Chapter Forty-Seven: The Oncoming Assault

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"Housekeeper System binding to host Lin Zhongqing."
"Housekeeper System has expelled the spiritual imprint from the host’s soul—'the Hillside of Kulenye.'"
"Mission One: Find the master. Lin Zhongqing acknowledges 'Heaven and Earth' as master and assumes the stewardship of 'Heaven and Earth.' Mission One's completion status cannot be determined and requires confirmation by the system’s creator."

Fan Bei, after reading the system log, immediately stopped his meditation and cultivation, rising to head toward the control room.

This third host must be quite extraordinary.

When he devised the mission, he certainly wouldn't have allowed the 'housekeeper' system's host to simply come and recognize him as the master—any fool would know something was amiss.

The real Mission One was as follows:

"Mission One: Find the master.
Choose a reliable master to assist and begin your journey as a housekeeper.
Completion criteria: The master must have assets exceeding a hundred million, possess good character, have strong moral boundaries, work diligently, and show great potential for growth...
Mission reward: Helping you select a reliable master is the greatest reward you could ask for."

In short, the completion criteria had been set according to his own conditions, essentially his own bid, with the winning criteria matching those he set himself...

Now, Mission One had entered an indeterminate state due to the other party’s choice—this was intriguing. Perhaps this unexpected twist would reveal more mysteries hidden within "The Father of Systems."

Soon, he arrived at the control room and began scanning the monitoring screens.

He was eager to see just what sort of remarkable figure could confound the mission system.

Outside in the valley, streams of gray-white mist swirled and surged, in stark contrast to the usual calm.

The sky was dim, as though the sunlight itself was being blocked by these ghostly vapors.

Only at the main gate did the gray-white mist dare not approach, keeping a wide berth of several dozen meters.

There stood three men.

A middle-aged man and two young men, with two large motorcycles beside them—both clearly modified, each carrying two large boxes suspended from the rear.

All three men were burly, dressed identically in white shirts and blue jeans, their faces streaked with dust, looking as if they had rushed here in haste.

But which of them was the host of the housekeeper system? None of them looked quite the part.

With this in mind, Fan Bei spoke: "Hello, this is Shelter No. 364. I am the duty officer, Fan Bei. Where are you from, and what brings you here?"

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The middle-aged man seemed to be the leader.

Upon hearing Fan Bei’s voice, he raised his head to look at the camera above the gate. His honest, robust voice rang out: "Hello, Mr. Fan. We are from Silver City. We heard you’re short-staffed here, so we rushed over to apply for work. Please, give us a chance."

The two young men nodded eagerly, attitudes humble. "Yes, brother, we’re both skilled at mechanical repair. We can fix all sorts of common machines, and we’re strong too. We’re sure we can be a big help."

Fan Bei’s expression changed ever so slightly, but he responded warmly, "That’s wonderful news. May I ask your names?"

"My name is Liu Chenghai. These are my brothers—Liu Chenghu and Liu Chenghe," the middle-aged man replied, his face blossoming with a wide smile.

"I see. Well, I’ll need to consider it. Please wait a moment." Fan Bei discreetly activated the recording function, then quickly left the control room.

He sprinted toward his quarters—he’d already spotted their flaw.

...

Meanwhile, the three men had stepped away from the gate to confer.

"Eldest brother, why don’t we just force our way in? All this trouble is unnecessary," one of the young men grumbled.

"Exactly. The evil tide is raging, it’s the perfect time. There’s only that Fan kid and a dog inside—shouldn’t be hard to handle," another agreed.

"Silence. The fact that he’s survived this long, and that Old He dares not make a move, plus the rumors of an unknown presence inside... If we can win by cunning, we should," the middle-aged man rebuked.

"Alright, we’ll do as you say."

"Relax. Once we’re inside and figure things out, we’ll turn the tables and take over. Then we’ll go from lowly ex-workers to the bronze class—living the good life, eating and drinking well, even becoming honored guests of the guild," the leader painted a rosy future for his brothers.

The two young men exchanged glances, each swallowing repeatedly.

"Big brother is right. The fool inside actually bought only one old man as a servant. If it were us..." one of them said eagerly, "we’d have bought a hundred strong puppets to work for us and make money, relying on our old connections. Life would be so easy."

...

Fan Bei burst into the duty room to find Chef He standing in the living room, wielding a mop with the head removed, two knives tucked at his waist—a boning knife and a cleaver.

He was surprised at first, then nodded. "Well done, Uncle He. There are three suspicious men outside, claiming to be from Silver City, called Liu..."

As he quickly explained the situation, he went to the dog’s bed, where Da Bai lay sleeping, clutching an iron ball. He gently woke the dog.

Chef He said nothing, only gripped his mop tighter.

"What’s happening, master? Is it time for lunch?" Da Bai emerged from his bed, barking twice, then stretched with a great yawn.

Fan Bei, not hiding anything from Chef He, addressed Da Bai directly: "Go tell your friend quickly—something’s happening. Someone’s trying to take our shelter."

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He was certain now—those three were not the system’s 'host.' The names didn’t match, and even if they were using aliases, their demeanor and aura were completely at odds with the mission log’s description.

Moreover, what honest jobseeker would, during an evil tide, travel hundreds of kilometers to his shelter? The tide would dissipate in three days at most; anyone able to make such a journey could surely survive the wait.

The moment Da Bai heard, he bristled with fury, barking sharply:

"Outrageous! To dare steal from my master—they must think nothing of me, Da Bai!"

He then pawed the iron ball from his bed and addressed it: "Xiao Bai, you’re always bragging about how strong you are, saying even the master couldn’t withstand a single grunt from you. Now’s your time to prove it!"

Fan Bei was dumbfounded. Suddenly, he felt Da Bai’s intelligence had to be more than just two points. Was this what they meant by 'like master, like dog'?

The iron ball rolled out of the dog’s bed.

Da Bai perked up his ears, listening intently. After a moment, he looked up at Fan Bei and said, "Master, don’t worry. Xiao Bai says to take it to have a look first."

Fan Bei nodded, lifted the iron ball, and, with Da Bai and Chef He, returned to the control room.

Once there, he used the intercom to summon the three men to the main gate.

Chef He watched the screen carefully, studying the trio for a while before speaking suddenly: "I recognize these three—they used to be with Manager Xie’s caravan. I never knew their names before, but if they dare come here behind Manager Xie’s back, they must have already resigned."

Fan Bei, hearing this, felt even more certain of his judgment.

Lang Sheng had said that members of the Silver Guild were adept at following the letter of commercial law, never resorting to outright robbery, but they were masters at exploiting loopholes.

Just then, Da Bai barked loudly: "Xiao Bai says all three are useless—only a bit stronger than Old He. If it grunts three times, their souls will scatter. But it also says that Heaven cherishes life, so they should be given a chance to change their ways."

Fan Bei nodded repeatedly, feigning deep approval. "Your friend truly is a benevolent soul—just as I hoped."

At that moment, Chef He suddenly interjected, "Mr. Fan, you and the iron ball’s master are both kind-hearted, but that kindness cannot be extended to these three. There’s something you don’t know..."

He then revealed a secret.