It seems that the villain is targeting me.

"I know your weakness," Gu Tianjiao repeated, naming a residential complex. "This is the property you developed and built in your early years."

Lu Weiren used to be a real estate developer and contracted many residential building construction projects. In recent years, he has been trying to find ways to transform his company.

"The land where you originally built your property is located in the old city. There's a stubborn household that's not happy with the compensation and refuses to move out no matter what."

Gu Tianjiao stared into his eyes and spoke word by word, "In order to start construction as soon as possible, you should give that family to..."

"enough!"

The expression on Lu Weiren's face finally changed. He shouted angrily and interrupted Gu Tianjiao's next words.

The latter's expression was somewhat complacent.

As if he felt that he had finally won back a city, Gu Tianjiao let out a breath and his tone regained its composure.

"Uncle Lu," he said in a threatening tone, "Can I negotiate with you now?"

------

-

At 5:50 in the afternoon, Xiao Niao appeared downstairs of the girls' dormitory.

The dormitory manager recognized her as a teacher and did not stop her, so Xiao Niao successfully entered the dormitory.

A student greeted her in the corridor. Xiao Niao responded with a smile and continued towards her destination without changing her expression.

Finally, she came to a dormitory.

"Wait, if you go in now, will Lu Yao suddenly come back?" the system asked worriedly. "Being seen would definitely alert her, right? Cognitive interference tools won't work on her."

"Don't worry," Xiao Niao replied calmly, "She is writing her self-criticism in the classroom right now."

I couldn’t finish writing a 2,000-word self-review by the end of evening self-study.

As she spoke, Xiao Niao opened the door of the dormitory - here she did not use the old method to remove the door lock, but took advantage of her position to get the key from the dormitory manager.

[Cognitive interference] is still in effect, and when she leaves, no one will remember that the bird had ever been here.

This is the dormitory where Lu Yao lives.

She had just moved in not long ago - after two consecutive disasters, she finally lost the privilege of continuing to attend school as a day student.

Originally, all students were supposed to live on campus and attend evening self-study classes, but Lu Yao disliked the school's poor accommodation conditions and begged and pleaded to be allowed to attend school as a day student and be exempted from evening self-study classes.

But now, Father Lu didn't intend to spoil her anymore. He threw Lu Yao into the dormitory while saying, "If I look at you one more time, I will shorten my lifespan."

"...Luckily, no one's in the house," Xiao Niao glanced around, "Saves me from having to find another excuse to send them away."

Lu Yao lives in a four-person dormitory, and the accommodation conditions are among the best in the school.

Logically speaking, it was impossible for her to get such a good dormitory when she checked in almost a week after school started. Obviously, although Lu's father said he didn't care about her, he had actually made arrangements for her secretly.

With Tongzi's guidance, Xiao Niao quickly found Lu Yao's bunk.

She did not touch Lu Yao's personal belongings, but first briefly checked places where things could be hidden, such as under the bed, and knocked on the cabinets and the suitcase Lu Yao brought to confirm that there were no living creatures inside.

"…I've finished the scan," the system said. "No feedback. It doesn't look like there's any living thing here besides you and me."

It asked: [Are you sure Number Four is here?]

Xiao Niao let out a long breath silently.

Yes, she took advantage of the time when the teacher went home from get off work and the students went to the cafeteria to eat, and ran to the girls' dormitory just to look for her cat.

"I can't be sure, but there's a high probability that it's hidden here," Xiao Niao explained as he checked the balcony bracket. "Assuming that Lu Yao kidnapped Number Four, there's a high probability that she brought it with her."

"Xiao Si is a special system. It has the ability to act independently and can also exchange for items with special functions," Xiao Niao said. "If I were a kidnapper, I would definitely keep it under my nose."

As he spoke, Xiao Niao had already checked the balcony bracket - there was no cage or anything like that fixed there, and it was obviously not wide enough to accommodate a 14-pound cat.

She went to the bathroom again and carefully checked the possible hiding places.

"Lu Yao just moved into the school not long ago. She only packed her bed and luggage last night," Xiao Niao said slowly. "I guess she definitely hasn't had time to move to Room 4 yet."

"And, most importantly..."

The small bathroom was equipped with a shower head and a simple shelf. Xiao Niao checked behind the sink and gently tapped the tiles on the wall - without exception, they were all solid walls, and there was no space large enough to accommodate the tiles.

The cavity of a living thing.

Xiao Niao looked up at the ceiling.

The ceiling was very low, and with her height, she could reach it by just standing on tiptoe.

"The most important thing," Xiao Niao said, "is that someone in the girls' dormitory reported hearing a cat meowing last night."

She raised her hand to touch the ceiling, and then moved her hand down to a movable board near the corner.

Xiao Niao lifted it up with force, and a black crack appeared on the flimsy board.

Two bright yellow lights flickered in the darkness.

"Xiao Si?" Xiao Niao pushed the board a little further. She forgot to bring a flashlight, so she could only ask directly.

A weak cat meow came from the bathroom ceiling.

[…It's that fat cat, for sure.] The system muttered, [It must have been restricted from talking. I haven't found any signs of life in its scans yet. There's definitely something wrong.]

If it were an ordinary cat, Tongzi would definitely discover it at this distance.

The opponent's method of avoiding the reconnaissance module was too perfect, which made Tongzi certain that No. 4 was there.

Xiao Niao looked around, dragged a stool out from the corner, stepped on the stool and touched the ceiling - she carefully pinched the edge of the board and removed it.

Due to the angle, light from outside can hardly penetrate, and the inside of the ceiling still looks pitch black, with only some pipes and wires vaguely visible.

Xiao Niao reached in and fumbled around for a while, then pulled out a cat cage.

The poor Baga cat was curled up inside at this time. Its originally snow-white fur was covered with a lot of dust, and even its tail hung listlessly to the side.

When it was pulled out, it was a little resistant, until the light came back and it saw clearly that the person in front of it was its host, then it jumped up with a meow.

"Can this cage be opened?" Xiao Niao asked.

[Cut it off.] The system then provided a hydraulic pliers. [I'll replace it with an identical one later.]

The cage door was opened, and the fat cat inside jumped out and threw itself straight into Xiao Niao's arms, like a lost child finding his mother.

【Wuwuwuwu, you finally came to save me...】

This was relayed by the system - because they belonged to the same 716 system family, they could directly read each other's thoughts when in close contact.

Xiao Niao stroked the dirty fur on Number Four's back and said, "Don't cry, don't cry, purring fur, it won't scare you."

[Wuwuwuwu, man, I missed you so much——Enough, you shameful cat! ]

The system, unable to bear it any longer, interrupted the relay: [What a big boss! Can you at least show some useful information?]

Cat number four waved its paws in grievance and meowed weakly.

Xiao Niao stroked the back of its neck soothingly, put the cat back on the ground, and held one of its furry paws to facilitate communication between the two systems.

"I just asked directly," the system quickly got to the point. "What happened these past few days? Why has Lu Yao become so abnormal? Tell me everything you know."

In the small bathroom, a poor cat, with its ears drooping, told all its experiences of the past few days like pouring beans.

Taken away by Lu Yao... A system left behind by a previous attacker... Something strange about the main controller... Draining her luck...

At first Xiao Niao was able to remain calm, but after hearing the latter part, his brows couldn't help but frown.

Perhaps because he hadn't spoken for several days, Number Four's description was a little halting, but he gave the general outline of what happened as concisely as possible.

Even so, it took quite a while.

After it finished speaking, Xiao Niao and Tongzi were speechless for a moment - the complexity of this matter had far exceeded their expectations and even involved matters beyond the mission.

"...I've reported this unusual situation to the main control," the system said, its voice filled with disbelief. "The response I received was 'Don't worry, the commission will continue.'"

"It seems there's definitely something wrong here," Xiao Niao said thoughtfully, "and we're not the only ones implicated... The system you mentioned that lost its host is also trapped here for some reason."

Meowth No. 41006 said: [Yes... is having trouble maintaining basic operations right now, so I didn't dare to ask you for help directly.]

It is possible for an ownerless system to forcibly seize a host - but in the case of 41006, there is no way back to reality, and even if it reappears under the master's nose, it will be wiped out.

Once it has bound itself to the bird for survival, it will inevitably prevent her from returning home.

Because Number Four was worried about this, he did his best to conceal Xiao Niao's existence.

[...In short, you should avoid confrontation with Lu Yao as much as possible.]

The cat blinked pitifully. [41006 It's currently bound to Lu Yao... Its reconnaissance module seems completely broken, but it might still be able to discover your identity as a field agent...]

The system's reaction was even more intense: [No, this commission shouldn't continue. We'll immediately request a return to reality.]

"No, don't apply yet," Xiao Niao spoke at the right time to stop Tongzi.

She pinched Number Four's paw and sighed softly, "Think about it, if the master's commission

I have other purposes, and after I discover this, I ask to withdraw. How will He react?"

[…He will undoubtedly reject your request.] The system concluded dryly.

"Yes, because His goal wasn't achieved," Xiao Niao picked up the cat again. "What's worse, the Master Controller will use various conditions to threaten me to continue to complete the commission."

For example, if it is not completed, you will not be able to return to reality, or the security of the two systems will be used as a threat.

Xiao Niao accepted the commission just to redeem Tongzi, so it's easy to guess what her weakness is.

"We must hold our ground," she said. "I will get to the bottom of this matter, and we must all return safely, without exception."

Number Four was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He meowed and nuzzled into the bird's arms: [Hey! I love your teeth—]

The system couldn't stand it being so naive, and reminded it disdainfully: [That's enough, time is running out. I think we should put you back and leave...]

Number Four: [Huh?]

Number Four: [Wait, wait a minute, you, you guys, aren't you going to take me back? ]

System: [If I take you back, won't that wild ruler find you?]

Xiao Niao touched its drooping ears reluctantly. "There's nothing I can do. In this situation, I have to keep track of Lu Yao's movements... Well, I just discussed this with Tongzi..."

Number Four: [……]

When did you have a private chat? Why didn’t you even include me?

[Don't worry, you won't get lost. I've planted a beacon for you.]

The system announced coldly: [71604, the organization has assigned you an undercover mission behind enemy lines. This is a glorious mission, so please accept it immediately.]

Number Four: [Meow meow meow meow meow meow?!]

Chapter 6500: Adolescent Girls Do Not Dream of Shrike (+)

Chen Xiaoya hasn't been sleeping well recently.

She lay on the bed in the dormitory, trying to relax her limbs, and fell asleep after a long time of drowsiness.

Chen Xiaoya had a very strange dream.

There is a saying that dreams are the projection of human desires or fears. A person may have strange dreams, but will never have dreams for no reason.

Yes, you won't dream about things you have never seen or imagined.

She dreamed of a magnificent and elegant palace.

Chen Xiaoya was sure that she had never seen such an architectural style before, but every furnishing and every detail in the palace was so clear and vivid, as if she had lived here for a long time.

This should be the bedroom - she saw a soft goose down bed placed in the middle of the room, embroidered with some kind of floral pattern in gold thread.

Chen Xiaoya couldn't identify the specific variety. The style of the pattern was really difficult for her as a modern person.

The curtains around the bed fluttered gently. Chen Xiaoya subconsciously looked up. The translucent gauze was swaying in the air. He could see a faint human figure in it, but he could not make out the person's facial features.

Chen Xiaoya slowly realized that he must have broken into someone else's room.

This is obviously not very polite, and judging from the style of the palace, the owner here should be either rich or noble, and is obviously not someone who can be easily provoked.

But her body went against her will, and she walked forward like this, her fingertips reaching forward, reaching out to lift the curtain.

Caught off guard, she saw a familiar figure.

Xiao Niao had his back to her and was taking off his clothes bit by bit. His body was almost pale blue in the hazy light, like a Greek sculpture gilded by the moon.

It was as if thunder exploded in my mind.

From this angle, she could see every curve of her body. The moonlight filtered through, flowing down from her pale neck to her slightly sunken waist.