"Ugh... so boring... Who the hell reports a case in the middle of the night... I don’t wanna be on duty! I wanna go home and sleep!"

Shening slumped over the reception desk at the Scavenger Squad station, his chin propped on his arms. He stared blankly out the door at the pitch-black street, muttering under his breath with palpable resentment.

"Shut up, you lolicon freak."

"Your constant whining... it’s annoying even to listen to!"

Yue Sibei, driven half-mad by Shening’s mosquito-like buzzing, snatched a magazine from beside her. With a look of utter disgust, she swung it like a brick at his spiky crew cut.

Though Yue Sibei—a mere "Rankless" civilian—could barely tickle Shening, a "Weak Rank" agent, her tiny protest did silence him.

After all, she held his freshly minted blackmail material. To avoid public humiliation, this small concession was worth paying.

*She’s holding the emperor hostage to command the court,* Shening thought grimly.

The sudden quiet pleased the delicate black-haired girl. She took a sip of warm coffee, then rested her cheek on her palm, scrolling through her phone with nothing better to do.

No interesting news at this hour. Her seal fan group chat was dead silent—no night owls left awake. And worst of all, she was deep in a drama drought, unable to find anything worth watching...

*Time to check novels.*

Her finger tapped happily on the app icon tucked in the corner of her screen: *Bao Luo Bo*.

"Damn it! That bastard editor Wei○tuo again! Miss Fox hasn’t updated? I’m flooding his DMs with complaints!"

Yue Sibei’s face twisted as if she’d just swallowed a fly that had crawled out of a dung heap. She slammed her palm on the table, cursing the no-good, pigeon-like authors at the top of her lungs.

The sudden racket jolted Shening upright. He’d been zoning out with his eyes closed across the table.

"Whoa! You scared me to death!"

Shening clapped a hand over his ear, staring at the furious black-haired girl with utter bewilderment.

"Hey, Sibei... are you sure it’s okay to slack off here? What if the Liaison Division calls..."

"Idiot. I maxed the ringtone volume. You know how loud our station’s phones are! Besides, who’d report anything at this hour—"

***

***

"—Get lost, you little punk! If you’re gonna die, die far away from me!"

A thunderous roar exploded from the duty office just as the two idlers chatted. The heavy wooden door slammed open with a thunderous bang.

A tall figure stumbled backward out of the office—tripping right into the stunned, wide-eyed gazes of Shening and Yue Sibei.

Fusiming crashed to the floor. Towering over him in the doorway stood Captain Wanghong, massive as a mountain peak, his face contorted with rage.

"Refusing my recall order just to chase death? Then crawl! Crawl as far as you can! I’m done with you!"

He yanked the door shut. The deafening *boom* shook the entire Scavenger Squad building.

The terrifying scene left Shening and Yue Sibei frozen in shock.

"...Are you okay, Senior Fusiming?" Shening’s voice trembled—he’d never seen Captain Wanghong this furious.

"What happened with Captain Wang...?"

"...I’m fine."

Fusiming pressed his lips together slightly. He shook his head and struggled to his feet. This had nothing to do with them. No reason to drag them in.

Wanghong’s rage came from Fusiming’s refusal to abort his covert investigation in the East District.

The irony? Fusiming himself didn’t understand his own stubbornness.

Was it for the mission?

He doubted it. His hunger for the case’s "truth" wasn’t that strong.

Instead, as he questioned the meaning of his own actions, a flash of soft pink—like spring cherry blossoms—filled his mind.

Along with that faint, sweet peach fragrance wrapped in morning dew.

And the strange sensation of his entire body’s Corruption Essence boiling under that peach-colored touch.

*Nainai...*

Frowning, Fusiming felt utterly alien to himself.

So alien... it was as if he’d ceased to be *him*.

No matter how hard he scrutinized his own thoughts, the root of this strangeness remained hidden.

*Sometimes you can’t see the mountain when you’re standing on it...*

He swept his bangs aside and covered his eyes with his palm, breathing deeply in silence.

...

Forget it. Time to go home.

His fingers parted, revealing dull silver eyes.

Tomorrow, he’d look into...

that girl named Nainai.

Pushing aside the turmoil, Fusiming set his next goal.

He stood, brushed off his trousers, then walked out of the hall—lips sealed, hands in pockets, shoulders slightly hunched.

Shening and Yue Sibei exchanged glances behind him, their faces painted with awkward confusion.

"Senior Fusiming... is still so... uh... aloof and cold," Shening murmured, watching the lonely figure retreat. He used the neutral term to describe the gloomy young man who’d always walked alone.

"Isn’t he Captain Wang’s adopted son? They used to get along so well... Why the huge fight today?" Yue Sibei covered her mouth, thoughtful.

"Drop it... This has nothing to do with us." Shening shrank back at the mention of their iron-fisted, wrathful captain.

"Probably family business. Let’s just forget what we saw." He patted Yue Sibei’s shoulder, trying to sound casual.

"Ew! Get close much? Don’t touch my shoulder!"

The moment the handsome, muscular guy’s hand landed on her, the delicate black-haired girl jolted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Stay away! Mom said touching a freak like you could get me pregnant..."

"Hey! Calling me a freak is one thing—but *pregnant*? I’ve had enough!"

...

Perhaps their bickering was just seasoning to spice up the boredom of night duty.