Mite

The door to the emergency exit was slammed, the sound echoing noisily through the passage.

Sweat was trickling down the curve of Yan Junxun's leg. He couldn't explain it, but he felt guilty at this moment. Because while holding the door with one hand, he had extended his foot and placed it on the step between Shi Shanyan's legs.

The door was vibrating, but it was quiet in the passage.

Shi Shanyan lowered his hands to unbuckle Yan Junxun's high heels, a strand of hair falling across his forehead. He hooked the strap with his finger and took off Yan Junxun's high heels for him. Yan Junxun's stockings were a little damp from sweat.

Yan Junxun withdrew his foot, held the steel pipe, and walked up, saying, "Thank you."

Shi Shanyan stood up, holding the high heels, and finished the last bit of his cigarette. He tossed the cigarette butt, looked at Yan Junxun's tail, and replied nonchalantly, "You're welcome."

The stairs led to the third floor. The door was open.

Yan Junxun stood barefoot on the cold floor, waiting for Shi Shanyan to open the door. Shi Shanyan pulled the door open, and Yan Junxun swung his steel pipe. The Power Dog waiting at the door was already on guard, but as he blocked, he was struck in the abdomen by two punches from Shi Shanyan, who had appeared from the side.

The Power Dog was tough; he didn't bend over. He bent his elbow and struck backward at Shi Shanyan's head, but Shi Shanyan blocked it with one arm. The Power Dog took another hit to the face, which made his eyes sting. Yan Junxun brought the pipe down on his head. He turned his head and took the blow on his shoulder, but then Shi Shanyan kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward into the hallway wall.

Shi Shanyan didn't press his advantage, because he heard the sound of a gun being loaded. He yanked the door shut, and the sound of bullets hitting it immediately rang out.

"Don't shoot," a bodyguard in a suit walked out of a room at the end of the hall and said to the Power Dog from a distance. "Be quiet."

There were no thugs on the third floor. Shi Shanyan hadn't guessed wrong. No matter how arrogant Li Hu was, he wouldn't dare offend his real patrons. His distinguished guests were all upstairs, and these were the patrons' own bodyguards. There were two Power Dogs in Lixing. One was here, and the other should be the sniper who had repeatedly missed earlier. The only one left, the Lead Dog, was nowhere to be found.

"Excuse me," the Power Dog said, gripping his gun and approaching the door, speaking into his Communicator, "I need backup—"

The door suddenly opened, its edge slamming hard into the Power Dog's face. Blood immediately gushed from his nose. He only managed to say "Fuck you" before the rest of the sentence got stuck in his throat. Shi Shanyan seized the Power Dog's gun hand and twisted it back. The force was so intense that the Power Dog cried out in pain, feeling like his hand was about to break. His gun fell to the ground and was stomped on by Shi Shanyan. Then, Shi Shanyan slammed the back of his head against the wall, and he slid down to the floor.

Shi Shanyan picked up the gun and, as he straightened up, aimed it at the corner of the hallway.

The sniper, who had approached after hearing the noise, immediately retreated and pressed himself against the corner, thinking Shi Shanyan was about to shoot.

'Bang!'

Shi Shanyan made his own sound effect again. The gun twirled in his hand, but he didn't fire.

Fuck!

The tricked sniper came around the corner and aimed his gun at Shi Shanyan, but before he could fire, he was shot dead by the bodyguard at the end of the hall.

Shi Shanyan made a two-fingered salute at his forehead toward the bodyguard and smiled politely.

"My boss is sleeping," the bodyguard said. "Don't be loud."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a 'bang.' Yan Junxun had smashed the surveillance camera with the steel pipe.

"Last one," Yan Junxun said, tossing the steel pipe aside. He pulled Shi Shanyan along and said to the bodyguard, "Goodbye!"

......

The surveillance screen immediately turned to static, and the several tycoons sitting in the hall booed.

"Although the feed is cut, from what we've seen so far, the intel was correct," Li Hu said to the tycoons, holding a hand of cards and throwing them down. "You saw him, that Lead Dog, his serial number is..."

"01AE86," Qi Shi reminded him in a low voice from the side.

"Anyway, it's this guy," Li Hu said, taking the cigar from his mouth. "His combat abilities are very strong."

"The file you gave us says he's been in prison," said another tycoon smoking a cigar. His hair was a bit white but very well-groomed. "I want to know what kind of grudge he has with Fu Chenghui."

"Fu Chenghui arrested him personally and kept him in prison for four years." Li Hu held his cigar and gestured with his hand. "When he was with Black Panther, he always held the 001 position. The Black Panther Special Operations assessment always gave him an 'S' rating, and his main role was sniper. Gentlemen, what's there to hesitate about? He's worth the price. I guarantee that even if you buy him and can't use him, you can still sell him to the Southern Front Alliance military for double the price."

"Tell me about that," the tycoon on the sofa said, turning his head. "What does the Southern Front Alliance want with him?"

"The Southern Front Alliance has a sniper called 'Fox Eye,'" Li Hu said, propping up his arm. "This 'Fox Eye' sniped our Northern Front Alliance's military commander. Fu Chenghui sent several Lead Dogs after him, but he killed them all in return. But in the year 2160, 01AE86 shot 'Fox Eye' right between the eyes on the borderline."

Li Hu pointed to the spot between his own eyebrows.

"01AE86 didn't even bring an Observer. He completed the mission alone."

......

Shi Shanyan took off his suit jacket and pulled open a drawer in the room.

Inside were a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, a USP Pistol, and thirteen rounds of 10mm ammunition to go with it.

Shi Shanyan loaded the magazine and handed the gun to Yan Junxun.

Yan Junxun took the gun and asked, "Aren't you using it?"

Shi Shanyan took out the gun he had just gotten from the Power Dog and showed it to Yan Junxun. He counted the remaining bullets and said, "This is enough."

This was the room number Su Heting had given him first, without going through Jue and Piao Lin. Su Heting had also modified the room's door check in advance to make Shi Shanyan's identity for entering Lixing more plausible.

Yan Junxun peeked through a crack in the curtains. The banquet hall was still very dark.

The entire Lixing building faced inward. None of the rooms here had a view of the outside; only the top floor was designed to overlook the Docking Area. Lixing's system wasn't for service, but for lockdown. Their discretion was excellent, which was why so many tycoons chose to spend their money here.

"Lixing is connected to Mite and Li Hu is also involved in smuggling," Yan Junxun said, pulling the curtains completely shut. "He might also be trafficking people from the Stagnation Zone, which is why 'The Clown' is working with him."

"Perhaps it was Li Hu who sold Mite to you," Shi Shanyan said, grabbing an expensive bedsheet to wipe his gun. "His appetite is much bigger than simple human trafficking."

Yan Junxun suddenly pressed down on the bedsheet. He moved closer, his rabbit ears drooping over the top of Shi Shanyan's head. He said, "This whole thing, ever since you arrived in the Docking Area... whether it was The Clown or the madman, Fu Chenghui never called me. Only you two have been communicating."

Shi Shanyan released his grip on the bedsheet.

"I thought of the Mite Plan," Yan Junxun said. Shi Shanyan was reflected in his eyes. "The Mite Plan was actually a deal between Fu Chenghui and Li Hu, wasn't it? Li Hu sold the Mite group to Fu Chenghui, and Fu Chenghui used it as an opportunity to release you." His thoughts were like a spider's web, enveloping Shi Shanyan. "Su Heting said you used to be on missions to snipe Power Dogs, but The Alliance spent a fortune creating 'Black Panther.' You definitely would have caused internal dissatisfaction. So Fu Chenghui put you in prison, then used the Mite Plan to get you out. The Docking Area's Supervisory Bureau was just a pawn used by Fu Chenghui."

Shi Shanyan looked at the muzzle of Yan Junxun's gun. "Theoretically, you're not wrong."

"Fu Chenghui didn't know the 'madman' would interfere," Yan Junxun said, thinking of the scene in the banquet hall. "All that surveillance footage from the Stagnation Zone was a gift to Li Hu from the 'madman' using 'The Clown's' image. They made a new deal privately. Li Hu betrayed Fu Chenghui."

Shi Shanyan didn't speak.

"There was a problem within Black Panther. Fu Chenghui wanted to keep using you to snipe disobedient dogs, but then they ran away," Yan Junxun said, raising a finger and pointing at the bed. '"hat's why there's a Black Panther member here."

"You guessed right," Shi Shanyan said, leaning very close. "That's what happened."

......

"I want to see his medical report again," the white-haired tycoon said, taking the report from Qi Shi's hand and browsing it. "He's very healthy. To be honest, if he's cooperative, I think he could be my daughter's lover and give her an equally healthy and strong child."

"That won't be necessary," Li Hu said, his cigar finished. He said to the white-haired tycoon, "According to Ares's theories, 01AE86 is a natural-born sociopath. He's a bit dirty, not 'good' enough in his bones. Before he joined Black Panther, he was just a lunatic from the Stagnation Zone." Li Hu added, thinking he was being witty, "Much like that 'Clown' on the screen just now, they're all lower-class creatures lurking on the fringes of The Alliance."

Qi Shi stood very straight, holding a tray.

"That is indeed beyond what I can accept," the white-haired tycoon said, putting down Shi Shanyan's medical report. "Does this mean his price can be lowered—"

"No, he's worth his price," Li Hu said, very patient with these old foxes. "You should be glad his background is poor. Otherwise, Fu Chenghui would have arranged for him to enter the core of The Alliance long ago, and that would have been talent we couldn't buy with money. Think of it from another angle: it's because he's like this that he can be a pure, single-man weapon. Who cares if a piece of trash lives or dies? If he breaks, he can be replaced."

"He smokes," the tycoon in the sofa said, rewinding the surveillance footage and making a fuss. "Snipers aren't supposed to smoke, are they? Is he still any good? But I really like that rabbit with him." He looked at Li Hu and said slyly, "If you can sell them to me as a package, I'm willing to pay double."

"Impossible," Li Hu said, looking at Yan Junxun on the banquet hall's surveillance monitor. "...This rabbit has already been paid for by a buyer."

"Bring them over before dawn," the white-haired tycoon said, glancing at the time. "I need to sleep."

......

Yan Junxun wanted to move away from Shi Shanyan, but Shi Shanyan grabbed him.

"Let go of the gun," Shi Shanyan said in a low voice. "I'm not an undercover agent."

"Who knows," Yan Junxun's finger didn't move. "You can lie without blinking."

Shi Shanyan suddenly made his move, pressing down on Yan Junxun's gun hand and using his shoulder and arm for leverage to flip Yan Junxun directly onto the bed. The bed was soft, and Yan Junxun sank into it almost immediately. He originally had a chance to counterattack, but his skirt started to fall because of the position, so he had to use a free hand to hold it tight.

Shi Shanyan's breathing was steady, yet somewhat heavy. He gazed at Yan Junxun, smelling his scent. Yan Junxun smelled very fragrant. The messy hair on his forehead obscured his eyes, making the scent seem mysterious. His rabbit ears rested on the bedding, but Shi Shanyan had no desire to touch them. His goal remained the same.

Yan Junxun smelled the lingering scent of blood on Shi Shanyan. This scent symbolized violence, and sometimes, violence can stimulate desire.

Amidst Yan Junxun's softening breaths, Shi Shanyan gripped his ankle and made him step on him. He raised his head and said hoarsely in the darkness.

"This is your fault."

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USP Pistol: The steel frame within the gun's body can lower the center of gravity, enhancing shooting stability. The dual recoil spring setup also counteracts the recoil. — 'Global Top Selections of Single-Soldier Weapons'