The boss never expected that this person would actually be able to track him down by his scent. After all, he had sent over the original Su Su, and the Quarantine Center still hadn't figured out the problem!

He'd been extremely careful and discreet in his movements and could even change his appearance at any time. There was no guarantee the guy could recognize him—let alone be sure he was the one behind it.

Maybe he was tracked down through Su Su's company. But so what? After going through trainee selection, that young man might not even be considered human anymore. Could he still be working for the Investigation Corps?

With all that in mind, there really wasn't much to be afraid of! The boss's expression gradually relaxed.

"So, you're the winner this time?" the woman spoke up. Her voice was androgynous, completely different from Su Su's.

Ruan Xing looked on unhurriedly as the woman's expression shifted from shock to fear, then to worry, and finally relaxed again as if changing masks.

And now, they were pretending like they didn't know anything at all.

Ruan Xing: “Ah, yeah. If there's no one else, I guess I'm the top one."

The boss stepped aside to let Ruan Xing in.

"Come on in."

Ruan Xing's smile deepened. "Thanks, boss."

There was no office desk inside—the place looked more like a huge studio apartment, with a massive sofa and TV right across from the entrance and a wardrobe that took up two entire walls.

A stark contrast to the small place Ruan Xing and Fu Zhi lived in.

Fu Gui quietly cursed under its breath: Damn capitalists.

The boss pulled out two wine glasses and handed one to Ruan Xing. "Drink?"

Ruan Xing casually declined, "I don't drink. Let's talk business. Back then, you said we could debut if we won the competition?"

The boss looked at Ruan Xing, a flicker of mockery in his eyes. So much for the Investigation Corps being impressive—they still ended up clinging to life, wanting to enjoy the spotlight in the city like everyone else.

He asked, "What can you do? Sing? Dance? Variety shows?"

The young man tilted his head slightly. "Ah, none of that."

The boss sighed. "Then all you've got is a pretty face. That makes things tough."

Ruan Xing said sincerely, "I believe you'll find a way. I heard a lot of trainees were just pretty faces before debuting. As long as they look good, right?"

"This isn't the pre-apocalypse anymore. If you can't do anything, fans won't buy it. They won't spoil you. If you really want to be a star, there's only one path left..." the boss said, his tone suggestive.

"What path?"

"Sign a contract with me. Become the company's loyal dog, and I'll debut you. Well, I'll use your face to debut myself, but you'll get to enjoy all the fame and wealth that comes with it."

Seeing the young man's eyes widen slightly with clear interest, the boss felt a sense of relief.

Luo Shi's assignment hadn't failed after all—he'd just taken a different approach. Once he got hold of that face, the rest was easy to control.

Many people liked Ruan Xing's type of look, but the boss had never had a chance to collect it—until now.

Thinking about how the person who'd driven him to desperation was about to become one of his "collections," the boss got so excited he licked his lips.

"What kind of contract is it? Can I take a look?"

"Sure. Once you're ready, just sign your name."

The boss pulled out a piece of paper from who-knows-where. It felt smooth in the hand, with a faint yellow tint.

Parchment.

Mages usually used this kind of paper to make contracts. The only difference was that this one was written in the local language. But like the others, it had a faint magical aura flowing through it.

This was a real, binding contract.

This was the first time Ruan Xing had directly encountered a magical object in this world—he was a bit caught off guard.

Who made this? Besides him, was there someone else in this world who could use magic?

"What kind of binding force does this contract have? The base won't protect it if it's illegal, right?"

The woman smiled. "Oh, it's definitely binding. You'll find out once you sign."

Ruan Xing picked up the pen and was about to sign when he caught sight of the boss's smile—and suddenly stopped.

"Actually, I've got one more question."

"What is it?" The boss, already fantasizing about owning that face, was in a good mood.

"Is this how Su Su debuted too?" the young man asked.

The boss hadn't expected him to care about someone else instead of himself.

But he still answered, "Yeah. When that girl came to me, she signed the contract. I made her famous, and she enjoyed the easy life."

The young man nodded. "So that performance the other day… that was you too?"

The boss was just about to say yes when he suddenly realized something was off.

Wait a second… did this guy just figure out who I really am?!

The boss's expression instantly changed.

The young man's friendly smile now looked like something out of a nightmare. "I knew it—no normal person could smell that bad."

The boss's face twisted. "How dare you say I smell?! That's the one thing I can't stand—people saying I stink!"

Faces flashed through his mind—people covering their noses.

"Ugh, fish seller! You stink so bad! Get away!"

"So what if you run a company now? You're still a smelly fishmonger!"

"LOL, with that face, all you're good for is selling fish. You trained all that time and still can't debut. A fishery boss dreaming of stardom? What a joke!"

"Gross fish seller trying to debut just to make up for being ugly, huh? Fat and ugly. You'd have to reincarnate to look decent! Hahaha!"

The man sat in his boss's chair, those voices echoing in his head.

What everyone saw was a greasy, middle-aged man chasing some hopeless dream. No one cared about what his dream really was.

That boy in the corner—he just wanted someone to notice him.

His family sold fish, so naturally, he inherited the stall.

After years of handling seafood, the smell had soaked into his skin. People saw this ugly fish boy and instinctively recoiled, covering their noses and taking bags from him at arm's length.

Even his own parents said he reeked.

The boy was crushed.

One day, walking down the street, he saw the TV playing a dazzling world—full of perfect, talented people. Passersby stopped to watch, and even little kids ran to the screen.

If he could become someone like that, he'd definitely be popular, right?

The boy stared at the TV and began to mimic what he saw. He was talented—his ethereal, gender-ambiguous voice became a powerful weapon. He secretly signed up for a masked talent show, and thanks to his voice and graceful stage presence, he advanced round after round, all the way to the finals. That was when he finally revealed the face beneath the mask.

The judges looked at him with horror. The audience cast their votes for another contestant—less talented but more attractive.

He even made the news for being ugly. People looked at him like he was a joke.

That's when the boy understood—he was still too weak. Only by becoming strong could he truly be seen.

So he buried his dreams, poured himself into growing the family business, and by middle age, he'd built a fisheries empire, owning an entire high-rise building.

He thought he was finally qualified to chase his dream again.

But when his employees found out, the ridicule came crashing down like a tidal wave—far worse than before. It even ruined his business, and he became bankrupt.

Like a piece of salted fish in a filthy ditch, life flipped him from one burnt side to the other.

Was it wrong to want to be beautiful? He even created a platform to help others become beautiful too! What a kind man he was—there weren't many bosses like him around anymore!

Besides, isn't he the hottest celebrity right now? Acting, dancing, singing—where had he fallen short? He only lost in terms of his appearance!

With a beautiful shell, he could succeed in any industry!

Voices long forgotten echoed in the boss's ears. His eyes began to turn bloodshot, and a faint blue aura emanated from his body.

Ruan Xing didn't expect a single sentence to send the boss into a frenzy. He immediately moved back, bracing for a sudden attack.

Across from him, the woman's features started to vanish, like a balloon being inflated. Her fingers swelled unnaturally, and her once-slim body now resembled a balloon pumped full of gas, slowly floating upward.

At the same time, a foul stench spread from her body. The balloon rapidly inflated and then started drifting toward the window.

Fu Gui screamed, "He's trying to float out the window!"

Ruan Xing swiftly extended a hand—mycelium threads lashed out and easily hooked the balloon person back. A poisoned dart pricked the inflated skin, and with a soft pop, the shell deflated.

But what spewed from inside was like a stink bomb—filling the entire room instantly.

Ruan Xing turned visibly green. The boss's real stench was overwhelming without the skin to contain it. Fu Gui was already dry-heaving at the window.

Seeing his first attempt fail, the boss changed tactics immediately.

Using his unnaturally flexible body, he lunged at Ruan Xing with a gun he'd somehow acquired.

Ruan Xing tried to dodge, but his back injury caused a slight delay. A bullet grazed his chest, and blood seeped through his shirt.

"I didn't want to kill you—I just wanted your skin! You forced me!" the boss shrieked.

At this point, the skin on his body didn't fit at all—it sagged like an overinflated, dried-out balloon, clinging in wrinkled patches to his face, making him look truly grotesque.

Between the gaps in the skin, pale blue flesh pulsed and twitched like a living organ. It was deeply unsettling.

He stretched out his arms and tore off the outer skin, revealing his true form beneath.

At the same moment, something inside the wardrobe began to rattle, loudly clanging.

Before Ruan Xing's mycelium threads could bind the wardrobe, yellow-white sheets of skin burst out—some male, some female, some old, and even some belonging to children.

The boss had claimed he didn't kill people—so where did these trophies come from? Were they all wannabe stars? A five- or six-year-old child couldn't even understand what "debut" meant.

Ruan Xing's expression turned icy cold. Watching the boss go manic among his collection, he sneered,

"Then die with your skins."

The skins still had hair on them and floated eerily in the air. They unfurled and darted toward Ruan Xing with shocking speed.

The boss randomly grabbed one, threw it on, and bolted to the door.

These skins had no real attack power, but like mycelium threads, they were clingy and overwhelming—trying to bind Ruan Xing up completely.

Just as the boss was about to wrench the door open, Ruan Xing scooped Fu Gui into his arms and flung a massive wave of mycelium outward, forming a cocoon around them.

Simultaneously, poisoned darts formed midair and aimed at the fleeing boss.

What kind of ability is this?!

The boss looked back in panic, and his face changed drastically. Run!

But he never got the door open.

A massive explosion erupted, causing flames to shoot skyward. The force hurled the boss and the door across the room, slamming them into the front entrance of the building.

Fu Gui, lounging in Ruan Xing's arms with his legs crossed, felt the wave of heat surge past, but the temperature was perfect inside the cocoon. He spread his wings and gave a big thumbs-up. "When it comes to the art of blowing stuff up, no one does it better than you."

At the front desk downstairs, Bai Xu tapped his knuckles on the counter. "Is your boss done yet?"

The receptionist smiled stiffly. "The boss has his own schedule. We can't force him. He's fully booked today—please make an appointment next time."

Bai Xu thought, I'm here on official business, and I still have to take this crap? He slammed the desk hard. "If your boss won't come to me, then I'll go to him! Since when do you people have the authority to block an investigation? One more word, and I'll haul you off!"

The receptionist tried to block him again. Bai Xu's nose twitched at a foul stench. He frowned.

Something's not right.

"Only trainees are allowed upstairs. You'll need to wait in the lounge, sir."

Bai Xu snorted. "You don't get to tell me what to do. Not even my superiors can manage that—who do you think you are? Looking like you're halfway to becoming a pollutant yourself."

As the two argued, a loud explosion rocked the upper floors. Moments later, something flew out of the building and crashed near the main entrance—a dark, unidentifiable human-like figure.

The receptionist's face changed. She darted forward, screaming, "Boss!"

Bai Xu also flinched in surprise. "Your boss is really cooperative with the investigation, huh? He jumped straight out of the building himself!"