"Hiding a beauty in a golden house?" Li Zheng paused mid-step, "Oh, you mean her? She’s called Yuanfei Yuluo, she’s... Misaka Tsuchiemon’s junior, just entrusted to me to look after for a bit." "Ah~" Liu Qi put on an expression of a seasoned player: "I get it! I’ve been there, often these things just happen when you’re ’looking after’ someone!" Consider long-distance relationships where the guy isn’t comfortable leaving his girlfriend alone, so he asks his good buddy to look out for her. End result? The girlfriend gets together with the buddy. "Didn’t expect someone in a prominent position in Kunlun to also be such a gossip?" Li Zheng couldn’t be bothered to explain, as he planned to send Yuanfei Yuluo away early the next morning, and likely wouldn’t have much more interaction with her. "What’s wrong with being Kunlun’s main person? I’m only twenty-nine this year, mainly still young at heart!" Liu Qi gave a nod to Yuanfei Yuluo as a greeting, following Li Zheng upstairs. "Speaking of which, I have a cousin who matches well with you, named Yu Xiaoyu. Want me to introduce you?" Liu Qi walked alongside Li Zheng, nudging him playfully. Fortunately, the staircase is wide enough for three people to walk side by side with ease. "I’m a good buddy with Phoenix Mountain, I don’t want to steal his thunder." Li Zheng already knew about Yu Xiaoyu’s crush on Phoenix Mountain. "So what? I can persuade my cousin to switch her affections!" Liu Qi nudged Li Zheng slyly: "I’ve subtly probed her, and she’s still a pure maiden, you’d definitely gain in being with her!" Li Zheng paused and turned to the adjutant: "Is your major always this out of tune?" The adjutant opened his mouth, didn’t speak, and slowly nodded. "..." Li Zheng said, speechless, "You guys really have guts bringing a husky as a leader." The adjutant gave a silent, bitter smile; what could he say? At least on big decisions, Liu Qi still proved reliable. Moreover, many times he offers unique ideas, managing Kunlun smoothly these past days. His work ability is quite convincing. So what he does privately doesn’t seem to matter as much. Disregarding Liu Qi’s matchmaking comments, Li Zheng continued upward with them, introducing the planned uses of each floor. Some storing finished tools separately, some storing blood materials, some storing metal materials, others storing special metals. Meticulously categorized and planned. Finally, on the twelfth floor, Liu Qi raised a question: "With such a clear allocation of dwelling space, isn’t managing it a hassle?" Pointing to the stairs opposite, Li Zheng said, "There’s another staircase there, with dedicated intelligent humanoids managing it for me, why would it be a hassle for me?" Liu Qi silently thought, what a rich guy, almost forgot about this! The adjutant curiously asked, "Having toured each floor, why didn’t we see where you store your food?" The source of this content ɪs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵 "You’re asking the right question." Li Zheng chuckled, "Let’s go down and you’ll find out." Returning to the first floor, Li Zheng pointed to the modified facility not far from the plantation, "That’s a cold storage room, all the food’s in there." Liu Qi unexpectedly sniffed and asked in surprise, "What’s that smell so fragrant?" "Fragrant?" Li Zheng smiled mysteriously: "Of course! You two go find a place to sit, I’ll be right back." Liu Qi and the adjutant found a spot by the door to sit. Li Zheng went to operate the equipment outside the cold storage, calling over a domestic machine, each carrying two exquisite dishes back. In fact, Li Zheng could have used the player’s privileges within his residence, moving the dishes instantly with a thought. But he believed carrying them had more ceremony. Setting the dishes down, Li Zheng searched the trading hall and exchanged for a few bottles of beer. With a flash of blue light in hand, the beer was chilled. The other domestic machine brought over three cups from his castle room, Li Zheng opened the beer and poured it for the two. "We have an old saying in Dragon Country, when friends come, there are drinks and food; when wolves come, there are hunting rifles." "I don’t usually drink much, but since you’re here today, I’ll have a few sips with you." The clinking of glasses, the three finished their drink. "Come on, eat! Just whipped up a few dishes, don’t know if they suit your palate." As they picked up their chopsticks to start, a figure fluttered down from the stairs. Sakura, attracted by the aroma, flapped her wings unconsciously, fluttering leisurely to Li Zheng’s side, resting her dragon head on Li Zheng’s shoulder, begging for affection. Li Zheng couldn’t help but laugh, dipping his chopsticks in some broth and putting it in Sakura’s big mouth. Sakura chewed mindlessly, savoring the taste, with a bewildered expression soon appearing. Her adorable baffled look amused the three, causing them to laugh heartily. Li Zheng then offered a mouthful of food to her. Sakura chewed while half-asleep: ~o(〃’▽’〃)o They ate and drank while chatting, from childhood anecdotes to adult work troubles, to personal experiences in the Matrix. Occasionally exchanging information to cover each other’s gaps in understanding the Matrix’s settings. Li Zheng learned a rough outline of tech gameplay from Liu Qi. In return, Liu Qi learned quite a bit about martial arts distinctions from Li Zheng. The beers went down one by one, dishes served one after another. Sakura, tired from eating, lay down nearby to nap. After a while, she crawled up again, waiting for a treat on Li Zheng’s shoulder. In such moments, Liu Qi often expressed envy, wishing he had the time to raise a pet amid managing Kunlun affairs. The adjutant noted he sometimes felt like the major treated him as a pet. Liu Qi offered a comment on this: it wasn’t an illusion. The adjutant flushed with embarrassment. The group roared with laughter. After the laughter, Li Zheng said he could keep a lookout for a less troublesome pet for Liu Qi. Liu Qi hesitated for a moment but ultimately declined. Serving as Kunlun’s leader, he was already taking major risks. Adding emotional attachment through a pet would only anchor him more. Li Zheng understood and didn’t press the matter further. Unbeknownst to Liu Qi, it was this very decision to decline Li Zheng’s offer that he would one day deeply regret. But that’s not the important part; what really matters is— They drank together until 3 a.m. when disturbances finally arose outside the residence. Li Zheng set down his glass, his gaze clear: "They’re here." Liu Qi and the adjutant rose together, the slight alcohol in the beer no match for their current physique. "I came here specifically for this good show, finally, it’s time." Excited, he reminded Li Zheng: "Be careful not to harm friendly forces." The intel Liu Qi provided Li Zheng was about the attack planned for the night. What Jes and others didn’t know was that within the Alliance Army...