“Boss, I’m so moved! Waaaah, you really are my dear boss…”
Chong Ming was just about to wrap his arms around Shen Youan’s leg when he was ruthlessly kicked away.
“Stay away from me,” Shen Youan said, her voice dripping with disdain.
“Boss, I didn’t expect you to be in Chuncheng too. Did you come specifically to save me? It seems we really do have a telepathic connection.”
Shen Youan didn’t bother responding and simply turned to walk away.
Chong Ming quickly trotted after her. “Boss, you offended Bo Jiao today for my sake. He definitely won’t let this go. What should we do? How about we elope?”
Shen Youan shot him a sidelong glance, her eyes narrowing. “Elope?”
Chong Ming immediately raised his hands in surrender. “Boss, I was wrong! I’m a stranger in a strange land here in Chuncheng, you can’t just leave me behind.”
Shen Youan brought him back to the hotel and pointed at the sofa in the living room. “You’re sleeping there tonight.”
Chong Ming ran over to the wine cabinet and started rummaging through it. “What kind of cheap swill is this?”
He found a bottle of red wine that looked decent and, while expertly decanting it, said, “Boss, this is the second time you’ve saved me. From now on, my life is yours. I’ll climb mountains of swords for you, and I definitely won’t hesitate to jump into a vat of oil. But the tricky thing right now is that Gou Chen is a man who holds a grudge for even the smallest slight. What should we do next?”
When no response came for a long while, Chong Ming turned around. He saw the girl sitting at the computer, her hands clattering across the keyboard as lines of code he couldn’t understand scrolled across the screen.
Damn, Boss is a hacker too.
A surveillance video appeared on the screen, showing the camera feed from a hospital. Soon, Bo Jiao walked out of the hospital, his left eye covered with gauze.
At the hospital entrance, Bo Jiao was cursing furiously. Chong Ming happened to know a bit of lip-reading.
He was saying—”A mere Grade C mercenary dares to fight me? Like an egg hitting a stone, she overestimates herself. I’ll make her regret ever being born into this world.”
Bo Jiao pulled out his phone and made a call.
—”I want all the information on Dan Huang. Right now!”
At that moment, a sedan pulled up in front of Bo Jiao. He got in, and the car sped away, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
Chong Ming looked worried. “Boss, the road ahead is treacherous.”
Shen Youan, however, looked perfectly relaxed. “Are you scared already?”
Chong Ming looked at the girl before him. With her black-rimmed glasses, she looked quite ordinary, but Chong Ming knew exactly how terrifying she could be.
As the world’s top security group, PT scouted countless top-tier mercenaries. The internal hierarchy was strict, divided into four ranks: Grade A, B, C, and D.
The missions these four ranks accepted were also different. Grade D mercenaries could only perform basic security work. Grade C was a step higher, usually assigned as bodyguards for celebrities and wealthy businessmen. Grade B mercenaries were responsible for the security of politicians, billionaires, and key figures in major families. As for Grade A mercenaries, they handled a world that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.
Every December, the organization held a promotion competition. The rules were brutal. A successful promotion meant higher status and greater benefits. Therefore, every lower-level mercenary would fight desperately, hoping to climb the ladder and enter a different class.
Chong Ming remembered his first year in PT. During the promotion match, he had a momentary lapse into soft-heartedness and was stabbed in the back.
At the critical moment, a “shorty” had rushed out and saved him.
Though the shorty was small and thin, her moves were clean and decisive. She soon successfully promoted to Grade C.
As a security company, PT placed a high priority on privacy, including the privacy of its mercenaries. Every mercenary was given a code name upon entering the organization. From then on, that code name became their name to the world.
Later, he found out that the shorty’s code name was Dan Huang.
PT had a dedicated internal operating system for communication between personnel. Rumor had it that it was developed by a top hacker and could withstand any virus attack in the world.
The PT system was like a microcosm of the world. By entering a code name, if the other party hadn’t hidden their status, you could see their recent activity. With their permission, you could add them as a friend.
Grade C and D mercenaries had no right to choose their missions and had to wait for assignments from superiors. However, Grade A and B mercenaries could actively choose missions from the system’s bounty board. Some missions were extremely dangerous with high commissions, but the cost was also high; usually, one had the life to earn the money but not the life to spend it.
For all these years, Chong Ming had been stuck at Grade C. Trying to move up was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
A few days ago, he had been assigned by his superiors to Chuncheng to handle the security of a wealthy businessman. Unfortunately, the businessman died suddenly. Chong Ming was judged by PT’s Fa Zu to have colluded with the businessman’s enemies, selling out the man’s location and causing his death. This was considered an extremely serious crime of betrayal within the organization, and the Fa Zu had ordered his arrest.
While hiding, Chong Ming discovered some suspicious points. It was actually high-level members within the organization who had colluded with outsiders to embezzle the businessman’s assets, and he, an insignificant Grade C mercenary, had become the unlucky scapegoat.
Shen Youan listened quietly to the whole story, her finger tapping lightly on the desk, her expression unreadable.
Chong Ming glanced at her cautiously. “Boss, I really was framed. I have evidence.”
Shen Youan glanced at him.
Chong Ming took off his shoe, and a strange smell began to permeate the room.
Shen Youan frowned.
Chong Ming gave a sheepish grin and pulled a USB drive out from under the insole.
Shen Youan took a step back. “Do it yourself.”
Chong Ming plugged the USB into the port and opened it. Inside were several videos and photos.
In the photos, two people were seen walking out of a teahouse one after the other.
Shen Youan stared at the slightly blurry figure in the photo and calmly stated a name.
“Xie Beichun.”
“That’s him! I’ve checked. He’s been coveting the Feng Group for a long time. As soon as Feng Chi died, the Feng Group immediately fell into chaos. Xie Beichun took advantage of the situation, wanting to carve up the Feng Group for himself.”
Chong Ming pointed to a man in the background of the photo who was dressed somewhat inconspicuously. “I caught a photo of him having a secret meeting with Bo Jiao.”
As he spoke, he pulled up that photo, which was so blurry you couldn’t even see the person’s face. Being able to recognize who it was was a feat in itself.
Shen Youan glanced at him. “Not bad. You actually knew to keep evidence.”
Chong Ming chuckled. “I learned it from you, Boss. Better safe than sorry.”
His voice then turned worried. “Boss, Bo Jiao is one of Gou Chen’s men. Gou Chen manages the Grade B mercenaries and holds considerable power. If he’s the one who colluded with Xie Beichun to betray Feng Chi, we’re just the small fries. How can we possibly fight them?”
“Don’t worry. The enemy is in the light, and we are in the dark.”
“But…” But Boss, you’ve already exposed your code name. Bo Jiao is currently sending people to dig into your background.
Shen Youan had a faint smile on her face, her slender fingers tapping gently on the desk. she looked completely composed.
“I recall Feng Chi has a son, doesn’t he?”