Space-Time Inspector

Harry Wilson held his ringing phone, his heart, thoughts, and even his hands trembling-Nokia's vibration was truly something else. Harry believed that if he threw his old phone on the ground with the vibration mode on, it could easily hit 20 mph...

Of course, normal calls wouldn't be like this. Only when Raven 12345 called did it seem like she used some special power to make the phone rattle like a tractor. This ensured Harry would never miss her call-Lily across the street probably heard it too.

"Hello?" Harry answered cautiously, afraid Raven 12345 might come up with another way to scare him.

"Yo, Harry, still alive? Taking care of your new guest?" Raven 12345's voice came through the speaker, as lively as ever. "Oh, I messed up last time. You don't just have a werewolf at your place, there's a vampire too... She's there, right? Doing okay? No weird stuff lately? I was on a business trip recently, let me tell you about the scenery in the Blue Horn Galaxy..."

Harry was bombarded with Raven's rapid-fire chatter, nearly overwhelmed. Luckily, he snapped out of it in time and interrupted the slightly unhinged woman: "Wait, wait! I need to talk to you!"

"Need to talk? About what?" Raven sounded puzzled. "Salary? Hold on, I haven't figured out how to pay you yet. Oh, this month's benefits? It's not even the end of the month..."

"Can I just speak first?!" Harry finally couldn't help but shout, but as soon as he did, he immediately regretted it, thinking, *Oh no*-the "goddess" clearly had a bit of a temper. He braced himself for some divine retribution.

But after a few seconds of silence, Raven simply chuckled awkwardly: "Oh, go ahead, go ahead. I just got back from my trip, feeling a bit excited, hehehe..."

Harry wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, surprised she was being so cooperative. He quickly gathered his thoughts: "Here's the thing, you left in such a hurry, I didn't get a chance to ask a lot of questions. And a couple of days ago, something weird happened-I had this strange dream..."

Harry then briefly recounted the nightmare where fantasy seemed to bleed into reality. Raven was unusually quiet this time, only making some suspicious slurping noises as he spoke. When he finished, she finally responded: "Oh... *slurp*... You had a weird dream? *slurp*... That might be a bit complicated... *slurp*... Come over later, *slurp*..."

Harry found the sounds on the other end odd and couldn't help but ask: "What are you doing over there?"

"Eating instant noodles," Raven replied, still slurping. "I forgot to eat breakfast, just remembered."

So, her silence while listening to Harry was just her making noodles? And she eats instant noodles regularly?

Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead, confirmed Raven 12345 was still at her usual spot, and got ready to head out. Vivian was preparing snacks for Roll and looked up when she saw Harry getting ready: "Heading out? To her place?"

Harry nodded, then remembered something: "Oh, I might not be back for lunch. If Lily comes home, you guys can eat out or order takeout. The number's on the calendar-it's the only place that delivers here."

Vivian's nose twitched in annoyance at the mention of Lily, but before she could say anything, Harry cut her off: "Don't even start. Lily's the one paying for your meals. We're broke, so stop being picky."

Vivian had no comeback. This ancient vampire, who had been around since humans lived in caves and had even fought Achilles, somehow had developed a remarkably good temper. Harry had figured her out completely and no longer felt the need to tiptoe around her.

After sorting out the household matters and reminding Vivian to feed the cat at noon, Harry left the house and took the bus to his god-like workplace: the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Podunk Branch.

The upside-down white mansion in the sky looked just as it had a few days ago. The blue servants maintained the place in their master's absence. Harry, sweating under the scorching sun, finally arrived and couldn't help but sigh in relief as he stepped onto the fountain plaza in front of the mansion. Raven 12345 might be unreliable, but she had some strange talents. Her mansion existed in a peculiar space-neither hot nor cold, with fresh air. Harry almost felt like staying there forever.

"Yo, you're here?" Raven's voice suddenly came from behind. Harry turned to see the strange silver-haired woman carrying a massive, oddly shaped machete, slowly emerging from the mansion's botanical garden. She was covered in grass and dirt, as if she'd just been tending to her garden.

"I was trimming the trees," Raven said, lifting the two-meter-long silver machete on her shoulder. She noticed Harry's gaze and grinned proudly. "Impressive, right? It's a commemorative piece-other Ravens don't have one. It's unique to me. Anyway, let's talk about your situation. Come inside."

Harry followed Raven into the mansion, entering the same office as before. The decor was unchanged, except the hotdog that had been on the shelf behind the desk was now replaced by an empty instant noodle cup. 

Harry couldn't help but stare at the colorful cup, wondering if he should still believe Raven's claims about her identity. Forget the whole "goddess" thing-was it really fitting for someone claiming to be a high-ranking official from a multiverse governing body to eat instant noodles?

Raven noticed his gaze and shrugged nonchalantly: "I finished it. There's none left. No meals provided here."

Harry: "..."

Sighing, Harry sat down across from Raven and carefully pulled out a small gum box from his pocket. He then took out a clump of black wolf fur: "This is what I told you about. I woke up with it in my hand after that nightmare. Lily sniffed it and confirmed it doesn't smell like anything from the human city."

Raven took the fur, snapped her fingers, and a dazzling array of blue-white lines appeared in mid-air, forming a complex three-dimensional pattern. The black fur floated within the lines, slowly evaporating into wisps of gray mist.

Harry watched in awe: It seemed Raven wasn't all talk. At the very least, this trick was way more impressive than Vivian's unreliable blood magic. Look at how straight those lines were...

"Leaking from that world, huh..." Raven muttered as the fur evaporated, leaving only a small residue.

Harry blinked: "Leaking from where?"

"The Dream Plane, but it's not your concern-at least not yet. You're not at a level to handle this kind of problem," Raven shook her head, her expression unusually serious. "I'll report this to Shadow City HQ. This world's a notorious trouble spot. The Bureau's been waiting for new info for years."

Seeing Harry's confused expression, Raven casually tossed a hexagonal silver device at him: "You're clearly lacking in common knowledge. Here, a personal data terminal-Inspector edition. Just got it approved for you. You can look up stuff on this, like employee conduct rules, time-space node schedules, and your access permissions... Well, you're still in the probation period, so most of it's off-limits, but it's good to get familiar with it early."

Harry barely caught the silver device as it flew toward his face. Hearing Raven's explanation, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement: Finally, some benefits!