Chapter 10: Meeting Again, Miss Kotoba

Tang Xu struggled to climb up with great effort, still gasping for breath. Panic-stricken cries for help echoed in his ears.

“Help... the machine is drowning! Glug, glug, glug~”

“I’m going to die, I’m going to die! I can’t swim~”

After a long struggle, Tang Xu finally dragged the heavy, slippery, clumsy robot onto the shore.

...

Exhausted, he lay on the ground, gasping desperately for air.

Opening his eyes, he saw the dark night sky studded with countless sparkling stars.

So beautiful it left one momentarily speechless.

It felt as if all the weariness of the past had been soaked away by the pool water, leaving him utterly light from within.

What could be worse than death?

Gold Ingot remained silent for a long time. Tang Xu thought it was broken and gave it a few taps.

“Give me mouth-to-mouth, I’m already lying flat waiting to be saved.”

Tang Xu pushed it in exasperation, but the robot nearly rolled back into the pool, making him quickly grab the two antennas on its head.

“Let go, you’re pulling my hair.”

Startled, he immediately released his grip and looked at what was supposedly hair, unable to hold back a laugh.

“If you dare laugh at me, you’re done for.”

...

Yan Ye stepped out of the study and saw her guest wrestling with the family robot, momentarily thinking she had lost her mind.

She retreated inside and peeled a candy to eat.

The sweet taste passed through her mind, finally lifting her spirits a little.

“I found what you wanted, but it will take some time. Wait here.” Passing by the struggling pair, Yan Ye didn’t even glance at them. She refused to use the main door, choosing instead to mimic the graceful rooftop leaps of heroes from the martial arts novel she had been reading lately, almost stepping on Pearl, who was napping by the wall.

—

Soft moonlight bathed the quiet street. Across the road, a brightly lit building occasionally revealed passing shadows. Opposite the building where Yan Ye stood was a 24-hour convenience store.

She held a bowl of freshly cooked oden, biting on an empty skewer, contemplating how to stealthily infiltrate the Supernatural Bureau’s building and flawlessly retrieve the Soul Cat’s inner core without being detected.

Not far away, a man looked around cautiously before sneaking up to Yan Ye and pulling a piece of paper from his shirt pocket.

“This is the map of the Supernatural Bureau you wanted. It took me a tremendous effort to get it — don’t lose it.”

Yan Ye nodded while unfolding the paper. “Long time no see—why are you getting creepier by the day?”

Called a sleazy man, A Wei clutched his chest with one hand, feigning a dramatic blood-spitting act. “Do you think it’s easy to infiltrate the Bureau? Xu Zhiting is no ordinary man—he started reforming with a heavy hand as soon as he took office, even setting up some task board. If you don’t meet the requirements, you have to endure hellish training. I can’t stay out long; I used buying coffee as an excuse to meet you. Read this and toss it when you’re done.”

After finishing the last bite, Yan Ye dropped the box and wiped her lips with a tissue. She raised the map. “Thanks. I’ll get you a discount next time I shop here.” Suddenly, she was already across the street.

A Wei hurriedly called out to her, but before he could finish, she was already running away so fast.

“Don’t go to the office marked as Xu Zhiting’s—he’s been living there like a demon king recently.”

The constant flow of traffic drowned out his voice, and his earnestness was genuinely pitiful.

From the 32nd floor, the view was expansive enough to see Xu Zhiting watching Yan Ye finish her oden. After a brief word with his companion, he headed straight to the building.

A warning flashed on the office’s large screen: an intruder had unlawfully entered the Supernatural Bureau, with the threat level marked as uncertain.

The building’s entire security system was linked to a watch chip on Xu Zhiting’s wrist.

With a slight press of a button, the world’s most advanced defense mechanisms would activate, making it impossible for any intruder to escape.

The danger bar on the screen slowly stretched, deepening from pale to crimson.

At this hour, aside from a few still working, most Bureau employees had gone home.

Someone knocked urgently on the office door.

“Boss, there’s trouble. Someone’s broken into the Bureau. Should we issue orders now?”

The moment Yan Ye stepped into the building, she was targeted. The danger level rose from one to ten. Levels above five required Xu Zhiting’s approval, and if the danger reached ten, the building would automatically initiate self-destruction.

Encrypted level-three alarms echoed through the building, and at level four, all Bureau employees received alerts that the building was under attack.

Those dining, shopping, dating, or even using the restroom—all prepared to rush back.

But three seconds later, as the danger neared level five, the alarm was lifted.

As a bystander, Su Ran clearly saw Xu Zhiting disable the building’s defense system.

She was puzzled but dared not ask.

Allowing an unknown and potentially dangerous figure inside could cause a major incident.

“Boss, I think—”

“She’s no threat. If she really wanted to harm the building, none of us could stop her.”

—

Still uneasy, Su Ran sent a message to Tang Shuo as she left.

At the same time, Yan Ye, intending to test the building’s defenses, found all the systems had shut down and were no longer functioning. She tried accessing several doors and wasn’t detected.

She moved unobstructed to the 28th floor.

The map indicated that all items brought back from missions were submitted to the testing department, where they were graded and stored in different rooms accordingly.

The Soul Cat’s inner core should still be in the testing phase.

She needed to find the laboratory marked on the map.

At a corridor corner, two men in uniform walked by, chatting. Yan Ye slipped into the adjacent fire escape, pressing her ear to the door.

“Did you just deliver the Soul Cat item to the director’s office?”

“Yes! I heard there were some testing issues.”

“This thing is only mid-grade quality; it definitely won’t reach S-level.”

“Maybe.”

...

As the two men walked away side by side, Yan Ye quietly slipped out. Delivered to the director’s office? Then she would have to change her plan.

Following the map, she made her way to the 32nd floor. Just as she was about to enter a room, she retracted her foot.

Her keen intuition detected an unusual aura in the air.

The room before her was pitch black; not even the outside light penetrated. The materials used must be extraordinary.

A faintly glowing inner core sat under a glass dome. Yan Ye’s eyes brightened.

After ensuring no traps surrounded her, she crouched and crept forward, nearly touching the item on the desk.

Suddenly, the world spun as a powerful force pinned her into the chair.

An overwhelming presence filled the cramped space.

Xu Zhiting leaned down, pressing her into the chair, one knee forcing apart her legs, one hand on the armrest, the other lifting Yan Ye’s chin.

Their eyes met.

“Meet again, Miss Yan Ye.”