Chapter 283: Deputy Pei’s Choice

Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Deputy Pei’s Choice

Pei Xianjue and Baozi both stared with fascination at the Little Third on the table.

"Which one is its real head?" Pei Xianjue asked curiously, since the Little Third had two faces.

"The bird head in front is the real one. The one behind it is just for decoration; it’s useless," Feng Ling replied.

The moment she finished speaking, the human face on the back of the bird’s head opened its mouth and said, "So hungry, so hungry~"

Pei Xianjue was stunned. "It said it’s hungry! What should I feed it?"

Feng Ling felt the human face was deliberately trying to embarrass her. Annoyed, she slapped it, sending the bird on the table stumbling.

"It’s just mimicking sounds, just making random noises like a Parrot. It has no idea what it’s actually saying," Feng Ling explained. "You can feed them raw meat, but you don’t have to. They’ll find their own food, catching grasshoppers and other insects."

Pei Xianjue cupped her cheeks, completely charmed. "It’s so cute!"

"You have unique tastes, huh?" Feng Ling chuckled, pulling another one from her backpack and placing it on the table. "This one’s for Baozi. They all look the same, so it doesn’t matter if you mix them up."

Baozi rubbed his hands together. "Thanks, Ms. Ling."

Feng Ling was happy to see they liked the gifts. She grabbed the two birds on the table and squished them together. "You can play with them like this—"

Under the pressure, the two Little Thirds deformed like lumps of clay, their feathers getting ruffled as they fused into a single, slightly larger Little Third.

Pei Xianjue and Baozi’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Admittedly, the transformation process was a little disgusting.

The Little Third leaped from Feng Ling’s hand onto the table, shook its wings, and puffed out its chest proudly.

Pei Xianjue thought the smaller version was cuter and asked Feng Ling, "How do you make them separate again?"

Feng Ling took a sip of tea. "It’ll separate on its own if it senses danger. You can also use a command. I taught them to listen to you two before I came, so they should understand simple instructions. Their intelligence is roughly equivalent to a kindergartener’s."

Pei Xianjue looked at the Human-faced Crow on the table and tried giving a command, "Separate?"

The Human-faced Crow turned its head to stare at her.

Pei Xianjue tried again. "Separate. Split. Disperse. Uh... divide into two?"

The Human-faced Crow ruffled its feathers and, like a dividing cell, rapidly split into two in less than two seconds.

Pei Xianjue exclaimed with delight, "That’s amazing!"

She immediately looked up at Feng Ling. "Can I take a picture and post it online?"

’This is a gift from Feng Ling! The only one of its kind in the whole world!’

’If I post this, I can finally disprove all those rumors online about me and Feng Ling not getting along.’

"Definitely not," Feng Ling replied.

Pei Xianjue froze. "Ah..."

Just then, the door to their private room opened, and a waiter came in to serve the dishes.

The moment the door opened, the Little Thirds on the table flew to Pei Xianjue’s and Baozi’s shoulders. Being so small, the pair didn’t attract the waiter’s attention at all.

The dishes were brought to the table one by one.

Feng Ling was very pleased with the spread. Picking up her chopsticks, she said with a smile, "Deputy Pei’s choice of restaurant is top-notch, just as I expected."

Pei Xianjue: "..."

Baozi noticed Pei Xianjue’s disappointment but was powerless to help, so he just picked at his food in silence.

Feng Ling added, "I didn’t know what you guys like, so I just ordered all the house specials. If there’s anything else you want, just call the waiter. Don’t be shy."

Pei Xianjue forced a smile. "Okay, I’ll add a soup."

"What about you, Baozi?" Feng Ling asked, looking at Bao Changzhi.

Baozi smiled. "I’m good. I like all of these."

Feng Ling commented on the food as she ate. In the past, she’d eaten just to fill her stomach, but now she could finally relax and truly taste the flavors. Because of this, she savored every bite.

Pei Xianjue, on the other hand, couldn’t taste a thing. She was trying to figure out how to smoothly broach the subject...

"Why are you two so quiet?" Feng Ling glanced up at Pei Xianjue as she ate.

"Ha, ha..." Pei Xianjue let out an awkward laugh. "I was just thinking how beautiful the plating is. I was wondering if I should take a picture to post online. Oh, right, Xiao Ling, do you have this social media app? We should add each other."

Pei Xianjue picked up her phone, opened the most popular social media app, and showed it to Feng Ling. "This app is really convenient for keeping up with trending news, and it has a lot of fun photo filters. We could..."

"Oh, that app. I used to have it," Feng Ling said after taking a bite of food. "I uninstalled it. It’s a total pain to use!"

Pei Xianjue: "..."

Feng Ling continued her rant. "Back when I was a sparring partner, the club owner made every one of us sign up to promote the club. Someone DMed me asking about membership fees, and the second I quoted them a price, it flagged my account for a violation. Then when I told them to add me as a friend so we could chat privately, it said I was redirecting traffic to an outside platform. You can’t send phone numbers, you can’t send QR codes, it throttles your reach if you post images, and there’s a whole list of censored words. It’s so damn annoying! I don’t get it. I’m never using that piece-of-shit app again as long as I live."

Hearing this, Pei Xianjue’s heart sank like a stone.

Baozi, however, started laughing and chimed in, "They are pretty annoying. A lot of these platforms have unreasonable restrictions nowadays."

"Right?" Feng Ling said. "And there are so many ads. But it is convenient for reading the news. I love reading the comment sections."

She paused for a moment, remembering Pei Xianjue had wanted to post a picture. Turning to her, she said, "I’m guessing the Alien Species use this app too. If they see the Human-faced Crow I gave you, we’ll lose the element of surprise. The bird has no real self-defense ability. It can only work for surveillance and early warnings if the other side doesn’t know it exists."

Pei Xianjue smiled and nodded. "I was just so excited I didn’t think of that."

Feng Ling smiled, dishing some food for herself as she said slowly, "Actually, I have my own selfish reasons, too. I’m looking for an Alien Species that has special eyes. Since you two are in charge of security for Yuquan City, I figured you might have some leads on Alien Species."

"I know," Pei Xianjue said with a laugh. "You already laid down the gauntlet on your livestream. The whole country knows you’re looking for an Alien Species called Xing Guang."

"Mmm-hmm." Feng Ling arched an eyebrow smugly. "And I’ll definitely find it."

"I wish you success!" Pei Xianjue raised her glass, clinking it against Feng Ling’s.

’This is my chance,’ she thought. ’While Feng Ling is in a good mood, I can suggest we take a picture of us toasting.’

’Would that be too sudden?’

’Would it seem forced?’

’Feng Ling is just genuinely sharing her feelings, but here I am, scheming about how to get her to take a picture with me. I really am a merchant’s daughter—hypocritical and calculating, always plotting. I could never be a real superhero...’

Pei Xianjue’s mood suddenly plummeted, and she found it hard to even maintain the smile on her face.

Just then, a special ringtone—an alert—sounded from her phone.

Pei Xianjue froze for a second before scrambling for her phone. The operator on the other end said, "We have a resident report from Phoenix Wood Street. A suspected Pollution Body is wandering the area. Please dispatch the inspection team to the location as soon as possible."

Alerts related to Pollution Bodies and Alien Species were rare in Yuquan City. ’Of all the times for one to happen, it had to be now, while I’m eating with Feng Ling.’

Pei Xianjue found it ironic and deeply frustrating. In a situation like this, asking for a photo was completely out of the question.

"Feng Ling, I have to go..." Pei Xianjue stood up in a hurry and said apologetically, "I’m so sorry. We’ll have to do this again some other time."