Brian had just arrived at the office building when he saw Shi San standing up and extending a paw to clock in.
"Beep—Employee Shi San, clock-in successful."
Shi San shook its tongue, thoughtfully wiping the time clock with the fur on the back of its paw.
For some reason, today it also had a small pouch hanging off its neck.
Brian couldn’t shake the feeling that Shi San smelled a bit more like the office today.
After clocking in, Shi San scurried to Brian, yawning, "Boss dog, how’s everything going?"
While punching in his own time card, Brian asked curiously, "Why do you look like you didn’t sleep well?"
At that, Shi San’s face filled with grievance.
Sniffling, it said, "Yesterday, one of your company’s researchers, that Alpha, when handing over the Blood Fruit Industrial Park to Susan, heard that my urine could refresh the mind and offered me ten Blood Fruits to fill a jar with my pee. Isn’t that humiliating?"
Brian glanced at the pouch hanging from Shi San’s neck and chuckled, "So you didn’t agree?"
Shi San shook its head, "Agreed, only a foolish dog wouldn’t. I didn’t sleep all night, kept drinking water, and finally completed the deal."
With that, it bared a doggy smile, "Susan said a Blood Fruit will sell for a thousand US dollars in the future. Ten fruits make ten thousand US dollars. It’s just some urine. Even giving it to Green would at best fetch a thousand or two US dollars. I made a profit."
Brian rolled his eyes, "Are you dumb? Those Blood Fruits are yours, that’s the salary I prepared for you. One Blood Fruit fulfills your energy needs for three days, ten fruits cover a month. You’ve been swindled, you silly dog."
Upon hearing this, Shi San instantly petrified.
Its friendly dog face twisted into a snarl, "To swindle even a dog, he’s no human, I’m going to find him right now!!!"
Brian kicked it, "Go find what, learn from this loss, by the way, did you pee on my motorcycle earlier?"
Shi San sensed disaster, quickly rolled over in a defeated-dog pose at Brian’s feet, tongue lolling, "Wasn’t I just worried someone would steal your motorcycle and couldn’t help but leave a mark~~~ Boss dog~~~"
Seeing Shi San’s over three hundred pounds acting coy was enough to give Brian the chills.
He kicked Shi San away in disgust, "Where is Meatball, and where has it disappeared to cause trouble now?"
Shi San retracted its tongue, shaking its head, "Meatball heard someone badmouthing it yesterday, and early this morning it took a crew to drop white bombs."
White bombs meant bird poop.
Why are all the pets he raised such a handful!
He grabbed Shi San by the scruff of its neck, dragging it to the hallway window and threw it down, "My motorcycle’s been stolen, today your job is to find that car thief."
The three-hundred-pound furry kid smashed heavily to the ground, making a dull sound.
After being thrown from the fifth floor, Shi San brushed itself off unharmed, "Alright, boss dog, I’ll take Green right now to catch the thief..."
Just then, Green, who had just walked out of the parking lot: ???
After arranging the car search and thief-catching.
Brian headed to his office.
He had brought some paper and pencils today, planning to do some sketching and study a landscape painting he’d had for a while.
The office was empty.
Brian sat down at his desk, picked up the long-held landscape painting, and studied it.
This painting was said to have some connection to "Long."
Long was perhaps the strongest Mutant Brian had heard of.
Dean seemed to have also suffered at his hands.
But with a broader view of the world now, Brian had gained a deeper understanding of Long, which old Hardenn had once mentioned.
The Federation wasn’t incapable of dealing with Third Rank Life.
A regular army would also struggle to corner a mutant of this level.
The story old Hardenn told was probably somewhat distorted; the truth wasn’t as simple as Long acting out of justice and rage.
Unfortunately, the only one who knew something, old Dean, wasn’t willing to discuss it.
Brian dismissed his curiosity.
Examining the landscape painting.
He still couldn’t help but marvel internally.
Previously, it was his Supercomputer Perception talent that allowed him to notice the magical patterns in this simple old man fishing in the river painting. After taking charge of the lab, he had brought this painting back, studied it for a few days, and then stowed it under his desk.
The painting’s magic lay in what Brian saw as flowing lines.
To ordinary people, it was just a regular painting.
Brian once used his perceptive ability to extract those lines, which old Hardenn later saw and called Curse Pattern.
Before committing murder, "Long" would brand these patterns on the bodies of his victims.
Thus, the officials called these lines the Curse Pattern.
Now, looking at the landscape painting again, Brian felt a new sensation.
A high, steep mountain;
Rapid water in a lake;
Birds in the sky, an old man in a raincoat fishing on the water.
The birds in the sky lower their heads, the old man raises his, they look at each other—one in the sky, one on the water, one bird flying toward the setting sun in the west, water rushing swiftly, seemingly stable yet unstable underfoot.
Brian instinctively touched the bird on the painting while his other hand, seemingly machine-like, scribbled endless subconscious patterns on a piece of paper nearby...