“Hey, the one on the floor, are you still alive?”
Jiang Lingyue’s voice came through the PA system, tinged with mockery.
Lu Xiao, collapsed on the ground, struggled to lift his head and look toward the source of the voice, but the lobby was empty only Gu Han, that “ice block face,” stood not far away, staring at him like he was an idiot.
“Who… are you?” Lu Xiao ground out through his teeth.
His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping across his throat.
Jiang Lingyue didn’t answer directly. She sat in the surveillance room chair, legs crossed, speaking slowly and deliberately: “Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is that you now have two choices.”
“First, take your people and go back the way you came. Of course, since you damaged the road outside my hotel today, you’ll need to leave some compensation behind.”
“As for the second…” Jiang Lingyue deliberately dragged out the word.
Lu Xiao panted, eyes fixed on the lobby, waiting for her to continue.
He knew he had hit a wall today. This mysterious woman wielded a power he couldn’t comprehend; he had no leverage to negotiate.
Then the voice came again over the PA, light and airy but absolutely commanding:
“Want to come in? Fine. Work off your debt.”
Work off my debt?
Lu Xiao froze. His subordinates behind him froze too.
Even the usually expressionless Gu Han raised an eyebrow.
What… kind of move is this?
“You… you said what?” Lu Xiao asked, doubting he wasn’t hallucinating from the shocks.
“I said, you’re staying to work for me,” Jiang Lingyue repeated, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You came barging in today, causing a ruckus, frightening me, and even making me miss my movie surely that counts as mental damages, right? Plus, looking at all your injuries, they’re pretty serious. I happen to have special medicine here shall we add medical costs to the tab?”
She paused briefly, then continued: “I see you’ve got decent strength, so I’ll give you a chance. Stay and become my second employee repay everything with your labor. How’s that? Am I not being generous?”
In the surveillance room, Jiang Lingyue gave herself a mental thumbs-up.
That excuse was flawless!
Outside, everyone listening was completely dumbfounded.
Make an S-class powerhouse stay and work?
Are you insane?
S-class ability users, wherever they go, are treated like royalty by every base! When has it ever been about working for someone else?
Lu Xiao was so furious he nearly spat blood.
“You… you’re dreaming!” he roared. “Even if I die out here, there’s no way I’m becoming your pathetic employee!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Jiang Lingyue’s tone remained calm and carefree. “Looks like you haven’t had enough electricity yet.”
No sooner had she spoken than…
“ZZZZAAAH !”
Another golden arc of electricity shot down from the ceiling, landing precisely on Lu Xiao.
“AAAH !!!”
A scream ten times more agonizing than before erupted.
Lu Xiao, who had just barely caught his breath, began his “thunderous dance” all over again.
The subordinates outside watched in horror, frozen in fear, not daring to breathe.
This woman she’s a devil!
Absolutely a devil!
“Stop! Stop! I’m wrong! I’m wrong! I’m sorry, ma’am!”
This time, Lu Xiao’s pleading was much quicker than before.
A real man doesn’t take a loss lightly.
If he got zapped like this again, he feared he might need a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Jiang Lingyue was pleased with his sense of timing and waved, signaling the system to stop the electricity.
“So…? Have you decided which choice you’ll take?” she asked softly.
Lu Xiao lay on the ground like a dead dog, panting heavily.
He had no fight left in him.
Resistance? That meant more electricity.
This woman didn’t negotiate she spoke only through strength.
“I… I’ll choose the second…” he muttered, humiliated.
A real man knows when to bend!
Survive today, and there’ll be firewood for tomorrow!
Once he healed and figured out the details of this place, he vowed to repay today’s humiliation a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
Lu Xiao swore silently in his heart.
“Good choice,” Jiang Lingyue smiled. “Very wise.”
She pulled up an electronic contract from the system mall and projected it into the air in front of Lu Xiao.
It was a translucent light screen, titled “Hotel Employee Leasing Contract.”
The terms were emphatically one-sided.
Party A: Jiang Lingyue.
Party B: Lu Xiao.
Contract terms included but were not limited to.
Party B must unconditionally obey all work assignments of Party A.
Party B is prohibited from private fights or damaging hotel property.
Party B must go out daily to complete resource-gathering tasks assigned by Party A all collected resources must be handed over.
Party A will provide food and lodging according to Party B’s work performance.
At the very bottom, in red letters:
If Party B violates any terms or acts against Party A, Party A has the right to administer punishment, including but not limited to electric shock, resource deduction, expulsion, or even annihilation.
Lu Xiao looked at the “slave contract” in disbelief, trembling with rage.
Annihilation?
Seriously, annihilation?
Was this a contract or a surrender letter?
“Any objections?” Jiang Lingyue’s voice asked again.
“…No,” Lu Xiao forced out through gritted teeth.
He finally understood: he was meat on the chopping block, at someone else’s mercy.
“Then sign.”
A glowing dot appeared in the bottom-right corner of the contract.
Summoning all his strength, Lu Xiao raised his trembling finger and pressed the dot, humiliated beyond belief.
Contract established and effective.
The system’s notification sounded in Jiang Lingyue’s mind.
Done!
Second employee successfully recruited!
Jiang Lingyue felt elated. She stepped out of the surveillance room for the first time to appear before everyone.
When Lu Xiao and his subordinates saw this legendary “queen” was actually a small, slim, slightly pretty young girl, their eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.
Just… a little girl?
The one who fried their boss senseless was her?
This world was too surreal.
Jiang Lingyue ignored their shocked stares and walked over to Gu Han, inspecting like a supervisor. She nodded in satisfaction before turning her gaze to Lu Xiao on the floor.
“All right, stop playing dead get up.”
She pulled a small silver spray bottle from her pocket and tossed it over.
“Biological Repair Spray. Spray it on yourself you won’t die.”
It was leftover from when she had saved Gu Han in the medical room.
Lu Xiao took it cautiously and sprayed it on his charred wounds.
A cool sensation spread, and the injuries visibly began to heal.
Though it still hurt, it was no longer terrifying.
Struggling to his feet, Lu Xiao looked at Jiang Lingyue with a complex expression anger, resentment, caution… and a hint of curiosity.
Who exactly was this woman?
That’s when he noticed Gu Han beside her, looking at him with a cold, appraising, hostile gaze.
It was the look of someone examining an enemy who had trespassed into their territory.
Lu Xiao’s temper flared immediately.
What are you looking at?
Even though I’m down now, I’m not someone your ice-cold face can look at casually!
He glared back defiantly, full of provocation.
In the air, invisible sparks and shards of ice seemed to collide.
An S-class lightning user, an S-class ice user.
Two of the top post-apocalyptic powerhouses stood opposed for the first time all because of a woman.
The stage for a fierce battle had quietly been set.
Jiang Lingyue sensed the tension between them, but she had no time to focus on it.
She looked at Lu Xiao’s few remaining kneeling subordinates and said:
“As for you, from now on, you can leave. Go back and tell everyone outside my post-apocalyptic safehouse hotel isn’t for just anyone to storm.
If you want to live, behave!”