Time rewinds to yesterday, Queens District, 9 a.m.
When Jill Young was taken to the Seventh District, Xiao Di, Pierce, and the Lazy Doctor arrived at the entrance of a café. “Is that girl reliable? Suddenly telling us to come here to find someone, but not explaining who exactly we’re looking for,” Pierce complained, scratching his head. “And why did she specifically call this lazy guy to come along?”
“Stop whining and just do as you’re told.” Xiao Di glanced at the café. “The info says the target comes here every morning at nine for coffee, never misses a day. This is the only place in Queens District that serves this brand, so Lazy Doctor, keep your eyes peeled. The note says once you see the person, you’ll know who the target is.”
Lazy Doctor shrugged. “Sounds mysterious, but with no name, I can’t promise anything.” With that, he pushed open the door and went in. The café was packed—actually, the whole Queens District was crowded these days, so that wasn’t surprising. Lazy Doctor scanned the customers, about to yawn, but suddenly froze. The yawn stuck in his mouth, making him look utterly ridiculous.
“Cough, cough!” He forced out a couple of coughs to steady himself, then stared at Xiao Di. “Your note was spot on. I think I get why it didn’t mention a name.” With that, he walked straight to a coffee table, stopped before a well-built Asian man, and drawled, “What a coincidence, Mr. Qian. We need to talk. Come with us.”
Mr. Qian glanced at Lazy Doctor, then at Xiao Di and Pierce. He sighed and stood up. “Alright.”
Ten minutes later, in a secret room, Xiao Di’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re actually Kimberly?!”
Mr. Qian nodded. “Yep, that’s me.”
Pierce pointed at him in disbelief. “Weren’t you dead? I saw the whole building collapse in that explosion!”
“Prediction skills are basic for any financial expert. I sensed an operation targeting me, so I faked my death and escaped.” He touched his face. “I regularly change my appearance at Lazy Doctor’s clinic—he’s the only one who can recognize me. I used to think about silencing him, but this time things happened too fast.”
"Quit dawdling, get out here! We've got a ton of work for you!" Xiao Di poked her head in from outside, giving Kimberly a slow once-over with narrowed eyes. "By the way, you ever heard of that guy called 'Ao' in the Quantum Network?"
…………………………………………………………………………………
At nine in the evening, twelve hours into Jill Young's confinement, a car rolled into the Seventh District. After jumping through a million security hoops, it reached the military zone’s deepest recesses. Four burly men hauled out a body bag, hustling into a squat building. They dumped the bag onto a conveyor belt, which slid it through something that looked suspiciously like an airport security scanner.
A soldier glanced at the scan results and nodded. "No metal."
Only then did the other soldiers lower their guns and unzip the body bag. Inside, Pure Lord lay perfectly still, blinking at them with a grin. "Evening, boys."
"It's already nighttime," one soldier said, pulling out a flashlight-like gadget and shining it into Pure Lord’s eyes. Ding! The result popped up. He nodded. "Iris scan checks out. He’s Iron Testicle."
The four burly men at the door hurried over, grinning obsequiously. "Officers, since you’ve confirmed his identity, about that deal the military promised—getting us out of Steelbull City…"
The lead soldier waved his hand, and the others instantly raised their rifles and rattled off a barrage, turning the four men into Swiss cheese. Normally, any self-respecting gangster would’ve seen this setup coming a mile away, but Steelbull City’s gotten so bad, desperate times call for desperate measures.
"No metal?" The lead soldier snorted, strolling up to Pure Lord and giving his face a pat. "Aren’t you called 'Iron Testicle'? Turns out that thing’s not actually made of iron, huh."
"Hey, hey, I’m just trying to make a living off the ladies. Nothing to brag about." Pure Lord grinned.