Upon entering the warehouse, Lu Zhaoran saw two men sitting on opposite sides of a sofa, awaiting her arrival. She glanced to the left first, immediately recognizing Chu Qingyu. His presence wasn't a surprise; her main concern was the identity of the additional guest.
However, when she turned her gaze to the right, she froze in her tracks.
"You... how is this possible! It can't be you! You aren't dead!"
Staring at the middle-aged man sitting listlessly on the right side of the sofa, Lu Zhaoran's eyes widened in disbelief. She recovered quickly, her expression shifting back to a cold mask as she interrogated the man.
"Senior Lin... it's been ten years. You've been missing for ten years! Everyone thought you were dead! Where have you been all this time? And why on earth am I running into you here?!"
The man remained silent, obsessively stroking a small silver knife.
"Forgive me for interrupting your little reunion."
Chu Qingyu stood up, shattering the atmosphere. He glared at Chu Ke, who was slung over Lu Zhaoran's shoulder, and spoke in a low, hostile tone.
"Don't forget why you're here. You came for a trade, not a trip down memory lane."
At his words, Lu Zhaoran shifted her focus away from the middle-aged man and unceremoniously dropped the two captives onto the floor.
"What price are you willing to pay to buy these two back?"
"Name your price, Ms. Lu."
"Let's round it off. Eight hundred thousand for Tan Rui and one point two million for Chu Ke. Totaling two million. How does that sound to you?"
"We agree. Hand them over."
Personal Account Credit: 2,000,000 Credits.
"?"
The sheer speed of the transaction left Lu Zhaoran stunned. She hastily pulled out her terminal, staring blankly at the confirmed balance of two million credits.
Why did they agree so easily? Did I ask for too little?
Could I raise the price now?
No, no... Lu Zhaoran, you can't go ruining your reputation like that!
The moment the thought surfaced, she crushed it.
"Are you done checking? If so, release them."
Chu Qingyu's impatient voice reached her ears, snapping her out of her daze.
"Oh, right. Fine. Come and get them."
Lu Zhaoran agreed quickly, taking several steps back to signal that she was no longer a threat to the captives. Seeing her retreat, Chu Qingyu walked forward to carry the two away.
But in that instant, an overwhelming sensation of impending death swept through all three people in the warehouse. They turned toward the exit simultaneously, faces filled with shock.
'That's the aura of Cipher's friend! What's happening? Is Sister Cipher in danger?!'
At that thought, Lu Zhaoran immediately tried to use her ability to teleport out of the warehouse.
"What?! A spatial blockade anchor! Lin Zhenyi, what are you doing!"
Realizing the space had been locked down by a spatial anchor, making teleportation impossible, Lu Zhaoran realized what was happening. She spun around and shouted at the middle-aged man.
"Forgive me. I cannot let you leave."
Facing her accusation, Lin Zhenyi answered with a hollow, numb voice.
"Damn it..."
Looking at the clearly abnormal Lin Zhenyi, Lu Zhaoran bit her lip in frustration. She knew his strength well; if he truly intended to stop her, she had no hope of breaking out.
"Wait, the credits!"
Suddenly, Lu Zhaoran remembered something Cipher had mentioned before.
'Credits have a special use for me. The more I have, the more strength I can obtain through that method.'
Tsk. I guess this is the only way.
She quickly pulled out her terminal and transferred every single credit in her account to Cipher's ID.
I hope this helps the Great Cipher...
Tucking the terminal back into her pocket, Lu Zhaoran slowly raised her head, her gaze turning cold as she looked at Lin Zhenyi.
"Senior Lin, I don't know what happened to you. But since you intend to stand in my way, I won't hold back just because you were my senior."
With those words, she vanished.
In the next heartbeat, she reappeared directly in front of Lin Zhenyi, a knight's sword in hand, swinging it violently toward his chest.
★ ★ ★
Going back a minute earlier, outside the warehouse.
"A beast in a cage? Who's to say for sure?"
Cipher mocked the two men before her with a look of disdain.
"You're just two rats who can't stand the light. You don't even dare to show your faces. Do you really think you can beat a cat?"
"Hmph, such arrogance."
Jinchuan let out a cold snort at her taunts.
"Then watch with your own eyes as this 'cat' is torn apart by the very 'rats' you despise."
Jinchuan raised both hands, and two spheres of highly destructive energy gathered in his palms. Without hesitation, the violent energy surged toward Cipher with terrifying force.
Boom!
The energy struck Cipher's location with precision, blowing a crater into the ground and kicking up clouds of dust. Jinchuan waved his right hand, sending a shockwave to clear the smoke, but Cipher was nowhere to be found.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out. Jinchuan spun around instantly, as the sound had come from directly behind him. But no matter how fast he turned, it was useless. The sound echoed again, once more from his blind spot.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang—
A rapid succession of strikes followed. This time, Jinchuan didn't even bother to dodge. He stood his ground, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.
"It's useless. With your meager strength, you could never hope to pierce Wuya's barrier. What are you doing other than wasting your own energy?"
"Tsk. A turtle shell."
Seeing that her attacks couldn't penetrate the defense, Cipher stopped. She stood to the side, hidden by her invisibility, her mood souring.
Raw attack power had always been her weak point. With that man named Feng Wuya maintaining a barrier like a turtle shell, she couldn't deal any damage to Jinchuan at all.
Tricks? No, they won't work. The prerequisite for her tricks to manifest was that the target had to believe she was capable of the feat.
Unless she had an attack method that could actually threaten the barrier, they wouldn't believe her lies, and she wouldn't be able to obtain the power to break it.
'I wonder if this can break his shield.'
Cipher opened her system inventory and quietly fixed her gaze on a purple item: [A Wisp of Aura].