Because it would make You Zhengping sad, Yu Hua didn’t mention anything concerning the past again. 

You Zhengping also refused to talk about it as much as possible. The more he knew, the guiltier he would feel towards the Protection Organization. It was better not to ask. 

He had left the decision of when to reveal his identity up to Yu Hua. When Yu Hua thought it was necessary, he would tell the Protection Organization his identity. Before that, You Zhengping would remain silent. 

Of course, if the black-cloaked man did something to harm the world or the Protection Organization, You Zhengping would go to the end with him, dying for love and dying for a cause. 

These were the only satisfactory outcomes You Zhengping could think of. 

When the two of them had just started dating, Yu Hua had already spent eleven years living as an ordinary person. Of course he had already lost his powers, and there had been nothing to hide. The days had passed smoothly and peacefully. And when then they had met, You Zhengping hadn’t experienced actual combat. He didn’t have much awareness of his identity as a Protector. The new generation of Protectors had even thought that there would be no more Destroyers, and they were only a group of somewhat stronger than usual young people. 

In four years of dating and marriage, they hadn’t lied to each other. They had always considered each other, been in tacit understanding on all points. Their feelings were naturally warm. 

Yu Hua’s seal weakening and his power suddenly increasing had been the fuse that set everything off. Not long after his strength had grown and he had started breaking household objects, Zhen Li had appeared, and You Zhengping had encountered a Destroyer for the first time and clearly understood his mission. 

From then on, the melancholy husbands had been running counter to each other, each with his own designs, mutually concealing their identities, with no way to have the same silent understanding they had had before. 

Until now. While everything unspoken, the two of them could face each other, and the atmosphere returned to what it had been at the beginning. 

Yu Hua understood You Zhengping’s caution, and he understood his husband’s position. He kept the tickets for the two-person Maldives luxury trip, not choosing a date to set out, because he knew that Captain You Zhengping of the Xuyang District Protectors couldn’t leave this place. There was no one to stand in for Captain You. 

He hoped that there would come a day when they would be able to use those tickets. Otherwise, the cost of returning the tickets would be too expensive. It would be a waste. 

After all, Yu Hua knew how to get by. He didn’t want to spare the money. 

The scorching summer passed amid their silent understanding. 

And during this month and more, the Xuyang District was unexpectedly peaceful. 

More Destroyers were discovered in other regions and countries. Because of the lure of the Zhen Li Studio, the motley forces rushed desperately towards the Xuyang District. These people were either untethered and alone in the world, or else they had substituted a dead person and showed a significant change in personality. Adding in that they were trying to get information about the Zhen Li studio in roundabout ways, it couldn’t have been simpler to catch them. 

The Clearing League’s people were often noticed by the Protection Organization while they were still lying low and investigating. They would fall into traps and be captured. They didn’t even cause major harm to society. 

But unlike Zhen Li and the others, these Destroyers weren’t lucky enough. As soon as they were captured by the Protectors, they would immediately self-destruct. Yu Hua didn’t even have a chance to absorb the energy of their Systems. These levelers, like headless houseflies, would die without accomplishing anything. 

When Zhen Li, who had become a reserve Protector, received this news, he stealthily questioning Yu Hua about why such a change would take place. 

Yu Hua’s answer was simple: “Because you’ve become a Protector.” 

“It has to do with me?” Zhen Li said in astonishment. 

With a cold look, Yu Hua said, “At first, the System threw levelers into the Xuyang District because it wanted to use you to expose my identity and fool the Protection Organization into going after me. But not only did things not proceed according to its plans, you, a Destroyer, shook hands and made peace with the Protector and became one of them. The System is sending the Clearing League’s people in order to exhaust me, not to make more trouble for itself. Naturally it doesn’t want such a thing to happen again.” 

Zhen Li said sadly, “Yuan Luori has also been acknowledged by the world law and had his ability awaken, and Director Ha, Huan Zixu, and Feng Kui have integrated into this world’s customs. If levelers continue to become Protectors, it’ll get harder and harder for newly arriving levelers to get close to you. So the System has been controlling the self-destruct devices in their brains, not giving the levelers a chance to repent. As soon as they’re captured, they immediately die?” 

Yu Hua nodded. “Not only that. It has also sent the levelers to places comparatively far away from me, so that I won’t discover them and remove the power of their Systems.” 

“How could that be?” Zhen Li’s face was despairing. “What does the System take us levelers for?” 

“When you’re playing Go, do you regret giving up pieces?” Yu Hua said expressionlessly. “You’ll only regret losing territory. As long as you still have your territory, you can spend as many pieces as it takes.” 

“But the levelers have no way to get close to you! Doing this is just sending them to die for nothing!” Zhen Li said angrily. 

Zhen Li had always been a good-tempered person. Lian Yufan had beaten him up once, and he could still get along with him harmoniously. He rarely got angry, but today he had truly been provoked. 

“I also think it’s strange. The System wouldn’t do anything without a purpose. Sending so much cannon fodder has already raised the world law’s threshold. So what is it trying to do now?” Yu Hua lowered his head in thought. 

Yu Hua and the System were old opponents, after all. After a bit of thought, he understood the System’s intention. He frowned. “Pass on to the Protection Organization that they should impose martial law within the Xuyang District. There may be a great battle coming soon.” 

“What does a great battle mean?” Zhen Li said in fear. “The holder of natural law power you mentioned before?” 

“Not only that,” Yu Hua said. “The System is putting pressure on the Clearing League.” 

Zhen Li had seen the head of the Clearing League. He carefully considered everything that had happened since he had come to this world and in a flash of realization said, “The System wants the Clearing League to send several high grade levelers to this world at once, making it impossible for you to take care of all of them at once. They’ll eliminate the Xuyang District’s Protection Organization and cut off your fallback!” 

The reason that Yu Hua could focus on dealing with Destroyers was because the Protection Organization fought to protect ordinary people and uphold the stability of the Xuyang District. If the Protection Organization suffered serious injury, the System would be able to use ordinary people’s lives as a shield, stopping Yu Hua in his tracks. If Yu Hua were unable to stay his hand and killed a large number of ordinary people, then the alliance between the Protection Organization and the black-cloaked man would no longer exist. 

Then Yu Hua would be under attack from both sides, and he would be unable to act against the Protection Organization. This would be the ideal opportunity for the System to eliminate Yu Hua. 

There wasn’t much skill involved in this trap. It was even an open plot. But it was savage. 

The System was using the hundreds of thousands of lives of levelers, Protectors, and ordinary people to pile up a road that would lead it to Yu Hua. Stepping on these bodies, the System would approach Yu Hua to deliver the fatal attack. 

This was a cruel and unfeeling method, but for the System, which had already consumed and destroyed countless worlds, what value did the lives of nonentities have? 

After getting information from Yu Hua, Zhen Li quickly printed it out, pretending according to custom that this information had suddenly appeared in the studio. He knew that if he used this method too much, the Protection Organization would suspect him. It might impact his ability to become a full member. Maybe they would take back the 81.26 square meter residence he had been living in for a month. But these external matters were meaningless in the face of countless lives. 

Zhen Li no longer needed to go through Lian Yufan or Plain Face Number 1 Cen Xiao to contact the Protection Organization. He had Director Xiao’s emergency contact information. He only needed to send a message, and soon an armored car would come to take him to the base. 

The information was too important. No modern electronic means of communication were secure. Zhen Li had to give Director Xiao this intelligence face to face and let Director Xiao tell the other Protectors at an emergency meeting. 

At the same time, Director Xiao also had to report to his superiors and request that elite Protectors from other regions be transferred to the Xuyang District. This wouldn’t be easy, because Destroyers were appearing everywhere in the world and the Protectors were seriously short on manpower. Every area where Destroyers had appeared had been reinforced. Many reserve Protectors who were sixteen and over but not yet adults had been put out on the battlefield under the name of actual combat training. 

It was already good that the Xuyang District, where no Destroyer had appeared in over a month, had not had to send people to support other areas, never mind asking the head office for reinforcements. 

Luo Huai had spent this month running around all over the place, covering up for other regions. He had lost weight and looked like a paper person who could fall over if the wind blew. His mental condition was also rather bad. He had become a lot gloomier. No matter what the psychologists did, he couldn’t become more cheerful. 

Zhen Li thought of how scattered the Xuyang District’s forces had been lately and felt scared. What if the requested support hadn’t come before they encountered the sudden attack…

He sped up as he ran towards the people picking him up. Outside, a drizzling rain began, the first rain of early autumn carrying a sliver of chill. 

Yu Hua sat by the window, watching Zhen Li sprinting through the rain downstairs. He was silently computing the time. 

The base wasn’t close. For Zhen Li to reach the base and find Director Xiao, give him the urgent information, convince Director Xiao to strengthen their forces, Director Xiao to first report to headquarters and convene the Protectors…

It seemed that there should still be enough time for Xiao You to come home and eat dinner before receiving the emergency notification to gather. 

Yu Hua looked at his watch. It was still two hours before work ended. He should go home and make dinner. 

He went to get one of the studio’s reserve umbrellas. This was a freebie from an advertising agency they had promoted products for. The studio had about a dozen. Anyone could take it if they needed it. 

When he got to the storage room, he saw the already five month old Director Ha tearing up an umbrella. Only the umbrella skeleton remained, but Director Ha was still unwilling to give up. It would only be happy if it snapped each strut. 

A husky in its growth period developed very quickly. From the pitiful little animal it had been when it had first arrived at the studio, Director Ha had changed into an 18.5 kilogram, 52 centimeter long, 46 centimeter tall, over a meter tall standing up half-grown dog. In a month it could eat up forty pounds of dog food. It tore up objects all over the place. It had scratched a hole in the wall of the storage room. Even a piece of the cement had been knocked off. Yu Hua had paid the landlord quite a bit of money to compensate for it. 

Zhen Li had thought that Yu Hua would be mad enough to simply stew Director Ha, but Yu Hua had only laughed mockingly and looked pityingly at Director Ha, saying, “You’ve grown up. We should get you sterilized.” 

Lian Yufan had also come over and said, “It should be sterilized. The other day in the morning, I saw it hugging Junjun. I was scared into running over and pulling the dog off. It’s strange, though. It only sticks to Junjun and doesn’t pay attention to any of us here at the studio. When Yuan Luori comes back, I figure it won’t recognize him anymore.” 

Lian Yufan was the one paying for the dog food, and Director Ha was a big eater. It had eaten up the greater part of Lian Yufan’s wages. Since it had taken most of Director Lian’s wages, it amounted to truly becoming the public relations director. 

As though it could understand human speech, Director Ha had heard the word “sterilize” and tucked its tail between its legs, attempting to shove its large body into the little hole it had dug in the wall, not minding whether the hole was big enough to hold it. 

“More and more like a dog.” Yu Hua smiled maliciously. “What are you still struggling for?” 

Director Ha had used its remaining intellect to understand what Yu Hua had meant. It had lost the protection of its body and its origin ability and used its initial item to change its body. Its soul would be constantly eroded by the instincts of its body, until the properties of its soul had been worn away and it would become an entirely different person. 

How many times had it changed bodies before its one hundred ninety-second level? Was it still the same self it had been at the beginning? Director Ha could no longer consider these things. The other levelers at the studio all remembered their original names, but what about it? What had its name been? Director Ha didn’t remember. It only knew that when Junjun called “Xiao Ha,” it quickly came running. 

Yu Hua stared at the umbrella that had been ripped into garbage and picked up one that was still relatively whole. He patted the dog’s head. “I got a phone call. Yuan Luori’s second performance ended last night, and the live audience voted him out. He’ll be coming back tonight.” 

Director Ha had no reaction to the name “Yuan Luori.” Yuan Luori had been with the group for over forty days. Director Ha didn’t have enough intellect to remember him. 

“It was Yuan Luori’s trap that got you turned into a dog. You’re so strong now. Do you want to get revenge?” Yu Hua asked. 

“Bark?” The husky opened its blue eyes wide and titled its head, looking like a stupid dog. Then it shook its head, seeming to struggle between its human and animal natures. 

Yu Hua didn’t say anything else. Carrying the umbrella, he walked out of the studio, leaving work early. 

Today was the one day a week that Huan Zixu and Feng Kui could see each other. In order to monitor Huan Zixu, Lian Yufan had gone with him to see Feng Kui. Both of them had had their perfect attendance record taken away by Yu Hua. Of course, neither of them had ever seen a full attendance bonus. 

Huan Zixu was very good at making money. With him at the studio, the sales volume from only three livestreams had been astonishing, and the return rate had been low. In only three promotional streams, he had made quite a bit of money. 

Since this was a rental apartment, every time Feng Kui came to see Huan Zixu, the landlord would always be nearby holding a phone ready to call the police, and he would occasionally hint to Huan Zixu that he shouldn’t make friends who looked like they belonged to the criminal underworld. Huan Zixu couldn’t take the landlord’s discrimination against Feng Kui and was considering purchasing an apartment in the complex under construction next door. The price was a little high, but he had already gotten to know the money-making patterns in this world. As long as he could convince Yu Hua not to take too high of a commission, the problem of a down payment wasn’t very big. 

Yu Hua locked the studio door, leaving Director Ha alone to look after it. He got into his car and drove home. The armored car taking Zhen Li to the base at full speed was penetrated by a high pressure water cannon and turned over on the highway, hitting three ordinary sedans. 

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Author's Note

Yu Hua: This last month, I’ve really wanted to see the Protector Captain You using the black-cloaked man identity, but there hasn’t been an opportunity!