For a fleeting moment, he imagined that Bai Lanxue already knew about his dalliance with Ilya and the resulting injuries covering his body. After the tremor subsided, he meticulously considered the possibility and concluded it was unlikely, feeling a slight easing of tension as he gritted his teeth. "Yesterday, I tried slipping into a room to see if the President was inside, but I was caught and beaten up by the occupant. I barely managed to crawl away."

Bai Lanxue asked, surprised, "Who beat you up?"

Rainer spoke a blatant lie, "I don't know. They covered my head with a sack, but I clearly saw that the person was a woman."

Bai Lanxue narrowed her eyes. "Ilya, or Red Hair?"

Rainer had achieved his objective. He shook his head. "I couldn't tell. I only saw that the person was wearing women's shoes when I fell to the ground."

—Although he hadn't specified who it was, Bai Lanxue was well aware of Ilya's temperament and fighting prowess. The only woman capable of inflicting such a humiliating defeat on Rainer could only be Red Hair.

Red Hair, hidden beneath the sofa, was burning with fury. Damn it, trying to pin it on her?

When she got out, she would make them suffer!

No, she didn't need to go out; she could beat them half to death right here.

As the thought crossed Red Hair’s mind, she shrunk the hypersignal screen to an inch and sent a message to Lan Li, laughing faintly.

Just then, Bai Lanxue happened to tell Rainer to leave. Rainer stood up and turned to face the door, leaving both of them with their backs to the sofa.

Suddenly, a faint shhht sound came from behind them.

Both were sharp operators and instantly spun around. At that very moment, a massive piece of cloth descended over their heads. Rainer, startled, quickly reached out to grab it.

The cloth was enormous—it was the bedspread.

Bai Lanxue, accustomed to confidence, believed she could control the large bedspread with her bare hands and reached out to seize it. Rainer, meanwhile, scrambled to the side at top speed, trying to avoid being enveloped.

However, before either of them could escape the bedspread, the sofa suddenly seemed to be lifted entirely.

Bai Lanxue, covered by the cloth and seeing the sofa fly toward her, had nowhere to flee. In desperation, she rolled aside, but she was still too slow; the sofa crashed down onto one of her legs, and she immediately collapsed.

Rainer was quicker and positioned slightly behind Bai Lanxue, narrowly dodging the sofa. Suddenly, a figure lunged from the side and delivered a heavy kick to his chest.

Rainer stumbled backward uncontrollably. The figure grabbed the bedspread and violently whipped it over his head.

Bai Lanxue didn't have time to cry out before Red Hair clapped a sofa cushion over her mouth and nose.

Red Hair was no benevolent soul. She held the cushion there until Bai Lanxue passed out.

Rainer, who had lied about Red Hair beating him, now found his fiction had become reality.

Red Hair stood up, tossed her hair back, and looked at the man who resembled a smiling tiger. "Well?"

Lan Li grinned mischievously. "Strip them both, tie them up in this room, and wait for others to come and gawk. How about that?"

Red Hair suddenly smiled. "Someone said the Vice Commander of the Angels was a fascinating person; today I truly see it."

Lan Li pondered the term "fascinating person" (miàorén), feeling a slight twinge in his nether regions.

That word held too much implication; he couldn't grasp what she meant to convey. Couldn't she use something more straightforward?

The two divided the labor. Lan Li set about stripping Rainer’s clothes, while Red Hair dealt with Bai Lanxue’s attire. Red Hair was a rough person, impatient with buttons. She roughly grabbed the collar and ripped; the sound of tearing fabric echoed as Bai Lanxue’s top was completely removed.

She partially covered Bai Lanxue’s body with the bedspread, leaving only her shoulders exposed.

—Sometimes, punishment did not require sexual degradation. As a woman, she couldn't bear the thought of a naked woman being gawked at or pointed at like a monkey by others. Since the bedspread combined with bare shoulders was suggestive enough, she didn't press the humiliation further.

In that regard, Red Hair was a surprisingly decent person.

She dragged Bai Lanxue over to Lan Li and, seeing him squatting on the floor in thought, couldn't resist teasing, "What? Staring so intently at a body of the same sex?"

Lan Li looked up. The first thing he did was reach out to cover her eyes. "Do not look at what is improper."

Red Hair pushed his hand away. "Enough. I'm not a little girl."

She looked down at Rainer’s exposed body and suddenly exclaimed as if discovering a new continent, "Hey, what is this situation? Was he interrogated in the hotel?"

Lan Li’s face turned ashen. "You understand this?"

Red Hair nodded, her expression composed. "This level of... investigation is nothing. What I wonder is, who would have the leisure to play games like this in a locked-down hotel?"

Lan Li’s expression worsened. "Whoever it was, don't even think about it!"

Red Hair smirked, tossed Bai Lanxue onto Rainer, "Fine. Let’s go find the Star Federation President."

Once they found the President, they would beat him until his teeth littered the floor, then unite with the other legions to protest the Star Federation's atrocities in the war. If the Star Federation President refused to sign the peace treaty, she would simply kill him!

The two swaggered out of the lounge door.

The monitors that could see them had been destroyed, and those that couldn't see them were useless anyway, so the pair acted with complete abandon.

Following this incident, Red Hair’s affinity for Lan Li increased by ten percentage points.

The reason she had been with Lan Li before was that he was like stubborn adhesive—once stuck, he couldn't be peeled off. After spending these few days together, her negative feelings toward him were gradually transforming into positive ones.

It was because she and Lan Li were perfectly in sync!

Neither of them were upright gentlemen when taking action, nor did they bother disguising themselves with righteousness or morality. When doing bad things, they shared incredible rapport!

After they left, they didn't even close the door; contacting the legions was paramount. The door could wait for the security guards to handle it.

What struck them as odd was that after searching the entire hotel, they couldn't locate the Star Federation President, and even the Star Federation Commander, Karu, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Red Hair suddenly remembered something. "Don't you feel like one more person is missing?"

Lan Li asked, "Who?"

Red Hair replied, "The head of the Unification Department, Stath."

Lan Li laughed. "He left only a few minutes after arriving at the venue."

Red Hair’s heart skipped a beat. "Something's fishy? Did he orchestrate this lockdown?"

Lan Li shook his head. "That’s unlikely. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Unification Department; he has no need to do something like this. Trouble arising for the legion leaders only complicates his work rather than easing his burden."

Red Hair wasn't convinced. She paused for a moment, then dialed Zi Ye’s number. "Little Stinky, help me check on someone."

Damn it!

An Junlie nearly lost control when he saw the incoming message.

An Junlie, currently transformed into a big bad wolf, had finally managed to pull Zi Ye onto the bed, preparing to nibble on the little white rabbit. Just as his lips brushed against the rabbit's, Red Hair's hypersignal dragged Zi Ye back to consciousness.

Zi Ye pushed An Junlie away to answer the message.

An Junlie grumbled, hitting the bed beside her.

He cursed Lan Li with intense resentment. Why hadn't he "taken care of" Red Hair properly so she wouldn't have time to bother Zi Ye?! This was their private time; Zi Ye should belong entirely to him!

How dare Red Hair sabotage things at this moment?!

Unfortunately, he couldn't connect his hypersignal or internal communicator with Lan Li. Frustrated and unfulfilled, he felt so miserable he wanted to vomit blood.

Lan Li, standing right next to Red Hair, sneezed violently.

Red Hair didn't care about that. Finding a spot out of sight of any monitoring devices, she told Zi Ye, "Are you busy right now? Help me look into Stath’s movements. The hotel sealed up after he left the Kela Hotel; I suspect he’s connected to this incident."

Zi Ye’s eyes were so heavy she could barely keep them open, but realizing the importance of the matter, she forced herself awake to work.

Zi Ye wasn't very familiar with Stath.

After meeting him a few times, her strongest impression of Stath was that he was unfathomable, his eyes seeming to hold infinite mystery; she couldn't read him.

From their previous encounters, she suspected that if she hadn't been operating under the identity of Tang Wen’s junior sister, the outcome might have been drastically different.

Contacting Stath directly now made her feel apprehensive.

But should she ask Tang Wen for help?

She silently shook her head. She had relied on Tang Wen too many times. This time, she had to accomplish it herself!

An Junlie picked her up and sat her on his lap. Watching her face shift from shadowed contemplation to momentary clarity, he couldn't help but ask, "What aspects of Stath do you want to investigate? I can help you."

Zi Ye shook her head. "No need."

An Junlie affectionately rubbed against her chin. "Why not?"

Zi Ye explained, "Stath isn't an ordinary person. If we investigate him, he will certainly know. I might as well ask him directly."

An Junlie: "..."

Stath was indeed dangerous. If he were to investigate someone, it would have to be someone impeccably discreet.

While Zi Ye’s approach seemed rash, upon careful consideration, it was a good tactic to startle the snake out of hiding.

Thus, he tacitly agreed.

After all, with him by her side, he would shield Zi Ye from anything that might arise.

He smiled and pinched her cheek, savoring the delicate, warm, and wonderful texture. "Alright, do as you wish."

With An Junlie’s approval, Zi Ye decisively dialed Stath’s number.

As soon as the call connected, she glanced at the time in the lower right corner and nearly fainted—it was exactly midnight.

Wouldn't calling him at this hour be considered a midnight horror ringtone?

Zi Ye quickly pressed the cancel button and burrowed deep into the covers. "We’ll talk tomorrow; let’s sleep first."

An Junlie was extremely pleased with her reaction. With a sweeping motion of his large arm, he pulled her close. "Mmm, be good, sleep now."

Zi Ye looked at him in astonishment. When had she agreed to sleep with him?

An Junlie paid her confusion no mind and covered her eyes with his hand. "Don't speak. Be good, sleep."

Zi Ye struggled to sit up, but An Junlie’s arm was like an iron bar, solid muscle, and heavy. It took both her hands to lift one of his.

The moment she managed to lift one side, An Junlie flipped over and pressed down on her.