Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

A black, camouflaged van was parked in a dark alleyway in the old southern part of the city.

The main lights were off inside the carriage. Several rows of tactical displays emitted a cold, eerie blue light, illuminating the faces of a few people.

The air conditioner vents were spewing out cold air, making the back of my neck feel chilly.

"Ouch—ouch! Grandma, please go easy on me!"

Gu Shao shrank back, like a quail whose fate was being held by the scruff of its neck, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Su Xiaoxiao held a slender silver needle in her hand. A transparent wire, thinner than a strand of hair, was attached to the tip of the needle.

"Shut up. If you move again, I won't be responsible if the needle pokes your carotid artery."

She mumbled a curse, her mouth full of a lollipop. Her fingers deftly threaded a needle.

She painstakingly sewed several tiny metal patches, as thin as cicada wings, into the lining of that pink haute couture suit.

Young Master Gu is dressed particularly eye-catching today.

A gaudy silk shirt. The neckline is plunging down to the chest, revealing a large expanse of white flesh.

This outfit is the standard way to attract attention when going to nightclubs.

But now that he was wearing it, he felt a chill run down his spine. He was constantly afraid that the metal pieces inside the clothes might leak electricity at any moment and cook him alive.

"W-this thing really won't explode, will it?"

He swallowed hard, his eyes constantly glancing towards the back of the carriage.

"Commander Lu, I'm a law-abiding citizen. This is a life-threatening job. If something happens, will it be considered a work-related injury?"

Lu Jingyan sat on the metal folding chair in front of the monitoring console.

He was holding that old, chipped thermos. He didn't respond.

He slowly unscrewed the lid of the cup and blew on the steam rising from the water. The steam softened his hard, expressionless face, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"Memorize Article 6 of the Regulations on Assisting the Police in Meritorious Service and Reduction of Sentences."

The man took a sip of water and calmly uttered a sentence.

Gu Shao reflexively straightened his back. His legs instinctively came together, the heels of his leather shoes clicking together.

"I've memorized it! Anyone who provides crucial clues and assists in the arrest can apply to the court for leniency. Those with outstanding performance may have their original sentence deducted!"

He recited it haltingly, but spoke at a speed like a machine gun.

These past few days, he's been using this booklet as bedtime reading every day at the convenience store, even more diligently than when he's reading financial reports.

Zhao Tiezhu leaned against the car door, holding a rag in his hand, wiping the handle of a riot shield back and forth.

"Alright, stop reciting the text here."

He grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth. "Just don't wet your pants, kid. If things get really bad, don't run away. You can't outrun a laser gun."

Upon hearing the words "laser gun," Gu Shao's legs trembled.

Su Xiaoxiao cut the end of the thread. She bit the knot with her teeth and pulled hard.

"Done. A triple-layered, overlapping encryption eavesdropping device."

She patted Gu Shao on the shoulder and pushed him towards the back door. "The signal test is normal. I can hear the sound of your stomach acid bubbling all over the place."

Gu Shao took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the dry, cold air from the car.

He reached down and touched the tiny, invisible earpiece in his left ear. His fingers were covered in cold sweat and felt slippery to the touch.

"Um... I'm going."

He pulled a pair of black sunglasses from his pocket and put them on the bridge of his nose.

Wearing sunglasses late at night makes him look like a nouveau riche with a screw loose. But it hides the guilty look in his eyes.

The rear door of the carriage was creaked open from the outside.

The autumn night wind blew straight in, carrying with it the stench of sewage and the smell of waste oil from an old factory in the distance.

Gu Shao stepped out of the car.

Custom-made pointed leather shoes made a crisp sound as they stepped on the muddy road full of gravel.

"Follow the navigation. Don't look around."

Lu Jingyan's deep, cold voice came through the earphones. Like a stabilizing force, it barely calmed Gu Shao's heart, which was about to leap out of his throat.

He followed the dark alley towards the abandoned air-raid shelter in the northern suburbs.

The further you walk, the dimmer the streetlights become.

The mottled walls on both sides were covered with graffiti of random alien characters. The red and green fluorescent paint glowed eerily in the night.

The overhead wires were tangled with old, illegally strung electrical cords. Several large, palm-sized rats darted across the wires with a "whoosh."

The mouse bumped into a piece of sheet metal on the wall.

"Clang!"

The sheet metal hit the plastic trash can next to it.

Young Master Gu was so frightened that he trembled all over and his legs went weak, almost causing him to fall onto the muddy ground.

He quickly grabbed the red brick wall beside him for support. The rough brick surface scratched a small patch of skin on his palm, causing a burning pain.

"Stay calm. Adjust your breathing. Don't let anyone see that you're guilty." Lu Jingyan's warning rang out promptly in the earpiece.

Gu Shao gritted his teeth and pinched his thigh hard.

"I'm Young Master Gu... I'm so poor I only have money left... I'm not afraid..."

He muttered to himself, trying to convince himself. He forced himself to start walking, adopting the arrogant stride he used to have in nightclubs.

At the end of the alley was a large, uneven, vacant concrete area.

The smell in the air has completely changed.

The smell of engine oil has faded, replaced by the smell of inferior engine lubricant and the smell of ozone from high-frequency current burning.

Several dilapidated neon signs hung crookedly on the tin shed. The light tubes on them had poor contact, causing them to flicker with a blue light.

Several men in tattered leather jackets squatted in the shadows smoking.

One of the men had a cheap mechanical prosthetic hand with a metallic sheen on his left hand.

Without lubricant on my finger joints, when I brought a cigarette to my mouth, it made a creaking, mechanical friction sound.

As Gu Shao walked over, those people all looked up at the same time.

Several malicious gazes, like those of cold-blooded animals, were fixed on his flashy pink haute couture suit.

Gu Shao felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. His scalp tingled.

He stiffened his neck, pretending not to see those people, and continued walking forward with a forced smile.

In front of us was a huge retaining wall covered with thick moss and reddish-brown rust.

The entrance to the air-raid shelter was embedded at the base of the wall.

The two heavy, old-fashioned iron doors were tightly shut. Their surfaces were covered with pits and dents left by impacts and acidic corrosion.

Two guards stood at the entrance.

One was a bald man, holding two walnuts in his hand. The other was a skinny monkey, with a mechanical electronic eye that circulated red light embedded in his right eye socket.

The electronic eye emitted a faint buzzing sound as it rotated. The red light locked onto Gu Shao, who was walking towards them.

"stop."

The bald man put away the walnuts in his hand and stepped to block the doorway.

"Don't you know the rules? In Night Owl's territory, we don't accept new customers without an introducer."

His voice was rough and hoarse, carrying a sinister air that came from years of working in the underground world. He looked at Young Master Gu with hostility.

Young Master Gu stopped. His leather shoes were only half a meter away from the bald man's toes.

His heart pounded, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently. His hand, hidden in his suit pocket, gripped the old cell phone the henchman had given him that afternoon.

Am I a new customer?

Young Master Gu suddenly raised his voice.

He mimicked the tone he used to use when scolding waiters at nightclubs. His chin was held high, and his nostrils were pointed at the two guards.

"You're all blind! Go ask that guy with the scar on his face who was begging me to come talk about a multi-million dollar deal this afternoon!"

He cursed as he pulled the old cell phone out of his pocket.

It hit the bald man directly in the chest, like throwing away trash.

The phone fell to the ground, chipping off a piece of its plastic casing. It made a loud cracking sound.

The bald man paused for a moment. He didn't get angry.

The skinny monkey bent down and picked up the phone. He scanned the barcode on the screen with his red mechanical eye.

"drop--"

A sharp electronic beep sounded. The skinny monkey glanced at the data displayed on the built-in retina screen.

He nodded to the bald man.

"Let them through. They're distinguished guests invited by Scarface."

The fat on the bald man's face twitched. He stepped aside.

He turned around, reached out and pressed a hidden keypad on the wall, quickly entering a series of complex commands.

A dull groan of gears meshing echoed from inside the walls. The pebbles on the ground vibrated in response.

The heavy, rusty iron doors of the air-raid shelter slid open to both sides. Gu Shao took a deep breath, forced out an arrogant, crooked smile, and stepped into the darkness.