The air in the room seed to gradually beco stagnant, a heavy and chilling pressure felt with every breath. The underground trade agent, nicknad "Iron Hand," sat tightly on a chair. Beside him, vibrant propaganda posters on the wall displayed that small resistance that occurred at the bottom of the Iron Nest, customized by votes from upper-level viewers. The circulation system blew fresh airflow but couldn’t dispel the fog in the heart.
"Is Old Qiao the only one who contacts you?" Luo asked leisurely.
"... Only him," Iron Hand answered hesitantly, as if an invisible observer was right there in the room. "Moreover, I didn’t know at first it was his people. I thought it was you..."
Luo directly interrupted him, "When was your first cooperation?"
Iron Hand leaned back in the chair, with a struggling expression but still answered the question, "Terran Calendar, about four years ago."
Luo raised an eyebrow.
"So, the first phase Zolda Black Stone test data and the Rift Generator blueprint were also leaked from you... This all fits."
Iron Hand raised his head, seed torn for a while, then suddenly made up his mind: "You... should leave this place. You’re no match for him now. His people are everywhere on this planet. You shouldn’t have co here..."
But Luo only looked at him with a faint smile, an expression that made Iron Hand feel a chill down his heart.
"You’re so concerned, urging to flee this place quickly, yet secretly forwarding my whereabouts to the top of the Giant Wall... trying to play both sides at this point, how tiring."
Iron Hand instantly widened his eyes.
Luo seed unconcerned with the reaction of the person opposite her. Her gaze bypassed him to look out the window, as if seeing faraway things, speaking to the air, "Old Qiao, stop these round-about gas, it’s not your style... I have limited ti, let’s resolve this matter straightforwardly."
Of course, there was no response in the room, only a trade agent with an unusually grim expression sitting behind the table. But Luo knew that steel monster was watching the room’s movents from sowhere—from the mont she left the residence building, the observer’s gaze had stayed fixed on her. Those shuttles passing through the sky, sensing towers controlled by gangs in the Giant Wall District, satellites in orbit, and monitoring systems around the landfill platform that had operated for a century...
Iron Hand hadn’t lied about one thing; Old Qiao’s people were indeed everywhere on this planet—and this absolutely matched the style of that steel freak.
Extrely cautious, extrely ticulous, preparing everything, not acting until having absolute certainty, fearing even a hint of danger... even if it’s only damaging a backup steel hull.
Underneath that seemingly strong steel body was a timid heart.
Luo stood up.
Iron Hand hurriedly stood up as well, "Are you leaving?"
Luo didn’t answer, just looked the person in front of her up and down.
Light silver fine lines surfaced in the eyes of the trade agent, the veins near his neck slightly bulging, visibly throbbing, as if sothing alive was hidden inside.
"How many doses of ’Genetic Potion’ did Old Qiao give you?" Luo suddenly asked.
Iron Hand hesitated for a mont, seemingly surprised by the abrupt question, instinctively replied, "Two..."
No saving him.
Living tal had already invaded critical organs—not everyone could withstand the subsequent modification, let alone Old Qiao would never spend extra resources on a genuine transformation surgery for soone like this trash.
On this planet, only fools would spend money on a trash kid—just for a shred of sincerity in the eyes back then.
"Shake hands," Luo suddenly said, reaching out her right hand towards the person opposite, "Consider it a farewell for your past years of hard work."
Iron Hand blankly stared at the slender hand reaching towards him, his lips moved a few tis, "Boss, I..."
"It won’t hurt much," Luo softly said.
Iron Hand blinked, finally extended his hand too—with his still-intact palm, gently held the elf’s fingers in front.
He vaguely rembered, decades ago, it was this hand that pulled him out of the trash heap. Back then, the owner of this hand seed so tall, and her voice was like the breeze blowing past the upper layer of the high wall—but he no longer rembered the words exchanged back then.
Luo turned and left the room.
She crossed through the staircase and living room, passed the water feature wall flowing filtered clean water, and arrived at the entrance to see her Guard Captain and soldiers, while the bodyguards who had been following Iron Hand earlier were now disard, handcuffed with electromagnetic shackles to the railings, each with a bruised face.
A few thin managers and technicians stood to the side, unbound but trembling with fear.
Luo walked past those managers and casually pulled out a badge, tossing it into the arms of one of them: "From now on, you’re the new boss here."
The young man who received the badge shivered with fear and instinctively glanced toward the small building on the platform, focusing on a particular window on the second floor — the window was open, and the hot wind filled with foul exhaust carried bits of paper from the upper area, swirling into the window.
Iron Hand was breathing heavily, looking at the paper bits that landed on his shoulder. He reached out to brush them away, but the action squeezed out the last bit of airflow from his chest.
A blazing Spiritual Fireball burst from his body, engulfing everything around in a rolling heat wave.
Exclamations ca from the platform behind, and the Guard Captain instinctively looked back while walking with Luo toward the helipad. The two-story building was now billowing thick smoke; minions were shouting outside the platform, so rushing in to extinguish the fire, others coldly standing nearby.
"What a pity, he used to be reliable in his tasks." The Guard Captain shook his head, sighing casually.
"For him, this is already a good ending," Luo said indifferently.
They returned to the helipad; the Shuttle they ca in was still parked there, but near the boarding gate, soldiers discovered a charred corpse on the ground.
"Soone sent by Old Qiao," Luo remarked with a calm expression, as if she had expected it, "He probably intended to tamper with the Shuttle — every private aircraft I own is connected to my cyber brain. Old Qiao knew this, yet still sent soone to try. That’s just how he is."
She kicked the corpse aside, the Shuttle’s anti-gravity engine was already buzzing, and as she entered the cockpit, several alarm ssages flashed on the holographic display.
Luo casually swiped aside the alarm ssages, and the Guard Captain’s voice ca from the co-pilot’s seat, tinged with a bit of nervousness: "Boss, the ’Elf’ Shuttle disappeared earlier!"
"I know," Luo replied casually, while maneuvering the Shuttle off the unstable helipad and opening the internal intercom, "Everyone at the back, sit tight! My piloting style might be a bit wild later—"
"Boss, which way do we go?" The Guard Captain quickly asked, gripping the chair’s armrest, "Back to the building? Or take the high wall path to the Star Port Launch Tower? We can use the tower’s signals to mask our entry into orbit; the smuggling ship in orbit is ready, it can cover our escape from this planet..."
"Escape? There’s no way out, the place at ho is already surrounded, Old Qiao’s ard drones are everywhere," Luo replied casually, her holographic display showing scenes from various surveillance angles near her residence building, the sky filled with the twinkling lights of drones, "Forget the Star Port Launch Tower, it’s been so long, even if he can’t monitor the tower on the whole planet, he can at least control all access routes near this node city—it’s crawling with his people."
Even the loyal Guard Captain was montarily stunned upon hearing this, staring at his boss: "Then... you knew this would happen?!"
"Yes."
"Then you had arrange the smuggling ship and high wall path..."
"It was to specifically let Old Qiao intercept them," Luo maneuvered the Shuttle to fly along the ’canyon’ section of the high wall, slowly lowering altitude, "I want him to believe I’m desperate to leave this planet, so he’d block all our escape routes, making him think I’m truly cornered and at my wit’s end..."
Both sides of the porthole passed swiftly, the ancient, mottled city gastructure turning into a blur of continuous light and shadow, the sunlight growing dimr, while the lights from the lower region pierced through the mist, casting ghostly shadows.
Luo pushed the control stick down another notch.
The Guard Captain gradually understood: "You an..."
"To find out what Old Qiao is really up to, we have to back him into a corner. But this steel monster is too cautious; even when facing a ’failure’ with a bankrupt project and in such a state, he’d only dare to send a tal shell. So, to make this coward truly show himself, we must give him a foolproof situation where he believes he has full control."
"I initially hoped he’d act directly at Grey Iron Landfill, but it seems even in the lawless area of the mid-wall, he only dares to let his subordinates make minor moves. Therefore, we have no choice but to..."
The Shuttle shuddered, and the scenery beside the portholes began to rise rapidly.
"...go to a place even more lawless."
The Shuttle started to dive toward the base of the Giant Wall District.
Almost at the sa mont, a piercing alarm sounded in the cockpit.
The control panel flickered with glaring red lights, and warnings of radar locks sounded continuously. The Shuttle’s navigation system and perception radar were severely disrupted, the main control screen displaying the surrounding terrain turned into a white void!
Suddenly, two tongues of fire shot out from a nearby massive abandoned building, while a spectral shadow darted from the structure.
The Guard Captain quickly recognized that shadow: "Boss, it’s the ’Elf’ Shuttle from before!"
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