At the heart of the tea market, not far east of the Federation Headquarters building, a sign featuring the stylized claws of a bright red rose gleamed under the sun. The Saint-Lyman Restaurant. This was the flagship of the high-end chain founded by the Federation’s most notorious ‘Meal King’—the famed Immortal Cultivator. The Saint-Lyman in Paris, in particular, was the jewel of the entire chain, renowned throughout the Federation for its exquisite cuisine and finest wines. Naturally, the prices were staggeringly high; some claimed that consuming any dish there was akin to gnawing on a Zakla energy crystal of the highest possible quality.

Gu Xiechen, clad in a crisp grey suit and balancing a highly polished, pure silver serving tray, approached a table by the panoramic window with a measured, elegant, yet dignified pace.

Uriah, impeccably dressed, sat at the table with a faint, self-satisfied smile. Opposite him sat the Federation’s rapidly rising star, the ‘Virgin Idol’ singer, Bellier. Dressed in a flowing white gown, the petite and exquisitely featured Bellier, juxtaposed with Uriah, made him appear like a great, hulking bear—one in the throes of spring, no less.

Moving with absolute silence, Gu Xiechen approached Uriah’s side, bowed slightly, and offered a gentle, refined smile. “Sir. Here is the wine you requested.”

Uriah, who had been regaling Bellier with tales of his youth—how he once led a squad of elite agents to apprehend three mobsters possessing formidable meta-abilities, ultimately dismantling a massive syndicate boasting thousands of members and earning great merit—flicked a glance at Gu Xiechen. He gave a curt nod, as if dismissing an ant, and waved his hand dismissively. “Open it.”

With flawless technique, Gu Xiechen uncorked the bottle, which bore a faint film of dust and cobwebs, and presented the cork to Uriah. The oval black lacquer seal on the oak stopper clearly detailed the provenance of the vintage.

Uriah shot Gu Xiechen an impatient glare, waving him off again before resuming his narrative. He continued recounting the time he single-handedly infiltrated a secret laboratory to capture an evil scientist experimenting on gifted children, thus rescuing several adorable meta-powered youths. He turned to Bellier with feigned warmth. “Those children are still working under me now; they are all good kids, yes, remarkably excellent.”

Bellier looked upon Uriah with undisguised adoration. Her bright, dark green eyes sparkled like constellations. She breathed in shallow gasps, seemingly overwhelmed by Uriah’s heroic deeds to the point of struggling for breath. Uriah grew more pleased. While his peripheral vision remained fixed on Gu Xiechen’s every move, his primary attention was clearly captivated by Bellier’s face, which bloomed like a peach blossom. Beneath the table, Uriah’s right leg made a subtle movement, his foot slowly tracing a path up Bellier’s calf.

Selecting a wine glass, Gu Xiechen poured a modest measure of red wine and respectfully placed the goblet before Uriah.

At a nearby table, a young couple dining exchanged cautious glances at Gu Xiechen. Their gazes, sharp as knives, raked across his face, and only once they confirmed it was the familiar countenance of the waiter did their tense musculature finally relax.

Uriah lifted his glass, cast a cold sweep toward Gu Xiechen, slowly swirled the wine, and took a small sip of the meager liquid.

“Excellent, precisely the flavor. You may bring our courses now!” Uriah ordered coldly, then turned back to Bellier with renewed excitement. “Of course, this is nothing compared to when I pursue the harassment squads of the Spirit Race. Do you know what the Spirit Race’s most potent ability is?”

Bellier’s eyes widened, and she shook her head slightly. Her two delicate calves clamped tightly together, firmly trapping Uriah’s rather improper foot and preventing it from continuing its advance. However, her face grew even redder! Besides the pinpricks of starlight in her eyes, there were now shimmering pools of moisture.

“A conjugal encounter!” Gu Xiechen, with impeccable grace, poured the red wine into a crystal decanter. “Sir, I apologize; your visit was quite impromptu, so the aeration time might be…”

Uriah glared at Gu Xiechen in annoyance, leaned in, and whispered close to his ear, a low, menacing chuckle escaping him, “If you would kindly shut your mouth, I would be greatly appreciative!”

Gu Xiechen obediently fell silent, while Bellier’s gaze remained fixed on Uriah. As Uriah’s face drew close to Gu Xiechen’s ear, the bodies of the two men blocked the view from others, so no one saw a wisp of extremely faint, reddish powder drift from Gu Xiechen’s nail into the bottle. Nine Dragons Nine Tigers Powder. This was a potent aphrodisiac concocted by the Plague Dispersal Temple; rumor had it that even a dying old man could achieve an erection harder than alloy steel if he took even a speck.

The amount of Nine Dragons Nine Tigers Powder infused into the decanter was thirty times the normal dosage! Even an Immortal Cultivator who had achieved the Nascent Soul stage could not counteract its fierce potency.

With a practiced, perfect smile befitting a professional servant, Gu Xiechen respectfully stepped back a few paces, discreetly collecting the wine bottle and other utensils before withdrawing from the table.

Uriah nodded with satisfaction. He eagerly seized two glasses, pouring generous measures of the red wine for himself and Bellier. “Come, Bellier, I am so delighted that you… hahaha, I am exceptionally pleased to make your acquaintance. I am an old friend of Madam Sadi; anything she asks me to handle, I always see to it perfectly.”

Gu Xiechen turned back, watching as Uriah, with a half-reluctant Bellier, drained their full glasses of red wine.

“The hidden rules, huh! A Virgin Idol star? Well, Uriah certainly isn’t East…”

Dragging the pure silver tray, Gu Xiechen retreated into the restaurant’s rear corridor. He walked into the staff lounge expressionlessly. A young waiter, wearing a face identical to his current one, stood rigidly in a corner of the breakroom, a leering Peng Hua gently stroking the veins on the boy’s neck, as if a weasel were sizing up the tenderness of a captive chick.

A hazy cyan light flickered across Gu Xiechen’s face, and rapidly, he reverted to his original appearance. His attire transformed into a neat tuxedo.

Plucking the cyan jade Daoist crown from his head and tucking it into the small Qiankun pouch at his waist, Gu Xiechen nodded to Peng Hua. “My friend, thirty times the dosage of Nine Dragons Nine Tigers Powder. Poor Bellier.”

Peng Hua waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. Medicine is advanced now; severe lacerations in the lower regions won't kill a person!”

A cold finger sharply flicked the face of the young waiter. A purple light flashed beside Gu Xiechen, and Xin Jia stepped out of the light, immediately grabbing Gu Xiechen and tunneling into the earth. Peng Hua followed closely, transforming into a stream of black smoke and sinking into the ground. The young waiter’s eyes flickered, then blinked hard. He quickly regained his composure and walked out of the lounge with the same standard, impeccable stride.

At the street corner diagonally across from the Saint-Lyman Restaurant, an extremely ordinary-looking grey sedan was parked by the roadside.

Gu Xiechen straightened his clothes and emerged from a narrow alley, walking briskly to the car and pulling open the door to slide inside. Peng Hua, manipulating a portable video camera with a sinister grin, settled into the vehicle. He raised the camera towards Gu Xiechen and said gleefully, “Miss Bellier, the ‘Virgin Idol Star’s’ carnal video! Heavens, I must preserve this footage forever! You know, many of my fellow disciples in the Azure Path Alliance are huge fans of Bellier. If I sell this video to them…”

Gu Xiechen cut in sharply with a cold sneer. “Then congratulations, you’ll be beaten into a pulp by that many fellow disciples combined.”

Peng Hua looked aggrievedly at Gu Xiechen and sighed dramatically toward the sky. “Such a good heart, yet so unappreciated. Tsk, tsk. What was your set time?”

Glancing at his wristwatch, Gu Xiechen replied calmly, “One hour. That’s plenty of time for this ‘conjugal couple’ to enjoy a brief meal. Uriah was practically ready to jump her right there at the table!”

The two sat in silence for a moment. Peng Hua then clumsily maneuvered himself into the driver’s seat and awkwardly steered the car away from the intersection. The vehicle circled the nearby streets a few times, and as it passed the entrance of the Saint-Lyman Restaurant again, they saw the beaming Uriah emerging with Bellier, whose face was unnaturally flushed. They were closely followed by four men and four women—eight agents from the Special Operations Bureau.

Several cars moved to intercept Uriah, and the group boarded the vehicles, heading toward the Federation Headquarters building. However, not long after setting off, the lead car suddenly veered sharply in a different direction, and the convoy sped like lightning toward the nearest luxury hotel.

Peng Hua drove his car awkwardly, overtaking the convoy and slipping into the hotel’s underground parking garage just before them, parking between two massive black vans.

The rear door of one van was opened, and the blond, muscular Adolf leaned out expressionlessly. “Boss, I’m set up over here.” The spacious interior of the van was crammed with all manner of electronic instruments; there were over thirty display screens alone. The door of the other van was cracked open, letting out a thick plume of cigar smoke.

“My friend, mind your own business.” Gu Xiechen jumped out of his car and slammed the rear door of the second van shut. “Mo He, aren't you afraid of getting lung cancer?”

Uriah almost carried Bellier into the hotel, his eyes bloodshot, his muscles rippling slowly like waves. Several agents swiftly handled the check-in formalities, cautiously selecting three separate luxury suites at random. Uriah continued to grope Bellier’s body while casually picking up a keycard. Surrounded by the agents, he stepped into the hotel elevator. As soon as the doors closed, the Special Operations Bureau agents began pulling out various electronic devices from their persons.

Less than thirty seconds after Uriah entered one of the luxury suites, the agents had scanned every corner of the room three times. A female agent reported with utmost respect, “Colonel, the room is clean. Enjoy your evening, sir! We will be waiting just outside the door!”

The agents withdrew, firmly closing the door behind them. Uriah swiftly stripped off his clothes and discarded the communication gear and personal computer from his wrist. He revealed a body covered in scars, standing naked like a starved tiger pouncing on its prey. Uriah ripped Bellier’s clothing to shreds, leaving her completely bare.

Excitedly, he scooped up Bellier and rushed toward the inner bedroom, roaring softly, “Oh, dear Miss Bellier, let us fully savor life; let me fully enjoy you! It’s inescapable; whenever I see such a tender young girl, I simply cannot control my arousal! Oh, come on, compared to feigned love, I prefer the carnal exchange! Let us play the anthem of life without reservation!”

Bellier let out a scream of acute pain. Uriah, like a maddened beast, his muscles swelling wildly, drove his erection, rigid as alloy steel, into Bellier’s body with irresistible force, engaging in a frenzy without restraint. Bellier’s delicate limbs clung tightly to Uriah’s ugly, powerful frame, like a tiny white mouse pinned beneath a rampaging beast!

Ten minutes later, Xin Jia’s hand silently emerged from the floorboards in the outer room, stealthily grasping Uriah’s personal computer.

Peng Hua surfaced slightly from the floor, raising his camera with keen interest, delightedly filming the grand spectacle of the little white mouse battling the monstrous behemoth. Uriah was in a state of frenzy; he failed to notice the extra person in the room. Of course, even in his normal state, he wouldn't have noticed Peng Hua. Who could easily detect a zombie that possessed no breath, no blood flow, no heat, and no sign of life?

In the underground parking garage, Xin Jia passed Uriah’s personal computer to Adolf. Adolf nimbly took the device and placed it on the workstation inside the van.

“Oh, oh, oh. Praise God, this fellow’s personal computer isn't much. It’s standard issue, bulk-purchased gear from the Federation Affairs Bureau!” Adolf deftly manipulated the robotic arm to open the computer casing. He sneered, “Our Special Operations Colonel is quite sentimental, isn't he? Hmm, after a little minor modification by the Special Operations Bureau, let’s see… just a few insignificant tweaks!”

Leaning against the van wall, Gu Xiechen took a puff of his cigar and murmured indistinctly, “The issue is, how long will it take you to crack this thing? I gave you all the embedded passwords for the Harlot 444 series.”

Adolf’s eyes blazed with fierce yet utterly calm intensity as he spoke slowly, “Boss, rest assured. A matter of minutes! The Federation’s intelligence agencies have experts, but their thinking is modular, not like us self-taught renegades. You’ve given me such a massive advantage, my friend. Breakthrough on the first layer of hardware firewall… Aha! Second layer, perfectly breached!”

The Special Operations Bureau had modified Uriah’s computer, but beneath all the changes, its foundation remained the Harlot 444 model. With the complete blueprints provided by Gu Xiechen, along with the pre-installed backdoor programs and embedded passwords from the Gu Group, Adolf, a top-tier computer expert, cracked all the software and hardware defenses in less than ten minutes.

Two high-speed data cables were connected to the computer’s storage chip, and all data within the machine was copied in a mere twenty seconds.

Two screens inside the van suddenly flashed. Adolf turned to Gu Xiechen and asked, “Boss, there’s a secret data channel here that leads directly to the Special Operations Bureau’s main control server.”

Gu Xiechen’s eyes lit up. After a moment of thought, he sneered, “Go big or go home. We can’t miss an opportunity like this. Copy every single classified data packet in there.”

After considering for a moment, Gu Xiechen cautioned, “Be careful. Don't let anyone discover our presence.”

Adolf replied confidently, “Relax, Boss. Uriah has top-level clearance; no one can discover what he does on the server. I’ll erase all traces afterward, no problem!”

Fifteen minutes later, the vast volume of data from the Special Operations Bureau’s main control server was completely copied. Adolf wiped away all traces and disconnected the link, then meticulously reassembled Uriah’s personal computer. Xin Jia snatched the computer and, using earth-burrowing again, returned it exactly to its original position. He sprinkled a fine layer of earth dust over it, completely erasing any residual fingerprints or scents.

Peng Hua, who had been thoroughly enjoying filming, sighed wistfully when Xin Jia returned the computer, then reluctantly sank back into the ground.

Peng Hua, being a zombie, produced no energy signature when moving; Xin Jia’s tunneling technique, though involving some energy fluctuation, was too profound and esoteric for anyone in the modern world to detect.

The agents stationed outside the suite had all their surveillance equipment running, yet not a single one detected that their director was in catastrophic trouble.

Gu Xiechen led his team out of the hotel parking garage. Siren, Arethusa, and the others inside the hotel’s surveillance center also silently withdrew, erasing all relevant traces and records. The hotel security guards, previously controlled by hypnotic suggestion, awoke as if nothing had happened and resumed their duties.

Adolf opened a file on Uriah’s personal computer. Watching the file displayed on the screen, Gu Xiechen couldn't help but chuckle deeply.

“No wonder Uriah was desperate for cash! Hey, he didn’t even dare borrow from anyone—that’s the reason!”

Ten days ago, at a satellite city construction site in South Africa, construction workers accidentally unearthed a massive underground cavern while excavating the base for a subterranean complex.

Agents from the Special Operations Bureau’s First Branch liaison office in South Africa were dispatched upon hearing the news and discovered an ancient artificial ruin underground. Eager for merit, the agents recklessly breached the ruins, causing widespread radiation damage that afflicted tens of thousands of construction workers building the satellite city.

To keep the mouths of those tens of thousands of workers shut and secure exclusive rights to everything within the artificial relic, Uriah was forced to raise staggering amounts of cash!