The night was deep and appeared utterly calm on the surface.
However, in corners beyond the reach of sight, countless undercurrents were quietly surging.
Illegal black households, street shootouts, and even assassinations were taking place in complete silence.
While Wuming and Serena were enjoying their evening at home—
In a corner of the city, inside an ordinary rental apartment.
Lu Muzhe sat alone on the living room sofa, his fingertips sliding across the screen of his tablet.
Displayed on it was a bounty notice issued internally by the Scarlet organization.
The target of the bounty was none other than Serena.
His gaze then shifted to the reward amount: a full ten Scarlet gold tokens!
And each token was worth 100,000 yuan. That meant a total of one million yuan!
“Truly… quite the generous sum.”
Lu Muzhe murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth curving into an indecipherable arc.
He had suspected it might be her when he saw her at the scene, but he wasn’t completely sure until he returned home and carefully compared the photos.
Only then did he confirm that it really was Serena—the person wanted by the Scarlet organization.
He never expected that accompanying Bo Qinyue to buy clothes would lead him straight to the target of the Scarlet organization’s heavy bounty.
If he had wanted to, that one million would have been within easy reach at the time.
Even now, with the business card Wuming had given him, he could go directly to claim it.
But he chose not to.
Lu Muzhe expressionlessly closed the tablet and set it aside.
Then, with practiced movements, he pulled a silenced pistol from the inner pocket of his suit—the very gun that had taken the criminal’s life.
He smoothly ejected the magazine, checked the chamber and firing pin, and after confirming everything was in order, stowed it away in a hidden compartment beneath the sofa.
Once finished, he stood up and returned to the bedroom.
He changed out of his crisp suit and came back to the living room.
At that moment, he looked just like an ordinary young man returning home.
From the pocket of the suit he had taken off, he pulled out the business card Wuming had given him.
His fingers stroked the edge of the card as his eyes scanned the clinic’s address and contact number.
Doctor Wuming…
And… that wanted little girl…
Lu Muzhe revealed another meaningful smile.
How ironic.
The girl the Scarlet organization was desperately searching for was actually hiding safely beside that psychologist, completely evading their pursuit.
“Looks like…”
Lu Muzhe murmured softly as he put the card away again, “I should find some time to pay Doctor Wuming a visit.”
Right then, the bathroom door clicked open.
Bo Qinyue emerged wrapped in a slightly oversized white bath towel.
Her wet silver-white hair was still dripping continuously, soaking through the towel.
With damp hair plastered to her head, she looked pitifully at Lu Muzhe.
“Muzhe, can you help me dry my hair? I really can’t manage it by myself!”
Lu Muzhe’s gaze moved from her soaking wet head to the water stains constantly dripping onto the floor. He let out a helpless sigh.
“Couldn’t you dry yourself a bit inside before coming out? The floor is suffering.”
“It’s because I can’t do it alone that I’m asking you!”
Bo Qinyue grumbled with dissatisfaction, shaking her head and splattering water droplets.
“This long hair is way too troublesome. This is what girls have to deal with.”
The various inconveniences of becoming female far exceeded what Bo Qinyue had imagined back when he was male.
Now he finally understood why his ex-girlfriend used to take so long in the shower.
“Anyway, it’s not like I’m the one who changed…”
Lu Muzhe said with a hint of schadenfreude.
“Hey! Stop saying such sarcastic things!” Bo Qinyue glared at him unhappily. “Hurry up and help me!”
“I just went through a hostage situation, you know? Can’t you take care of me a little?!”
Lu Muzhe looked at her helplessly. “Then why don’t you come over here?”
***
Inside the Other Race Bureau office, the atmosphere was heavy.
“Mr. Park Guochang, that is the situation.”
A human woman sat with her legs crossed, looking down at Park Guochang and Ji Bochang beside him with a superior attitude.
She was the messenger from the Round Table Council. Behind her stood two well-dressed killers acting as bodyguards.
“Your government has already signed the treaty. From now on, you have no right to interfere with our actions.”
“The Round Table Council has taken over all assassin organizations. The rules of this game are about to be rewritten.”
The woman spoke with utmost seriousness, making sure every single word was clearly conveyed to Park Guochang and Ji Bochang.
“…You came all this way just to deliver this notice?”
Park Guochang suppressed his anger as he questioned her.
“The Round Table Council must ensure that all relevant parties clearly understand. Notifying your Bureau is a necessary procedure.”
Her expression remained completely calm, as if this were only natural.
“‘Scarlet,’ ‘Silver Court,’ ‘High Tower,’ ‘Blood Scar.’ These organizations will now operate under the Round Table’s management and follow our rules. Your Bureau no longer has any jurisdiction over them.”
These names were all too familiar to Park Guochang, especially “Scarlet,” which had recently caused chaos right inside the Bureau.
“You say you’ll stop managing them and that’s it?!”
Park Guochang slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his emotions running high.
“Then what were all our previous efforts for?! Why did we even crack down on these demonfolk organizations?!”
Scenes of the recent attack on the Other Race Bureau flashed through his mind—that person had dared to openly shoot and kill a criminal inside the Bureau in broad daylight! And it was a newly recruited officer!
This was outright humiliation, stepping on his head! How could Park Guochang swallow this?!
How was he supposed to explain this to the citizens of Nanning?!
“Just a few days ago! They were running wild in our territory! You say stop managing them just like that—what about my authority?!”
Park Guochang glared furiously at the other party, his voice loud and resonant.
“What about the dignity of our Other Race Bureau?!”
Facing Park Guochang’s roar, the female representative remained indifferent and unmoved.
“Your old grudges with ‘Scarlet’ end here, Mr. Park Guochang.”
Her tone was flat.
“We will strengthen internal management going forward to ensure similar situations do not occur again.”
With that, she stood up, signaling that she was leaving.
“I am here to deliver an official notice. Whether you accept it or not is up to you. But if you do not, you will bear all consequences.”
“The police have already agreed. Now, only your Bureau’s stance is left.”
“…”
“You have to protect your position as Director, don’t you, Mr. Park?” She left these final words and departed the office with her bodyguards.
“…”
A wave of powerlessness washed over him.
Park Guochang collapsed back into his chair, rubbing his temples hard.
“What exactly have we been doing all this time…”
His voice was filled with confusion.
He looked helplessly at Ji Bochang, who had walked over to the opposite side, and as usual, handed him a cigarette.
“Things have gone contrary to our wishes. That’s all there is to say.” Ji Bochang replied.
“It seems our operations can only stop here.”
“Heh.” Park Guochang suddenly let out a light snort, laced with self-mockery.
“Yeah. From now on, every time we open or close our eyes, we’ll probably be looking at streets full of corpses.”
“This is the reality we have to face. They’ll be freely gunning each other down in the streets, and we… won’t be able to do anything!”
He let out a long sigh toward the ceiling.
Ji Bochang could only sit across from him and watch him vent.
“To keep your job, you have no choice but to compromise, old Park.” Ji Bochang advised. “You don’t want to lose your position because of this, right?”
“…” Park Guochang remained silent for a moment, his face full of bitterness. “Compromising with crime…”
He said this both to Ji Bochang and to himself.
“…Old Park, about Wuming’s matter…”
Ji Bochang suddenly changed the subject, referring to Wuming—or rather, the little girlfriend beside him.
“What do we do now? His little girlfriend…”
Park Guochang immediately understood he was talking about Serena, who was still on the Scarlet bounty list.
This also meant Wuming’s safety was now implicated.
“Of course we continue protecting him! What else can we say?”
Park Guochang’s tone was resolute. After all, this was something he had promised Youming.
“But wouldn’t that… count as interfering with the treaty?”
Ji Bochang questioned.
Continuing to protect Wuming would seem to violate the non-interference agreement the woman had just conveyed.
“…Then what solution do you have? Are we just supposed to abandon that kid?” Park Guochang countered.
“How about… we contact Youming?” Ji Bochang suggested. “Look…” He felt this was the best approach—it would ensure Wuming’s safety without direct involvement from them.
“You and I both promised him we wouldn’t let his mom know about this.”
“Huh—?”
Ji Bochang looked confused. “I never said that.”
“…”
“The decision is yours, old Park. Whether or not to contact Wuming’s mom, it’s up to you.” Ji Bochang pushed the choice back to him.
“Aren’t you just making this difficult for me…”
Park Guochang’s heart was filled with conflict. If he contacted Youming immediately, he would be breaking his promise to Wuming.
But if he didn’t, Wuming’s safety would be…
“Doesn’t he have that rich lady friend? Why don’t you try contacting her instead?”
Ji Bochang offered another idea.
“You mean that dragon girl? She went traveling with Youming. What’s the point of contacting her? If she finds out, won’t she just tell Youming and make her rush back?”
Park Guochang pointed out the key issue.
“Perhaps… perhaps we can ask her to keep it from Youming and discuss countermeasures together. That could work too, right?”
“…”
For a moment, Park Guochang looked extremely conflicted and troubled.
Finally, he covered his face with his hand, looking deeply distressed.
“The order we maintained for so many years… has just been rewritten like this…”
He let out a long sigh in the end.
No one knew what this would truly mean.