Fifth Jiu had gone missing.
The moment his photo was revealed during the live interrogation, he became the most notorious person in all of Creek Valley City.
The security department issued an A-level wanted notice, and the Fifth family initiated an internal capture program. However, Fifth Jiu had vanished as if he had evaporated into thin air.
Meanwhile, an unremarkable little car, resembling the battered vehicles often driven by scavengers in Creek Valley City, sped toward the southern part of the city.
The south of the city was an old industrial area that had been abandoned for over a hundred years. It used to be the largest prosthetics manufacturing site in Creek Valley City.
When prosthetics technology was just starting to develop, many highly polluting materials were used. Numerous companies, seeking to cut costs, did not properly dispose of their production waste, directly discharging it instead.
Over time, the pollution in the area became extremely severe. The cost of cleaning up these pollutants was unimaginably high. Thus, when cleaner production technologies emerged, people simply abandoned this place. The south of the city became a forgotten wasteland.
Due to the vast amounts of hard-to-treat pollution, the flora and fauna here evolved—swollen sacs grew on tree trunks and the backs of animals.
These pollutants, which could neither be utilized nor purified, were highly concentrated and stored within these sacs. Not only did they protect the organisms from harm, but they could also serve as a means to fend off other threats in critical moments.
Aside from experienced scavengers, no one was willing to come to such a place.
So, when a scavenger's old car sped toward the south, no one thought it was strange.
The car smoothly passed through the city exit scans, and even the inspectors were reluctant to conduct thorough checks, fearing contamination.
It continued south, flying past the usual scavenger areas and into the heart of the old industrial district.
Here, the trees were towering and dense, with the sacs on the trunks being several sizes larger than those on the outskirts.
Upon closer inspection, one could see severed limbs soaking in suspicious liquids through the translucent walls of the sacs.
It felt like another planet.
The little car expertly avoided areas controlled by ferocious beasts and dangerous giant trees, slowly landing in the center of a factory covered in vines.
The car door opened, and out stepped Fifth Jiu.
However, he looked disheveled, his clothes in disarray, and the flesh on his face sagged, showing none of the fierce and sinister demeanor from the photo.
He stumbled into the factory, traversed a few maze-like paths, and suddenly the scene changed—gone was the rusty, dilapidated workshop, replaced by clean white walls, precise cameras, defensive weapons, and soldiers clad in well-fitted combat armor.
Finally, he entered a courtyard.
This place was like a replica of the Central Park villa district—exquisitely landscaped gardens, architecturally striking buildings, and abundant greenery, teeming with life.
In the center of the courtyard, on the lawn, two people were playing with a dog.
Fifth Jiu stood nervously at the entrance, afraid to speak, waiting obediently.
Soon, both turned to look at him.
One was Yue Zhao, and the other was Fifth Ningyi, who had already died!
Upon seeing Fifth Jiu approach, Fifth Ningyi frowned without hiding her displeasure and waved her hand dismissively.
Yue Zhao, who had been playing with the dog, bowed and led the dog away.
At the same time, several waiters resembling Yue Zhao brought over a small table and two chairs, setting down an exquisite array of desserts, fruits, and teas.
Fifth Ningyi sat down, and immediately four people approached her.
One massaged her shoulders, another served tea, while the other two knelt at her feet, using professional techniques to massage her calves.
It looked… rather bizarre.
After choosing from the desserts and fruits for a long time, Fifth Ningyi still hadn't decided what to eat. She simply held a delicate little fork and softly said, "Come here."
Fifth Jiu hurried over, lowering his head, standing before Fifth Ningyi like a child who had done something wrong.
Fifth Ningyi sighed, "Grandpa Jiu, how could you make such a big mistake this time?"
Hearing this, Fifth Jiu immediately knelt down, exclaiming, "Miss! Give me a chance! They can't find me! We still have a chance!"
Fifth Ningyi smiled slightly, "Of course we still have a chance. Tang Grandpa's virus research has already reached the final stage; soon, the entire Creek Valley City will become our puppets."
"Thank you, Miss! Thank you!"
"Now let me ask you," Fifth Ningyi played with the little fork in her hand, "Do you know why I spared your life?"
Fifth Jiu paused, "I… don't know…"
Fifth Ningyi scoffed, "I'll tell you why: because your precious crazy son almost helped me eliminate the real ghost!"
"What… do you mean?" Fifth Jiu was confused.
"I mean Qin Xuezhong, the one you idiots chased out of the board!" Fifth Ningyi's expression twisted suddenly as she stabbed the fork violently into Yue Zhao's right side.
Her arm was so forceful that veins bulged, repeatedly stabbing into the back of Yue Zhao's head, neck, and back, spraying blood that splattered onto Fifth Jiu's face.
Yue Zhao initially grunted, struggling to maintain his stance, seemingly to allow Fifth Ningyi to vent her anger more thoroughly.
But soon, he could no longer hold on.
Injuries to his rear chip and spine caused him to collapse to the ground, twitching lightly.
Fifth Jiu's body stiffened; he couldn't utter a word.
After venting her frustrations, Fifth Ningyi said, "Do you remember my previous fake death?"
"Yes," Fifth Jiu quickly replied. "After dealing with the pre-death memory check, I helped you replace your body and brought you here."
Fifth Ningyi snorted dismissively, "Didn't Dad find someone to check my pre-death memories?"
"Yes, it was that Qin Xuezhong."
"At first, I didn't notice anything. I had Tang Grandpa check my chip reading records, and guess what he found?"
"No traces?" Fifth Jiu's expression turned puzzled.
His confusion was understandable. Fifth Jiu had arranged many things regarding Ningyi's fake death. For instance, having someone read her pre-death memories, revealing Yue Zhao's face to make the situation more convoluted. If he were Qin Xuezhong, after reading Fifth Ningyi's chip, he would certainly erase the records to avoid trouble. This didn't prove that Qin Xuezhong was the ghost, did it?
"I know what you're thinking," Fifth Ningyi said with a hint of excitement on her face. "You have to understand, even if you erase a reading record, there will be traces of the erasure. But Tang Grandpa went to great lengths to analyze my chip's underlying data and found that there wasn't even a trace of deletion!"
— Qin Xuezhong had indeed thought of not leaving traces, specifically using the characteristics of consciousness vacuity to prevent any traces from being left behind. Moreover, analyzing traces was a thankless task with little benefit. Only someone like Tang Kede, who had participated in the chip program, could expend such effort to check for reading traces.
Unexpectedly, it was precisely this that exposed Qin Xuezhong.
Fifth Jiu realized what this meant, a fierce look appearing on his face—this Qin Xuezhong had made him so miserable!
Fifth Ningyi continued, "Your crazy son hasn't he been suspicious of Qin Xuezhong? He even orchestrated a subway explosion, trying to kill her…"
Fifth Jiu quickly interjected, "During that incident, Qin Xuezhong said a hacker accessed her chip to tamper with the bomb, but it was actually her who disabled it!"
"Exactly, twice now! How can things be so coincidental?" Fifth Ningyi finally selected a piece of dragon fruit, staining her lips red as she ate.
"Miss, I'll go take her out!" Fifth Jiu declared.
"Hahaha," Fifth Ningyi laughed joyfully, "Do you think I called you here today just to deal with Qin Xuezhong? You've exposed our warehouses; how could I let you handle this matter?"
Fifth Jiu's face changed dramatically as he continuously bowed to her.
Fifth Ningyi seemed to ignore it all, "This is a rare experiment—turning your brain into a serum and injecting it into your crazy son. What changes will happen, I wonder? Maybe he'll get better? Who knows, I might even fall in love with him?"
Fifth Jiu stopped bowing, his body stiffening as he stared at her.
Behind him, four people had already arrived and restrained him.
Fifth Ningyi lightly frowned and ordered, "Be gentle; Grandpa Jiu's organs are quite valuable. If you break one, you won't be able to afford it."
The screams grew fainter, eventually disappearing completely.
Fifth Ningyi waved her hand, dispersing the people around her.
At that moment, her neck and head began to twitch, as if she were having an acute episode.
Her hand trembled as she reached for a vial of serum from the side, injecting it into her arm, and then slowly calmed down.
She murmured, "Soon, after a few more experiments, I can spread the virus, and then everyone will obey me, everyone will love me, and Dad will be by my side every day…"
As she spoke, her twitching symptoms gradually faded.
She clapped her hands.
A butler-like Yue Zhao immediately approached her side.
After a moment of thought, Fifth Ningyi said, "Go find Qin Xuezhong's previous contacts, locate where she's living. Hmph, a rat coming out of the slums still prefers to stay in the slums, only knows how to give me trouble."
The butler nodded.
"Wait, remember to catch her alive; I need to have a good look at her brain and see how she managed to come up with that invasion technology… Such a smart mind might make us all better."
Fifth Ningyi spoke with anticipation, gently caressing the butler Yue Zhao's face.