With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

The auction concluded with the final gavel strike, and Jiang Zhiyu finally stood up, walked to the auction house's registration table, and signed the confirmation form.

£100,000 is not much for her; it's in cash.

"Could someone please deliver the pot to my lodgings? It's not far from here."

"Of course, beautiful lady," the gentleman at registration said politely. "This is indeed a bit too big. We'll arrange a car to take you to your hotel. Please leave your room number."

Jiang Zhiyu wrote the hotel address and room number on a small card, then bowed slightly to say goodbye.

Stepping out of the venue, a night breeze brushed against her face. Jiang Zhiyu switched her small handbag to her other hand and walked at a leisurely pace.

Seventeen peeked out from her sleeve, her voice very low.

"Host, aren't you afraid they'll steal the goods on the way?"

"They dare not."

Why?

"If we rush in halfway, we'll offend the auction house. They'll have to wait until I have it in hand before they can make a move," Jiang Zhiyu smiled. "That's the rule of the black market."

"Oh." Seventeen paused for a second. "Host, I just detected a man in black leaving the venue through the back door to report a message."

"Let him go."

"Just sit back and wait for the fish to bite?"

"Um."

……

Backstage at the venue.

White put the silver coins on the table into his inner pocket and gave a slight bow to the young woman.

"lady."

"The people investigating that mixed-race girl have already been dispatched."

....................................

Less than twenty minutes later, an oral report reached White's ears.

"Sir, she comes from a small, mixed-race family in a Central European country. Both her parents are deceased, and she travels around Europe on the small amount of money her family left her. Tonight's event is her first time appearing at an auction of this caliber. She has no connections, no background, just an orphan."

White's lips curled slightly after hearing this.

The woman did not laugh.

She slowly turned around, her gaze falling on White's face.

"Don't forget how you failed in Hong Kong."

White's face stiffened.

"That little girl from the East has no backing, no connections. She's got you completely fooled."

"lady."

"The more elusive the connection, the more cautious we should be."

"Yes."

The woman turned and left. White stood there for a long time without moving.

Port City.

These two words have been like a needle stuck in his heart for a year.

The bronze tripod was lost, and the confidential documents were also taken. He lost his lucrative job in Hong Kong and was transferred back to headquarters. Watching his contemporaries rise one by one, he was stuck in place for over a year. Back here, he was restricted at every turn, and everyone could step on him.

He gritted his teeth.

Today it's another little girl.

Then don't blame him for being ruthless.

He turned around and whispered instructions to one of his men in the shadows behind him.

"Add a few more people."

"Yes."

"We must retrieve that bronze artifact."

"Yes."

White paused for a moment, his eyes turning colder.

"She's just an orphan. If necessary, we can use special methods."

His subordinate bowed slightly.

"If she doesn't cooperate, erase her existence."

"Yes."

……

Not long after Jiang Zhiyu returned to the hotel, the auction house's car arrived.

Two well-dressed workers carried the tightly packed wooden crate into the room, placed it down, and politely said goodbye. Jiang Zhiyu locked the door from the inside, turned around, walked to the bedside, and pried open the seal on the crate.

The layers of soft filling were peeled away.

The bronze square pot lay quietly inside.

Seventeen flew out of her sleeve in excitement and circled the square pot several times.

Jiang Zhiyu didn't rush to put it away. She squatted down and examined it inch by inch.

This is a truly significant piece. It has a square mouth, a round belly, and four slightly flared legs, its entire body displaying a deep, calming dark green hue. The body is covered with a full circumference of coiled dragon patterns, the carving extremely ancient. Two symmetrical animal heads crouch on the lid, their eyes wide open, each holding a small bronze ring in its mouth. Several shallow inscriptions are engraved on the bottom, the characters intricate and unfamiliar to Jiang Zhiyu.

Seventeen flew around the square pot for the seventh time, the blue crystal so bright it was almost blinding.

"Host, host, the energy is plentiful, much clearer than the bronze cauldron!"

"Can it be upgraded?"

"Not enough." Seventeen's wings paused. "I need more and more energy to upgrade. These two pieces, plus the bronze snake-patterned mask, should be enough. There's still one piece I haven't found."

"Um."

Jiang Zhiyu squinted.

"Seventeen, you keep saying these things contain energy. What kind of energy is it?"

"It should be a synthetic substance." Seventeen slowly landed back on Jiang Zhiyu's hand. "It contains substances that don't belong to this planet, fused with the native bronze. So although it's ancient, its energy remains stable."

"Is this planet even possible to synthesize now?"

"Based on my current understanding—" Seventeen paused, "it can't be synthesized."

"oh."

"Despite our advanced technology today, there are always things in history that science cannot explain."

Jiang Zhiyu smiled and stood up.

"Guests are coming soon, so I'll put everything into my storage space first."

Seventeen flapped her wings gently.

Fanghu disappeared from the spot.

……

Jiang Zhiyu pulled up a chair from the dining table and sat down, crossing her legs. She had already removed most of her outfit for tonight, leaving only her blue contact lenses, which gave her an extra layer of aloof sharpness.

Her fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.

thump.

thump.

thump.

The curtains in the room swayed slightly.

The first dark figure climbed in through the window. The second, the third... all six landed simultaneously, their movements swift and silent.

The two men in the front row made a tactical maneuver as soon as they entered the room, raising their two pistols simultaneously, one aimed at Jiang Zhiyu's forehead and the other at her heart.

Jiang Zhiyu did not move.

The other four people split up and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

Where is the stuff?

Jiang Zhiyu did not answer, but simply looked at them calmly.

The four men searched the entire house, even looking through the bathroom tank, the wardrobe compartments, under the mattress, and under the carpet, but found nothing.

The leader of the men in black frowned.

"The guys watching outside said the box hasn't come out since it came in."

"The item hasn't left this room."

"Then there's only one possibility—"

The leader's gaze returned to Jiang Zhiyu, and he gestured for his two men with guns to take a half-step forward.

The gun barrel was pressed against Jiang Zhiyu's forehead. The cold metal pressed against her skin.

"Miss, be sensible," the leader's voice was low, "Hand over the bronze artifacts. Some things are not for lowly people like you to touch."

Jiang Zhiyu tapped her fingers lightly on the table again.

thump.

She tilted her head slightly.

"Oh?"

"Did White send you?"

All six of them changed color.

The leader's pupils contracted, and he gripped his pistol even tighter.

How did you know—?

"Tell me, where are the bronze artifacts?"

"You want it?"

"Enough with the nonsense."

"Okay." Jiang Zhiyu slowly put her crossed legs down. "I'll take you to find the bronze artifacts, okay?"

The leader hadn't yet realized what that sentence meant—

Jiang Zhiyu pressed her finger on the table.

Deep green vines shot out silently, as fast as lightning. Before the six men could even pull the trigger, the vines had already wrapped them up from their ankles to their necks, binding them into six neat little dumplings.

The leader instinctively pulled the trigger.

He looked down in astonishment—the gun was no longer in his hand.

Jiang Zhiyu sat at the dining table, and six pistols appeared beside her at some point, neatly stacked on the corner of the table.

She glanced at the six people and tilted her head slightly.

Seventeen.

"exist."

"Take them to see our ocean."

"Understood, host."

The six people vanished from their spot, leaving only a few trails of vines on the floor that hadn't had time to retract.

Jiang Zhiyu put the six pistols into her spatial storage and crossed her legs again.

……

In the dark alley outside.

White leaned against a black car, checking the time on his watch.

Ten minutes have passed.

Fifteen minutes have passed.

Twenty minutes have passed.

None of the six people came out.

White frowned slightly.

"Five more people will go in."

"Yes."

Five men in black climbed in through the window. Inside, Jiang Zhiyu didn't even change her posture; her fingers continued to tap slowly on the table.

thump.

thump.

thump.

In less than two minutes, the same method was used to make all five people disappear.

White grew increasingly anxious as he waited downstairs, his fingers fidgeting with the silver coin inside his sleeve. A sense of unease crept in—how could an orphan girl have so easily and cleanly devoured eleven well-trained men in black? Had something gone wrong?

He gritted his teeth, turned his head, and gestured with his chin to the remaining men.

"Come up with me."

……

When the curtains were drawn back again.

The first subordinate to climb into the house had barely stood still when he saw what was happening inside.

The lights were on. A woman sat at the dining table, legs crossed. There was nothing on the table, and none of their companions were in the room. The air was quiet, as if the woman had never been there at all.

White followed him in through the window, stood still, and his face gradually darkened.

Jiang Zhiyu raised her eyes, a lazy smile playing on her blue contact lenses.

"Long time no see, White."