Chapter 38: So, a Conversation That Allows No Refusal

The celebration banquet ended promptly at 9:30 p.m.

Manager Qian played the role of a “considerate, empathetic leader” to perfection. He personally stuffed the thoroughly drunk Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li from the logistics team into a taxi, thoughtfully prepaid the fare, and reminded the driver to be sure to get them home safely.

At the entrance of the restaurant, the group prepared to part ways.

Night in Section C was stripped of fantasy. The air reeked of coolant and scorched metal, and the Huaxia plant’s roar gnawed at the silence—a mechanical beast that never slept.

“Uwaaa… my head’s spinning…”

Li Qing was completely wasted. Like a boneless, oversized feline, she draped herself entirely across the upright frame of Chen Bing.

Her cheeks glowed an adorable pink, and she slurred over and over with drunken persistence, heaping praise on Lin Yu.

“Heyyy~ Bing-jie~ hic~ Lin Yu-senpai’s shot, it was sooo cool… like in Explosive Girl War-Soul, when the protagonist awakens the ‘Heartfelt Love Laser’ in the final battle, and just one move wipes the final boss… that kind of scene…”

“Shut up, drunkard.”

Chen Bing’s face was all disdain, but she didn’t push Li Qing away.

She lifted her head instead, gazing at the night sky above the industrial zone—an orange-black haze polluted by factory lights, not a single star to be seen.

Her eyes, usually sharp as blades, no longer carried their killing edge. What replaced it was a fog of uncertainty, unease about the future.

(…The ‘Curse’… is it really… drawing near?)

The thought pierced her chest like an invisible ice needle—small, almost gentle, yet unbearably clear and painful, through all the discipline and pride she wrapped herself in.

Meanwhile, Manager Qian, in a splendid mood, stood a short distance away and dialed the number he most longed—and most needed—to report to.

His voice brimmed with the oily respect and eager flattery of a subordinate currying favor with a superior:

“…Yes, yes, Director Bai, please rest assured. This incident was handled flawlessly by Section C, Group 1… Haha, thanks only to your trust and support. Oh, you’re asking about Gray Crystal? His performance… can only be described as ‘a surprise.’”

“I told you, the Gray Crystal project was the boldest and wisest ‘risk investment’ of my entire career. And as always, my judgment has proven impeccable…”

From a little ways off, Lin Yu stood awkwardly, at a complete loss.

This was the first formal work social event of his life, and it had wrung every ounce of energy out of him.

At the dinner table, all the praise and recognition from colleagues had made him giddy, floating. Tongue-tied as always, he could only clumsily return their kindness through rounds of toasts.

But he was never much of a drinker, and his alcohol tolerance was clearly poor. Now, his head swam in a hazy fog.

Only the chill of the night wind kept his eyelids propped open, sparing him from toppling over then and there.

(Manager Qian… what’s he even saying? Always yammering about investment, risk, returns… Christ, it’s exhausting just to listen. Guess that’s what makes him management…)

All Lin Yu wanted now was to get away, back to his own tiny kennel of a rental. Back to his bed, to knock out blissfully alone.

Tomorrow, he could digest the mountain of information he’d been force-fed tonight.

“Um… Manager Qian, Bing-jie, Qing-jie,”

He stepped forward, breaking into this scene that felt almost like a slice of magical realism.

“It’s getting late, so… I’ll head back first.”

“Oh? Sure, sure.”

Manager Qian ended his call, his face sliding neatly back into its usual warm, fatherly smile.

“Be careful on the way. And Xiao Yu, tomorrow morning at nine sharp, come to my office. We’ll go over your next training plan. You, Chen Bing, and Li Qing—we’ll have a small meeting, just the four of us. Don’t be late.”

“…Alright.” Lin Yu nodded.

After bidding farewell, he made his way alone to the roadside where traffic flowed endlessly, ready to hail a taxi back to the Hive.

He was still thinking about that 100,000 yuan bonus.

(…One hundred thousand. After tax, that’s still over eighty grand, right? Maybe… send fifty thousand back home first? That’d let Mom and Dad pay off the debts from putting me through school. They could even get new phones…)

(With the remaining thirty thousand, I could cover the rest of the year’s rent… Hm, but why keep paying rent on that dump? With money in hand, maybe I should just move. God, I’ve long hated that shitty partition room—so-called ‘individual utilities,’ but water’s 10, electricity’s 4, and the AC’s a fifth-tier power hog! Yeah, I’ll check some rental listings later. No way I keep living like that. With this commute, I’m lucky I haven’t dropped dead already…)*

(And if there’s still money left over… maybe I should get a new computer? My current hunk of junk is the same laptop I bought back in college. Can’t even run Cyberpunk 2177, an ancient game, without turning it into a PowerPoint slideshow…)

As he drifted through these small, petty, yet blissful plans, a black car suddenly slid to a stop before him—smooth and silent, like a block of ice gliding across glass.

Instinctively, Lin Yu took a step back.

He had no idea what model it was, only that it was clearly some kind of luxury MPV.

Its entire body was jet-black, windows layered with thick privacy film…

(Did some drunk tycoon from Section F call a private car and end up at the wrong spot?)

That thought lasted only a second—because in the next, the driver’s door opened without a sound.

A middle-aged man stepped out.

He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, immaculate white gloves. His cold, professional aura surpassed anything in gangster films.

Ignoring everything around him, he strode straight to Lin Yu.

And under Lin Yu’s wide, shocked eyes—he bowed slightly.

“Excuse me,”

The man’s voice was calm, but tinged with an odd stiffness, as though colored by a Hokkaido accent.

“Are you Mr. Lin Yu?”

Lin Yu’s brain flatlined on the spot.

(…Who? Mr. Lin Yu? He’s talking to me?!)

(No, wait! Who the hell is this guy?! How does he know my name?! Could it be… Auntie Wang, my landlady, sent a debt-collector after me? No, I paid rent already! Or… is Manager Qian playing some twisted trick? Internal audit? A honey trap? A kidnapping? Harvesting kidneys?! Am I about to be trafficked into some industrial park?!)

A thousand B-movie horrors exploded in his already alcohol-dulled mind.

“W-who… who are you? What do you want from me?”

Lin Yu’s throat was dry as sand. He instinctively stepped back half a pace, unconsciously shifting into a defensive stance even though he didn’t realize he’d adopted.

(Damn it, is Section C’s nightlife really this sketchy? In broad daylight—no, under heaven’s open sky—someone tries to snatch me off the street?)

The driver paid no mind to Lin Yu’s suspicion or hostility.

Straightening, he smiled with practiced mildness.

“My lady is waiting for you.”

With that, he turned on his heel, his steps so precise they seemed measured with a ruler. He walked to the black MPV, and with reverent care, slid open the heavy door to the back seat.

A wave of air spilled out—cold, rich, infused with high-grade leather and a subtle, indistinct fragrance.

A fragrance Lin Yu knew.

He’d smelled it before…

(Wait… no way…)

His heart gave a violent lurch.

Gathering his nerve, he cautiously peered into the car—into that abyssal mouth yawning open before him.

Inside was another dimension, utterly removed from the steel and sweat of the outside world.

Thick velvet carpet. Gleaming walnut trim polished to a mirror shine. A compact in-car entertainment system more expensive than his entire ten-square-meter rental.

And on the wide leather seat sat a girl.

She wore plain, elegant black casual clothes, her shoulder-length hair cascading like silk.

She wasn’t looking out the window. Nor at the car’s luxury.

Her head was bowed, her attention wholly fixed on the gleaming parts of a disassembled standard-issue psionic handgun in her hands.

Her movements were slow, meticulous, obsessed. She wasn’t maintaining a weapon so much as ministering to a sacred, untouchable artifact.

It was Ye Yeying.

The very same Ye Yeying Lin Yu thought should still be lying in a hospital bed, resting at least three to five more days.

Sensing his gaze, she gradually stilled her hands.

She raised her head.

Her doll-like face was expressionless, her deep blue eyes in the muted car light like obsidian mined from beneath eternal glaciers.

When she spoke, her voice was quiet. But it pierced through all the night’s noise like an invisible icepick:

“Get in.”