“Ah, my dear General Gu, please do not joke,” Pix said in a panic as he hurried to catch up. “How could there possibly be rats in our place? It is not some filthy establishment.”
Hearing this, Gu Chengyan let out a hum of a laugh, repeating the two words “filthy establishment” with a tone dripping in mockery and disdain.
Pix had thick skin and simply acted as though he had failed to catch the sarcasm in Gu Chengyan’s voice, continuing to fawn as he led the way inside. “General Gu, we have arranged everything. Since this is your first time here, just enjoy yourself…”
“Do not be nervous. I have simply heard that those noble lords all come here to unwind, so I am here to broaden my horizons as well,” Gu Chengyan remarked casually.
“Oh, as you say, you are a distinguished guest. The moment you arrive, our humble place is illuminated with glory,” Pix buttered up, eager to introduce the club to him.
Gu Chengyan waved a hand dismissively, entirely uninterested. “I am here to try something new, not to listen to your lecture.” He added with a meaningful tone, “I wanted to come before, but never had the chance. Now that I finally have the opportunity, do not go fobbing off any shoddy goods on me.”
Though others would have found these words baffling, Pix seemed to catch the underlying implication. Delighted from ear to ear, he broke into a beaming smile and babbled, “General Gu truly knows his goods! As it happens, our stock here is the finest in the entire galaxy!”
Upstairs, Geng Nuo stayed crouched in place for a long while. Only when his heart, which had been threatening to leap out of his chest, finally settled back into place did he hurriedly stand up and head back.
That person had actually seen him.
Across such a great distance, the other party had somehow sensed his presence and accurately pinpointed his exact location.
They had even locked eyes before he managed to duck away…
Such terrifying insight.
He was definitely trouble; it was best to stay far away.
“Who is coming today? Why is the boss making special arrangements instead of letting the guests choose for themselves? Ouch, gentle! Do you even know how to apply medicine?!”
As he passed the hallway, he suddenly heard Yuan Bingqing’s voice. The door was ajar, and the conversation inside drifted out, causing Geng Nuo to lighten his footsteps.
“Didn’t the old Marquess pass away? The boss is trying to rope in a new high-rolling guest.”
“Who is so mysterious? I heard all the guards were reassigned over there.”
“Who else could it be…”
Yuan Bingqing grew anxious. “What are you beating around the bush for? Do you not want to live anymore?!”
The person opposite let out a couple of winces, deliberating for a long while before ultimately not daring to utter the new guest’s name. Finally, they stammered out, “Think about who the old Marquess fell to…”
Yuan Bingqing drew in a sharp breath of air, exclaiming in shock, “The person who came is Imperial General Gu Chengyan?!”
“Shh, keep it down! How dare you call him by his full name? Are you insane?!”
Outside the door, Geng Nuo covered his mouth in shock, narrowly avoiding making a sound.
The person from just now was the notorious General Gu? That meant the “old Marquess” they were talking about was Lord Wright, who had been publicly executed on the street by General Gu…
He had imagined General Gu would be a ferocious middle-aged man with a face full of scars and a heavily brawny physique, resembling a typical interstellar pirate. He never expected him to be so young. From a distance, he hadn’t been able to make out the facial features clearly, but those sharp, well-defined contours surely weren’t ugly.
“Why didn’t you tell me such a big deal until now?!” Yuan Bingqing shrieked. “Why wasn’t I notified? Who does the boss plan to arrange to receive him? Apart from me, who else is even worthy of serving such a big shot?!”
“Calm down… It was just said to be arranged as a backup, in case General Gu wants to choose for himself. Don’t panic…”
Seeing that an argument was about to break out inside, Geng Nuo prepared to slip away in the chaos.
“How can I calm down?! Do you look down on me too? When Lord Wright was around, I was his absolute favorite. Now that he is dead, do you all think my performance is no longer up to par?”
Geng Nuo quietly lifted and set down his footsteps, thinking to himself that the previous customer who had spoiled Yuan Bingqing rotten was none other than the notorious Lord Wright.
Though General Gu’s reputation wasn’t much better, taking out Lord Wright was still something that brought immense relief to the common folk.
Lord Wright was naturally cruel and endlessly debauched. Berating and beating commoners at will on the streets was a regular occurrence, and rumors of him abducting and keeping delicate youths captive were frequent. Yet the Ampere Corporation he managed was at the cutting edge of the Empire’s deep-space exploration technology, meaning that even when the Emperor traveled via jump-capable starships, his family’s technology had to be used.
That was the foundation of his unbridled lawlessness.
In comparison, General Gu Chengyan’s acts of bloodshed carried at least a shred of righteous intent, seeing as he didn’t pull any punches against the imperial nobility, let alone his rampages on rebellious planets.
“I am telling you, even with a new sugar daddy, don’t expect the dirt you have on your hands to compare to mine. Who did the boss arrange? Could it be that new little slut?” Yuan Bingqing asked through gritted teeth.
Geng Nuo didn’t catch the meaning of the “dirt” mentioned, but he figured the “newcomer” and “little slut” most likely referred to him.
“That wretch is just a Beta. What qualifications does he have to serve General Gu?!” Yuan Bingqing seemed to have already convinced himself that his prime gig had been snatched away by Geng Nuo, brimming with bitter resentment. “Pix had this in mind from the very beginning, didn’t he? No wonder that wretch has only been doing chores ever since he arrived.”
Pfft, blind dogs looking down on people.
Geng Nuo thought indignantly.
“You’re overthinking it. Pix would have to be insane to entertain General Gu with that kind of trash,” another voice comforted Yuan Bingqing. “I asked around. That newcomer is just a disposable.”
Yuan Bingqing asked, “What do you mean, disposable?”
The person adopted a teasing tone, heavy with implication. “Next week, Baron Percy is holding a party here.”
Geng Nuo pricked up his ears. He didn’t understand their cryptic talk, but his intuition told him it was nothing good.
After two seconds of silence, Yuan Bingqing let out a ha. There was no missing the smug delight as he gloated, “Then won’t he get played to death? Baron Percy loves bringing a whole group of people along, yet he only ever singles out one person to serve them.”
Why else would I call him a disposable… hahaha…
Anyone who didn’t understand at this point would have to be a fool.
Geng Nuo felt as though he had been struck squarely in the chest with a heavy mallet. His mind was filled with echoes of no wonder, no wonder.
No wonder Pix had agreed so easily to let him leave. It turned out to be merely a delaying tactic; he had never intended to let him walk out of here alive.
Could it be that Ruan Rutang had introduced him to this job from the very start with the intention of having him die here? Why?
He had helped him pass an exam, yet the other party wanted to silence him permanently?!
The more Geng Nuo thought about it, the colder he felt all over.
From start to finish, it was a trap meticulously calculated by Pix and Ruan Rutang. In the clubs of the nobility, the death of one or two bottom-tier, impoverished commoners used as servers wouldn’t even count as gossip over tea; who would care?
They had grandly executed an entrapment scheme, and he, like a complete fool, had willingly walked right into it.
Security was so strict here; was he truly going to die in this place? Played to death by some baron?
“Help me wash off the medicine quickly, don’t leave any scent. I cannot let General Gu be left to that wretch; I must strike first…”
Geng Nuo couldn’t bear to listen to the rest. An idea struck him.
Guards only patrolled during the day here, and the patrol drones didn’t operate on a three-shift rotation; all machines ran simultaneously to achieve full coverage. This was convenient, but it had a flaw: as long as a single machine malfunctioned, a gap would appear in the monitoring range.
Geng Nuo had never tinkered with this specific machinery, but the underlying principles were presumably similar.
The patrol drones operated on the exterior of the building. Geng Nuo pulled over a food cart, which served as a very convenient cover. Pushing the cart as usual, he headed toward the wine cellar.
Today, the vast majority of guards were concentrated around General Gu; this was the moment of weakest vigilance. As long as he punched a hole through their perimeter, he could slip into the woods and make his escape.
The wine cellar faced the side of the club building, with the woods lying right behind it. This area was rarely frequented and only had a single patrol drone overhead.
Geng Nuo walked up to the base of the wall and deliberately tripped his foot. The cart wobbled, and a bottle of wine crashed to the floor, shattering.
Sure enough, the patrol drone was drawn over to investigate the situation. Seizing the moment, Geng Nuo grabbed the drone and popped open its motherboard. He had once dismantled a small mecha with his bare hands; thankfully, though the functions differed, the principle was identical.
Before it could trigger an alarm, he rapidly overrode the controls.
Then, restoring it to its original appearance, he let the patrol drone return to the skies above.
Outwardly, it looked no different. In reality, the drone’s monitoring system was now looping a recording of the empty expanse from before Geng Nuo had ever set foot there.
Time was running out. Geng Nuo sprinted rapidly toward the back of the wine cellar.
He had grown used to the tight, form-fitting uniform over the past few days, yet running in it still severely restricted his limbs.
“What are you doing?” A voice dropped out of nowhere from behind.
Geng Nuo’s heart skipped a beat. Unprepared for anyone to appear here, he came to an instantaneous halt.
“Turn around! What do you think you’re doing?” the person demanded harshly.
Holding his breath, Geng Nuo slowly turned around.
It was a guard in the distance.
Weren’t all the patrolling guards reassigned to Gu Chengyan’s side? Why would this one show up here now? Had he been discovered? Did the patrol drone trigger an alarm?
Geng Nuo kept his expression calm while his brain whirred at high speed.
Should he try to divert him, or make a move?
The other party was a physically robust Alpha; he definitely wouldn’t have the upper hand in a physical confrontation and might even alert more people.
Glancing upward inadvertently, Geng Nuo discovered that the patrol drone that had just returned to the sky was inexplicably hovering motionless in one spot. Cold sweat nearly broke out on his skin.
Patrol drones never lingered in one spot for long; his earlier tampering must have hit a snag. If the guard noticed, Geng Nuo would be exposed instantly.
What to do?!
The guard wore a suspicious expression as he closed in on him. “I’m talking to you. What are you doing over here?”
Geng Nuo had a flash of inspiration. “I, I came to get wine.”
“You came to get wine, so why were you running?”
Geng Nuo feigned an embarrassed look, gazing at the guard with troubled eyes. “I… I accidentally broke a bottle of wine just now. Big brother guard, please, I beg you not to tell the boss. I, I just got here and don’t have any performance metrics yet; I can’t afford to pay for it.”
“I was just rushing to grab another bottle so I wouldn’t keep the guest waiting.” Lowering his head, he trembled with tear-filled eyes, blinking up pitifully and helplessly as though utterly terrified.
At least thirty percent of that trembling was genuine. Geng Nuo forced himself to keep his eyes away from the patrol drone overhead, terrified of betraying himself to the guard.
His act was remarkably deceptive. With such a refined face displaying this sort of pleading expression, even a guard accustomed to all kinds of servers in this place could hardly hold his ground.
Clearly pleased, the guard granted a lofty, condescending approval. “Go on.”
Geng Nuo had no choice but to retrieve another bottle of wine and place it back on the food cart.
“Then I’ll head back first, thank you.” Geng Nuo pushed the cart away.
The moment he turned around, his expression instantly hardened.
What now?
“Wait.” The guard called out to him again.
Geng Nuo paused in his tracks.
As he turned back, he put on an appropriately harmless expression. “Is there anything else?”
Sauntering over to him, the guard stared down with a scrutinizing gaze. “I just checked, and the guests below the third floor haven’t ordered any wine. Whose wine are you delivering?”
Geng Nuo’s face paled. “What do you mean by that?”
The guard sneered, stepping closer. Geng Nuo was forced to back up step by step. Moisture welled up in his eyes, as if he were deathly afraid of the towering Alpha guard before him, or perhaps out of grievance, his body trembling slightly.
“However, the guest is really waiting for me to deliver wine.”
“Which guest?” The other scoffed dismissively.
Lowering his head, Geng Nuo swept his lashes down to hide his emotions and took a deep breath. “It is wine for General Gu Chengyan.”