Late at night, all was silent.

Even the Hive City, which prided itself on never sleeping, had its moments of rest. Yet just as the other residents of the luxury complex had turned off their lights to enjoy this rare tranquility, one particular flat still burst with noisy vitality.

Gurgle gurgle.

“Come on, Xiao Wei, open your mouth, try this pork belly~”

Lifting his chopsticks, Li Chen offered the steaming slice of meat like a prized treasure, gently placing it into the bowl of his fiancée who sat pressed close beside him yet said nothing.

“Aww, Xiao Wei, don’t be mad anymore, hurry up and eat a bit. If you don’t, it’ll get cold.”

Li Chen looked pleadingly at Bai Wei, who didn’t move at all, merely staring at him in silence as if everything happening around her had nothing to do with her.

“This is really expensive.”

Seeing that Bai Wei’s cherry lips were still tightly closed, without even the slightest sound, Li Chen could only surrender, clasping his hands together apologetically.

“Alright, Xiao Wei, I know I was wrong. I promise you, I won’t get involved in these things anymore.”

Li Chen sighed helplessly.

“But Xiao Wei, can you really handle all the work? Just today, that related hacker organization alone turned your entire Special Operations Unit upside down. This chip data, if it’s just you alone…”

“Hmph.”

Bai Wei finally made a sound.

She lifted her chopsticks hard, as if venting her frustration and stuffed the meat into her mouth in big bites, wolfing it down without the slightest regard for appearances.

“This chip is too dangerous.”

Bai Wei shook her head forcefully, clearly annoyed.

“I know you want to help me, Xiao Chen, but this involves more than just Lower City gangs. It could even involve underground criminal groups and other consortiums. If things go wrong, it might even trigger a corporate war.”

‘Corporate war?’

Hearing that, Li Chen also fell silent.

Although consortiums appeared to be the lofty rulers of the Hive City, their status and glory were never eternal.

If conflicts between Lower City gangs often resulted in streets littered with corpses, then clashes between Upper Hive companies were invisible battles without gunpowder smoke.

Mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy liquidation, patent lawsuits…

Every glamorous-sounding term hid countless blood-soaked sacrifices beneath it.

The rise of every consortium symbolized the collapse of old regimes, the destruction—both physical and mental—of tens of thousands of so-called elites who once stood above others.

Those lucky enough might survive by betraying their former employers and scraping by under a new master. The unlucky ones would not only be cast aside but might even be saddled with crushing debts, falling into circumstances more miserable than the Lower City.

For respectable Upper Hive citizens, that was often worse than death.

If you had once seen the light, how could you endure the darkness?

Numb Lower City and Lower Hive paupers might cling to life however they could, but for someone once proud as an Upper Hive citizen, sometimes death was the only way to preserve dignity.

So Li Chen knew Bai Wei was not exaggerating.

“But if that’s the case, then Xiao Wei, what about you?”

As a senior figure in the Public Security Bureau, corporate wars seemed unrelated to Bai Wei.

Yet in the Hive City, there was no true Pureland.

City Hall governors, Public Security Bureau directors, all those so-called “independent institutions” were, in essence, still controlled by the major consortiums. It was only because their powers were balanced that a state of mutual restraint existed.

‘Come to think of it, before Bai Wei joined the Public Security Bureau, didn’t she work at Crown Security Company?’

That top-tier security company, famed in the Upper Hive for its premium service quality and said to guarantee safety even when hunted by ninth-tier powerhouses, seemed to be affiliated with the Solares Consortium…

‘Tsk, looks like my tangled fate with a certain young lady won’t be sorted out anytime soon. But what do Hive City politics or consortium power balances have to do with a small fry like me earning three thousand credits a month? All I want is to live a warm, happy life together with Bai Wei.’

“Hmph, your wife naturally has her own clever plan.”

Bai Wei lifted her chin proudly, as if waiting for praise from her husband beside her.

“Wow, Xiao Wei, you’re amazing~”

Li Chen immediately played along, clapping repeatedly.

“With a fiancée as capable as you, I’m truly blessed beyond measure.”

Teasingly, he reached out to stroke Bai Wei’s shoulder-length snow-white hair, deliberately leaning closer and lightly inhaling her fragrance.

It smelled wonderful.

Enjoying that fresh, sweet scent, Li Chen felt that the aura emanating from his fiancée was even more tempting than the dishes he had painstakingly prepared.

“Ugh, too close!”

Bai Wei’s ears instantly turned red, her previously smug expression replaced by shyness.

“Y-you know that already, that’s enough. Hmph. Tell me, compared to that sister who treats the chip like a hot potato she doesn’t even dare touch, who do you think is more impressive?”

‘What are you, a kid? Why are you being so childish? You’re usually so sharp.’

Li Chen sighed helplessly and nodded in a tone used to coax a child.

“That goes without saying, of course you’re more impressive, Xiao Wei~”

Swish.

But just as Li Chen finished speaking, a slender finger blocked his lips, swaying playfully.

“Hmph hmph, whether I’m impressive or not, instead of just saying it, wouldn’t it be better for Xiao Chen to experience it himself?”

‘Uh…’

Watching Bai Wei’s bright, captivating face draw ever closer, Li Chen’s heart still raced despite seeing her every day, leaving him momentarily dazed.

“Xiao Chen.”

Noticing her fiancé’s foolish expression, Bai Wei’s smile grew even brighter.

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

She leaned forward slightly toward Li Chen.

A warm, moist sensation struck him like lightning, sending a shiver through his entire body.

“So, Xiao Chen, promise me, okay? Leave this matter to me. I really, really don’t want you to get hurt.”

Removing her coat, Bai Wei’s delicate hands unfastened the buttons of her uniform one by one, revealing her perfect curves before Li Chen’s eyes.

“Alright, I promise.”

‘In truth, Bai Wei was right. Why was I so fixated on these things anyway?’

Staring blankly at his fiancée’s charming smile, Li Chen felt his heart warm.

Once, he might have harbored grand ambitions, but in the end he realized there hadn’t been a single person truly sincere by his side.

Perhaps even the heavens couldn’t bear it any longer, sending such a perfect wife to him at his lowest point.

‘I really should cherish this.’

“Hehe, Xiao Chen, I’m very satisfied with your performance. Tell me, what reward do you want?”

Seeing that Li Chen no longer wanted to meddle in the smuggled drug case, Bai Wei’s gaze softened even more as she affectionately rubbed her face against his broad, powerful chest.

“Whether it’s martial arts, secret techniques, equipment you want to buy, or even going out to hunt in the wilderness… I can give it to you.”

“No, Xiao Wei. I don’t want any of that.”

Li Chen shook his head firmly.

“Huh?”

Bai Wei blinked in surprise.

“Then what do you want?”

“I want you.”

Li Chen pulled Bai Wei tightly into his arms, no longer able to suppress the agitation in his body.

“Hmph.”

Feeling Li Chen’s heart pounding wildly against her, Bai Wei let out a quiet laugh.

“Alright, Xiao Chen. I wonder who was the one crying on the bed last time.”

Without missing a beat, Li Chen countered calmly.

“Oh? Then who was the one clinging to the bed and begging for mercy the time before that?”

“Th-that time was because you were too shameless…”

Looking at his fiancée’s flushed face, Li Chen smiled in pure happiness.

With a fiancée like this, why go adventuring everywhere? If something happened to him, that would be bad enough—but what if Xiao Wei were implicated?

‘Fortunately, I cleaned things up very thoroughly this time. There shouldn’t be any loose ends left.’

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Lower City.

Inside a warehouse within the territory controlled by the Black Tiger Gang.

“Manager, we found a witness.”

An armed operative in combat gear dragged over a skinny young man.

Bang.

The youth was slammed to the ground, producing a dull thud. Under the moonlight, his delicate face was filled with terror, tears welling in his eyes.

“Don’t, don’t kill me, I’ll tell you everything. Today the boss—no, that demon—said she wanted to inspect my sister’s workplace…”

Looking at the boy’s innocent face, an ordinary woman might have felt pity. But the leader—a voluptuous, well-dressed mature woman in a professional suit—waved her hand in disgust.

“Make him shut up.”

Bzzz—

The youth immediately lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

“Read his memories.”

The woman gave the order coldly.

“And what clues did the recon team gather? Over a hundred Black Tiger Gang higher-ups don’t just vanish overnight.”

“Yes, Manager. The appraisal department’s preliminary checks confirm intense fighting occurred in the warehouse. However, the opponent’s cleanup was extremely professional. We can’t obtain more clues.”

“Professional?”

The manager frowned deeply.

“Then it wasn’t another Lower City gang? Makes sense. That woman may be a bit stupid, but she’s still a fourth-tier martial artist—other gangs couldn’t match her.”

She paced uneasily.

“So… could it have been another company? For example… Solares?”

The moment the word Solares was spoken, the atmosphere turned heavy.

Faced with the super consortium vying for the top position in the Hive City, no one dared take it lightly—not even as a mere possibility.

“Manager, it’s done.”

A bio-hacker linking neural chains to the young man to read his memories raised his head excitedly.

Beep beep!

A set of images appeared before the manager.

On-screen, the young man—who had been arm-in-arm with a noblewoman as they entered the warehouse—suddenly froze, then fled frantically in the opposite direction.

“He ran. What was he avoiding?”

There was only one possible answer.

The murderer who wiped out the Black Tiger Gang’s leadership.

But that murderer…

“Adjust the angle. Combine with other surveillance records. Use artificial intelligence to reconstruct.”

Beep beep beep!

Moments later, a cloaked figure appeared.

“A cloak? Isn’t that the stealth infiltration suit used in the Public Security Bureau’s internal network?”

One analyst muttered.

“Luxurious. Buying one on the black market would cost at least hundreds of thousands of credits. Can you break through the cloak’s concealment function?”

The manager asked.

“The consortium’s latest level-five artificial intelligence tool might be able to.”

The hacker reported and began typing rapidly.

Beep beep beep beep—

The image shifted continuously. The cloak blurred and a handsome face gradually emerged.

Huff.

The group’s breathing grew heavier.

“Hmph, so it’s a man. And he even looks quite to my taste.”

The woman chuckled, then ordered the hacker.

“Next, use SkyNet to gather all information related to this person. One hour. I want his entire family history dug up within one hour.”

“Yes!”

The hacker immediately sped up.

Beep—

But just as the handsome youth’s image was entered into SkyNet, a piercing alarm shattered the air.

[Warning. Warning. You are violating top-level confidentiality. Repeat: you are violating top-level confidentiality. Intruder, cease your actions immediately.]

[Otherwise, the Solares Consortium reserves the right to protect corporate interests by all means, including physical measures.]

“Aaaah!”

The hacker, moments ago brimming with excitement, let out a shrill scream. White smoke poured from her head as she collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

“What’s going on? Top-level confidentiality?”

The manager, previously calm and composed, now felt a chill grip her heart. She scrambled to flee the scene.

But it was too late.

Puff puff puff!

Several arc-shaped machines floated in midair, firing green beams that slaughtered them like chopping vegetables.

A dignified seventh-tier martial artist couldn’t even make a sound before being buried without notice in the barren Lower City.