The second king

For some reason, Yuan Qingshan focused on the earlier part of what Shen Yu had said. A friend he had accepted?

"You only just met, didn't you? What makes you so sure he's your friend? We met first, and I even helped you."

Shen Yu was baffled. "You were the one who came up and offered to help. To be precise, that was a transaction. You checked the surveillance footage, and I told you my name. Are you... bringing up old scores with me now?"

Yuan Qingshan fell silent.

Even he thought he was being unreasonable.

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Shen Yu knew he couldn't wait any longer. He reached for his waist and pointed the black muzzle at Yuan Qingshan, who was still lost in thought. "Take down the iron net and let us leave. That's your only choice."

Yuan Qingshan stared at the number on the bottom of the gun, his expression inscrutable.

"He even gave you that?"

Every gun had a fixed serial number, and the person it was registered to bore full responsibility for it. Even the bullets were numbered. Once one was used, it could be traced back to its owner. It could be said to be the owner's second life.

But the gun registered to Brother Luo was now in Shen Yu's hand, pointed at him.

Yuan Qingshan couldn't put his feelings into words. His anger was mixed with a faint, strange sense of approval. He was annoyed that Luo Ningsang treated someone else so well, even more specially than he treated them when he was merely putting on an act. Yet because the person he was taking care of was Shen Yu, Yuan Qingshan also felt that this was how it should be.

Had he finally gone mad?

"What's it to you?" Shen Yu shifted his hand slightly to the side.

Bang.

The hairs on Yuan Qingshan's body stood on end. Cold sweat soaked him, and his ears rang for a long time before he recovered. A sharp pain came from the side of his face and the tip of his ear, and blood slowly trickled down from the wound.

Shen Yu pushed Jiang Qianyu, who was hanging off him like a sloth, away. He walked slowly up to Yuan Qingshan, icy impatience in his eyes, and roughly jammed the muzzle against his head.

"Don't make me say it again."

The moment the shot rang out, the people outside could no longer hold back and rushed in.

It was Yuanxiao and Lu Changfeng.

Both had sustained some injuries, Yuanxiao noticeably more so. After all, he had only spent a few years learning unorthodox fighting from Yuan Qingshan. He was different from Lu Changfeng, who had been the Lu Family's heir since birth and had taken formal boxing lessons.

"Xiao Yu!"

"Shen Yu!"

Two voices called the same person's name.

The latter seemed to feel that something was amiss and called out again.

"Boss!"

But the scene before them left them dumbfounded. It was completely different from what they had imagined. Shen Yu, who should have been waiting to be rescued, was pointing a gun at someone's head like a bandit, while the big boss behind it all had pitifully raised both hands in surrender.

Neither of the two facing off paid any attention to the people who had rushed in.

Yuan Qingshan finally sat up straight, his golden pupils narrowing slightly. He licked his lips and asked, sounding quite surprised, "Does Brother Luo know this side of you?"

Of course he had looked into Shen Yu. How could he not investigate someone Brother Luo paid attention to? But according to the information, Shen Yu was plainly a helpless high school student with a gentle, timid personality. Apart from above-average grades, he had no outstanding qualities.

But Shen Yu was different now.

He hadn't known that Shen Yu's well-behaved, quiet air stood out so much. Perhaps it was because Shen Yu had spent the first seventeen years of his life that way. His recent hospitalization had also given him a faintly sickly air, making him look fragile and vulnerable.

But when he picked up the gun and pointed it at Yuan Qingshan's head with an air of arrogance, he revealed a different quality. He held everything in his grasp, his expression indifferent, but beneath those deep eyes lurked a heavy malice. One look was enough to make anyone understand that offending him would mean dying without a burial place.

Yuan Qingshan absolutely loved people like that. Luo Ningsang had once beaten everyone into submission in just that way and taken the throne Yuan Qingshan had hoped for him to claim. But then he had betrayed the organization and returned to Ancheng to become a mere... detective?

He had hoped Luo Ningsang would return. He wanted to support him in reclaiming the throne and become his right-hand man.

Today's events had been planned for him, while Yuanxiao's revenge was incidental. With such a major explosion in the area under Luo Ningsang's jurisdiction, he would naturally be held responsible. Yuan Qingshan could then take advantage of the opening and coax him back.

But now...

Yuan Qingshan felt the cold muzzle against his head. His shoulders trembled uncontrollably, but the smile on his lips grew wider and wider, until he couldn't help letting out a low laugh.

He had found a second... king.

Shen Yu lied without a change in expression. "Of course he does."

But the man before him could still laugh with a gun pointed at him. He was most likely a lunatic, and one whose logic was internally consistent and whose ability to function was normal.

"I can take down the iron net."

Yuan Qingshan's words startled Shen Yu. He had thought he would have to threaten him some more, so he silently lowered the hand he had raised.

"But I have a condition."

Shen Yu was used to the man going on about conditions. He was just about to agree when Lu Changfeng stepped between them. Yuanxiao quickly followed, positioning himself in front of Yuan Qingshan... though whether Yuanxiao wanted to separate them or take the opportunity to look at Shen Yu face-to-face was anyone's guess.

"No."

Lu Changfeng refused. He was well versed in negotiation, and they clearly had the upper hand here. Why should the other side get to set conditions?

"Take down the iron net or lose your life. Choose."

"Choose your life, choose your life! Boss."

Yuanxiao couldn't help turning back to urge him.

Yuan Qingshan shoved the nuisance aside and gave Lu Changfeng a cold smile. "If you've got the guts, have Shen Yu shoot me dead. All of Ancheng's top officials will be buried with me. If they all die, things out there will be in chaos for at least three months, won't they?"

"Hmm... Come to think of it, that seems like even more people would die, doesn't it? I'd come out ahead. How about I try dying and see?"

Yuan Qingshan spread his hands, an evil light flickering in his golden eyes.

Lu Changfeng wasn't buying it. He immediately tried to take the gun from Shen Yu and shoot him.

He could try it and die.

No one could threaten him, except Lu Xianchang.

But Shen Yu dodged him.

This was Luo Ningsang's gun, officially registered! It couldn't be fired carelessly, so how could he let Lu Changfeng shoot it so readily?

With only one shot fired as a warning, Sister Luoluo would also have an easier time writing the report.

He lowered his gaze to Yuan Qingshan, who was still sitting in the chair. "Go on, tell me your condition. I'll give you this chance."

Yuan Qingshan gazed at him with something like infatuation. "There's no rush. Once we're out, I'll arrange a time to meet you. Just remember what you agreed to today."

Suddenly, an alert sounded in the surveillance room.

A surveillance feed appeared on the large screen. It showed a tidy room, but the window had been smashed by a figure who was suspended from a rope and climbing inside.

He looked up and met the camera in the corner.

A striking, sharply aggressive face came into view.

It was Luo Ningsang.

He had broken in.