Chi Yao stood in front of the desk, his gaze fixed on Jing Xi’s hand holding the brush, unable to look away.

His pale hand was slender and strong, his knuckles were well-proportioned, and even his nails were neatly trimmed.

Chi Yao remembered that a few days ago, when he was in Jing Xi’s body, his nails had grown quite long.

After writing a single character on the rice paper, Jing Xi put the brush down.

“Go ahead and take the picture.”

Chi Yao came back to his senses, walked around the desk to stand next to him, and looked down at the character on the table—Yan, meaning “beautiful” or “seductive.”

Chi Yao: “…Why would I take a picture of that?”

Jing Xi: “Didn’t you want to take seductive photos?”

Chi Yao’s brow twitched. He looked at Jing Xi’s serious face.

“Are you messing with me?”

Jing Xi blew on the paper. After the ink was dry, he handed it to Chi Yao.

“So many people want my calligraphy but can’t get it. You should cherish it.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Why did that sentence sound so familiar?

After finishing the calligraphy, Jing Xi tidied his sleeves and calmly walked away.

Before he could take a few steps, Chi Yao grabbed his wrist.

Chi Yao’s smile was icy.

“Major General, do you know what it means to be a person of your word?”

Jing Xi: “I’ve been so accommodating to you. What else do you want?”

Neither of them would back down, and they were soon fighting again.

“You’ve been defaulting for so long. How dare you not even give me one picture.” Chi Yao’s attacks were ruthless. A normal person probably couldn’t last more than three moves.

Jing Xi retreated while fighting, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

“Don’t you have a lot in your album? You only have two eyes. Isn’t that enough to cleanse them?”

Chi Yao: “Not enough. Are you giving them to me or not?”

Jing Xi: “No.”

Chi Yao got angry. He grabbed Jing Xi’s wrist and pulled him towards him.

Jing Xi was caught off guard and stumbled forward.

Chi Yao didn’t care. He grabbed Jing Xi’s face and pressed it against his mouth.

Jing Xi’s expression changed. He raised his hand and pushed Chi Yao’s face away.

“Chi Yao! What do you want?”

Chi Yao dodged and continued to press his face towards his mouth.

“To kiss you.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Both of them were using all their strength and accidentally hit the wall.

Jing Xi was flustered by his unorthodox methods. He said angrily, “Do you have any morals?”

Chi Yao pinned him down, one hand on the wall, his face fierce.

“No.”

Jing Xi: “…”

In a fit of anger, he threw a punch.

Chi Yao turned his head to dodge, forced to step back.

They fought from the dining room to the living room and then upstairs.

Chi Yao reached out to grab him, threatening, “If you don’t give me photos, then the next time we switch, I’ll use your body to kiss myself.”

Jing Xi’s face darkened. “Aren’t you disgusted?”

Chi Yao scoffed. “I’m so handsome. The texture must be great. How could it be disgusting?”

Texture?

Jing Xi felt disgusted just thinking about the scene.

While he was distracted, Chi Yao successfully caught him again and went in for a kiss without a word.

Jing Xi tried his best to dodge. “I’ll give them to you.”

Chi Yao’s eyes were filled with triumph. “You’ll let me kiss you, or you’ll give me the photos?”

Jing Xi frowned, his face cold. “The photos.”

Five minutes later, Jing Xi sat on the sofa, his face blank, letting Chi Yao manipulate his body.

“What’s with that old man expression? Look at me. Can you show a little more life?”

Chi Yao seriously adjusted his posture, pinching his cheek and pulling it. “Give grandpa a smile.”

Jing Xi looked at him blandly, his lips curving into a fake smile.

Chi Yao was stunned and almost burst out laughing.

“Can you f*cking smile with a little more sincerity?”

Jing Xi: “I am being sincere.”

Chi Yao made the camera float in the air. The enlarged virtual screen showed the photos he had taken.

But after switching through the shots for a long time, he felt something was wrong.

The expression was stiff, the eyes were empty, like a doll.

Chi Yao rested his chin on his hand, thinking seriously.

It seems I haven’t bullied him enough.

He walked over, grabbed Jing Xi’s tie with one hand, and pulled.

After pulling off the tie, he reached out to unbutton his shirt.

Jing Xi closed his eyes, out of sight, out of mind.

Chi Yao was amused.

“What’s wrong? You’ve already given up so quickly? That’s not like you.”

Jing Xi: “Hurry up.”

Chi Yao scoffed. “You dare to complain that I’m slow? If you had cooperated earlier, you would have already paid off your debt.”

Jing Xi: “I have to—”

Mid-sentence, the door was knocked on. Jiang Feng and Fang Liang walked in together from outside.

They looked up and stopped in their tracks at the same time.

In the living room, Chi Yao was kneeling on the sofa, unbuttoning Jing Xi’s shirt, and Jing Xi had his eyes closed and wasn’t struggling. It didn’t look like he was being forced.

Jiang Feng/Fang Liang: “…”

What the f*ck was going on?!

They paused for a second, then decisively turned around and left, pretending they had never been there.

“More new information?”

Jing Xi asked with his eyes still closed.

Jiang Feng: “…”

He couldn’t escape.

He turned around and said reluctantly, “It’s about the transformed people from the amusement park.”

Chi Yao’s eyes moved slightly. He let go of Jing Xi, sat to the side, and looked at Fang Liang.

“The mutation level has increased?”

Fang Liang: “Among those who were already mutated, half of them have now exceeded 30%. The rest are increasing at a rate of 5% per day. The ones who haven’t mutated yet show no signs of it.”

Jing Xi raised his hand, unhurriedly buttoning up his shirt, lost in thought.

He had heard Chi Yao say before that those people would mutate under external stimuli, and a mutation level of over 30% was irreversible.

These days, after those transformed people were confined in a relatively static space, the speed of their mutation had obviously decreased.

Jing Xi: “What exactly do you mean by ‘defective products’?”

Fang Liang glanced at his boss and explained in a low voice, “A stability below 50% and extremely susceptible to external stimuli, with a rapid mutation process. Anything that meets these three criteria is a defective product.”

“Stability?” Jiang Feng interrupted.

Fang Liang: “It’s a relative indicator. Our boss knows more about the specifics than I do.”

Jiang Feng: “…”

Why don’t you just say your boss doesn’t want you to say anything?

He saw from the corner of his eye that Chi Yao had turned his head, showing him the back of his head. Jing Xi felt that no matter what question he asked the other party now, he wouldn’t get an answer.

He changed the subject.

“The mutation speed of defective products is very fast, which means the higher the quality of the product, the slower the mutation speed?”

Fang Liang nodded. “You could say that.”

Jing Xi glanced at Chi Yao. “Are there high-quality products?”

“That’s enough,” Chi Yao said coldly. “If I don’t talk, you’ll never stop asking, right?”

Jing Xi: “Name your price.”

Chi Yao sneered. “What’s the point of naming a price? You never follow through.”

In just a few words, the two of them were at it again.

Jing Xi: “Last question. How are defective products made?”

Chi Yao got up. “You want to know? Go find out yourself.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Is he upset?

After Chi Yao and Fang Liang left, Jiang Feng followed Jing Xi to the study upstairs.

Jiang Feng reported in a low voice, “The person who tried to assassinate Wang Lian Gong hasn’t been caught. We’re in the middle of an emergency investigation.”

Jing Xi: “How is he?”

Jiang Feng: “He’s terrified. Now he’s crying and begging to be re-interrogated all day long, afraid that he’ll be assassinated again if he’s left alone.”

The assassination was unsuccessful. The other side wouldn’t give up easily.

Jing Xi: “Step up the surveillance. No need to increase the interrogation time.”

Jiang Feng: “Yes.”

After finishing his report, Jiang Feng prepared to leave.

As soon as he opened the door, a magnified dog’s head appeared in front of him.

Jiang Feng: “!!!”

Even when squatting, Yin Wei was much taller than a person. Seeing that Jiang Feng was blocking the door, it swatted him away with a paw and went in itself.

“Awoo~”

Jing Xi: “Hungry?”

Yin Wei nodded, its eyes wide with anticipation.

Jing Xi: “I’ll have them bring food up.”

Yin Wei’s eyes lit up. It lay down on the floor, its chin resting on the desk.

“Awoo!”

Jiang Feng watched with his own eyes as the Phantom’s killing machine acted cute toward his boss.

Jiang Feng: “…”

Things seemed to be heading in a very strange direction.

In the study, Jing Xi’s communicator vibrated. He casually opened it. It was from his grandpa.

[I’ve bought them. When are you coming? I’m going to get my revenge for the Gomoku game [image]]

Jing Xi clicked on the image. It was a deck of poker cards, and next to it was a plate of egg tarts.

Chi Yao and his grandpa played Gomoku? And his grandpa lost? And they agreed to play poker?

His grandpa actually agreed to him?

A rigorous old professor playing Gomoku with a rebellious space pirate leader.

He couldn’t even imagine the scene.

Jing Xi’s finger hovered over the virtual screen for a long time. He typed and deleted a line of text a dozen times.

[I’ll be in Cygnus for the next two months. I’m afraid I won’t have time to go home.]

Most importantly, he didn’t know how to play poker.

The other side quickly replied.

[I’m on a business trip this week. I might go to Cygnus in a few days.]

Jing Xi: “…”

Chi Yao pretended to be sulking and left the main building. He and Fang Liang wandered to a secluded training ground.

“There’s a message from the old man,” Fang Liang said, sending a screenshot of the message to Chi Yao’s communicator.

Chi Yao glanced at it. There was a line of gibberish in the screenshot, and the sender was Z.

After decoding the gibberish using a specific method, he got two numbers—46.

“Number 46.”

Fang Liang’s expression changed.

“Is it opening again so soon?”

Chi Yao: “The time hasn’t come yet, but it’s close.”

Fang Liang: “Then I’ll pick a few people to get ready?”

After walking across half of the training ground, Chi Yao shook his head. “No need. I’ll go by myself.”

Fang Liang looked a little anxious.

“Boss, this will be investigated sooner or later. Don’t be in a hurry—”

“But I can’t wait too long.” Chi Yao sneered. “Who knows how many years it will take for him to collect all the evidence.”

Fang Liang: “But—”

Chi Yao raised his hand to stop him from continuing.

“No matter what the outcome is, I just want a result quickly.”

Fang Liang frowned, but he didn’t know how to persuade him.

Too much stimulation was not a good thing.

Walking out of the training ground, they heard a commotion in the distance.

Chi Yao walked over and saw Li Yuan among a group of Flying Dragon soldiers, and opposite him was Lü Meng, looking like a rooster with ruffled feathers.

“This is a stationed military base. Please abide by the rules here!” Lü Meng said in a rough voice. “You’ve stolen three of my chickens in two days. It’s time to settle the score!”

Li Yuan was standing lazily, scratching his neck. He was a complete hooligan.

“The Flying Dragon is such a big military group, and they don’t even let people eat a chicken? I won’t be the one who gets laughed at if this gets out.”

Lü Meng: “There are so many chickens in the cafeteria you can eat as you please. You can’t eat my chickens!”

Li Yuan: “So what if I eat your chickens?”

When Chi Yao walked over, the two of them were rolling up their sleeves, ready to fight.

“Don’t you get tired of fighting all the time?” Chi Yao leaned on the railing, smiling with ill intentions. “How about—we have a competition?”

Lü Meng: “A competition it is! We’ll compete in sniping, your specialty!”

Li Yuan: “Who wants to play with a sniper with you? That’s so boring—”

Before he could finish, Chi Yao agreed for him.

“It’s rare for everyone to be together. It’s a good time to exchange technical experiences.” Chi Yao waved at Fang Liang. “Go prepare the props.”

The large group of Flying Dragon soldiers watching looked at each other.

It looks like a good show!

A moment later, Fang Liang came back with a basket of eggs, placing them one by one on the wooden stakes.

“Be careful. These eggs are very expensive!” Jiang Feng said, following him, a pained look on his face. “Can you use the eggs from the cafeteria instead?”

With the boss’s one sentence of “be tolerant of the Phantom,” the entire Flying Dragon had to endure it, afraid that a conflict would make the boss unhappy.

Fang Liang placed the eggs with an expressionless face. “Our boss just likes these ones.”

Jiang Feng: “…”

At the other end of the training ground, Li Yuan and Lü Meng were holding light sniper rifles, waiting.

The distance from them to the plum blossom stakes was about a hundred meters. There were a total of thirty stakes, of different heights, and each one had an egg on it.

Lü Meng looked at the sniper rifle that had its scope removed and asked Chi Yao, “We have to hit the eggs on the designated stakes from here?”

Even with good eyesight, it was almost impossible to see from that far away.

The free-range chicken eggs were so precious. Was it better to hit them or not?

This must be a conspiracy of the Phantom!

“No,” Chi Yao smiled. “Hitting eggs is so easy. That would be boring.”

Wow!

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

It was easy to shoot blindly without a scope?

“Is the Phantom doing this on purpose to make it difficult for us?”

“The difficulty is too high. It feels like they’re just messing with Minister Lü.”

“I heard they’re very strong. Maybe they really think it’s easy?”

“Holy sh*t, I’m getting excited! Minister Lü must not lose!”

The whispers continued.

Chi Yao snapped his fingers.

Fang Liang, who was opposite him, got the signal. He grabbed a handful of chicken feathers and threw them at the plum blossom stakes.

Chi Yao: “Whoever hits a red chicken feather in each round wins, but you can’t break the egg at the same time.”

Lü Meng and Li Yuan looked at each other, their expressions turning serious.

This f*cking—this difficulty was not ordinary.

Chi Yao added, “If you hit all the feathers, the one who takes the least time wins.”

And they had to compete on time!

The spectators started to get nervous.

This was a hell-level difficulty right from the start. What if no one could hit them? Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

Some people thought this and said it out loud.

“Can’t hit them? How is that possible?” Chi Yao casually took the gun from Li Yuan’s hand, aimed, and quickly pulled the trigger.

A red chicken feather shot through the air and was pinned to the wooden stake by the bullet, with only a small tip left exposed.

When Chi Yao put down the gun, no one else knew what had happened.

Over there, Jiang Feng looked at the wooden stake that had been pierced through, his eyes wide.

Is this person a monster?

He didn’t even take time to aim!

Fang Liang took a picture of the situation and showed it on the enlarged virtual screen.

After seeing the red chicken feather remaining on the stake, the crowd burst into an uproar.

“He’s—he’s so strong!”

“F*ck! Is that even possible?”

“This is terrifying!”

“I can’t even see the eggs, let alone the feathers!”

“Good!” Li Yuan cheered, glancing at Lü Meng with a smile. “Our boss’s marksmanship is absolutely amazing.”

Lü Meng was dumbfounded.

His marksmanship was truly impressive!

Hearing the provocation in Li Yuan’s words, Lü Meng sneered back.

“It’s decent, but it can’t compare to our boss.”

“Compare what?”

Just as he was speaking, Jing Xi’s voice sounded from behind them.

Chi Yao tilted his head to look. He saw Jing Xi walking over unhurriedly. He said casually, “Your old Lü said I can’t compare to you. What, want to have a match?”

Jing Xi had never had any interest in competitions.

He felt that if he was going to do something, he would do it perfectly. If he felt it was unnecessary, he wouldn’t touch it.

He was not affected by being ahead or behind anyone else.

But now, Chi Yao was inviting him.

It seemed pretty fun.

“Okay,” Jing Xi replied casually. “What’s the competition?”

Lü Meng ran over and repeated the rules that Chi Yao had just said.

Chi Yao smiled. “A competition without rewards or punishments is so boring.”

Jing Xi was very cooperative. “How many photos?”

Before Chi Yao could say anything, Lü Meng said seriously, “How about this? The winner can enjoy our special all-chicken banquet for the vanguard troops tonight! Plus a month of chicken soup!”

It actually turned into a competition between the two leaders.

The soldiers watching were so excited that their voices became hoarse.

The commander had always been low-key. He never participated in military activities and didn’t train with others. They almost never saw the commander show his skills.

Chi Yao and Jing Xi looked at each other. “…”

He’ll let him win.