Dream Auction House, VIP Social Area.

Accompanied by soft, soothing music, Li Chen strolled leisurely through the space, carefully examining each consigned premium item displayed inside transparent glass cases.

Unlike the outside area, where most convenient goods were simply catalogued in the database and could be browsed and purchased directly through SkyNet, the Dream Auction House was a top-tier auction house with a prestigious reputation, one that even members of the Uppermost Hive Consortium families would occasionally visit to spend money, so the exhibition of consigned items naturally carried a strong ‘classical’ aesthetic.

Of course, that also made things difficult for Li Chen, who had a specific target in mind and no interest in the other consigned items.

All he could do was hold the booklet introducing this auction’s consignment list and cross-reference the information item by item, trying to locate his target ‘Eternal Gold’ among the hundreds of listed items.

‘Which category did it even get classified under, how is it not in precious metals?’

Flip flip flip.

Li Chen flipped through the pages again and again, yet still couldn’t find the Eternal Gold he had been thinking about day and night.

“Sir, do you need any assistance?”

Just as Li Chen finished flipping through the entire booklet in frustration, still not finding a single mention of Eternal Gold and letting out a futile sigh, a woman suddenly appeared beside him, dressed in a luxurious formal gown and carrying herself with a bold and open demeanor.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Li Chen glanced at the woman and noticed that on her ample chest hung a badge glittering with four stars.

‘A four-star mercenary… At the very least, a high-tier martial artist above the seventh rank.’

Perhaps mistaking Li Chen’s caution for fear, the woman smiled lightly and then introduced herself.

“Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, I’m not trying to strike up a conversation with you. I just noticed you might need some help. Um… please allow me to briefly introduce my background. I’m a scout from the second tactical squad of the five-star mercenary corps ‘Judicators’.”

‘Judicators?’

Li Chen’s mind went blank for a moment.

He had imagined many times what it would be like to reunite with his former ‘comrades.’

But he never imagined that moment would come so casually, so… ordinarily.

“Are you looking for a certain consigned item but can’t find it in the introduction list?”

Unlike the women who would immediately turn green-eyed and try every way possible to get close to him the moment they saw him, this Judicators mercenary truly seemed, just as she had said, to simply be a kind person eager to help.

“Mm…”

Li Chen stared at her with a complicated expression for a long time before finally looking away.

He didn’t recognize her.

When he had been expelled from Judicators, this woman hadn’t joined yet.

Well, that made sense. Back when Lin Caining had told him to ‘withdraw,’ the mercenary corps had only just been promoted to four stars. Though it was on a strong upward trajectory with a bright future, it hadn’t yet grown into the legendary mercenary corps it was today.

So…

There probably weren’t many familiar old faces left in that mercenary corps now.

‘That’s good too, makes it easier for me to cut ties cleanly.’

At heart, Li Chen was someone who really disliked troublesome, complicated relationships.

With that group of bad women who had stabbed him in the back, Li Chen felt there was nothing worth saying anyway. Lingering attachments and tangled grudges didn’t suit his personality.

‘Besides, I already have Xiao Wei, the best wife in the whole world. Hmph, let those bad women do whatever they want.’

Having sorted this out, the way Li Chen looked at the woman became completely calm.

“Yes, miss. I am indeed looking for something I heard should be up for auction here, but which doesn’t appear in the introduction list. Um… it’s Eternal Gold from the ‘Midnight Aurora’ mercenary corps’ liquidation sale.”

Li Chen explained his predicament to the woman.

“Midnight Aurora?”

Hearing that, the woman’s eyes immediately took on a subtle expression.

“I see, I see. No wonder.”

Her face, not stunningly beautiful but still carrying a unique charm thanks to careful upkeep, creased slightly as she frowned.

“They really have had terrible luck this time. Not only did they suffer heavy member losses, they’re probably going to have to pour all their accumulated assets into repaying debts… in short, they’re finished.”

The high-tier mercenary spoke calmly as she sealed the fate of a mercenary corps that had once risen steadily from the Lower City to its current status.

“So, their corps’ assets are probably still tied up with creditors right now, which is why they haven’t made it onto the auction introduction list yet. Mm, I think I just saw them over in the D19 zone. You could go take a look.”

After listening to the mercenary woman’s clear and straightforward explanation, Li Chen’s goodwill toward her rose sharply.

“Wow, big sis, thank you~”

He clapped lightly and said sincerely, “You’re amazing.”

‘B-big sis?’

The high-tier mercenary, who had been maintaining her composure up until now, felt her heart flutter at Li Chen’s admiration-tinged praise, her face flushing red.

‘No, no, get a grip.’

At her age, how could she get flustered so easily?

Huff, huff.

Circulating her cultivation technique, the mercenary woman quickly suppressed the inner turmoil.

“Then I’ll go check with the Midnight Aurora mercenary corps and ask about the situation. Goodbye, kind big sis~”

Li Chen waved at her and turned to leave.

‘What a pity.’

Watching the man’s figure disappear into the crowd, the mercenary woman stood there absent-mindedly.

‘I didn’t even get his name. Forget it, a handsome guy like that probably already belongs to someone. Maybe he’s even a senior executive from some consortium.’

A mere second-tier martial artist and yet he could afford to shop at an auction house this outrageously expensive.

Either his mother was rich, or his wife was rich, or at the very least his father was rich.

“Hm?”

Just as the mercenary woman was about to look away, she noticed that behind that overly handsome man, there were actually two women following him.

‘This is… tailing?’

After hesitating briefly, the woman slowly walked toward the two women who clearly looked up to no good.

Bang bang—

As a high-tier martial artist who had spent years adventuring outside the Hive City, she had no habit of holding back. The moment she made her move, every strike was lethal, completely overwhelming the two women who, despite having decent ranks, had utterly terrible real combat ability. They were swiftly subdued with no chance to fight back.

“Ugh, ahhh!”

The two women collapsed onto the ground in pain, letting out cries of struggle and agony.

“Miss, miss, what’s going on here?”

Several male attendants dressed in sharp suits hurried over.

Snap.

Faced with these attendants, who, though handsome in appearance, were nowhere near comparable in aura to the man who had just left, the mercenary woman’s attitude changed completely. She coldly pulled out an identification document from her chest.

“City Hall… special authorized personnel?”

The attendants, who had been about to say something, looked at one another and quickly backed off.

Special authorized personnel referred to individuals granted special exemptions by City Hall, allowing them to carry out special task enforcement within the Hive City, including the Upper Hive.

As a result, that credential was also known by another name.

A ‘license to kill.’

“You—you’re that man’s bodyguard? Damn it, the dark web bounty information was wrong!”

“I knew it, why else would the pay for tailing a mere second-tier martial artist be so high?”

‘Tailing… him?’

Thinking of the man she had just met, the mercenary woman felt a trace of worry.

‘Maybe I should go warn him later.’

“The dark web, huh.”

Turning her head aside, the mercenary woman contemptuously grabbed one of the women by the neck and tightened her grip as she interrogated her.

“Talk. Who posted the job on the dark web?”

“Idiot, it’s an anonymous forum, who knows who the bounty issuer is? Hmph, maybe it was some rich young lady who took a liking to that man and wanted to bring him home to pamper him!”

The tailed woman’s face was flushed red from suffocation, yet she still refused to back down verbally.

‘Foolish.’

Not even knowing the background of the bounty issuer and yet daring to accept the job?

As expected, compared to the outside world, the Hive City was still far too comfortable.

Bzzz!

Too lazy to waste any more words, the mercenary woman spread her palm and connected directly to the woman’s biological chip.

“Ahhh! Y-you’re a hacker?!”

Ignorance really was ignorance.

The mercenary woman let out a disdainful cold laugh.

‘Not even understanding such basic interrogation techniques and yet daring to operate on the dark web?’

She quickly sifted through the tailer’s massive data repository, locked onto the dark web section and found the original bounty list…

“Li Chen, second-tier martial artist, has a fiancée who is a senior employee at the Public Security Bureau?”

Looking at the simple bounty description on the dark web, the mercenary woman lost interest and flung the tailer aside.

Thud!

The unlucky tailer’s head immediately split open, blood flowing.

‘Once we have the bounty list, finding a professional hacker will make it easy to trace.’

Beep beep!

For some reason, just thinking about the possibility of that handsome man being targeted by ill-intentioned people made the mercenary woman feel reluctant to leave it alone.

Beauty was never a crime.

[Eh, Firefox? Aren’t you on vacation? Why are you suddenly contacting me?]

On the other side of the screen, a twin-tailed girl sitting in a wheelchair, tapping away at the screen with a lollipop in her mouth, blinked in confusion.

“I have a personal matter I need your help with.” The mercenary woman, Firefox, explained everything that had just happened and then uploaded the dark web bounty link.

“Can you help me crack the identity of the bounty issuer?”

[Easy. I am, after all, the information department head of our ‘Judicators’. This kind of thing is nothing. But you… you’re being unusually enthusiastic. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for him?]

The twin-tailed girl hesitated slightly before continuing, [I’m warning you, you know our mercenary corps’ rules. You can date, but you can’t put your true feelings into it.]

“…”

The mercenary woman’s expression darkened.

“Who exactly set that rule?”

[Probably only the founding members know. But I heard the vice-captain mention that it seemed to be related to a man. What was his name again? Li… Li Chen, yes, that’s it.]

The twin-tailed girl answered casually, then focused her gaze on the dark web bounty list and then—

The information department head of the five-star mercenary corps Judicators, a hacker infamous across the dark web, was left staring in disbelief.

[Li… Li Chen?]

‘Was it a coincidence?’

But…

The twin-tailed girl vaguely remembered the vice-captain saying it like this back then.

“In any case, after that absurdly handsome man left our mercenary corps, the big boss sank into depression for months and nearly tore the corps apart, so from then on, Judicators had that rule.”

‘Absurdly handsome…’

Rubbing her eyes, the twin-tailed girl wanted to look away, but her gaze seemed glued to the bounty page, locked onto that photograph which, despite being taken from a deliberately awkward angle, was still irresistibly captivating. Just a single glance felt like the ultimate indulgence.

‘He really is handsome.’

The twin-tailed girl couldn’t help but think.

Faced with a man like that, how much use could a mercenary corps’ no-romance rule really be?