Chapter 709: Attack

A large number of delicious dishes were brought over, and the taste was naturally not bad, at least for the people of this world it was not bad, but... Li Qi always felt that it was missing something.

He still preferred to eat 'natural' food, rather than molecular gastronomy that used too many artificial seasonings, crushed ingredients, added various compounds, and then created new flavors.

This is not to say that these artificial compounds were inferior, but Li Qi's taste dictated that food made this way lacked depth.

One must know that ingredients were not born to be eaten.

The essence of every ingredient was to exist, to survive.

They were life.

The charm of life lies in its magic, in its unimaginable, inconceivable, yet logical nature; the origin of every species, the birth of every life, whether as vast as a planet or as tiny as an ant, they are all equally miraculous.

Their origins are complex and mysterious; every life has evolved through struggle and adaptation in complex environments; every life is extraordinarily precious; the birth of every life is a miracle.

A single accidental spark in a murky, dead pool could ignite the flame of life that conquers the world, ultimately evolving into complex life.

Countless Qi flow ceaselessly through billions of double helices, like engines, pumping matter out of mitochondria, and everything unfolds.

From paramecia to multicellular organisms, then the evolution of sexes, division, programmed death, mitochondrial chimera, aerobic metabolism, adaptability, immunity and disease, aging and death, life gives new life as a gift to new life through death.

This gift of life can be traced back, generation after generation, without interruption, to untold billions of years ago, perhaps to a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, or to dust floating on a comet, or even the slightest Life Qi on an ice surface—these were the initial disturbances of life.

These disturbances, after being brewed by time, became wild vegetables swaying gently in the breeze by the roadside, transforming air into millions of compounds with the most magical biochemical alchemy, everything so exquisite and beautiful.

And picking wild vegetables, making them into food, and tasting them is to savor such a miracle.

While the things in the reaction vessel couldn't be said to be unimpressive... in Li Qi's opinion, they still lacked something, at least not as exquisite.

But Li Qi's reaction, in Mo Long's eyes, was completely different.

In Mo Long's eyes, after Li Qi ate these top-tier delicacies, he had a feeling that they weren't... very tasty.

This made Mo Long doubt his own taste a little, and he took a few more bites.

This taste, this complex fragrance, this departure from the rawness of original plants, full of technological sense and the complex processing of a chef.

This was a taste and texture that natural ingredients could never achieve, rich in nutrients, and it was also a testament to their equipment and technology, a unique culinary culture of the Advancement Alliance.

It's truly amazing! This is clearly made by the most top-tier equipment, the most high-end, and most difficult to operate cooking machines. Just to operate such a cooking machine requires over a decade of training for proficiency. Every layer of flavor, every texture upon chewing, is meticulously planned. How could something made this way not be delicious?

So, Mo Long said, "Li Qi, why that expression? Is it not delicious? This is the most top-tier cooking machine."

"Hmm... The equipment is good, but it feels a bit overused," Li Qi deliberated for a moment before replying.

"There's no such thing as overuse for a good thing," Mo Long said.

Li Qi was noncommittal, simply scanning his surroundings.

He had now paused his interpretation of the information brought by the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, because this allowed him to better accustom himself to the Mortal perspective, and to be honest... Li Qi didn't particularly like mind-reading.

Sometimes, observing the other party's thoughts and listening to their words was far more meaningful than directly reading their mind.

But even so, his observational skills could easily perceive that these integrated or external devices permeated every part of life; the more involved the devices were, the more they liked them.

The more plugins and advanced a piece of clothing had, the better it looked. The more finely processed food was, the better it tasted. This extended to the entire city, every aspect, every person, every place—all were managed by devices.

But... isn't this good?

Aren't these devices their 'Magic'?

It doesn't seem bad at all.

However, Li Qi was poked again, and a voice came to his ear: "Hey? Brother, why are you spacing out again?"

"Oh, oh, sorry, it's a habit," Li Qi looked at Mo Long apologetically.

Damn it, this habit couldn't be changed.

Li Qi's sudden habit of zoning out was exactly like Shen Shuibi's; he would get lost in thought without realizing it, and if no one reminded him, he might think for dozens of days.

Anyway, he wouldn't get hungry or tired, and he would be startled awake if something happened.

However, it was precisely because of this habit that Li Qi's concept of time had developed a certain difference, which was something he wanted to change.

He didn't necessarily insist on the time concept of Mortals, but Li Qi believed that a perfectly absolute perspective did not exist in this world. The true, all-encompassing God's perspective was actually the ability to shift between various perspectives.

And now, Li Qi had lost this ability, causing him to only experience the time flow of a long-lived being, and thus needlessly wasted much time, which was why he wanted to get used to the Advancement Alliance's time.

Li Qi was startled awake again, and then, at that moment, he suddenly said, "By the way, Mo Long, I'd like to hire you to do something for me. I'll give you enough compensation."

"What?" Mo Long asked casually.

Is he going to ask me to run errands?

"Aren't you a Patrol Officer? I want to follow you and see how you usually work. It's just that during the process, I might suddenly space out, and at that time, you'll be responsible for waking me up. How about it? As for me... I'll pay your salary. Whatever your salary is, I'll pay you that much," Li Qi said.

"My law enforcement process is confidential," Mo Long frowned. No matter how much money, such a thing could not be done.

"It's fine, I'll be your colleague soon," Li Qi smiled. "You should receive a message shortly. Then you can see if you can agree."

As Li Qi spoke, almost immediately, Mo Long received a communication.

It was sent directly through the device, a message from the director.

"Urgent notification, the higher-ups have assigned you a partner. Report back tomorrow. Get to know him first. This is a message from the General Hall. You'll have a partner from now on, and work can be a bit easier."

Mo Long was stunned.

Woah.

He's got connections, huh?

He looked at Li Qi, incredulous: "You... in one day?"

"Not one day, a few minutes, actually. It was just an idea I had, because I found that following you seems to allow me to see more societal aspects, which helps me integrate into society," Li Qi said.

Just a few minutes ago, he sent a message to Shen Shuibi, asking the rabbit to handle this matter for him.

Although he didn't know how the rabbit managed it, it only took a few minutes, so it shouldn't have been too much trouble. Perhaps the rabbit directly messaged the World Lord of the Advancement Alliance.

Yes, the World Lord here knew of the existence of Shen Shuibi and Li Qi as a couple. Li Qi had already reported his arrival and greatly respected the Advancement Alliance. Just as he never counterfeited currency, never created matter out of thin air for profit, and never made fake resumes, his registered identity records were always left blank.

These were some of his habits, not necessarily making him a good person, but his adherence to his Dao was reflected in these subtle details.

Dao is not a grand, empty slogan, but a concrete implementation in every place, every gust of wind, every grain of sand, every word and deed—these are all manifestations of Dao.

But Mo Long didn't know any of this. He only knew that this mysterious person in front of him had become his colleague in casual conversation.

"You... who exactly are you?" Mo Long felt his throat dry.

"My name is Li Qi," Li Qi said seriously.

Just as he did when he was fleeing in Great Deer Kingdom, he had never concealed his true name.

----------

In short, Li Qi now had a formal job and his own dormitory.

He and Mo Long had also become colleagues. His main task now was to accompany Mo Long, the Patrol Officer, every day, running all over the streets, observing the daily life of the Advancement Alliance as usual.

At the same time, he was also getting used to thinking while moving, so that he would no longer space out or be slow, but become busy like ordinary people.

To that end, he genuinely worked with Mo Long, handling cases, recording archives, organizing documents, entering information, and even taking on all the weekly reports, which surprised Mo Long.

But Mo Long couldn't say much, because Li Qi indeed worked quickly and well. Although this wealthy Young Master had extensive connections, he was an excellent colleague by all appearances.

Aside from his habit of spacing out and occasionally getting lost in thought, he was practically a perfect person.

He was gentle and refined, with an excellent temper, never getting angry, and could handle even the most unreasonable and troublesome citizens well.

His work ability was extremely strong; he could handle anything with ease. Meeting minutes, thought reports, situation summaries, warehouse inventories—all these tedious tasks he could complete very quickly. However, for some reason, this colleague never personally handled cases, always leaving them to Mo Long.

Mo Long guessed that perhaps he was not good at such things. After all, Patrol Officers mainly dealt with mundane family disputes, at most petty theft, and generally no major cases. For a Young Master like Li Qi, handling paperwork should be much simpler than dealing with these trivial matters.

But he was happy with this arrangement; it was division of labor, after all.

This kind of work continued for more than half a year without them realizing it.

After more than half a year of working together, Mo Long had gradually grown accustomed to this suddenly appearing wealthy colleague, as the other party hadn't actually used his power for anything. In Mo Long's view, the other party was very seriously 'integrating into society.'

Their relationship also gradually became closer, though this was Mo Long's own perception.

But in the past half year, Mo Long noticed that the other party's habit of spacing out and thinking hadn't changed at all, and Mo Long could only remind him every time.

Hmm...

How to put it.

It's quite good, at least it shows he's a living person. Besides, this little habit is quite cute.

This routine continued for some time.

One afternoon, Li Qi and Mo Long were on their usual night patrol, stationed in a small alley in the street.

There were some nightclubs here, places where recreational drugs and various criminal brawls were rampant.

Standing guard here required nothing but their presence; just standing there could greatly reduce the crime rate.

After all, although the Advancement Alliance was generally quite good and the social atmosphere was uplifting, there was always a portion of the population that didn't particularly like social order.

However, Patrol Officers, with the enhancement of their equipment, possessed combat power not inferior to a Seventh-Rank, so they were not afraid of these individuals.

Under the neon billboards of the night, amidst the dazzling lights and wine, lay a massive virtual reality display, but beneath the virtual reality was filthy sewage. Li Qi and Mo Long, dressed in stylish Patrol Officer uniforms, stood beneath these neon lights. Young people heading to parties or drunken individuals who saw them would walk a few steps around, as if their drunkenness had sobered up a bit.

The Patrol Officer uniforms were very cool, typical exoskeletons with hundreds of devices, different signal lights, various modular sections, plus a helmet and display equipment. The artistic style greatly pleased Li Qi, so he was quite willing to wear them out and about.

Moreover, this set of Spiritual Artifact armor was no joke. In Li Qi's words, this thing contained the Great Sun True Fire, burning robustly for a hundred thousand years without extinguishing. If its power were drawn out, it would be enough to shatter some relatively small and weak Eighth-Rank worlds. And when used for single-target attacks, the energy was highly concentrated, with a battle destructive range not exceeding ten meters. The high compression of energy also brought a high-intensity increase in lethality, and it had built-in fool-proof operation, intelligent combat, and flight control algorithms, allowing even unranked individuals to easily learn and control it.

In other words, a person inside only needed to make decisions; once decisions were made, this equipment could execute them completely on its own.

Cool, huh?

Li Qi was even preparing to craft a set for himself; it was genuinely cool.

However, Mo Long was already used to such equipment; he seemed a bit gloomy.

"What's wrong? Why the long face?" Li Qi glanced at Mo Long.

"Alas, the world is degenerating. Such places should be abolished. Making them like this is simply a waste of social resources," Mo Long kicked the ground in disgust, then found a carelessly discarded bottle, so he bent down, picked it up, and threw it into a nearby trash can.

"Waste of resources?" Li Qi smiled, about to say something, but he immediately looked into the alley.

The next moment after Li Qi reacted, Mo Long jolted!

Someone was assaulting an officer!

It's advanced equipment! (End of chapter)