This woman was truly striking. Her perfume was alluring without being vulgar, and every smile, every frown, every gesture, every movement sent men's hormones surging.
"Hello, handsome."
She seemed somewhat flirtatious as she took the initiative to speak to Yan Anqing. "My name is Ye Aida. Although you've wrapped yourself up like a rice dumpling, your temperament is completely different from ordinary people's..."
"I'm very interested in you."
The woman with long, golden, wavy hair had a slender figure. Every word she spoke came with a soft nasal murmur, brimming with seduction.
The moment a stranger approached Yan Anqing, the two security personnel in plain clothes following before and behind him immediately focused their attention on her.
But after seeing her behavior, they withdrew their gazes and continued searching for other potential security threats.
Back at the base, everyone had been spreading rumors about Yan Anqing—
That because he was good-looking, Dongfang Zhi had taken advantage of him, allowing him to go from an unemployed drifter to being recommended to the Yaoguang Section; and that lately, he had even been living with Dr. Jiang Xinyue, and so on...
Rumors stopped with the wise, but most people in the world could only see the surface.
The two bodyguards responsible for Yan Anqing's safety were no exception.
In their eyes, Yan Anqing was a born ladies' man. Flirting with a strange beauty on the street—or even having a one-night stand on a whim—was not entirely impossible.
After all, researchers were people too. For someone like Yan Anqing, who could stay holed up in the base for more than a month without stepping outside, he was already remarkably patient.
"Heh."
Yan Anqing looked the self-proclaimed "Ye Aida" up and down for a moment, then sneered. "But I'm not interested in you."
After completing Main Quest 1, he had gained the Cross-Sectional Mapping function in addition to soul binding.
At a glance, he could see the muscle patterns beneath her smooth skin and the extent of her nerve atrophy.
Artificial apple cheeks, cheekbones polished by machinery, excessive use of facial-slimming injections, a textbook V-shaped chin...
Hyaluronic acid used to raise her nose bridge, who knew how much botulinum toxin had been injected around her eyes, and her orbicularis oculi muscles were sagging horribly...
Setting aside those clearly observable flaws, the surgery had been quite successful overall, at least raising her appearance by three or four points.
Yan Anqing had no prejudice against women who loved beauty, but someone like the woman before him, running around with a face that did not belong to her and flirting with men everywhere, could not earn much of his goodwill.
Regardless of gender, Yan Anqing respected people who kept themselves clean and proper more.
At Yan Anqing's words, Ye Aida's smile froze on her face.
A flush rose to her cheeks, and she seemed furious, but her facial muscles were not cooperating. Her expression looked halfway between laughter and tears, strangely eerie.
Suddenly, Ye Aida leaned close to Yan Anqing and said in a low, cloyingly sweet voice, "Dr. Yan, some people in Virginia are very interested in you."
"If you are willing to contribute to freedom, democracy, and public power across the world, we will ensure your safety while giving you treatment you could never enjoy in China."
"Don't rush to refuse! I know people from your country care deeply about saving face and hate being seen as traitors, right?"
"We will use our influence over public opinion in your country, employing celebrity scandals and sensational news to minimize the impact of your turn toward democracy."
"Besides... your country's upper ranks will not make a huge spectacle of this sort of negative news either."
"As long as you are willing to come to America, you will certainly receive the highest level of research funding, the most advanced equipment, and outstanding graduates—even master's students—from universities such as Stanford, Cambridge, MIT, Boston, California, Hollins, and Columbia. You can choose any of them as your assistants!"
"As for the specific procedures, you need not worry! We have a complete and proper process in place!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Anqing raised an eyebrow.
So that was it.
This woman calling herself Ye Aida was clearly a covert spy. She had mentioned "Virginia"...
This was an olive branch extended from the Lighthouse Building.
"Your country?"
A puzzled look appeared on Yan Anqing's face. "You aren't Chinese?"
Judging from her bone structure, there was not the slightest sign of mixed heritage in her. She was standard Yellow Race.
Moreover, she spoke Mandarin fluently, without the slightest foreign accent.
Ye Aida curled her red lips upward and evasively replied, "I was born in China and raised in China, but I possess a sincere heart that longs for the lighthouse."
"I see..."
Yan Anqing crooked a finger at her. "Come closer. Let's have a little private chat."
There was a chance!
Overjoyed, Ye Aida immediately leaned toward Yan Anqing's ear, trying to put on an intimate pose.
Her superiors had told her countless times how important Yan Anqing was.
This was a staggering achievement!
Once she returned to America, her future would be boundless!
A sharp pain suddenly shot through her lower abdomen.
Bang!
Ye Aida was kicked into the air. She landed face down on the ground, her abdomen twisting with agonizing pain. She dry-heaved twice and could not get back up for a long while.
"I've never hit a woman in my life."
Yan Anqing looked at Ye Aida expressionlessly. "You made me break that rule."
A female undercover agent was not a woman?
There was no such thing as that kind of spiritual self-deception.
Yan Anqing never justified what he had done.
As a Descendant of Yan and Huang, he would not be a traitor.
This was one of his few bottom lines.
Seeing the commotion here, the two security personnel in the distance quickly closed in.
Now, Yan Anqing understood the whole story.
This was probably the "unrest" Xie Zhe had mentioned.
The conflict was not internal. It came from other forces.
"Damn it!"
Enduring the pain, Ye Aida pulled a lipstick-like object from her pocket and aimed it at Yan Anqing.
Before she came, she had received many instructions.
Recruiting him would be best. If recruitment failed, she was to eliminate him!
As long as Yan Anqing, who refused to defect, remained alive, he would be a disaster and a hidden danger to America!
The "lipstick" in Ye Aida's hand was actually a miniature firearm. Its caliber was small, but if it hit the right spot, it could still kill with one shot.
"Die!"
She aimed the lipstick gun at Yan Anqing's left eye and fiercely triggered the mechanism.
Click!
A mechanism inside the disguised lipstick gun clicked uselessly.
Ye Aida was pinned to the ground by the two security personnel who lunged at her.
"Impossible!"
"Why did this happen?"
Ye Aida's vicious grin froze on her face.
Before coming here, she had repeatedly checked her weapon. There should have been absolutely nothing wrong with it!
The bullet jamming should have been impossible...
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Ye Aida stared at Yan Anqing with a face full of hatred.
If this country did not forbid civilians from owning guns, how could she have failed over such a trivial detail!
Damn China, its citizens did not even have the right to freely own guns. As expected, it was still inferior to the Lighthouse Nation!
Burning with resentment, Ye Aida was firmly pinned down by the two security personnel and could not move.
"Dr. Yan, let's return to the base first..."
"Mm."
Yan Anqing nodded slightly.
Why had Ye Aida's lipstick gun malfunctioned?
Naturally, he had tampered with it.
The Cross-Sectional Mapping perspective had allowed him to discover her backup plan long ago.
Things outside really were not peaceful now. It was better to stay in the base, remaster the world, and develop steadily.