Border Alert Zone, Underground Street.

“I really didn’t expect I’d be able to see you again in this lifetime, Mr. Li Chen.”

In a quiet corner that contrasted with the surging crowd on the street, a woman with a dignified face and a sharp, tidy suit stared at Li Chen with a complicated expression.

“What, are you upset I didn’t die, Miss Weasel?”

Looking at a familiar old acquaintance, Li Chen curled his lips and teased her.

“Back before I washed my hands of this life, when I was trying to pay off the intel fees I owed you, I nearly had to pay with my life. It’s been ages and the first thing you say is that cold, that really hurts.”

He put on a show of sadness and wiped at the corner of his eye.

“No.”

Even though she could tell Li Chen’s “sadness” was pure acting, the information broker called Weasel shook her head hard and spoke to him solemnly, word by word.

“Quite the opposite. I’m very happy to know you’re still alive.”

“…”

Li Chen, who had been about to keep joking, froze slightly.

He hadn’t expected that information broker from back then, the one who always hounded him to repay his debts and almost never gave him a kind word, would value him like this.

He’d always thought their relationship was pretty average.

They had worked together for years so they counted as old acquaintances.

But he had no strength and he was always trying to buy on credit, no matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t exactly a premium customer.

On top of that, when they used to interact, she always put on an aloof “keep your distance” air, to the point Li Chen nearly believed she was actually a bit sick of him.

“But speaking of which, how did you… survive?”

Miss Information Broker didn’t notice the little thoughts in Li Chen’s heart and instead probed into his personal experiences, her eyes flashing with that sharp glint unique to her profession.

“Look at you now, so healthy. Forget viral contamination, even all the old internal injuries you’d built up before are completely gone?”

She looked him up and down, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.

“Don’t tell me you really got chosen by some consortium young lady and became her favorite. If that’s the case, remember to support my business more in the future. Honestly, it’s really hard to get by these days…”

Miss Weasel adjusted her suit, expensive and well-tailored but clearly a little old, pacing back and forth on long legs wrapped in black stockings beneath a tight hip-hugging skirt.

“The rent the Alert Zone collects every year, the taxes we have to pay, then there’s greasing palms at the Security Bureau and City Hall too. Sigh, it feels like independent information brokers like me really can’t keep this business going much longer.”

After complaining for quite a long time, Miss Weasel paused before speaking in an unhurried tone.

“Anyway, Mr. Li Chen, I already heard what you wanted from the intern and I’ve prepared it. As for the price, hehe, we’re old acquaintances. You know the rules.”

‘So all that talk was just to haggle?’

Li Chen found it funny and couldn’t help but smile.

And yet the brighter his smile grew, the more he felt oddly happy.

Maybe it was because he’d finally reclaimed his identity as a martial artist after so long, or maybe it was because he’d run into an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in ages.

Hearing that familiar “price hike strategy” again, for some reason, Li Chen didn’t feel annoyed at all.

Instead, he felt an indescribable sense of joy.

“Alright, alright. You’ve talked my ear off, you just want to raise the price, right?”

Li Chen yawned and spoke boldly.

“Fine, just tell me. For a set that includes a safehouse coordinate map and a locator disguiser, how many credits?”

“You’re treating my genuine feelings like some business tactic?”

The information broker clicked her tongue and didn’t bother with any more circling around.

“The two things you want are contraband. I went to a lot of trouble to find them. 20,000 credits.”

‘Twenty thousand? What a swindler.’

Even if his strength was average, Li Chen had been a hardcore player before transmigrating, how could he not know the market price?

If he used the channels he remembered, he could get them for at most seven or eight thousand credits, with plenty to spare.

But…

Thinking of the sincere smile on Miss Weasel’s face when she said “I’m happy you’re still alive,” and glancing at the expensive suit she was wearing that was clearly overdue for proper upkeep, Li Chen already had a decision.

“Fine.”

“I’m telling you, this detailed map doesn’t just mark safehouses, it also has some internal structure markings for certain pre-civilization ruins… huh?”

Miss Weasel had been halfway through her sales pitch, trying to lock in this deal, when she seemed to finally register Li Chen’s reply.

She blinked, stunned and repeated, “Fine… you agreed?”

“You’re still using that anonymous dark-net account from before, right?”

Beep beep.

Li Chen tapped the screen with his finger.

[You have received a 20,000 credit transfer. Note from sender: Buy yourself a new outfit.]

“A three-star account at Solares Bank?”

Miss Weasel rubbed her eyes, not daring to believe which bank the transfer came through.

“Li Chen, y-you weren’t kidding, were you? You really got picked by some young lady?”

“More or less.”

Thinking of his fiancée’s tender eyes, the faint fragrance in her hair, Li Chen’s smile turned even sweeter.

“I’m married.”

Li Chen smiled slightly.

“By the way, don’t you usually keep an eye on my social profile?”

“Me? I’m exhausted half to death just trying to stay alive. Where would I get the time to watch you…”

Miss Weasel stroked her chin, but the way she looked at Li Chen changed completely—like a rat staring at a tempting cake.

“But, hehe, it’s not too late to add each other now. We can cooperate a lot more in the future～”

She checked Li Chen’s account and sent a friend request directly.

“Hm?!”

The moment he accepted, the eye-catching couple photo on the main page instantly seized the information broker’s attention.

In a sea of blooming flowers, Li Chen was hugging a valiant-looking young woman.

“How about it?” Li Chen said happily, “This is my fiancée. She’s beautiful, right? Hehe, I spent forever picking this photo before I swapped it in.”

His eyes were full of happiness.

“You’ve changed.”

Looking at the beautiful young man in front of her, smiling openly with a hopeful light in his eyes, a complicated feeling rose in Weasel’s heart.

Was it envy that an old friend had gained a comfortable, wealthy life?

Or was it some other regret she couldn’t name…

“I thought you hadn’t given up on becoming a top-tier martial artist.”

With that thought, Miss Weasel glanced at the Security Bureau badge on Li Chen’s chest.

Her doubt also gained an explanation.

“So your debts back then, the injuries in your body… Was all of that solved by her?”

Arms crossed, Miss Weasel asked curiously.

“Looks like you really did meet a good woman.”

“Heh heh, that’s right.”

Li Chen nodded hard.

“So I’m going to cherish her for the rest of my life.”

“If that’s the case, why are you hiding it from her and going hunting in the wilderness? And you even want to disguise your coordinates?”

As an information broker, Miss Weasel immediately guessed what Li Chen was buying the coordinate-disguising device for.

“I’m just worried she’ll worry.”

Li Chen scratched his head with an embarrassed grin.

“After all, I already washed my hands of this life, right? So she doesn’t really know what I went through in the past.”

“Mm, fair.”

Thinking of the shocking things her friend had lived through, even now Miss Weasel still felt a chill of fear.

“Alright then. Good luck on your hunt. Though with how things look now, you probably don’t need to make money by killing monsters anymore.”

Whoosh—

With that, Miss Weasel tossed the prepared goods to Li Chen.

Pa.

Catching the goods firmly, Li Chen turned his head and waved goodbye to his old friend.

“Yeah, since we’re friends now, we’ll have plenty of time to chat later.”

Watching Li Chen leave with a cheerful bounce in his step, a trace of worry flashed through Miss Weasel’s eyes.

‘Washed his hands of it and got married?’

Miss Weasel analyzed, confused.

‘But with that guy’s past being so unbelievably complicated… Can he really just cut everything off with one clean slash? Not to mention that young lady…’

She looked at the sun symbol plastered all over the streets and the glaring “Solares” lettering.

Miss Weasel shivered, still a little afraid.

‘Forget it, hopefully I’m just overthinking it.’

* * *

Meanwhile, Uppermost Hive.

Solares Consortium President’s Office.

Dingdong!

[A monitored account has added a new friend. Gender: Female.]

In what used to be a lavish, elegant “ancient-style” office, it now looked like a cutting-edge super-consortium tech lab.

Screens were stacked everywhere, filling the vast room.

“A new friend?”

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window and looking down at the countless lives of the hive city below, President Daili paused, then turned her head back coldly.

“R-Report to the President.”

A sweating woman hurriedly presented a file.

“This is the information the tech department just cracked. That new friend seems to be an intel peddler?”

“An information broker?”

Daili touched her chin.

A terrifying killing intent burst from her bright eyes.

“Which one is it this time? Chimera? Mount Myriad Forms?”

She rattled off a long list of famous intel service companies in the hive city.

“N-No.”

The woman carefully lifted her head, stealing a glance at the icy Daili and spoke timidly.

“According to materials gathered by the intel department… She should be an independent information broker. Just a small fry trying to make a living in the Border Alert Zone. Her alias seems to be… Weasel?”

“Investigate.”

Daili spat out a single word.

Her tone was gentle, yet it felt like the temperature in the entire office dropped by more than ten degrees, freezing everyone into trembling.

Everyone present was a core member of the consortium, big shots who could call the wind and summon the rain outside.

But in front of the helmswoman of the consortium, they were nothing more than the lowliest servants.

“I want to know everything about her.”

Daili issued the order directly.

“Yes!”

Several subordinates immediately rushed out.

“Oh, right.”

After a moment of thought, as if remembering something, Daili looked toward a slender woman beside her.

In the room full of people bowing and scraping, she was the only one in a butler’s attire who remained calm and unflustered.

“You tell me, Angelica.”

Looking at her loyal butler, Daili’s face—like an iceberg that never melted—finally gained a hint of living warmth.

“That Bai Wei… How am I inferior to her, exactly? Why did Xiao Chen marry her?”

The butler did not answer.

She only put on an attentive “listening” posture.

“What do I do…”

Daili paced for a long time, troubled, shaking her head.

“I really want to send someone to kill that bad woman who seduced my Xiao Chen right away. But I can’t. If I act on my own, Xiao Chen will definitely be angry, right?”

“Yes,” the butler finally replied.

“But why?”

Daili murmured in despair.

“She’s just a sixth-tier martial artist. Any random bodyguard around me is stronger than her.”

“Back then, the reason I climbed to the top of the hive city was to gain the power to protect you, Xiao Chen. So that we could live without worries. But now…”

The Solares heir and newly appointed president lowered her head, utterly lost.

“Without you, what meaning does any of this have?”

After a long silence, the butler Angelica finally spoke again.

“Then how about you take the initiative and express your feelings to Mr. Li Chen?” she suggested.

‘Take the initiative… express my feelings? Y-Yes.’

Daili’s face lit up immediately.

“That’s right. As long as I take the initiative, everything will get better. Xiao Chen will definitely change his mind. In the end, the winner will definitely be me!”

Completely unlike her mistress’s excitement, Angelica only let out a soft sigh.

‘Win?’

She wasn’t that optimistic.