A sewage pipe company belonging to Yang Lan Yan was set to repair the sewage pipes of Eisenric Castle.
And to save Zhou Yuan An's father, Zhou Di.
This was the only chance.
While she was still in a daze, the system suddenly emitted an alarm in her mind.
"Host, the difficulty of the mission to save Zhou Yuan An's father has rapidly escalated! We are now detecting that Zhou Yuan An's father's life force is rapidly declining."
"Make a decision immediately!"
"Mission upgraded, you must rescue Zhou Yuan An and Zhou Di within two days, otherwise Zhou Di will die! This mission will fail!"
"Five hundred points will be deducted from the host!"
"If the points are insufficient, you will be erased immediately!"
Lin Mu Ci's eyes widened.
Why wasn't she told about the consequence of failing the mission, which was being erased, before she accepted it?
After careful consideration, Lin Mu Ci still dialed Yang Lan Yan's number!
After rescuing Zhou Di, she would sincerely explain everything to Ling Qian He.
There was no time now, prioritizing the mission to save her life was paramount!
...
The next day.
Lin Mu Ci sat in a low-key black car, her head bowed, her expression unreadable.
Yang Lan Yan, meanwhile, tapped rhythmically on the back of the car seat.
A veiled smile played on his lips.
"You want to rescue the prisoner inside Eisenric Castle. I can indeed help you with this matter, but I'll be risking my entire company disappearing into thin air—such a significant price. What will you offer as compensation, Xiao Ci?"
Lin Mu Ci took a deep breath.
"You can name your price."
Yang Lan Yan's smile grew more pronounced.
"Name my price?"
"I don't lack money."
His gaze burned into Lin Mu Ci's eyes. Faced with his intense scrutiny, Lin Mu Ci's heart skipped a beat. She gritted her teeth and retorted,
"What do you need?"
Yang Lan Yan raised an eyebrow.
"How about Xiao Ci being my girlfriend for a week?"
"Agree to this, and I'll help you rescue your classmate Zhou Yuan An's father, Zhou Di."
"Xiao Ci, you should know very well that my helping you save someone means I'm likely to be blacklisted by the US authorities—my sewage pipe company will have to be shut down immediately, and I'll have to guarantee the safety of my employees. The material and mental costs involved are astronomical, aren't they?"
Lin Mu Ci understood the implication behind Yang Lan Yan's words.
She fell silent for a moment.
Then she looked up.
At the man across from her.
The doctor, seemingly gentle and refined behind his gold-rimmed glasses, held a burning ambition in his eyes. Lin Mu Ci understood Yang Lan Yan's ambition better than anyone, and she knew what his burning possessiveness signified.
Unfortunately.
She was not an executor who would complete tasks by any means necessary.
"I cannot agree to this request."
"I can give you one hundred million US dollars to send me into Eisenric Castle. I don't need your people to act, that should be acceptable, right?"
Yang Lan Yan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, looking at Lin Mu Ci meaningfully.
"Is that so? But aren't you afraid—"
A faint, peculiar smile touched his lips.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll report you to the US authorities?"
Lin Mu Ci gritted her teeth, glaring at him. She detested being threatened.
But since she had approached Yang Lan Yan, she had naturally done some homework.
She countered him.
"Then, what if they find out that you, under the guise of operating a sewage pipe company, have actually been laying underground networks and stealing their internal data? What would they think of you?"
"You report me, but you're not clean yourself. If it's discovered, what will happen to you?"
"Moreover, when you sent me to Professor Stephen's laboratory, I found some interesting things."
"The several data breaches were all related to you, weren't they? And those data breaches were related to their military's new experiments."
"It is precisely through this channel that you were able to establish your own underground forces, set up underground clinics and casinos, and operate without hindrance!"
"I came to you because I know we have a basis for cooperation—I only need to save Zhou Yuan An's father, and I can ignore all other matters."
"Your theft of their laboratory's core secrets, when you laid the underground network pipelines, I can pretend not to know..."
As soon as Lin Mu Ci finished speaking.
Yang Lan Yan's hand immediately gripped her neck!
The system frantically shouted in her mind.
"Host, are you crazy? Yang Lan Yan's blackening value is at one hundred percent!"
"You are truly insane!"
"If you provoke him, he will truly attack you!"
The system shrieked in Lin Mu Ci's mind, but Lin Mu Ci seemed to completely ignore its cries. Her clear, cold eyes remained fixed on the man's eyes. Lin Mu Ci gazed at his eyes intently, and after a moment, she raised an eyebrow.
"You want to kill me?"
"To let these secrets be buried forever in a coffin?"
"But since you let me go to Professor Stephen's laboratory, you should have realized that I might uncover these secrets, shouldn't you?"
"It's your own doing, you handed your leverage to me with your own hands."
Beneath Yang Lan Yan's gold-rimmed glasses, a subtle cold glint flashed in the depths of his pupils. He then sneered.
"What a sharp-tongued, clever little girl."
"Indeed... I expected you might uncover a secret or two. But I never imagined you would dig so deep, uncovering things I don't want others to see—damn it!"
"You... are a little girl who is far too clever."
"Don't you know that some people cannot be threatened?"
"Be careful not to get burned by your own fire."
Facing Yang Lan Yan's chilling words.
Lin Mu Ci's expression was indifferent.
It was as if the one whose throat was being choked was not her at all.
Of course.
She was accustomed to it.
How to deal with a blackened man.
Lin Mu Ci was calm and resolute.
"Send me there."
"I'll pay you. We'll be quits."
Yang Lan Yan continued to gaze into her eyes. After a long while, lost in thought, he sighed, a trace of bitterness seeping through.
"You really are a stubborn little girl."
"Why won't you be my girlfriend?"
"Could it be that you've developed genuine feelings for Ling Qian He? But I've told you, he's not as simple as he appears."
"Since you were able to find out about me and know the extent of my underground influence here."
"Then I can tell you clearly, he is by no means a pure idol. His darkness is absolutely no less than mine!"
Hearing Yang Lan Yan say this.
Lin Mu Ci looked up and said,
"I know."
Who could be more blackened than Ling Qian He?
However.
"I like him."