The mech competition suddenly took an unexpected turn. Liu Hong emerged as a dark horse, defeating all the second-year students and even crushing the top student of the third year underfoot, achieving first place with a result that even he found hard to believe.

Liu Hong accepted the medal, looking bewildered: “This is just absurd.”

Qian Fan, who was awarding him, patted his shoulder kindly and smiled, “Young man, not bad. Keep it up.”

Liu Hong felt uncomfortable all over: “…”

Being scolded still suits him better.

The afternoon before the monthly exam, Rong Shi received a notification that the chip components had arrived.

[They have been anonymously mailed to the station. Shall I send the AI assistant to deliver them now?]

“No need, I’ll pick them up myself.” Rong Shi typed the last key and rubbed his tired temples.

He hadn’t slept much these past few days, busy modifying the armor’s program.

These components weren’t particularly expensive, but if something happened on the way and he had to buy them again, it would be troublesome.

Rong Shi shut down the terminal and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

“Remind the nano-metal.”

[Yes.]

[Will little brother be as awesome as me?]

Rong Shi: “He’ll be prettier than you.”

[You think I’m ugly.]

Rong Shi: “Yeah.”

[QwQ]

No way to have a pleasant chat anymore!

The anonymous station was outside the school, but the hovercar could reach it in 10 minutes.

Rong Shi went to the garage; after passing the sensor zone, he arrived at the entrance, where a black hovercar was just landing in front of him.

It was Song Yu’s.

Just as they left the school, Song Yu’s terminal showed the hovercar’s location.

“My dad said to take it easy this time, pressing too hard might cause backlash,” Qin Luo lay on the sofa playing games, saying, “Actually, even if the Lin family rebels, we’re not afraid; at worst, we’ll just take it back, right, bro?”

“Hmm.” Song Yu’s lazy voice dragged out, staring at the little red dot on the virtual screen, then got up and headed out.

“My dad’s getting old, he’s indecisive and overly cautious, not decisive at all, and—Hey bro, where are you going?”

Suddenly, the door opened, interrupting Qin Luo mid-sentence, then shut again right before him.

The anonymous station was about ten football fields in size, with shelves arranged like a maze, and countless AIs busy sorting parcels.

As dusk fell, Rong Shi stood by the large gate of the pickup area, waiting for the AI to place all parcels into the hovercar one by one.

[Warning! Heat weapon activity detected at 9 o’clock direction, 1354 meters away.]

The warning sounded as Rong Shi took a step back.

A bullet streaked past him, hitting the lawn near the car’s front.

Rong Shi’s expression changed sharply as the sound of bullets hitting metal rang continuously. He quickly retreated and ran into the station.

The anonymous station’s security level was higher than other types of stations, equipped with bulletproof metal shells, and inside, one AI guard was placed for every 30 square meters, making it very suitable for taking shelter.

But first, he had to get inside.

[Cracking station’s security system, estimated time: three minutes.]

While waiting, Rong Shi hid in a self-service locker room. His fingers slid lightly as 01 came out from a decorative buckle and transformed.

He raised his hand, sliding on the sleeve, listening to the sounds outside, his eyes cold.

Is it coming for Xiao Yu?

Rong Shi quickly ruled that out.

If they had been chasing the car, after seeing it wasn’t Song Yu who got out, they would have stopped.

They’re coming for him.

Who sent them?

Song Ke? Lu Youqi? Lin Feng? Or Ji Ling?

Suddenly footsteps and gunshots approached.

There were quite a few — at least ten people.

Rong Shi raised his gun, waiting.

The first gun appeared in his view. Before the enemy fired, he moved quickly and deflected the barrel.

The bullet hit the metal roof above.

He grabbed the attacker’s wrist, twisted it hard, making the gun fall, pulled him close, forcing him to bend over, then a knee to the chest and a fierce kick.

It all took less than a second. The black-clad assassin didn’t react in time and was kicked flying.

Hearing the commotion, other assassins immediately turned their guns on Rong Shi.

He showed no expression, aimed at the front gun barrel and fired. The compressed air bullet entered the gun barrel, shattering the bullet inside and causing the entire barrel to explode.

“Ah—!” The black-clad assassin staggered back, clutching his injured hand and screaming miserably.

Rong Shi stepped forward, snatched another gun from a black-clad man, and smashed the stock against the side of his neck.

The carotid artery was hit hard; the assassin collapsed unconscious.

He stepped on the metal wall, flipped to dodge bullets and attacks, hooked the neck of another assassin in midair for leverage, and when landing, threw the man as a human shield toward the muzzle.

“Ah ah—!” The assassin was shot multiple times, fell headfirst, and writhed in pain.

[Countdown: 1 minute 38 seconds remaining—Activate standard mode?]

“No need.” Rong Shi dodged bullets behind the metal partition. “Hide the hovercar’s location. Don’t let Xiao Yu come over.”

He was only picking up some parcels and didn’t plan to hide it from Song Yu, but didn’t expect trouble.

[Understood—]

“Too late.”

Suddenly, Song Yu’s voice came from behind, accompanied by a gunshot interrupting 01’s reply.

Rong Shi frowned and glanced back in the gap.

Song Yu was sitting in the driver’s seat of the hovercar, the window half rolled down, gun resting on the glass. Rong Shi could only see his soft golden hair and those beautiful eyes.

Song Yu leaned back, dodging the incoming bullet, and took a headshot at the shooter.

His face was calm, voice cold: “So many assassins and you can handle them alone, Chairman Rong, you’re really impressive.”

Blood mixed with unknown fluid splattered against the white metal wall, painfully vivid.

The little cat got angry.

No need to see his expression; Rong Shi knew his “don’t let him come” had annoyed Song Yu.

But in this situation, he had no choice.

Only two assassins remained of the first batch, while eight modified hovercars simultaneously poured in from four exits at the back.

“Go!” Rong Shi’s face turned cold. “I don’t need your help here.”

Compared to him, Song Yu was clearly more valuable as an assassin.

Any rescue would take time, but Rong Shi could not bear to expose Song Yu to danger even for a second.

The hovercar’s metal shell pinged from outside. Song Yu’s eyes scanned the modified hovercars; opening the shell revealed cannon barrels underneath.

His gaze turned extremely cold. Activating manual mode, he turned the steering wheel and charged toward the station’s pickup area entrance.

“Xiao Yu!”

Rong Shi dodged bullets, unwilling to drag it out.

He raised his gun and shot a throat through the front assassin.

Seeing the modified hovercar’s cannons aimed at them, Rong Shi urgently ordered, “01!”

[Security system cracked—]

Just as Song Yu’s car was about to crash into the gate, the large doors suddenly opened.

Black hovercars sped in.

Rong Shi hurried inside; the doors closed behind them.

At the closing moment, a huge explosion roared, and the whole station violently shook.

Strong shockwaves spread, AI warning sounds filled the air, and metal debris mixed with smoke seeped through the door gap.

The two giant doors, each over ten meters tall, were blasted inward, forming a huge dent.

Rong Shi staggered slightly and quickly ran toward Song Yu’s hovercar.

Song Yu got out and was immediately embraced tightly.

“How are you?” Rong Shi’s heart thumped in fright, his worry turned to anger. All his feelings condensed into fury. “Charging the gate at that speed — are you crazy?!”

Song Yu shoved him away, face pale: “Who gave you the right to say that?!”

Rong Shi: “I told you I’m fine!”

Song Yu: “Then I’m fine too!”

“Song Yu!” Rong Shi shouted, “You’re not a cat with nine lives! I won’t allow you to do self-destructive things again!”

After knowing him for so long, Song Yu saw Rong Shi lose his temper like this for the first time.

He clenched his hands, gritted his teeth, and looked even worse than when facing assassins.

“I’m not some fragile flower needing your protection! Mind your own business first before worrying about me!”

Realizing his emotional outburst, Rong Shi took a deep breath and calmed down.

Even if they argued, it wasn’t the time now.

“Boom!”

Another loud explosion at the gate.

Parcels fell off the shelves.

Rong Shi observed the gate and took Song Yu’s hand to go inside.

The station had four exits at the front and back respectively; the front four were for pickup, the back four for transport.

“We’ll discuss the problem after we get back,” Rong Shi said as they walked.

Song Yu shrugged off his hand, pulled a gun from his lower back, voice cold: “If you can do it alone, then we’ll split up.”

Without waiting for a reply, Song Yu walked off in a direction without looking back.

“Xiao Yu.” Rong Shi hurried after him and grabbed his wrist. “Now is not the time to sulk, first get your people here and then—”

“I’m not sulking.” Song Yu shook him off again, his gaze cold. “Maybe there’s always been a problem between us; we’ve just been avoiding it.”

Rong Shi’s fingers twitched, brow furrowed: “I don’t think there’s any problem.”

“Then why don’t you trust me?” Song Yu stared into his eyes. “When you’re in trouble, you push me away first. Do you think I feel nothing when I see you in danger?!”

“Sorry.” Rong Shi apologized softly. “It’s my fault. Now—”

Before he could finish, another huge impact came at the door.

The thick metal door was blasted open with a crack dozens of centimeters wide.

Black smoke mixed with a pungent smell poured in.

Rong Shi tilted his ear slightly and faintly heard very light footsteps approaching.

“Go!” Rong Shi hurried with him deeper inside.

“This way.” At a fork, Song Yu quickly made a decision.

The station was vast and complex. They had walked a long time without reaching another exit.

Suddenly a very soft trigger click was heard; Rong Shi tensed up and instinctively pulled Song Yu to dodge.

Song Yu also heard it and tried to pull Rong Shi aside.

Both reacted quickly, but their dodging directions were opposite.

That brief hesitation made them miss the chance to avoid.

A gunshot fired toward Song Yu’s head—

__

Author’s note:

Song Cat: You’re being mean to me. [Feeling wronged]

Song Bunny: I’m sorry. [Flustered and panicked]