Chapter 23

Ye Qingfeng shook his dazed head and jogged to the intersection, opening the car door and sliding into the passenger seat.

“Hold on tight—we’re off!”

Nico didn’t wait for Ye Qingfeng to fasten his seatbelt; she slammed the accelerator and shot toward Fourth Street.

Ye Qingfeng snapped on his seatbelt, then rolled down the window beside him—the rushing wind streaming in finally eased his discomfort.

The Rabbit’s Den crew encountered no incidents and arrived safely at Sixth Street.

Nico parked the car and led the three of them to the entrance of a video store.

Ye Qingfeng looked up at the ordinary-looking video store and thought: The saying “talent hides among the common folk” really is true...

At that moment, a man and a woman stepped out of the store. Nico greeted them: “You’re here! Perfect timing!”

【Ding! Achievable target: Ling and Zhe】

【Initial affinity: 0% for both】

Ye Qingfeng was startled by the system prompt—he hadn’t received a new achievable target since meeting that green-haired little girl at the Public Security Bureau...

“Nico, you got back way too fast,” Ling tilted her head slightly, one hand resting on her chin. “Did you run another red light?”

“Nope~ We just passed regular green lights and a green light with an R-value of 255!” Nico crossed her arms. “Confirmed—no tails followed us.”

“Anbi, what does a green light with an R-value of 255 look like?”

Billy whispered to Anbi beside him.

“Like your jacket.”

Anbi’s reply was as brief and direct as ever.

Red light...

“Nico, we’ve already rescued the person. Can we settle the debt now?”

Zhe, who had remained silent until now, looked at Nico and asked.

“Wait a minute! The job isn’t done yet!” Nico’s fox-like eyes gleamed with mischief as she kindly reminded him: “My contract was to bring out both my person and the item. You’ve only completed half.”

“Oh right—we also have to bring the item back. Brother, you remember that, right?”

Ling feigned ignorance, glancing at Zhe beside her.

“Hey! You just said something that could ruin our reputation!” Nico raised a hand slightly in front of her mouth. “The contract isn’t complete until we recover the safe!”

“According to eyewitness reports before evacuation, the target safe is within the activity range of a high-threat Wraith.”

Anbi spoke up to explain the safe’s current status; Billy added:

“That’s right—the boss of the Crimson Fang Gang was corrupted by Aetheric Matter and transformed into a high-threat Wraith.”

“Anbi and I tried to forcibly seize the safe, but that guy’s strength is no joke—we couldn’t take it back before we withdrew.”

Anbi must mean that white-haired man... though now he’s definitely a Wraith.

Ye Qingfeng recalled the scene inside the Hollow—each memory made the danger feel more real...

“Nico, what’s actually inside that safe? Is it really worth all this risk?”

Billy asked sincerely.

“Hehe!” Nico chuckled twice. “You’ll find out soon—take a look at this!”

Nico pulled out a tooth-shaped pendant, displaying it to everyone. One end was a red animal fang; the other, to Ye Qingfeng’s eyes, was unmistakably a USB drive.

“A tooth necklace? For me? How wonderful!”

Ling’s eyes narrowed happily, her tone light and cheerful.

“What are you thinking?” Nico instantly crushed Ling’s fantasy. “It’s a small storage device—belonging to Bai Xi. I picked it up in the building before leaving Fourteen Street.”

“I investigated earlier—this old man always carried this data drive. It must contain vital information!” Nico said with full confidence. “I’m certain it’s linked to the safe’s password!”

Beside her, Ye Qingfeng suddenly felt bored—he hadn’t examined the safe closely, but he remembered it used a numeric password.

He wasn’t good with numeric password safes.

Plus, they’d probably have to return to the Hollow. Even if he volunteered to join, Nico wouldn’t let him...

Even if he did go, he’d just be in the way. In short—he had nothing to do right now.

“But it seems to have suffered some damage.”

“The casing is charred.”

Anbi and Billy added respectively.

“Fate and Brother—can you try fixing it? Use the complex computer in the shop.”

Nico looked hopefully at Ling and Zhe—she wasn’t skilled in this area and had no usable computer; she could only rely on the Ropecrafters’ siblings.

“The HDD’s performance is mostly dedicated to Hollow data processing, but just extracting the drive’s contents...” Zhe crossed his arms, silently assessing feasibility, then suddenly looked at Ling beside him. “Sister, I might be able to use the Rope Net’s computational power to attempt a repair.”

“Perfect! It’s settled!” Nico clenched her fists in excitement. “We’ll first locate the safe’s position in the Hollow—once we have a lead, we’ll contact you!”

“Until I reach out to you for the recovery operation, do whatever business you like!” Nico reminded them before leaving. “Don’t forget about extracting the data!”

“See you, shopkeeper!”

“Farewell.”

Anbi and Billy also waved goodbye to the two—no one thought to introduce them to Ye Qingfeng...

“Hey, what’s your name? First meeting, right?”

“Just call me Zhe.” Zhe pointed to Ling beside him. “This is my sister, Ling.”

“Hello! Hello! Brother Zhe looks like a real gentleman!”

Ye Qingfeng smiled warmly and extended his right hand.

“You must be Ye Qingfeng, the one Nico mentioned. You’re too kind.”

Zhe was slightly surprised by the man’s demeanor but still extended his hand with calm dignity, a faint smile on his face.

They shook hands lightly, then released each other’s grip.

“First meeting, a small gift—please don’t refuse.” Ye Qingfeng pulled out a videotape as if by magic and offered it to him. “After all, you both saved my life.”

Because Ye Qingfeng enjoyed wandering, he often bought odd items—he’d found this tape by chance in a secondhand shop. It was dusty and unremarkable, but after wiping off the dust, he searched for it on his phone.

He discovered it had been discontinued long ago—only notable for being out of print, nothing else special. Since it was cheap, he bought it.

That night back at Rabbit’s Den, he watched it—a quiet, artistic documentary. For someone who’d never had any entertainment since childhood, it was oddly interesting...

Not something he loved, but not something he disliked either.

And now it was suddenly useful.