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"Did I pay you?"

Qi Chao suddenly cut him off. The man in the V-neck froze for a moment, then nodded. A high-end puppet regulator was worth tens of millions of Star Coins—how could a spoiled young master like him possibly have that kind of money?

"As long as I paid."

The man in the V-neck was still puzzling over what Young Master Qi meant when, the next second, he saw the expensive regulator snap apart with a crack, forcibly broken into two pieces.

!!! Tens of millions, gone just like that?!

The man in the V-neck was so shocked by the sight that his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Yet the culprit remained perfectly calm, as though he did not care in the slightest how many Star Coins' worth of equipment he had just broken. He even said leisurely, "Sorry, I need to use the restroom."

"O-okay, take your time." Still dazed, the man in the V-neck could only nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, Qi Chao had no idea how much money's worth of equipment he had destroyed. Finding a secluded corner, he tentatively called out, "System, are you still there?"

[Yes.]

So the electrical noise earlier had not been his imagination.

Qi Chao let out a breath and smiled. "Good thing you showed up. You have no idea how awkward it was for me to sit in that private room by myself."

The system fell silent for a moment. Having watched the entire scene, it found it difficult to sense any awkwardness from its host.

"When that guy came over, I almost thought I was going to be exposed. I didn't even dare move or say anything careless. It scared the hell out of me..."

Without the slightest self-awareness, Qi Chao continued rambling nonsense, determined to portray himself as a pitiful little thing with no one to rely on.

The system was a new employee of the Artisan General Bureau. On its first field assignment, it had encountered an unspeakable mishap. It was already nervous, and when it saw its host snap the regulator in half, it had briefly thought it was doomed—its host was actually a troublesome thorn in its side.

But as Qi Chao's torrent of words washed over it, the system gradually relaxed. A real thorn in the side would not be this talkative. It could still keep everything under control!

Coldly cutting off the topic, the system proceeded with the handover process as required by the manual. [Would the host like to receive the original body's memories?]

Qi Chao had been interrupted before he could finish, but he was not displeased. Instead, he nodded with interest.

[Ding—memory transfer in progress.]

As soon as the words fell, piles of unfamiliar scenes flashed through Qi Chao's mind one after another. He slumped weakly against the wall, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, his lips pale as he clearly endured immense pain.

Memory transfer was not supposed to hurt. Seeing that something was wrong with its host, the system hurriedly flipped through the employee manual, but could not find a solution. It spun anxiously in circles nearby.

[Host, how are you? This isn't right—why would transferring memories hurt?!]

[I've already reported this to the General Bureau. Host, where do you feel unwell?]

After an unknown amount of time, the host finally calmed down. Delighted, the system hurriedly wanted to ask about his condition, but fell silent when it saw his expression.

Qi Chao had a good temper and always smiled. Although he looked fierce, he was easy to approach. That was also the main reason this timid system had been able to relax around him.

But now, Qi Chao no longer looked like the flippant, smiling man he had been with the system earlier. His lips were still slightly curved upward, yet he resembled an asura freshly returned from hell, as though black aura wrapped around him and made one's heart tremble.

The system watched in terror as its host, his eyes brimming with hostility, left the club and skillfully piloted a flyer toward some unknown destination. Judging by his posture alone, he looked as though he were going to find his father's murderer.

Qi Chao did not notice that he had frightened the system. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to process the original owner's memories.

The original owner had been Blue Star's ultimate rich, handsome elite. Talented, gentle, and courteous, he had been wildly sought after within his social circle.

But no matter how well he pretended to be decent, it could not change the fact that he was nothing more than a pile of rotten, stinking filth.

Setting aside all the disgusting things he had done, this shameless bastard had actually fallen for the little puppet in his home—across species!

On Blue Star, puppets were born from the hands of humanoid masters. Just as fairy tales described, every puppet had emotions and life. They were like spirits of heaven and earth, with hearts as pure as blank paper.

To harbor such disgusting thoughts toward something so beautiful.

The original owner was worse than a beast!

Never mind that they were different species—the little puppet at home might have been exquisite, but he looked like a child of eleven or twelve!

The original owner was a fucking damned pervert!!!

Qi Chao ground his teeth, wishing he could beat the original owner senseless.

He now understood exactly what had happened in the private room earlier.

Puppets had unusual constitutions and underdeveloped nervous systems, so they could not engage in sex in the first place. But the original owner, that pervert, had been obsessed with getting the puppet into bed, so naturally he had to find a solution.

The "regulator" in the private room was the solution he had come up with.

That sanctimonious hypocrite had cared immensely about his reputation, yet for the sake of sleeping with a puppet, he had actually been willing to expose his perverse nature.

Qi Chao tugged at the corner of his mouth, the mockery in his eyes deepening.

The system timidly tested the waters. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the original owner's villa. To save the little puppet."

Qi Chao activated the flyer's autopilot and looked out the window. He let out a soft breath, but the heaviness in his heart refused to dissipate.

The original owner had not been mentally sound, but he had not initially harbored those kinds of thoughts toward the little puppet.

At first, he had bought the puppet only to satisfy his sadistic urges. After bringing the puppet home, he would beat and berate him at the slightest provocation, using him to vent his brutality.

The little puppet had even been beaten until cracks formed on his body.

And even after all that, the original owner had the nerve to develop those thoughts toward the puppet. Qi Chao was so angry that he laughed.

After realizing his feelings for the puppet, the original owner had become even more twisted. Worried that the puppet would run away, he locked him in a cage to satisfy his possessiveness, while collecting tools and plotting to claim the puppet completely.

The one fortunate thing was that the original owner's nauseating desires had only emerged a week ago. He probably had not expected himself to be so perverse, and had been adjusting his mindset ever since, leaving him no time to lay a hand on the puppet.