Ava knew it wouldn't take long.
Jessica Tang was a rat.
And rats?
Ran straight to the biggest threat.
They were halfway back to the
safehouse
when
William spoke first.
"There's a bounty."
Lucas didn't stop walking. Didn't even turn his head.
"On who?"
William's voice was calm.
"You."
Ava's steps slowed.
Lucas? He
smiled.
"Predictable."
Ava inhaled through her nose.
"How bad?"
William's jaw tensed.
"Five hundred high-grade tokens."
Ava barely stopped herself from
swearing.
Five hundred.
Enough to buy a
fortified stronghold.
A
bunker's entire yearly supply chain.
Enough to make
every merc, bounty hunter, and desperate bastard start tracking Lucas Bai.
Lucas only
chuckled.
"Well. At least I'm worth something."
William didn't react.
"That's not the bad part."
Ava stiffened.
"Then what is?"
William stopped walking. Turned fully toward them.
Golden eyes met steel grey.
"They put one on you too, Ava."
Ava's stomach dropped.
"How much?"
William's next words made her fingers go
cold.
"One token."
Silence.
Ava's pulse
thundered in her ears.
One.
Not fifty.
Not five hundred.
One.
Lucas's
smile vanished.
William's voice was
low.
"The contract lists you as Lucas Bai's 'slave girl.' Face unknown. No further details."
Ava's fists clenched so hard her nails
bit into her palms.
"They don't even know who I am."
Lucas exhaled through his nose.
"They don't need to. They just need you alive."
Ava's stomach twisted.
"So Zhao's hunting me, but not for profit. Just to own me."
Lucas's voice was
flat.
"Yes."
Ava swallowed the sharp burn of
rage.
A bounty that
low
?
It wasn't about money.
It was an insult.
A way to
brand her.
To make it so anyone desperate enough to
sell a favor for one token
could grab her off the street.
And if they got lucky? They'd
hand her over to Zhao, get in his good graces.
Ava took a slow, controlled breath.
"We need a plan."
Lucas's smirk returned.
Sharp. Calculating. Dangerous.
"Oh, don't worry, Beauty. We're going to fix this."
They reached the
safehouse
in silence.
Ava was still
processing.
The bounty on Lucas was
expected.
Her bounty?
That was something else entirely.
William closed the reinforced
metal door
behind them, then turned.
"I have a suggestion."
Lucas, now leaning against the
workbench,
lifted a brow.
"Do tell."
William crossed his arms.
"I disappear for a while."
Ava frowned.
"What?"
William's expression was unreadable.
"If I vanish, people assume I'm working on something. And if people assume I'm working on something—"
Lucas's grin widened.
"They'll start thinking I put a job out."
William
nodded.
"It'll shift attention. Slow the bounty hunters down."
Ava narrowed her eyes.
"Where exactly are you planning to disappear to?"
William gave her a
small, knowing smile.
"I have an errand to run."
Lucas exhaled, amused.
"Let me guess. Something that conveniently benefits us in the long run?"
William didn't
deny it.
Ava crossed her arms.
"You're being vague."
William met her gaze.
"Because it's better if you don't know."
That made Ava pause.
Lucas, however, just
laughed.
"Do what you do best, William."
William
inclined his head.
"I'll be back soon."
Ava wasn't sure what William was planning—
But something told her, when he returned,
the game was going to change.
William was gone.
Lucas?
He was waiting.
Ava could see it in the way he sat at the
workbench,
flipping a
token between his fingers.
Thinking. Calculating. Plotting.
Ava leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"Are we just going to sit here while half the Black Market tries to kill you?"
Lucas smirked.
"Oh, Beauty. We're not waiting."
He flicked the token into the air, caught it
without looking.
"We're hunting."
Ava raised a brow.
"Hunting who?"
Lucas's golden eyes gleamed.
"Whoever takes the first shot."
Ava exhaled.
"So... bait."
Lucas's smirk sharpened.
"Exactly."
They didn't have to wait long.
The Black Market was already
buzzing.
Lucas Bai was walking through the stalls,
untouched, unbothered—
Like he wasn't worth five hundred tokens dead.
Ava walked beside him,
silent but watching.
The weight of the bounty was
thick in the air.
People
stared.
People
whispered.
And then—
A man moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
Ava
saw the blade a second too late.
But Lucas?
He caught the man's wrist before the knife could even reach him.
CRACK.
A sharp twist—
bone snapping.
The bounty hunter screamed.
Lucas didn't let go. He
tilted his head, smiling.
"That was pathetic."
Ava stepped closer, voice
calm.
"Who sent you?"
The man's breath was ragged.
"It—it's an open contract!"
Lucas sighed dramatically.
"Boring."
And then—
he yanked.
The man hit the ground
hard.
Unconscious.
Ava exhaled.
"One down."
Lucas grinned.
"Many more to go."
It started
subtle.
A
few too many eyes watching.
A
few too many hands hovering near weapons.
Ava tracked them
all.
They weren't
coordinated.
Not a real hit squad.
Just
mercs, scavengers, and bottom-feeders
—all hoping to be the one to cash in on the
five-hundred-token bounty.
Pathetic.
Then—
the real move.
A figure
lurched from the shadows,
gun raised—
Ava's
Blueprint System flared.
[ANALYZING THREAT...]
[LOW-LEVEL PISTOL – MODIFIED MUZZLE]
[STATUS: JAMMED – FAULTY MECHANISM]
Ava's
lips twitched.
"Lucas."
He didn't stop walking. Didn't even look at the attacker.
Just
sighed.
And then he moved.
Fast.
Ava barely saw the motion before the gun was ripped from the man's grip—
wrist twisted at an ugly angle.
Lucas inspected the weapon, unimpressed.
"Jammed."
The attacker wheezed,
still cradling his arm.
Lucas smiled.
"Embarrassing."
He tossed the gun over his shoulder. Didn't bother watching where it landed.
Ava kept walking beside him.
Two down.
The next ones wouldn't be so stupid.
And she was
counting on that.
By the time they reached the outer edge of the
market district,
the amateurs had stopped.
But the
real killers?
They were waiting.
Ava saw them the second Lucas took the next turn.
Three men. One woman.
Sharp-eyed. Armed.
Professional.
Finally.
Lucas's golden gaze flicked toward Ava.
"You ready, Beauty?"
Ava exhaled, adjusting the
bag strap on her shoulder.
"Try to keep up, Bai."
And then—
The real fight began.