Chapter 3 - Ending lives with a smile

Liu Yingyue let out an audible groan, her body contorted as she leaned her head back. Legs splayed out in and her arms dangling over the armrests. In one hand, she clutched a half-smoked cigarette, its glowing ember the only source of light in the dimly lit room. And the other, holding a gun. 

The walls around her were covered with targets, each riddled with bullet holes that all landed near, or right on the bullseye.

A sudden, almost icy shiver coursed through her body as a gentle breeze brushed against her exposed skin. Beads of sweat clung to her flesh, creating a chilling sensation as they evaporated and made Liu Yingyue shiver involuntarily.

They traced all along her arms, down her neck, and over the exposed expanse of her taut abdomen. Her clothing was a simple black crop top that hugged her form, revealing the sculpted curves of her midriff, while a pair of shorts provided freedom of movement for her legs. The revealing attire was a tactical choice to regulate her body temperature during workouts, as Liu Yingyue would often over train, with today being another example - for the whole night with no rest. 

Although many would consider her training to be 'unhealthy', Liu Yingyue dismissed such concerns with a shrug.

Liu Yingyue's head continued to throbbed incessantly, each pulsation like a sledgehammer to her temples. She winced and closed her eyes, the relentless agony seemed to have taken up residence in her mind, and she could almost feel it pulsating in rhythm with her racing heartbeat.

She groaned softly but had no respite for the pain. Her phone's ringtone pierced through her misery, and she reluctantly reached for it. Liu Yingyue knew without a doubt that it was Song Qingshan on the line, not bothering to second-guess it, her fingers trembled slightly as she tapped the answer button.

"Liu Yingyue!" Song Qingshan's voice burst through the phone's speaker with the force of a storm, causing Liu Yingyue to wince at the sudden loudness and pulling it away from her ear.

"What's with the full name?" she asked, her voice laced with irritation.

"Did you shoot the messenger again!?" 

"Oh, didn't I tell you?"

"No?!"

"Ah, I must have forgotten, whoopsies."

Song Qingshan's frustration was palpable as he continued, "Don't 'whoopsies' me! Now I have three new stacks of files and papers to go through, and the family of the messenger…No.307, is calling up!" 

"That one has a family? Well, that's new. Usually they're dead, or don't care. Eh, kill 'em or something, don't we normally do that?"

Song Qingshan sighed, the sound practically echoing through the phone. "Yes, but you have a whole ass record on this. The Mortuary Division has already given up on your antics and just sucks it up and disposes of the bodies, while The Administration Department has a workload twenty-four-seven with all the papers of the messengers you killed stacked up on their desks. Mainly, mine!"

Liu Yingyue rolled her eyes, though the movement sent sharp spikes of pain through her head. "Oh shush, you love work, Qingqing."

"Not when it's made by you."

"Blah, blah. What else, I doubt that's the only thing you wanted to tell me." 

"You're right. I'm calling to remind you, don't mess around on tonight's mission."

Liu Yingyue's head was pounding relentlessly, making it hard for her to concentrate. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before responding, "Then what the fuck am I gonna do the whole night? It's a rescue mission, why was I given a rescue mission..!? Have you guys forgotten what happened last time? Do you want me to remind you?" 

Liu Yingyue recalled back to the time, when supposedly, she had to get a man out of a kidnapping ransom, then mistook the victim as a kidnapper and shot him. As well as receiving heavy burns from the car exploding. The injuries were pretty serious, until she waved them off and continued to work as normal. 

Still, saving and rescuing was never something Liu Yingyue was good at. She could do everything, everything other than protecting another person and saving them.

"No, no, I do remember." Song Qingshan said immediately after Liu Yingyue finished her sentence. He could never forget that traumatising day. "All I know is that you were assigned to the mission and it's unchangeable. Follow through with it tonight, and I'll see what I can do to get you excluded from these missions again."

"I'm surprised 'm not already banned from them. Thought I was seven and up," Liu Yingyue said.

"You're not the only one…"

"How rude," Liu Yingyue whined. 

Song Qingshan sighed but didn't bother to resort back. He was way too familiar with Liu Yingyue's antics to even care. "Just try your best tonight, okay?"

"Sure, I will." Liu Yingyue managed to force a smile, though it felt more like a grimace at the fact she was going to mess something up this time without fail. 

All previous rescue missions she was tasked to do, failed badly. Liu Yingyue had no clue why they'd place her in another rescue mission if they knew she'd screw it all up. They were either fucking with her or just stupid. 

"Well, you better start preparing. You're going to have to be at the destination before 10:45 PM, and not any later. The rest of the information is in the files, so you better read them, Liu Yingyue. All of them."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it…" 

"Good. I can assume Sir Mo expects a half decent report from you this time round, so at least try."

Liu Yingyue's head was throbbing with each word and she couldn't hold back her frustration any longer. 

"Well, tell Nian Zhan to try and drag some snobbish ass kid away from pig fuckers while keeping it alive the whole time with no injuries! And fuck off!" Liu Yingyue snapped before ending the call.

Liu Yingyue's irritation with Song Qingshan lingered like a heavy cloud. She could feel a stinging sensation prickling up at her neck - the wounds had begun to reopen, again. Her fingertips brushed gingerly against the bandages that encircled her neck, their white fabric marred by the stains of crimson.

A slow trickle of her own blood seeped through the fabric. The red liquid was a stark contrast against the white bandages, like ink on parchment.

She needed to change them again, but first, Liu Yingyue needed an outlet for her pent up anger.

The room's dim lighting cast shadows as she raised a gun, the steel of her resolve mirroring the gun's cold. Without a second thought, not even trying to aim, the metallic tang of adrenaline surged through her veins as she pulled the trigger.

The target boards in front of her served as her canvas, and the bullets were her rash and imperfect brushstrokes. 

Six shots, one after the other, pierced through the target board with surgical precision, forming a perfect cluster of holes right at the bullseye. The sheer force of the recoil barely fazed Liu Yingyue, and the acrid scent of gunpowder lingered in the air. 

She let out an exhale and with a dismissive flick of her wrist and tossed the now-empty gun aside, sending it skidding across the floor to the far corner of the room until it clattered to a stop.

Liu Yingyue took another drag from a cigarette between her lips. The acrid smoke danced around her while looking at the white ceiling while blowing out as she exhaled a plume of smoke upward, the blood now staining most of the bandage. 

"How does that bastard expect me to save someone, let alone a kid..!?" she muttered under her breath, her words laced with exasperation.

Stubbing out the cigarette's glowing ember in an ashtray, Liu Yingyue pushed herself up from the chair and left the room, her footsteps echoing in the stillness as the room seemed to close in on her.

***

Her body slightly hunched, leaned against her desk while one hand lightly resting on the edge. With a slight tilt of her head, Liu Yingyue scanned through the details of the mission spread across her desk. 

Her fingers tapped on the table's surface as she rocked her chair gently from side to side. The supple leather creaked softly with each subtle movement, adding a subtle layer of sound to the otherwise quiet room. 

Every now and then, she reached for a strand of her hair that had fallen in her face, tucking it behind her ear. 

The dark room was bathed in the soft glow of a desk lamp, casting long shadows across her face, the scattered papers on the table and a noticeably fresh bandage around her neck. The room was filled with the soft rustling of paper as Liu Yingyue flipped through the pages, her fingers lightly traced the edges of each page.

[ Mission classification: Rescue

Number assigned: No.1 - Executive Liu Yingyue 

Victim's information:

Full name - Wen Xiaomei

Date of birth - 21/3/20XX

SSN - XXXXXX20XX2103XXXX

Nationality - Chinese

Citizenship - China

Addresses:

XXX XXXXXXX Road - XXXXXX District - Beijin 1000086

Physical Description:

A small child and looked to be around ten or eleven. 130 centimetres in height and a healthy physique. Dressed from head to toe in frills and bows, all in different shades of pink. Curly dark brown hair that passed her shoulders, and emerald eyes. No scars, but a beauty mark under her left eye ]

Liu Yingyue looked at the photo attached to the victim's file and cringed. She could tell from one look alone that this kid was spoiled rotten, and most likely a brat. She decided to finish reading the child's information and go straight to the person who reported the kidnapping. Liu Yingyue skimmed through their information as well.

Wen Xin is the man who reported and paid the company to rescue Wen Xiaomei - his daughter - from the kidnapping incident that happened less than one day ago.

Apparently, Wen Xin tried to use his power to find his daughter, but failed. So he contacted the only people who could help him - Odysseus. 

His appearance showed he was in his early thirties, when he's 46. He looked to have taken care of his appearance, other than small wrinkles near his eyes. Grey hairs were forming between his black hair, but his emerald eyes glistened with life.

The Wen family was pretty well known in the fashion industry, one of the top 10 in the country. Though Liu Yingyue never paid attention to fashion, she was too busy being thrown into missions one after another by her amazing boss.

Wen Xin's wife was recorded to have passed away when she gave birth to Wen Xiaomei, but he stayed strong and seemed to raise his daughter with love and affection. From the information Liu Yingyue was presented with, this was very true. 

He pampered her with whatever she wanted and tried to give her all his attention. 

Wen Xin was truly an aplusable father, unlike most fathers Liu Yingyue knows.

The information about Wen Xin continued on and on, more so data about his company and his success. Liu Yingyue got very bored and went back to skim through the victim's information.

[ Last Known Location:

XXXX shopping mall

Date - XX/02/20XX

Time - 3:47 PM

The victim was informed to be shopping with her father until she disappeared in a crowd of people.

It's to be suspected that the kidnappers took the victim while the crowd of people walked by, and to be said, transported by a white car from the shipping center's parking lot. 

Current whereabouts: 

The Intelligence Division concluded that the victim had been kidnapped by a human trafficking group called 'The Hunters' - A group rising up into fame for their skill and efficiency to take someone's name off the globe. 

The victim is recorded to be near the south coast of a bay in a small town to the west. It had a loading dock right beside it, but was abandoned a long time ago. 

From what The Intelligence Division had found, The Hunters were using the abandoned loading dock to smuggle all their captors in and out of China.

Mission's ranking: 3/10 ]

'I swear that bastard is fucking with me…' 

[ Summary conducted: The Intelligence Division has concluded that No.1 - Executive Liu Yinyue, should complete this mission with ease and no problems. 

Note, from No.18 - Commander Song Qingshan: Liu Yingyue, don't you dare do anything other than getting the victim out of there, safe and sound. You do not need bombs for this. I repeat, you DO NOT need bombs or any type of explosives for this. ]

Liu Yingyue's fingers traced the words Song Qingshan had left for her on the paper. A faint, enigmatic smile curled her lips, her eyes dancing with amusement. A soft chuckle escaped Liu Yingyue lips but her laughter stopped as she noticed the words written on one of the papers. 

Her fingers brushed the surface of the document, her gaze sweeping across the typed words. The lightness in her expression quickly faded, replaced by a growing sense of confusion.

[ The price asked by Odysseus was around 314,000 yuan for this rescue mission, but the client, Wen Xin, raised the price to 742,850 yuan, over twice the original amount. He asks for Odysseus to find his daughter as fast as they can, and bring her back safely. ]

The room seemed to still, the only sounds the soft rustling of paper and the occasional creak of her leather chair. Her eyes remained fixed on the document. In that moment, the air seemed charged and Liu Yingyue let out a set of manic laughter. 

She leaned her frame back into the spinny leather chair, letting it creak softly in protest. Her arm draped over her closed eyes, casting her face in shadow. 

"How stupid is this man," she murmured to the uncaring room, her voice a blend of amusement and exasperation. 

Her fingers idly drummed on the armrest. The absurdity of the situation weighed heavily on her, and for that brief, fleeting moment, she found this situation very amusemusing. 

"Paying this much for a kid that is probably gone…Wait," Liu Yingyue's voice trailed off. 

She lifted her arm off her face, fluttering open her eyes like the wings of a butterfly that had been veiled in shadow moments ago. Liu Yingyue's hand drifted lazily to her side, fingers tracing the other armrest as her gaze remained fixed on some distant point in the room as her thoughts churned.

A slow, wry smile curled her lips as she concluded, "Who gives a shit, I'm getting paid in the end. But…" Liu Yingyue leaned forward as she reached for her phone resting on her desk. She opened the phone, the soft glow of the screen casting a sharp light on her features, and selected a number at the top of her screen. 

"Let's just make sure."

Ringgg—!

Ringgg—!

Ringgg—

The ringing of Liu Yingyue's phone ceased abruptly as the call connected.

"What is it now, Liu Yingyue? You better not have called me to screw around."

Liu Yingyue's lips curled into a sardonic grin. "Good to hear you again, Qingshan. But no, 'm not calling you to fuck around this time. I'm calling to ask about the amount on the paper. You sure this is right?"

Song Qingshan's response was marked by a momentary pause, "Pardon?"

"The papers you sent me about the mission tonight. The payment."

"The payment? Once second," the faint rustling of papers and the clicking of keys in the background echoing over the phone until Song Qingshan returned with confirmation. "Oh, yes. That is the actual amount given."

Liu Yingyue couldn't help but whistle softly to herself. "Damn, this guy has some money to spare."

"One word, no."

Liu Yingyue couldn't resist a chuckle. "That depends on my side of the payment."

"Did you not—forget it. Your payment is detailed and set at 255,420 yuan, no more."

Liu Yingyue contemplated the figure for a moment before asking with a playful tone, "How much did the old man pay, hmm?"

Song Qingshan hesitated briefly, knowing full well that the question Liu Yingyue asked him was obviously hysterical. "742,850 yuan," he admitted.

As expected, Liu Yingyue's laughter rang out from the other end of the line. "Even clients who ask for someone dead pay less. Yet this man just spits out 742,850, and you guys plan on giving me not even half. Raise it."

Song Qingshan could feel a chill running down his spine despite the distance that separated them. Her words dripped with a venomous potency, like the bite of a deadly serpent. It was a voice that carried the weight of countless secrets and a formidable resolve, capable of both cutting through steel and soothing like a gentle whisper in the night and it was enough to make anyone tremble and fall to their knees.

But Liu Yingyue was trained under the boss personally, so it wasn't a surprise. 

With a heavy sigh, Song Qingshan ran a hand through his knotted hair in frustration, muttering, "We can raise it to 277,310."

"620,300."

"Liu Yingyue, I know you're pissed at the mission, but don't get so arrogant."

"That old man handed out 742,850 yuan, 'm also the one doing the mission; who am I not to be arrogant about my pay?"

Song Qingshan fell silent.

"No words? Raise it, Qingshan."

"I can't do much, but 583,810 is probably the most I can push."

Liu Yingyue leaned back in her chair. "You're like, one of the main decision-makers of our money. Don't you have the authority?"

"I do. But that doesn't mean I can just give you a raise with no reason. Sir Mo trusted this position to me for a reason."

"And he decided to trust me with my role for a reason," Liu Yingyue fired back, "620,300 yuan. Just raise it by 36,492. You'll have around...532,725 left. It's enough for your greedy asses."

Liu Yingyue's laughter, like a haunting melody rang in Song Qingshan's ears before she nonchalantly concluded, "Thanks, Qingqing!" 

"Wait—!"

And the line went dead.

Liu Yingyue leaned back in her chair, her fingers gently sweeped the scattered papers into a pile. She tossed the papers into a drawer and closed it, the subtle click of metal meeting wood.

"I guess it's time to get ready…ew."

***

"No.1, the whereabouts of the victim's location is 55 meters ahead," Song Qingshan said to Liu Yingyue through the earpiece, his eyes fixed on a map of the area which displayed her operative's location as a blinking blue dot.

Liu Yingyue kept to the shadows, her voice was a hushed whisper as she responded, "Copy that, 18."

The dimly lit control center that Song Qingshan was operating in had monitors lined the walls, displaying live feeds from security cameras positioned throughout the loading dock and its surroundings. A digital map of the area blinked with a pulsating blue dot.

Song Qingshan's fingers danced across a keyboard as he monitored Liu Yingyue's every move. His eyes scanned the camera feeds.

"Two Hunters at 3 o'clock, armed. Cover behind shipping containers, 9 o'clock."

Liu Yingyue obeyed and leaned into the shadows cast by the towering shipping containers. The guards passed by, oblivious to her presence, their footsteps echoing faintly in the empty dock.

Once they were at a calculated distance, Liu Yingyue drew out two blades and jumped behind the two guards, stabbing the blades on either side of their head. Without any extra reaction, their bodies slumped to the ground. 

The transceiver attached to one of the fallen guards crackled with static. Liu Yingyue noticed this and took it off from their belt and brought it to her ear.

From the other end, a voice spoke. "Pre- – … … load the shipping in 20. We have some expensive stock tonight. As soon as we get the money, we'll ship it off with the rest of the stock. The man– — … lots – cash!"

A wry smile played upon Liu Yingyue's lips as she listened in on the conversation. The tone and choice of words made it unmistakably clear that the voice on the other end was discussing the kid that she had been tasked to rescue. 

"Well, you heard that right, 18," she quipped, "It seems our dear friends have quite the master plan." Her voice was a non subtle taunt.

Song Qingshan's voice crackled in her earpiece, tinged with caution and slight annoyance. "Don't underestimate them, No.1. Stay focused on the mission."

Liu Yingyue rolled her eyes and chuckled, pulling out a packet of cigarettes from her pocket. The flicker of a lighter sparked to life, illuminating her face momentarily as she lit the cigarette. 

She took a long drag, the tip of the cigarette glowing like a distant star in the night. A plume of smoke that billowed and swirled merged with the cool night air. 

As she gazed upward, her eyes captured the moon's reflection with newfound brilliance. They sparkled like two pristine pools of moonlight.

"You worry too much, 18," she said as she waved the cigarette in the air that was in between her fingers.

"Really, a smoke break now? No.1, do I have to remind you that you're currently in the middle of a mission."

Liu Yingyue couldn't help but to chuckle, her smug grin apparent even in her voice. "There's always time for a smoke break," she retorted, her tone nonchalant as she continued to listen to the chatter on both ends, the ongoing buzz of Song Qingshan and the transceiver on the other line.

With a casual flick of her fingers, she dropped the cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it. "And let's keep going."

"Aish…" Song Qingshan's eyes remained glued to his monitors, tracking the movements on the screen. His heart skipped a beat when a sudden flash of green appeared in a specific area of her display. Song Qingshan wasted no time in relaying the information to Liu Yingyue.   

"No.1! Ten meters down at 7 o'clock, the victim is located in the red shipping container, code XXX-XXX-XXX."

Liu Yingyue nodded as she continued to listen to Song Qingshan's guidance through the earpiece. She approached the designated area, but as she neared the destination, Song Qingshan's voice crackled once more, this time with an even more urgent tone. "Group of Hunter's, 4 o'clock. Counted, sixteen."

Without missing a beat, Liu Yingyue replied, "Ah, well, let me mute for a second."

"Understo— wait, what—!?"

Song Qingshan began to protest, but his words were abruptly cut off as Liu Yingyue silenced herself, ensuring that Song Qingshan couldn't hear a thing that was going to happen. 

Her lips curled into a sinister grin beneath her mask, and her eyes gleamed with an unbridled, wild excitement. 

"I know I said I wasn't gonna cause any trouble," she muttered to herself, her fingers adjusting the mask that concealed her face. However, the mask couldn't hide the malevolent grin that fully displayed her intentions. "But I really need to relieve some stress..!"

And without pausing to weigh the consequences, Liu Yingyue charged headlong into the group of Hunters. Her expression contorted into one of wild exhilaration.

The group of Hunter's weren't deaf and heard a voice from the shadows, and without wasting another second, one Hunter raised their rifle, unleashing a hail of bullets through the flesh of this intruder. 

In that split second, Liu Yingyue moved, a blur of motion that the Hunter's couldn't see. Liu Yingyue twisted and contorted her body, dodging all bullets with ease. 

The Hunter's struggled to regain control as their bullets collided with nothing but empty air and the cold metal of shipping containers. Panic set in the Hunter's as the intruder's movements became increasingly unpredictable. They seemed to defy gravity, leaping from one adversary to another, striking with punches and kicks all aimed at the vital parts of the human body but not giving it enough strength to break any bones. 

Sure, the job would be done faster if Liu Yingyue just finished them with one blow, which she can do, but she doesn't. 

One by one, the Hunter's were incapacitated and disarmed, their weapons scattered across the gravel floor. A hail of bullets erupted from two Hunter's furthest away from Liu Yingyue, but she danced through the deadly barrage, bullets grazing the air around her clothing but never actually hitting her.

After wasting most of their ammo, Liu Yingyue lunged at the Hunter's without giving them any time to react. Her movements were a blur as she taunted around them, leaving confusion and fear in her wake. 

She darted behind one of the Hunters and snatched the firearm from their grip before they could blink. She raised the stolen weapon and one shot through the head, ending their life then and there.

The remaining Hunters, armed with blades and the few guns they had left, charged at Liu Yingyue in a desperate frenzy. Their attacks were a chaotic onslaught, but she dodged their strikes with an uncanny grace, her lithe form a shadowy wisp in the moon lit dock.

Two of the Hunters in the back, clutching the last guns with available ammo, found themselves helpless against the intruder. In a swift motion, Liu Yingyue snatched both of their heads from the sides and bashed them together, resulting in a sickening "crack" that reverberated through the area. Their lifeless bodies slumped to the floor, eyes rolled back, their skulls nearly crushed completely like glass.

The remaining Hunters stood frozen, their faces drained of color. The person who had single-handedly taken down their comrades wore a malevolent grin that sent shivers down their spines. But one of them, unable to contain their terror, began to tremble uncontrollably. With a shaky finger, they pointed at Liu Yingyue, who stood before the three lifeless bodies.

"T-t-they're… T-the Masked Demon!" the Hunter stammered, the mere utterance of that chilling title sending shockwaves through the group. 

The name "The Masked Demon" was infamous in the underground world, and its association with the name was always linked down with gruesome tales of truth.

Hopeless and paralyzed by fear, the rest of the Hunters couldn't flee fast enough, tears streaming down their faces as they scrambled to get away.

"So you know me?" Liu Yingyue's voice carried a taunting tone as she watched them flee like ants.

With supernatural speed, she appeared before the escaping Hunters, catching up to them effortlessly. In a swift motion, she raised her foot and brought it down on one of their backs, 

CRACK—

Standing tall before them, her silhouette was cast in sharp relief by the soft, silvery glow of the moonlight, rendering her an otherworldly specter - a harbinger of darkness in the night as it dangled carelessly on her finger. The moon hung in the heavens, a cold and distant witness to the unfolding scene below. Its pale light bathed the area, casting long, haunting shadows across the whole dock. Her mask gleamed with an unsettling luster, its contours highlighted by the moon's gentle touch. 

"Don't you know it's rude to ignore someone?" she chided.

One of the trembling Hunters looked up at her, desperation in their eyes as they begged for mercy. "P-please! L-let me go, spare my life!" They fell to their knees, their forehead slammed against the cold, gravel floor.

As their head met the surface, a sharp, searing pain tore through the Hunter. The ground was now marred by a splatter of crimson. Blood welled from the deep gash on their forehead, oozing thick and hot, like a malevolent river seeking escape.

The area around them seemed to spin as the Hunter struggled to keep themself stable, their vision blurred by the intensity of the pain, but this was nothing against the face of pure death and sinister torture. 

The rest of the Hunters followed suit, each forehead now a painful shade of red as they pleaded for their lives, tears mixing with the dust on the ground, slamming their head down onto the pavement. 

Liu Yingyue sighed, her annoyance clear. "Why does everyone do this? It's gotten repetitive…along with that cringy ass name. Couldn't they come up with anything better? Now 'm stuck with it…fucking hell."

Without another thought, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small hand grenade. She pulled the pin and tossed it in front of the pleading Hunters.

"Let's lighten up the mood a bit!" she quipped, her haunting smile returning as she watched the grenade roll toward them. 

The last thing the Hunter's saw before the blinding light swallowed them was her figure, traced by the silvery moonlight, and that chilling smile etched into their memories.

And with the final blow, the loading dock fell silent. Smoke billowed into the night sky, and the once-menacing Hunters were no more. The figure emerged from the fiery explosion she had created, her careless smile undiminished by the chaos she had wrought.

Raising her hand to her earpiece, Liu Yingyue unmuted, only to be bombarded by the familiar, nagging voice of Song Qingshan.

"Liu Yingyue!"

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Liu Yingyue couldn't resist teasing her partner. "Aye, I thought you knew we should use names during missions. Don't tell me you've forgotten, No.18?"

"Then how am I supposed to react when you keep acting on your own?!" Song Qingshan questioned. 

"Not by yelling out my name?"

"Fuck you."

"Ah, ah, ah. That's a bad word, 18," Liu Yingyue replied with a taunting tone. 

"No, seriously; fuck you." Song Qingshan said.

"Love you too, Qingqing. I even dealt with the sixteen pigs to prove it!"

"Huh…did you…" 

A puzzled silence hung in the air as Song Qingshan quickly scanned through his bank of monitors. One camera feed displayed a scene of utter chaos - a raging inferno, flames licking at the edges of the frame. He stared at the screen in disbelief, only to see Liu Yingyue's grinning face waving at the camera.

"I thought you said—"

Liu Yingyue cut him off with an unapologetic tone. "I know, I know. But I was getting lazy, and I just so happened to have a grenade on me."

Song Qingshan facepalmed. "I can't even react anymore."

"Good!" Liu Yingyue laughed. "Now, where did you say the kid was?"