His companion was about 1.85 meters tall, with straight eyebrows, bright brown eyes, sharply defined facial features, and slightly messy black hair that covered half his forehead.

This young man named Brian Carter turned his head to glance at his companion and said:

"First, you have to be assigned before you can talk about what kind."

He was wearing a dark blue two-piece suit, his arm muscles bulging, the fabric outlining their shape, making him look both masculine and strong.

"Ha, it can't be that unlucky, right? This time there are only two more men than women in total." The man, 1.75 meters tall with rather ordinary features, laughed.

His expression gradually settled, and he muttered:

"Will they look down on me? Even after genetic modification, I'm only 1.75 meters, not handsome, and my grades in every subject are just average..."

Brian Carter said seriously:

"That's not the key. The key is your name."

"My name? What's wrong with the name Charlotte Reed? My dad's surname is Long, and my mom's name has the character 'Hong' in it. It's so meaningful." Charlotte Reed muttered in confusion, "Besides, the company assigns randomly without looking at my height or appearance. I heard they rule out blood relations and then it's random... Ah, what if, because of my name, they think I'm a woman and assign me a husband? What should I do then?"

Brian Carter looked Charlotte Reed up and down and said:

"Organ transplantation, neural reconstruction, artificial uterus—problem perfectly solved."

Charlotte Reed gave an awkward laugh:

"Haha, how could that be? I mean, how could they possibly make a mistake? Every single one of my records says male!

"Your way of thinking is really strange. Shouldn't a normal person be thinking about filing an appeal?"

Before Brian Carter could respond, he continued:

"So, why is my name the key?"

"A name represents a person's fate. Random assignment is all about fate." Brian Carter answered earnestly.

Charlotte Reed's expression froze for two seconds:

"I knew you wouldn't have any constructive ideas!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to ask:

"Brian Carter, what kind of wife do you want to be assigned?"

Brian Carter lifted his chin and said:

"I don't need one.

"The company's resources are insufficient, humanity above the Ashlands is in dire straits, famine, infection, mutation, and the shadow of beastification still hang over the whole world. How could I get married?"

"..." Charlotte Reed let out a "ha," "You're getting better at joking."

Brian Carter looked at him and said, without a hint of a smile:

"I've already applied to forgo this round of unified assignment."

"Are you serious? No way, how could the company possibly let you skip this round of unified assignment! Haha, I almost believed you!" Charlotte Reed was startled at first, then immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Just as he finished speaking, the supervisor of the activity center on the 495th floor, Henry Brooks, left his seat and walked over to the LCD display, starting to make adjustments.

This elderly man, with graying hair and a slightly unsteady gait, had once belonged to the Security Department, responsible for external operations, and had risen to the rank of D7 team leader. Later, due to age, he left the Security Department, was promoted one level, and became a D8-level manager, in charge of the activity center on this floor.

Brian Carter and Charlotte Reed were very curious about this old man's past and always liked to come to the activity center to play and ask questions. But Henry Brooks strictly abided by confidentiality rules, only sharing stories that everyone already knew, just like an ordinary employee born, raised, educated, working, growing old in the "Inner Ecological Zone," who had never left the underground building or seen the real sky in his whole life.

"Alright, it's about to start." Henry Brooks picked up a remote control and pressed it firmly.

The display flickered a few times, emitting a faint glow.

Charlotte Reed, William Clark, and the others immediately held their breath, waiting for the results of the assignment.

They weren't worried that the entries would scroll too fast for them to see, because each floor's activity center only displayed the results relevant to the residents of that floor.

Chapter Two: Review

When the second hand of the old, creaky wall clock in the activity center—which could break down at any moment—had circled three and a half times, lines of text finally appeared on the LCD screen.

William Clark and the others quickly searched for their names, then breathed a sigh of relief one after another.

Most of them weren't exactly satisfied or excited, but neither were they unhappy. For them, it was no different from taking an exam as usual—as long as the result wasn't too bad, it was fine. After all, their parents and grandparents had all gone through the same thing.

The rest were mostly confused, because they didn't know who their assigned spouse was, which floor they came from, or which department their parents belonged to—even though they had all gone to university and received higher education, the people they knew were still mostly classmates from their own department and "neighbors" from the same floor.

Charlotte Reed carefully and thoroughly looked up and down several times, and couldn't help but mutter in a low voice:

"Why isn't my name there?"

"Because your name isn't good enough." Brian Carter beside him showed no change in expression.

"..." Charlotte Reed wanted to retort, but sadly found that he actually somewhat agreed with the conclusion.