Two Visitors Arriving at Once

After the Lungmen Guard Department purged the mafia from the slums, everything seemed to return to how it had been before.

The people of the slums remained busy and mediocre, complaining when they should complain and working when they should work. Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat went to waste; by the roadside lay the bones of those frozen to death. The bloody scenes seemed to have long become commonplace. People had lost hope in life, and their eyes held nothing but numbness and hollow despair.

"Brother Xiaolin, are you all right?" After Rope left that day, she discovered that the pharmacy Zhuang Xiaolin ran had exploded. She rushed back in a panic, only to find ruins and corpses strewn across the ground.

She had been terrified that Zhuang Xiaolin had died there. He was the first friend she had ever made, a friend who ignored the gap between rich and poor and treated her with mutual respect.

There were only two people Rope could truly open her heart to: the grandmother who raised her, and Zhuang Xiaolin, who gave her candy, food, and money.

Fortunately, they were safe and sound. Only then did Rope's little heart, which had been pounding wildly, finally settle down. After chatting with Zhuang Xiaolin for a while, Rope left the pharmacy with that day's medicine.

Zhuang Xiaolin watched the purple-haired Cautus girl's departing back with a kindly expression, his eyes filled with memories and longing.

The only ones in the company who could keep Zhuang Xiaolin in check were his superiors—the company's board of directors. The reason he was still willing to travel across nations like an ordinary employee on business, exchanging professional expertise everywhere, was entirely because of the vow he had made and his desire to establish charitable organizations around the world.

And so, after establishing a charitable organization in San Francisco, Zhuang Xiaolin had been blown onto a plane and ended up here.

"Do you think I should set up a charity foundation or something? After all, if everyday life is nothing but killing, killing, killing, people will go crazy sooner or later." Zhuang Xiaolin asked Glaz, whose abdomen was wrapped in bandages.

Since being stabbed that day, Glaz had been recuperating. For some reason, ballistic plates could not stop a knife, yet they could block anti-materiel-grade attacks.

Even if ballistic plates were specifically meant to absorb kinetic energy and reduce the impact of bullets and other objects, after stacking so many layers, they should have had some thickness, right? Yet they had been pierced so easily by a single dagger. Even Zhuang Xiaolin found that a little unreasonable.

"Life is like art, and the source of artistic creation is the person themselves. Commander, here, you may spread your wings and do anything you wish. But the prerequisite is—we must possess a certain degree of strength."

Glaz replied as he picked up a copy of Terra Fashion Weekly and began flipping through it.

The Rainbow Six operators all had their own things to do, and Zhuang Xiaolin was happy to have some peace and quiet. He was about to lie down on the enormous custom-made recliner of his and take a comfortable afternoon nap.

Though the pharmacy had been blown up once, the overall damage was not severe. A few simple repairs had made it usable again. Infected lined up endlessly outside to buy medicine. Even without anyone watching them, they consciously placed their money into a large box before reaching out to take a bottle of medicine corresponding to its price.

They had witnessed Zhuang Xiaolin and his team with their own eyes. They were absolutely not some insignificant rabble.

After some time passed, the line outside gradually dwindled. Eventually, the last Infected bought their medicine and left. The pharmacy seemed somewhat deserted, but the box was stuffed full of Lungmen Dollars.

Chen walked along streets that had run with blood only days earlier. As a guardian of Lungmen, she had the responsibility and duty to eliminate everything that posed a threat to Lungmen.

The game Wei Yenwu and the Rat King had set up had ultimately been meant to test the Lungmen Guard Department. Once her work was done that day, Chen had run back and gotten into a huge argument with Wei Yenwu.

Though calling it an argument was not quite right—it had merely been Chen accusing him one-sidedly. Wei Yenwu had simply listened, remaining silent throughout as he accepted Chen's fury.

Only after Chen had vented everything did Wei Yenwu utter a few meaningful words.

"Huijie, you must understand. Protecting something does not necessarily mean guarding it, and taking something does not necessarily mean attacking. Everything has two sides. Now that you are a member of the Lungmen Guard Department's Special Inspection Unit, you have the responsibility and duty to safeguard Lungmen.

"But Lungmen's future will not consist of only such trivial matters. All kinds of conspiracies and open schemes will fill this homeland we protect. When that time comes, if you rely solely on the law to judge right and wrong, then you have not yet grown."

After saying that, Wei Yenwu left, leaving only a stunned Chen behind.

Chen walked through the streets and soon arrived at that pharmacy.

The entrance was empty. There was only a box and row after row of medicines that had already sold out. On the wall behind the pharmacy still hung the production permit and sales permit Chen had thrown to Zhuang Xiaolin that day.

The blue-haired dragon woman immediately noticed the middle-aged man lying in the recliner, smiling happily as he dreamed.

A black hat was wrapped round and round with rope, and he showed no intention of ever taking it off.

His face carried the weathered quality unique to middle-aged men, worn by the hardships of life yet retaining unwavering resolve. There was a sharpness between his brows, and together with those distinct features, it formed a charming face that never grew tiresome to look at. It lacked the greasy smoothness of those young pretty boys, carrying instead the flavor of maturity and giving others a unique sense of reassurance.

Without realizing it, Chen became lost in thought as she stared at him. The passersby around her deliberately avoided the dragon woman's spot.

Not far away, a Zalak girl with long pale-purple hair walked step by step toward the pharmacy. Her footsteps were light, yet no less elegant.

When the Zalak girl saw the dragon woman staring blankly at someone's face, she unconsciously paused.

"Chen Huijie? What are you looking at?"

Lin Yuxia's voice broke Chen's reverie and brought her out of that dazed state.

"Lin Yuxia...? Why are you here?" Chen asked in surprise as she looked at the newcomer.

"I came to keep an eye on someone, and to bring something over while I was at it."

Lin Yuxia pointed at the pharmacy behind Chen, then waved the black card in her right hand.

"Is the person you're watching named Zhuang Xiaolin?"

Seeing Lin Yuxia like this, Chen asked curiously.

Lin Yuxia said nothing, merely nodding.

"He's resting. Shall we wait for a while?"

"You're here to visit him too?"

"Is that not allowed? I specifically took a day off. This was vacation time I earned from working overtime last time. Is there a problem, Miss Lin Yuxia of the underworld?"

"Tch! I'll say this again—I am not some underworld princess."

Their exchange showed signs of escalating. What had begun as surprise had now become personal attacks, their words gradually turning into mutual bickering.

"You two are here to see Mr. Zhuang, correct?"

At that moment, a magnetic voice beside them interrupted their quarrel.

Montagne's tall frame stood before them, forcing both women to tilt their heads up to look at him.

"The Commander is resting. If you do not mind, please come inside and have a seat. I will entertain you for the time being."

As Montagne spoke, he made a welcoming gesture. Chen and Lin Yuxia exchanged a glance without saying anything, then quietly walked into the pharmacy.