“All set.”
After saying that, Xu Lian hadn’t even paused for a few seconds when the lights in the room suddenly flickered—
Dark.
Lin Zhaocai: “Y-you… did you just manifest some kind of power?”
Xu Lian: “I don’t know.”
But neither of them had time to dwell on this minor issue. They assumed it was a normal power outage, locked the door, and left.
Broken Snake hadn’t expected that as soon as the power cut off, Rolling Wealth and her boyfriend would come out together.
But after leaving, they immediately got in the car and drove off again.
Broken Snake: “….”
She immediately went to report to Song Jinze.
Broken Snake: 「Commander Song, the power went out. But…」
Broken Snake: 「They seem to have gone out again.」
Song Jinze: 「Burn that guy’s house down.」
Broken Snake: 「Huh?」
Broken Snake: 「…Understood, Commander.」
She muttered to herself: What kind of grudge is this that he’s being so extreme?
But then she thought about it—well, that guy could be considered the third party… ugh.
Broken Snake immediately climbed over the wall to start the fire.
…
At this very moment, Song Jinze wasn’t the only one angry in the world.
Pei Xiaocha was about to lose her mind.
She had made plans with Song Jinze last week to meet at the usual place this week, but where the hell was he?!!!
Where is he?!
Where is he?!
Damn it!!!
Pei Xiaocha’s temper flared, and she dialed a video call to scold Song Jinze, but before the call connected—
It was instantly hung up.
Song Jinze, annoyed to the extreme, didn’t want to deal with her confrontation at the moment.
Then, Pei Xiaocha called forty-three more times.
All unanswered.
She nearly felt like vomiting blood. She turned to contact An Erxiang and learned that Song Jinze had switched bracelets.
She didn’t understand the full situation, so she had to change the contact and try again.
The call went to Xu Lian.
When Xu Lian saw it was Pei Xiaocha, she nearly fell from the air in fright.
But she didn’t dare answer; after all, she was no longer “Song Jinze.”
Yet Pei Xiaocha kept calling.
One hundred and six missed calls in total.
Xu Lian: “….”
Lin Zhaocai beside her looked baffled: “Who’s in such a hurry? Pick up the phone.”
Xu Lian was sweating profusely: “I can’t, I really can’t… it’s killing me. Tch, wait.”
Suddenly, she thought of a solution.
She reopened her chat with Song Jinze, and her expression froze.
She had assumed Song Jinze had blocked her and hadn’t seen her messages, but now he had somehow unblocked her and bombarded her with messages relentlessly, never stopping.
Xu Lian looked at her bracelet: on one side, 99+ missed calls; on the other, 99+ unread messages…
“….” Life is impossible like this.
So, she made a major decision: let the extremely angry Pei Xiaocha and the extremely furious Song Jinze deal with each other internally.
She borrowed Lin Zhaocai’s bracelet to dial Song Jinze’s line, used her own bracelet to answer Pei Xiaocha’s call, then put both on speaker and brought the two bracelets together—
Pei Xiaocha spoke first: “Song Jinze?”
Song Jinze paused, “Why is it you?”
Pei Xiaocha immediately flew into a rage: “Why can’t it be me?! Huh?! What are you doing?! What did we agree on last week, damn it!!”
Lin Zhaocai, standing by, was shocked: Holy crap, this person can really curse like that.
Xu Lian pressed her ear to listen.
She had always been curious about the relationship between these two, and today, she might finally get some answers.
Unfortunately, Song Jinze noticed something was off.
Pei Xiaocha continued screaming.
Song Jinze interrupted: “Stop talking for a moment. We might be tapped. There’s static on the line.”
Pei Xiaocha fell silent.
Song Jinze spoke again, “Rolling Wealth, is that you?”
Xu Lian: “….”
Song Jinze: “There’s someone next to you, right?”
Xu Lian: “….”
Song Jinze: “Ignoring messages, causing trouble here?”
Xu Lian: “….”
Song Jinze’s voice turned cold: “Pei Xiaocha, hang up on your end.”
Beep—Pei Xiaocha ended the call.
Only Song Jinze remained on the line.
Xu Lian’s eyes darted nervously.
Lin Zhaocai remained silent.
Song Jinze: “Now can you speak with me?”
Xu Lian still said nothing.
Song Jinze: “Who is the person next to you? Tell me.”
Xu Lian felt completely guilty.
She and Lin Zhaocai had previously been assigned to harm Song Jinze. Naturally, they still were. So when Song Jinze asked this now, she felt caught red-handed.
Song Jinze: “Speak.”
Xu Lian & Lin Zhaocai: “….”
If a spy is caught, what’s their fate?
Taken to the Interrogation Room, tortured—either madness or death.
Xu Lian revealed her trump card: “Say one more word and I’ll send the files to you!!”
Song Jinze: “….”
Lin Zhaocai’s pupils trembled; he mouthed to Xu Lian: You still have him?!
Xu Lian mouthed back: Of course, the selfies from before!!
Lin Zhaocai clapped in the air: “Good move!!”
Xu Lian: “Thank you!!”
But they didn’t have long to celebrate before Song Jinze said: “He’s your accomplice, isn’t he.”
Extremely calm, asserting.
It sounded like a question, but it was really a statement.
The two instantly broke into a cold sweat.
Song Jinze’s voice slowed: “Rolling Wealth, your… ‘friend,’ Lin Zhaocai. Right?”
Xu Lian’s heart thumped.
Wait.
How did he find out?
He couldn’t possibly have known Lin Zhaocai’s name beforehand. That meant…
Facial recognition.
Lin Zhaocai had some personal information registered at the academy.
The person who suddenly barged into the hotel and took photos—was that the “Broken Snake” Song Jinze had sent to monitor them?!
Xu Lian felt suffocated.
Song Jinze ignored whether she answered and continued: “Lin Zhaocai, 26 years old, currently enrolled at Canine Star Central Military Academy, Grade A, Information Countermeasures Major.”
His tone was icy: “I heard he intends to take the private fleet’s military assessment. Target… happens to be me.”
Lin Zhaocai & Xu Lian: “….” This damn guy actually found out.
Although it was only a previous intention—Lin Zhaocai had already been forced to change course tonight.
But they knew now they had aroused the suspicion of an enemy officer.
Xu Lian’s spy identity was fully exposed, and Lin Zhaocai, as someone closely associated with her, was naturally under suspicion too.
Song Jinze pressed: “Not going to speak, huh?”
The two huddled in the car like quail.
Song Jinze sneered: “Fine. You two continue; I won’t ruin your night.”
He was about to hang up, voice dark:
“Better not pull any tricks, or I’ll kill you.”
“….”
“Commander Song.”
She suddenly called him.
Song Jinze stopped his hand from hanging up.
Xu Lian took a deep breath, speaking in the gentlest tone she had ever used:
“Commander Song, Gu Ying wants to kill you. Outside s-777 Wormhole, his men are lying in ambush. I’ll send you the coordinates and detailed plan shortly. I hope you return safely, unharmed. I’ll be waiting for you.”
She paused, then added in a deliberately dramatic tone: “Song Jinze, I care for you and want to see you again. Last time our farewell was too rushed, I… didn’t get my fill.”
Beep—
Xu Lian ended the call.
Song Jinze froze in place.
His ears gradually turned red.
He stayed silent for a full five minutes. When the flush faded, he suddenly smiled—cold, emotionless:
“Sweet words. Who believes that? You actually think you can play me.”