Everyone around them was dumbfounded. No one could understand how a pretty boy who had come aboard under the wing of a wealthy woman had suddenly transformed into the leader of a band of pirates.
The dispute from earlier was still fresh in everyone’s minds. Most of the people gathered here had come because of that altercation, and moments ago they had been grandly condemning his violent behavior and suspicious identity from their lofty positions.
The reason was simple: they had seen a fresh-faced pretty boy get into a conflict with people like them—“upper-class” individuals—and even dare to use force.
Many of those present had a very clear understanding of their own social status and advantages, and they never hesitated to speak up in defense of them.
There were plenty of people like Zhong An, who had only recently squeezed their way into this circle. People like that tended to overemphasize their status, and they had been the loudest in stirring things up just now.
Yet at this moment, they were all huddled tightly together, wishing they could erase what had just happened from everyone’s memory.
Chu Yebai, however, naturally had no time to bother with them.
He walked to the very center of the banquet hall. The enormous room was now silent enough to hear a pin drop. If one listened carefully, one could even hear the sound of the sea wind outside.
Chu Yebai was impossible to overlook. He was strikingly handsome, with a fierce, wild air about him. The contrast was heightened by the crisp white suit shirt he wore, which added an ascetic, disciplined quality to his appearance.
He looked every inch the gentleman thug in a suit.
Pei Liang found herself rather captivated. It had been a long time since she had seen this type.
And if even someone as discerning as Pei Liang thought so, there was no need to mention the other women present.
Earlier, Chu Yebai might have deliberately kept a low profile. Sitting at the gambling table in the farthest corner, he had been noticed only by two bored women.
But now that he stood in the center of the hall, holding everyone’s fate in his hands, his looks, combined with the complicated psychological effects of the situation, produced a strange result.
Even though many of those present were trembling with fear for their lives, their first reaction upon seeing him was not hatred or terror. Instead, they felt an absurd, hazy sense of awe that they could not ignore.
More and more people were brought into the hall. Most were guests who had been resting in their rooms, along with a few cruise-ship employees.
Watching how orderly and efficiently the intruders gathered everyone together, Pei Liang concluded that Chu Yebai had definitely not been the only one to infiltrate the ship at the beginning.
As a free-roaming guest who could move about at will, he had probably boarded several days in advance to coordinate the operation.
They should have obtained the list of all the guests and their room assignments long ago. They had also taken control of the surveillance system at least five hours before the operation began.
That way, they had every guest’s movements under control and could easily round up anyone who happened to be outside the banquet hall when the operation commenced.
Control of the captain’s cabin had probably been established at least two hours before the operation.
By now, the ship had most likely already deviated from its original course. To prevent unnecessary resistance, chaos, and needless bloodshed during the operation, the crew members who worked throughout the ship should have been summoned to one location twenty minutes earlier under the pretext of an emergency gathering by the captain’s cabin.
That was why, as the people in the hall were being subdued, most of the staff had also been driven in one group after another.
As for those who could not leave their posts, the intruders only needed to go and collect them one by one, judging from the fact that the ship’s operations could not run without someone stationed there.
Sure enough, once everyone had been gathered in the hall, Chu Yebai spoke.
A smile still curved his lips, making him look charming and elegant.
“Ladies and gentlemen, good evening! Please forgive our abrupt intrusion and the interruption to your festivities. I imagine none of you have much patience for a group of uninvited guests like us.”
“The wind is rather strong out at sea, and working overtime isn’t easy for us either. If everyone cooperates, you’ll be rid of us sooner, and our brothers can get off work sooner as well. It’s convenient for all of us.”
“If there are no objections, then I, your temporary person in charge of this cruise ship, will explain the procedure.”
“First, please remain where you are. Do not make any suspicious movements, and wait quietly. When my colleagues come over, hand over your jewelry, valuables, and communication devices voluntarily.”
Everyone attending this banquet was a prominent figure from the upper echelons of society. The jewelry they carried alone was often worth tens or even hundreds of millions.
One socialite was even wearing a diamond necklace that had caused a sensation at an auction the previous month. It was a rare masterpiece worth tens of millions of dollars.
Chu Yebai continued, “I would like to remind everyone once again: do not make any suspicious movements. If my colleagues determine that someone is attempting to resist, then in order to reduce the cost of managing this operation, we will have no choice but to use our guns to eliminate uncertain factors.”
Who would dare?
The men were all carrying guns. Everyone was already terrified that one might go off accidentally.
Most people would not even dare scratch an itch if their skin began to crawl.
Chu Yebai continued, “The signal on this cruise ship has been shut down, and the ship has left its original course. We cannot be located from the outside for the time being. Even if someone manages to use a satellite phone to report the situation and request assistance, locating this ship’s precise coordinates and sending help here will take at least five hours at the absolute minimum.”
“So, those of you carrying satellite phones, please remain calm. Do not take a huge risk for the sake of rescue that will arrive more than five hours from now.”
Those who had originally planned to use their satellite phones to call for help in secret felt their hearts sink upon hearing this.
These vicious, desperate pirates would kill anyone who reported them. By the time the maritime security forces arrived five hours later, their bodies would already be cold.
Pei Liang nodded. The timing was more or less what she had guessed. She glanced at Pei Ning and saw that the other girl did not look particularly frightened.
Nor did she seem to have any intention of asking for help. Instead, she stared at Chu Yebai with eyes full of worship and admiration, like some kind of fanatical believer.
Pei Liang curled her lips and suddenly said in a low voice, “There’s no point asking for help. The outside world already has its hands full.”
Pei Ning nodded instinctively. “Exactly. After tomorrow, they’ll realize how fortunate they are to be on this ship—”
She had only gotten halfway through the sentence when Pei Ning suddenly realized that this was not a conversation taking place in the world where she had lived for years, where everyone was accustomed to the existence of the apocalypse.
Everyone in the hall still believed they would soon return safely to shore.
She jolted, and her gaze, which had been fixed on Chu Yebai, was yanked back as if by a whip. She looked at her “older sister.”
Pei Liang was watching her with an amused, knowing smile, seemingly quite pleased with her answer.
Pei Ning flushed with embarrassment and anger. “You already knew? Why did you trick me? What does it matter that you got me to say it? I’m not the old Pei Ning anymore, and you’re not my sister.”
Pei Liang paid her no further attention and began thinking to herself.
No wonder that when she first received the system’s notification that this was an apocalyptic scenario, her first instinct had been to try to contact the outside world, only to discover that it was impossible.
At first, she had assumed it was simply a rule of the world: the apocalypse had to arrive, and no matter what method a mission-taker used to issue a warning, it would fail.
As it turned out, the pirates were the ones blocking the signal.
But the missions would never leave loopholes for anyone to exploit. According to Pei Ning, by tomorrow morning, the people aboard the cruise ship would fully understand what had happened—and feel fortunate that they were temporarily safe out on the open sea.
That could only mean that, after one night, the situation outside had fallen into complete chaos. By this point, it should have already begun.
Pei Liang had more or less pieced together the basic situation, and Pei Ning’s attitude toward Chu Yebai was easy enough to understand.
The apocalypse had arrived. Order had collapsed. And in chaotic times, heroes—and tyrants—rose to power.
At the moment, Chu Yebai might look like nothing more than a robber who made people grit their teeth in hatred, but he had guns, manpower, and a powerful mercenary unit under his command.
He had also managed to avoid the first wave of the apocalypse’s impact. Most of the people aboard the ship were elites in technical or managerial fields. An organized group of survivors like this would have an extraordinary head start in a post-apocalyptic world.
So there was a very good chance that Chu Yebai was the protagonist of this world—or at least the protagonist of the story Pei Ning knew.
Pei Liang and Pei Ning understood this perfectly, but the other guests had no idea.
All they knew was that they had landed in the worst possible situation. After Chu Yebai warned them not to call for outside help, they became even more worried for their lives.
Then he added, “But there’s no need to lose hope. When the time comes, I’ll naturally allow you to contact the outside world.”
Everyone was startled, and an ominous feeling suddenly took root in their hearts.
By then, however, the robbers had already begun their work.
They had come fully prepared. The bags they carried were designed to hold jewelry without damaging it, and they even sorted the items into different categories. One of the robbers was a professional appraiser.
With guns trained on them, no one dared to move slowly. Watches and jewelry were placed onto trays. Ordinary accessories were shoved aside. Seasonal pieces from major luxury brands barely received a glance; they were tossed together into a single bag as casually as goods being packed at a Yiwu wholesale market.
Items worth over a million yuan were sorted into another category, while the few pieces valued at tens of millions—or even over a hundred million—earned bags of their own.
Counterfeits and cheap jewelry were simply thrown onto the floor. They weren’t worth taking up space.
A young heir happened to be standing near Pei Liang and the others. He had just placed one of his watches onto a tray when the robbers’ appraiser picked it up, gave it a brief look, and casually tossed it into the “wholesale” bag.
The young heir immediately protested. “Do you even know what you’re looking at? That’s a Richard Mille worth nearly twenty million yuan! There are only three in the entire world!”
The appraiser was a very young, somewhat boyish-looking man, no more than twenty years old.
Like Chu Yebai, he had probably infiltrated the cruise ship before it set sail. He was still wearing a bartender’s uniform: a white shirt and a fitted black vest. He looked clean, neat, slim, and straight-backed—like a college student working part-time to pay his way through school. No one would have associated him with a robber in the middle of a heist.
Someone so young, acting so quickly and carelessly, naturally invited doubts about his judgment and expertise.
The young appraiser merely sneered. “It’s fake.”
The young heir refused to let it go. “Do you know who I am? Why would I wear a fake?”
At first, the people nearby thought he was an idiot. What time was this to argue over something like that? Anyone who regularly played around with watches knew that nothing offended them more than having the authenticity of their collection questioned—but their lives were currently in someone else’s hands.
Soon, however, they understood why he had reacted so strongly.
The young appraiser nodded. “I do. I know the information of every valuable client on this ship.”
“You’re the son of the Du family—”
At that, Young Master Du’s face filled with unconcealed pride. He was just about to ask why, if the appraiser knew who he was, the man still dared to question him.
But the young appraiser continued, “Young Master Du is dressed in clothing from previous seasons, but not so outdated that it looks shabby. The shoes and watch are extravagantly expensive in all the right details, yet casual enough not to arouse suspicion. They give the impression that he’s relaxed and not blindly following trends.”
“However, given the Du family’s connections, the chances of them buying a counterfeit watch are extremely low. On top of that, the Du family has been expanding on a massive scale over the past few months, despite the sluggish economic climate, while its stock price has been climbing. They’ve chosen countless locations for brick-and-mortar stores and launched an enormous marketing campaign. Yet, by contrast, construction has proceeded at a crawl, and the stores have remained unopened for a long time. Meanwhile, even as the number of outlets expands, the company has been carrying out massive layoffs.”
“And the nationality of the entire Du family has recently changed. They must be close to running out of ways to keep things afloat. They’re probably planning to cash out in the stock market and flee.”
Young Master Du’s eyes widened. He stared at the other man as if he were looking at a ghost.
The surrounding guests were stunned as well.
“What? The Du family was already an empty shell?”
“I just bought their stock!”
“I just increased my investment!”
The people who had been dazzled by the media’s hype and the Du family’s spectacular wave of new-store openings began to panic, realizing they had made the wrong investment.
Some of those standing near Young Master Du even grabbed him by the collar and demanded that he return their money.
Only then did everyone understand why he had reacted so violently over a single watch.
It wasn’t merely the vanity of a spoiled heir.
He was clearly afraid that sharp-eyed people would detect something from this incident, expose the truth, and destroy the Du family’s plan once they got off the ship.
One of the burly robbers asked Chu Yebai, “Boss, this kid is one of the important fat sheep on the list. If his family’s out of money, does that mean they can’t pay the ransom?”
Chu Yebai smiled. “No. His original ransom is going up by another two hundred percent.”
“To prevent this news from spreading everywhere first thing tomorrow morning, Mr. Du will surely be happy to pay the price for some precious time.”
His men immediately praised him for his cleverness.
One of the guests was bewildered. “Ransom? What ransom?”
“That was supposed to be explained in the third stage,” Chu Yebai said. “But since it’s come up, I may as well explain it now.”
“My principle is to make money peacefully. Human life is precious. Even though I’m pointing guns at all of you right now, believe me when I say that I sincerely respect every one of you.”
“You are the backbone of society—the small percentage of people who drive the world’s development. I acknowledge your value, and I believe you all understand your own worth.”
“So, to prevent the world from suffering the needless loss of talented people, I’ll allow you to call your families shortly.”
“You have only two tasks. First, accurately convey the ransom I’ve assessed for you. Second, use every means at your disposal to make sure the other side transfers the money within two hours. Otherwise—”
Chu Yebai smiled.
“If the full ransom does not arrive within two hours, then it means I overestimated your value.”
“You may not be as important as I thought. You simply happen to occupy that position.”
The smile faded from Chu Yebai’s face. For a moment, he looked almost cruel.
“I hate people whose abilities don’t match their position. But sharks in the sea are rather fond of them.”
The guests shuddered, their spines turning cold.
Some began to weep quietly.
“But my family doesn’t have any money.”
“I only got on this ship to broaden my horizons. My clothes and jewelry are all rented—sob…”
There were quite a few people like that among the guests: performers, as well as gold-digging women and men who had somehow managed to secure an invitation. In a sense, Chu Yebai had initially been mistaken for someone of the same sort.
One of the robbers impatiently snapped, “Quit crying. We weren’t counting on you in the first place. For ten or twenty thousand yuan, we’d consider the time spent making the call a waste.”
Well… that was fair, too.
Once nearly everything in the main hall had been collected, the satellite phones found there, along with the ones the robbers had brought themselves, were distributed among the hostages.
The robbers divided the guests into groups and had them call home to demand ransom.
The valuable belongings the guests had brought were certainly not limited to what they had on their persons. But as long as everyone remained gathered in the main hall, searching the individual rooms would be much easier.
While the robbers were busy arranging for contact with the outside world and collecting the ransom, Chu Yebai went to the yacht’s owner.
“The items for tomorrow night’s auction should already have been placed in the vault. But opening the vault requires three people to do it simultaneously.”
“Please come with me, the three of you.”
The yacht’s owner was a collector. Among the auction items were several beloved pieces he had reluctantly put up to generate publicity for the event.
At those words, his heart felt as though it were being cut with a knife. “They’re works of art. You can’t just snatch them away so crudely.”
Chu Yebai gave him a regretful look. “Then let’s hope you bought enough insurance for them.”
This wasn’t even a matter of money. These bandits truly intended to strip the place bare and leave nothing behind.
The yacht’s owner went off with a pale face and returned utterly heartbroken.
When Chu Yebai came back, it happened to be Zhong An’s turn to make the call.
By then, Zhong An was practically terrified out of his wits. Chu Yebai had beaten him so badly that one side of his face was swollen and bruised, several teeth had fallen out, and his nose was still bleeding.
His face was full of panic, and he cowered timidly. There was none of the usual poise of a wealthy young man left in him.
When he asked his family for the ransom, his voice was choked with sobs. Since he could barely speak clearly through his crying, the robber beside him had to bark at him several times.
It only made him look even more pitiful.
When Zhong An’s parents heard that their son had been kidnapped, they began wailing and carrying on as though the sky had fallen, crying about their precious darling. The noise gave the robber beside him a splitting headache.
Only after punching Zhong An several more times as a warning did he get the people on the other end to stop their howling and delay no further.
The Zhong family was quick enough to pay the ransom. After all, the robbers had demanded that the money arrive within two hours, which was still within the limits of what each family could arrange.
However, when Zhong An’s mother promised to pay, she couldn’t resist launching into a furious tirade against the Pei sisters. She acted as though her son would never have suffered such torment if he hadn’t gone on the trip with them.
It was ridiculous. Pei Liang was a top-tier dancer, and the yacht’s owner was one of her fans. When the Zhong family learned that she had been invited, they canceled the engagement trip they had originally arranged and simply turned it into an engagement vacation by tagging along on someone else’s yacht.
They had been eager to use Pei Liang’s fiancé’s identity to meet more people. Now that their own greed had landed them in trouble, they were blaming the sisters instead.
Listening to the voice coming through the phone’s speaker, Pei Ning scrutinized Zhong An closely. The contempt and disgust in her eyes were impossible to conceal.
How had she been so foolish in her previous life? How had she ever come to regard such a greedy, despicable, utterly irresponsible man and his family as the deepest wish of her life?
In her previous life, when the robbers had taken control of the entire yacht, she and Zhong An had slipped away to another area to have an affair behind her sister’s back. They had only just emerged when the robbers caught them and dragged them to the main hall.
Amid the terror of having their lives threatened, her sister hadn’t noticed anything suspicious. Zhong An hadn’t been beaten by Chu Yebai beforehand, either, so he hadn’t been singled out for such brutal treatment and didn’t look nearly as miserable.
Everything Zhong An did had still fallen within the range of what seemed normal. Combined with her own stubborn devotion and the rose-colored filter she had placed over him, she had regarded him as someone she could rely on completely.
Later, when the apocalypse arrived, a small number of people awakened supernatural abilities.
Zhong An was one of those lucky few. His ability was especially useful in the early stages: metal transformation.
His entire body could transform into metal. In that form, not only was he immune to infection, but his offensive power was also extremely formidable.
Thus, even after the apocalypse reshuffled the world, Zhong An remained among the small portion of people who held the advantage. To make matters worse, he had also attached himself to Chu Yebai’s faction.
Then the end of the world destroyed the old order. Ethics and morality became as cheap as paper, naturally magnifying the worst parts of human nature.
Especially in someone like Zhong An, who was greedy, lustful, cold-blooded, and heartless.
As nothing more than his dependent, with no value of her own to offer, Pei Ning could easily imagine what kind of life she had led afterward.
She had once regarded Zhong An as her savior. She had once rejoiced in his advantages and progress as though they were her own.
But in the end, she discovered that apart from himself, he didn’t care about anyone at all.
Even so, Pei Ning had been forced to swallow her pride and cling to him for the sake of survival. If not for her sister—
At that moment, the phone in Zhong An’s hand was snatched away, and the call with his mother—whose complaints and wailing could be heard even without the speaker on—was abruptly ended.
The handsome young appraiser from earlier tossed the phone to Pei Liang. “Your turn.”
Pei Ning’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she watched her “sister” skillfully dial their parents’ number.
There was a slight time difference between here and home. It was nearly nine in the evening on the yacht, but in the province where their family lived, their parents should have just finished dinner.
When Pei Liang got through, there was no panic on her face. She asked her parents casually, “Have you eaten?”
“We’re eating right now. How’s the trip going for the three of you?”
Pei Liang replied, “Pretty well. The night view over the sea is beautiful, but it’s a little cold tonight, so we didn’t go outside to see it. Did you receive the photos I sent you earlier?”
“We did, we did. How many more days until you dock?”
“Originally, it should have been about three more days, but now it looks like it won’t be that soon.”
Pei Liang had barely finished speaking when the burly robber beside her snarled, “You’re supposed to ask for ransom! What are you doing, chatting with your family?”
His voice was so ferocious that the elderly couple immediately grew tense.
“There’s someone with you? Who is it? What’s going on over there? Say something!”
Pei Liang hurriedly reassured them. “No, it’s nothing. I’m watching television—a police thriller. I’ll turn the volume down in a moment.”
Only then did the older couple relax.
Pei Liang lowered the phone and covered the microphone tightly with one hand. She looked over at the burly man with displeasure.
Then, fixing her gaze on him, she suddenly shouted, “Why are you yelling so loudly?”
“It’s only twenty million in ransom. What if you scare my parents? The reason your boss told us to make the calls ourselves is because we understand better how to get our families to hand over the money.”
“What are you trying to do? Teach me how to ask my parents for money? Do you know what kind of people my parents are? Do you know how to tailor your approach to them? Do you know how to get the money as quickly as possible and avoid unnecessary trouble? You don’t know any of that, so what are you shouting for? If I were your boss, you’d be the first person I fired.”
Everyone around them was dumbfounded.
Several robbers holding guns were so startled by her first shout that their whole bodies jerked. One of them nearly fired by accident.
No one had expected this woman, who looked so delicate and sweet, to have a roar like a lion. Their ears were still buzzing.
Chu Yebai also noticed what was happening. Remembering the earlier incident, he walked over.
By then, Pei Liang had already resumed speaking with her parents.
“I was just looking through the news. Things are pretty chaotic outside right now, with demonstrations happening everywhere. Don’t finish dinner yet. Go lock the front gate. Don’t open it for anyone who knocks.”
“Didn’t we stock up on plenty of food for the New Year? We don’t need to worry about running out of supplies for the time being. Don’t take this lightly. I’ve already received the news here, so it’s definitely not a minor matter. You two take care of yourselves first. Don’t you have a radio at home? Find it and turn it on.”
Upon hearing this, Pei’s father hurriedly searched the internet for the latest updates. He discovered that, beginning that afternoon, many places had reported people biting others. The incidents were occurring on a massive scale, with no apparent organization.
They had all begun at the same time. Judging by the locations posted by netizens, the phenomenon was happening all over the world. The bloody scenes in the videos were horrifying. Under normal circumstances, videos like these would have been reviewed and deleted almost immediately, but today they were spreading wildly across the internet.
Pei’s father finally realized how serious the situation was. Still on the phone with Pei Liang, he went to lock the gate. He wrapped several layers of thick iron chain from the storeroom around it and fastened them with several heavy padlocks.
Only then did he return inside, secure the doors and windows, and head upstairs. Outside in the courtyard, he saw several blood-covered people shambling past like walking corpses.
The elderly couple didn’t even dare call out. One of them tried to enter their villa, but when he couldn’t push the door open, he eventually gave up.
The Pei family was fairly well-off and had purchased a courtyard villa enclosed by walls. That made it difficult for outsiders to get in, but they were still terrified.
Meanwhile, Pei Liang hung up without mentioning the ransom from beginning to end.
Pei Ning looked at her with complicated emotions. She was certain that this woman was not her real sister. Yet at a time like this, the first thing she had thought of was telling their parents to stay safe.
In her previous life, their parents had escaped danger more or less unscathed. Pei Ning had naturally known that they would reunite at the base, so she had never given the matter much thought.
But what about this person?
She should have known that their parents would ultimately make it out safely, yet she had still chosen to risk angering the kidnappers just to give them those “meaningless” words of warning.
Why?
Could it be that she knew Chu Yebai’s preferences and sense of aesthetics, and was putting on an act for him?
If so, she was far more calculating than she appeared.
The burly man whom she had just yelled at glared at her darkly. “So what? You’ve been yapping on and on, but where’s the ransom?”
Pei Liang spread her hands. “My parents are ordinary teachers. How could they possibly come up with twenty million in one go?”
She actually looked as though she intended to wriggle out of paying.
The handsome young appraiser sneered. “I know who you are. If your parents don’t have the money, ask your agency for it. I’ve seen the news. Just your legs are insured for over a billion. A mere twenty million—I’m sure your company would be willing to pay.”
At that, Pei Liang put on a regretful expression. “Don’t bring that up. I regret it. I really, really regret it.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I could have used the insurance money for something else. Now it’s all gone to waste.”
Only Pei Ning understood what she was really implying.
But the kidnappers weren’t interested in playing along. The handsome young appraiser said bluntly, “Throw her into the sea and feed her to the fish.”
Just as everything seemed about to fall apart, Chu Yebai spoke at precisely the right moment.
“Wait.”
“Two million isn’t much. I suppose we can let her exercise a little beauty privilege. You don’t need to pay the money, but we can continue the conversation we were having earlier.”
As he spoke, he walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Leaning forward, he used the muzzle of his gun to tilt up Pei Ning’s chin.
“Tell me—why did you stop me from leaving the ballroom just now? It was almost as if you knew what was going to happen.”
He gave a soft laugh. “I’d like to think our operation wasn’t so poorly planned that even a young guest with absolutely no awareness of surveillance could figure it out.”
The surrounding kidnappers looked shocked.
“She knew before the operation began?”
“Could she have run into the staff being restrained when she left the ballroom?”
“Impossible. If that had happened, she wouldn’t have returned to the ballroom and acted as though nothing was wrong. She would have warned the others.”
“Then she knew in advance?”
The burly man who had shouted at Pei Liang earlier bellowed, “Who was it? Who the hell was too busy chasing women on the ship these past few days and let the information slip?”
Chu Yebai frowned. “Why are you shouting so loudly?”
“You’re ugly, and your voice is even rougher than your face. Everyone here is already nervous. We’re only robbing them—we’re not trying to leave our distinguished guests with lifelong trauma. If they have a pleasant enough experience this time, they might cooperate willingly the next time we meet.”
“Can’t you see how frightened so many of our guests are? Shut up!”
Who would ever want to run into you a second time?
Many of the guests wailed inwardly. If they made it off this ship alive, they would never go out to sea again.
But the kidnappers knew their boss all too well. He was always capable of saying the kindest words while doing the most ruthless things.
Sure enough, in the next second, he turned his gaze toward Pei Ning. The deep, dangerous look in his eyes, like that of a predator sizing up its prey, filled her with terror—and drew her even deeper into her infatuation with him.
She couldn’t even look away. It was as though she had been sucked into a black whirlpool.
Chu Yebai smiled and said to her, “Can’t we discuss this calmly?”
As he spoke, he reached over and pulled her sister into his arms, pressing her down onto his thigh. The posture was exceedingly intimate.
Her sister had an exquisite figure, delicate and curvaceous. Years of dancing had given her a flexibility that ordinary people could never imagine.
With one arm wrapped around her waist, Chu Yebai’s hand was still able to lift her thigh.
Pei Liang was wearing a backless evening gown with a slit running up the skirt. Chu Yebai placed his palm on the bare leg exposed through the slit, stroking it as though he were caressing a piece of fine porcelain.
Then he continued, “For example, I ask you one question, and you give me one answer. If I’m dissatisfied with your answer, I’ll chop off one of your sister’s legs.”
“How does that sound?”
Watching the scene before her, Pei Ning was consumed by jealousy and resentment, as though she were looking across time at something from her previous life.
The course of events in her previous life had been different from this one. Back then, she hadn’t had enough experience to deal with such a dangerous emergency. She had been terrified and completely unable to control herself.
Because she had been so emotionally shattered, even the slightest disturbance had made her scream. The kidnappers had grown impatient and decided to knock her unconscious.
Her sister had stepped forward to protect her. Though her face had gone pale with fear when confronted by the kidnappers’ guns, she had refused to back down even a fraction.
That stubborn resilience—the way she had been willing to risk her life to protect her family—had drawn Chu Yebai’s attention. In the end, he had taken her for himself.
But at the time, her sister had been devoted to Zhong An. After being forced to give herself to Chu Yebai in the apocalypse, she had remained miserable.
Zhong An had been shameless. Although he had obtained countless benefits by handing her sister over, he had acted as though he had been forced to give her up, pretending to be the good man from beginning to end.
Pei Liang thought her sister was foolish. Yet at the same time, she had been unbelievably lucky—she simply didn’t know how to enjoy her good fortune.
After coming back this time, things had been full of twists and turns, but now Pei Ning felt as though she could finally see hope.
All she had to do was walk the path her sister had once taken. And at this moment, that path lay right before her.
If her sister in her previous life had been willing to risk her life to protect her, then she could also play the role of a younger sister willing to risk her life to protect her sister.
Pei Ning forcibly suppressed the delight surging through her and was just about to compose herself.
Before she could say anything, however, her sister spoke first.
“Can’t we talk this out properly? Do you really have to resort to such crude methods?”
As she spoke, there was even a hint of regret in her voice. “Weren’t we having a pretty pleasant chat just now? We even made plans to have a drink together. You changed your attitude so quickly—it makes me look awkward.”
Several of the bandits around them couldn’t help laughing when they heard that.
What a stupid woman. At a time like this, she was still trying to flirt with their boss?
Although their boss usually appeared courteous toward women and seemed easygoing enough, during a mission, he made no distinction between men and women, young or old—especially when it involved leaking information about the operation.
Trying to use her beauty to seduce him and muddle through this? She was bound to be disappointed.
Pei Ning frowned as well. She realized that she now had a formidable competitor—someone who, like herself, knew exactly what the future held and understood Chu Yebai’s value.
And, naturally, this woman was also eyeing Chu Yebai covetously, using every possible means to get her hands on him.
Chu Yebai lowered his head, bringing him within inches of Pei Liang. He smiled, his eyes still openly filled with admiration and appreciation for her beauty.
As though that had nothing at all to do with the terrible things he was about to do to her.
In an ambiguous tone, he said, “Beautiful, chatting with you really has been delightful. If possible, I’d also like you to sit beside me, whole and intact, in the bar later while we chat and wait for the rest of my payment to come through.”
“Of course, you can even order the most expensive drinks and put them on my tab. But whether any of that happens depends on how your sister performs.”
As he spoke, he turned his attention back to Pei Ning. “So, tell me. Will you answer my questions, or should I take one of your sister’s legs?”
Pei Ning’s face was resolute. “Don’t even think about hurting my sister!”
Before she could finish, Pei Liang spoke up again. “If you’re going to chop one off, which leg would you start with?”
Chu Yebai looked at Pei Liang and narrowed his eyes. Her reaction was clearly abnormal.
Judging by the way she spoke, there was always a strangely teasing, mischievous edge to her words, but she was certainly not a fool who failed to understand the situation she was in.
She ought to know that he wasn’t joking.
And considering that she had deliberately brought up the subject, it meant that this woman, just like her sister, knew quite a lot. From the way she was acting now, she seemed to be deliberately testing him.
She was even willing to expose her own foolishness to do it. The logic behind her actions was difficult to fathom.
Following Pei Liang’s lead, Chu Yebai said, “Both your legs are equally beautiful. I’m having trouble choosing.”
When he saw Pei Liang gazing at him with a smile, clearly determined to make him pick one, Chu Yebai suddenly felt a sense of absurdity.
But his curiosity, along with his absolute confidence in his ability to control the situation, led him to continue this meaningless exchange with Pei Liang.
He pretended to be helpless. “Fine. If I have to choose, then the left leg.”
“After all, my hand is already resting on it. If I chose the right one, it might get jealous.”
At last, a satisfied smile appeared on Pei Liang’s face. She smiled at Chu Yebai and said, “Because what comes next will be too difficult for you, I’ll give you the greatest choice you’re going to get.”
“Choose whether you want to be taken down by my left leg or my right—”
Halfway through her sentence, everyone watched as Chu Yebai’s face suddenly jerked as though he had been struck by a tremendous blow. Then his head drooped, and he lost consciousness on the spot.
By the time everyone reacted, a gun was already pressed against his temple.
