All Tricks

To be Li Changqing's bodyguard?

Qing Chen calculated in his mind that this was a critical period for the power transition in the Li family. The fact that the other party suddenly came from City No. 1 must be to participate in this good show that was about to unfold.

At a time like this, every member of the Li family is in danger. If I, an E-Class, were to act as her bodyguard, wouldn't I be handing myself a gun?

Moreover, Qing Chen's current goal is to wait for the Shadow Candidate to fight each other, and then reap the benefits.

He had no desire to get involved in the power transition within the Li family.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and politely declined, saying, "I'm just an ordinary person, I can't be your bodyguard..."

Li Changqing said with a smile, "You said yesterday that you were an E-Class gene warrior, have you forgotten? You told me not to worry..."

Qing Chen's expression changed. What was he trying to reassure Li Changqing about?! Why specifically mention information about gene warriors?!

The entire revolving restaurant at the Sunlight Pavilion was deserted except for two chefs who were preparing dinner.

Li Changqing was very generous; he booked the entire place the first time he met Qing Chen, leaving only time for the two of them to be alone.

Outside the glass window was the dazzling night view of City No. 18. Inside the glass window, Li Changqing fiddled with the black earring on his earlobe, looking at Qing Chen with a smile.

Qing Chen said, "Your bodyguards should all be stronger than me, right? They should at least be D-Class to be your bodyguards."

"You're right," Li Changqing said with a smile, "But I only made you my bodyguard so I could keep you by my side. Do you think I'd actually send you to handle dangerous situations? Don't worry, it's just so we can spend more time together and develop our relationship."

Qing Chen thought to himself, getting paid without dealing with dangerous incidents does sound very safe...

But if his master knew that he and his sister were spending every day together and developing feelings for each other, he might really die.

The master was over fifty years old, but his sister was still quite young. At 34, she was well-maintained and looked like she was in her twenties. If it weren't for her mature attire, many people would believe she was a young woman.

The Inner World is technologically advanced; it's said that a bottle of skincare essence can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Outer World.

Many Time Walker nowadays take a more approachable route. Since gene serums and the like are hard to come by, they simply buy skincare products from shopping malls and bring them back to the Outer World —simple and convenient.

If Qing Chen weren't worried about being targeted by malicious individuals, he would have wanted to resell these things.

Just then, a girl in a suit walked into the restaurant.

Li Changqing frowned. "Didn't I tell you not to come in and disturb us unless it's something really important?"

The female subordinate bowed apologetically. "Boss, it's important, it's about Kashima and Heng Society."

As he spoke, he glanced at Qing Chen, seemingly not wanting Qing Chen to overhear.

But Li Changqing waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be so cautious about those two matters. Let's just talk about it."

"Yes, we've captured one of Kashima's men. He's been lurking in City No. 18," the subordinate said. "As you suspected, Kashima and Kamishiro have been involved in some of the previous incidents."

"Hmm," Li Changqing's expression turned cold, "Yue'er, you're in charge of the surprise interrogation. Pry his mouth open within 24 hours. I need to know which family member Deer Island is supporting. Those northern bastards who dare to interfere in the affairs of the Li family can forget about going back."

"Understood," Yue'er nodded and said.

Qing Chen's expression remained unchanged, but he suddenly wondered to himself, "Is this Yue'er the same as what's in the chat group?"

It's hard to say, after all, Time Walker wouldn't be foolish enough to use their real name as their ID.

At this moment, Li Changqing asked, "What happened to Heng Society?"

Yue'er said, "Tonight, thirteen gangs have gathered at the Unending Club to discuss purging the Heng Society. They believe that since Mr. Li Shutong is dead, the Heng Society has lost its biggest backer, so they plan to divide up the profits."

"At a time like this, there are still people causing trouble in the shadows, courting death without even considering the time," Li Changqing asked coldly, "Which gangs are involved?"

"Hesheng Society, Qing Society, Cheng Society..."

Li Changqing thought for a moment, "Let our people keep an eye on this. This is a good opportunity to clean up the rats in the sewers of City No. 18 as well."

When Qing Chen heard about this, he didn't worry about Heng Society and Li Dongze at all, since he knew very well that Li Shutong was not dead.

As long as their master is still around, those dozen or so gangs won't be able to cause any trouble. In other words, Lin Xiaoxiao, Ye Wan, and Li Dongze are enough to handle them.

What Qing Chen was concerned about was whether this was an opportunity for him to take advantage of the situation to destroy Hesheng Society and help Liu Dezhu clear his name.

He suddenly felt that this second-generation princess of the Li family seemed to have a lot of power. Could he obtain a lot of information anytime and anywhere by following her?

Moreover, it was all very crucial intelligence.

The girl named Yue'er left, Li Changqing smiled at Qing Chen, "Sorry to have these trivial matters disturb our dinner."

"It's nothing," Qing Chen said casually, but in his heart he actually hoped that Yue'er could say more.

When the appetizers for dinner arrived, Qing Chen got up and sat upright opposite Li Changqing to eat his meal properly. But the next second, he felt the other man's feet rubbing against his legs.

Qing Chen's scalp tingled; he had never seen anything like this before. "Auntie, this really can't be done!"

"I love seeing you shy. You're Heart Arsonist online, but you're so shy in real life. It's really interesting," Li Changqing said, stopping his meal and resting his chin on his hand as he sized up Qing Chen. "How about I suggested you stay with your aunt and get to know her a little better?"

Although Qing Chen really wanted to extract information, he was worried that his master would really beat him to death, so he quickly wiped his mouth and said, "Auntie, I need to think about this matter some more..."

"It's alright, Auntie will give you time to think it over," Li Changqing said with a smile. "No rush, you have a long life ahead of you."

When Li Changqing smiled, the small mole on the other person's lip looked particularly delicate and alluring.

"Okay, thank you, Auntie. I'm full. See you next time," Qing Chen said, getting up and walking out, thinking to himself that there probably wouldn't be a next time.

Li Changqing sat alone by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching Qing Chen's figure disappear. After a while, she received a message on her phone from "Heart Arsonist": "I'm not quite used to how we interact in real life yet. You were beautiful tonight, as beautiful as a unique black violet in City No. 18... Give me some time, I'm convincing myself to come back to you..."

The woman laughed and turned off her phone, "You actually tried to play hard to get with me, using all sorts of tricks like playing hard to get and then putting me down. I can tell you like me a lot too."

On the hovercar, Qing Chen loosened his tie and said expressionlessly, "Do you know that, by blood, she is my master's younger sister?"

"I know," Yi said, "But you and she aren't related by blood."

"She's 17 years older than me!" Qing Chen said.

"From the perspective of worldly values, it is indeed unconventional for you and her to develop feelings for each other," Yi said. "But do you know what romance is? It's the feeling of persisting in something you know is impossible. That's romance."

Qing Chen was confused; how could this Artificial Intelligence speak in such a logical and coherent way?

At this moment, Yi said, "What I said earlier was all a joke, of course. But you should also know very well that no matter what you want to do next, following Li Changqing will be a good choice. She hasn't forced you to do anything, and you only need to pretend to be a bodyguard to get extra information. Isn't that better than slowly gathering intelligence on your own?"

Qing Chen was deep in thought.

Yi continued, "I know you and she can't possibly develop feelings for each other. I'm only giving you these suggestions for your own good, hoping they'll help you with your work in the future."

Qing Chen continued to ponder.

The next moment, Yi said nonchalantly, "I told her that 'Heart Arsonist' is a gene warrior who uses the gene serum that happens to be the FDE gene serum sequence of the Li family. She promised to help Heart Arsonist complete the remaining 003, 002, and 001 sequences."

"FDE gene serum?" Qing Chen was taken aback.

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" Yi said. "It's exactly the gene serum sequence that Liu Dezhu was injected with. Now that kid is completely loyal to you, but he's only had the 005 injection. Although it's difficult to continue awakening upwards, think about it, if you give him all the gene serum, wouldn't it be great to have another loyal B-Class subordinate?"

Qing Chen frowned. "He's already awakened, can he still receive gene serum at the same time?"

"Of course you can, but most people have a hard time getting the gene serum," Yi said. "But Li Changqing is different. She controls half of the gene serum in the entire Li family. Even a tiny bit of it leaking out of her hands for you would be a huge benefit that others would dream of."

Yi added, "In the past, I definitely wouldn't have advised you to continue injecting Liu Dezhu, but he's so loyal to you now. Having a subordinate like that can completely help you surpass the other Shadow Candidate. Think about it, the protectors of the other candidates are only C-Class, but you can raise Liu Dezhu to B-Class in just a few months. Although B-Class is the maximum, it's enough to compete with the other candidates. And most importantly, Li Changqing is in charge of the gene serum. If you cultivate a good relationship with her, you can raise not only Liu Dezhu, but even an entire B-Class team!"

Qing Chen pondered that Nan Gengchen still had no ability to protect himself. Although the other party wanted to be a hacker, a B-Class superhuman hacker seemed to be more formidable.

If someone traces Nan Gengchen through the internet, he can still escape thanks to his superior physical abilities.

As for issues like affecting fertility, even the medical standards of the Outer World can solve them.

It's not about eliminating the effects of gene-editing agents on the human body, but about freezing sperm at the hospital before injecting gene-editing agents.

Although it costs money every year, the benefits of the gene therapy seem insignificant compared to the cost.

Qing Chen said calmly, "No matter what you say, you just want me to continue playing your role and stay by Li Changqing's side."

"How could you think of me like that?" Yi said. "We're friends. Would I, a fair and selfless Artificial Intelligence, betray my friends?"

"Yes," Qing Chen said expressionlessly, "But your analysis does make sense."

Meanwhile, Li Changqing had just boarded the hovercar, suddenly received another message: "I've convinced myself, and I've decided to return to your side and become your bodyguard. Although my strength is still weak now, I believe that one day I will be strong enough to protect you..."

Li Changqing sat in the car, carefully reading the message, feeling very pleased.