Chapter 171
by Need_More_SleepChapter 171: Night Raid
“Eat up, kid. Your uncle just landed a big job in Sunshine City—money’s no issue right now.”
The homeless man patted the table generously, even though all that sat on it was a single steamer basket of soup dumplings.
“Mmm.”
Uncle Wang San is a good person.
Yiwen’s sleep schedule has gotten even worse lately. In theory, her routine went like this:
– 7 PM: Finish dinner, play games with Mi Xiaoliu until 8.
– 8 PM: Plan to read novels for two hours (Actually just scrolls through short videos).
– 10 PM: Set aside two hours for summer homework (Still scrolling through short videos).
– Midnight: Wind down with some music (Continues scrolling through short videos).
In the end, she accomplished nothing. Her bedtime depended entirely on how long she kept scrolling.
While waiting for Yiwen to fall asleep, Mi Xiaoliu had started nodding off, her head bobbing drowsily—until a pebble struck her window.
Peering out, she saw Uncle Wang San waving at her from below. How a homeless man had made it to this part of the city was anyone’s guess.
Though he looked scruffy and unkempt, he always had different delicious treats to share with Mi Xiaoliu.
But if she left through the front door, her family would notice—and with Wang San’s intimidating appearance, they’d never let her go out alone.
So when Raven tried to stop them, Wang San crafted a persona on the spot—claiming to be Mi Xiaoliu’s biological father, Heli’s ex-husband.
Seeing Mi Xiaoliu didn’t deny it, Raven was half-convinced, half-suspicious.
A completely fabricated family backstory began forming in Raven’s mind.
“The mom’s loaded, but the dad looks like a beggar? This guy must’ve done time. What a messy family situation.”
Wang San pinched Mi Xiaoliu’s arm lightly. “You haven’t been eating properly, have you? Not an ounce of meat on you.”
“I can run a kilometer in ten minutes now,” Mi Xiaoliu reported proudly.
“Good, progress! Bright future ahead.” He gave her a thumbs-up. “Was gonna treat you to a feast this time—brought plenty of cash.”
He jingled his pocket, coins clinking inside.
But given Wang San’s rough appearance, Raven still didn’t trust him enough to let Mi Xiaoliu wander off alone. So they settled for a street food stall right outside the neighborhood, with Raven keeping watch from the doorstep, phone in hand—giving them space to talk but making sure the suspicious father didn’t whisk her away.
Mi Xiaoliu shook her head. “I’m full.”
Her appetite was tiny—just five mini dumplings for a midnight snack was enough. Easy to feed.
Uncle Wang San wasn’t satisfied. He waved for another basket.
“Eat more. You’re still growing.”
Adults always did this—judging kids’ appetites by their own standards.
The second basket arrived. Mi Xiaoliu didn’t move, just stared at it blankly.
I can’t eat anymore.
“That’s it? My daughter ate way more at your age.”
But he didn’t force her. Instead, he pulled out a Night Hawk organization-issued phone and showed Mi Xiaoliu an article about the blue flames recently spotted in Sunshine City.
“Was this your doing? Gotta scold you for this—you look like such a well-behaved girl, so why are you always running around causing trouble? Don’t your elders yell at you?”
“They do.” Mi Xiaoliu lowered her head.
“See? If you just behaved normally, they wouldn’t have to. They might sound harsh, but it’s all for your own good…”
He rambled on for ages, to the point where even Mi Xiaoliu’s attention started drifting.
Finally, after his throat went dry, he took a sip of free tap water.
Then, his voice lowered.
“If you’re staying in Sunshine City this month, stick to the southern district, got it? A bunch of mercenaries just rolled into town, right when the governor’s visiting. Who knows what they’re planning? If you wander off, they’ll snatch you up, give you daily shots, force-feed you celery and bell pepper stir-fry, then sic some blonde girl on you to bully you every day—”
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu nodded.
“Now that’s a sensible kid.” Wang San grinned—an ugly but warm expression—and ruffled her hair. “You’re at that rebellious age, so I get it if you act out sometimes. But don’t go too far, alright? You don’t wanna cause trouble for others, do you?”
“Mmm.”
Uncle Wang San talked to her about everything—from mission updates to her studies, even asking if she had a boyfriend yet.
Like a real divorced dad catching up.
“Alright, I’ll stop nagging. Getting old makes you ramble.”
He downed the last dumpling in one bite and went to pay.
“Tch, who even pays with coins these days?” The stall owner looked at Wang San with mild disdain. “You’ve got a phone—can’t you just scan the code?”
He’d noticed the black encrypted phone Wang San had taken out earlier.
“Fine, I’ll take my money back then.”
Wang San reached to reclaim the coins, but the owner quickly covered them with his hand. “Just go, just go. Who even carries around a fistful of coins anymore?”
Wang San’s scarred face twisted into a ferocious grin before he waved at Mi Xiaoliu and walked away, leaving behind a lonely, retreating figure.
If not for the fact that he’d brought a child with him, the stall owner might’ve actually been intimidated.
Once he was gone, Raven came over to take Mi Xiaoliu home.
“Xiaoliu… is he really your dad?”
It wasn’t that Raven was being discriminatory—but a man who smelled that bad, even with Ms. Heli’s genes balancing things out, shouldn’t have been able to produce such a good-looking daughter.
Mi Xiaoliu paused for two seconds, then nodded.
On the way back, Mi Xiaoliu glanced up at Yiwen’s window—the lights were off. But whether that meant she was actually asleep or just pretending to be while scrolling on her phone was anyone’s guess.
Checking the time, it was way past what a “good child’s” bedtime should be. Mi Xiaoliu put on her helmet and lay down, replenishing her in-game items—unknowingly drifting into real sleep.
“Replenishing items” was just her code for locking the door and sleeping. Sasha had taught her to do this because if someone barged in while she was asleep, they’d see her wearing the helmet in bed.
She woke up to an alarm set for 5:00 AM—so early that even Sasha wasn’t awake yet.
At this hour, Yiwen would never be conscious. That was something even Mi Xiaoliu understood.
Despite its name, Sunshine City’s early summer mornings were still pitch-black at 5 AM, with no sign of the sun.
Fighting off drowsiness, Mi Xiaoliu rubbed her eyes and changed into her newbie combat suit.
Her room was right next to Yiwen’s, and without this outfit, scaling the wall to sneak in would’ve been impossible.
Because Raven had a habit of destroying Yiwen’s uniforms, Yiwen had developed the habit of locking her door at night.
But she clearly didn’t lock her windows.
Mi Xiaoliu tiptoed into Yiwen’s room.
Yiwen’s sleeping posture was anything but graceful—her shirt had ridden up past her navel, one leg dangled off the bed with her toes brushing the floor, and her messy hair was proof of how many times she’d tossed and turned before finally dozing off.
Naturally, she wasn’t wearing the necklace anymore. Normal pendants were uncomfortable enough to sleep in—let alone something that bulky.
It was casually tossed on the desk, impossible to miss.
As Mi Xiaoliu’s self-proclaimed “strategist,” Sasha had given her some advice before bed—like swapping the charred battery with the intact one on Yiwen’s desk. That way, when Yiwen woke up, she’d just assumed the battery had spontaneously combusted and felt relieved it hadn’t happened while she was wearing it.
But Sasha hadn’t specified that Mi Xiaoliu could remove the intact battery first before making the swap. So instead, Mi Xiaoliu took the entire device.
Her inventory only had eight slots, and with the “newbie combat suit” already equipped, the “Faulty Machine” (As the system called it) now occupied the last remaining space.
Mi Xiaoliu removed the fried battery and installed the fresh one.
“Powering on. Please select operation mode.”
The voice was loud—like a phone with the volume cranked all the way up.
Mi Xiaoliu: “……”
Behind her, Yiwen let out a soft, sleepy noise, rubbed her eyes, and woke up.
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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