As someone who prioritizes killing others, I'm forced to stream a death game.

The last day of every year feels special.

The same will be true in 2100.

No, it should be said that this year is much more special than previous years.

The sudden appearance and rampage of the strange creatures cast a lingering shadow over the New Year in Jiuhuang.

Many people died that year.

There are no official statistics on the number of people who died in the "mysterious disaster" this year.

But a rough estimate puts it at least at over 100,000.

In all the remote areas of Jiuhuang far from major cities, the rampage of the strange creatures has not been effectively contained.

Meanwhile, major first-tier cities, under increasing pressure, were forced to delegate more authority to the Special Investigation Bureau.

—Of course, the main reason was Che Chen's compromise.

The split within the new party caused him to lose much of his appeal.

In order to prevent the New Party's conservative faction from expanding its influence amid the disaster, he was forced to choose to cooperate with the Old Party.

The long-dormant old party has ushered in a golden opportunity for itself at the end of this year.

Led by Ji Xinglan, the members of the old party began to quickly consolidate their forces and launched a series of political maneuvers against Che Chen.

No one knows the details of the process, but the final result was that Che Chen agreed to expand the powers of the local Special Investigation Bureau.

First, several states, where the central government bore the financial burden, began setting up special investigation bureaus at top speed.

In many places, the Special Investigation Bureau is even directly separated from the police department.

They quickly established a framework, then incorporated some of the armed police's command authority, and added members, ultimately forming a relatively effective force to resist the rampage of the strange creatures.

Under initial suppression efforts, the damage from the various local incidents has been contained to a relatively acceptable level.

Meanwhile, the five states that had to bear the financial burden themselves followed the Zero Coalition's example, integrating capital and local government to create several similar giant corporations.

Because Fengzhou already has a Zero-Earnings Association (ZLEA) and the ZLEA has already proven its capabilities, its scale is gradually growing.

Therefore, no other exceptionally large corporations emerged.

—Of course, another reason is that the director of the Fengzhou Special Investigation Bureau branch is Liang Yunze.

He had already started investing in Zero Association, and now that Zero Association was on the rise, he naturally took the opportunity to lend a helping hand.

The decentralization of power from the central government to the state-level Special Investigations Bureau branches also facilitated his operations.

In short, the Liang family won this round to the point of exhaustion.

If the current trend continues, Zero will undoubtedly be able to gradually monopolize the state's security and defense work.

And the resistance is unprecedentedly small.

These five states, excluded from the central government's power struggle, all belong to the "local decentralization faction" and share common interests.

For certain political reasons, the old party wanted to completely seize back power, but it had to make concessions and cooperate with both Che Chen and the local decentralization faction.

With the three parties united, the old guard's stance against the new party gradually became clear.

However, Liu Ren didn't care much about such things.

Compared to the political infighting in the central government, he was more concerned about the giant corporations in the neighboring states.

Youzhou, Iron Dome.

Mexico City, Antu.

Lingzhou, Huadun.

Jinzhou, Jiahe.

Once the four giants took office, they monopolized the protection against strange objects in the entire state.

The Zero Association's desire to expand out of state suddenly faced significantly greater resistance.

The only advantage is the first six months of development.

However, this advantage will soon be quickly overtaken over time.

Because Zero Association is the one who is feeling his way across the river.

The large number of giant companies that followed were all imitators with reference templates.

Whether it's internal management systems or cooperation with local governments, there are guidelines that can be referenced.

Moreover, this reference is currently the optimal solution.

You could say it's incredibly enjoyable.

While the Zero Trade Association was on holiday, these giant companies were all working overtime to catch up.

The original six-month vacation has been compressed into three days.

While browsing online forums, Liu Ren discovered a large number of people criticizing these companies for being inhumane.

-If you're so inhumane, why did you even apply for the job? That's a life-threatening job.

- There's nothing we can do, they gave us just too much.

-I heard there are even more than Zero Association?

- Yes, we need a little more.

Are there any employees from Zero Cooperation looking to switch jobs? New employee benefits are available for those who switch!

- They have no shame, they're so openly poaching people.

While your treatment is indeed better, who knows how long it will last? Besides, we have an ace up our sleeve; do you?

-Yeah, we also have Brother Wendao, do you guys have him?

-Even if your Wen Dao Ge is strong, he's only one person. Can he protect a state?

- It's true that we can't protect it. But if an E-level catastrophe occurs in the future, at least we'll have Brother Wendao to fall back on.

-How could there be an E-level monster disaster? It's been so long, haven't all the monsters only been low-level?

-Tch, what if? It feels like having a powerful backer, you guys don't understand.

-...

"Strange disaster" is a shorthand for disasters caused by strange objects.

Based on the known levels of strength of the strange creatures, they are divided into seven levels.

From F to S.

Currently, only low-level monsters have appeared around the world, and the various incidents they have caused are all classified as F-level.

There hasn't even been a single E-level catastrophe.

Therefore, many people do not feel nervous.

It's just a low-grade monster; the armed police can easily kill it with melee weapons.

As long as we don't get ambushed!

No one knows how much stronger a Shadow-level monster is compared to a lower-level monster.

But what didn't appear, obviously no one cared about.

"Can't you come and lend a hand?"

Wearing an apron and holding a spoon in one hand, Liu Mucheng stood in front of Liu Ren with a dissatisfied expression.

"You just said I'd only get in the way in the kitchen," Liu Ren said, looking up from his phone screen with a slightly innocent expression.

"Come and serve the dishes!"

"Oh...is everything done?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ren immediately got up from the sofa.

The living room was filled with a wonderful aroma.

The table was laden with a variety of dishes.

In the past, such a lavish dinner would not have been eaten, even on New Year's Eve.

Because we can't afford it.

But this year is different.

Without financial constraints, Liu Mucheng was able to fully utilize her exceptional culinary talent.

They can prepare more than a dozen dishes without repeating any.

Yao Qing smelled the aroma in the air and subconsciously swallowed: "It's a good thing I chose to come to your house for a free meal, otherwise I'm afraid I would never have seen such a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner."

"It's alright, other people's homes aren't that bad either." Liu Mucheng said calmly.

However, those who know her well can tell that she is quite happy.

For those who work hard, recognition is the greatest reward.

She put in a lot of effort to hone her culinary skills.

"Alright, let's eat!"

After bringing all the dishes from the kitchen to the table, Liu Ren sat down in his seat and spoke like the head of the household.

He remembered that a long time ago, the person sitting in this position was his father.

Decades and two lifetimes have passed in the blink of an eye. When I come to my senses, those seemingly insignificant scenes from back then can only be savored in my memories.

After Liu Ren finished speaking, Yao Qing, Chang Bingyu, and Liu Mucheng picked up their chopsticks and began to enjoy this once-a-year sumptuous family feast.

"Want to drink?"

Liu Ren took out the beer he had bought earlier from under the table.

"drink--"

Yao Qing nodded without hesitation.

"What are you drinking for? Didn't you say you were going for a drive after dinner?"

Liu Mucheng called out to stop Liu Ren's actions.

"I almost forgot—but it's okay." Liu Ren realized and then shook his head. "My constitution is such that even if I drink two bottles of baijiu, I won't get drunk. I'll drive later, Yao Qing, you should drink less."

“Okay~” Yao Qing replied.

"What's so good about it? Does not getting drunk mean you can drive under the influence?" Liu Mucheng was not so easy to talk to. She reached out and took the bottle that Liu Ren had put on the table. "Either drink and we won't go out later, or we won't drink."

She stared at Liu Ren, her eyes filled with unwavering resolve.

"Alright... I have a third option!" Liu Ren held up one finger. "Why don't we just walk out later?"

"Huh? How about a drive?" Yao Qing wasn't too happy with the suggestion.

"If you want to go for a drive, let's ride bicycles!"

"Going out on a bicycle after a full meal? You'll throw up, won't you?"

"You need to have more faith in your body; you won't vomit, don't worry!"

"If I throw up, you're responsible for carrying me back."

"I'll take care of getting you to the nearest hotel."

"Huh? How heartless... Although I wasn't planning on going home tonight anyway." Yao Qing pouted and muttered to herself.

"Where are you going to stay if you're not going home?" Liu Ren paused for a moment, recalling what Yao Qing had said earlier, and couldn't help but ask, "You're not really going to go out and fool around, are you? Although you're both adults and I can't control you, as the team leader, I still have an obligation to advise you not to go and harm others."

"Huh? I'm going to cause trouble for others? Or aren't others causing trouble for me?"

"Times have changed. You are now a victim of the supernatural. The only ones who will suffer are others."

"I wouldn't do anything to anyone!"

“What I mean is… those who are possessed by demons have much stronger physical functions than ordinary people.” Liu Ren picked up a disposable plastic cup, took a sip, and then said casually, “In every aspect.”

"Huh? Ah~" Yao Qing took the bottle and filled her own glass. At first, she didn't understand, but she quickly realized what was going on. Her gaze towards Liu Ren became very subtle. "Captain, how do you know about this? Could it be that you had some 'in-depth communication' with some kind of possessed person?"

"It's just ordinary reasoning and guessing. I'm still single." Liu Ren quickly explained when he noticed Liu Mucheng's sharp gaze.

"If that's really the case, it wouldn't be so easy to make that connection. I hadn't even thought of it!"

"...I'm quick-witted, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Ha, then let's just say that." Yao Qing smiled mischievously, not delving into the matter further. She said, "I have no intention of going out and fooling around. I was just saying it before."

"So what do you mean by not going home?"

“Literal meaning—” Yao Qing explained, “I was originally planning to stay at your place. Is that alright?”

“My house only has three rooms, and there are no extra empty rooms.”

“It’s okay, I can sleep on the floor in your room,” Yao Qing said casually.