Came Looking to Rob

Ming Jiu finished planting with a single click and stopped harvesting crops, focusing all her attention on the recording.

System's blunt review: [Sounds like a love-struck fool who didn't quite understand her rebirth.]

Ming Jiu fell silent.

[...Sis System, have you been secretly surfing the internet?]

It even knew the term "love-struck fool."

Still, she was curious. Was Chu Lanning genuinely giving Zuo Junhao another chance, or was she trying to trick him into revealing his supplies—or the secret of his golden finger?

Whatever her true purpose was, Chu Lanning was destined to be disappointed.

Zuo Junhao kept even his own father and mother in the dark. How could he possibly tell a fiancée he had "no feelings" for?

The future held natural disasters capable of claiming countless lives in minutes. He had already stockpiled more than enough supplies, so the Chu Family's help was dispensable to him.

He did not care about his family's temporary accusations or lack of understanding, nor did he care about his reputation in their circle. He had only one goal now—protect his supplies and his secret.

Ming Jiu then listened to several more minutes of breathing.

"I'm sorry, Lanning. It's all my fault. It's my problem."

"Like I said, if you want to leave me, I have nothing to say. The Zuo Family can issue a statement about breaking off the engagement first."

Ming Jiu heard Chu Lanning's gritted voice. "Fine. Very well."

"Zuo Junhao, we're through!"

System: [Host, Chu Lanning's phone has remained connected.]

[Chu Jingning has gotten out of the car.]

At last, the light screen displayed an image. At the entrance of the Zuo Family residence, Chu Jingning stormed inside in a fury. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, flicking his wrist—it was a telescopic baton.

Ming Jiu seemed to understand what the siblings were planning.

Chu Jingning rampaged through the Zuo Family home, smashing things as he went and heading straight for the second floor.

"Zuo Junhao, get your ass out here!"

The Zuo Family's servants did not dare approach. The bodyguards followed him all the way, but this young master of the Chu Family was quite skilled, and with that weapon in hand, two or three bodyguards could not stop him.

Chu Jingning kicked open doors one after another on the second floor. Zuo Zhenrong was not home, Mother Zuo hid and did not show herself, Zuo Junxin had been confined to her room to "recuperate," and the servants did not dare call the police.

Before long, Chu Jingning kicked open the small study on the second floor that Ming Jiu had once visited. He vented his anger by lashing the desk several times, but his eyes remained fixed on the antique display shelf in the study.

He had not come looking for a fight at all. He had clearly come to rob the place.

Zuo Junhao and Chu Lanning hurried over.

"Jingning! Stop making trouble!"

"Sis, he's a complete bastard! If you don't break up with him today, I'll tie you up and drag you home myself!"

Chu Jingning charged at Zuo Junhao. Chu Lanning had already snatched the telescopic baton from his hand, but he still threw two punches, pinned Zuo Junhao to the sofa, and pummeled him wildly before the bodyguards quickly pulled him away.

The scene was a mess, but Chu Lanning's eyes were not idle either. Her gaze swept around the antique display shelf, yet she found nothing.

Ming Jiu had gotten there first long ago.

"Jingning, he and I are already over. Stop making trouble. We're going home."

The Chu siblings left in grand fashion.

Ming Jiu: [Sis System, follow them, follow them! The dashcam!]

System: [Right away.]

The image shifted. Chu Lanning was driving, while Chu Jingning sat in the passenger seat tearing open a Band-Aid.

"Sis, that Zuo guy's skin is pretty thick."

As he spoke, Chu Jingning stuck the Band-Aid over the protruding knuckle of his clenched fist.

Chu Lanning frowned, staring at the road ahead without saying a word.

Ming Jiu: [Looks like Chu Lanning knows Zuo Junhao has a space, and she also knows the space's vessel is a jade ornament.]

The novel she had seen after death had already lost much of its credibility in her eyes. Ming Jiu was genuinely curious about what exactly had happened between Zuo Junhao and Chu Lanning in her previous life.

[Sis System, didn't you investigate Zuo Junhao after we arrived at City B Base? Was there any information about Chu Lanning then?]

System: [No.]

Ming Jiu was not too disappointed. The plot of the novel did indeed differ greatly from reality, but many of the key points in time matched.

For example, the deaths of her parents, their funeral, the time of her own death, the time the natural disasters began... all of it matched.

Chu Lanning's time of death should not have been too far off either. She had died when the mutation tide erupted in the third year of the apocalypse.

Ming Jiu and the System had arrived at City B Base in the fourth year. City B Base had only begun restoring communications in the fifth year of the apocalypse, and only after communications were restored could the System monitor everything in the base.

Two years in a turbulent, perilous environment were enough to erase every trace that a person had ever lived.

In the dashcam footage, Chu Lanning remained silent.

Chu Jingning crumpled the scattered Band-Aid wrappers into a ball and casually stuffed it into his pocket.

"Sis, what exactly were you looking for at the Zuo Family's place?"

Chu Lanning's tone was calm. "Something that allowed Zuo Junhao to rise to prominence, and could allow anyone to do the same."

Clearly unwilling to discuss the matter further with her brother, she changed the subject.

"How are the things I asked you to arrange coming along?"

Chu Jingning glanced at his sister. "The warehouse has already been renovated. I'll inspect it this afternoon. If there are no problems, we can start moving things in."

The expression on Chu Lanning's face relaxed slightly.

"You've worked hard lately. Leave some stock outside too. The amount just needs to be about right—it can be used to deal with the base authorities."

"Got it. Don't worry. Your little brother has always been reliable, no matter what."

"Oh, right, Sis. Find some time to call Dad back. The old man's been worried about you. He just talks harshly, but haven't you accomplished everything anyway? He never truly intended to stop you."

"Mom and Dad are getting old, so it's normal that they can't keep up mentally. If you weren't my real sister, I wouldn't have believed you either."

Chu Lanning smiled. "I know. I'll call him back in a while."

Ming Jiu did not keep watching. Feeling someone lightly pat her shoulder, she withdrew her psychic power. When she opened her eyes, she met Ming Rong's little face.

Ming Rong held the tablet in front of her. [Sis, if you're sleepy, let's go back and sleep.]

Ming Jiu said, "It's fine. I'm already well rested."

After paying, the sisters returned to 2501, where the doorway was once again piled with delivery boxes.

Ming Jiu handled the unboxing, while Ming Rong confirmed receipt and checked items off her list.

The first batch of external hard drives had arrived. While Ming Rong was not paying attention, Ming Jiu directly stored them in her spatial warehouse.

[Sis System, we have storage devices now. We can start working.]

System: [Okay.]

[Chu Lanning is investigating Zuo Junhao's supply warehouses.]

That was a normal move, so Ming Jiu was not surprised. Besides, she did not think Chu Lanning would truly break off the engagement with Zuo Junhao.

The jade ornament had vanished. What would Chu Lanning think?

She would only suspect that Zuo Junhao had already obtained his golden finger.

Her goal had not yet been achieved, so Chu Lanning would not let the matter rest. She would definitely find a way to continue contacting Zuo Junhao.

[Sis System, can you make Chu Lanning's investigation a little more difficult? For example, don't let her find the warehouses I have my eye on.]

The System granted every request.

System: [Other than the shopping mall publicly owned by Zuo Junhao, the information on the other two warehouses can be hidden.]

Ming Jiu was completely reassured.