"A little good-natured teasing can help them relax their constantly tense nerves," Chu Bamboo explained calmly. After a brief pause, he continued, "Alright, I should be taking my leave."
"...Huh? You're—! Oh, right," Lu Muxue said, snapping back to reality and making a decision. "Let's exchange phone numbers."
It wasn't—or rather, it wasn't just because he had saved her life. Lu Muxue also found it very comfortable talking with him. Even if today's incident hadn't happened, she felt she would have enjoyed their conversation.
"I don't have a phone!" Chu Bamboo scoffed. 'More accurately, I don't have a phone in this Dream World,' he mused internally.
'It's not that I can't get one... It's just that in the past, while the phones in this world looked like flashy smartphones, they could only be used to make calls...'
'Connect to the internet? Sorry, not a feature! So I've never needed one.'
"Huh? Oh! In that case..." Lu Muxue struggled for a moment before finally blurting out, "How about... I give you my phone?"
"...You're way too trusting," Chu Bamboo said, giving Lu Muxue a long look and shaking his head. 'Who just does that?'
Although Lu Muxue's phone was expensive, its price was the least important thing about it. What was important was the status it represented and the string of numbers in its contact list—
This phone could even place a direct call to the former chief executive's private line.
Chu Bamboo didn't take advantage of the offer that was right within his grasp. He planted his foot firmly on the ground and shot off like an arrow, leaving Lu Muxue standing there in a long, pensive silence, feeling as if she had lost something.
Suddenly, her phone rang. Lu Muxue paused for a moment, then answered the call.
"Mom... Mm-hm, you heard? Yeah... I'm fine, really... I was saved... I don't know who... I did thank him! I wanted to give him my number, but he doesn't have a phone... I know, yes, I did something really stupid... He left... I'm scared... I hope offering my phone didn't wound his pride. That's what I was thinking, so I didn't offer money, but... Yes, yes, there is! The Special Operations Brigade of the Third District Police Chief Bureau... I think they might have a way to contact him... What they call him? Yes, yes, I think I heard them call him... Mr. Zhu?"
Confusion appeared on Lu Muxue's face. After she uttered those two words, her mother, who had been frantic and chattering with worry, had suddenly fallen silent.
'Is that name... famous?' Lu Muxue was completely baffled.
...
「Third District Police Chief Bureau.」
Chu Bamboo walked in calmly, and a familiar alarm suddenly blared.
"Who is it? Damn it!" The guard on duty's expression changed drastically. He drew his sidearm, aimed it at Chu Bamboo without hesitation, and shouted, "Put your hands where I can see them! Now! Rig—"
Susan, sitting in her chair, felt her pupils constrict. When she saw the guard aiming at Chu Bamboo, her expression became even more alarmed. She cursed, "It's not him! It's something else!"
The guard flinched, becoming visibly more panicked as he wildly aimed his gun elsewhere. Susan scanned the windows and doorways, but seeing no one besides Chu Bamboo, her body grew even more taut.
The two of them were as jumpy as startled birds.
"Susan, I think I'm the one who set it off this time," Chu Bamboo said, expertly playing his part. "You can turn off the alarm. Uncle Li knows about my situation. If you don't trust me, you can give Uncle Li a call. You should have a channel to contact him, right?"
At the same time, Chu Bamboo was grumbling internally. 'That guard's reaction... Tsk, tsk. He looked like an American cop who'd just spotted a black man. Just how on-edge are these feral Transcendents? Or maybe, just how unmanageable is this bunch? What kind of lawless crap have they pulled to make the police so jumpy?'
Susan was clearly stunned. She eyed Chu Bamboo with suspicion and uncertainty, then thought for a moment before walking into the Inner Sect. Shortly after, the alarm shut off.
"Ah Zhu, you're going to join our Police Chief Bureau? That's great!" Susan rushed out from the Inner Sect. She had clearly just spoken with Li Kang, and her face was flushed with excitement as her words tumbled out. "I've been saying it all along, you should have joined ages ago! Captain Li is always so hesitant to bring it up. I really don't get what the big deal is."
Chu Bamboo just smiled. As far as Susan knew, Chu Bamboo was a well-connected guy in the shantytown renovation districts. Whenever the Police Chief Bureau had a case involving that area, going through the local union was the most effective approach. And the only reason the Third District Police Chief Bureau had a line to that union was thanks to Chu Bamboo's introduction.
"Alright then, I'll head inside and wait for him," Chu Bamboo waved and walked into the Inner Sect with practiced ease.
"Alright! I asked around, and it looks like Captain Li and his team will be a while! You'll have to wait a bit," Susan called out. Long after Chu Bamboo had disappeared from sight, her face remained flushed with excitement, and she kept pacing back and forth on the spot.
'Is it really that big a deal?' the guard wondered to himself. Still, he didn't ask, simply straightening his back and standing ramrod straight by the door. 'Can't just butt in during a shift!'
...
"Ah, crap."
Chu Bamboo flipped a switch, opening a door at the end of the women's restroom, and suddenly thought of something.
'Li Kang isn't back yet, so he definitely hasn't entered my identity into the system! Otherwise, the alarm wouldn't have gone off the second I walked through the door... In that case, is there any point in me going in now?'
Chu Bamboo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he went in anyway. 'Might as well, since I'm already here,' he thought.
'As for whether Li Kang would be shocked that I could get into Base Three—worst case, I'll just leave before he gets back. If we do run into each other, I'll let him come up with his own explanation. I figure he owes me that much. And if all else fails, can't I just reset? No big deal!'
"ALARM! ALARM!"
The moment Chu Bamboo set foot inside, a piercing siren sounded. The silvery-white walls of the base were all bathed in a blinding red light.
"Nuwa No. 17! Verify my identity! Name: Chu Bamboo. Gender..." Chu Bamboo snapped his fingers with a practiced air, the words spilling out in Chinese. His expression flickered as he realized that the alarm had automatically stopped the moment he spoke fluent Chinese.
'Now this is interesting... My identity hasn't even been verified yet!'
'Does this mean that in Nuwa No. 17's base logic... anyone who can speak fluent Chinese can't possibly be a hostile?'
And then...
"Verification successful! Identity card re-creation successful!"
"Welcome back, permanent Level 1 Authority holder: Chu Bamboo."
"Huh?" At that moment, Chu Bamboo's expression changed.