Lin Ran completely broke down.
Back when she saw the other party enter the apartment, she’d even thought the girl was pretty cute—patient enough to play parent-child games with that little girl. No matter how she thought about it, she should’ve been someone easy to get along with.
Now Lin Ran finally saw her clearly.
At least when the company exploited her, they still paid her!
Damn it—this person was nothing but a monster in sheep’s clothing!
In the end, under Xu Xiaoyou’s coercion and “gentle persuasion,” Lin Ran accepted her fate.
Seeing that it was about time, Xu Xiaoyou nodded, stood up, and walked to the entryway to put on her shoes.
“Remember to keep an eye on Anya. If she wants to play, play with her. If she’s hungry, there’s food on the floor—an entire bag of it.”
“Where are you going?” Lin Ran hurriedly stood up and asked.
“Wait!”
Before Xu Xiaoyou left, Lin Ran shouted loudly, stopping the girl outside the door.
“You’re going to the Sector 1 branch company, right? Help me ask around about someone in the company named Chen Xinyi. If you can, tell me how she’s doing now.”
“Hm?” Xu Xiaoyou saw a story hidden in Lin Ran’s eyes, the corner of her lips curling slightly.
Stared at like that by the blonde-haired girl, Lin Ran felt embarrassed, grinding her teeth in frustration.
“For no special reason! You’re already exploiting me like this—can’t you at least help me with one small thing?”
“Alright. I will.”
………
After leaving the staff apartment, Xu Xiaoyou hailed a car. In less than ten minutes, she arrived beneath the Universal Tower.
The giant that watched over the city looked even more imposing when viewed from below—like the tallest tree in a steel forest, holding up the entire dome above.
Floating vehicles weaved back and forth between layers of glass curtain walls, like countless mechanical fish swimming into the ocean, freely roaming through a sea of light and shadow.
After a brief moment of internal reflection, Xu Xiaoyou followed the flow of people into the metropolis.
From the moment she entered the company, she noticed the tight security measures—countless cameras locked onto every corner.
Every few meters stood a fully armed security robot on patrol. Their shells were made of lightweight alloy, supported by a single wheel. Inside their mechanical monocular eye hid dense clusters of sensors and cameras. No weapons were visible on the surface—only smooth, streamlined contours.
Xu Xiaoyou was certain that beneath those alloy shells were packed with all kinds of heavy weaponry. Once an alarm was triggered, they could turn into mobile firepower bunkers in the blink of an eye, blasting intruders into nothing but residue.
The lobby was spacious and bright. Xu Xiaoyou followed the employees ahead of her, swiping her ID card across the machine.
“Welcome, Mr. Xu Nian. Your newly assigned department is located on 23L, Area C-11. Universal Heavy Industries welcomes you. We wish you a wonderful day~”
An employee badge popped out of the machine. Xu Xiaoyou glanced at it, didn’t pay much attention, and clipped it to her chest.
Today seemed to be the onboarding day for a batch of new employees. Xu Xiaoyou caught sight of a fox-faced manager leading a group of people down a corridor displaying the company’s glorious past, tirelessly instilling them with grand ideals, life goals, and corporate dreams.
“Every one of you has the potential to become an elite of society! Don’t narrow your vision—it is the company that provides you with a platform for growth…”
The fox-faced manager spoke with resounding conviction. The new employees were so moved they beat their chests, as if they couldn’t wait to devote their lives to the company.
In other words: corporate PUA.
As for how Xu Xiaoyou could tell they were new hires—
Simple. Anyone whose eyes still held light had to be a naïve youngster who hadn’t yet been beaten down by society.
After roughly assessing the first-floor security, aside from the robots, most guards were bear-men in suits and sunglasses.
They didn’t look like fixers, just ordinary people trained through a standardized system.
As expected—once you became a fixer, you wouldn’t be stuck doing such obedient, mundane work.
Fast money, social status, and wanting to remain a law-abiding hive city citizen?
How could there be such a good deal in this world?
You had to first gain a foothold in the city before thinking about fixer commissions.
This hive city was still too small. There were pitifully few fixers, and completing just one commission could earn an astronomical reward.
With that thought, Xu Xiaoyou entered the company elevator.
Just as she pressed the button, a beautiful young figure rushed over, actually trying to wedge her hand directly into the elevator doors.
“That’s dangerous,” Xu Xiaoyou frowned, quickly pressing the door-open button.
“Sorry, sorry! I have a meeting this afternoon—I’m going to be late! I was really in a rush, I’m so sorry!”
Having run too fast, the girl was panting heavily. As soon as she entered the elevator, she lost her balance and bumped into Xu Xiaoyou.
Xu Xiaoyou sighed helplessly, supporting the clumsy girl while observing her, speaking in a neutral voice.
“Are you okay?”
The girl had hooves like a horse’s, her body covered in fine white fur. Most striking of all was her head—where a pair of curved goat horns grew.
A veela?
And judging by her appearance, her bloodline was extremely pure.
Xu Xiaoyou recalled the veela she’d encountered earlier in the pig-faced woman’s apartment. That one had neither hooves nor horns—in fact, that was the more commonly recognized veela appearance.
That was the result of generations of interbreeding between veela and other races. Someone with blood as pure as the girl before her—Xu Xiaoyou was seeing one for the first time.
Under the race-liberalization laws, old racial barriers no longer existed. Interracial marriage was perfectly normal.
“Sorry, really sorry.”
The veela looked up. Upon seeing the girl’s gentle features and warm, cheerful smile, something stirred restlessly in her heart.
“I’m fine.”
Judging by the voice—was this person a boy?
If so, wasn’t he way too pretty? And that smile… it’s really nice…
Realizing her thoughts were going astray, she quickly coughed lightly, pulled away from any physical contact, and shrank into a corner of the elevator.
Xu Xiaoyou noticed the strange reaction but didn’t say anything, simply maintaining a respectful distance as well.
She knew about the veela race.
The fate of veela was often tragic.
Due to racial characteristics, veela typically possessed a desire for “sex” far exceeding that of ordinary people—in simple terms, they all suffered from hypersexuality. This was engraved into their genetic origin and could never be erased.
From birth, they instinctively relied on powerful beings for survival, exchanging charm for protection and resources.
Thus, a veela usually faced three possible futures from the moment they were born.
First: becoming a top attraction in pleasure districts, then marrying a pig-man or troll after aging and losing their appeal.
Second: possessing magical or support-type talent, climbing the fixer ladder, and ultimately becoming the lover or spouse of a powerful individual.
Third—and the most tragic future of all.
Relying on themselves to get into a good university, enter a major corporation, or become a grade 1 fixer. Breaking free from family and old societal constraints, striving to escape the shackles of racial destiny, desperately trying to change others’ stereotypes through sheer effort and growth.
Only to, at the very end, at some fork in the road of fate, be lured by profit—step by step—into a deeper abyss than the first two paths.
The elevator continued upward. The wait felt long.
The girl occasionally glanced back at Xu Xiaoyou. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she finally asked tentatively:
“Um… are you a senior from the security department?”
Rate on N.U.
