About a hundred kilometers from Center City, in the dim alleyways of an unknown small county town, a rough-necked man burst into a KTV marked with a “Prime Shop for Rent” sign, carrying two bottles of champagne.
“Guys, no matter what, we have to celebrate this time. Come on, let’s have a surprise!”
Champagne sprayed again onto the bald head of the Ascetic Monk. Three bottles of champagne had been opened maybe they had already started feeling it.
But this time, everyone was genuinely excited, and there were more people than before. Not just those from Twin Star Town; there were about ten high-ranking members of the Clown Gang in the KTV.
They had seen the internal video Ben Jette posted, showing him, in front of the Security Department’s main officers, causing a crystal stone scare right on his turf, even performing some kind of pulling performance art.
The Supreme Society’s big shots took the lead in charging forward, inspiring the Clown Gang members to follow suit, and they had huge success. What exhilarating news!
“See? You all kept saying the Supreme Society isn’t sincere with us. I told you before, it was just an adjustment period, and small problems were normal. Now, not only do we have a leader like me who interacts with you closely, but also people on the front lines leading the charge.”
Morris’s words made them feel a bit embarrassed.
Could it be that they were wrong about the Society? Do those big shots really have our backs?
“What are you still saying? Someone’s leading the charge, so we need to seize the moment, strike quickly and tightly, run forward, gogogol!”
This time, all the high-ranking members of the Clown Gang raised their glasses and drank heartily with their leader.
Only the Ascetic Monk frowned, sitting there silently without drinking.
“What’s wrong, High Monk?” Morris walked over to him. “Still mad? It’s just a few bottles of champagne poured on your head. It’s a celebratory gesture—don’t take it personally.”
“No, I’m thinking about something else,” the Ascetic Monk said, staring at the ceiling. “That video the big shot posted… there was no need for that last sentence. It was a bit of a challenge to that Xu Chuli.”
“Hmph, I wondered what was wrong. So you were thinking about that. If you ask me, you’re still too superstitious.”
Morris patted his shoulder. “I know you guys have psychological shadows about her, but as they say, you have to overcome the shadow!”
Xu Chuyao’s defiant speech at the conference was recounted, matching the official report almost exactly. Wei Lin hadn’t left anything out, nor had she exaggerated.
Only Long Jun’s frown deepened.
A mid-level official in the Security Department had turned traitor, challenging them openly with an almost face-slapping provocation, ruining his own reputation.
“What do you think about this?” he asked the girl he had personally mentored.
Xu Chuyao shrugged lightly. “I think Ben Jette’s stunt was probably a distraction to cover up something else.”
She had just sat down and recalled the name Ben Jette. In the original story, he was a lower-tier member of the Supreme Society, ranked even below Professor Swina, and his role was basically to attract attention by self-destruction.
It was the same here, just a few years earlier.
As for what was being covered up, Long Jun didn’t need her to say it—he understood clearly.
“I’ll report your opinion, but whether the plan changes because of it isn’t our business.”
He hadn’t attended the hearing but knew what had happened: an elderly man, once highly respected but now near death, was trying to find a way to achieve immortality.
Even if immortality was impossible, at least extending life was necessary.
The things that should be managed couldn’t be controlled, and the things needing management were ignored, such as—
“This big mess puts us under enormous pressure,” Long Jun said, looking at the big-mouthed girl on his screen. “Can you handle eliminating the Clown Gang thieves or recovering the crystal stones?”
Xu Chuyao said nothing, just gave him a faint smile, expressing how speechless she was at the moment.
“Forget it.”
Long Jun waved his hand. He knew the request was somewhat unreasonable but needed an explanation urgently after everything that had happened.
If it couldn’t be done, then what else was there?
“Why not investigate the traitors inside?” Xu Chuyao raised her hand and made a suggestion. “There must be more traitors among mid-level officials like Ben Jette.”
“That’s hard to investigate. I tried before. It’s easy to track the Clown Gang at the base level, but finding Supreme Society members is extremely difficult,” Long Jun said as he cut a cigar, lighting it casually. “Can you find them?”
Then he heard her answer, “Yes, I can.”
“Cough cough!”
Long Jun put out his cigar and stared at Xu Chuyao for a long time. He had been about to tell her not to be blindly confident, but suddenly he recalled Professor Swina and the chain of logic the girl used to accuse him.
“Really can?”
“Absolutely.”
Long Jun picked the cigar back up, lit it again, took a deep drag, and frowned in thought.
A few minutes later, he tossed away the stub of his cigar and said to Xu Chuyao, “I’ll find someone to coordinate with. Wait for my notice.”
Mid-level officials couldn’t just be investigated on a whim. The Security Department was not the Emperor’s Guards; they needed consensus from others and official documentation.
After the video meeting ended, Xu Chuyao returned to her dormitory. As the sky darkened, she peacefully fell asleep.
Pilos City, Libra Palace. Several servants carefully applied medicinal ointments to an elderly man’s body.
The dusk glow shone into his half-closed eyes, and as the sun set, the light gradually dimmed.
No matter how thick the mountains, they could not stop the setting sun.
“Lord Monrose,” his assistant stood at the door. “Long Jun from the Security Department reports that reliable analysis indicates the Supreme Society’s actions are a cover for their true goal. Should we pause the project and thoroughly investigate the research personnel to ensure no infiltration?”
Monrose said nothing, still staring until the last rays of sunset disappeared below the horizon.
“Has the examination report come out?” he asked softly. “What do the doctors say?”
His assistant looked at his back and carefully said, “According to modern medicine, you have four to six months left, but high-level spiritualists have extraordinary physical constitutions, so it might actually be longer.”
“Is there anything extraordinary about this body now?”
Monrose looked down at his hands just treated with ointment. The skin on the backs looked like dried tree bark; no amount of cleanliness could restore it to green vitality.
“Push them to start the experiment as soon as possible.”
There was no time. As long as there were results, it didn’t matter who achieved them.
The waiting time was longer than expected. Xu Chuyao had settled into her dormitory for several days but had yet to hear from Long Jun.
“What are you waiting for?” Mi Xiaolu asked. “You don’t go to class, don’t attend lectures, and don’t even look for a Female Friend.”
Xu Chuyao turned over in bed. “I’m waiting for something very politically sensitive. A few days ago—”
“You keep waiting. I’m leaving first.”
Xiaolu didn’t want to hear more and simply ran off.
“I never said I had to talk about it… sigh.”
It wasn’t just Xu Chuyao who hadn’t attended classes these days; Shen Ning hadn’t either.
On one hand, the classroom content was truly useless for young girls; on the other, she was waiting for something important that wasn’t far off.
“It’s here, it’s today!” The Sexually Repressed Shadow appeared early, projected on the wall. “Hurry, hurry, hurry, take a shower and freshen up.”
Though not believing in mysticism, Shen Ning still took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes, and placed three chopsticks in a cup on the table as incense—those were the sticks Xu Chuyao had once tried to steal.
“All set. Let’s start.”
[Milestone System cooling down, 00:00:01
Ding dong, Milestone System cooldown complete. Welcome back, host.]
The girl’s hand lightly tapped in the air.
[Four Star Milestone Mission (New); first low energy consumption.
Mission Description: Your beloved wife, Xu Chuyao, is a Pillow Princess who spends all day lying around. Though that’s fine, life is about movement. For her health, you have to help her.
Mission Requirement: Get Chuyao on top, either actively or passively—no restrictions.]
Shen Ning blinked in confusion.
“On top and no restrictions?”
If she’s already on top, can she even be passive?
“Of course,” the Sexually Repressed Shadow said teasingly. “You just have to keep your palm flat and raise a few fingers.”
Shen Ning imagined the scene; it did seem possible.
But rather than persuading Chuyao to get on top and be active, she thought it might be easier to have Chuyao take the initiative, since she could “get revenge.”
“Actually, the opposite!”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow shook its fingers. “Persuading Chuyao to sit on top might be difficult, but getting her to make the first move—that’s harder than climbing to the sky.”
Shen Ning was a bit taken aback. “Why?”
The girl felt something was off.
“Because this involves role positioning and the power of speech. Remember when you took her to that lesbian bar? Wasn’t she very relaxed, commenting on this and that?”
Shen Ning nodded.
“That’s because she fixed her position as a Pillow Princess,” the Sexually Repressed Shadow said with a shrug. “And a Pillow Princess can freely comment on others. This is the so-called ‘talking without hurting your hands.’”
The Broken Shadow crawled from the shadow on the floor into the small mirror by the bed. “But if she takes the initiative once, she can never maintain that position to criticize others again.”
“Exactly!”
The air conditioner dared not comment, because it really could cool.
“Chuyao is so smart; she saw this clearly long ago. You want her to take the initiative? That’s harder than climbing the sky.”
After listening to the analysis of the two shadows, Shen Ning fully understood that getting Xu Chuyao to take the initiative was basically impossible. Even if she stripped and lay there, she wouldn’t get on top.
She’d just laugh and say, “Haha, trash fish lying on the board again.”
“So basically, she can only be made to sit on top herself.”
Emmmmm, then the question is, how to persuade Chuyao to agree?