Prologue

"You better make sure that this works, Lou Yi.", the voice on the bluetooth speaker warned. "This is Rou Xi's life we are talking about."

"Trust me, Qian Yu.", the glasses-wearing woman seriously replied. "I won't allow anyone to harm Rou Xi."

The glasses-wearing woman called Lou Yi was sitting on the driver's seat of a BMW. She's looking at the laptop monitor that shows numerous live CCTV feeds of the building they are covertly surrounding. If people in the world of politics were to see her right now, they would wonder what one of the country's defense minister like her is doing suspiciously in the area.

On the other hand, the woman named Qian Yu was at another building. She is surveying the building through the scope of the M40A5 sniper rifle that she is gripping between her hands. Her stance is steady and her breathing even despite the fact that the situation is very tense, all thanks to her being well-versed in the usage of guns. After all, she is Titiana, the legendary armsdealer in the underworld.

These two seemingly opposite characters are currently embroiled in a personal mission. The two of them are on a covert operation to save the popular Internet idol Rou Xi who has been abducted a few weeks ago by a serial psycopath. The reason? Obsession.

Through her scope, Qian Yu peered through the windows of the opposite building one by one to see even just a silhouette of the man who abducted Rou Xi. She's determined to pull the trigger as soon as that son of a bitch shows himself up in her vision. She is quite confident in her sniping skills so there isn't a need to worry.

Lou Yi, on the other hand, already hacked a satellite and kept a surveillance on the surrounding area to avoid dragging other people in as well as letting the criminal run. Of course, she also tapped into the CCTV system of the building the criminal is in.

"Fourth floor.", Lou Yi relayed to Qian Yu as soon as the psycopath's image showed up on the screen.

Surprisingly, the man turned to look at the camera that Lou Yi was focused on, making her heart beat faster. It was only for a while though but she notified Qian Yu.

"Hey, be careful.", she said. "I think he knows we're here."

This isn't the first time that the man has abducted Rou Xi. In fact, you can say that this man is Rou Xi's recurring nightmare. The man always escapes too in the end.

This time, Qian Yu and Lou Yi personally took action to get rid of this obsessed aberrant. With the two of them, success is guaranteed. However, since Qian Yu and Lou Yi were standing on the opposite sides of the law, they aren't able to cooperate openly. They have to do this covert operation all on their own.

"You be careful too." Qian Yu warned the other woman as she focused on the fourth floor, her scope darting from one window to another.

As part of the plan, Qian Yu will wait for the man to step into her scope's vision and then pull the trigger. However, there might be a chance that the suspect won't step into her line of vision and thus it is Lou Yi's responsibility to lure the man into their trap.

As planned, Lou Yi prepped up when the suspect still hasn't revealed himself to Qian Yu even after thirty minutes. Before leaving the car, she switched on the monitor function of her glasses and transferred the feeds she was viewing on her laptop.

Lou Yi used the fire exit ladder to climb up to the fourth floor. She was extremely careful not to make any noise. Her lithe body swung and jumped stealthily like a cat.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, she immediately pulled out her Desert Eagle. She then surveyed the area to ascertain where the suspect and Rou Xi are holed up. She has to enter the right room on the first try so as to avoid alerting the suspect and allowing him to escape. Failure is not an option this time!

When she got to the right door, she noticed that the door wasn't closed properly. She crouched at the side. Was this guy underestimating them? Is this a trap? Or is he really this negligent?

Regardless, she had to step into it to get the ball rolling. However, before she can throw the flash bomb she has in her hands inside the room, the man's mellow and relaxed voice called out.

"Why don't you come in?"

Lou Yi was stunned. This psycopath really knew they were here!

She touched the earpiece she's wearing to make sure that it is turned on. This is so that Qian Yu can hear them and can take actions accordingly.

With her left hand, Lou Yi pushed the door open slowly. Her dominant hand tightly gripped her gun without releasing even a tiny bit of tension.

Inside the room, Lou Yi first saw the abominable man. She immediately raised her gun to point at him.

He was sitting on a biege-colored leather sofa facing the door, with his legs crossed. He was a bit away from the window and it doesn't seem that he has any intentions of standing up from his spot. In his right hand, he held a caliber 45 gun and was pointing it to another direction.

Subtly, Lou Yi followed where his gun was pointing to. Indeed, the one on the receiving end of the gun's barrel is Rou Xi. Her hands were tied on the opposite ends of the bed pole, affixing her in place. Her mouth was gagged and she looks so haggard.

Lou Yi felt relieved that the 16 year old girl was alright and angry that this man made Rou Xi suffer. Her decision to end things today intensified.

"Let Rou Xi go now.", she commanded.

Ever since she entered, she has gritted her teeth to make Morse code sounds. These sounds may be inaudible to the man in front of him but it should be clearly transmitted to Qian Yu outside through the high definition earpiece Lou Yi has on. Through the code, she is telling Qian Yu just how they are positioned inside the room. In response to that, Qian Yu shifted her scope accordingly.

"Why should I?", the man rhetorically asked in a teasing tone.

"If you don't, I swear to God, I'm burying a bullet in your skull!"

"Ku!"

Unexpectedly, the man was stifling his laughter instead. Seemingly unable to endure, he laughed out loud. The way he maniacally laughed and the manner from which his handsomely face instantly turned ugly made Lou Yi's hairs stand on end.

"Why don't we make a bet then?", the man said after he calmed down.

"Bet?"

"Yes. Bet.", he tapped his forefinger on his gun. "Whether I can pull the trigger faster than you?"

"Asshole!"

As soon as she exclaimed that, the sound of rocks shattering broke through the silence of the night. Although Lou Yi expected this to happen, she still couldn't help but flinch.

It seems that the Morse code message she transmitted to Qian Yu was successfully received. Qian Yu just waited for a good opportunity to shoot from the outside.

Indeed, after receiving the message, Qian Yu immediately changed the caliber of her gun. She needs a weapon that can penetrate through the cement and lodge a bullet into the man's head. There is nothing that can do the job better than her beloved custom sniper rifle!

Lou Yi didn't immediately lower her guard upon seeing the bloody mess in front of her. The handsome face she was just talking to earlier is painted in his own blood now. She slowly approached the body while staying ready to shoot.

Even when she came a hair's breath away from the culprit, the body didn't stir. Cautiously, she reached out to that man's neck, trying to feel a pulse. She heaved a sigh of relief when she couldn't feel the throbbing sensation that was supposed to be there.

Still keeping on her toes, she went to where Rou Xi is. The first thing she did was remove her gag.

"S-sis, we can't leave.", Rou Xi cried out in a desperate voice.

"Huh? Why?"

"Bomb.", her tears started to flow incessantly. "I'm sitting on a pressure sensitive bomb!"

Hearing her say that, Lou Yi panicked a bit. This psycopath really doesn't want them to live a happy life ah!

Turning to her earpiece, Lou Yi spoke to Qian Yu.

"Qian Yu, we have a *nuclear* here."

"What?!", the other woman exclaimed. "I'll be there."

If Qian Yu wasn't there, Lou Yi would have frantically dialed her phone and woke up some of her connections demanding they send a bomb disposal unit to where they are pronto. Thank God that 'Titiana' is here. Her title in the underground society is not just for show! If she sees what kind of bomb is attached on Rou Xi, she'll know how to disarm it.

It didn't take long before Qian Yu arrived at the scene. She looked at the area first before exclaiming.

"Damn, I'm good!", quite pleased with the bloody mess she saw.

"Come here now!", Lou Yi growled.

Qian Yu knows that seeing a bomb can make anyone agitated so she just shrugged off how Lou Yi is growling at her and ordering her around despite the fact that she's older.

She checked the bomb and determined its type.

"It's easy to disarm this bomb.", she confidently said. "Rou Xi, don't move. I'll get this disarmed soon."

She worked on the bomb using her custom Swiss knife. It didn't take long before she was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Done! Easy peasy!"

Lou Yi and Qian Yu immediately untied Rou Xi's hands that were tied to the opposite ends of the bed pole. Once freed, Rou Xi cried aloud again as she wrapped her arms around the two women who came to her rescue.

Her nightmare has ended!

"Let's get out of here!", Lou Yi said as she heard police sirens bellowing in the distance.

The police may be heading their way now due to the earlier commotion when Qian Yu sniped through the wall. Lou Yi and Qian Yu must not be seen together, considering their respective statuses. Moreover, to preserve Rou Xi's reputation and dignity, no one must know about the ordeal she had just survived from.

The two women helped Rou Xi up. Before they could move a fair distance away from the bed, Qian Yu heard the sound of a steel wire being stretched taut.

When she looked back, she saw that a steel wire was still connecting Rou Xi to something on the bed. She opened her eyes wide in shock as she knew what was on the other end of that wire!

'How unoriginal!', Qian Yu thought in a split second, angry at herself for even thinking how this kind of movie copycat thing managed to lure her, the one who holds the title of 'Titiana', into a deadly situation!

The two women who saw her stop and stare at something behind their back got curious. Before Qian Yu can stop Rou Xi, the latter turned around, causing the already taut wire to stretch out even more and break.

Qian Yu, Lou Yi, and Rou Xi saw everything around them turn to white.