At the edge of the beach stood a simple makeshift shack, its counter lined with neat rows of glass bottles. The bottles were filled with colorful liquids that emitted a bizarre fluorescence under the scorching sun.
This stuff looked sketchy. The glowing fluorescence made it look like industrial waste with excessive heavy metals. Gulping this down would probably mean you wouldn't even need to turn on the light when getting up in the middle of the night; your whole body would come with its own built-in lighting system.
She was just about to refuse this cyberpunk-style specialty drink when her gaze paused on the crowd behind the stall.
Most of the partying men and women were wearing revealing swimsuits, eager to show off their good figures. Yet, amidst this group of attractive young people, stood a highly incongruous dark silhouette.
The person was wrapped in a baggy black cloak with the hood pulled down extremely low, hiding most of their face in the shadows.
On a hot day, with temperatures over thirty degrees Celsius, on a beach, wearing a black cloak??
Was he afraid people wouldn't notice him?
This look would be the standard outfit for a villain in a TV show back on Earth. It wasn't much better in the interstellar era either; standing together with a bunch of vacationers in beachwear, he was practically a walking sign that read "I have a problem."
She didn't show any emotion and said to Tinia, "Alright, I'll go get it myself."
Tinia tilted his head. "I can just go—"
"I've been sitting for a while, my legs are numb." Jiang Lijin stood up and patted the sand off her skirt. "Let's take a walk."
Tinia followed without another word.
As the two walked toward the stall, Jiang Lijin called out to Xiao Yi in her mind.
"Xiao Yi, help me scan that guy in the black cloak."
Xiao Yi replied instantly, "Received! Scanning now—"
Before she even reached the stall, Xiao Yi's voice popped up, sounding confused, "Host, this person is Arden."
Jiang Lijin's footsteps paused for a moment.
Arden?
She glanced at the dark figure again. The cloak was large and thick, the brim of the hood pressed down below the tip of his nose, and his whole body was wrapped up like a moving tent. Let alone recognizing his face, even his body shape was mostly obscured.
What was Arden doing running all the way to Valoran?
He was a member of the mercenary group, and his area of activity was generally the main planet and a few surrounding military galaxies. Valoran was a commercial resort galaxy, completely unrelated to the mercenary group.
Over on the main planet, Felwin was currently overwhelmed by the mess at the Purification Department, even going so far as to have her beast husband fake an illness to avoid a deep spiritual power test. As Felwin's most loyal admirer, why wasn't Arden guarding his precious female on the main planet, instead of traveling all this way to this resort to enjoy the ocean breeze?
Even thinking with her toes, she knew this matter was definitely not simple, and it most likely had something to do with Felwin.
Tinia leaned in at this moment. Following Jiang Lijin's gaze, he naturally noticed the black cloak as well.
The blond young master curled his lips in disgust.
As the sole heir of the Yunlan Consortium, the Valoran galaxy was, frankly speaking, his family's backyard.
He had grown up navigating the business world with his mother, had seen all sorts of people from different walks of life, and was especially familiar with the black market.
Those desperadoes in the black market were all as shrewd as loaches, wishing they could blend right into the background. Even if they really wanted to do something shady, they would change into the most ordinary clothes and pretend to be tourists mingling in the crowd.
There was no one like this idiot, who, as if terrified people wouldn't know he was suspicious, insisted on wearing a black cloak on the beach to be an absolute eyesore.
"What are you looking at, sister?" Tinia leaned close to Jiang Lijin's ear, lowering his voice with a hint of teasing. "That guy's brain probably doesn't work too well. Dressing like that, the security robots are staring at him so hard they're seeing double."
Jiang Lijin turned to look at Tinia. "That is my ex-husband."
Just those few words, spoken so casually, but the smile on Tinia's face instantly froze.
In his originally clear blue eyes, something dangerous was rapidly gathering.
He had already investigated Jiang Lijin's past thoroughly. How did those three ungrateful ex-husbands push a perfectly fine person to the point where her spiritual power broke through?
Especially that one named Arden. The files at the Female Protection Center clearly recorded the incident where Arden attempted to attack Jiang Lijin with his S-grade spiritual pressure.
Although Tinia usually acted like a carefree, clingy puppy, deep down, he was a 3S-grade male and the future head of the Yunlan Consortium. Territorial instincts and possessiveness were instincts carved into his genes.
"Which one?" Tinia's voice turned cold, even dropping the sweet nicknames he usually kept on his lips. "Kieran, Arden, or Rex?"
Jiang Lijin had no intention of hiding it from him.
In the Valoran galaxy, the Yunlan Consortium's informants were probably more effective than the interstellar police. Leaving such a ready-made powerful external aid unused and investigating alone would be something only a fool would do.
"Arden."
The chill in Tinia's eyes deepened.
He turned around, picked up a cup of fluorescent pink beverage from the stall, and stuffed it into Jiang Lijin's hands. When he looked up again, his face had returned to that bright, sunny smile.
"Sister, go back and sit under the umbrella to have a drink." He reached out to tidy up Jiang Lijin's hair, which had been messed up by the sea breeze. "The sun is harsh here, don't get sunburned. I'll go take care of some trash for you."
Jiang Lijin lowered her eyes, looking at the pink liquid in her hand.
Tinia smiled very sweetly, but she clearly saw the surging violence in those blue eyes. No matter how well this golden long-haired fox usually hid his fangs, when he encountered prey, he would still bite someone's neck off.
Since someone was willing to clean up the trouble for her, it was exactly what Jiang Lijin wanted. Holding the cup, she turned and walked toward the beach chairs.
After taking only two steps, she tapped the system in her mind.
"Xiao Yi, can you access the public surveillance network here in Valoran?"
Xiao Yi replied swiftly, "I can! The cybersecurity in this place is practically made of paper. Except for the core database of the Yunlan Group, I can enter anywhere else with my eyes closed. Road surveillance, business district surveillance, transportation hubs, no problem at all."
"Keep an eye on Arden. Where he came from, where he lives, who he meets, record it all for me."
"Yes, ma'am!" Xiao Yi's voice rose with excitement. "Rest assured, Host, not even a fly can escape my surveillance range!"
"Good." Jiang Lijin sat down on the beach chair, bit the straw, and took a sip of the fluorescent pink drink.
Unexpectedly, the taste was actually quite good, sweet and sour, with a bit of fizz.
Tinia moved quickly. He walked a few steps in one direction of the party and spoke in a low voice with a middle-aged man wearing a floral shirt. The man nodded, pulled out his optical computer to send a message, and then walked away casually holding his wine glass.
The whole process took less than two minutes, as smooth as if it had been rehearsed.
When Tinia returned, he had transformed back into that clingy large dog, plopping down next to Jiang Lijin and even dragging his chair a little closer to hers.
"It's taken care of." He lowered his voice, though a playful smile still lingered on his lips. "I have people tailing him. He won't be able to make any waves here, so don't worry, Sister."
"In Valoran, even a falling coconut tree requires our family's approval. Him coming here is practically offering his own head to the guillotine."
His words were arrogant, but they were the absolute truth. Jiang Lijin nodded, said nothing more, and leaned back against her chair.
Xiao Yi chimed in her mind at the perfect moment: [Host, Arden is currently heading toward the pier on the west side of the hotel. I am pulling up the security footage from that area right now. Oh, by the way, he bumped into streetlights twice while walking. That cloak of his is blocking his vision way too much, hahahaha—]
Jiang Lijin: [...Focus.]
[Oh, got it.]
