A scream echoed throughout the entire police station.
Qiao Ying looked at Xiao Chengdong dying on the floor, threw the chair leg in her hand to the ground, and slowly took out her phone to call Qin Hanyue amidst the shouts of cops outside the door mixed with threats to stop her.
The key was taken, and the door was rammed open.
“Don’t move, hands up!”
Seven or eight guns shakily pointed towards Qiao Ying, and everyone was frightened by the sight of Xiao Chengdong beaten half to death on the ground.
Two people quickly went over to check on Xiao Chengdong's condition.
He had already passed out completely, limbs broken, and internal organs likely ruptured. At his age, he was a goner.
Even if he could be saved, he would surely become disabled and bedridden.
Everyone looked at Qiao Ying wiping the blood stains off her shoes onto their chairs with paper towels while still acting arrogantly, and they were baffled.
It was hard to imagine that such a young and delicate looking little girl would dare beat someone like this in a police station.
They had never seen such audacity.
Just as several people were about to subdue Qiao Ying, the chief hurried over and stopped them. He asked Qiao Ying, “Miss Qiao, is it?”
Qiao Ying casually replied, “Send him to the hospital. Someone will pay the medical fees.”
For however long Xiao Chengdong stayed in the hospital, she would pay for medical expenses for just as long until he spent his whole life lying there!
Then, Qiao Ying walked out of the police station.
It was a dark night.
Early November in the capital was already nipping toes.
Halfway up a hillside, a villa was hidden there.
The owner of the villa was an old private business boss in the capital who kept a very low profile normally. His publicly known identity was quite clean and mysterious.
Qiao Ying's car was parked at the foot of the mountain.
In the night,
she headed up the hill at an unhurried pace along the cement path.
Cold winds blew over continuously, and the hill was covered in a thin layer of fog that obscured the way forward. The sounds of wind blowing through foliage blended with unknown bird and insect cries.
In the darkness, that petite figure appeared and disappeared.
The brightly lit villa halfway up the mountain gradually came into view.
It wasn’t even 10 PM yet—not late at all—but there were no signs of people inside the enormous villa.
It seemed peaceful, but danger lurked everywhere in secret.
Hidden silhouettes lay in ambush, awaiting their chance.
Qiao Ying slipped into the villa without a sound, and then the power was cut, enveloping the entire villa in darkness.
Only then did the people concealed inside realize an intruder had entered.
In a flash, everyone emerged and mobilized upon sensing danger.
The villa, which had appeared vacant earlier, was suddenly full of figures.
In the pitch-black villa, the short knife in Qiao Ying’s hand glinted bloodthirstily as she directly sliced the throat of the person who came to check the power supply.
Blood sprayed everywhere—the slaughter began.
On the surface, this villa was a private business boss’s residence.
But in reality, it was a den of thieves for Dark Shadow.
Dark Shadow’s strongest branch was concealed here.
These guards inside the villa were all Dark Shadow’s assassins.
This branch had previously been controlled by Mu Ying and Fei Ying. Red Heart K had also wanted to secretly rope this branch to her side.
With the demise of Mu Ying and Fei Ying on the cruise ship, the branch had brought in new people to take over.
As Cheng Jinyan had said, destroying Dark Shadow’s security system was just an appetizer. The real reckoning began now.
Dark Shadow clearly also knew Qiao Ying’s fury had been incited and made preparations, lying in wait for her arrival.
Muffled gunshots rang out inside the pitch-black villa in pursuit of that petite, elusive figure.
A moment later, the silhouette vanished without a trace.
Changing the ammunition clip while moving cautiously to stay alert of any sound, the sharp click of the bullet sliding into the chamber was exceptionally clear.
Suddenly sensing something amiss, the man’s eyes widened dramatically.
That petite figure had already reappeared behind him soundlessly.
He abruptly whipped around with his gun raised.
But before he could pull the trigger, his throat was sliced open.
Several others discovered her and rushed up to the third floor she was on, but Qiao Ying sent the first person to reach her flying with a kick, sending him crashing back down to the second floor.
In the night’s stillness, the pungent smell of blood filled the villa.
Qiao Ying glided through the figures locked in their death throes, reaping life after life.
No one knew how much time had passed before, along with all the villa’s assassins being cleared out, the entire residence seemed like a human purgatory.
“...Who...who are you?”
Qiao Ying stepped on the replace leaders of Mu Ying and Fei Ying.
She looked at them coldly with the eyes of someone regarding a corpse and said, “Naturally, the person here to take all your lives.”
She raised her gun and resolutely pulled the trigger.
Finally, she strode out of the villa, stepping over corpses.
As she headed down the hill, she took out her phone to operate something.
At the foot of the mountain, Robot Qiao Yi received instructions.
Then, the trunk automatically opened and several drones flew out.
The drones flew toward the hill; their flashing lights looked like fireflies steadily making their way through the mountainside.
Qiao Ying descending the mountain glanced up and saw the drones overhead.
Soon, the drones arrived above the villa and circled it.
Robot Qiao Yi wiggled its round head, and the silly childish voice from its system changed into a steady male voice completely unfitting for its appearance: “Target locked. Drones preparation complete, now deploying explosives.”
That voice belonged to none other than Qin Hanyue’s.
Then, explosions thundered, one after another, seeming to flatten the entire mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, flames from the inferno illuminated a huge part of the hillside.
The villa had become a pile of rubble amidst the deafening booms.
The commotion shocked the entire capital city.
Qiao Ying opened the car door and climbed inside.
Qin Hanyue’s voice sounded out, “Sis, you’ve returned.”
A great amount of the hostility in Qiao Ying’s body language instantly dissipated upon hearing Qin Hanyue speak. She looked at the silly Robot Qiao Yi in the passenger seat.
Suddenly feeling mischievous, she said, “Call me ‘Boss’ and let me hear it.”
Machine Qin Hanyue immediately obeyed: “Boss.”
Qiao Ying's smile grew: “Call me sister.”
Qin Hanyue’s deep voice addressed her affectionately, “Sister.”
Her heart stirred lightly for some inexplicable reason. Along with Qin Hanyue's voice, his face also automatically appeared in her mind.
Her heart harbored complex feelings she couldn't fully articulate, probably...because that term of address really seemed to please her somehow.
Deciding to take further advantage, Qiao Ying continued, “Call me ‘Ancestor’.”
Qin Hanyue: “Ancestor.”
Qiao Ying laughed.
Qin Hanyue: “Does Sister wish to hear me call her anything else?”
Qiao Ying: “How much vocabulary is in your system?”
Qin Hanyue: “Searching for suitable terms of address for a 19-year-old. Sister, please listen: Miss, young lady, beauty, maiden, lass...
Qiao Ying interrupted: “Shove off.”
Qin Hanyue: “My girl doesn’t like it? Let me switch to another batch. Please listen: Darling, wife, lover, partner, madam, old lady...”
Qiao Ying’s brow twitched slightly. “Shut it.”
Qin Hanyue: “Old lady doesn’t please you either? Let me switch again...”
Qiao Ying threatened, “I'll dismantle you, believe me or not.”
Qin Hanyue: “Old lady is quite fierce.”
The original system was just for entertaining children. With some casual tinkering from Qiao Ying, it already surpassed its original parameters by leaps and bounds, nearly semi-humanized.
"Bastard," Qiao Ying cursed under her breath.
The drones flew back neatly into the trunk. Qiao Ying watched the mountainside engulfed in flames—test run successful.
She drove away.
Qiao Ying had just arrived home when Qin Hanyue called.
Clearly, she was the prime suspect for this case in his eyes.
Hearing Qin Hanyue’s voice reminded Qiao Ying of Machine Qin Hanyue’s “old lady” address, and her expression instantly turned complicated.
When Qin Hanyue asked if she was behind the explosion, Qiao Ying impatiently shot back, “What’s it got to do with me?” before promptly hanging up.
That voice caused trouble; now Qin Hanyue himself would shoulder the blame.
Holding his phone, Qin Hanyue recalled Qin Yan’s words: A girl’s mood changes by the minute.
