Bad Boy

He browsed the post with great interest. The hyena demihuman had light dark skin, a seductive midriff, and a smoking hot, curvaceous figure.

Bai Xiaodu let go of the mouse. Although she was indeed attractive, he preferred to keep his distance.

He really didn't want to be in a situation where she asked to change positions, only for him to realize their physical roles had been reversed.

Too terrifying!

Lowering his head, Bai Xiaodu fell into thought.

The information he had just read about the Pathways slowly settled in his mind.

No wonder Xin Hai'an had casually asked about the 【Mother of Myriad Insects】 before. It turned out that was her Pathway's patron deity.

It was worth mentioning that the Zerg were not the United Federation's sole archenemy.

In fact, both the machine civilization and the dragons found them extremely annoying.

Sometimes, they would even temporarily put aside their own conflicts to gang up and stomp on those bugs.

The other factions fought mainly over land and resources, but the Zerg—a race that was basically a walking plague—devoured everything in their path.

They completely consumed any planet they conquered, converting it into biomass to grow their own species.

Thus, the deity known as the 【Mother of Myriad Insects】 represented the concept of matter circulation.

Its Pathways were 【Black Hole】 and 【White Hole】.

The defining feature of the 【Black Hole】 Pathway was devouring everything, converting valuable items into nourishment at a certain ratio. It favored overwhelming opponents with numbers, crushing quality with sheer quantity.

On the other hand, the 【White Hole】 Pathway represented eruption and release. It allowed its practitioners to drastically unlock their inner potential, overcoming the many with the few, shattering quantity with sheer quality.

It was indeed an exceptionally fitting Pathway for a Ranger. After all, what squishy class didn't secretly dream of styling on everyone in the arena?

Having made up his mind, Bai Xiaodu allocated this spell upgrade to 【Gust】.

The familiar mechanical voice of the system rang out.

【Performing Designated Enhancement. 【Gust】 will simulate the 【White Hole】 Pathway to complete its advancement...】

【Advancement successful!】

【【Gust (Proficient)】 has now advanced to 【Roaming Dragon Technique (Proficient)】!】

【Roaming Dragon Technique (Proficient)】

Condenses wind energy into tiny wind blades that encircle the user, granting high-speed flight and sharp turning capabilities. While the skill is active, dynamic vision and reflexes are slightly enhanced. Other skills can be cast mid-movement without needing to decelerate or stop.

After reading the description, the corners of Bai Xiaodu's mouth curled up uncontrollably.

Do you have any idea how insane the value of "casting other skills mid-movement without decelerating or stopping" is?!

Once he got a bit of practice in, wouldn't he basically become a high-speed, high-damage, mobile human artillery piece?

"What do you mean the magic cannon in your party can fly, and it's fucking faster than our Rogue?!"

Bai Xiaodu clapped his hands in delight. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that there were too many familiar faces in the association right now,

he would have wanted to yell, "I'm soaring like a dragon!" and fly straight out the window to test just how fast he could go.

“What are you smiling about?”

A very pleasant, flat voice suddenly rang out. Bai Xiaodu waved his hand backward dismissively.

“I'm laughing at how slow Rangers are and how brainless Mages are. They've got nothing on us Warlocks—we have both mobility and insane burst damage.”

“Wait, why does your voice sound so familiar...”

Before he could finish his sentence, a thin layer of cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

He snapped back to reality instantly.

Wait, that voice...

Bai Xiaodu pushed off the ground with his toes, stiffly spinning his chair halfway around.

Coming into view was that familiar, proud figure.

Dressed in a sharp suit with polished black boots, her tie rested quietly against the alluring curves of her white shirt.

With blue eyes, silver hair, and a mesmerizing face, she stood there silently with her arms crossed.

Her expression was as flat and undisturbed as a deep, placid pond.

It was Director-General Shen!

The security guard who was supposed to be keeping watch for him had vanished without a trace, leaving Bai Xiaodu all alone to be caught red-handed sneaking into the association to browse the Transcendent Network.

He wanted to curse the guard out for taking his bribe and doing nothing, but Bai Xiaodu quickly shut down all his thoughts.

He hadn't forgotten that Director-General Shen could read minds.

And there was another thing. He had been so engrossed in happily browsing the Transcendent Network.

But according to what Lingxin had said before, only transcendents had official accounts for the Transcendent Network.

Which meant... there was a very high chance the computer he was currently using belonged to Director-General Shen!

Under any circumstances, sneaking onto someone else's computer was bad form and highly disrespectful.

After all, you never knew what kind of weird things someone might have tucked away in some hidden corner of their computer.

Given Director-General Shen's status and her being a practitioner of the 【Autocracy】 Pathway,

she might have some earth-shattering secrets stored here—assassinations, corporate espionage, internal clan struggles...

If he accidentally stumbled upon something like that, he would be doomed. He'd be silenced permanently!

Even if he hadn't seen anything yet,

"better to silence an innocent than let a secret slip" was a truth everyone in the Federation had known since the days of the Empire.

That guard had absolutely ruined him. Of all the places, he just had to lead him to Director-General Shen's computer.

Forcing himself to calm down, Bai Xiaodu tried his best to project the mental image of an earnest student from a humble background who, desperate for a way forward but finding none, had no choice but to succumb to the harsh rules of society and pay a bribe to get ahead.

Sure enough, Director-General Shen's cold expression softened slightly.

Bai Xiaodu let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. No matter what her actual personality was, at least on the surface, she was the head of the Explorers Association who cared about the growth and development of her juniors.

Next, he had to put in a bit more effort. He started recalling his childhood hardships to weave into the act...

Right at that moment, because the page hadn't been refreshed in a while, a video in the post began to auto-play.

The screen lit up. The camera shook slightly as the person on screen constantly shifted poses, showing off her strength and flexibility.

Her voice was incredibly sweet and seductive, enough to make anyone's bones go soft.

“Hello, cuties~”

“Since I'm a female hyena, I'm hoping to find a partner who's also a demihuman. Preferably a super cute, white-haired puppy boy, hehehe...”

“There might be a little bit of pain involved, but I'm sure that won't be an obstacle.”

“Nothing can stop us from falling in love! I'll take real good care of you, mwah~”

Bai Xiaodu blinked, looking at Director-General Shen.

Director-General Shen blinked, looking back at Bai Xiaodu.

A trace of confusion first flickered in her beautiful blue eyes, followed by a look of sudden realization.

And finally, it settled into the look of an experienced elder who didn't quite understand a youngster's peculiar tastes but respected them nonetheless.

Bai Xiaodu's fur stood on end, and his silver-white tail shot straight up.

He had never been this desperate to explain himself in his entire life.

The tension that the arrogant Jedoli had brought him was not even a thousandth of what he felt right now!

“Director-General Shen! It's not like that! Please listen to me! Don't look at me like that, just let me explain!”

Director-General Shen's eyes were serious.

“You don't need to explain. I understand. Everyone is free to like what they like, and I have always respected that.”

She rested her chin in her hand.

“Did you only develop this preference recently? I recall you seemed to prefer more mature female bodies before.”

“Hmm... Is it a psychological misalignment caused by the immense pressure of my prophecy? While I do sympathize with you...”

“Still, sneaking onto my computer to search for this kind of thing...”

“Xiaobai really is a bad boy.”

“...”

He seemed to have cleared himself of suspicion, but Bai Xiaodu would have preferred to still be suspected.

Looking at her softened expression,

Bai Xiaodu died inside, fully at peace with his fate.