Morning.
Knock knock knock. "Sister Cipher, time to wake up."
"Mmm… getting up… right away…"
Ten minutes later…
"Sister Cipher, are you up yet?"
"Up… I'm up…"
Another ten minutes passed.
Luo Lin pushed the door open. Looking at Cipher hugging her blanket in the darkness, sleeping soundly on the bed, she helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead.
'She's clearly still asleep… She said she'd get up right away, and it's already been twenty minutes…'
Muttering inwardly, Luo Lin casually switched on the light, then marched toward the bed with determined steps, fully intending to shake this lazy catgirl awake.
However, when she finally reached the bedside and saw Cipher's sleeping face clearly, she froze in place.
Cipher was lying on her side, her cheek deeply sunk into the soft pillow, looking completely defenseless to the outside world.
Her lips were parted ever so slightly, letting out faint and even breaths.
With each breath, a few strands of silver-white hair resting against her smooth forehead and faintly flushed cheeks rose and fell gently.
Most eye-catching of all were the fluffy cat ears atop her head.
They were completely relaxed, drooping softly, with only the finest tufts at the tips trembling ever so slightly.
As for her tail, it had slipped out from beneath the edge of the blanket, unconsciously curling around a corner of it.
At this moment, Cipher radiated pure cuteness and laziness from head to toe.
"S-So cute…"
Luo Lin couldn't help but whisper in awe. Perhaps afraid of waking Cipher and ruining this beautiful scene, she didn't even realize her voice had instinctively softened.
But even softened, Cipher's hearing was no joke.
The moment she heard the words "so cute," her eyes fluttered open groggily, and she looked toward her bedside.
And there she saw Luo Lin standing there, staring at her blankly.
"!"
"I'm getting up right now."
Cipher snapped fully awake in an instant. Her memory came rushing back as well, reminding her of the two times she had unconsciously muttered "just a minute."
Her movements were lightning-fast. In just a few seconds, she had already thrown on her coat and boots, transforming from a "lazy cat" back into the diligent "trickster kitty."
"Sorry, Little Lin. You had to call me for so long."
"Ah… no, no! It didn't delay much time at all…"
Standing by the bed, Cipher scratched her head awkwardly as she apologized.
Luo Lin, snapping back to her senses, shook her head like a rattle drum, insisting she didn't mind at all.
Though the faint trace of disappointment on her face was painfully obvious.
"Sister Cipher, we're heading out for a mission after we eat. You should come have something too."
After saying that, Luo Lin hurried out of the room, leaving Cipher blinking in confusion.
"Why the rush?"
Scratching her head again, she followed Luo Lin out despite not quite understanding.
When she entered the living room, Cipher immediately saw Lin Wei and Xiong Lei sitting on chairs. Each of them held something resembling a glow stick, lowering their heads as they squeezed a gelatinous substance from inside into their mouths.
"You guys… what are you eating?"
Staring at the distinctly non-food-looking object, Cipher hesitated before asking.
Lin Wei looked up, saw that it was Cipher, and instead of explaining immediately, reached into her shoulder bag.
A moment later, she pulled out another identical "glow stick" and handed it to Cipher.
"This is an energy bar. The most common food in the Undercity. One stick can sustain half a day's nutritional needs."
Taking the energy bar, Cipher stared at the green fluorescent object in her hand and fell into hesitation.
This really doesn't look edible… But Lin Wei and Xiong Lei are eating it, so it should be fine, right?
Thinking that, she copied their movements, squeezing out a bit of the gel-like substance. She cautiously stuck out her tongue and gave it a small lick.
Hm? It's sweet?
Instead of any strange aftertaste, what spread across her tongue was something akin to honey.
Seeing that the flavor wasn't odd at all, she squeezed out more and took a proper bite.
After holding it in her mouth and savoring it carefully, she came to a conclusion.
This tasted exactly like concentrated honey syrup.
"It's actually pretty good… Do you guys eat this every day?"
While nibbling on the energy bar, Cipher turned to Lin Wei and asked.
"Yes." Lin Wei nodded. "Each energy bar costs only one credit point. Two credit points are enough to cover a person's entire daily energy consumption. That's why it's the cheapest food in the Undercity."
Hearing that, Cipher froze.
She suddenly recalled the conversation she had overheard outside the cultists' hideout.
'Short on funds… Even maintaining basic team expenses is difficult…'
Because this underground house had shocked her so much, she had completely forgotten about the Spark Squad's financial troubles. If Luo Lin hadn't tried so hard to speak up for her back then, she might not even have been allowed to join the team.
After organizing her thoughts, Cipher turned toward Luo Lin.
"Little Lin… your, um… financial situation isn't very good, is it?"
Luo Lin, who had just picked up an energy bar and was about to eat, paused.
She clearly hadn't expected Cipher to suddenly ask something like that.
Lowering her head in thought for a moment, she replied,
"You don't need to worry, Cipher… The reason we eat energy bars often is just because they're cheap and have no side effects. Other than getting tired of the taste after a while, there's really no downside."
She assumed Cipher was asking because of the energy bars, so she tried to come up with an explanation to ease her concerns.
But Cipher had heard their previous conversation.
She could tell at a glance that Luo Lin was deliberately avoiding the question.
Cipher frowned slightly. In the end, she decided it was better to lay her cards on the table.
"My hearing is actually very good. I can pick up even the faintest sounds."
Luo Lin tilted her head in confusion, clearly not understanding what Cipher was trying to imply.
But when Cipher spoke her next sentence—
Luo Lin froze completely.
"So that conversation you had outside the cultists' hideout about whether or not to let me join the team… I actually heard all of it!"