“Ring Ring…”
The bedside alarm clock rang and was pressed off after three seconds on time.
Shen Jie got up as usual, tidied up, took out the milk and bread from the refrigerator for breakfast, and then went out slowly.tn
At 7:30, Shen Jie sat in the small office of the research institute and met a superpower person who made an appointment today.
“Do you think this suppressor design is okay?”
Shen Jie handed a finely tuned purple gemstone earrings to the woman sitting across the table.
She took the earrings in her hand and looked at them for a moment, and praised with satisfaction, “Professor Shen’s craftsmanship has always been very good. I just made a little request before, but I didn’t expect to finish the new suppressor so soon.” With that, she opened the earring clasps, didn’t even furrow her brows, and with a click, she pierced the needle into her ear and fastened the clasp.
“As long as you like it.” Shen Jie smiled.
After sending the lady away, Shen Jie made a cup of coffee, returned to his seat, and leisurely began sketching design drawings on the screen.
Today was the seventh year since he crossed into this world.
As a C-level researcher of the research institute, he was mainly responsible for the research of the power suppressor, but because the level was too low, he basically had no access to any core technology. Usually, he only did the exterior design of the suppressor, handled various requests of the superpower people, and assisted them in wearing the suppressor. The work was not intense, and it could even be called leisure.
Shen Jie was very satisfied with this job.
Compared with the superpower people fighting with aliens outside, and the busy overtime of other units in the inner city, the work in the research institute was stable and orderly, which was very suitable for leading a laid-back life.
After spending a long time in a chaotic world, he appreciated having an orderly life.
During lunchtime, Shen Jie put his hands in the pocket of the white researcher uniform coat, walked slowly from District 7 of the research institute to District 4, waiting for his lunch companion to finish work.
The research institute was large, with a total of nine zones, each progressing closer to the core research areas of the institute as one moved forward.
The fourth area was the exotic experimental observation center.
Of course, as a Class C researcher, his usual lunch companion wasn’t someone of great importance either.
Both graduates of the same university, they entered the research institute as interns in the same year. Although they were assigned to work in different areas upon graduation, over the years, their professional titles coincidentally settled at the Class C researcher level. He was responsible for researching whether the appearance of the suppressor was beautiful, aesthetic, and suitable for wearing, while Steven was responsible for feeding the exotic experimental subjects to ensure they were well-fed and suitable for slicing. In short, neither of their jobs required high technical skills, and both of them were just ordinary researchers in the institute, neither prominent nor insignificant, with one more or one less making no difference.
Becoming lunch companions was a natural occurrence.
On the way to the District 4, there was a long soundproof passage. Because the District 4 was very noisy. It was not the noise of human beings, but the roar of various of alien species. Sharp, deep, roaring, rustling… just by listening to the sounds, one couldn’t help but marvel at the diversity of life..
Shen Jie stood in front of the gate of the District 4 and calmly took out the noise-cancelling headphones to listen to music.
He enjoyed listening to music, whether it was pop, retro country or heavy metal rock.
It wasn’t that he understood how to appreciate it; rather, it was out of curiosity and for the experience.
After all, in his original world, there was no such thing as music anymore.
Five minutes later, the door was opened and a blonde head came out.
Steven ran to Shen Jie with sweat. “I’m coming. I’m starving to death. Recently, I don’t know what’s going on with those experiments. They are always very irritable, and it’s difficult to get nutrition injections… Fortunately, it was little quiet in few minutes just now. I caught right time and poked in as fast as I could. Anyone who sees it should praise me for being quick-witted and handsome – hey, Shen Jie, wait, I haven’t finished yet… There is fried eggplant in the canteen today, remember to get one for me…!”
Shen Jie was tall and had long legs. Although he didn’t look slow to walk, Steven had to trot to keep up.
The two came to the canteen of the research institute, in which there were already many people sitting and talking loudly.
Shen Jie queued up at the counter to get two portions of fried eggplant. Steven went to get soup and drinks. After they reunited, they casually found a table to sit down.
Steven opened the soda can and took a sip, and finally showed a comfortable expression on his face, “Oh, it’s comfortable.” Then he picked up the knife and fork and began to devouring his meal.
There were many small TVs hanging on the top of the canteen to entertain the researchers. At that time, a news was being broadcast on the TV.
Shen Jie looked at it with one hand on his cheek, and the other hand held the cutlery, poking at his food absentmindedly.
The fried eggplant had a golden, crispy exterior, generously topped with minced meat, accompanied by rising steam, enough to make one’s mouth water.
The food in the canteen of the research institute was very famous. Countless people in the city were eager to work there, partly because of its renowned delicious food.
However, Shen Jie didn’t have much feeling about whether the food on the plate was good or not.
Eating was a human instinct, and he politely followed it.
This was where the importance of a lunch companion came in.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
For a wide range of dishes in the canteen, Steven could choose main courses, beverage, and soups every day, which was reasonable and balanced in nutrition, saving Shen Jie a lot of learning effort.
“Ojvlfr jcv ufcaifwfc, kf lcafggeqa atlr qgbugjw ab yglcu sbe ygfjxlcu cfkr,” bc KN, atf jccbecmfg ibbxfv vbkc ja atf lcobgwjalbc agjcrwlaafv ab tlw, jcv rtbkfv j regqglrfv fzqgfrrlbc bc tlr ojmf. “Ca 11:45 atlr wbgclcu, atf V-ifnfi ojiifc jgfj ‘Vqlvfg’r Rfra,’ ibmjafv 603 xlibwfafgr cbgatkfra bo atf mlas, kjr boolmljiis fgjvlmjafv!”
“The ‘Spider’s Nest’ has existed for more than ten years, causing the collapsing of three towns and disappearing of more than 100,000 people. Now, the search and rescue team has finally been able to enter the rescue. This is the third S-level fallen area that we have recovered so far, which is of great practical significance. It turns out that we can fight against the aliens! We have the ability to fight against the aliens!”
The announcer’s voice was passionate, “This operation is jointly carried out by the 16 Cleaning teams from the three major survivor bases. Among them, the main cleansing force is our city’s top team, ‘Dawn’. And for the crucial strike against the core host body in the Spider’s Nest, it was accomplished by none other than our ‘Dawn’ team’s captain, Zong Lin. Let’s applaud the heroes of the cleansing teams!”
Papa, Papa, Papa…
Most people in the canteen took the initiative to put down their bowls and chopsticks and applauded for a long time.
For people in the apocalypse, reclaiming an S-class fallen area was indeed a monumental achievement.
“That’s great…” Steven also stopped eating and looked at the TV with an envious expression on his face. “If I can also awaken the power, I must join a Cleaning team and become a hero like Zong Lin. At that time, everyone can know my deeds on TV. How glorious it would be.” Speaking of this, his voice suddenly fell down, “Unlike now, where every day it’s either giving shots to aliens or cleaning up after them. To put it well, it’s to participate in research, but in fact, it’s basically just odd job and waiting for death. What kind of life is this…”
Shen Jie was applauding gently, and then he looked down at Steven.
Steven had already lowered his head back into his bowl, his golden hair revealing the newly grown black roots.
Although his name may sound otherwise, Steven was not a Westerner but of pure Eastern descent..
His surname was Shi and his name was Diwen
In this body memory, it seemed that Steven had been working hard since the internship.
Diligently studying, diligently assisting his internship supervisor with menial tasks, diligently writing papers, and reports.
Diligently trying to make himself outstanding.
But human talent seemed to be the same untouchable and cruel. Steven worked hard, he couldn’t match a casual hypothesis written by a fellow intern..
The intern then was promoted to the senior management of the institute by the dean of the research institute, but Steven was assigned to the District 4 to do chores, wearing the brand of a C-level researcher for ten years.
In order to make himself more conspicuous, Steven dyed his hair blonde, but it seemed to be ineffective.
Shen Jie remembered that at lunch that day, he just casually asked Steven his hair color, he seemed to be moved to tears – obviously, he was the first person to pay attention to Steven’s hair that day.
“It’s already good enough to find a job to scrape by in the apocalypse.” Shen Jie said.
Steven lifted his head from his bowl, and said sadly, “No, you don’t understand my mood.” He poked the rice in the rice bowl with his chopsticks. “And, as a friend at this time, shouldn’t you comfort me first? Our current work is also contributing to mankind?”
Shen Jie looked at Steven calmly and didn’t say anything.
After all, after knowing each other for many years, Steven had been able to guess what he wants to say – something along the lines of “Is self-deception also considered comforting?”
Steven felt more sad.
He wanted to swear a little bit. But he couldn’t say anything to Shen Jie’s face.
Shen Jie’s facial features were very superior, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was exquisite.
Especially his pupils were very pure and black, the water was bright and moist, like a cat, just like wearing a contact lenses… It was very beautiful.
Steven turned his head, and said sullenly, “Shen Jie, you are always like this, as if you have no desire, as if you have kept everything out of the matter, you simply don’t seem like someone living in the apocalypse.”
He lowered his head and ate two mouthfuls of rice. “Thanks to your good-looking, otherwise many people would want to punch you.”
Shen Jie:?
He felt that Steven seemed to have misunderstood him a bit.
For example, the term “no desire” was used inappropriately.
Steven continued to ramble: “Maybe that’s why you were assigned to team working with powerful users. I heard that most people with powers have a bad temper, and it is more difficult to coax them to wear suppressors than to give nutrition injections to aliens. It’s hard to meet their needs, isn’t it?”
Shen Jie: “It’s okay.”
Steven felt that Shen Jie was just pretending to be relaxed. He couldn’t help shaking his head, and said, “Okay, let’s not poke each other’s sore spots. Let’s eat quickly. You always eat so little… Now that the ‘spider’ nest’ has been cleared, a large number of Cleaning teams are going back to the city to rest and adjust. The workload on your side is estimated to increase greatly. I think you can take the opportunity to ask for leave. After all, you have been covering for others for so many days.
Shen Jie only smiled when he heard the words, “It depends.”
After chatting and having lunch, the two returned to their respective areas to rest.
The afternoon work of the research institute started at three o’clock and ended at six o’clock.
At 5:30, Shen Jie finished the last task of the day.
The punk-dressed young man was satisfied as he rubbed the choker-shaped suppressor full of spikes around his neck. When he left, he suddenly turned around, leaned against the door and said, “By the way, Professor Shen, I have another question to ask.”
Shen Jie: “Please say it.”
He casted a flirtatious glance at him with his eyes outlined in thick black lines. “Does Professor Shen have a partner?”
Shen Jie’s hand, which was sorting out the information, paused and said calmly, “Yes.”
“Oh~” He didn’t seem to be surprised at all. He blinked and said, “If you are tired of playing and plan to change, you can consider me.”
He took out a business card from his tight leather pants pocket, kissed it, then placed it on Shen Jie’s desk before turning around and swaying his hips, the waist chain making a tinkling sound as he walked away, exuding a flamboyant and sexy aura.
There were many people who advocate timely entertainment in apocalypse. Especially for those with power, they changed partners frequently.
Shen Jie’s expression had never changed.
When he was sure that the person had left, he slowly took out the disposable rubber gloves from the drawer and put them on, and pinched the card from the table and threw it away.
After some thought, he took out his mobile phone and sent a message to someone.
No reply, probably still busy.
Shen Jie exhaled gently, and felt that his throat was a little thirsty. He got up, and poured himself a glass of water.
Shen Jie let out a gentle sigh, feeling a bit parched in the throat, and got up to pour himself a glass of water.
As he returned with the water, a sudden sharp buzzing noise rang in his mind.
Shen i staggered, the cup slipping from his hand and shattering on the floor, water spilling everywhere.
*[Zi zi zi zi zi zi zi zi zi…]*
*[Zi zi zi zi zi…]*
*[Zi zi zi… Zi zi… Zi… Bong bong bong… Binding successful.]*
The strange electric sound continued for half a minute before finally stopping.
Then, an electronic voice echoed in Shen Jie’s mind.
*[Ding! Your transmigration golden finger is online.]*
*[—Want to change the fate of cannon fodder, experience an extraordinary life? Want to find the meaning of life, save the shattered world? The Cannon Fodder Reversal System is at your service!]*
Although it was a synthetic electronic voice, the system’s tone was as enthusiastic as that day’s noon announcer.
Shen Jie looked down at the shattered pieces of the cup on the floor.
“I’m not interested.”
*[Ah?]* The system was shocked. *[No, no, no, host, think about it carefully. You’ve transmigrated into an extremely dangerous post-apocalyptic novel, and you’ve become a cannon fodder in the story. The plot is about to begin, with the escape of the experimental aliens from the research institute. Because you have no power or influence, you’re about to be pushed out and forced to jump off the roof of the institute… Don’t you want to change everything?]*
Shen Jie thought for a moment and felt that the pile of broken glass and water on the ground was too eye-catching.
So, he grabbed a broom and swept away the shards, then mopped the floor twice. In the meantime, he also routinely disinfected the desk and chair with alcohol spray. Finally, after three minutes of handwashing in the bathroom, he was done.
*[Host, please believe me. As your transmigration golden finger, everything I do is to help you enjoy a happier and more fulfilling life. Your situation is very critical…]* The system kept rambling about his predicament and its benefits, but as the cleaning continued, its voice gradually faded away.
It couldn’t help but speak up as it watched Shen Jie finish everything.
*[It’s just a few pieces of glass and water, there’s no need to clean so thoroughly, right?]*
Shen Jie replied calmly, “Maintaining environmental cleanliness is the duty of every citizens. Oh, by the way, where were you just now?”
*[I was talking about the experimental aliens about to escape from the research institute…]*
Shen Jie nodded, returned to his seat, and opened the drawer on the left, pulling out a newspaper.
The newspaper was already yellowed, looking quite ancient and fragile. Shen Jie unfolded the newspaper, and the first thing that caught his eye was a headline:
*”Shocking! Experimental Aliens Escape from Research Institute, Return Mysteriously Half a Day Later”*
The news report described the situation at the time in detail.
……At 1:30 a.m. on October 16, 2070, the power system of the research institute was deliberately sabotaged, and the exotic experimental subjects detained in District 4 collectively escaped, prompting the city to elevate to a level-one alert. The entire city was sealed off by the urban defense forces, and all eradication teams from the Ability Center were deployed, yet they failed to locate the escaped aliens. It is suspected that a “Space” alien may have infiltrated the city to conceal the whereabouts of other aliens.
However, unbelievably, half a day later, an incredible event occurred—the escaped aliens were discovered outside the Research Institute, tethered together with hemp ropes, each adorned with a neatly tied bow around its neck. The ends of the ropes were connected to the gates of the Research Institute, resembling a special gift delivered to the institution.
According to the testimony of the sole eyewitness at the research institute, these aliens were bundled back by a mysterious individual.
“It’s like walking a dog,” said the janitor of the Research Institute.
The system suddenly fell into deep thought.
As it contemplated, it continued to stare at the text.
Following this news article was a special investigation report on the mysterious individual A.
“…It remains unconfirmed whether the mysterious individual A is an exotic or a human. From the surveillance footage, it is evident that the exotics displayed extreme obedience to A; even after A’s departure was confirmed, they dared not struggle against the hemp ropes, nor did they emit any cries or roars…
…In the video, A was shrouded in shadows, standing approximately 1.84 meters tall, wielding a long blade. The most distinctive feature was A’s pair of purple eyes, seemingly from the depths of hell.”
This newspaper contained the only publicly available image of mysterious individual A in the city.
The photo was a close-up shot.
In front of the research institute’s gate stood a tall, dark figure, barely discernible as humanoid.
As if sensing something, it looked toward the camera. A blur of darkness obscured any features, except for the purple eyes flickering within the darkness, burning with malevolence and coldness.
The wording of the news report needed to be precise.
It sounded wrong, but the description of those eyes as being from hell in the report was indeed not wrong.
The system’s voice trembled slightly: “[So, the situation has been resolved? Isn’t it 2070 now? And who is this A?]”
Shen Jie smiled and said, “System, it’s time for an update. It’s now 2077. As for who A is, editors all over the world are eager to know.”
“[2077?]” The system was hit hard by this horrifying information. “[I’m seven years late?… Could it be that the time node was set incorrectly? Damn it, the, um, the main god will definitely scold me if he finds out…]”
As he spoke, the system groaned in electronic tones, as if wanting to bang its head against the wall.
Shen Jie silently glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 5:45, almost time to finish work. He began to pack up systematically, preparing to leave work. He would find Steven for dinner, buy breakfast for tomorrow, return to the dorm to shower and go to bed. After that, he would listen to music and play games until 10:30, when he would sleep. A normal person’s day should be spent in such an ordinary manner. He had another residence in the outer city area, but he rarely went there unless his partner was on vacation.
“[… But, host, even if we’re seven years late, everything can still be done in time!]”
The system, which had just been deeply stimulated and wanted to bang its head against the wall, suddenly rallied and quickly analyzed.
“[As long as we speed up to complete the tasks, we can still achieve the reversal of the cannon fodder and step by step save the world. But time is running out, host, we must act quickly…]”
Shen Jie asked in confusion, “But why do I have to save the world?”
“[Huh?]” The system was once again stunned and weakly responded after a moment of thought, “[If the world is destroyed, you will cease to exist too…]”
“Well, you’re right.” Shen Jie played with the contact lenses box on the desk for a while, then casually put it in his pocket. “But what can I do? I’m just an ordinary person.”
[You don’t have to worry about this at all, host. As the Cannon Fodder Reversal System, my duty is to make you no longer ordinary, to rise up extraordinarily, to become the strongest savior, and to shine in the world!]
… This statement was a bit edgy.
“But, what’s wrong with being an ordinary person? I don’t want to save the world,” Shen Jie said in a calm tone. “If you really need a savior, I can recommend my colleague Steven to you. I think he would be happy to accept your help and realize his life’s value, striving to save the world.”
[No!]
The system rejected somewhat anxiously, [The host can only be bound once, and we’re already committed now. We’ll have to compromise with each other… How about we discuss rewards instead? As long as the corresponding tasks are completed, the rewards I provide will surely include what the host needs!]
However, Shen Jie was not interested in this. “I am satisfied with my current life and partner, and I have no further needs.”
Just then, Shen Jie’s phone suddenly rang. It was a new message notification from the messaging app. Ignoring the system’s chatter, Shen Jie took out his phone and opened it. In the messaging app, there was a red unread mark “1” floating in the lower right corner of the pinned conversation.
Shen Jie couldn’t help but curl his lips.
He opened the chat box.
The profile picture of the pinned person showed his six-pack abs while biting a T-shirt.
The abs were very attractive, with a perfect body, broad shoulders, and narrow waist.
The photos were taken by him, and he also changed the profile picture. The note was “Capable Partner.”
At this moment, the capable partner sent a message.
[I’m back.]
Thank you for the chapter 🎉
Ohh cheeky😂, I need a capable partner… where are thou?
New one.. interesting..Thanks for the new chapter
AHHH this is so good!
Logged in just to praise this wonderful work : D Excited!
ahhh the first interaction I saw was that??? man I can’t wait for the whole novel to be out 😂
+1 the novel looks very exciting and promising! I can’t wait for more~
yes! yes! can’t wait for more and the translator probably has a lot of chapters stacked up as 3 chapters are being released in one day!!!!
Omg hehehe this is so interesting 🩷🩷
Omg this profile picture!!!! o((^▽^))o
Although he didn’t look slow to walk? Is it meaning he didn’t walk slow or he did??? Anyway I’m so excited!!! Starting a new book and the summary already has me curious and wiggling
Steven walks at normal speed, but since he is shorter than Shen Jie, he has to run to catch up.
Hi