Beep beep.

Thick steam rose from beneath the pot lid and a rich, concentrated aroma rushed straight at the nose.

Clack.

Reaching out to lift the lid, the already boiling broth rolled endlessly as the delicious ingredients inside gave off an enticing sheen.

“Hoo, all done.”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Li Chen put on oven mitts with satisfaction and lifted the entire pot of food, step by step carrying it into the living room.

The spacious living area with its several-meter-high ceiling didn’t feel empty despite being filled with furniture, instead giving off a unique warmth as the brilliant crystal chandelier cast a gentle, relaxing atmosphere throughout.

“Finished!”

Looking at the table full of dishes, Li Chen smugly pulled out a chair and sat down, enthusiastically admiring his own “masterpiece.”

Hotpot meat broth, vegetable and fruit salad, steak and seafood, desserts...

All kinds of dishes were presented in their most perfect form and just one glance was enough to fully stir the appetite.

‘Looks like my skills haven’t gotten rusty after all, uh... even if I just followed the artificial intelligence’s step-by-step prompts.’

Even so, this seemingly ordinary spread would be considered downright extravagant even by Upper Hive elite standards.

‘After all, the fact that it’s not a pre-made meal pack, not even made by a cooking robot, but purely handcrafted using ‘ancient methods,’ is already enough to stump most Hive City residents.’

Ever since the Great Catastrophe, how hard was it to eat a dish made by a natural human?

Li Chen, who came from the Lower Hive and had once lived for a long time on nutritional pills, understood this better than anyone.

‘Hehe, I wonder if Xiao Wei will be so touched when she gets home that she won’t be able to speak.’

Li Chen looked forward expectantly toward the center of the table, where a crystal-clear candle bloomed with tiny points of glow, emitting a steady tick-tock sound.

“Lights off.”

Gazing at the beautiful colors, Li Chen gave an order to the controller.

Click.

In an instant, the brightly lit penthouse was plunged into total darkness, yet within that quiet, the previously inconspicuous candlelight now burst into dazzling multicolored brilliance, like shining stars beneath a lowered night sky.

‘Dining in this kind of atmosphere?’

Looking at the lavish scenery he had arranged, Li Chen raised his lips in a satisfied smile.

‘All that hard work was worth it and today’s gains were huge too.’

Not only had he obtained an invaluable confidential chip from Liu Yu, something that could fetch at least billions of credits.

Even his spur-of-the-moment “adventure” to improve his martial proficiency had brought unexpected harvests.

Clenching his fist, Li Chen exerted a bit of strength and even in pitch darkness, every blade of grass and every object in the room appeared with absolute clarity in his vision.

‘Night vision, dynamic tracking, truly worthy of the player template.’

Li Chen felt deeply moved as he sensed the endless energy within his body, energy that showed no sign of fatigue despite everything he had done, a trace of emotion flashing through his eyes.

He had broken through.

Second tier.

In the Upper Hive, a mere second-tier quasi-martial artist was nothing to speak of and even in the Lower City, street gangs with a bit of reputation would have several warriors at this level.

But Li Chen, no longer the arrogant man he had been right after transmigrating, knew very clearly that with his originally mediocre talent, reaching apprentice peak would already have been his limit and trying to go further without relying on pre-civilization origin technology capable of overturning physical laws would have been pure fantasy.

Yet in the end, he had still done it.

‘Speaking of which…’

Li Chen raised his head to check the time on the display screen, counting on his fingers.

‘Xiao Wei should be getting back around now, right?’

Heh heh, when Xiao Wei comes back, he’ll give her a proper “surprise.”

Li Chen sat calmly in his seat, closed his eyes to rest and waited for his fiancée to return.

* * *

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

However, even after the agreed-upon time had passed, the seat meant for his fiancée was still empty.

Li Chen sighed helplessly.

“Overtime again? Sigh, I figured as much, but I didn’t think she couldn’t even take leave...”

His fiancée was beautiful and kind and if he had to name a flaw, it was that she was always busy with work and couldn’t spend long stretches of time clinging to him.

But as long as he could trade the chip Liu Yu gave him for a reward...

‘At least then she’ll have more time to be with me.’

Ding-dong.

[You have one new message.]

“Sorry, hubby, we got an emergency tip-off about that hacker organization ‘Scissorhands,’ and since it’s a special operation personally deployed by the director, there’s no way...”

In the video, Bai Wei apologized to him with a face full of guilt.

‘A recorded video, huh? Makes sense, since it’s a special operation they definitely can’t do a live call. Sigh, once this chip is handed in, at the very least I should get Xiao Wei transferred to a department with good pay, less work and close to home. I heard from a neighbor that there’s a vacancy for chief instructor at the Hive City Police Academy…’

As he imagined holding Bai Wei’s hand and growing old together, Li Chen’s vision grew a little blurry.

‘Maybe I’ll take a nap first…’

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier and after a full day of hard work, Li Chen’s consciousness gradually sank.

Huff, huff.

He gently slumped over on the table and fell asleep.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, several hours had gone by.

Thump.

A soft sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

Fast asleep, Li Chen didn’t react at all, his face resting peacefully on the tabletop, a faint line of drool visible at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m back~”

The slender figure in a senior Public Security Bureau officer’s uniform, dusty and travel-worn from rushing home, noticed Li Chen already asleep at the table.

“Idiot.”

Seeing her fiancé sprawled on the table snoring softly, Bai Wei tenderly removed her coat and draped it over him.

“Why didn’t you go rest properly in the bedroom, sleeping on the table like th—”

Just as she was about to nag him, Bai Wei froze.

On the dining table, the exquisite food and wine were protected by a high-quality thermal preservation table and had not been touched by time at all, still maintaining the perfect state from when Li Chen had set them down, their sweet aroma aggressively stimulating her senses.

As a dignified sixth-tier martial artist, Bai Wei didn’t really need to eat and even if she worked seventy-two hours straight without food or water, relying on her perfected breathing techniques and endlessly evolved genes, she wouldn’t feel the slightest fatigue.

But necessity and desire were not the same thing.

Not needing to eat didn’t mean having no appetite.

‘Did he really make all of this by himself?’

Although she had indeed rattled off a long list of dishes during their earlier call, Bai Wei never expected that her husband would actually recreate her requests perfectly.

And he had chosen the hardest way—doing it by hand.

Seeing Li Chen’s hands stained with sauces, Bai Wei had to exert great effort to suppress the urge to pull him into a tight embrace.

“A man this good... I really must have saved the galaxy in my past life~”

Bai Wei playfully repeated her husband’s silly catchphrase, gently leaning beside him and quietly admiring that side profile which radiated unparalleled charm even while asleep.

She reached out a finger and lightly traced Li Chen’s cheek.

“Mmm, thanks, Sister Liu Yu...”

Just as Bai Wei was blissfully admiring her husband’s face, sculpted like a work of art and perfectly aligned with the golden ratio from any angle, Li Chen murmured softly, as if talking in his sleep.

‘Sister Liu Yu?’

Bai Wei’s whole body stiffened, her lips trembling slightly as her beautiful features twisted from excessive force.

“That free mercenary who keeps pestering Xiao Chen and wants to claim kinship with him?” Bai Wei muttered to herself with an unnatural expression.

‘Heh, just because she’s seventh tier, she thinks she can trick my Xiao Chen away?’

Yet despite her confident facade, the fingers brushing Li Chen’s cheek unconsciously turned pale from the pressure.

Huff...

Leaning closer to her husband, Bai Wei sniffed lightly, just like a puppy circling its food.

‘...There’s a woman’s perfume smell. Damn it, don’t tell me... does Xiao Chen actually like the mature older-sister type?’

Bai Wei glanced down at her chest.

Although it wasn’t as absurdly full as that woman’s cow-like figure in the photos Xiao Chen had uploaded, it was still very ample and combined with her long-trained physique, the shape was clearly much firmer...

But Xiao Chen was calling her name in his dreams...

‘Damn it, maybe I should order some nutritional supplements later and change into a more figure-hugging dress.’

Clenching her small fist, Bai Wei pressed her lips together and knocked Li Chen on the forehead.

“Ow, that hurts!”

Startled awake by the sudden attack, Li Chen rubbed his eyes groggily, taking a while to react.

“Ah, Xiao Wei, you’re back?” Seeing his fiancée, Li Chen was overjoyed and eagerly reached out to introduce the dishes he had prepared according to her requests, “Look, I just finished cooking these, all made with natural ingredients...”

“...”

Bai Wei expressionlessly pulled out the chair beside Li Chen, crossing her arms and leaning against his shoulder with clear displeasure.

“Huh? Xiao Wei, w-why are you angry?”

Knowing his fiancée’s temperament inside out, Li Chen could naturally sense something was off and blinked in confusion.

‘That’s strange. Normally, Xiao Wei should be moved to tears, right? Why does she feel so weird today? Could it be that work exhausted her and put her in a bad mood?’

Thinking that, Li Chen simply pulled Bai Wei’s heavy head onto his lap and gently kneaded her slender waist.

“Hehe, work all day is exhausting, right? I’ll give you a massage...”

“Xiao Chen.”

Lying on Li Chen’s lap and enjoying the firm pressure of his hands, Bai Wei closed her eyes comfortably, but her tone didn’t soften, “You, you have to answer me honestly, okay?”

“A question? What question?”

Li Chen scratched his head, completely baffled.

“Me, compared to that cow—I mean, that Sister Liu Yu, who do you think is prettier?”

Bai Wei widened her eyes, seriously watching Li Chen’s expression.

‘So she was jealous? So cute.’

“Of course it’s you, Xiao Wei~”

Faced with the easiest trick question in the world, Li Chen naturally wouldn’t answer wrong. Having transmigrated here without parents, he didn’t have to deal with absurd dilemmas like choosing between saving his mother or his lover.

“Hmph, hmph hmph.”

Bai Wei snorted.

“Really? Then why were you calling Sister Liu Yu’s name in your sleep instead of mine?”

‘Talking in my sleep? Ah.’

When he had dozed off earlier, he’d been fantasizing about Bai Wei getting promoted and earning more thanks to the chip and naturally thought of the benefactor who made it all possible, Sister Liu Yu.

‘To think Xiao Wei heard it by chance…’

But what should he do now, jealous Xiao Wei was adorable too.

Looking at Bai Wei puffing up her cheeks in anger, Li Chen didn’t feel the slightest annoyance at being questioned, instead gazing lovingly at his sulking fiancée.

“Y-you, don’t look at me like that. Even if you do, I’m still very angry!”

Bai Wei turned her head away awkwardly.

‘Too, too much…’

How could Xiao Chen look at her like that, that’s just cheating!

“Don’t worry, Xiao Wei. The one I like is one and only and that person is you. As for Sister Liu Yu...”

Li Chen handed the invaluable chip to Bai Wei.

“I really do have to thank her, because with this chip, Xiao Wei, you won’t have to work so hard anymore.”

‘Chip?’

Bai Wei subconsciously took it and began reading the data.

“Th-this is!”

Seeing his fiancée’s increasingly solemn expression, Li Chen asked with a smile, “So, Xiao Wei, I’m not bragging, but after I got this chip, I even went down to the Lower City to investigate personally...”

Bang.

Before he could finish, Li Chen was shoved forcefully to the ground.

“Idiot!”

Bai Wei pressed him down.

“What if you got hurt?”

Her eyes glazed over as a bone-chilling cold aura radiated from her body.

“If anything happened to you...”

“It’s fine.”

Li Chen said proudly.

“Just some Lower City gangs. Hmph, I’m a proper martial artist too, you know.”

‘He’s lying.’

Bai Wei gently stroked him, keenly sensing traces of bandaging over wounds.

‘Lower City gangs? Newborn Pharmaceuticals? Heh. You won’t see tomorrow’s sun. Anyone who hurts Xiao Chen must die.’