Chapter 189: Preparation for the Infiltration Mission

The scenery outside the car windows sped past rapidly, yet the air inside the cabin felt as though it had frozen solid.
Luo Shaotian focused on driving, while Lin Yu, seated in the passenger seat, kept her neck rigid as if it had been welded in place, stubbornly refusing to tilt even a single degree to the left.

At first, she tried to pull out her wristband and pretend to be busy, but she couldn’t withstand the motion sickness.
Left with no choice, she closed her eyes to rest, saying nothing.

Meanwhile, the later-arranged “melon-eating trio”—Ye Ye Ying, Li Qing, and Chen Bing—were also uncharacteristically silent.
No chatting.
No horseplay.
They even kept their breathing quiet.

But this was merely the surface.

In an unseen network, a private group chat named [Magical Girls Who Love Each Other (3 people)] was burning up with messages.

Chen Bing: I just suddenly remembered something.
Chen Bing: Do you guys remember? Back when we teamed up with Lin Yu to deal with that Akagi Gang leader called “Wrench,” didn’t some man call him?

Li Qing: (Nods furiously) I remember, I remember! We were even gossiping back then, wondering if this guy was secretly living with a man behind our backs!

Ye Ye Ying: …So that’s how it was.

Li Qing: (Shocked dinosaur) So they were already living together back then?! Then what about now?! Are they still like that?! Cohabiting?! Is this the legendary underground workplace romance?!

Chen Bing: (Rubbing her forehead) Li Qing, calm down. This is Lin Yu’s private matter. As coworkers, digging too deeply isn’t very appropriate, right? It feels like an invasion of privacy.

Li Qing: Bing-chan, you’re way too rigid! As the saying goes—there are no private accounts in the court, and no private matters in the company! This concerns team chemistry, okay? How can this be called gossip? This is intelligence gathering! (Pushes glasses)

Chen Bing: … (Unable to refute)

Ye Ye Ying: Enough. Before you waste all that excess enthusiasm on this rookie, can you spare some of it for the mission?
Ye Ye Ying: For example… how exactly is that rookie supposed to infiltrate this time? Is it really okay?

Li Qing: Oh come on, Yingying, you worry too much! Didn’t Manager Qian make it very clear in the mission briefing?
Li Qing: Target location: [Platinum Han Palace]. Supposedly the place where that dead Akagi boss “Iron Old Man” made his fortune—Xinhai City’s most luxurious den of excess.
Li Qing: Our little senior’s task is to sneak in and feel out the underground casino—

Chen Bing: (…Just Lin Yu alone? With her personality, won’t she blow her cover?)

Ye Ye Ying: …So that’s why that fat Qian seconded the man in front.

Li Qing: (He’s a criminal investigator! Undercover work in gangs, infiltrating tiger dens—this is literally his professional specialty!)

Chen Bing: Then what’s Lin Yu’s role? A vase? Or… bait? What identities are the two of them using to get inside?

Just as the discussion in the group was about to reach the core tactical details, a slight braking sensation interrupted everyone’s thoughts.

The black MPV slowed smoothly and came to a steady stop by the roadside.

“We’re here.”

Luo Shaotian’s low voice broke the silence inside the car.

Everyone looked out through the windows and saw, across the road, a massive structure looming there.

It was an extravagantly luxurious building in French Baroque style.

As the most dazzling jewel of Xinhai City’s F District (the Shoal District), the name [Platinum Han Palace] represented absolute desire and revelry through countless nights of drunken indulgence.

Huge Roman columns supported a grand portico, while multicolored neon lights outlined the building’s ornate and flamboyant contours.

Though it wasn’t yet late night, luxury cars already crowded the entrance.

The resplendent gates were like a gaping maw, swallowing countless souls seeking刺激, only to spew out emptiness and wreckage with every dawn.

That was the smell of money.

And also… the smell of sin.

“Click.”

Luo Shaotian skillfully opened the front storage compartment, took out a jet-black laptop, and handed it back to the three “commanders” in the rear seats.

His movements were smooth and practiced, his expression calm, carrying a reassuring professional air.

“Ladies, this is the terminal.”

He pointed to the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone steady.

“These sunglasses are a smart device modified by the company’s technical department. They integrate a high-definition camera and a micro-microphone, and will transmit in real time the video and audio of Ah Yu and me after we enter the building to this computer.”

As he spoke, he pointed to his jaw.

“Additionally, I’m wearing a bone-conduction communicator disguised as dental braces.”

He slightly opened his mouth, revealing a white patch on one side of his teeth that was almost indistinguishable from a real tooth, his voice calm and efficient.

“If there’s an emergency or a need for immediate tactical guidance, you can issue commands directly through the computer. The sound will be transmitted through the jawbone straight to the auditory nerve. The concealment is extremely high, and I’ll respond immediately.”

“Oho~ This professional vibe is pretty legit!”

Li Qing couldn’t help whistling, eyeing the fully equipped man with a mischievous grin.

“Who would’ve thought that a halfway-in temporary hire like you would be even more reliable than some of our full-time staff? What’s with this damn sense of security?”

As she spoke, she pointed meaningfully past the seatback and unceremoniously poked the back of the head of someone in front who was shrinking her neck and playing dead.

“Hey, hey, someone better step it up! Otherwise, be careful your good friend here doesn’t steal your rice bowl~”

“Tch—”

Lin Yu clicked her tongue softly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

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Chen Bing took the laptop, skillfully booted it up and adjusted the settings, then frowned and asked:

“So communications on your side are handled. What about Lin Yu? How does she keep in contact? Is she carrying the same setup?”

At that, Luo Shaotian turned his head and looked deeply at Lin Yu beside him.

She was staring fixedly out the window as if trying to grow a flower out of the glass, but the redness at the tips of her ears had long betrayed her inner panic.

“As for Ah Yu…”

Luo Shaotian paused, his tone becoming subtly complicated.

“For the special identity we’ll need to disguise ourselves with later, she… won’t be able to conveniently wear such conspicuous electronic equipment.”

“But please rest assured. I’ll stay by her side at all times, not leaving her even a step. If there are any instructions, I’ll relay them.”

“Hey, hey, you’ve been talking all this time, but how exactly are you two planning to act this out?”

Li Qing leaned over the driver’s seat, poking her head forward and eyeing the pair with a strange expression.

“Just looking at that [Platinum Han Palace] across the street, you can tell it’s not a proper place, right? It’s a money-burning den, a land of gentle temptation!”

She pointed at Lin Yu’s pure-looking sailor-style outfit.

“You’re letting senior go in wearing this JK uniform? That’s way too out of place! And… a pure high-school-girl persona entering a place like that is basically fresh meat dropped into a wolf pack. She’ll be stared at by those lecherous old men in minutes, okay? Even if she was originally a guy—anyway, aren’t you afraid something might happen?”

“Miss Li Qing’s concerns are very thorough. This is indeed a potential risk.”

Facing the questioning, Luo Shaotian remained composed, clearly well prepared.

“That’s why, considering the special nature of this infiltration mission, Manager Qian has granted special approval to temporarily unlock a special… outfit permission for Ah Yu in the [House of Dawn] app.”

At this point, he turned to look at the girl who wished she could sink into the seat seam, his voice gentle yet leaving no room for refusal.

“Ah Yu, time’s running short.”

“Ah…”

“Stop messing around. Just transform.”

“Mm…”

Lin Yu, whose name had been called, shuddered all over.

She lowered her head, her hands twisting tightly around the hem of her skirt, her face red like an overripe tomato, her voice noticeably weaker.

“I… I know already… stop rushing me… I’ll transform…”

“Eh?”

Now it was the three melon-eaters in the back who grew curious.

In the company, unlocking specific outfits for different mission environments wasn’t anything rare.

Diving missions unlocked swimsuits.
Polar missions unlocked cold-weather gear.

But…

“What kind of outfit could make Lin Yu—who’s usually pretty thick-skinned—act this bashful?”

“D-Don’t all look at me with those expectant eyes!”

Feeling the three scorching gazes behind her like searchlights, Lin Yu bit her lip in embarrassment and indignation.

“It’s n-not some super special outfit… it’s just…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say the word “shameful.”

Her trembling finger lit up the contract wristband.

On the virtual projection interface, she selected the outfit icon that Manager Qian had just unlocked, marked with [ ].

“Huff…”

“Transformation time!”

With that shame-inducing activation phrase—

“Buzz—”

An ambiguous pink glow instantly filled the entire cabin.

A few seconds later.

When the light dispersed and the new appearance became clear—

From the back seats of the car came a perfectly synchronized chorus of sharp inhalations.

“Eh—?!!!!”