The Jinx

The Phantom Flying Car let out a piercing alarm. Rather than deterring the woman outside, it only made her escalate, and she delivered several more hard kicks in quick succession.

"You bastard! What did you mean by leaving me behind?"

Ronan looked out the window, one brow rising.

What he saw was a snow-white thigh lifted high, along with the hem of a tight skirt that looked ready to tear. His gaze traveled upward to the newcomer's face. After a moment's recollection, he matched her to a name.

Long Legs... All right, this woman was called Lian Yu. She had also attended the club promotion event on the twenty-fourth, as the Student Union's club representative.

At dawn, she had been the one clinging to Xie Junping, nearly dragged into the car with him. But when weighed against Xie Junping's political future, she had been discarded like an old shoe.

Ronan was no moral judge and could not be bothered to pass judgment. Nor did he want to get tangled up with her. He lowered the window and answered simply, "Senior Xie isn't here. Is there something you need, Senior Lian?"

Lian Yu stared blankly at the empty driver's seat. Then the words "Senior Lian" jolted her awake. Her still-confused eyes swept over Ronan's face twice before she abruptly moved away from the window.

A few seconds later, the window on Ronan's side was struck with great force.

Ronan shook his head and lowered it. The next instant, however, two hands with long manicured nails reached inside and seized his collar, hauling him desperately toward the window.

"Thief! Catch the thief!" Lian Yu's shrill voice carried far down the highway.

The surrounding drivers had already been brimming with gossip over the "long-legged beauty furiously kicking a luxury car." Now that there was a spectacle to join, they were itching with excitement.

But a group of still-drunken young people acted before them. Ignoring the police cordon, they rushed down from a row of luxury cars farther back and swarmed over. Lian Yu had come from that direction too. Apparently, after wrapping up their nightclub revelry, they had gotten caught in the traffic jam on their way back.

With these lawless youngsters taking the lead, the other drivers did not dare approach.

What kind of people were these?

Amid sharp, raucous laughter, the young people first crowded toward the window. Finding the cramped space could fit no more of them, they began howling and striking the five-hundred-million-credit flying car with fists and feet, trying to leave marks or dents on its body without the slightest concern for the piercing alarm.

Some even used the hood as a drum, pounding out a wild nightclub rhythm.

"Make some noise, check it out; catch the thief, catch the thief!"

"Lao Xie's got a good trick, turning into a Pretty Boy to scare me!"

"Lian Yu steals men, not cars. Lao Xie loses his car and his face!"

"Look, look, let's see if there's anything in the trunk..."

Amid the chaos, someone actually tried to open the trunk. How could he get it open? Instead, one of his companions kicked him in the ass, sending him rolling beneath the car.

The chaotic, crazed scene left the surrounding drivers staring in shock.

Inside the car, Lian Yu had caught Ronan's collar by surprise, but he reacted quickly. As soon as she pulled him up from the seatback, he seized the vital point on her wrist and directly drained her strength.

Lian Yu cried out in pain and lost her balance, falling into the car. Their faces instantly drew close.

She still wore heavy nightclub makeup, which made her features seem deeper and more defined, seductive and alluring.

But Ronan's gaze penetrated the highlighter, blush, and false eyelashes, seeing the puffiness in her face and the dense, strange bloodshot veins in her eyes. Combined with the bodily response beneath his fingertips, he could confirm it.

Lian Yu—and all her crazed companions—were not only still hungover, but had also taken varying amounts of drugs during their revelry.

Among circles of wealthy heirs, that was nothing unusual. But had they never considered the trouble such unrestrained behavior in public might bring? Especially with an experienced police officer nearby?

Forget it... Expecting this lot to use their brains was giving them too much credit.

Ronan absolutely did not want to be dragged down by these idiots. He shoved Lian Yu away, but before he could decide what to do, the middle-aged policeman returned while talking to someone. His gaze had become increasingly wary, and he even placed a hand on his weapon's firing mechanism.

At that moment, the car's Smart Brain issued another warning, completely different from before. "Attention. Multiple forms of scanning detected. There is a risk of privacy exposure. It is recommended that you activate..."

Before the warning ended, a humming vibration rose up. Dozens of small police drones crossed the jammed traffic and swept through the air above the area. A cold mechanical voice descended.

"All non-police personnel on the road, immediately place your hands over your heads and lie prone. You have violated Article 16, Clause 5 of the Emergency Security Act and must submit to inspection. I repeat..."

The young people stared blankly at the batlike drones flying overhead. The wild, boisterous atmosphere instantly dissipated by more than half.

Still, not everyone could maintain even basic clarity. One "hero" raised his middle finger at the swarm of "bats" in the sky.

"Fuck off, police dogs!"

The response was crackling electricity.

The "hero" did not even grunt before falling face-first onto the ground with a heavy thud that made hearts shudder.

An empty space immediately cleared around the Phantom Flying Car. Anyone with a functioning brain obediently lay prone with their hands over their heads. Even the occasional person left standing stupidly was forcibly dragged down by their companions.

You could not reason with police drones, all right?

There had always been considerable criticism of intelligent police weapons in society. People said they lacked restraint and could easily cause accidents. But when it came to chaotic scenes, the universally acknowledged most efficient method was still "drone cleansing." It minimized human factors to the greatest extent, making things easier for everyone to account for afterward.

These "well-trained" rich second-generation heirs had long understood that their privilege only worked against living people. A wise man did not fight when the odds were against him. At worst, they would be taken to the station. What else were lawyers for?

Outside the window, Lian Yu was lying on the ground as well. Ronan had finally gotten some peace and quiet, but this was not the kind of "peace and quiet" he wanted.

The middle-aged policeman came back to the car. The young people on the ground were all extremely obedient now, at most cautiously shifting position, terrified that the heavy Exoskeleton Armor might step on their heads.

Still, some firmly memorized the policeman's face and vowed to make him pay someday.

The middle-aged policeman ignored the young people's petty thoughts. Standing by the window, he fixed his eyes on Ronan while also inspecting the interior of the car.

The Smart Brain was still issuing its "privacy exposure" warning. Finding it too noisy, Ronan simply turned it off. He knew perfectly well that the so-called "multiple forms of scanning" were most likely caused by this officer accessing detection equipment.

Ronan had nothing to hide, so he asked directly, "Officer, what is it?"

Since Ronan was cooperative, the middle-aged policeman followed procedure. He saluted Ronan and showed his identification. It said his name was Xue Weilun, and he was already over fifty. You truly could not tell from his appearance.

Up to this point, their interaction had actually been quite peaceful. But that atmosphere immediately collapsed after Officer Xue asked Ronan to open the trunk.

Inside the trunk, Officer Xue picked up a translucent container. Without another word to Ronan, he opened it directly. The armored fingers displayed astonishing dexterity, and he quickly revealed the small, separately sealed bottles inside.

He unscrewed one of them, took out the capsule-shaped pill within, and gave it a light crush. Tiny specks of white powder scattered out.

The red light on Officer Xue's belt scanner flashed. He turned to stare at Ronan, his expression dark.

Ronan's eyelid twitched. Years of laboratory experience had made him particularly sensitive to certain drugs, and he instantly understood the trouble he was facing.

That fucking screwup Xie Junping!

Then another absurd thought popped into his mind: Maybe he could use Xie Junping as a supplier someday?

Xie Junping sneezed again, his nose glowing red.

He knew this had to be the result of too many people's resentful curses. The cold, the headache—he had brought it all upon himself.

He had barely managed to temporarily settle matters on Mangzhong's side when the developments in Xia City nearly scared him pissless. There was still a canister of True Fate in the car. How had he forgotten that?

The person who informed Xie Junping of this was Miss Zhang Yingying from the Youlan Agency.

There was no longer any need for the two sides to sneak around. They could communicate directly through virtual transmission. Supported by AR technology, it was as if they were speaking face-to-face in a Reception Room.

Xie Junping had always privately called Zhang Yingying a "switchboard operator," someone at the Youlan Agency who merely handled calls and messages. But he had to admit that this sharp-tongued "switchboard operator" was indeed an eye-catching beauty.

Zhang Yingying looked only eighteen or nineteen. Her medium-short hair hung casually loose, and her features were bright and open, with a slightly boyish air—though her figure was anything but boyish.

It was already autumn, yet she wore a sleeveless spaghetti-strap crop top. Her snow-white shoulders and neck were exposed, while two thin straps crossed above her full breasts, enough to draw every man's gaze.

Below the waist, she wore a denim miniskirt adorned with layered straps, giving her a thoroughly cool look.

At the moment, her long white legs were propped high on the Boss's desk. Her Roman-style flat sandals with wrapping straps swayed idly from side to side. The denim skirt had slipped all the way to the roots of her thighs, but because of the angle, there was nothing to see.

Xie Junping had no mind for that anyway. He paced back and forth across the room, restless with anxiety.

Everyone knew that "low-addiction psychotropic drugs" were currently becoming widespread around the world. It would be unbelievable for one of the wealthy crowd's private parties not to feature such things. But political public opinion did not care about that. If you were stupid enough to expose it, you would be hammered to death without being given a chance to explain.

In a sense, this was even more serious than him sneaking off to attend the party. Add in the gang of "fair-weather friends" who had triggered this fatal problem, and with all the threads connected, the consequences were far from as simple as one plus one.

"Lian Yu, you bitch. Li Xuecheng, This Old Man will remember you. Liu Tao, that bastard definitely had a hand in this..."

Like a trapped beast, Xie Junping wailed inside an invisible Iron Cage. Of course, what he most urgently wanted to know was the situation in Xia City... Had he already been implicated?

"What are you keeping lawyers for? Send them in!"

Zhang Yingying wore an expression that plainly said, "Keep troublemakers away from me," as though she were about to slack off.

Xie Junping understood perfectly well. This little bitch was clearly treating him like Yang Gu again. But he was panicking, so he could only force a smile. "These are extraordinary times. I'll feel more at ease with experts like you handling it. Naturally, the payment will be more than sufficient."

Zhang Yingying spread her hands. "Then what do you want me to do? Go onto a military Transport Ship and snatch people back?"

"A military Transport Ship? Why the military?"

Xie Junping's voice cracked.

Zhang Yingying held up three fingers. "The government, the military, and Quantum Corporation. This research base was, at least nominally, jointly built by all three parties. Now, for no apparent reason, a nuclear bomb has gone off..."

"A nuclear bomb?" Xie Junping's face turned green.

"Don't misunderstand. It's just an analogy, though it's basically the same. In short, no one can accept this outcome. But what exactly happened? A natural disaster? A terrorist attack?"

Zhang Yingying leisurely swung her foot. "Now every side wants an explanation, especially the government and military, those two hands-off shopkeepers. They used to enjoy Quantum Corporation's offerings to the fullest, but now that something has happened, they've discovered they know nothing at all about the laboratory. Who knows whether this was an accident or an attempt to wipe the books clean? If they don't get deeply involved, how will they explain it to those above?"

Xie Junping still could not understand. "But that doesn't mean they should toss them onto a military ship, does it?"

"That's because you don't understand how serious this is."

With one sentence, Zhang Yingying scared half the soul out of Xie Junping. Then she spread all five fingers.

"This intelligence costs this much."

Xie Junping's expression changed. "You're robbing me!"

Zhang Yingying laughed. "That's considering our long-term partnership. Otherwise, if I took this outside, I'd..."

She turned her slender white palm over, looking utterly sincere.

"I... accept!"

Xie Junping's face was livid, but he swallowed the insult anyway. Since he was spending money, he might as well see it through. Giving up halfway was the stupidest way to die.

Zhang Yingying blew him a kiss. "Relax. It's worth every credit. Any intelligence involving the Burners is worth this price!"

"The Burners?"

"Yes. According to information from a reliable channel, this is a high-end laboratory specializing in research into the 'Burning' mechanism. Its primary focus is neural anatomy..."

"Human subjects? Living subjects?" It was no wonder Xie Junping's thoughts ran wild. The previous news about Luo Yuandao had left too deep an impression, making the association inevitable.

Zhang Yingying did not draw a conclusion. "The project proposal listed the experimental subjects as 'Aberrant Species.' As for anything else, who knows?"

After a brief pause, she continued, "But none of that matters now. The key is that, during a major experiment this morning, the laboratory's energy system was forcibly shut down. The test subjects went out of control, causing a major accident with heavy casualties. The suspect took advantage of the chaos to steal the prototype of an important experimental product..."

Xie Junping blurted out, "Deep Blue Walker?"

Zhang Yingying rolled her eyes at him. "How could it be? Supposedly, it's a newly developed Quantum Corporation product, in drug form. The surrounding area is under lockdown and being searched. If that does not produce results, all of Xia City will be in turmoil for a while."

"Oh, wait... What does that have to do with them being hauled onto a Transport Ship?"

Zhang Yingying answered casually, "The killer is still at large. No one will be shown any mercy if they cause chaos. Besides, that bunch of assholes were standing there being an eyesore. Who has time to identify them one by one? Better to arrest them directly in the military's name and deal with them when there's time. It also saves the trouble of going through procedures."

"So that's it... Fuck!" Xie Junping suddenly realized that he was destined to be Yang Gu after all!

Zhang Yingying had taken such a long detour only to say that Ronan and the others had merely run into the government and military going mad and suffered collateral damage. The situation was not nearly as serious as he had imagined!

Five figures' worth of intelligence, and that was all it was for?

Xie Junping nearly slammed the table. Fortunately, he remembered this was a virtual conversation room, though his expression was still terrible.

Zhang Yingying knew exactly what he was thinking. She shook her head and sighed. "People like you are hopeless. If it were your Old Man, he wouldn't even have time to thank me right now. The important thing is the drugs, the drugs! Do I really need to spell that out?"