The evening breeze rustled through the ginkgo trees in the courtyard, the leaves whispering against each other. Jiang Lijin sat at the stone table, toying with the blue psionic crystal in her hand.
Tianyan and Chiron were still verifying the intelligence data. The sound of turning pages was exceptionally clear in the quiet courtyard.
"What's the situation on the capital star right now?" Jiang Lijin asked casually. Her tone didn't give away much emotion, but her fingers tightened around the crystal.
Tianyan stopped his pen and turned his green eyes toward her. He had just been wallowing in the frustration of having spent money only to have his own younger brother steal the credit, and was worrying about not having a place to prove his worth.
Hearing this, he pushed aside the data pad in his hand, stood up, and stretched.
"Want to know?" Tianyan kicked his chair aside. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere. The Jiyang galaxy has a full-coverage shielding field, so standard optical computers can't send signals. We have to go to a specialized communication node."
Jiang Lijin originally thought he would lead her to some underground workshop, but Tianyan bypassed the side courtyard, walked down a bamboo path, and stopped in front of a small courtyard behind the mansion.
The courtyard wasn't large, surrounded by a waist-high bluestone wall. In the center sat a stone well, its cover thick with moss, looking as though it had been abandoned for a long time.
Tianyan walked up to the stone well, extended his right hand, and placed his palm face down over the opening.
A beam of pale cyan light shone through the cracks in the moss, scanning his palm print.
Immediately following was a second light, rising from his fingertips to the inside of his wrist, reading the subcutaneous biological information along his veins: pulse frequency, mental energy fluctuation map, and the gene sequence unique to a 3S-grade.
The triple verification was completed within two seconds.
The moss around the stone well slowly split along its natural lines, revealing miniature optical lenses embedded in the well wall. The well cover silently spun open, and inside was not well water, but a hovering elevator platform.
"After you," Tianyan made an inviting gesture, smiling attentively.
After the three of them stepped onto it, the platform slowly descended.
After dropping for just a dozen seconds, their footing steadied. Before them was an extremely narrow alloy door. The door had no handles and no buttons; it was completely stark white, with only a thumbnail-sized iris scanner embedded on the right side.
Tianyan leaned in, an infrared dot flashed across his pupil, and the alloy door slid open to both sides.
Behind the door was a small room.
Completely different from the antique architectural style above ground, every wall here was covered with silver-gray soundproofing panels, and the temperature was constant.
In the exact center of the room was a curved console, with three holographic projection screens hovering above it. The screens were in standby mode, and the display panels only showed slowly flowing blue pulse lines.
Other than that, the room was spotless, with no other equipment, no clutter, and certainly no other people.
"This is the true communication core of the black market." Tianyan walked up to the console and pressed the pads of his fingers against the living metal surface. The moment his body heat touched it, all three holographic screens lit up simultaneously.
"This is the only communication point in the entire Jiyang galaxy that can pierce the shielding net. The coordinates are bound to my and Tianque's biological information. Even if someone else found this well, they wouldn't be able to get in."
He swiped his finger in an arc across the console, and a list of communication frequencies popped up on the holographic interface.
"Connect to the capital star, encrypted frequency, triple proxy routing."
Two seconds later, the video connected.
Tinia's face was pressed right up against the screen. His blond hair was a bit messy, and his blue eyes were burningly bright.
"Sister!" he shouted, his voice so loud it buzzed and echoed in the room.
In the background came the sound of Baal tapping on a desk. Baal's face appeared at the edge of the frame, black hair and golden eyes, his expression cold and hard.
He glanced at the screen, and seeing Jiang Lijin standing there completely unscathed, his body visibly relaxed a fraction.
"Not missing any arms or legs. Good," Baal commented, leaning back in his chair.
Jiang Lijin pulled over a chair and sat down. "How are things on your end?"
Tinia pulled the camera back, revealing a desk piled high with optical computers and documents. Three hovering screens were densely packed with data streams.
"The royal family has gone crazy and is preparing a galaxy-wide warrant for you. But they can't even fend for themselves right now," Tinia began to report the battle situation. "We leaked all the site maps and funding approval documents for the secret laboratories under Graven's name. When the Imperial Information Control Bureau bans accounts, we buy trending topics to push the news back up. They ban one batch, we upload two more."
Listening, Jiang Lijin caught the main point.
"The Imperial Information Control Bureau isn't to be trifled with." She stared at Tinia. "How much money did you have to burn to do this?"
On screen, Tinia scratched his hair, his tone very relaxed. "Not much, just about the net profit of the Yunlan Group over the past two years. My mom also transferred seventy-two percent of her private assets to me, so we have plenty of follow-up funding."
Jiang Lijin froze.
She had thought Tinia would help, but she hadn't expected him to help by emptying his family's coffers. The net profit of the Yunlan Group for two years, and seventy-two percent of the private assets of the wealthiest person in the galaxy. That amount could probably buy several star systems!
She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
She was usually quite sharp-tongued when roasting people, but right now she couldn't find the right words. In the past, if someone gave her a piece of candy, she would feel the need to give back an apple just to feel at ease.
Now, Tinia and Eileen, whom she had never even met, were directly staking their entire fortunes and lives on her.
This unreserved favoritism was so heavy it felt scorching to the touch.
"Are you crazy?" she finally squeezed out after holding it in for a long time.
"This is called a strategic investment." Tinia smiled, completely dismissing those astronomical figures. "If the money is gone, we'll just make more. Do you really not trust Yunlan's ability to make money?"
Jiang Lijin looked at the blond boy on the screen. He had none of a merchant's penny-pinching calculation, only an open and magnanimous sincerity.
"Thank you," she said very softly, but with deep sincerity.
Tinia reined in his smile and leaned closer to the screen, his blue eyes staring unblinkingly at her. "Sister, family doesn't say things like that. My mom doesn't need it, and I certainly don't."
The atmosphere was rarely this warm. Jiang Lijin's heart stirred, feeling a bit sour and a bit soft.
The next second, Tinia shifted the topic, that shameless smile hanging on his face again. "But, if you really want to thank me, Sister, when I get back, how about adding another bed in your room? I don't want to sleep on the sofa anymore. The sofa is too short, I can't stretch my legs."
Jiang Lijin: "..."
Before she could speak, a hand with distinct knuckles reached into the frame.
With a snap, Baal expressionlessly cut off the communication.
The holographic screen instantly went dark, leaving only the pulsing light on the console flowing slowly, casting a faint blue glow on the faces of the three people.
Tianyan leaned against the edge of the console, enjoying the drama, and let out a low chuckle. Jiang Lijin glared at him, stood up, and walked out.
The hovering platform brought the three back to the surface. The stone well cover automatically closed after they left, the moss patterns sealing back together. From the outside, it returned to looking like an abandoned old well.
On the way back, Tianyan tactfully walked ahead, leaving space for the people behind him. Chiron walked by Jiang Lijin's side, his pace very slow.
"Feeling burdened?" Chiron suddenly spoke, his voice steady and gentle, sounding especially clear in the night.
Jiang Lijin stopped walking and offered no denial.
"I'm the kind of person who hates owing people things the most," she said, looking down at the bluestone path. "Money, favors, lives. The more valuable it is, the harder it is to repay."
She was used to shouldering everything on her own, used to pushing everyone away.
Now, suddenly, there was a group of people standing in front of her, asking no questions and sparing no expense, throwing money around for her and taking the heat on her behalf. This was completely beyond her experience.
Chiron turned around to face her.
He knew Jiang Lijin's personality well; she was tough on the outside, but her heart was an absolute soft mess.
"This isn't a transaction," Chiron said, his voice steady. "They simply made a choice."
He paused for a moment, articulating every word clearly: "And so did we."
Jiang Lijin looked up at him.
"You don't need to calculate how to settle this debt." Chiron didn't look away, his gaze open and focused. "You just need to accept it and keep moving forward at your own pace. We stand by your side not to burden you, but to ensure that when you decide to flip the chessboard, you have enough chips in your hand."
He reached out and tightly grasped Jiang Lijin's hand, no longer holding back with polite restraint.
"Don't treat us like outsiders, Lijin," Chiron said, his voice pitched very low. "We are your family."
There were no lamps on the bamboo forest path; only the cold light of the stars fell upon their clasped hands.
Jiang Lijin looked at her hand held in his. The anxiety and restlessness in her heart finally settled.
"Alright." She lifted her head, her tone returning to its usual casual drawl. "Since the chips have been handed right to me, it would be a disservice to Tinia's pocket money if I don't win big."
Chiron looked at her eyes, which had lit up once again, and let out a low chuckle.
Up ahead, Tianyan, who was leading the way, turned his head, his green eyes darting between the two of them. He sensed that in just those short few minutes, Chiron had taken another step forward.
This guy usually seemed so quiet and unassuming, but his ability to seize an opportunity at the crucial moment was better than anyone's.
Tianyan stroked his chin, feeling that he needed to hurry up as well.
The black market intelligence network had already been deployed. Next, it was time to let the boss see his true value.
