Chapter 11

"Winter Witch!" Xiao Zhan exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the person before him. "Please, come in! Please, come in!"

Beside him, Glasses couldn't help but straighten his posture. The girl in front of them had jumped to B-rank 78th place in just two years as a popular hero, and most importantly, she was a stunning beauty. Among the superheroes in H City, she was easily in the top three in popularity.

Miss Dong walked over to an executive chair and sat down. "No need to be so formal. Just call me Dong, or Dong Xue'er if you prefer."

"Got it, it's a great honor!" Xiao Zhan and Glasses said in unison.

"Sorry for the poor hospitality, I'll get you something to drink right away." Xiao Zhan quickly added, "Glasses, go buy some snacks! All we have left at home are spicy strips."

"No problem. I left a pair of glasses at the store I usually go to." With that, Glasses vanished, and in his place, a pair of glasses lay on the floor.

"An interesting ability." Dong Xue'er glanced at the glasses on the floor and said, "You guys are pretty amusing here."

Dong Xue'er cast a meaningful look at the little girl peeking at her from behind the sofa and spoke.

"Uh... please don't misunderstand, we're not perverts." Xiao Zhan said hurriedly. "Those rumors out there aren't true."

"Relax, I don't care if you're a pervert or not." Dong Xue'er finished speaking and pointed at Lin Jie, who was standing off to the side. "I came here for him."

"Me?"

"Yes." Dong Xue'er's hand then reached up to touch Lin Jie's face. "I need your power. I hope you'll help me. We're about to have a major operation, and your destructive force is indispensable."

"Hey, hey." Lin Jie dodged backward. "I'm not interested. Doesn't the Hero Association have plenty of strong people? What's the point of looking for an E-rank like me?"

"E-rank? You have a record of taking down B-rank heroes in one hit twice." Dong Xue'er looked at Lin Jie and said, "You know, in all of H City, you're the only one besides one other person who can do that."

"Then I'm not planning to help you." Lin Jie looked at the woman before him and said, "I can clearly see the word 'trouble' written all over your face."

"What are you saying! Of course we have to help Miss Dong." Xiao Zhan came over with a cup of coffee and said, "This is a great chance for our team to make a name for ourselves. Teaming up with Miss Dong."

"But," Lin Jie said, "my gut tells me getting involved with her will be a huge pain."

"How can you talk about Miss Dong like that?" Glasses appeared in front of everyone at that moment, holding a bag of snacks. "And even if Miss Dong's business is troublesome, we still have to help!"

Watching the two men wagging their tails like lapdogs in front of this woman, Lin Jie couldn't help but sigh again—this really was a world that judged by looks. The moment a pretty woman spoke, these two men rushed over.

"I said, what are you two getting excited about? She's looking for me, not you." Lin Jie said.

"Aren't we a team?" Xiao Zhan said.

"That's right. Your business is my business. Good brothers stand by each other." Glasses chimed in.

"Damn! Now we're good brothers, huh? Let me tell you, selling out your buddy feels good for a moment, but your whole family ends up in the crematorium!" Lin Jie shouted in dissatisfaction.

"Hehehe, your two teammates are much cuter than you." Miss Dong said as she looked at Lin Jie. "But I expected you to answer that way. After all, with your strength, it should be easy for you to rank up if you wanted to. But this time, you'll definitely help me, because we already have a common enemy."

"What?" Lin Jie asked in surprise.

"It's because of her." Miss Dong pointed at the little girl beside her and said, "After you busted that deal, you've already landed yourselves in trouble."

"What?" Xiao Zhan said in shock. "Didn't that biotech company collapse already?"

"They're done for, sure, but aren't you curious who the trading partner was of that massive underground force that even the gods and ghosts had been investigating for two whole years?" Dong Xue'er said.

"You mean they're strong?" Glasses asked in surprise.

"Let's put it this way: not long after you sent the buyers to the Hero Association, they were secretly transferred away." Dong Xue'er took a sip of coffee and said, "But according to intelligence, they've already been rescued by unknown persons."

"What?!" Xiao Zhan exclaimed in shock.

"Do you know what their company is called?" Dong Xue'er asked.

"No idea." The three shook their heads in unison.

"Ignorance truly is bliss." Dong Xue'er glanced at the three of them and said, "Their company is called the Evolution Company."

"What?!" Xiao Zhan and Glasses both screamed in shock.

"The Evolution Company? Are they that strong?" Lin Jie asked, looking at his two companions, who were already trembling all over.

"It's not just strong!" Glasses said. "They're a world-class criminal organization!"

"Not only that, but the number of heroes who've died at their hands over the years is countless! Even an S-rank hero died at their hands. They're a bona fide S-rank criminal organization." Xiao Zhan continued.

"Exactly. And the girl you brought back happens to be the key to breaking through one of their latest research projects." Dong Xue'er said. "Even if you don't help me, sooner or later they'll come for you."

"Well, that's a real pain! So, what do we need to do?" Lin Jie asked curiously.

"Protect that girl." Dong Xue'er said.

"You've got such good intel, can't you just tell me where those Evolution Company people are? I'll go chop them all up myself." Lin Jie said. "I hate trouble."

"Heh, I admit you're strong, but you're nowhere near capable of fighting the Evolution Company head-on. Besides, if we really find their headquarters, plenty of S-rank heroes will be mobilized. Maybe even SS-rank." Dong Xue'er looked at Lin Jie and said, "And in H City, the Evolution Company isn't our only enemy."

"You mean there's someone else?" Lin Jie asked.

"Yes." Dong Xue'er said. "It's the Hero Association's chairman, Ouyang Rui."

"What?" All three were visibly shocked by this answer.

"You mean Chairman Ouyang Rui and the Evolution Company..." Glasses caught on and said in shock.

Dong Xue'er nodded. "I came today for another reason—to warn you that the Hero Association in H City has completely rotted. They'll likely demand you hand over that little girl."

"What! They want to steal our loli too? I'll make them regret it." Lin Jie said angrily.

"You're getting angry at the weirdest places," Glasses remarked.

"Then why should we trust you?" Xiao Zhan asked, his expression turning serious.

"Take a look at these."

With that, Dong Xue'er plugged a USB drive into Xiao Zhan's computer. It displayed a collection of the chairman's crimes, including rigging hero rankings and large-scale money transactions with certain special individuals in H City.

"After seeing this evidence, do you still trust the current Hero Association?" Dong Xue'er asked.

"Alright, what should we do?" Xiao Zhan asked.

"I told you, I have a major operation coming up. In three days, I'll lead the righteous members of the H City Hero Association to take down Ouyang Rui. For that, I need a lot of strong combat power," Dong Xue'er said.

"But what's the charge? The money transactions will definitely be suppressed. It can't be because he's playing favorites behind the scenes," Xiao Zhan said after a moment of thought.

"I'm starting to appreciate you." Dong Xue'er poked his forehead. "You do have some insight after all. Actually, three days from now, he's scheduled to meet with the Evolution Company."

"You mean we take him and the Evolution Company down together?" Glasses asked.

"Exactly," Dong Xue'er said. "If it weren't for him, the Evolution Company wouldn't be able to move freely in and out of H City. When the time comes, I'll need your strength, Lin Jie."

"Fine," Lin Jie said.

"I hope we work well together," Dong Xue'er said.

"Wait, I have a question," Glasses said. "Do you know who she is?"

Glasses pointed at the little loli beside him.

"I don't know much either." Dong Xue'er's expression darkened. "I only know she's one of the children from the orphanage run by the organization you destroyed. But it seems hundreds of kids in that orphanage died due to failed experiments. She's the only successful case."

"You knew about their experiments before?" Lin Jie asked. "So you're saying they killed hundreds of little lolis alive?"

Meeting Lin Jie's gaze, Dong Xue'er nodded.

"Then since you knew all along, why didn't you save those kids? Aren't you supposed to be a hero too?" Lin Jie's expression turned stern. "You investigated the chairman and the Evolution Company plenty. Why didn't you stop this from happening?"

"At that time, I hadn't made up my mind yet." Dong Xue'er's eyes wavered. "And if I had acted, my undercover investigation and evidence collection would have been exposed, so..."

"So you just ignored whether those kids lived or died?" Lin Jie asked.

His face was grim. Beside him, Xiao Zhan and Glasses kept tugging at his clothes, signaling him not to push the topic too far.

"So I don't want something like this to happen again." Dong Xue'er bowed her head to Lin Jie. "Please, according to the data, in H City, the only one who isn't on Ouyang Rui's side and can break through his defense domain is you. So I hope you'll help me."

"Fine, I'll agree," Lin Jie said. "But anyone who lets something like this happen, no matter how noble their stance, is scum in my eyes."

At that moment, Lin Jie's aura became overwhelmingly powerful, nearly suffocating everyone in the room. Even Dong Xue'er, who had seen many strong people since childhood, trembled instinctively. She could feel that if Lin Jie's presence were fully directed at her, she might lose all ability to fight.