Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan stood before the pitch-black space, feeling for the first time that she truly knew too little about the world of monsters.

So it turned out they too had their version of the void space similar to that of the Masked Organization. It seemed to require a certain kind of monster technique to activate. There was a monster in their tavern who could perform this technique—one who had always kept a low profile. Only now did they suddenly appear and take full responsibility for transporting the tavern’s monsters.

In just one night, everyone in the tavern had been relocated into this void, including the monster who opened it.

“There’s probably no way to contact the outside world for now,” that monster said to Yuan Yuanyuan. “But we can take this time to tidy things up a bit. The tavern won’t be returning anytime soon.”

…Right. What if the boss lady came back? Would she execute her on the spot as an example? Yuan Yuanyuan worried over the thought.

She glanced at the others behind her, feeling vaguely uneasy. Maybe it was because the boss lady wasn’t around and her mental support had collapsed—she rarely handled tavern matters alone.

Ah… this kind of life feels way too stressful. For the first time, she truly felt the weight of the boss lady’s presence.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought this to herself but showed nothing on the surface. She simply instructed a small monster to head to C City to notify the boss lady that the tavern had been exposed and they couldn’t return for the time being.

Honestly, Yuan Yuanyuan was overthinking a bit. The matter with the tavern was so significant that news had spread across all of C City in less than a day. Naturally, the boss lady—who was also in the city—would hear of it.

Yuan Yuanyuan paced back and forth in the new base. Its size was clearly smaller than the one conjured up by Diga from the Masked Organization. She wasn’t sure if that was because the monster who opened this void wasn’t as powerful.

But overall, it looked pretty decent. Everything was well-equipped, and the rooms were thoroughly cleaned. It clearly hadn’t been prepared in a day or two, likely meant for emergencies just like this.

The monster said everything had been arranged by the boss lady herself. Yuan Yuanyuan had a feeling—perhaps the boss lady had realized long ago that the tavern wasn’t safe. That’s why she had made all these preparations, just in case.

She turned to look at Brother Apiao… or rather, now Paper Brother. Though he had fought fiercely with the head of the Li family that day, the battle hadn’t left him unscathed.

Ever since returning to the tavern, he’d remained in his paper form and hadn’t emerged.

Yuan Yuanyuan had tried poking him, but the paper didn’t budge. Now she kept him safely on her person at all times, afraid she might lose him and never find him again.

She also considered the safety of this place. That monster told her it was very unlikely anyone would come here anytime soon. Without knowing the activation pattern, it was nearly impossible for outsiders to enter.

Still, there was a possibility of spies within the tavern, so they didn’t know how soon the news might leak out.

Yuan Yuanyuan said she understood and planned to call a few trusted individuals to monitor which monsters were coming and going from the void, keeping detailed records.

The void was cramped. The tavern monsters packed it to the brim. Yuan Yuanyuan took this time to organize everything that had happened recently, trying to clear her thoughts.

It had been three days since the command post was compromised. From day one’s faint rumors about monsters, to day three’s full-blown gossip, the tavern’s name had spread like wildfire. Before, only drinkers paid it any mind. Now, every monster in C City knew about it.

The first day’s gossip was that the head of the Li family had stormed the tavern. No one really knew the details, but the Li family had been gaining power lately. People speculated that the tavern must’ve provoked him, prompting him to make an example out of them.

The Li family head gave no response to these rumors. Monsters weren’t surprised. They assumed it was just another vicious attack. These things happened often. Though the tavern incident was a big deal, in two or three days, it’d probably fade like the others.

However, it didn’t.

By the second day, the situation escalated. Many people had seen what happened—not just monsters, but even daoists had shown up at the tavern. Considering the current tense relationship between daoists and monsters, they rarely crossed paths. So what happened that night to bring both sides together?

Some tavern workers leaked bits of information. Apparently, there was some kind of conflict. They were working like normal when suddenly, a bunch of monsters rushed out and told them to leave immediately—even the guests were evacuated.

Certain words came up—words that made things highly sensitive.

“Anti-war organization,” “Li family head”… people began speculating. Though outrageous, some guesses were surprisingly close to the truth.

—The tavern was the anti-war organization’s headquarters.

Everyone was shocked.

Then came the third day…

YaoJi updated.

…

Yuan Yuanyuan had already finished organizing everything and was waiting for YaoJi’s update on day three.

This issue was particularly critical. She wanted to see Ji Qiu’s current stance and gauge the state of the war.

That day, Yuan Yuanyuan ordered that no one in the tavern was allowed to come or go—not even to buy groceries.

She took her phone, left the void, disguised herself as a plain-looking girl, and went to a milk tea shop to wait for the new YaoJi issue.

Naturally, there was no internet in the void, so she couldn’t see updates there. Up to now, even the tavern staff didn’t really know what had happened that night. Many monsters only knew the tavern had been exposed. But being low-level, they weren’t privy to deeper information.

At present, only about a dozen people knew the red-robed woman was from Yuan’s side—most of whom only found out because Yuan Yuanyuan had rushed out that night and intentionally let them see.

Because she didn’t know if Ji Qiu would expose the truth in this issue, Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t want too many people to find out. If Ji Qiu illustrated it, she wouldn’t need to do anything more. But if he didn’t, she had to be on guard against potential spies.

Just because the Li family head knew didn’t mean other monsters did. Factions were splitting up. The Li family head didn’t necessarily have close ties with the others. So Yuan Yuanyuan was certain: if neither he nor Ji Qiu said anything, very few would know.

However, this time, YaoJi didn’t beat around the bush. It directly depicted everything that happened that night—more detailed than even Yuan Yuanyuan’s memory. She noticed many details she hadn’t realized at the time.

“…From this angle, Brother Apiao looks even cooler that night,” Yuan Yuanyuan blushed inexplicably. She poked her pocket again. Still no response. She kept reading.

If she hadn’t had someone examine the talisman, confirming it wasn’t damaged, she might have assumed Brother Apiao’s soul had already dispersed.

Ji Qiu used the Li family head’s perspective for the comic, but also occasionally switched to an omniscient view.

The infiltration process was drawn in full detail—how the Li family head scoped the place out, arranged his men, and snuck in along a specific route… the entire thing was depicted.

It was only then that Yuan Yuanyuan realized: the Li family head had probably suspected something two months ago.

Where had they slipped up? Yuan Yuanyuan began thinking carefully. She now saw that the tavern’s defenses weren’t all that solid. Maybe they were okay early on, but as tensions escalated and with information spreading so fast now, leaks were bound to happen. Compared to the past, things were definitely different.

While Yuan Yuanyuan reflected on the past and thought about the future, it seemed no one else was doing the same.

As she sat in the 24-hour milk tea shop sipping coffee, she suddenly heard a high-pitched scream from a nearby girl—so loud it echoed throughout the room.

Everyone turned to look at her, surprised. The girl didn’t notice the stares. She frantically shook her boyfriend’s arm. “Oh my god, look at this!”

“What is it?” The guy beside her clearly thought she was overreacting… but still leaned in, despite his exasperation.

He stared at the phone. One second. Two seconds…

“Holy shit—shit—shit—shit…”

…Yuan Yuanyuan scratched her ear. This echo might’ve been even more dramatic than the girl’s.

What did this guy see? Why did he look so devastated? Yuan Yuanyuan leaned over for a peek. With her sharp eyes, she immediately caught a glimpse of what was on his phone.

It was an unbelievably beautiful, cross-dressing Yuan—in full female disguise.

Whoa there, young man? What’s the problem? Yuan Yuanyuan shot him a sidelong glance. You got something to say?

Just as she was about to pounce, the girl saved her boyfriend.

“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” She jumped out of her chair excitedly. “Boss! Check, please!”

“Wait, weren’t we going to…”

“Shut up! I wanna go home and get on my computer!”

The girl grabbed her boyfriend and dashed out of the shop.

…Skipping a date to go online, huh? Girl, you’ve got promise. Yuan Yuanyuan thought silently, downed her coffee in one gulp, and walked out of the milk tea shop.