Shuffle 1: Out of control.
The surveillance footage was quickly retrieved.
The light screens unfolded layer by layer, and the footage was split into several windows, corresponding to different angles and different time periods at the city entrance gate.
The timestamps jumped, accurate to the millisecond.
“Here, stop.”
“Rewind 0.7 seconds.”
“One frame forward.”
Cen Zhixu supported herself on the main console, light and shadow rolling layer upon layer in the depths of her eyes, frame after frame, disassembling, overlapping, replaying, and comparing. She was tireless, like a machine operating at full load and still running with precision.
“Here, magnify.”
“Not her, focus on the auditor directly behind her, clear the noise, sharpen.”
The analysts immediately complied. Cen Zhixu stared at the screen, deep in thought.
“B-1174 entered the city from the seventh audit gate at 17:42.”
She paused. “Pull up the surveillance footage of the four adjacent audit gates between 17:40 and 17:45 together.”
The analysts immediately acknowledged.
Windows from different angles and different time periods unfolded simultaneously, resembling a spiderweb woven by countless nodes and time codes.
Cen Zhixu watched in silence.
Her gaze shifted from one screen to another, extremely fast, yet extremely steady.
Suddenly, she softly said, “Stop.”
The analysts immediately stopped, and the entire control center became as silent as a graveyard.
Cen Zhixu frowned slightly, leaning forward, her gaze landing on a sub-screen in the bottom right corner.
The footage was not very clear, showing only a shifty head of messy black long curls, ordinary in attire, ordinary in temperament, exuding a sense of unspeakable down-and-out awkwardness.
[Pei Yuan?]
Cen Zhixu frowned slightly.
The backs of the analysts instantly tightened: The Chief had been staring at that face for a full five seconds!
Five seconds!
This equated to: This person is extremely suspicious, terrifying, and dangerous, requiring the immediate dispatch of a guard unit to capture and execute on the spot.
An analyst quickly spoke up, “Chief, do you need to pull up her identity file and activity trajectory for the past three months?”
“No.”
Cen Zhixu withdrew her gaze, speaking casually, “Looks quite cute.”
The analysts: “…?”
Wait, what?
The Chief actually likes this type?
This kind of slouchy type who looks like she would be sent off by colleagues to buy coffee, pick up takeout, and collect express deliveries at first glance?!
Cen Zhixu withdrew her gaze and issued new instructions. The analysts had no time to overthink and quickly threw themselves into the next round of screening and comparison.
The sky outside the window sank into darkness, and streetlights lit up one after another, winding along the massive metallic skeleton into the distance.
The analysts had stared at the footage for hours, already looking exhausted, with stiff fingertips and scattered attention.
Only Cen Zhixu still stood before the main console, her shoulders and back straight, watching the screen with a gaze so calm it was almost devoid of fluctuation.
Right at that moment.
Her communication ring beeped.
Cen Zhixu pulled herself out of continuous focus and pressed the back of her neck, only then realizing her shoulders and neck were stiffly sore, and her gland felt somewhat hot.
The disorder really is like a haunting ghost.
The Omega pheromones that had just been suppressed not long ago were beginning to churn faintly again, eager to overflow.
Should she take another shot of inhibitors?
Cen Zhixu hesitated slightly, lowering her head to look at the communication ring. The name of the sender: [Pei Yuan].
She tapped to open the message.
[Pei Yuan]: Miss Cen, I finally figured out how to use that high-tech touch-panel oven of yours that has no power button!
[Pei Yuan]: I made cheesy baked pumpkin and roasted chicken wings, look [Attached Image] [Attached Image]
The photo was taken very casually. The surface of the pumpkin was baked with a layer of pale golden charred edges, and the chicken wings were glossy, making the presentation unexpectedly good.
Cen Zhixu enlarged the photo to take a look, tapping a few times on the light screen with her fingertips.
Cen Zhixu: Looks not bad.
On the other side of the screen.
Pei Yuan typed frantically: Really, it is exceptionally delicious. Completely incomparable to industrially synthesized nutrition packs. Would you like to try some?
The system stated: “Host, Miss Cen ingests nutritional supplements year-round, so she will most likely not respond as you expect.”
Pei Yuan shrugged: “One has to give it a try anyway.”
“All my friends are single except for one psychopath who insists on carrying her marriage certificate everywhere she goes to show off how cute her wife is.”
“She once said that an Alpha who cannot bake pastries her wife loves to eat to coax her wife cannot find a wife.”
The system stated: “That statement contains a severe logical error.”
Pei Yuan nodded: “That is why I said she is a psychopath.”
The system: “…”
Pei Yuan stared at the light screen, waiting for a long time before seeing typing light up.
Cen Zhixu: I will be back later, around forty minutes.
She agreed! That is great! Pei Yuan clenched her fist, feeling so good she wanted to whistle.
She had already planned it out.
She was going to become a peerless, wonderful Alpha, gentle, considerate, and attentive in every way, coaxing the Chief into high spirits before tricking her out of the location of the Eye of Order.
Then pick a moonless, windy night with lax guards, steal the White Tower core treasure, and run.
Perfect. It is simply swindling money and, no, no, standard procedure for gathering intelligence.
Pei Yuan happily sent a message: Okay, then shall I go down to the garage to pick you up?
Cen Zhixu did not reply.
Pei Yuan guessed that the Chief must be busy and did not see the message right away, which was normal.
As a peerless Alpha with her eyes on the Eye of Order, she naturally needed to be deeply considerate and earnestly take care of the other person.
No matter what, the plan begins!
Full of spirit, Pei Yuan continued plating the food. Once she was almost done, she glanced at the time, washed her hands, and stepped onto the cloud ladder heading down to the parking area.
The cloud ladder descended section by section.
Pei Yuan hummed a little tune, gazing at the city lights reflected on the outer glass walls.
At that exact moment, in the underground parking area, a silver hover car was slowly driving inward along the guiding light strip.
Constant speed, precise trajectory;
It was clearly in autopilot mode.
The car decelerated, sliding into the designated parking space, and the door opened silently to the side.
Long boots stepped onto the ground. Before she could steady herself, her figure swayed heavily, crashing against the car door with a muffled thump.
Cen Zhixu supported herself against the car door, panting, wanting to take a few more steps forward, but the backs of her knees suddenly turned weak.
With a soft plunk, she collapsed to her knees on the ground.
Her silver hair scattered in a mess, wrapping around her flushed cheeks, slightly dampened by cold sweat and clinging to the side of her neck.
“Here it comes again,” Cen Zhixu laughed softly, her voice hoarse to the extreme. “You really know how to pick your timing.”
“Be a good girl, be good.”
Clutching her soaked collar, she rasped, “At least, a little later.”
Cen Zhixu drew a breath, wanting to push herself up from the ground, but her wrists were trembling minutely, completely lacking the strength to push.
The tide that had been forcefully suppressed for far too long.
Finally burst its banks with a crash.
The fragrance of white irises suddenly billowed outward, blooming into a vast sea of flowers amidst the chill, cold, damp, and sweet, fragrant to the point of being almost morbid.
The scent was too dense and too hot. Although it was a cold fragrance, a boiling heat was hidden deep within.
“Ding.”
The cloud ladder arrived.
The automatic doors slid open to both sides.
In the huge and empty underground parking area, the white lights shone down inch by inch.
Cen Zhixu collapsed right before her eyes.
Her silver hair scattered, flowing over her shoulders and back, merging into her dampened shirt, brushing against her slender and soft waistline as it wound downward.
Her long eyelashes were heavily dampened, her cheeks flushed with a low fever, and light pants struck the ground, evaporating into mist.
She had never seen her like this: opulent, striking, a flower blooming to its absolute zenith, on the verge of falling.