A bullet tore through the night sky.
You Min gripped the sniper rifle and, in the very last second, shifted the trajectory.
“B-Boss…”
The subordinate instantly realized he had made a mistake. Just as he was about to beg for forgiveness, he was kicked violently to the ground.
“Trust you?”
You Min’s gaze was terrifyingly cold.
“How dare you think… I would entrust her life to you?”
The moment those words fell, the man immediately began smashing his forehead against the floor in panic, over and over, until blood stained the ground.
You Min had no interest in sparing him another glance.
Instead, he felt the faint pain in his thumb.
The bite mark Lu Yi left behind was deep enough for him to savor for a very long time…
Turning his head, he looked toward the Night Eye gang members gradually surrounding the black wolf and calmly ordered:
“Let her go.”
His eyes darkened unreadably.
Clouds swallowed the crescent moon, and once darkness fully descended, the black wolf’s silhouette vanished from the gang district.
Yalan leapt powerfully out of gang territory.
The moment he landed, he transformed back into human form.
The two of them collapsed to the ground in a miserable heap.
On his broad back, Lu Yi was still clinging to him exactly as before. Her soft body pressed tightly against him, making Yalan afraid to move at all.
“Lu Yi?”
He called softly, but received no answer.
Only her breathing brushed against his ear.
His neck tickled slightly, forcing Yalan to gently push her face away.
So soft…
Her cheeks were soft enough that they seemed as though they would burst with the slightest pressure.
Yalan stood up and firmly hooked his arms beneath her thighs, carrying her piggyback toward their agreed meeting point.
As the clouds drifted apart and moonlight spilled down, Yalan noticed the pale skin on her arms had been rubbed raw by his wolf fur.
Only then did he realize—
Aside from a single camisole, the person on his back had worn almost nothing on her upper body…
She had clung desperately to him the entire way, and the violent speed and friction had tormented her skin for a long time.
Yet Lu Yi had not made a single sound.
Not until the pain became severe enough to knock her unconscious.
“President!”
“It’s the president!”
Beside a concealed military hover vehicle, three heavily armed beastmen instinctively raised their voices.
“President… your injuries?”
Yalan approached while carrying Lu Yi, looking extremely battered.
As a large beast-type shifter, traversing layers of security systems guaranteed injury.
Still, none of them expected it to be this severe.
His white dress shirt had been dyed with streaks of blood like crimson patterns, and several deep wounds crossed his face.
“I wasn’t shot.”
Yalan clearly did not care about his own injuries.
Instead, he was more concerned about the abrasions covering Lu Yi’s skin.
Climbing into the vehicle, he immediately ordered:
“Withdraw now.”
He carefully moved Lu Yi from his back onto the hover vehicle’s cushioned seat.
Only then did he discover that the skin across her chest was almost entirely damaged.
Some places had been rubbed raw.
Others were bruised dark purple.
Only her shoulder remained mostly unharmed.
“Find her some clean clothes to cover herself with.”
Yalan sat beside her and touched her forehead.
Though her skin was cool, her breathing remained steady.
Compared to him, her condition was slightly better.
The hover vehicle sped away from gang territory at maximum velocity, heading directly toward Yalan’s home.
An hour later, the hover vehicle landed on the private platform outside his residence.
“You three go rest on the third floor.”
Yalan bent down to carry Lu Yi again, but one subordinate stepped forward anxiously.
“President, let me do it. Your injuries—”
Yalan did not even give him a chance.
He directly lifted the girl into his arms and silently entered the elevator.
“So… what exactly is their relationship?”
The subordinates stared at his retreating figure, feeling that today’s Yalan seemed strangely unfamiliar.
Even during that rescue years ago, he had personally risked his life.
But back then, the victims had been children of elite families.
Today’s rescue target…
Was merely a commoner female.
Yalan carried Lu Yi into a guest room and placed her gently onto the soft bed before ordering Bernett to summon a female doctor.
As for himself, he returned to the master bedroom, opened a medical kit, and skillfully treated his own wounds.
The sky gradually brightened.
Slow footsteps sounded outside his room before stopping at the door.
No knock came.
Yet the person outside also did not leave.
Yalan assumed it was the doctor coming to explain Lu Yi’s condition.
After throwing on an outer robe, he walked over and opened the door himself.
The first thing he saw was a mess of black hair.
The girl stood there with both hands clasped before her chest. An oversized male-style robe wrapped around her ankles—and also concealed the glaring abrasions across her body.
The sudden opening of the door startled her slightly.
Her shoulders instinctively trembled, accidentally tugging the wound on her back. Pain immediately made her bare her teeth as moisture quickly gathered in her eyes.
“Heh.”
Yalan could not help letting out a quiet laugh.
“You’re feeling better already, and you came looking for me?”
Lu Yi had never heard Yalan laugh before.
Her ears quietly reddened.
“I-I came to thank you.”
Avoiding his gaze, her eyes instead landed on the thickly bandaged wound around his abdomen.
Yalan instinctively covered it with his robe.
“No need to thank me. Staying alive matters more.”
Lu Yi: ……
After that, neither of them knew what else to say.
Lu Yi nodded seriously.
“My life is pretty tough.”
This time, it was Yalan who became speechless.
But after thinking about it carefully…
Lu Yi really did have frighteningly tough luck.
He slowly exhaled, then—almost unconsciously—placed a large hand atop her messy hair and gently rubbed it.
“Your hair’s a mess.”
Lu Yi heard the same low, steady tone as always.
But Yalan himself knew there was now a trace of tenderness hidden inside it.
“President… if you keep touching it, it’ll get even messier.”
Her soft voice carried no rejection.
Lu Yi was bad with words.
Yalan was the same.
The hand atop her head paused briefly.
Feeling the lingering warmth beneath his fingertips, Yalan awkwardly withdrew his hand and instead rested it against the back of his own neck.
“The investigation results probably won’t come until noon. Go get some more sleep.”
Lu Yi nodded and turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and stopped.
“Today is a workday…”
She carefully lifted her eyes.
Her bright red lips parted slightly, as though struggling to say something difficult.
“What is it?”
“If I don’t go to the Association… how do I clock in online?”
Yalan: ……
He suddenly had a very strong feeling—
Choosing Lu Yi as his secretary had absolutely been the correct decision.
After surviving a gang kidnapping, the first thing she worried about was clocking in for work.
Even Yalan found that work ethic impressive.
“I’ll handle it for you.”
“Ah, okay.”
Only then did Lu Yi finally relax and return to her room.
Yalan watched her disappear around the corner.
She seemed distracted the entire time, never once noticing his gaze.
All the questions filling his chest remained unsaid.
Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Yalan also returned to his room to sleep.
Meanwhile, aboard a shuttle floating outside Planet Weimang’s atmosphere—
Hermoke stared painfully at the losses from this operation.
[Estimated losses: 183 million star credits. After VIP military supplier discount of 30%, weapon replenishment cost totals 128 million star credits.]
“My Cat Ear No. 9…”
Hermoke clenched his fists tightly.
“Yalan! You crude, violent idiot dog!”
Furious, he immediately began coding a virus to invade Yalan’s optical brain communicator—
[Rescue operation military reimbursement: 200 million! If you don’t pay, you’re a puppy!]
New analysis data streamed into the system.
[Weimang Star Loan Bank intrusion complete. Searching for Lu Yi… Retrieved.]
[Current university tuition debt balance: 3.78 million star credits.]
The moment Lu Yi’s information appeared, Hermoke’s furious expression softened slightly.
“3.78 million? Is tuition on Weimang Planet some kind of gangster loan shark operation?”
While complaining, he casually opened his underground account, transferred a sum of money separately, and labeled it as a lottery prize.
The payment was encrypted into a link—
And sent directly to Lu Yi’s optical brain communicator.