1: Chapter 1: Starting with a debt of three million, luckily the secretary is a cyborg.

In the afternoon in San Verde, the sun was so vicious it felt like it could melt the asphalt.

The air was filled with a strange odor, a mixture of cheap tequila, gunpowder, and old mold—the distinct scent of the borderlands.

"Awake?"

A rough voice drilled into his ears, laced with mockery and undisguised malice.

Chen Yuan struggled to open his eyes.

His vision gradually focused from a blur, and a large, scarred face with jowls occupied most of his field of view. The bald head glistened with a greasy sheen under the dim light, looking like a marinated egg that had been left out for too long.

His head was splitting with pain.

Memories flooded his mind like a tide, merging instantly.

2005, the Mexican border city of San Verde.

He was Chen Yuan, the illegitimate son of the Jinghai Chen Family, a castaway whom the family regarded as a disgrace and casually tossed to the other side of the ocean to fend for himself.

And the situation before him was clearly not looking good.

His wrists were tightly bound with coarse hemp rope to a creaky solid wood chair. On the desk in front of him lay an IOU and a rusty cigar cutter stained with dark, dried blood.

"Young Master Chen, isn't it time we settled this account?"

The bald Jack grinned, revealing two front teeth inlaid with gold. He casually picked up the cigar cutter and snipped it in the air a couple of times, the crisp sound setting one's teeth on edge.

"Three million US dollars."

Jack leaned forward, the pungent smell of tobacco rushing straight into Chen Yuan's nostrils. "Principal and interest. This is the rule of the Black Gold Gang."

Chen Yuan took a deep breath, trying to calm his chaotic brain.

The previous owner of this body was a waste. Instead of using the severance pay from the family to properly run this run-down Pharmaceutical Factory, he went to Las Vegas to gamble, not only losing everything but also taking out a usurious loan.

Now, trapped in the office, he either had to pay up or leave behind some body parts.

"Jack, give me three days."

Chen Yuan's voice was a bit hoarse, but he tried hard to remain calm. His eyes did not hold the terror Jack had expected. "You know I'm from the Chen Family. Three million is not a problem for me; it just takes time to transfer the funds."

"Slap!"

A heavy slap landed squarely on his face. It stung with a burning pain, and he instantly tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.

"Stop fucking bringing up the Chen Family to me!"

Jack straightened up and spat fiercely. "If you were favored, would you have been thrown to this godforsaken place to sell veterinary drugs? I have confirmed news that the Chen Family cut off your allowance long ago. Right now, you're not even worth as much as a Wild Dog around here."

The tattooed lackeys around them let out shrill, mocking laughter.

One guy with Green Hair swung the baseball bat in his hand and whistled. "Boss, I heard the fingers of an Easterner are worth a lot. If we cut them off and mail them back to that so-called Chen Family, maybe they'd be willing to pay a ransom?"

"Good idea."

Jack grabbed Chen Yuan's left hand and slammed it onto the desktop. The cold cigar cutter pressed against the base of his pinky finger. The sensation was like a cold venomous snake, slithering along the skin's texture and burrowing into the bone.

"Don't say I'm not being reasonable." Jack narrowed his eyes, a cruel glint flickering in his pupils. "One snip, and it'll only hurt for a second. If you don't scream, I'll waive one hundred thousand in interest for you."

Chen Yuan's heart contracted violently. Adrenaline surged. He stared fixedly at the rusty scissors, his brain spinning rapidly.

Resist? His hands were tied, his feet were bound, and there were five armed thugs in front of him. Even if he were a reincarnated special forces soldier, he'd have to kneel, let alone in this body that had long been hollowed out by wine and women.

Beg for mercy? Looking at Jack's posture, he absolutely wouldn't stop until he saw blood.

Just at this critical moment, a cold mechanical voice exploded deep in his mind without warning.

【Host's life detected to be under threat...】

【Biological Ascension System is activating...】

【Activation successful.】

【Newbie Gift Pack has been distributed. Do you wish to claim it immediately?】

Chen Yuan's pupils dilated slightly. A system! Web novels never lie to me; the standard equipment for a transmigrator may be late, but it always arrives.

"Claim!" he roared in his heart.

【Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: T-X Liquid Metal Terminator (Bodyguard Custom Version) x1.】

【Note: This unit has been implanted with false memories and is currently your newly hired personal secretary. Possesses absolute loyalty and top-tier combat, infiltration, and disguise capabilities.】

【Deploying...】

In reality, it seemed only a second had passed. The cigar cutter in Jack's hand had already pressed into Chen Yuan's skin, and a trickle of blood flowed out between his fingers.

"Looks like you really don't have any money."

Jack sneered, veins bulging on the back of his hand as he prepared to exert force. "Then say goodbye to your finger, Young Master Chen!"

Just then, "Click." The heavy mahogany door of the office was gently pushed open from the outside.

This slight sound seemed exceptionally abrupt in the tense room. Everyone's movements froze, and they instinctively turned to look at the door.

There was no police raid as imagined, nor were there armed mercenaries. Walking in was a woman. A woman beautiful enough to take one's breath away.

She wore a well-tailored black professional OL suit. The tight hip-hugging skirt outlined a breathtaking waist-to-hip curve, her long legs were wrapped in sheer black stockings, and she stepped in a pair of red-bottomed high heels.

A head of long, golden wavy hair was draped casually over her shoulders. Her face was as exquisite as an artwork carved by God's own hands, possessing both the three-dimensional depth of a Westerner and a hint of the mysterious charm of an Easterner.

The most lethal part was what she held in her hand. Not a gun, not a knife. But an exquisite steaming coffee cup.

She walked in as if no one else was there, her high heels tapping on the old wooden floor, emitting a rhythmic "click, click" sound, as if this were not a violent debt collection scene, but a luxury office building on Wall Street.

Several lackeys stared with glazed eyes; that Green Hair even forgot to chew the gum in his mouth. Jack's hand holding the scissors also stopped in mid-air, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

The woman walked straight to the desk. She completely ignored the fierce-looking mobsters, as well as the blood and torture tools on the table. Those ice-blue eyes reflected only Chen Yuan's figure.

She bent over slightly, the flash of snowy white revealed at her collar was dizzying. Placing the coffee cup gently on the corner of the desk in front of Chen Yuan that hadn't been stained by blood, her voice was cold and elegant, with a touch of just the right amount of respect:

"Boss, your coffee. According to your habit, no sugar added."

The entire room fell into a deathly silence. Only the wall clock continued to "tick, tock."

Chen Yuan looked at the stunning woman who had appeared out of thin air. Alice. Was this the T-X Terminator provided by the system? This wasn't a robot; it was the ultimate dream of any man. If it weren't for the words 【Biological Weapon】 written clearly on the system panel, he would definitely have thought this was some top Hollywood actress who had walked onto the wrong set.

"Who is this broad?"

Green Hair was the first to react, his lecherous gaze wandering unscrupulously over Alice. "Young Master Chen, you've got quite the luck with women, hiding such a top-tier beauty?"

Jack also came back to his senses. He released his hand from pressing Chen Yuan, straightened up, and his triangular eyes flashed with undisguised lewdness.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Jack pointed the cigar cutter at Alice, his tongue licking his dry lips. "Didn't expect such goods in this run-down Pharmaceutical Factory. Young Master Chen, looks like you're not that poor after all."

He strode around the desk and walked up to Alice. A pungent smell of sweat rushed toward her, but Alice didn't even frown, standing quietly beside Chen Yuan as if she were truly a dutiful secretary.

"Beauty, what kind of future do you have following this waste?"

Jack reached out his large, black-haired hand, trying to lift Alice's chin. "How about coming with me? As long as you serve me well, I can waive this three million in interest just like that."

The lackeys behind him burst into a wave of lewd laughter.

"Boss, then we need to get a piece of the action too!"

"Yeah, these legs are enough for me to play with for a year!"

Filthy language filled the room. Chen Yuan was still tied to the chair. But his mood at this moment was exceptionally calm, and he even felt like laughing.

He looked at Jack's hand reaching toward Alice. That was the hand of the Grim Reaper. Except, this time, the Grim Reaper wasn't here for him.

"Jack." Chen Yuan suddenly spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unfathomable playfulness.

Jack's hand stopped an inch from Alice's cheek. He turned his head and looked at Chen Yuan with annoyance. "What? Heartbroken? Want to beg for mercy now..."

"No." Chen Yuan shook his head, a cold arc curling at the corners of his mouth. His eyes looked as if he were staring at a cold corpse. "I just wanted to remind you of one thing."

Jack paused. "Remind me of what?"

Chen Yuan glanced at the somewhat old but still clean Persian rug under Alice's feet, which the previous owner had spent a high price to buy to decorate the facade. He sighed slightly and said helplessly, "Be quick and efficient, don't dirty my rug."