Ava
stared at the bottles lined up along the far shelf.
Lucas Bai
didn’t just hoard weapons. He hoarded quality. Aged whiskey, old-world wines, things that shouldn’t exist anymore, locked away in the heart of his fortress like they were just another part of his empire.
Ava
sighed, standing. "You have good taste, Bai."
Lucas
didn’t look up from his work. "Naturally."
Ava
rolled her shoulders, moving to the shelf. "You mind?"
Lucas
glanced over, smirking. "By all means, Beauty. Just don’t pick the one in the silver case."
Ava
arched a brow. "Why?"
Lucas
grinned. "Because it costs more than most people’s lives."
Ava
huffed, grabbing a different bottle. Something deep amber, heavy in her hand. She twisted off the seal, took a whiff—
Smooth. Strong. The kind of drink that burned just right.
She
poured herself a glass. Then another.
Lucas
chuckled. "I take it this is serious drinking?"
Ava
took a slow sip, savoring the heat. "Thinking fuel."
Lucas
leaned back in his chair. "And what exactly are you thinking about?"
Ava
watched the liquid swirl in her glass. "Syncing."
Lucas
tilted his head, interest sparking in his golden eyes. "Already made up your mind?"
Ava
sighed. "No. But every damn time, in every story, in every movie—people wait until it’s almost too late. They hesitate, they second-guess, and by the time they commit?"
She
took another sip, exhaling sharply. "They’ve already lost."
Lucas
studied her. "And you don’t like losing."
Ava
met his gaze. "I want to be smart. And you—" she gestured vaguely at him, "—you’re the smartest person I know."
Lucas
chuckled. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Zhang."
Ava
ignored him, drinking again. The warmth spread through her chest, a steady hum in her veins. The logic was simple.
She wasn’t here to be weak.
Her
system had already calculated the risk. Lucas had already stacked the odds.
Ava
set her glass down with a final click. "I’m syncing."
Lucas
grinned, slow and dangerous. "Drunk decision?"
Ava
smirked. "No. Drunk courage."
Lucas
tilted his head, watching her carefully. "Then come here, Beauty."
Ava
felt her pulse jump, but she didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward, closing the space between them.
Lucas
lifted a hand, brushing his fingers just under her chin. "Last chance to back out."
Ava
huffed. "Do it, Bai."
Lucas
laughed softly. "As you wish."
Then—
his golden eyes flared. His system activated. And the link snapped into place.
Ava
felt it instantly. A rush, a shift, her Blueprint System reacting—
[SYNC FUNCTION: INITIATED]
[MERGING SYSTEMS...]
[USER LINK ESTABLISHED]
Heat
flooded her body, sharp and electric. Like touching live wires, like swallowing fire.
Lucas
smirked. "Well, Beauty?"
Ava
exhaled, gripping the edge of his desk. "I think I just made the smartest stupid decision of my life."
Lucas
grinned. "That’s how you know it’s a good one."
Ava
gritted her teeth as the heat surged through her.
Her
Blueprint System was shifting, recalibrating, reacting to something foreign—something new. Lucas’s system wasn’t just merging with hers.
It was integrating.
Ava’s
vision flickered. Data flooded her mind, an unfamiliar overlay appearing alongside her usual schematics.
[SYNC FUNCTION: ACTIVE]
[MERGING COMPLETE – PROCESSING NEW PARAMETERS]
[ACCESSING MONOPOLY APPRAISAL SYSTEM...]
[USER: AVA ZHANG – NEW STATUS: LINKED]
Ava’s
stomach twisted.
Linked.
This wasn’t
temporary.
This wasn’t
just sharing resources.
She and Lucas were connected now.
Ava
exhaled sharply, gripping the desk tighter. "Bai—"
Lucas
was watching her carefully, golden eyes sharp with something unreadable. "Breathe, Beauty."
Ava
tried—but the shift was still happening. The warmth from the alcohol was nothing compared to this. Her blood burned, her nerves tingled, and deep in her mind—
Something clicked.
New data
poured in. Not hers. His.
[NEW ACCESS GRANTED – MONOPOLY APPRAISAL SYSTEM]
[VALUE ANALYSIS – NOW AVAILABLE]
[USER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT – NOW AVAILABLE]
Ava
felt her pulse pound. "I can see it."
Lucas
tilted his head. "See what?"
Ava
staggered back a step, hands pressing against her temples. "Your system. It’s in my head."
Lucas
grinned. "Of course it is. We’re synced now."
Ava
gritted her teeth. "You could’ve warned me how invasive this was."
Lucas
chuckled. "Where’s the fun in that?"
Ava
glared. "I swear to—"
Then,
another shift.
Her
Blueprint System adjusted, adapting to the new input. The sharp, analytical calculations she always relied on now had something else layered over them—something that whispered not just how to build something, but how to make it worth more.
Not just
function.
Profit.
Ava
froze, scanning the room on instinct. Every weapon, every device, even the half-empty whiskey bottle she’d been drinking from—
Values flickered over each one.
[TIER-3 ENERGY CORE – BLACK MARKET VALUE: 1,500 TOKENS]
[TACTICAL KNIFE – CURRENT WORTH: 600 TOKENS – POTENTIAL WORTH: 1,200 TOKENS WITH MODIFICATIONS]
[AGED WHISKEY – CURRENT WORTH: 500 TOKENS – LIMITED SUPPLY IN MARKET]
Ava
exhaled sharply. "Oh, hell."
Lucas
laughed. "Finally catching up, Beauty?"
Ava
snapped her gaze to him. "I can see everything."
Lucas
grinned. "That’s the point."
Ava
gripped the edge of the desk. "This... this changes everything."
Lucas
tilted his head. "Scared?"
Ava
exhaled. "No. Just recalculating."
Because this wasn’t
just a sync.
This was power.
And Lucas Bai
had just tied his to hers—permanently.
Ava
rolled her shoulders, feeling the last wave of heat settle into something steady, something controllable. Her body had adjusted. The sync was complete.
She
glanced at Lucas. "You’re going to regret this."
Lucas
smirked, stepping closer. "Doubtful."
Ava
narrowed her eyes. "You know what this means, right?"
Lucas
tilted his head. "Enlighten me."
Ava
crossed her arms. "It means I can see your value. And if I ever decide you’re not worth it—"
Lucas
laughed. "Then you’d have to break the link, Beauty. And we both know you won’t."
Ava
huffed. "Cocky bastard."
Lucas
grinned. "Your cocky bastard."
Ava
rolled her eyes. "Three days, Bai. Then I decide what to do with you."
Lucas
winked. "Looking forward to it."
Ava
cracked her knuckles, rolling her shoulders as the new wave of data from the sync settled in.
For the first time in weeks—
maybe months—she actually felt excited.
Her
Blueprint System had always been powerful, but now? With the added boost from Lucas’s Monopoly Appraisal System?
It was limitless.
She
scanned the weapons on the walls, data flickering over each one. Values, material breakdowns, efficiency ratings. But more importantly—
Potential.
Ava
grinned. "Alright, Bai. Let’s see what we can do with all your overpriced toys."
Lucas
leaned back in his chair, golden eyes gleaming with amusement. "Impress me, Beauty."
Ava
plucked one of Lucas’s high-frequency blades off the wall, spinning it in her grip.
[SCANNING WEAPON...]
[TYPE: HIGH-FREQUENCY BLADE – CURRENT WORTH: 4,200 TOKENS]
[MODIFICATION POTENTIAL: EXTREME]
Ava
grinned. "You don’t mind if I make a few... improvements, right?"
Lucas
smirked. "By all means, Zhang. Just don’t break it."
Ava
rolled her eyes. "No promises."
She
pulled out her upgraded tools, her fingers moving fast, letting her system guide the process. The blade’s energy conductor was outdated. The power cell was strong but inefficient.
Easily fixed.
[UPGRADE INITIATED...]
[REPLACING POWER CORE...]
[INTEGRATING PLASMA EDGE...]
[ADJUSTING ENERGY OUTPUT...]
[UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL – WEAPON VALUE: 9,800 TOKENS]
Ava
activated the sword.
A thin
line of blue plasma flared to life along the edge, humming with controlled power.
Lucas
whistled. "You made me a laser sword."
Ava
twirled it, testing the balance. "Not just a laser sword. A plasma blade with a high-frequency oscillation for added cutting power."
Lucas
grinned. "You just made my day, Beauty."
Next Ava
moved on, eyeing one of the disabled spider drones in the corner of the room.
[SCANNING UNIT...]
[TYPE: RECON DRONE – CURRENT STATUS: INACTIVE]
[FUNCTIONALITY: LOW]
[UPGRADE RECOMMENDATION: HIGH]
Ava
crouched, prying open the access panel. "Why do you have so much broken tech?"
Lucas
shrugged. "Some deals don’t work out. Fix it, and I’ll make sure it does."
Ava
sighed. "Fine. But I’m naming them."
Lucas
chuckled. "Naming my drones?"
Ava
grinned. "You keep breaking things. I keep fixing them. That makes them mine."
It was long, Ava
worked fast, upgrading the processors, reinforcing the chassis, and optimizing the energy cores.
[UPGRADE INITIATED...]
[ADDING AUTONOMOUS TARGETING SYSTEM...]
[INTEGRATING DEFENSIVE COUNTERMEASURES...]
[UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL – DRONE VALUE: 6,500 TOKENS]
The
drone powered up, mechanical legs twitching before it skittered across the floor—smoother, faster.
Ava
patted it like a pet. "Good boy."
Lucas
watched it move, amused. "What’s its name?"
Ava
smirked. "Murderbug."
Lucas
laughed. "Of course it is."
Ava
was just getting started.
One drone?
Good.
A swarm? Better.
She
activated three more disabled units, tweaking their AI to communicate, operate in formation, and execute synchronized attacks.
[UPGRADE INITIATED...]
[ENHANCING SWARM PROTOCOLS...]
[INTEGRATING INFILTRATION MODE...]
[UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL – SWARM VALUE: 20,000 TOKENS]
Ava
leaned back, admiring her work. "Congratulations, Bai. You now have a personal army of robot spiders."
Lucas
grinned. "Beauty, I think I’m in love."
Ava
snorted. "I accept payment in tokens and good whiskey."
Lucas
smirked. "Done."
Ava
grinned, wiping her hands clean.
She’d
synced with Lucas. She’d rebuilt his arsenal. And now?
She was going to make sure they both won.