Chapter 313: Third Level Line

Chen Xiaojing had planted a miniature listening device on Zeng Qing's arm.

It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't a high-tier Transcendent Tier item either.

Given Zeng Qing's status, the mechanical device would be detected the moment she stepped into any high-end establishment.

But Chen Xiaojing knew where Zeng Qing was heading tonight.

That place would have absolutely no detection devices set up for her.

And it was guaranteed to record exactly what she wanted.

The price, however, was obvious.

Zeng Qing would inevitably find the bug.

And with her intellect, it wouldn't take her long to realize who had grabbed her arm.

But so what if she did?

She no longer cared.

"That man was right. We're all rotten."

Recalling Zeng Qing's attitude from just moments ago, Chen Xiaojing let a vicious smile surface on her face and muttered, "So I can't be the only one to suffer."

High in the air, Xiao Xin pulled a pen and paper from the bag on its back and drew a checkmark.

...

...

The next morning.

Chen Xiaojing added Yan Jing's new device to her contacts and sent him an audio recording.

The recording captured a wild orgy between Zeng Qing and a group of men. Zeng Qing played the queen, while the men were key officials from various government agencies across Muke District, along with television stars.

Judging by their voices, most of them were no longer young.

The crack of a whip echoed again and again.

"Are you satisfied?"

Chen Xiaojing's message came through.

Yan Jing's reply was concise:

"Not bad."

Seeing this response, Chen Xiaojing felt a flash of irritation.

She had gone to so much trouble, just to get a review like that?

"I'm going to be exposed, probably very soon."

She sent the text.

"That's none of my business. Besides..."

"She will soon lose the capital to retaliate against you anyway."

Yan Jing sent the message, only to get a rap on the head from Boss Rat, who was sitting next to him eating breakfast.

"Stop playing with your Information Component while you eat."

"Oh, right."

Yan Jing put down the Information Component and focused on his meal.

After they finished eating, Boss Rat left the house. Yan Jing opened his Information Component to find his inbox flooded with messages.

"So when are you going to make a move?" "Why aren't you replying?"

"Did you change your Information Component?" "..."

Yan Jing thought for a moment before replying:

"What specific assets does she have under her command?"

Having waited so long for a reply, Chen Xiaojing looked at her vibrating Information Component, her irritation finally easing slightly. She let out a long breath and typed:

"You want to get into the ore and Gene Potion business. She has a hunting group under her. Every weekend, she calls herself the Hunting Queen and takes them outside the city to hunt irradiated mutant beasts."

"There's also an archaeological team. They leave the Heavenly Kingdom twice a month to excavate fossils in the Wasteland, trying to extract genetic information from them."

"Additionally, this archaeological team excavates mysterious metals."

"Are these legitimate groups?" Yan Jing replied.

"Is she just looking for an excuse to play queen role-playing games with those people?"

"...Well, they do actually work."

Chen Xiaojing replied.

"Where is she right now?"

"Jinmao Tower."

"Alright, I got it."

Yan Jing texted back:

"Message me when she contacts you."

"I have some business to attend to. I'm heading out."

"..."

"..."

That was it? Chen Xiaojing rubbed her long hair in frustration.

She thought the man on the other end would do something earth-shattering, just like he had done to her back then. But this was it?

Damn it...

She felt she had focused entirely on this man these past few days, and he had completely played her.

She was a child of a wealthy conglomerate! He was just some country bumpkin from who knew where!

The thought made her even more irritable.

For the rest of the day, she vented her anger on the people around her with increasing recklessness.

...

...

Yan Jing switched his identity.

Today he had arranged to meet with Tianwei to visit the Happy Water Second Level Line again. It was time to close the net.

"Sir!!! You're here!"

Tianwei looked radiant today, wearing a sweater with fleece-lined sleeves, a small leather skirt, and brown patent leather boots.

"Good morning."

Yan Jing greeted her with a smile.

"It seems you had a good night, Miss Tianwei."

Tianwei had once said that her daily joy was doing the things she loved.

And that would affect her mood the following day.

If she was in a great mood, it meant the fleeting romance she had found the night before perfectly suited her tastes.

"I did."

Tianwei nodded vigorously.

"Yesterday, I met someone from an animal species who shared my interests. He has a great body and matches my aesthetic perfectly. He asked if I wanted to develop a long-term relationship, and I'm considering it."

"What's holding you back?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile.

"I don't want to give up an entire forest for a single tree."

Tianwei laughed.

"I feel like if we entered a long-term relationship, we'd eventually get sick of each other."

"That makes sense," Yan Jing nodded.

"The main thing is knowing what you want."

"Let's go. We have a big deal to negotiate today," Yan Jing said.

The two of them walked into the Anthill and soon arrived beside what looked like an abandoned shack.

Yan Jing stepped forward and rapped on the doorframe.

"Stop your damn knocking!"

A shrill voice rang out from inside.

Yan Jing replied calmly:

"I'm not knocking for trouble; I'm knocking for goods."

It was a secret code. Hearing it, the person inside finally stepped out of the shack, trudging along the muddy path.

It was a "snake-man"—the upper half of a giant serpent and the lower half of a human.

Seeing Yan Jing and recognizing him as a returning customer, its snake face twitched as it spoke:

"You weren't followed, were you?"

"No."

Yan Jing said.

"How much do you want?"

"Five hundred bottles."

"How much?!"

The snake-man was startled at first, but then its face sank, radiating killing intent:

"Did you bring the cops with you?"

Seeing the murderous aura surrounding the snake-man, Tianwei swallowed hard.

But Yan Jing just smiled warmly.

"If you can supply the goods, I can pay fifty percent upfront as a deposit."

"But I imagine... you wouldn't just take the money and run, right?"

The snake-man's vision blurred, and a second later, a Black and White Dual-Colored Long Spear was pressed against its throat, the sharp tip pricking its skin.

It gulped, took a few steps back, and offered a sheepish smile:

"I was just joking around, sir."

"If we go by your terms, of course we can do it. Actually, after just this one order, you could become my downline—you can have as much as you need."

"We'll talk about the future later."

Yan Jing pulled out an Information Component. "Five hundred bottles is fifty thousand Eerie Points. Here's twenty-five thousand."

"I've transferred it."

Seeing the funds actually arrive in its account, the snake-man was so thrilled it could barely string a sentence together:

"I... I don't have that much stock on hand. I'll... I'll have to go prepare it."

"How long, at the latest?"

Yan Jing frowned.

"In two days... ah, no, tomorrow!"

After saying two days, the snake-man saw Yan Jing frown and immediately changed its tune.

Yan Jing nodded.

"I'll wait for your message."

Then, he turned and left with Tianwei.

He left the snake-man alone on the spot, bursting with ecstasy.

Fifty thousand Eerie Points! Even if it only took a third of the profit, that was still over ten thousand Eerie Points—enough to jump social classes and escape the Anthill forever!

...

"Aren't you afraid he'll double-cross you?"

Walking down the road, Tianwei asked uneasily.

"I don't actually know him that well. If you get scammed—"

"No, it's fine."

Yan Jing smiled faintly.

"In this world, you can't strictly categorize many things as good or bad. As long as I get the result I want, that's all that matters."

As for what result he actually wanted, Yan Jing didn't explain further.

The two of them found a cafe where Yan Jing treated Tianwei to coffee, and then they went their separate ways.

Before leaving, Yan Jing asked her:

"Miss Tianwei, do you still have the flower I gave you last time?"

"Mhm, I have it with me."

Tianwei carefully pulled the pitch-black flower from her pocket.

To her, this flower seemed incredibly magical. It didn't look like an eternal flower, yet it showed no signs of withering or wilting.

And it didn't wrinkle even when kept in her pocket.

"Here is a new one for you."

Yan Jing took out a newly drawn flower and placed it in front of Tianwei. He smiled and said, "I recall you'll be coming into a large sum of money tomorrow night. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you."

Tianwei thanked him, her heart filled with joy.

"I really should have paid for the coffee today."

"Don't worry about it."

Yan Jing chuckled.

After they parted, Yan Jing switched his consciousness back to Mao Si, who had been waiting at home. He headed out and went to a quiet street.

Not long after, Xiao Xin popped back out of a hole.

"Did you find the person who met with that snake-man?"

Yan Jing asked with a faint smile.

"Iya, iya!"

Xiao Xin nodded with a grin and held the camera up for Yan Jing to see the person.

"Good work."

Yan Jing patted Xiao Xin's head and said rather guiltily, "I'm sorry, you can't rest just yet. I need to trouble you to take a trip to Jinmao Tower and follow this woman."

Yan Jing pointed at a projection on his Holographic Screen. It showed an elegant, coldly beautiful woman who gave off an unapproachable aura. She was featured on the front page of a newspaper published in Muke District.

Xiao Xin nodded vigorously, then tore open a hole, ready to leave.

Yan Jing smiled bitterly.

"It's been hard on you since you started following me."

"Iya, iya!"

Xiao Xin shook its head. Grabbing the camera hanging around its neck, it smiled happily, signaling that it really loved this job and didn't feel tired at all.

In fact, it sometimes didn't understand why Yan Jing worried about it being tired. After all, these jobs were both easy and fun...

Finally, it patted Yan Jing's forehead, motioning for him not to worry, and then turned to leave.

Yan Jing slowly closed his eyes.

He had never expected that the Third Level upline for the Happy Water would turn out to be a member of the Plague.

Was it premeditated, or was it a betrayal... He had a vague feeling that something wasn't right.

In the middle of the night.

He received a voice message from Chen Xiaojing.

"Hurry! No. 3 Cafe on Peace Street, come save me! This woman is crazy!!!"

After confirming with Xiao Xin that something had indeed gone wrong over there, Yan Jing switched to Luo Sheng's perspective and hurried toward Chen Xiaojing's location.

When he rushed there controlling the portrait, he saw Chen Xiaojing hiding inside the cafe with a terrified look on her face.

Zeng Qing was standing at the cafe's entrance. Beside her stood a tiger-man with a grizzled white beard, radiating murderous intent.

The moment the tiger-man laid eyes on Yan Jing, he lunged straight for the kill.

The two clashed. It took only two strikes before Yan Jing's portrait exploded with a pop, turning into a puddle of ink.

Just as Zeng Qing frowned, realizing something wasn't quite right...

...a pile of photos burst into the sky alongside the ink like a flock of released white doves, before slowly raining down.

Zeng Qing picked up one of the photos, and her expression changed drastically.

There, captured in plain sight, was an image of her and the tiger-man engaging in their role-playing!