Yan Junxun didn't want to be watched by the camera. He threw away the trash and prepared to leave. The ID Communicator rang again. Yan Junxun really wanted to throw it away, but he held back. He answered the communicator, terse and to the point: "Speak."

"You'd better get out of here," Su Heting had just woken up. He typed on the light screen while yawning, "A madman is watching you."

"Where is he?" Yan Junxun glanced at the camera again as he left the convenience store. "Don't let him touch my systems again!"

"You're getting irritable," Su Heting slowed his speech, looking at the data scrolling rapidly before him. "But I have to tell you, not only is he caressing your systems, he's also trying to hack into them."

The sun rose over the buildings, its light dispelling some of the gloom. More people appeared on the streets, most of them hurrying off to work. The rings of ID Communicators sounded from different people, and countless light screens flickered on and off among the crowd of suits. The entire Docking Area seemed to have had its play button pressed; everyone started moving in an instant, a stark contrast to the silence of just ten-odd minutes ago.

"I can't find where he is. He's hidden himself very well." Su Heting sounded like a newscaster. "I can only remind you that the Docking Area's regional systems are all trash. He can watch you through all the cameras."

Yan Junxun's gaze swept around quickly. Street corners, traffic lights, shops—cameras were everywhere. It was impossible to determine where the other person was watching him from. He said, "Did the Black Panther just send you to do a live broadcast?"

"You bet. My current mission is to watch you two." There wasn't a hint of urgency in Su Heting's tone. This had nothing to do with him. Even if someone were to blow the heads off 7-001 and SN 01AE86 in the street right now, he would only act as a faithful recorder.

The Black Panther had always had an Eskimo structure*. The reason their serial numbers were sorted so crudely was to serve this very structure. Members with higher rankings were the Lead Dogs in the eyes of those behind them. It was best not to make any mistakes on missions. A mistake not only meant mission failure, but also a drop in rank. If your number dropped below a certain point, you would automatically be demoted to a Power Dog, stripped of all privileges.

No one who had been a Lead Dog wanted to become a Power Dog. Once you fell into the pack of Power Dogs, you would be torn to shreds by the members who had once chased after you. The Black Panther's bloody internal ranking rules had been criticized for a long time, but Fu Chenghui had never changed them. He insisted on using this structure and felt it was effective.

Don't expect Black Panther members to lend a hand to another member with the same tattoo. By not taking action themselves, they were already following the rules. Unless it was a team operation where mission regulations explicitly limited the number of casualties, everyone would just be like this—watching the other guy get bitten by a venomous snake through a light screen.

"Stop making excuses for yourself. You just can't track his information," Shi Shanyan said as he walked down the steps, wiping the sole of his shoe on the spot where The Clown had just stood. A toy gun bullet had fallen there. "He's nearby."

"This is why you still don't have a teammate. Who would want to be with a sharp-tongued control freak?" Su Heting said emotionlessly. "My abilities are very strong, I don't want to repeat myself. Now, 001, please lift your head. See that 'Uncle Hong's Salon' on the third floor to the right? He's using their camera to watch you."

Yan Junxun saw a red dot glowing under the "Salon" part of the sign on the third floor. He said, "Shut it down. Prove you're not as useless as Shi Shanyan says."

"I don't need to prove anything," Su Heting said, slamming his keyboard. "I shut it down! But he switched too fast. Don't think you can make me shut down all the cameras in the area, I won't break the law!"

Yan Junxun couldn't hold back and snapped at the communicator, "You already broke the law when you were monitoring my home systems! Keep tracking, I want his location!"

The other person was nearby, otherwise he couldn't have shot at The Clown's balloon. Yan Junxun didn't want to play a deduction game with him. He just wanted to drag him out and dump him at the entrance of the Supervisory Bureau.

"Then you'll have to drive," Su Heting said, looking at the intermittent red dot of the location. "He's making a run for it."

The car was parked in an open-air lot. Yan Junxun got in, turned off the Little Orange Dragon first, and started the engine. The roar turned heads, like a beast preparing to attack. Shi Shanyan fastened his seatbelt, although he doubted it would be of much use on the upcoming journey.

"Light Rail inner loop," Su Heting said. "He wants to get out of here."

Yan Junxun slammed on the gas, and the car shot forward instantly. The charm hanging inside hadn't had time to react; it swung in a long arc through the air, finally smacking against the glass. The "bang" startled the Little Orange Dragon, which began to sound an alarm from the car roof.

"Give me his location," Yan Junxun said over the alarm. "Hurry up."

"Are you my fucking boss?" Su Heting finally got annoyed. Bashing his keyboard, he said, "I don't like being rushed, so don't rush me!"

A light screen lit up to the side. The sunlight outside was becoming glaring, the morning's gloom now gone. It was rush hour, and the lanes were packed with cars. The other person was getting away fast, almost out of the Light Rail inner loop. Yan Junxun stared at the blinking red dot on the light screen and floored it.

"Mr. Yan," the Little Orange Dragon said, terrified. "This is too dangerous!"

Yan Junxun couldn't hear it. His world contained only that ceaselessly blinking red dot. The old sports car's constant overtaking set off a cacophony of horns from behind.

A few drivers rolled down their windows, leaning out to curse loudly, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! You psycho!"

The other person was still watching Yan Junxun's movements. Seemingly aware that Yan Junxun was chasing him, the red dot left the inner loop and turned onto the outer district highway, heading toward the mountains. Yan Junxun sped the whole way, following him out of the inner loop and onto the outer district highway as well.

At this hour, the trucks transporting coke and steel hadn't hit the road yet. A few private cars drove ahead at a moderate pace. Yan Junxun's sports car shot out like a cannonball. Shi Shanyan's ears were filled with the roaring of its engine.

But Yan Junxun was silent. He was always this quiet. Even when the ice on the surface cracked, the undercurrent below remained soundless. He stared ahead, as if nothing could interest him more than catching up. This astonishing focus made him seem dangerous—a subtle, quiet danger, as if one more touch would get you torn to shreds by him.

The rear of the other car appeared at the edge of his vision. It was a solid black, second-generation family car with a Docking Area license plate. The Little Orange Dragon's alarm had completely drowned out the car horns. Su Heting, watching Yan Junxun's location, had to shout to make himself heard.

"He's about to exit the highway and continue toward the mountains! You'd better slow down, the tunnel is full of trucks waiting to get on the highway!"

Yan Junxun accelerated again.

"Fuck," Su Heting then shouted at Shi Shanyan, "Did you two make a suicide pact?!"

"Shut the fuck up." Shi Shanyan frowned, annoyed by the noise.

The other car began to change direction. After the big curve, it could enter the tunnel before the mountains. However, Yan Junxun had already caught up. He turned the steering wheel, and the front of his car rammed into the rear of the other car like a brute bull. The other driver hadn't expected Yan Junxun to be so ruthless. Before he could adjust his steering, the left door slammed directly into the curve's guardrail, followed by a piercing scraping sound. But the driver reacted quickly, managing to wrench the car's direction amid the screeching of tires and continue forward at the cost of a scraped-off side mirror.

'Run faster.'

Yan Junxun followed close behind and rammed into it again, as if in provocation.

The other car's door hit the guardrail once more. The Little Orange Dragon's alarm was stuck in a frenzied loop. The car stumbled forward, bumping left and right on the narrow road due to the curve. But Yan Junxun had no intention of entering the tunnel. As he turned the steering wheel, the rear of his car swung out in an arc on the curve. He reversed direction, using the distance of the curve to ram the other car with the side of his own, sending it into a blind corner of the tunnel. It crashed straight into it.

Yan Junxun killed the engine, opened the door, and pulled a steel pipe from under his seat as he got out.

"Warning!" The voice of the other car's system could be faintly heard. "Warning! Emergency services have been call—"

Yan Junxun swung the steel pipe and smashed it violently against the other car's door. The glass next to the driver's seat instantly shattered! Everyone would have thought Yan Junxun would stop, but he brought the pipe down again, smashing the car door until it was deformed.

Because the driver's seat was empty.

Author has something to say:

*Eskimo structure: Eskimos utilized the exclusionary nature of animals, dividing their sled dogs into two classes: Lead Dogs and Power Dogs. The Lead Dog runs at the front, enjoying many privileges, such as eating alone, having the best kennel to itself, and never being beaten. The Power Dogs pull the sled behind the Lead Dog; they don't get enough to eat, live in poor conditions, fight over food, are crammed together, and are often whipped. The preferential treatment enjoyed by the Lead Dog fills the Power Dogs with resentment, making them always want to catch up and bite it to death. — Criminology: A Sociological Understanding