Arden was dying of the heat.
Underneath his black cloak, sweat constantly poured out. The thick fabric clung to his back, making him feel stiflingly hot and miserable.
Arden tugged hard at his collar and chugged a large gulp of water.
Before coming to Valoran, Felwin had told Arden that this place was full of all sorts of people. Arden had specifically rummaged through the mercenary group's equipment armory to find this special cloak that could block thermal imaging scans.
But upon arriving, he saw that the beach was entirely filled with people wearing swimsuits.
Arden, walking on the beach in a thick black cloak, stood out like a sore thumb.
On his way over just now, six security robots had taken second glances in his direction. One of them had even followed him for over thirty meters before finally turning around.
If he had known, he would have listened to Felwin and worn casual clothes. But at the time, Arden's mind was completely focused on executing a secret mission, and he felt that wearing casual clothes just wasn't professional enough.
Wiping his sweat, Arden walked along the edge of the pier. The drop-off point he was looking for was a shipping container on the west side of the pier; the black market middleman had arranged to meet there.
After taking only a few steps, his hood slipped down again, blocking his vision.
Bang!
Arden's knee smashed right into a streetlamp pole.
Damn it! Arden gasped in pain, his kneecap nearly shattered.
Gritting his teeth, Arden pushed his hood back up and endured the pain as he continued walking forward.
This errand! Why did he even agree to it? Oh, right! Because Felwin had cried.
Yesterday's Purification Department live stream on the Star Network had caused a massive uproar, and the female forum sections were completely filled with crusades against Felwin. Those netizens who usually praised her changed their tunes incredibly fast, building towering threads of foul language and insults.
Felwin had come to him crying beautifully, her eyes red and swollen: Arden, only you can help me now.
That delicate and weak appearance made Arden's protective instincts swell to the extreme. He patted his chest on the spot and promised that he wouldn't hesitate to go through hell and high water for her.
Felwin gave him a promise. Once this matter was settled, she would personally go to the Female Protection Center's marriage office to submit an application and officially become his mate.
This promise was no different from a lifesaving straw in a desperate situation for Arden.
Ever since the incident where he used his S-grade spiritual pressure on Jiang Lijin was officially recorded, his matchmaking privileges had been frozen. Jiang Lijin was originally just a C-grade, so the punishment he received would have been a half-year suspension at most. Who could have expected that the woman would suddenly transform into the only 3S-grade female in the entire galaxy?
With the charge of attempting to murder a rare 3S-grade female pressing down on him, he could forget about ever matching with any female for the rest of his life.
But as an A-grade registered hunter of the mercenary group, it was inevitable that he would be polluted or suffer from spiritual power exhaustion during missions. Without a mate, how was he supposed to survive? He didn't want to die from going berserk!
Felwin was willing to accept him at this crucial juncture, and even if it was just a verbal promise, it was enough to make his head run hot and toss all reason out the window.
The plan sounded pretty crazy.
He was to come to Valoran's black market and buy two things. One was a colorless and odorless poison whose ingredients couldn't even be detected by the instruments at the Capital Star Central Hospital. The other was a special drug for an explosive increase in spiritual power; he needed to buy a full twenty pills.
Felwin's idea was to drug Jiang Lijin with the special pills and then expose to the entire galaxy that she was taking drugs to fake her high grade. By destroying that woman's 3S myth, the five high and mighty beast husbands she matched with would naturally throw her away like trash. If the drug's effects were unstable, they would just use the poison directly.
Arden actually found it troublesome. Wouldn't it be easier to just poison her to death and be done with it?
His hatred for Jiang Lijin had long been carved into his bones. Back then, outside Chiron's office, he, a dignified S-grade male, was forcibly thrown out of the hospital gates in public. He dreamed of settling this score!
But he couldn't understand, what was the point of buying twenty special pills? Did framing one person really require twenty pills?
In order to scrape together enough money to buy these two contraband items, Arden had emptied out his entire life savings from his years as a mercenary.
He arrived at the warehouse district on the west side of the pier.
In stark contrast to the lively scene on the beach, this area was completely deserted. Several rows of gray metal warehouses lined the coastline, most of their doors tightly locked shut. There wasn't even a single bird in sight.
Arden found warehouse number seven in the third row, knocked three times, paused, and knocked two more times.
This was the secret signal Felwin had given him. The door opened a crack from the inside.
Did you bring the goods? Arden asked, lowering his voice.
Money first. A hand reached out from the crack in the door, accompanied by a hoarse voice from behind it.
Arden handed his card over.
On the other side of the beach. Jiang Lijin sat under a sun umbrella, biting on a straw and taking a sip of a neon pink drink.
In her mind, Xiao Yi was still reporting the progress: Host, Arden has slipped into that abandoned shipping container by the sea. There's no signal tower inside, it's a surveillance blind spot, so I can't get in.
Beside her, Tinia's optical computer vibrated twice.
The blond young master glanced at the screen, tilted his head, and leaned close to Jiang Lijin's ear: He bought two bottles of things. One bottle of clear liquid, most likely a lethal poison. The other bottle has twenty special pills for an explosive increase in spiritual power.
Jiang Lijin raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. The Yunlan Group truly held absolute power in Valoran; Arden had barely stepped inside, and they already knew exactly what he bought and in what quantities. This intelligence network was even more outrageous than watching a live broadcast.
The poison Arden bought was, without a doubt, prepared for her, his ex-wife.
But what about those twenty special pills?
That quantity was a bit too extravagant just for framing someone. Aside from Felwin eating them herself like jellybeans, who else would need such a massive dose?
Does Big Sister want to go take a look? Tinia toyed with the empty glass in his hand, his tone brisk and cheerful.
Jiang Lijin leaned back in her chair, not moving. She had always valued her life and saw no point in risking it for an idiot like Arden.
Is it dangerous? she asked faintly.
Tinia laughed aloud, revealing two sharp canine teeth: In Valoran, no one can even think of touching a single hair on Big Sister's head. If Big Sister thinks the sun is too hot outside, I can make the trip myself and just dispose of him.
Since we're already here. Jiang Lijin stood up. Let's go meet this ex-husband of mine. After all, he went bankrupt just to bring me a gift.
Tinia immediately followed after her like a loyal dog.
Behind the shipping container was a narrow, dirty alleyway filled with discarded hovercar parts.
Arden hid the two bottles of medicine close to his body. Just as he stepped out of the shadows, he ran headlong into a wall of people.
Four burly men in floral shirts blocked his path. They weren't holding weapons, but their positioning completely sealed off both ends of the alley.
Arden took a half-step back, his hand reaching for the particle gun at his waist.
Footsteps echoed from the entrance of the alley. Tinia walked in front, with Jiang Lijin half a step behind him.
When he clearly saw Jiang Lijin's face, an inexplicable surge of panic welled up from the bottom of Arden's heart.
What are you doing?! Why are you here?! he roared, drawing his particle gun and aiming it forward.
