The mysterious illness event quietly subsided.

These days, Chen Xuan still took two hours to visit the gym, treating those "patients" who were summoned back from other places.

The final statistics showed that the number of people infected reached 2,306, most of whom could be linked to curses cast within this week. In other words, the efficiency of the perpetrator’s curse technique had significantly improved recently.

Chen Xuan guessed, perhaps his ability had escalated.

This could also explain why his ability was still Level 1 despite affecting so many people.

Maybe at the beginning, his ability was at the green level, and he relied on repeated usage to enhance it.

What would have happened if Beitian Academy didn’t discover this?

Would his ability keep rising until it became a presence like the "King of Misfortune"? If such a person destroyed all humanity, that would truly be ironic.

"In the history you recorded, did ability users ever cause extremely serious destruction?" Chen Xuan curiously looked at Lin Qing.

She was wearing store uniform at the moment, humming a tune while wiping the shelves.

Initially, Chen Xuan hired her as a store employee mainly to meet the conditions for the store manager upgrade. Seeing her colorful dyed hair and decorative-filled ears, she didn’t seem like a typical worker.

However, he realized he made a big mistake.

Lin Qing, although she liked to lie on the sofa chewing snacks and use her toes to grab tissues when she had free time, was meticulous in her work. Whether greeting customers or maintaining store cleanliness, she was dedicated and impeccable.

Even the elderly man who frequently came to buy cigarettes gradually changed his view of Lin Qing, no longer looking at her as a delinquent girl.

For instance, the shelves she wiped were now as good as new.

"Of course, there was one, five years later. This event was known as the New Century Nuclear Cloud, causing a huge problem."

"Wait... did a nuclear power plant explode?"

"No, it was a nuclear bomb." Lin Qing spoke as if recalling her breakfast, "An awakened ability user emerged in an extreme environmentalist group. He gained abilities similar to mind control... After a year of planning, he and his cohorts cooperated from inside and outside to attack a British nuclear submarine docked for repairs at the harbor. After acquiring command of the submarine, he launched strategic missiles at major cities in the United Kingdom—"

"Wait, this really happened?" Chen Xuan was dumbfounded.

"Yes, six missiles were intercepted during their ascent, but one still landed, ultimately leading to a tragedy where over 600,000 people died."

Six hundred thousand...

Chen Xuan twitched at the corner of his mouth, compared to this criminal at Jiang City airport, was indeed insignificant.

"At that time, the military chose to conceal the news, claiming it was a terrorist attack. Because the Dimensional Limit Mechanism hadn’t appeared yet, ability users themselves were a mystery. From outsiders’ perspectives, it seemed like a military-planned rebellion. It wasn’t until ability users’ crime incidents became more frequent that people understood what was really happening."

Shouldn’t have asked her.

Well now, knowing such an earth-shattering news in advance, he probably wouldn’t feel at ease sleeping these couple of days.

"Alright, the shelves are all tidied up," Lin Qing said cheerfully.

"Ah... thank you."

"Hmm? Why are you suddenly saying thank you?" she tilted her head slightly.

"It’s nothing, just think you’re quite remarkable. As a Future Warrior, you manage the store so well, and can cook, repair appliances..."

The more Chen Xuan spoke, the more he felt something was off... wasn’t she practically a jack-of-all-trades?

Guess I’ll double her salary next month.

"Me?" Lin Qing laughed, "Actually, I didn’t do those things."

This time, it was Chen Xuan’s turn to be puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Just like a plane can fly on autopilot, people with high cybernetic integration can also delegate AI to control their bodies." She leaned over the bar counter and said, "For example, I’ve been listening to music and browsing the internet all this time. What needs to be done has been assigned to Lv, it’s responsible for carrying them out, I just need to supervise occasionally."

This ability... is too much of a cheat!

It’s like telling a computer, you’re mature now, you should write your own code.

"I figured it out." Lin Qing smirked, "Store manager, you think I perform so well that you feel guilty inside and decided to compensate me properly, right?"

"You’re overthinking it." Chen Xuan diverted his gaze, come to think of it, she’s really transparent with him.

Beep beep.

The phone on the table suddenly lit up, and a cute duck avatar appeared.

Chen Xuan immediately picked up the phone and opened the WeChat message.

"Who’s this?" Lin Qing reacted quickly, "You didn’t have anyone with this avatar in your WeChat contacts before."

"No, you remember this?" Chen Xuan said in surprise.

"I took a glance when I encrypted your phone. And if I had been monitoring your phone all this time, I wouldn’t be asking you this." She shrugged, "Judging by the avatar, it should be a girl."

"Uh... it’s that patient." Chen Xuan said casually, "Look, she’s just telling me that she’s home."

After Gu Zhaoning recovered from her illness, her father specially came from Shen City to pick her up, even thanked Chen Xuan personally.

Actually, Chen Xuan could sense that although the opposite side expressed gratitude repeatedly, their words and expressions always conveyed a sense of distance, especially when mentioning compensation. Probably the Gu Family’s boss considers himself too young to be overly friendly, or perhaps he believes that as long as the money offered is sufficient, it would be enough to express his thanks.

Chen Xuan suspected that if he had asked for a billion then, the opposite side might still agree.

But he had passed the stage of needing money the most.

Now, with the pill dividends from Hundred Herbs Hall and funds available to borrow from Walter Company, the store’s operation is unobstructed.

So he didn’t ask for any compensation, merely saying, "I’m helping Beitian Academy, so you don’t have to pay me."

However, Gu Zhaoning was much more sincere.

She even found a chance to sneak back to the Beitian Academy before leaving, apologized to Chen Xuan personally, added him on WeChat, and mentioned that if he ever visits Shen City, she would definitely host him.

Now she didn’t forget to send a message to him after reaching home.

"Oh..." Lin Qing made a meaningful sound, "She’s indeed quite sensible. But I must tell you, there’s no future between you and her."

"Pff!" Chen Xuan spat out water, "You jumped topics too fast!"

What does that have to do with anything!

"No choice, cruel truth needs to be explained in advance to prevent any expectations."

Seeing her so serious, Chen Xuan became curious, "Why?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Because she’s the daughter of Dingsheng Pharmaceutical. Don’t be fooled by how close the company seems with Beitian Academy now, but in the history I remember, their interests are highly bound with the Dimensional Limit Mechanism. They’re practically a major contributor to the mechanism’s leading position in medical technology. In other words, the Gu Family will inevitably become your enemy."

There’s actually something like this...

Chen Xuan raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, "I thought you were just joking."

"Joke about the store manager’s lifelong happiness? I wouldn’t do such a thing." Lin Qing whistled, "Although the strategic decision direction of a big company likely has nothing to do with the boss’s daughter, when the day comes when you become enemies, the collapse of the building will also hurt your relationship. So to avoid unnecessary internal friction, it’s better not to socialize from the start."

Chen Xuan rolled his eyes.

"You’re right, but I never thought of it that way."

"That’s the best." Lin Qing quickly walked over, plopped onto the sofa, entering her relaxation mode.

Looking at the significantly sagging sofa, Chen Xuan suspected it wouldn’t last a few more months.

Speaking of the gains from this cooperation with Beitian Academy, just winning their recognition and receiving the treatment of distinguished guests would be inaccurate.

He glanced back at the computer, seeing the stock full of gray negative capabilities.

This could be considered one of his major gains—even the main gain.