Note 2: Being a dog to a beautiful woman.
What does this sentence mean?
Has Cen Zhixu already discovered her true identity, or is she simply probing her?
Pei Yuan rapidly deduced the worst-case scenario: the surroundings were open streets, and there was a Silver Rail station entrance about five hundred meters ahead.
If her identity was exposed, she might be able to take Cen Zhixu hostage and board the Silver Rail before the guard unit arrived.
However, this was definitely a last resort. The density of surveillance in White Tower City far exceeded estimates, not to mention that terrifying Eye of Order that watched everything.
From the Alpha pheromone abnormality to the arrival of the guard unit, it took no more than thirty seconds. Identification, localization, and dispatch were completed almost simultaneously.
The actionable window left for Pei Yuan to take a hostage and escape was very likely only one to two minutes, or even shorter.
Pei Yuan’s heartbeat accelerated by nearly 20 percent. She steadied her expression, gazed at the hidden small red dot, and revealed just the right amount of surprise:
“Really? Then whatever we ate in the restaurant, every word we said and every action we took on the street, does it know all of it?”
Her voice trembled: “Then, what about at home? Are the company, apartment, and bathroom included too?”
Cen Zhixu withdrew her hand and stepped back half a pace. The cold wind poured into the gap between the two of them, blowing away their intertwined breaths.
The fragrance of the iris grew faint.
Pei Yuan actually felt a trace of reluctance.
“The Eye of Order only covers public areas, such as parks, streets, commercial facilities, and so on. Private spaces like residences are not within its scope.”
“The White Tower pursues order, but it does not pry into privacy,” Cen Zhixu said. “You can rest assured.”
Pei Yuan was visibly relieved: “I see. Thank you for explaining it to me, Miss Cen.”
Cen Zhixu looked at her with a smile. Her eyes possessed a cold, sharp texture under the sunlight, the light wandering and reflecting, appearing both cold and warm with blurred boundaries.
[Did I get away with it?]
Pei Yuan was not sure. She maintained a foolish and harmless smile while her finger bones slowly tightened inside her coat pocket.
She shrugged: “Then I must pay more attention to my personal image whenever I go out or stay at the company from now on.”
“If I get a demerit from the Eye of Order for dozing off while slacking at work and lose next month’s salary, I will have no choice but to come bug Miss Cen for free meals every day.”
Cen Zhixu curled her eyelashes and flirted with the white iris in Pei Yuan’s arms, twisting its petals as dew drops gently trembled.
The lingering fragrance of the iris grew thicker, warm and sweet, dripping one by one onto the tip of Pei Yuan’s nose.
“Rest assured, the Eye of Order only responds to deviation values. It tracks abnormalities, not individuals.”
“As for bumming meals, that will depend on your performance.”
Cen Zhixu chuckled softly.
Behind them, the guard unit was holding the young Alpha man on either side as they walked out of the alley.
The commotion had already been cleared away, the flower buckets straightened, the water stains wiped dry, and the scattered petals swept away.
The two soon arrived at the Silver Rail station. The indicator light was on, and the train had not yet pulled into the station. Cen Zhixu stopped in her tracks.
“Pei Yuan.”
She called her name.
Cen Zhixu was slightly shorter than her, and when standing, she needed to tilt her head up slightly to meet Pei Yuan’s gaze.
Her pupils reflected Pei Yuan’s face, small and encircled within the light silver irises.
“I’ll see you off this far.”
The two stood under the open dome, Cen Zhixu’s voice light and gentle: “Get some rest early after you get back.”
“Ding-dong.”
The broadcast sounded, and the train was about to arrive at the station.
For some reason, Pei Yuan suddenly felt as though the soles of her shoes were glued to the ground, making it difficult to move.
She straightened the hem of her clothes, not knowing what she was stalling for, and asked, “Aren’t you going back, Miss Cen?”
“There are some things to deal with.”
Cen Zhixu said.
The train glided into the station and the doors opened. Pei Yuan nodded: “Alright, then I’ll be leaving first.”
She stepped into the carriage and casually found a seat to sit down.
The glass carried a layer of faint reflection, superimposing the scenery of the station and the interior of the train together, making it both hazy and clear.
Pei Yuan looked out across that layer of light and shadow. Cen Zhixu was still on the platform, smiling and waving at her.
The flow of people moved, diverged, and recombined at her sides. Countless faces were identified one by one, and countless paths were incorporated into real-time calculations, converging into an invisible net.
Only her.
Always remained at the origin.
The Silver Rail started, quickly disappearing at the end of her sight.
When Pei Yuan returned to her apartment, it was already late at night.
She trimmed the branches and leaves, dropped nutrient solution into the clean water, and placed the iris into a slender glass bottle.
The system said: “Host, I am baffled by your consumption today. Purchasing ornamental plants and investing in nutrient solution for maintenance does not conform to your past behavioral patterns.”
“I told you, I am occasionally a very romantic person too,” Pei Yuan fussed with the flowers. “Aside from eating and drinking, there is still a lot of beauty in life.”
The system asked: “Can you give an example?”
Like what?
Pei Yuan thought for a moment.
Like buying a fresh flower to take home, like the afternoon sunshine, like the beef ribs at White Butterfly Restaurant, or perhaps, being called a little dog by Cen Zhixu?
Wait, stop, stop!
Something strange got mixed in.
Pei Yuan pinched the edges of the iris petals, staring at the watery gleam inside the glass bottle in a daze.
The White Tower City talked about by the outside world was not actually a complete and unified city.
It consisted of two parts: the Inner City governed by the White Tower, and the Outer City surrounding it.
The former was highly orderly with strict management, while the latter was entrenched by rebel forces, the black market, smugglers, and various other factions, making the situation complex.
However, Pei Yuan never expected that the Eye of Order developed by the White Tower was actually an existence without a physical body.
A monitoring system that summarized, analyzed, and predicted massive amounts of data, a neural network covering White Tower City, an eye that was forever open.
Yet the problem came.
How was she supposed to steal it?
Pei Yuan was often called an information technology idiot by Mole, only ever knowing how to use electronic equipment for its most basic functions, and the truth was indeed so.
The only image she could think of in her mind was probably her carrying a host unit, holding a keyboard, and dragging a mouse behind her while running wildly for her life under the pursuit of the guard unit.
But even without thinking, she knew how a system of this magnitude could possibly be stuffed into just a single computer. To put it larger, I’m afraid the entire city was its carrier.
Running away while carrying a host case was probably not going to work.
The more Pei Yuan thought about it, the more distressed she became, and she angrily slammed the table: Mole, oh Mole, you really killed me!
At the same time, a certain tavern in the Outer City of the White Tower.
Achoo, achoo, achoo!
Mole sneezed three times in a row.
The tavern was small, the signboard nailed on crookedly, permeated with the aroma of beer and roast meat, and the sound system played an out-of-tune old song.
At the square table in the corner sat three members of the Rusty Tooth mercenary squad: Mole, Magpie, and Scorpion.
Mole pinched a playing card and sniffed: “Strange, I always feel a chill behind my back. Could it be that the boss is secretly cursing me?”
Magpie crossed her legs, biting on a shiny gem necklace around her neck, and smiled: “Who knows?”
“If you ask me, White Tower City is so bustling. The boss is probably busy being a dog to a beautiful woman right now, how would she have the time to curse you?”
She poked the person beside her with her elbow: “Scorpion, don’t you think so?”
Unlike Magpie, who wore a large pile of necklaces, earrings, and rings, Scorpion was always dressed in black clothes with a black scarf covering her face, revealing only a pair of dark, rolling eyes.
Scorpion nodded honestly: “Yeah.”
Mole muttered softly: “Although the boss looks quite romantic, her heart is actually very pure. She misses her cute childhood sweetheart every day; she won’t be easily shaken, right?”
Magpie flicked out a Warlock card: “Never mind it. Anyway, the boss has already entered the city. It’s rare for us to have a vacation, so let’s eat, drink, and wait for her to blow things up.”
Scorpion: “Right.”
Mole slapped down a Pope card: “But if the boss really is being a dog to a beautiful woman, wouldn’t that also be not bad? Free food and housing, and someone even pats her head.”
She shook her head and sighed: “Tsk, such a wonderful life she’s living.”
Magpie: “Tsk, enviable.”
Scorpion: “Tsk.”
The trio continued to happily play cards, drink, and eat meat. As for where their captain, Red Snake, was and what kind of crisis she was facing?
Oh no, it seemed nobody cared.
At the same time, the high-level office of the White Tower.
A wide light screen floated on the desktop, data intersecting and flowing, casting a series of faint lights in the gray-blue depths of her eyes.
Cen Zhixu sat behind the desk, her long hair loosely gathered, her uniform sharply tailored, and intricate silver chains hanging from her left shoulder, wrapping around her waistline.
Dong, dong.
Someone knocked on the door.
Cen Zhixu’s gaze still lingered on the light screen as she spoke indifferently: “Come in.”
A guard walked in, stopped five paces away, and bowed respectfully: “Chief Cen.”
“The Alpha from the sector six pheromone runaway incident at 14:15 today has been escorted to the underground confinement area, designated as number B-1174.”
“According to preliminary confirmation, this person has contact records with multiple high-risk organizations in the Outer City such as Fire-flint, smugglers, and mercenaries, with extremely high suspicion.”
“It remains unclear how she passed the screening of the Eye of Order and sneaked into the Inner City.”
“We will provide the minimum amount of water and food, confine her in the isolation room for one to two days, and then conduct a formal interrogation.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Cen Zhixu acknowledged.
Her gray-blue pupils pulled away from the data and looked toward the guard, cold, precise, and with a sense of oppression silently permeating the air.
“Hand her over to the second or third squad to handle first. If they fail to extract useful information, notify me.”
“I will interrogate her personally.”
She said calmly.
The guard bowed: “Understood, Chief. Additionally, the Council has received the incident report and raised questions regarding it.”
“Several council members want to know whether there are discrepancies or unpatched vulnerabilities in the screening of the Eye of Order and the guard unit.”
The guard weighed her words: “Furthermore, they suspect whether other abnormal individuals who have not been identified have already sneaked into the Inner City.”
Cen Zhixu chuckled softly.
She closed the light screen and leaned back, the back of the chair bearing her weight as the silver chains swayed along with it, colliding with a soft clink.
“Please convey this to the Council.”
“The current accuracy rate of the Eye of Order is 99.7 percent, and the remaining 0.3 percent will be made up by me.”
Cen Zhixu smiled, pressing her finger bones against her lips, pressing the soft flesh inward as she made a shh gesture.
“If other abnormal individuals enter the Inner City, then I will personally take action.”
“Catch her.”