Chapter 23

The two sat sullenly in the back of the truck.
Nan Yuan briefed everyone on the situation at the entrance, instructing them to keep their weapons ready and stay alert.
The journey passed without major incident, but trouble struck right at the entrance.
Just as the group was landing, numerous Bloodsucking Grass suddenly extended their stems and leaves, trying to drag them down.
Fortunately, Nan Yuan reacted swiftly and threw out several bombs in time.
Standing firmly at the base entrance, everyone couldn’t help but feel relieved. Two of the ordinary people even burst into tears.
They had thought they would become the first casualties in the beast tide, callously abandoned as the outermost line of defense.
But now, they were actually standing alive inside the safe base.
Although tomorrow still felt distant, at least they had survived another day.
They looked at Nan Yuan with deep gratitude.
Nan Yuan organized more firepower and immediately went to pick up the third group.
This time, everyone had learned from experience. They used firepower to clear the way before landing, and thankfully, they weren’t attacked by the blood-sucking vines again.
Once everyone was inside the base, Tao Shushu closed the underground entrance door.
A task prompt appeared on the screen: [Congratulations on completing Main Task 2. Rewards: Gold coins ×500, Spaceship ×1, Primary Clarity Card ×1.]
Instantly gaining 500 gold coins, Tao Shushu cheered excitedly.
What thrilled her the most was the spaceship.
Just as she was wondering where the spaceship would come from, Tao Shushu spotted a key in the cub’s bag, it looked like a key to some warehouse.
Tao Shushu gently tugged at the cub’s sleeve. “Cub, there’s a key in your bag. Take it, and you’ll be able to find the spaceship.”
With the spaceship, the cub could finally leave the barren planet.
“Cub, I’m heading off now. Oh, by the way, let me buy you some clothes first. What do you like to wear?” Tao Shushu asked while opening the system shop.
Nan Yuan caught the word “buy.”
He touched the key that had abruptly appeared in his bag. At the top of the key was a tiny, sesame-sized inscription.
So, everything she gave him was bought? Where did she buy it from? And how could she still buy so many things now?
Nan Yuan couldn’t grasp a reasonable explanation.
He shook his head. “I just saw some old clothes in the room, and this one I’m wearing is still fine. No need to buy.”
Since the cub said so, Tao Shushu didn’t buy anything. She didn’t have many gold coins left and needed to save some for emergencies.
“Alright then, cub. Once you’ve settled everyone, go check out the spaceship. I’ll be away for a bit.” Tao Shushu was mainly hungry. She had started playing the game as soon as she woke up in the morning and urgently needed to refuel.
After eating, Tao Shushu opened her book. With the monthly exam in a month, she had to prepare well before then.
She completed three sets of English listening exercises and earned a reward of 1 gold coin.
Then, she worked on two sets of physics competition problems and received a reward of 10 gold coins.
Soon, it was noon.
Just after finishing lunch, her parents returned home; both of them beaming with joy.
Tao Shushu asked, “Mom, what’s the good news?”
Her parents never kept business matters from their daughter. “That company that cursed us the day before yesterday has been shut down. It was just a shell company.”
"That young legal person is quite educated despite his age, clearly with a promising future ahead. He was once a finance professional earning millions a year, why couldn't he do something proper instead of engaging in such illegal activities?"
"Fortunately, we didn't fall for his tricks. Speaking of which, the Su family invested several million in this company's project."
"Those people, under the banner of strong support from the Su family, extorted quite a few tech companies. Coincidentally, the Su family had previously expressed interest in entering the tech industry, and now some suspect this is just a shell company set up by the Su family to seize patents."
Father Tao summarized, "We didn't suffer any losses and even received a compensation payment. A few small companies had their core products acquired and are preparing to sue to get them back."
Mother Tao said, "Oh, let's not talk about these things anymore. I'm taking Shushu to get styled. There will be a welcome-back banquet for the Su family's daughter tonight, and many of Shushu's classmates will likely be there."
"Darling, both you and Shushu are already beautiful," Father Tao said indulgently, picking up Mother Tao's bag. "I'll drive you."
Tao Shushu, the third wheel, was thus taken to the stylist her mother frequented.
Three hours later, the family of three got into the car and headed to the Su residence.
Worried about her virtual pet's situation, Tao Shushu opened her phone.
It was already dark in the virtual pet's world.
The underground base was orderly and well-managed.
A group of people were repairing weapons and mending clothes, while others formed patrol teams, moving in groups of four to inspect ventilation shafts, base entrances, and other potential points where mutated beasts might invade.
A few were cleaning in their respective rooms, and the rest were gathered in the main hall.
They were spending a peaceful night in the secure base.
Nan Yuan was deep in thought nearby.
Tao Shushu counted the people and noticed that the two who had backed out earlier were missing.
She wanted to look for them and was switching maps when the game suddenly crashed. The game icon turned black, and when she clicked on it, a "Under Maintenance" message appeared.
With the system undergoing sudden maintenance, Tao Shushu tried twice but couldn't get in.
Just then, the car entered the villa area, so she had to put her phone away.
Tao Shushu immediately spotted Su Momo greeting guests at the entrance.
The Su family was keen on introducing their daughter to high society, so they enthusiastically presented her to every guest.
While the parents exchanged pleasantries, Tao Shushu gracefully presented the small gift her parents had prepared.
Su Momo, however, glanced at Tao Shushu's face and took a step back, firmly avoiding being in the same frame.
"I heard your daughter Shushu used to excel in physics, what a coincidence! Momo scored full marks in the physics entrance exam and was specially selected for the physics competition team," Mother Su said proudly.
"Momo is truly outstanding, just as smart and beautiful as Mrs. Su," the surrounding crowd praised.
"Not at all, Momo just got lucky. By the way, how many points did Shushu score?" Mother Su modestly deflected before steering the conversation toward Tao Shushu.
Mother Tao tried to change the subject, but several socialites close to the Su family grabbed her hand and said, "Tao Shushu? The one who scored zero in physics on the entrance exam? Wasn't she supposed to be excellent in physics? I heard the signal jammers were upgraded for this exam, what went wrong?"
Just as Mother Tao was about to speak up in her daughter's defense, the person who had spoken earlier chimed in again, "Nowadays, everyone values academic credentials, but what’s the point of achieving good grades through cheating? Everyone appreciates children like Momo, who are genuinely intelligent, hardworking, and outstanding."
Tao Shushu tugged at her angry mother and said, "I fell asleep during the exam this time, so I got a zero. But isn’t that perfect? It gives me room to improve by a hundred points next time." She added, "Mom, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten a progress award. After all, the exam is only out of 100 points, so there’s no room for improvement. Next time I make progress, you have to reward me."
"Hmph, some people sure have thick skin. Even a true academic star like Momo isn’t arrogant, yet someone with a zero is full of themselves," the woman remarked again.
"Don’t say that. Shushu has always been impressive; she just wasn’t feeling well and fell asleep on exam day," someone nearby tried to mediate.
Only then did Mother Su pretend to smooth things over, "Let’s not talk about grades anymore. Everyone here is equally outstanding."
At the entrance stood a life-sized cutout and a directional sign for Su Momo. Noticing the woman who had been speaking was standing close to the cutout, Tao Shushu hugged her mother affectionately while discreetly picking up two small pebbles and tossing them.
The woman suddenly jumped, and in her extremely high heels, she accidentally knocked over Su Momo’s life-sized cutout.
"What are you doing? The cutout is ruined!" someone nearby shouted.
The woman scrambled to her feet, only to realize that in her panic, she had grabbed onto Su Momo’s cutout, which was now damaged. The meticulously edited face on the cutout was split in two, with a clear crack running through it.
Su Momo’s expression turned displeased, and Mother Su also looked disdainful.
The woman nervously explained, "There was a sudden bug."
"Impossible. We turned on the insect repellent devices for the banquet," Mother Su retorted, annoyed. The suggestion of bugs implied their preparations weren’t thorough enough.
Although there was a backup cutout, the scene still caused a stir, and many guests witnessed the small incident at the entrance.
"Mrs. Su, I didn’t mean to. I just lost my balance. Please forgive me..." the woman who had earlier accused Tao Shushu of cheating pleaded frantically.
Mrs. Su brushed her hand away and said, "You’re too careless. Go and rest for now."
This woman had tried to curry favor with the Su family by thoughtlessly offending Tao Shushu, but she ended up embarrassing herself. Tao Shushu watched as two stewards escorted her out through the side door of the Su residence.
Tao Shushu looked up at the sky. She had only quietly thrown two small stones, something she hadn’t done in a while. Thankfully, her aim hadn’t failed her.
Mother Tao, on the other hand, was amused and resumed chatting with her superficial high-society friends. "My Shushu isn’t great at language subjects, but thankfully, her logical thinking comes from her father," Mother Tao said.
The Tao family’s business had grown so large thanks to their exceptional research and development capabilities. Father Tao was indeed skilled when it came to his work, a talent others envied but couldn’t replicate, especially since he had a technical background from a prestigious university.
Tao Shushu wasn't usually this proud, but since Su Momo had pushed her to the edge, she couldn't let her parents lose face.
"Haha, Shushu is quite confident, confidence is good," Su Momo's mother said with a strained smile. "Our Momo is too reserved; even when she scores full marks, she stays humble. I always tell her that won't do, she should learn a bit from Shushu. Since you'll both be in the same competition class from now on, please take good care of our Momo and help her gain some confidence."
This was a subtle jab at Tao Shushu's pride.
When it came to physics, Tao Shushu had never been one to back down. She leaned in closer to Su Momo with a smile. "Oh, Momo, you're being too modest. Building confidence is simple, just get praised often."
"Ah, that's not really..." Mrs. Su started to say.
Tao Shushu waved her hand dismissively. "Auntie, Momo is so beautiful and outstanding, she deserves to be seen by everyone. I'll make sure everyone knows just how amazing Momo is."
Half an hour later, everyone knew that Su Momo had scored 100 in the Huiwen entrance exam's physics section, had been specially recruited into the school's physics competition team, and even Tao Shushu, widely recognized as the top physics student, was full of praise for her.
Many people began to hold Su Momo in even higher regard.
Su Momo's smile grew wider and wider. Initially, she had been a bit flustered because she hadn't managed to take Tao Shushu's scores for the later subjects.
But now, everything was back on track.
She was the brightest star of the banquet. Whenever people mentioned her, it was as if they had forgotten she had ever suffered hardships outside the family, they all said she was truly worthy of being a daughter of the Su family, both beautiful and intelligent.
Su Momo affectionately linked arms with her mother, basking in the attention. She would continue to become the most dazzling protagonist in the whole world.


Author's Note:
Tao Shushu: Hah, the protagonist? I'll just shower you with excessive praise then.