125: Is the plan going smoothly? Opinions differ.

The sun was shining brightly.

In the middle of the massive forest, clearings had been carved out, clustered with sets of high-speed elevators and structural towers.

A man wearing a sun-protective work hat and maintenance goggles gripped a large wrench, performing the final finishing touches on a tower in one of the clearings.

His bracelet vibrated; he revealed a satisfied smile, packed up his tool kit, and hopped onto the maintenance vehicle parked to the side.

After fussing with it for an entire day, the client must be getting impatient.

Whistling, he started the maintenance vehicle and drove toward the maintenance center.

The vehicle moved at a steady speed, and when passing a specific location, he inadvertently turned his head to look to one side.

Outside the vehicle window, the door of the shuttle elevator in the adjacent clearing happened to open, and a black-haired Female Beast appeared, arm-in-arm with a tall, well-built Male.

She was indeed just like the photo, a beauty with a unique style... Lance lived up to his reputation; his aesthetic for Females was consistently on point.

He let out a silent whistle and winked at the Female Beast.

The built-in screen on his maintenance goggles rapidly displayed several red circles, instantly completing focus and targeting, and a flurry of flashy attacks surged straight toward the pair.

Among them, a few attacks wove into a net, fully capable of enveloping that Male.

And a weaker one, yet faster than all the other attacks, grazed past Tu Nan's side first.

"Ah!" A burning sensation came from her arm. Tu Nan cried out in pain, stumbled, and fell into the arms of the Male beside her.

The moment the attack landed on Tu Nan, Kong Jiamu felt the malice generated by being targeted.

"Boom—"

A loud noise erupted, and in the air, fireworks bloomed one after another, the heat wave rushing over and even singeing the faces of the two.

The fireworks formed several lines of text of varying heights in the air, which read:

"Kong Family chicken, get out"

"Unscrupulous merchants deserve to die"

"Return nature to us"

...These traditional moralists were getting crazier and crazier. Kong Jiamu was annoyed to death.

Had his thoughts only drifted for a moment? And they seized the opportunity?

The peacock sneered, and small clusters of flames appeared out of thin air around him, precisely catching the energy projectiles that were hidden in the smoke and thought they had reached his side undetected.

The high temperature generated the instant the two collided and melted turned his surroundings into a field of fire.

This kind of attack was purely disgusting; it wasn't enough to injure him—or so he had thought.

That was, if Pearl didn't cry out in pain.

How could Pearl be injured? Kong Jiamu held Tu Nan, feeling disbelief.

His breathing rate clearly accelerated... His heart was in chaos.

This must be because someone had actually harmed his Female companion under his protection; it must be that his dignity as an S-class powerhouse had been provoked, which made him so unable to tolerate it.

It couldn't be that he couldn't stand the sight of blood!

No matter how bloody the scene, he had seen too much—he loved wearing white, but he was never afraid of his clothes being stained with blood.

And this was near the Capital City! Furthermore, the atmosphere all around hadn't changed in the slightest; he hadn't sensed any risk in advance at all? This was definitely an expert, actually able to deceive his senses!

"It hurts... Jiamu..."

Tu Nan gritted her teeth, shocked and afraid, gripping Kong Jiamu's arm tightly, her whole body ready to hang off him.

Tu Nan's arm had been gashed by the energy projectile; it wasn't a major injury, but it was bleeding quite a bit. She was clearly frightened by such an attack, appearing completely panicked and uneasy.

Kong Jiamu should have let her go and immediately ascended to investigate, but he couldn't pry Tu Nan's hands off.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here..." He wanted to stay with her.

Half-hugging, half-holding Tu Nan, he, who could usually speak with silver-tongued eloquence, could only utter pale, comforting words.

Nearby staff had already scattered in fear, looking for various places to hide, while security personnel rushed over from a distance.

Gritting his teeth in hatred, he expanded his sensory range, but didn't discover any strange or suspicious spots in the vicinity.

However...

"No filming! Where is security? Get it under control!" Kong Jiamu discovered that after the initial panic, quite a few people were poking their heads out and adjusting the angles of their bracelets, their expressions clearly wrong.

Secret filming! He was too familiar with this behavior.

As a celebrity born on Xiuyin Star, he could imagine the upcoming frenzy of the local media.

...Glancing at Pearl, Kong Jiamu, who had intended to bid her farewell right there, scooped her up horizontally.

Pearl had suffered an undeserved disaster. Whether it was the injury or being forced into the public eye, it was not something she should have to endure.

Kong Jiamu, with a dark face, carried Tu Nan and strode toward the shuttle vehicle brought over by security.

Other bystanders didn't dare to approach, but they still consciously or unconsciously stared at them until the vehicle door closed.

Very good, the material was flying everywhere.

Meanwhile, Green Fox, who had already left the scene, parked the car, ignored the commotion behind him, and swaggered into the chaotic crowd.

He had said he was a professional.

As long as he didn't target Kong Jiamu, how could he be sensed for malice?

The local media indeed exploded. Reporters were like dogs smelling blood, processing the material obtained from various channels.

Among them was the high-definition footage captured by the camera Green Fox had set up in advance—the weak, beautiful Female Beast crying out in pain, and the handsome, tall Male Beast holding her with a cold expression and surging anger.

A perfect topic.

Green Fox believed his operation deserved a perfect rating. He meant regarding Lance's request.

As for The Peng Sisters' commission?

He couldn't be blamed for that; when an S-class intervened during a mission, even the Darknet wouldn't be unreasonable.

Three million, nicely in hand, and his Darknet rating hadn't dropped either; truly not bad.

Tu Nan's arm was bleeding and hurting, but internally, she was very satisfied with how the situation had developed.

The person Lance found was really reliable; they said they would shoot the arm, and they shot the arm. Her biological Soft Armor hadn't even needed to be used.

Regardless of whether Kong Jiamu was doing it voluntarily, or was coerced by the media, he had to maintain his persona as a perfect, considerate playboy, so he couldn't just toss her aside.

Even the brand's heat had been built up in advance... This bit of injury was so worth it.

The next elevator door opened, and the Children just stepped out.

Tu Nan pushed the distance limit to its maximum to leave a message for the Two Children.

"Mommy is going ahead, okay? As we agreed, you two will stay with Lance and Amy for two days. Don't cause trouble, alright?"

The Two Children only felt that it was noisy outside and hadn't figured out what had happened yet. The two aunties had agreed to take them to the amusement park, hmm... they could endure it for a while.

"Okay! We will be good!"

Where was Hain, whom Kong Jiamu was thinking of?

Two days ago, his small starship encountered a turbulence of asteroid fragments on the shipping lane.

The high-speed private starship did not possess enough firepower to continuously blast a path open, nor did it have enough energy to keep the protective shields activated.

And Hain was unwilling to spend more time taking a detour.

The navigator had to skillfully point out the path through the fragments, allowing the starship to accurately avoid one fragment after another, moving forward with difficulty.

But even so, no matter how much they rushed, he would be unable to arrive at the estimated time. According to the current progress, arriving at the port three days late was already the fastest speed.

The asteroid belt turbulence also affected communications simultaneously. He could not notify Kong Jiamu.

Hain stood silently behind the navigator; although disappointment lingered in his heart, he did not open his mouth to blame anyone.

Fortunately, he hadn't mentioned any plans to Tu Nan. At least this way, he wouldn't be breaking his promise.

But everyone in the navigation room could feel the expectation he hadn't voiced, and because of his silence, everyone stared at the radar and flight charts, working even harder.

It didn't matter, Hain thought.

Just three days late; this was just a small test given to him by the Goddess of Fate.

Even so, his yearning to see Tu Nan grew increasingly intense.