Under the starlit sky, three hovercars sped along.

After Chi Yao was discovered, the two hovercars behind tried to sandwich him, constantly crashing into the middle.

Chi Yao held the steering wheel and the gear stick, flexibly dodging their attacks.

“Guess who sent them this time?” He observed the movements of the other two hovercars, calmly switching the communication screen to a holographic mode.

Jing Xi’s holographic projection appeared in the passenger seat.

He scanned the surveillance screen. “It’s not the military.”

Chi Yao: “What else?”

“They’re not just following you. They want you dead,” Jing Xi said calmly. “What have you done with my body this time?”

Chi Yao floored the gas pedal, having a great time.

“I just beat up a few people, that’s all.”

Further ahead was the city, a place where ordinary residents lived.

Jing Xi: “Lure them to the suburbs. Have Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei block the hovercars’ signal identifiers.”

Every hovercar had a unique signal identifier that would be detected whenever it appeared in a public area.

Chi Yao: “What’s wrong? Aren’t you afraid of losing your job?”

Jing Xi: “My not wanting it is one thing. You smashing it is another.”

Chi Yao: “…”

As they approached the city, Chi Yao made a sharp turn toward the suburbs.

Suddenly, a field of high-rise buildings under construction appeared ahead. Chi Yao didn’t avoid them. He went straight for them.

At this speed, it would be too late to turn in two seconds.

Jing Xi: “Turn!”

Chi Yao acted like he hadn’t heard him at all. He glanced at the cars behind him and went straight for the buildings.

BOOM!

The toughened glass exterior wall of the high-rise was shattered. Thick smoke billowed, and the car’s debris flew everywhere.

Thinking back to that scene, Jing Xi felt sick to his stomach.

Two seconds ago, just as the car was about to hit the building’s exterior wall, Chi Yao suddenly increased his altitude, and the car flew straight into a window that had not yet been fitted with a glass wall.

The two cars behind him didn’t have his skills and had already disintegrated.

“Madman,” Jing Xi said.

“Thanks for the compliment,” Chi Yao said with a smile.

He drove around the construction site on the 50th floor and then flew out through the shattered glass opening on the floor below.

The inside of the building was a mess.

The floor was covered in metal shards and blood.

Chi Yao leisurely parked the car and got out.

Lying in the wreckage were two men in black. One was motionless, while the other was moaning in pain.

Chi Yao lifted the man with one hand and turned his face around.

Jing Xi: “Ghost Brigade?”

The man’s face was covered with a black and white smiley mask.

“Mm.”

Chi Yao lifted the man’s chin to check his neck and behind his ear.

The skin near his collar was quickly turning black and hardening.

He was already starting to mutate.

Jing Xi: “They’re not even disguising themselves for an assassination? Are they too confident in their abilities?”

Although the mask on their face made it impossible to see their appearance, this mask was already a dead giveaway. Not wearing one would have been more discreet.

Chi Yao sneered, “They’re not not disguising themselves. They can’t take off this mask.”

Jing Xi didn’t understand. “Why can’t they take it off? Is it locked on?”

If so, how did Chi Yao take it off?

Chi Yao didn’t explain. He just reached out and pulled off the black mask.

Under the mask was a young and ferocious face.

He was like an astronaut whose oxygen tube had been pulled out in a vacuum, unable to breathe.

“Agh—!”

Losing Chi Yao’s support, he stumbled back a few steps. The skin on his face gradually turned black and hardened, growing gray bristles. His mouth protruded, and his front teeth became larger and wider.

Within a few minutes, the man looked completely different.

Jing Xi’s brows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

“They turn into beasts when they lose their masks?”

Jing Xi could only think of this word.

Because the man in front of him was now looking more and more like a hamster.

“You got half of it right.” Chi Yao rubbed his wrist, picked up a steel bar leaning against the wall, and smashed it hard on the man’s neck when he lunged forward.

But the man just stumbled a few steps and came at him again as if nothing had happened.

The mutation wasn’t just about their appearance. Their physical attributes and strength would also become closer to that of a wild beast.

Jing Xi thought of the mutated people in the underwater casino.

What was the connection between them?

Were the mutated people in the underwater casino sent by the Ghost Brigade? Or was it the other way around, and the Ghost Brigade was made up of those mutated people?

The order was different, and the seriousness of the entire incident was completely different.

He watched Chi Yao easily pin the mutated man to the ground, the steel bar in his hand piercing his neck.

A question couldn’t help but flash through Jing Xi’s mind.

What role did Extreme Shadow, or rather, Chi Yao, play in this?

Watching the blood spurt out of the man’s major artery, Chi Yao retracted his hand and stepped back, silently saying to himself, “Go home.”

Jing Xi zoomed in, squatting next to the mutated man to check.

After losing all signs of life, the mutated parts on his body were rapidly deteriorating.

“What’s wrong with these people?” Jing Xi looked up at Chi Yao. “Where did they come from?”

Chi Yao glanced at him but didn’t answer. He went to check on the other black mask.

Jing Xi followed. “Then I’ll ask another question. Were they normal people once?”

A sarcastic smile appeared on Chi Yao’s lips, then quickly disappeared.

“Yes.”

Jing Xi’s hands, which were at his sides, unconsciously clenched.

After discovering that this person also had signs of mutation, Chi Yao casually picked up a sharp metal shard and slit his throat.

Jing Xi’s voice was a little hoarse. “What about Iron Bear? Is Iron Bear also, like them?”

“You found out so quickly.” Chi Yao shook his head with a bitter smile. “What a little burden.”

Jing Xi, however, was skeptical of his statement.

Although the body-swapping was an accident, Chi Yao had hundreds of ways to keep him from finding out if he didn’t want him to.

Chi Yao stood up, took off his bloodstained gloves, and threw them into a burning flame.

“I don’t care what you’re thinking. You can’t tell the military about this.”

Jing Xi: “Why?”

“Why?” Chi Yao turned and faced him. “Can’t you find out yourself?”

Jing Xi: “…I gave you several photos.”

Chi Yao got back into the car and drove away.

“I got those photos myself. Those few are only enough for me to reveal this much. If you want to know more, you have to trade me photos.”

Jing Xi: “…………”

How could someone so stingy have lovers?

Chi Yao pulled up Jiang Feng’s contact and sent him a message.

[Have someone come and clean this up. [Location]]

The reply came quickly.

[Understood.]

Jing Xi watched. “…”

This guy was using his people very comfortably.

When he returned home, YaoYao walked over to him with a catwalk.

“Meow.”

Since he had personally fed her a few chew toys, their relationship as father and daughter had visibly improved—as long as the stray Ragdoll didn’t show up.

Chi Yao dodged her. “Go back to sleep.”

YaoYao’s front paws paused, and she turned her neck and walked away.

Chi Yao went straight to the bathroom and took a ten-minute cold shower. He was exceptionally sober when he lay in bed.

He couldn’t sleep after killing someone.

He stayed awake until midnight. He pulled up a children’s book and read the whole thing, but he was still exceptionally sober.

“Damn it.”

Chi Yao cursed in a low voice.

Even his last resort wasn’t working. Was he being forced to be a night owl?

For some reason, he went to the dial page and called himself.

He waited for a minute. Just as Chi Yao was about to hang up, the other side answered.

The planet Jing Xi was on was in the middle of the afternoon.

Seeing himself lying in bed, Jing Xi had a bad feeling.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in a cold voice.

Chi Yao: “Didn’t you want to know more about the situation?”

Jing Xi: “So?”

Chi Yao held up the children’s book. “If you can coax me to sleep, I’ll answer another question for you.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Coax to sleep?

He glanced at it. It was a very ordinary children’s book, and it was a bit outdated.

It was strange to fall asleep to a children’s book.

Jing Xi: “Is there a time limit?”

Chi Yao staying up all night was bad for his body. The other person willing to sleep had no downside for him.

Chi Yao: “No. Just as long as I fall asleep.”

Jing Xi casually chose a story and began to read it without any emotion. “Once upon a time, there was a family with a mother and two daughters. One day, their grandmother got sick—”

Although he had no emotion, his voice was low and pleasant.

Chi Yao closed his eyes. “The story of the big bad wolf?”

Jing Xi looked up at the title. “Yes. Are you familiar with it?”

Chi Yao hummed. “I’ve read it dozens of times. How could I not be?”

Jing Xi: “Then should I change to another one?”

Chi Yao: “Nah, it’s too much trouble.”

He had no objections, so Jing Xi continued to read.

The entire story was probably less than 500 words. When he was halfway through, he glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye. The person who had trouble sleeping was already in a deep sleep.

“Chi Yao? Chi Yao?”

He called out a few times, but there was no reaction.

Jing Xi checked the time. It had been less than three minutes since he started reading.

Just as he hung up the call, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

The lobby manager, 011, entered and stopped five steps away from him.

“I found it. The location for recruiting players.”

Jing Xi’s eyes flashed. “I’ll make a list of items. Get them ready for me by tomorrow at the latest.”

011: “Understood.”

His terminal rang. Jing Xi thought a certain person had woken up again.

He waved for 011 to leave and pulled up the communication page. He didn’t expect it to be Fang Liang.

Fang Liang: “Boss, what’s your location? We’re coming to find you.”

“Find me? You came to Cetus?” Jing Xi asked.

“Me too,” Li Yuan’s face appeared on the screen. “You haven’t come back for so long, so we came in case you ran into trouble.”

Jing Xi thought for a moment and sent them his location.

“Don’t be too flashy on the way here.”

Fang Liang rubbed his nose. “We’ll try our best.”

Jing Xi: “?”

Before he could ask, the big head of Yinwei also squeezed into the screen.

It was wearing a frilly headdress, a bow tie around its neck, and a princess dress. It was so flamboyant it was hard to look at, with a 100% head-turning rate.

“Awoo~”

Jing Xi: “…Who dressed him in that?”

Li Yuan raised his hand and grinned. “I did! Isn’t my taste great?”

Jing Xi: “Great. It’s an eyesore.”

Li Yuan: “…”

Fang Liang explained, “Yinwei is too big. We can only try our best to make him look cute. Otherwise, we won’t get through security.”

Speaking of this, Jing Xi suddenly remembered that these two were undocumented and couldn’t take a civilian flight.

“How did you get here?”

Fang Liang: “We hacked the information of two passengers and took their places on the spaceship.”

Jing Xi’s expression became wooden. “What about those two passengers?”

Fang Liang seemed not to understand why the boss would ask that. He said naturally, “They’ll just buy new tickets. We didn’t change their household registration.”

Jing Xi: “…”

They stole so casually.

It seemed he needed to implement more militarized management.

The next day, Chi Yao woke up on time, feeling very content.

His rival’s voice was great for sleeping.

At 8 AM, Jiang Feng came and knocked on the door.

“Boss, we have to officially take over Cetus this morning. According to custom, the Flying Dragon will be leaving for Cetus this afternoon to handle the relevant work.”

Chi Yao stroked his cat daughter in his arms. “Mm. Is the military team ready?”

Jiang Feng put the thermos he brought on the table and went to the kitchen to get a bowl and chopsticks.

“They’ve polished the warships several times. They’re so idle they’re probably laying eggs.”

The thermos was opened, and a rich chicken soup smell came out.

Chi Yao: “Chicken soup?”

Jiang Feng filled a bowl and placed it in front of him.

“This is from Lieutenant Lu’s mother’s own chickens. They eat all kinds of grains, so the taste is very good.”

Chi Yao took a bite. The meat was tender, and the soup was delicious.

He rarely gave a good review. “It’s indeed good.”

Jiang Feng smiled. “I’m glad you like it. There’s a whole container of it. You can eat it for a long time.”

Chi Yao: “…………”

A shipping container of—chickens?