The residence of the director of the Planet Security Bureau is located on the hillside by the most expensive riverbank. In the residence, there is an unassuming small white building, yet it is quite renowned.
The criminals who had once entered this small white building and managed to survive secretly told the other inmates in the prison that it was nothing short of a torture hell, making life there a living nightmare. And the military police team responsible for extracting confessions through torture affectionately called it the "Flesh Processing Factory".
At the break of dawn, Shang Zheng, dressed in a black uniform, was sitting on the sofa on the top floor, sipping his tea leisurely.
Before long, the burly head of the military police walked up to Shang Zheng to await orders.
Without even looking up, Shang Zheng asked, "Any results?"
Behind the military police, about a dozen men were pinned to the torture racks in various postures. From a distance, one could scarcely make out anything but masses of mangled flesh.
The military police, with still-un-dried blood on his hands, stood at attention and saluted Shang Zheng. "Sir, based on their confessions and combined with other information, it should be an assassination attempt on You Mo-nian by his political rivals."
Shang Zheng nodded, his gaze sweeping over behind the military police, and said, "Hand the report and the living prisoners to the mayor."
"Yes, sir. Rest assured." The military police smiled.
Shang Zheng then left the place and got into the waiting chauffeur-driven car. Assistant Mu chuckled, "Yesterday, You Mo-nian was saved and owes you a huge debt of gratitude." After a brief pause, he added, "However, Miss Su was extremely brave. I really didn't expect that before."
Shang Zheng said, "She was pushed to the limit."
"Pushed to the limit?" Assistant Mu was momentarily stunned and suddenly remembered something. "The young director of the Zhou Group will be back in a couple of days, but Miss Su is injured..."
"Replace her."
"What about Miss Su then? How should we deal with her?" Assistant Mu asked.
Shang Zheng fell silent.
At first, he had thought she was just a meek and insignificant girl. Had it not been for the way she grasped his trouser leg, her dirty yet bright-eyed little face, which was rather charming in a delicate way, he would never have spared her life.
The results of the investigation into her background were even more satisfactory – she was a poor orphan girl who had lived in the most chaotic and impoverished Langeo District for half a year. She had no identity, and no one knew her origin. In other words, even if she vanished into thin air, it would cause no adverse effects whatsoever.
However, her sensitivity and decisiveness had somewhat taken him by surprise. She was able to sense that her future was bleak and promptly took action by sizing up the situation, even going so far as to ingratiate herself with him voluntarily.
It even made him feel for a moment that having such a little pet around might not be a bad idea.
Risking one's life to block a bullet – it sounds easy enough to say. But Shang Zheng knew that most people would never have the chance to face a gun muzzle in their lifetime. Most people, even when in a dire situation, would lack the courage to make an instant decision and gamble with their lives in exchange for a chance to survive.
But she had thought it through clearly and acted decisively. She knew that by saving You Mo-nian, she was saving herself, so she was able to do something so remarkable. It turned out that beneath her frail exterior lurked a gutsy little woman.
Thinking of this, Shang Zheng raised his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. "Xi Ting, would it be too unexpected if I did a good deed?"
Mu Xi Ting was taken aback. "Sir, I don't know how to answer that question... It's really hard to imagine."
Shang Zheng nodded. "So I won't do good deeds. However... The savior of the mayor surely shouldn't die without a justifiable reason, should they?"
Before Shang Zheng's car arrived at the mayor's residence, Su Mi had just woken up when she welcomed her first visitor.
The young mayor, dressed in casual clothes, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, had a calm smile.
"Miss Su, are you feeling better?" He sat down by the bed, staring at her still-pale face.
"Much better." She nodded hurriedly. "It doesn't hurt as much."
For no apparent reason, You Mo-nian was reminded of how she had frowned and cried, asking him to knock her out yesterday. He said softly, "I'm sorry."
"What?"
"Yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to knock out a delicate woman who had blocked a bullet for me."
His attempt at humor only made Su Mi smile politely and reservedly.
The two of them fell silent.
You Mo-nian's gaze remained fixed on her. A soldier's gaze is naturally intense and direct, and she naturally lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his stare.
"Afraid of me?"
"No, of course not." She answered carefully.
"Director Shang will be here soon." He said softly.
"Okay." Her tone was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
You Mo-nian stared at her ten fingers clutching the bedsheet and the thick bandages wrapped around her shoulder, and finally couldn't resist asking, "Miss Su, you saved my life. You know, my life is quite valuable."
Su Mi couldn't help but smile.
"So... How do you want me to repay you?"
She remained silent.
"Money? Jewels? Connections?" He said slowly. "Or perhaps... Freedom?"
She was startled in her heart and looked up at him.
That one glance made him even more certain of his suspicions. From the moment he saw her last night, he had felt that Su Mi and Shang Zheng were not of the same ilk, and his intuition had led him to think of all kinds of possibilities of coercion and exploitation.
He stared intently at her and said, "If... you are with certain people against your will, being forced, just say so. I, You Mo-nian, will surely be able to help."
Under his encouraging gaze, Su Mi looked at him and remained silent for a long time, but then suddenly smiled.
"No, sir. Are you joking with me? Of course I'm willing to stay by Director Shang's side."
You Mo-nian was stunned, looking at her evasive smile, and said, "You don't trust me?"
Su Mi shook her head.
You Mo-nian stared at her half-doubtfully, stubbornly wanting an answer. After a while, Su Mi had to smile bitterly. "What I want, sir, you can't provide."
Hearing the loneliness in her tone, You Mo-nian didn't press further. He didn't like to force others. He just looked at her sincerely. "Anyway, I, You Mo-nian, am a person who repays kindness. In the future, if you need anything, feel free to come to me. In Hope City, throughout the entire galaxy, whatever you want to do, the You family will make it convenient for you."
"Thank you, sir." Su Mi immediately said. "What you've said is already worth far more than my life."
You Mo-nian was silent for a while after hearing this, then said softly, "Don't belittle yourself."
Before Su Mi could reply, a low voice came from the doorway. "No one will belittle her."
Su Mi's heart skipped a beat. The man had already walked over and was standing by the bed, his tall figure silhouetted against the light, his uniform crisp. Whether it was his eyebrows, face contour, shoulders, waist, long legs, everything about him was a vivid display of dark and handsome features.
"Director Shang." You Mo-nian was the first to speak. "Miss Su's injury is serious. I'd like her to stay in my residence for a few more days."
Shang Zheng glanced at You Mo-nian and directly sat down by Su Mi's bed, reaching out his large hand to hold her waist. Due to his sudden movement, Su Mi trembled slightly, and looking into his clear black eyes, she immediately smiled.
Without even looking back, Shang Zheng replied, "She's already bothered you for so long. She'll go back today." His tone brooked no argument.
You Mo-nian looked at Su Mi's lowered head and her body that Shang Zheng could easily get close to, and for a moment he was silent. Finally, he just said, "The doctor will come over soon. Let the doctor check her wound before she leaves."
"Okay. Sir, I'd like to be alone with her for a while." Shang Zheng looked at You Mo-nian with a smile.
You Mo-nian hesitated for a moment, and Shang Zheng had already stood up. "I'm in a room with my woman. It's better for the mayor not to be a spectator."
You Mo-nian had no choice but to turn around and leave. Shang Zheng saw him to the door, and You Mo-nian couldn't help but turn his head and whisper, "Director Shang, although this might be overstepping... But Miss Su has just been shot. You can't..."
Shang Zheng stared at him. "Can't what?"
Before You Mo-nian could answer, he closed the door.
The room was quiet again.
Su Mi slowly raised her head, looking at Shang Zheng with his cold face.
He sat down by the bed again, staring at her, making her feel extremely uneasy. She wasn't sure if there was a conflict of interests between him and You Mo-nian. Would he be angry that she had rashly saved You Mo-nian?
"Why weren't you afraid of death?"
To her surprise, he asked a completely unrelated question.
Su Mi was stunned for a moment and murmured, "Because after death... I don't know where I'll go..."
This answer was completely unexpected for Shang Zheng. Looking at her calm face, his mind couldn't help but recall the situation last night. She was pale, with blood seeping from her shoulder, yet she was smiling a bit like a little fox, announcing to him that she wouldn't die without a justifiable reason.
However, she was right. After yesterday's incident, she was known throughout the city, and every newspaper headline was about her. The savior of the mayor, in any case, had temporarily gained a significant presence.
"Willingly staying by my side?" He asked softly. At the same time, his tanned and slender fingers slowly pressed on the location of her wound. Before her body even felt the pain, she was already startled and trembled all over.
Apparently, he had heard the conversation between You Mo-nian and her. And his calloused fingertips were gently rubbing against the bandages, as if, should her answer not satisfy him, that finger would mercilessly aggravate her wound, making her writhe in pain.
"I don't trust him." She whispered. "There are no free lunches in the world. I'm not worth his offending you." She didn't know exactly what their relationship was, but she knew that those who got involved in the power struggles of the wealthy and powerful were bound to die a miserable death. Moreover, she wasn't even a pawn.
"And being by your side, sir..." She looked at him小心翼翼地. "So far, I haven't had a really miserable life." And You Mo-nian, who knew if he was really as upright as he appeared? Maybe he was worse than Shang Zheng?
Shang Zheng was silent.
After talking for so long, Su Mi's energy had long been depleted, and finally, she couldn't help but whisper, "Sir, I might... fall asleep."
Shang Zheng looked at her, stood up, and walked out of the room.
And Su Mi finally succumbed to her heavy eyelids and sank into the deep darkness.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Mi suddenly felt a jolt beneath her. Although the bed in the mayor's residence was so comfortable that she wanted to sleep forever, the vigilance she had developed these days made her open her eyes immediately.
In front of her was a black uniform with gold buttons. Following the crisp lines upward, Shang Zheng's cold face was as handsome and resolute as a statue. Her hands, still with a tinge of dependence, grasped his clothes, thinking they were the bedding. She could feel his warm large hands circling around her neck and waist, carrying her horizontally in his arms. She could even feel the slightly warm temperature of his chest.
They were in the car, and she was in his arms.
Su Mi felt this scene was extremely terrifying. She didn't dare to move, so she simply closed her eyes again immediately.
The faint masculine scent that belonged to him lingered around her nose, and the soft uniform rubbed against her cheek, feeling both hot and itchy. His cold face also seemed to have a somewhat illusory sense of closeness.
Suddenly, his low voice came without warning: "What do you want? Something that even You Mo-nian can't provide?"
Every question he asked today had caught Su Mi off guard.
And facing this man she couldn't fully understand, every answer she gave was half-truth and half-false.
So even at this moment, although the man's embrace had lost the cold and predatory air of the previous days, although his low, inquiring voice seemed to genuinely care about what she wanted, although his tone sounded as if he was talking to himself without realizing she was already awake – she still had her heart tightly strung.
Su Mi, what do you want? You used to be an ordinary college student, with a group of friends, full of high spirits, happy and carefree. Now you're on this inexplicable planet, without an identity, all alone, living a difficult life, having fallen to the very bottom of society, where anyone can trample on you and spit on you, and you have to trade your body with this man for survival.
Now, this man is asking, what do you want, you who are so humble?
If the answer is wrong, there might be an abyss ahead.
She didn't open her eyes and replied as if in a dream: "To fly... To fly to any place I want to go."