Making Arrangements

"How heartbreaking. No. 3, listen to the way you talk to me. Am I really worth less to you than some strange woman?" No. 13 said, feigning hurt.

Then he abruptly changed his tone and chuckled lecherously. "But No. 3, I've heard Miss Huang Si Nuo is a rare beauty. Are you really not going to consider it? If it were No. 2, he'd probably have already decided what brand of formula to feed their second child."

"If I wouldn't do something, No. 2 wouldn't either. The Chief taught us long ago not to take advantage of people when they're down. If she knew what you just said, she wouldn't be happy."

"And another thing." Luo He spoke very formally. "My most important goal here is to ensure the safety of Old Man Huang's family. That's the Chief's arrangement, and Huang Si Nuo is on the list too."

No. 13 narrowed his eyes with a sly grin. "You really do say 'the Chief' this and 'the Chief' that. Our No. 3 truly is the one who follows orders to the letter."

Apparently realizing his teasing wasn't going over well, No. 13 changed the subject. "Report on your situation, No. 3. I need to compile the intelligence and assess our next move."

Because of his abilities, No. 13 held a rather unusual position within Deep Red. He wasn't a valiant fighter who charged into battle, but Deep Red's intelligence analyst, and occasionally its command center as well.

"Early this morning, two intruders broke into Old Man Huang's study. Both were Apostles, codenamed Snake Woman and Sand Ghost. They were high-level A-rank. I've already eliminated them, and we suffered no casualties."

"They'd clearly come prepared. They weren't carrying any documents that could point to them, or anything else that could prove their