompass the pair, leaving Ye Jiumu, Jiang Feiyang, and the others to repair the dimensional rift outside, while the remaining teammates stood within, quietly watching the two continue to wrestle.

By the end, maybe they realized it was pointless, and after pushing each other away, the farce concluded. Only then did Hu Wenjun approach them, casually bypassing Liu Xiantong to greet and chat happily with the other cultivator.

"Damn it, what rotten luck! I struggled to escape the sect and painstakingly found a dimensional energy accumulation spot, and just as I broke it open, I run into him—this lapdog of the Immortal Palace and Investigation Bureau! Humf! Pah!" Liu Xiantong spat viciously in the direction of the cultivator chatting with Hu Wenjun.

"Watch your manners. You, a cultivator, need better self-cultivation. Who is that guy?" Pei Yan said, turning to critically study the 'lapdog' Liu Xiantong mentioned.

Compared to Liu Xiantong, the middle-aged man seemed even less like a cultivator. Actually, if Liu Xiantong dressed appropriately, he'd be more fitting of his name with a certain Immortal Palace disciple charm. But the middle-aged man chatting with Hu Wenjun had a simple, square face with rough skin, short stature but stout build; change his clothes to those worn by Pei Yan's grandfather when he was young, squat him by a field, and he'd be indistinguishable from a rustic farmer.

"Who are you, and why should I tell you? Don't act familiar with me!"

Pei Yan looked at Liu Xiantong with both humor and exasperation. Though his words were unfriendly, Pei Yan didn't find the guy annoying. Compared to those high-and-mighty Immortal Palace people he's met, Liu Xiantong was much more likable.

With this in mind, Pei Yan deliberately put on a flattering demeanor and said with a smile, "Come on, just share. Who knows, if I ever leave the Investigation Bureau, I could recognize you as my big brother."

"Pfft, you!" Upon hearing this, Liu Xiantong gave Pei Yan another look and finally responded with disdain.

"Oh, come on, I'm at least an Esper, not weaker than ordinary people. I think you have the aura of a big brother, even better than those Immortal Palace disciples I've met. Really! We're just waiting around, so why not chat?"

Perhaps Liu Xiantong was flattered by Pei Yan's words, as his initially stern face slightly softened, disregarding his earlier statements. He stretched out two fingers for a while.

Finally, seeing Pei Yan feign ignorance with a clueless look, he irritably said, "Cigarettes, cigarettes, cigarettes! And you call me your buddy! How come the Investigation Bureau is full of clueless people like you?"

"Oh, oh! Let me light one for the big brother." Pei Yan, suppressing his laughter, put on a show of sudden realization and a worried demeanor, retrieved his cigarette box, pulled out a cigarette, placed it between Liu Xiantong's fingers, then respectfully lit it with a lighter.

Apparently, this series of actions greatly pleased Liu Xiantong. Amidst the swirling smoke, Pei Yan even felt he was floating like an Immortal.

After taking a couple of puffs, Liu Xiantong slowly exhaled, pointed to the middle-aged cultivator with his finger, and said, "Ask him!"

"Oh, right, it's him! What does he do? He seems quite familiar with our captain."

Liu Xiantong snorted through his nose, "Familiar? Of course, familiar! Zhou Yinnong, in your world's terms, he's a smuggler! How could you guys not know him!"

Pei Yan asked, a bit surprised, "A smuggler?"

"Exactly, a smuggler. He transports stuff from the Daoist Plane here and takes things back from this world. If that's not a smuggler, what is it?"

"What does he deal in?" Pei Yan continued to ask, having gained a deeper understanding of cross-dimensional matters through Hu Wenjun, who mentioned that, just like cameras and mobile phones can't capture newcomers from another dimension...

Modern technology faces intense rejection in other dimensions. The more precise and high-tech the equipment, the stronger the rejection. It's manageable for a short period, but prolonged existence leads to all sorts of bewildering issues.

He told of a Duke from the Magic Realm who, after learning from the modern world, attempted to bring progress to his territory. He boldly built a steam railroad there, which was quite a spectacle then. However, the railroad mysteriously exploded less than half a month into operation during a transport, leaving over two hundred passengers with no survivors.

At the time, the Investigation Bureau was invited to inspect the site, and evidence showed it wasn't a fault of the train itself but that the whole train had suffered an enormous external energy compression, leading to a physical explosion. Remnant parts of the train were twisted by some massive force, with half a carriage being corkscrewed.

Other similar incidents occurred later, indicating the dimensional repulsion of technological products. The reformist Duke bore the consequences of his reckless acts and his family, too, reportedly met a tragic end, according to Magic Realm sources.

Therefore, aside from exchanging quality handicrafts with low technological content for Spirit Monster Realm's Dragon Race materials, the transaction scale between the real world and the Daoist and Magic Realms is quite limited.

Pei Yan found it hard to imagine what this person was trading with the real world.