The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

The next morning, Lin Xiyue, who was making breakfast, heard the follow-up to yesterday's story from the TV that was on in the living room.

"According to sources, yesterday, someone reported that two individuals, Zhou (male) and Liu (female), were infected by a foreign race at the Lifei Hotel. They have been detained by law enforcement, and further investigation is underway. However, there's no need to worry too much. Law enforcement was already monitoring them before the report, and they would have been apprehended even without it. Please rest assured that our respected law enforcement officers are working diligently to eliminate potential threats for our safety. We urge everyone to be vigilant when encountering foreign races, as they are mostly there to devour humans."

The TV program said this, and also showed a video of Zhou Feiwu and Liu Yi with their faces blurred. In the video, they appeared to be slumped on the stools as if they had lost their minds, with drool coming from the corners of their mouths and their legs and arms outstretched abnormally.

Such videos really make it clear that something is wrong with them. Their dazed appearance makes you think they've been suffering from dementia for a long time. Who would have thought that they looked almost like normal people before they were arrested yesterday?

"Buzz-"

The terminal vibrated, and Lin Xiyue opened it to find a message from the class group chat.

(Class monitor: Have you guys seen today's news?)

Zhou Min: I saw it! I didn't expect Zhou Feiwu, that gigolo, to be not only a kept man and a gold digger, but also infected by a foreign race. Could his wealth also have come from his faith in a foreign race?! ?_?

Yang Gang: I think so. Otherwise, he's not good-looking, and he's not good with words. Why would a rich woman like him and not me? And let me tell you, he even dared to argue with the girl he used to like in front of her. ψ(｀?′)ψ

Zhou Ce: What I find most terrifying is that before he was arrested, he seemed perfectly normal in front of us, but the video after his arrest is already like this. (?_?)

Class monitor: I'm planning to take the civil service exam, and I've studied this subject. It's said that those infected have their minds eroded, and some alien races, after completely eroding them, will parasitize them, turning them into their disguises or nests. After those alien races are driven away or eliminated, because their mental strength can't be replenished, they become like dementia, since they were actually controlled or guided by the alien races before.

Yang Gang: Holy crap! That's terrifying! |w?)

Zhou Min: Yeah, that's terrifying. |w?)

Class monitor: I think everyone should take the time to learn about this, for their own safety, and there's even a reward for reporting it!

Zhao Lin: Wow! I'm going to go take a good look. ?( 'w' )?

Zhou Min: Me too!! ?( 'w' )?

Li Ni: Speaking of which, he kept inviting us to get together in the group chat, and he wanted us to try our best to go. He even offered to help us pay if we felt it was too expensive. But I thought he was just showing off because he had money. Now that I think about it, could he be trying to kill us?! It's not like I haven't seen news like this before. After converting to a different religion, some people even sacrifice their parents and children. We had nothing to do with him; we were just college classmates.

Zhao Lin: Wow! Don't even mention it, it's terrifying to think about now! |w?)

Qian Eryi: If I keep thinking like this, I won't dare to trust anyone anymore. (?_?)

Squad Leader: Not really. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be such a problem. If it were family or friends, they would definitely notice something was wrong, and if it were strangers, they certainly wouldn't go with them.

Zhou Min: That's true, and there are also the law enforcement officers and other heroes who work hard for our ordinary lives. We ordinary people don't encounter this kind of thing very often.

...…）

The group chat was flooded with messages early this morning; it seems like a lot of people are taking a paid break.

Lin Xiyue glanced through the chat history and found that some people were already feeling lingering fear. To be honest, even Lin Xiyue herself was a little scared. If it weren't for the system, she probably wouldn't have realized it until she was about to be sacrificed.

But there's a reward?? Does that mean I'll lose my anonymous tip? What a loss! I still need to support my cat, how can I be so wasteful?

Lin Xiyue was thinking as she cooked, and almost burned the food.

"Ah! Turn off the fire! Turn off the fire!"

Lin Xiyue hurriedly turned off the stove and poured the sweet and sour potato chunks from the pot onto the freshly steamed rice. Since she usually only ate with Fugui, Lin Xiyue generally cooked simple meals, sometimes even making some easily storeable semi-finished dishes that she could easily cook when she wanted to eat them. However, she always made sure the dishes for Fugui were fresh and carefully prepared; in fact, she held Fugui to much higher standards than she did for herself.

When Lin Xiyue finished cooking and brought the dishes to the table, she found that Fugui had already sat in his usual seat. His dark green eyes were staring at her, his pupils slightly dilated, making him look extremely cute.

"Okay, time to eat."

Lin Xiyue first gave Fugui's cat food, then sat down in her seat, eating half-heartedly, seemingly lost in thought, but actually interrogating the system. She'd been up for a long time getting home last night, and on the way, without paying attention, Moros had disappeared. Lin Xiyue hadn't even had a chance to ask what happened; since another culprit was missing, she had no choice but to interrogate the system. If she hadn't seen Fugui looking sleepy but obediently waiting for her when she got home last night, Lin Xiyue probably wouldn't have slept at all, prioritizing the system interrogation.

So early this morning, during her lunch break, Lin Xiyue planned to ask the system what was going on.

Tell me, what exactly happened yesterday? (▼へ▼メ)

[Ahem, well, it's just like you know. (＾＿－)]

You know what I'm asking. How did Meros know about the system? How did he know about my mission? And why is he so familiar with me? And what are you hiding from me?

[Alright, alright, since you're so serious, I can only say what I can. I can only say that you and he have known each other for a long time, but you don't know it now because of reasons I can't disclose. As for the system and such, you told him about them, and he knew about the mission himself. I really can't give you the specific reasons. You need to know that neither he nor I would ever hurt you, please believe me.]

……

Lin Xiyue remained silent for a while, until even the system felt uneasy, before she finally spoke to it, "Okay, I believe you. After all, when I first came to this world, I probably wouldn't have survived without you. I even died before I got here."

"Meow~"

After noticing that Lin Xiyue hadn't moved for a while, Fugui came over and nuzzled her. Only then did she react, reaching out to pat Fugui's head before continuing to eat.

Fugui went to his special cushion on the counter and lay down to sunbathe. He had been lazy and listless since early this morning. But most cats seem to be like that, so Lin Xiyue didn't pay much attention.

Seeing that Fugui had already taken his seat, Lin Xiyue got up to clear the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. She then went to the door, turned the "Closed" sign around, and flipped it to the "Open" side.

Lin Xiyue casually turned on the retro player on the counter, played some soothing music, and then sat down in the handmade area, intending to make some cute earrings. She had noticed last time that cute, handmade jewelry was very popular with girls; the small group of girls who came last time bought a lot, probably because they weren't too expensive.

Summer sunlight streamed through the windows, casting dappled patterns on the room. The central air conditioning worked diligently, ensuring the sweltering heat didn't disturb the tranquility of the occupants, leaving only the beauty of the sunshine without the oppressive heat. Soft music filled the room, making time seem to slow down within the wishing shop, a stark contrast to the hurried passersby outside. On one side, a leisurely and cozy life; on the other, a busy and fast-paced existence.

"Jingle Bell--"

The wind chimes at the door rang, indicating that someone had arrived.

Lin Xiyue looked up and saw that Ling Yan and a strange baby-faced boy walked in.

"Young Master Lin! I'm here again! (?＞?＜?)?"

Ling Yan's cheerful voice came over, and he pulled the baby-faced boy to sit on the sofa in the living room as if they were old friends.

Wow! The owner opened a jewelry store! These pieces are so cute! (?????)

He even started looking at the finished jewelry on the counter, making comments as if he were one of the guests.

"Hello, boss."

The baby-faced boy seemed a bit reserved, appearing somewhat socially awkward.

"Hello. Lingyan, what brings you here today? It wasn't even a few days ago that you absorbed energy."

Lin Xiyue greeted the baby-faced boy, and seeing that he seemed a little uncomfortable, she turned to ask Ling Yan.

It's funny, they came this time, one is socially awkward and the other is socially adept.

Although she thought this way, Lin Xiyue still gave face to the socially awkward person and didn't pay too much attention to him.

"Oh, oh, it's like this. Lingji discovered that it was you who reported that idiot who worships the alien race. He said he would give you the reward, and that you didn't report him directly to them because you didn't want it to be made public, so he asked me to deliver the reward to you. By the way, this is our team's youngest member, only fifteen years old this year, named Lingjiu."

As Lingyan spoke, he took out a stack of cash from his bag and handed it to Lin Xiyue. The stack of cash looked to be at least ten or twenty thousand yuan.

"Here is the reward for the tip-off. Because this time two people were arrested and dozens of people were saved, the reward is 15,000 yuan."

"Wow! Does that mean you're employing child labor?"

Lin Xiyue happily put away the money, planning to deposit it tomorrow, and casually made a joke.

"That doesn't count, because we didn't sign a contract, so he can only be considered a temporary worker."

Lingyan also played along with the joke, giving him face.

"That, that."

The little ghostly creature weakly spoke, and if there weren't so few people in the shop, they probably would have missed its pronunciation. Lin Xiyue turned to look at him and saw that his cheeks were flushed with nervousness, and he was raising his hand like a primary school student.

“(⊙o⊙)…I asked Brother Lingyan to bring me here. I would like to borrow a card from you.”

"Oh? Didn't we lend you the microphone?"

"No, no. I want to rent it out personally. Because I'm young, my abilities aren't stable, so whenever there's a mission I want to help out, I'm always left at the base. Last time, I finally got the captain to agree to let me go on a mission, but I couldn't use my abilities properly, and the aliens almost ran into the populated area. I was really upset. I heard you can grant wishes here, so I want you to help me. I... I have all my money here."

Lingjiu's entire neck turned red as she placed her bag on the coffee table. Hearing the heavy sound, it seemed this child had brought all her belongings.

"Don't rush, tell me what your special ability is first, so I can see what suits you best."

"My special ability is absolute calmness. It's just that I tend to get nervous if I don't use it when I'm in battle."

Seeing Ling Jiu practically fry an egg in front of unfamiliar people, Ling Yan stopped watching the spectacle and instead helped explain, "He's our strategist. He has an exceptionally strong overall perspective and excellent judgment, but he's prone to making mistakes when he's nervous in battle. However, his special ability is a perfect match for him. But as he said, because his ability is unstable, it's sometimes good and sometimes bad, so we usually don't dare to bring him along. He heard about your shop and insisted that we bring him."

"Oh, I see. I'll look for it."

Lin Xiyue went to the counter and pretended to rummage through it, but actually she took out a card from her system backpack and placed it in front of Ling Jiu.

Lingjiu picked up the card, and a light screen unfolded from it.

[Ability Card: Temporary Enhancement Card]

It can enhance one's existing supernatural abilities for a certain period of time, the duration depending on the amount of energy. (Under special circumstances, dripping blood onto the card can increase the duration and intensity of the effect by burning life force.)

"How are you, satisfied?"

Seeing that Lingjiu was holding the card without saying a word, Lin Xiyue asked him a question.

"Ah! Satisfied! Very satisfied! Thank you, Mr. Lin. What do I need to do in return? Is this enough money? If not, I'll borrow some more."

"That's enough. You don't need to worry about the follow-up. I'm selling this card to you directly; I feel you're the most suitable person for it. Let me also tell you some precautions. First, since the card has been sold to you, its energy will depend on your supply. The requirement isn't much; just hold it each month and think about supplying energy, and it will automatically absorb the negative energy from your body. If the negative energy isn't enough, it will absorb your spiritual energy. If that's still not enough, it will become semi-transparent. At that point, you can choose to ask your teammates for help or bring it to my shop so I can recharge it. Also, although there's no specific cooldown time, as you know, nothing is without side effects. Short-term use is fine, but long-term use will increase the duration of weakness afterward, and repeated overuse in a short period may shorten your lifespan. So, you must use it carefully. You're the first customer I sold this card to; I don't want anything to happen to you and someone to notify me that the card has fallen into the hands of criminals."

Lin Xiyue explained the hidden information of the card to him in detail. Others could not see it, but as the host of the system, she could see all the hidden information.

"Good good!"

……