“Stop right there! Take one more step and we open fire!”
Deep in the Gobi Desert, where yellow sand rolled endlessly, two sentries stood with Type 56 submachine guns raised, their dark muzzles aimed straight ahead.
The person they were pointing at… was a young woman.
Su Yun stood outside the warning line, her legs heavy as lead.
She was too weak.
This body was only eighteen or nineteen—soft skin, delicate features, beautiful like a porcelain doll from a New Year painting. Unfortunately, she had no household registration and was severely malnourished—a blacklisted nobody.
Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, Su Yun gripped tightly onto a still-warm metal tube in her hand.
This was something she had spent the entire night making. Using her portable “Quantum Laboratory”, she dismantled a broken radio at home and forcefully crafted a crude high-energy pulse gun.
It looked ugly—like a burnt fire poker—but it had enough power to roast a cow in an instant.
“Don’t misunderstand,”
Su Yun panted, trying to make her voice sound firm rather than soft and delicate. But her natural tearful eyes made her look like she was about to cry from fear.
“I’m here to do business.”
The two sentries exchanged a look, utterly baffled.
This was a top-secret restricted zone in the northwest—nothing but barren land for miles. And this fragile-looking girl claimed she was here to do business?
“Comrade!”
A noisy commotion suddenly erupted from behind.
A tractor, belching black smoke, came rattling over. Before it even fully stopped, a stout middle-aged woman in a blue floral jacket jumped off.
It was this body’s vicious stepmother—Zhang Cuihua.
Behind her followed two burly men carrying ropes, their expressions fierce.
“Oh dear! Comrades, I’m so sorry!” Zhang Cuihua ran forward, bowing and scraping with a fawning smile. “This is my crazy daughter! She had an episode and ran off—causing trouble for the organization! I’ll take her back and lock her up right away!”
The moment she turned toward Su Yun, her smile twisted into something vicious.
“You little brat, still daring to run? I already took Old Li’s bride price—three hundred jin of grain! Even if I have to break your legs today, you’re getting into that wedding sedan!”
Three hundred jin of coarse grain.
In this era of scarcity, that was enough to buy a life.
This was the situation Su Yun had inherited the moment she transmigrated.
The original owner had been abused to death. Now she had to deal with the aftermath.
Sell her?
A cold glint flashed in Su Yun’s eyes—but her body was too weak. Her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed.
“Warning: Blood sugar critically low. Stamina below 5%. Imminent loss of consciousness.”
A mechanical voice rang in her mind.
She needed a long-term source of food—immediately.
This was China’s classified Base 031. If she got inside, there would be braised pork, steamed buns… and cutting-edge equipment to satisfy her itching hands.
“I’m not crazy.”
Ignoring Zhang Cuihua rushing toward her, Su Yun locked her gaze onto the sentries.
“I’m here to join the organization.”
“Join my ass!”
Zhang Cuihua lunged forward, reaching to grab Su Yun’s hair. “You’re just desperate for a man! Running into a military zone to act crazy—get back here and get married!”
Her rough hand swung down.
Su Yun didn’t dodge.
She couldn’t.
But her finger twitched, pressing the switch on the “fire poker” in her hand.
Zzzzt—
A faint but piercing blue flash.
“AHHH!”
Zhang Cuihua’s pig-like scream echoed across the desert.
Her sleeve ignited instantly, the hair on her arm singed clean off. The smell of burning filled the air.
It didn’t break bone—but it was enough to terrify.
“Ghost! There’s a ghost!” Zhang Cuihua collapsed onto the sand, frantically patting at the flames.
The two burly men froze in shock.
The sentries reacted fastest—guns cocking loudly as their expressions changed.
“Drop the weapon! Now!”
Such an unknown weapon—in the hands of a village girl?
A spy.
She had to be a high-level spy.
“I told you. I’m here to make a deal.”
Su Yun swayed, her vision already going dark.
She tossed the ugly tube to the ground, then pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper.
“I want to see whoever’s in charge here.”
Holding it up, her voice was weak—but her tone arrogant beyond measure.
“This diagram can increase your radar detection range… fivefold.”
The sentries froze.
If it were anything else, they’d have detained her already.
But this was Base 031—a research facility.
Five times radar range?
That claim was bigger than the sandstorm itself.
Just then—
A military-green jeep roared out of the base like an enraged bull, kicking up clouds of dust.
The brakes screeched.
The door opened, and a long leg in combat boots stepped out.
Then came a man—tall as a steel tower.
At least 1.9 meters tall, his training uniform stretched tight over powerful muscles. His bronze face was weathered by wind and sand, and a faint scar across his brow added to the ferocity in his sharp, hawk-like eyes.
Xiao Zhan. Codename: Wolf King.
Captain of Base 031’s security unit—and the most unruly soldier in the entire military district.
“What’s all the noise?”
His voice was hoarse, still carrying the scent of gunpowder.
He scanned the scene—
The shrieking shrew on the ground. Two dumbfounded men.
Finally, his gaze landed on the fragile-looking girl.
White.
That was his first thought.
In this harsh, dusty place, her pale skin stood out like fine jade dropped into coal.
But she also looked delicate.
Like she might faint at any second.
He hated this type—fragile women who cried endlessly, more troublesome than wild wolves.
“You in charge here?”
Su Yun forced her eyes open, studying him.
Overflowing with raw masculinity.
Looks like he can fight… and take a beating.
Most importantly, someone like him had status. He could protect her.
“That’s Captain Xiao!” a sentry said quickly. “These people tried to break through the line. This female comrade also… used some strange weapon to injure someone.”
Xiao Zhan glanced at the “fire poker,” then at the scorched sleeve.
His brow lifted.
Interesting.
“You made that?”
He stepped closer, his overwhelming presence pressing down on her.
Su Yun had to tilt her head back, her neck aching.
“Damn right I did.”
Starving and irritable, Su Yun shoved the radar blueprint against his chest.
“Consider it a gift. Enough?”
Xiao Zhan caught it instinctively.
Though rough around the edges, he knew enough from working in a research base.
The lines, the parameters, the formulas…
This wasn’t random scribbling.
“What do you want?” His eyes narrowed dangerously.
If she were a spy, this was both too clever—and too reckless.
Revealing everything upfront?
Su Yun felt her legs give out.
No time. She had to finish this.
She raised a slender finger, pointing at Zhang Cuihua.
“First—arrest them. Charge: interfering with a military marriage.”
Zhang Cuihua froze mid-wail. “What marriage?! You’re not even married!”
Su Yun ignored her, staring straight into Xiao Zhan’s face.
“Second—I offer myself to the country.”
“But I have conditions.”
Xiao Zhan frowned. “Speak.”
Her body finally gave out, collapsing forward.
Before she lost consciousness, she grabbed his collar and whispered:
“I want the best food. I want a household registration.”
“And… assign me a man as my personal bodyguard.”
“I think you’ll do.”
“He has to be obedient, tough… and able to lull me to sleep.”
The sentries’ jaws dropped.
Make Captain Xiao obedient? Lull someone to sleep?
Was she trying to die?
Xiao Zhan froze, the soft body in his arms making every muscle tense.
He… just got flirted with?
“You—”
Before he could react, she had already passed out, her pale fingers still clutching his collar, a tear trembling at the corner of her eye.
“See?! I told you she’s shameless!” Zhang Cuihua shouted. “Throwing herself at a man! She should be drowned in a pig cage!”
“Shut up!”
Xiao Zhan roared, silencing her instantly.
His face dark, he adjusted Su Yun in his arms like a troublesome kitten.
Annoying as she was, he gripped the blueprint tightly.
If it was real—
She was a national treasure.
If not…
He cast a cold glance at Zhang Cuihua’s group.
“Causing trouble in a military zone, attempted human trafficking, assaulting sentries. Detain them all!”
“I’m innocent! She’s my daughter!” Zhang Cuihua screamed.
“Even a mother can’t sell her daughter.”
Without another glance, Xiao Zhan carried the “troublemaker” toward the jeep.
“Captain…” one sentry asked hesitantly, “what about this comrade?”
Xiao Zhan looked down at her pale, lifeless face and ground his teeth.
“Take her to the infirmary.”
“Don’t let her die.”