"You'd better say something," Shi Shanyan tossed away the broken Communicator. The electric current from the Restraint Lock had made his fingers numb. "Let me feel your gratitude."

"Thank you very much," Yan Junxun said as he opened the door and walked down the steps in a few strides.

"Mm," Shi Shanyan turned and leaned against the door, watching Yan Junxun walk toward the sports car. "You're quite the warm person."

Yan Junxun pulled open the car door and asked the onboard system inside, "Are you okay?"

The silence in the car lasted for a moment, then the Little Orange Dragon lit up and replied, "At your command."

"Reboot the indoor system, wake up Panda."

The Little Orange Dragon's light board flickered, and a red 'X' appeared on it. It said, "SN 7-001 is currently under re-investigation. System reboot requires a special order from Black Panther. Panda has entered hibernation mode. It is recommended to have Artemis take overall command. Would you like to call Artemis for Mr. Yan?"

A few raindrops hit Yan Junxun's back. He said, "No need. Delete the application record for SN 7-001."

"Understood," the Little Orange Dragon continued, "Continuous malicious attacks have been detected. To ensure Mr. Yan's safety, I request to temporarily close all message channels."

Yan Junxun looked at the Little Orange Dragon and said, "Go to sleep."

"See you tomorrow." A smiley face symbol appeared on the Little Orange Dragon's light board. It said softly, "I also think I need to rest for a bit..."

The onboard system's light went out.

The night sky was filled with dark clouds, and the rain began to fall harder. Yan Junxun stared blankly into the quiet car for a long while, only straightening up to close the door after his back was soaked.

"You have to let others know you're angry." Shi Shanyan's voice was muffled by the sound of the rain, sounding very faint.

"You let Fu Chenghui know you were angry," Yan Junxun turned back to look at Shi Shanyan, "What did he give you?"

"So much, let me think," Shi Shanyan put on a thoughtful expression and said, "He confiscated my gun, injected me with a sedative, put a Restraint Lock on me, and finally, implanted me with a location-tracking chip. How stimulating. I can hardly count it all."

Yan Junxun's clothes were soaked through by the rain. He raised a hand to touch the roof of the car. "Sounds like there were no benefits."

"But it makes me look unapproachable. No one wants to make small talk with me anymore, so I got some peace and quiet." Shi Shanyan rested one hand on the doorframe, the ring of the Restraint Lock biting tightly into his wrist. "Don't you find communicating with them annoying sometimes? You constantly have to cater to their fragile hearts, just like you do with Jiang Lian. You should have just told Jiang Lian directly that you don't want to get involved in these cases at all, that they affect your life..." Shi Shanyan paused for a moment, then said slyly, "and your sleep."

Yan Junxun felt the rain was timely, putting some distance between him and Shi Shanyan. Shi Shanyan's observational skills were terrifying. Perhaps others felt the same way when faced with Yan Junxun's gaze.

Shi Shanyan would magnify every detail, and his train of thought was just as fast. Yan Junxun had experienced this firsthand at the scene. Shi Shanyan constantly threw out hints without getting involved, as if he were just watching a movie in the middle of his vacation and casually giving Yan Junxun a few keywords about the ending. But the scary part was, even though he had been sleeping the whole time, none of the keywords were wrong.

"You seem to still be in your cub phase," Shi Shanyan was very sensitive to the smells in the room. "Panda wants to give you meticulous care. Did the disappearance of Artemis hurt you?"

"That has nothing to do with you," Yan Junxun said coldly.

"Don't say that," Shi Shanyan was like a patient teacher. "You have to talk to someone eventually. If you tell Jiang Lian you're still in a recovery period, he'll definitely report it truthfully to Fu Chenghui. Are you very afraid of Fu Chenghui?"

"I'm not afraid," Yan Junxun stared at Shi Shanyan, letting the rain trail past his brow. "Stop trying to turn the topic to me, my dear psychologist. Why don't you elaborate on your own psychological journey? Did the second-by-second surveillance in Section 01 of Guangtong Prison finally drive you mad? From the moment you set foot in the Docking Area, you've been like an asshole just waiting for a chance to stir up trouble."

"Yeah, I just want to stir things up." Shi Shanyan liked to admit to his mistakes, because he didn't see them as mistakes at all. "Does my treatment make you envious? I can introduce you to my confinement cell. 7-001 deserves this kind of treatment. You must have stunned everyone when you took the Black Panther Test, right? 7-001, that's the honor of a perfect score. Your written exam was even better than mine." Shi Shanyan sounded a little annoyed when he said this. "You actually got all those long-winded reading comprehension questions right. Does Artemis make you practice questions here every day?"

Yan Junxun thought there was something wrong with Shi Shanyan, and seriously wrong at that. He didn't know how to be evasive at all, accustomed to being direct, cutting straight to the topic and then circling away from it nonchalantly. He couldn't care less about how others felt about these things. Just like now, his interest had shifted from the Black Panther Test back to Artemis. He asked suspiciously, "Does the system play with you?"

Yan Junxun stepped onto the stairs, closing in on Shi Shanyan until the rainwater from his body touched Shi Shanyan's sturdy chest. He said, defiant and annoyed, "None of your damn business."

"Don't be angry, don't be fierce with me," Shi Shanyan's gaze locked onto the tips of Yan Junxun's wet hair. He lowered his voice, as if whispering, "We're partners, and allies. Fu Chenghui is using Artemis to make you work for him. Although I don't know why he put you in the Docking Area, you've been working for them for a long time, and he hasn't mentioned Artemis again, right?"

The eaves blocked the rain. Shi Shanyan's shadow enveloped Yan Junxun.

"Your indoor system is full of Black Panther's eyes. We're both under second-by-second surveillance."

The curtain of rain cut everything off. The flames emerging from the giant chimney of the Coke Plant became the eyes of the night. The only thing in Yan Junxun's ears was Shi Shanyan's voice. His speaking pace was no longer so fast, as if he were sharing a secret with Yan Junxun.

Warm breath brushed past Yan Junxun's ear. This was clearly his familiar home, yet at this moment, it was occupied by Shi Shanyan. Shi Shanyan exuded a difficult-to-handle aura, yet he calmed Yan Junxun down.

What was being exposed? Was there anything more terrifying than Shi Shanyan?

"I can help you with a few small things," Shi Shanyan lowered his head slightly. "Right now, while no one is watching. As long as you ask, I'll help you."

Shi Shanyan's gaze was so sincere, so sincere that Yan Junxun almost believed him. However, he understood Shi Shanyan better than Shi Shanyan imagined—Shi Shanyan's interest rates were very high, and the way he collected repayment was different from ordinary people. No one knew what he would do, but he would definitely get what he wanted.

Yan Junxun suddenly started to laugh, the tear-mole under his eye moving slightly with it. He said in a low voice, "Are you afraid of Fu Chenghui? Why don't you tell me, and I'll help you take care of him."

Shi Shanyan stared at Yan Junxun, and Yan Junxun suddenly became happy. He stood there and laughed out loud, raising a hand to pat Shi Shanyan's chest, as if in comfort.

"You're quite uninteresting too."

......

In his office, Liu Chen was trying to contact Snow in May. This person had given him Yan Junxun's file but hadn't mentioned Black Panther. The other party's ID Communicator was on, but no one was picking up. Liu Chen felt like he had been played. Before he could dial again, his own ID Communicator rang.

The incoming unknown number had a smooth sequence of digits, with Black Panther's special designation "7" as the first digit.

Liu Chen didn't want to answer, but he had to.

"We hope you'll temporarily stop updating your homepage," the person on the other end got straight to the point, asking politely, "Is that convenient for you?"