You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

The next day, early in the morning.

In stark contrast to the warm and tranquil atmosphere of a traditional courtyard house in Beijing, deep within the "Yuanda Chemical Plant" in the western suburbs, a secret office converted from a shipping container exudes an atmosphere as cold as a morgue.

A glamorous woman in a fiery red, tight-fitting dress was tapping her fingertips irritably on the cold metal tabletop.

She is one of the core executives of the "Longevity Club," codenamed "Viper."

On the huge monitor in front of her, a dense stream of data refreshed like a waterfall, but several of the most critical financial flows were stained a glaring red, followed by a series of warning messages such as "frozen," "blocked," and "abnormal."

These overseas funds, totaling billions, should have quietly flowed into the club's secret account like a trickle after last night's auction.

But now, it's as if they've run into an invisible wall of sighs, and are being blocked halfway!

"What's going on?!"

The snake's voice, like her code name, was cold and hoarse.

Standing to the side, the technician in charge of finance trembled with fear, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

"Snake... Sister Snake, we can't find anything! The other party's methods are too sophisticated, like a ghost. All our funding channels were precisely targeted at the same time! Every transaction was stopped at the most critical point, and now... now all that money is frozen in a third-party escrow account, we can't touch it at all!"

"waste!"

The viper slammed his hand on the table, his face, once adorned with exquisite makeup, now filled with gloom.

"To be able to mobilize such a massive force simultaneously, to lay a tight net in the financial markets, and to do so without leaving a trace... this is definitely not an accident!"

This was definitely Ye Qingcheng's doing!

Under Lin Chen's instructions, this ice queen mobilized all of the Ye Group's top resources. While Lin Chen was still performing on the cruise ship, she had already launched a devastating attack on the economic lifeline of the "Longevity Club" on another battlefield where no smoke could be seen!

The venomous snake was naturally suspicious, and that ominous premonition immediately reminded her of "Bai Zixuan" from last night.

The man who played melodies like a demon king at the piano.

"Get the CCTV footage from last night's banquet hall! All of it! The highest definition!"

The venomous snake gave a stern command.

Soon, footage of the banquet hall from the previous night appeared on the large screen. Viper stared intently at the center of the screen, at "Bai Zixuan," who was playing the piano with such ease, drawing cheers from the entire audience. She watched it over and over again, even slowing the footage down to 0.25x speed.

The faces are all the same.

Their figures are almost identical.

However, that kind of temperament... that kind of kingly aura that remains calm and composed under the spotlight, facing a room full of dignitaries, and even carries a hint of looking down on the world, is absolutely amazing!

It's definitely not something that Bai Zixuan, that good-for-nothing whose body has been hollowed out by wine and women, could possess!

She had heard Bai Zixuan play the zither before; it was all craftsmanship, technical skill but no soul.

And that person last night, every note he played seemed to have a life of its own, able to strike straight to the depths of one's soul!

The more the viper looked, the more his heart sank.

"check!"

She stood up abruptly, her eyes flashing with a venomous coldness, and roared at her subordinates.

"Investigate! Find out who Bai Zixuan has been in contact with lately! Who beat him up at the bar last night? I need information on every single fly that has ever been in his life!"

The power of the "Longevity Club" is terrifying; in less than ten minutes, an encrypted file was transferred to Viper's computer.

The header of the file contained two striking characters: Lin Chen!

The man in the photo has sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, with a faint smile playing on his lips.

Below is his profile: Criminal Investigation Consultant at the Municipal Public Security Bureau, he has solved numerous major cases, possesses top-notch combat skills, and has close relationships with several exceptional women, including Su Qingge and Ye Qingcheng…

When Viper saw the name Lin Chen appear alongside Ye Qingcheng's, his mind went blank for a moment, and all the clues connected at that instant!

The Yip Group's financial attack!

Bai Zixuan suddenly becomes "perfect"!

"Lin...Chen..."

Viper practically spat out the name through clenched teeth, her bright red nail polished fingers trembling violently with anger and lingering fear.

She was scammed!

The entire club has been scammed!

The "Bai Zixuan" who shone brightly on the cruise ship last night and deceived everyone's trust was actually a man named Lin Chen in disguise!

He infiltrated the club's core auction!

"ah--!"

The viper let out a sharp hiss, grabbed the crystal ashtray on the table, and slammed it hard onto the huge monitor!

"Crash!" The screen shattered instantly, sparks flying everywhere. Lin Chen's smiling face twisted and flickered on the broken screen, appearing particularly glaring and mocking.

"Excellent! Lin Chen! What a brilliant feint!"

The viper trembled with rage, her chest heaving violently, but after a moment, her fiery eyes were slowly replaced by a colder, more vicious madness.

"Don't you like protecting the people around you? Don't you think you're very smart?"

She laughed hysterically, her voice sharp and shrill.

"I'll see how you'll still be laughing when your lair is burned to ashes and your family is roasted alive!"

She grabbed the encrypted phone on the table and dialed a number hidden deep in the dark web.

"Feed?"

"I'm going to issue a bounty at the highest level."

"The target is a man named Lin Chen, and his family's courtyard house in the heart of Beijing."

"I don't want him killed, I want him alive, I want him to watch his home burn down."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were assessing the difficulty and risks of the task.

Viper sneered and raised his stakes: "I'll offer three hundred million. Please, 'Accident Maker'—Shadow, make your move."

"The Accident Maker," Shadow!

When those seven words came out of the snake's mouth, the breathing on the other end of the phone became noticeably heavier.

Shadow, a legendary figure in the assassin world.

He never engages in direct combat; his greatest skill lies in using all the environmental factors surrounding his target to create a series of seamless "accidents."

Gas explosions, falling objects from high-rise buildings, vehicles going out of control... In the police reports, every person who died at his hands was just an unfortunate soul.

Ten years since his debut, and he has never made a mistake!

"make a deal."

A hoarse but concise reply came from the other end of the phone.

The viper hung up the phone, a ferocious and twisted smile appearing on his face.

She could almost see the ancient courtyard house reduced to ashes in the raging fire, and Lin Chen kneeling before the ruins, weeping in despair.

"Lin Chen, you're still too green to mess with me!"

Meanwhile, the night in the capital city, like splashed ink, quietly descended.

A shadowy figure, like a ghost, carrying an inconspicuous travel bag, silently blended into the deep night.

A cold, surgically precise smile played on his lips, as if he could already see three hundred million dollars beckoning to him.

The shadow has arrived.