"Ye Ming, I must be hearing things, right? Is our Bureau's alarm going off?"
The curly-haired man called Ye Ming had already jumped to his feet in a hurry, grabbing Rong Xiao's arm and rushing toward the secure vault: "Boss, you're not hearing things! Our alarm is going off!!"
"Damn, this is the firewall you personally set up—it hasn't gone off even once since you joined the Bureau!"
As a covert security division, all of their internal data was of utmost importance and could never be carelessly leaked, so their defenses were especially tight.
Here alone, the firewall was layered over a dozen times, not to mention the various other concealment measures in place to ensure the stored data remained secure enough.
But today, the alarm suddenly blared without any warning, signaling that someone was currently launching an unauthorized breach into their network—and very likely attempting to steal their classified internal data.
After passing dual biometric authentication, Ye Ming entered the dark room filled with advanced computers and powered up his own master console.
He tried to investigate and track down this audacious individual's location, and to stop their continued intrusion.
But Ye Ming failed.
The Bureau's boss, Rong Xiao, only saw Ye Ming's fingers fly across the keyboard for a moment before he suddenly gave up, halting all his actions as if deflated.
"What's wrong?"
"This person is better than me. I can't stop them, and I can't even find their location." Ye Ming's shoulders slumped.
"What… then what do we do?!" Rong Xiao nearly doubted what he was hearing—even Ye Ming couldn't handle it?
"We can only… initiate an internal purge first."
A look of extreme displeasure and frustration surfaced on Ye Ming's plump, bun-like face.
This was the first failure he had encountered since joining the Bureau. He found the outcome hard to accept, but the facts were what they were—he had to admit that the person hiding at the other end of the computer right now possessed formidable strength.
Rong Xiao furrowed his rugged features and spat lightly: "Purge it, purge it—destroy it first, and we'll figure out how to solve this problem afterward."
Just as Ye Ming was about to execute the operation, a string of text suddenly appeared on the computer screen, shocking him all over again.
Even his master console had been breached without his knowledge at all?!
Who on earth was this person?
Their skill was so terrifying… terrifying to the point that, as far as he knew, none of the registered hackers on record could pull off something like this!
Even across the ocean, in what was currently hailed as the world's preeminent superpower, no one with such ability could be found… at least, not before!
Could it be that they had unearthed some new genius prodigy?
While mulling it over, he rapidly read the text appearing on the screen. After finishing, both Ye Ming and Rong Xiao wore strange expressions simultaneously.
"This…"
Rong Xiao scratched his head: "I don't quite get it?"
The text on the screen was simple—just one sentence: "I want to join you. I'll give you a day to consider. I'll be back tomorrow."
They'd seen people self-nominate before, but never in this manner.
Besides, their Bureau was a strictly confidential division, so… how exactly should this situation be handled?
Even Rong Xiao, the Bureau's boss, was at a loss.
……
Yan Yang curled up on the sofa with her laptop, quickly finishing what she needed to do before turning her attention to Feng Sixi beside her.
He stared straight ahead at the television, back ramrod straight, expression icy—the look on his face suggested he wasn't watching TV but rather confronting an enemy he needed to eliminate.
"Mr. Feng?"
Yan Yang leaned over and asked in a soft voice, "You're still here? I thought you would have gone back to your room, not wanting to stay with me?"
Feng Sixi's gaze slid sideways toward her, indifferent. "You haven't yet explained what you mentioned earlier—this more interesting way of dealing with Feng Lidong."
Oh… Yan Yang slowly recalled that she had made up an excuse earlier to ensure Feng Lidong wouldn't end up half-dead and maimed outside her door.
She hadn't expected Feng Sixi to actually take an interest.
A villain was a villain, showing no mercy even toward his own younger brother. Though… Feng Lidong had it coming entirely.
If he hadn't spent his whole life dedicated to making trouble for Feng Sixi, committing countless acts that pushed Feng Sixi to the brink, he wouldn't have become someone so insignificant in Feng Sixi's eyes that he could turn into a corpse at any moment.
"Well… can you first tell me, do you hate him?"
"Can't say I hate him."
Feng Sixi's long, narrow eyes, which seemed incapable of letting in even a sliver of light, were filled with cold emptiness.
"Can't say I hate him" meant he didn't even consider Feng Lidong worth his attention. If Feng Lidong ever displeased him one day, he could strike without any psychological burden.
"Feng Lidong is the type who's timid and afraid of death—a bully to the weak and a coward to the strong. Scare him a little and he'll be trembling in terror, just like when you threatened him earlier."
Feng Sixi let out a light scoff. "I wasn't threatening."
His gaze was enough to instill fear.
But Yan Yang wasn't afraid in the slightest. She smiled and nodded. "I know. If I hadn't stopped you, he'd have had his eyes gouged out by now and be half-dead, right?"
"Since you know, you'd better stay far away from me. Careful—you might be next."
"I won't. My life was saved by you anyway. Even if you tried to harm me, I'd accept it."
"…Stop with the nonsense."
Yan Yang gently rubbed her chin against the man's shoulder, her delicate lips parting slightly. "He's actually terrified of you. Afraid you'll do well, afraid you'll be more popular than him, afraid you'll surpass him. So…"
She tilted her face slightly, her lips brushing against Feng Sixi's jaw as if by accident.
The man's body tensed involuntarily.
"All you need to do is keep making your life better and better. Feng Lidong will live in torment every single day—watching you with bone-deep hatred yet completely powerless, left with nothing but jealousy and resentment… agonizing yet utterly helpless. Isn't that more interesting than simply dealing with him directly?"
The warmth of her breath curled around him, carrying a faint, serene fragrance—a silent seduction.
Feng Sixi… furrowed his brow, expending some effort to reclaim his focus before processing what Yan Yang had just said.
Then he reached out and pushed her head away with seeming ruthlessness. "I should have just gouged out his eyes right then. Your suggestions are very dull."
"Dull?"
Yan Yang leaned over again, soft and languid: "But I think it's really interesting. How about you try it with me once, and see if his reaction will satisfy you?"
Feng Sixi, at this moment, didn't hear a single word Yan Yang said.
His jaw clenched tight along with Yan Yang's movements, and he nearly wanted to throw this ungrateful woman out.
But then again… he couldn't bear to.