Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The huge 18-wheel tanker was filled with crude oil. Once it ignited, the flames soared into the sky. The thick black smoke from the fire filled the entire two-way highway.
Huo Shaoheng put on a Bluetooth headset and connected to the Special Operations Forces elite team member on the highway. He asked in a low voice, “…Protect the scene. Who was inside the black and white cars? Are there any other casualties?”
The team leader was currently in a private vehicle and on the way. There were also several agents driving large trucks and following the cars involved in the accident at a steady pace.
Today’s accident had been very unexpected for them. They’d had no idea that the enemy had enough power to turn an oil tanker into a weapon!
“Huo Shao. According to the license plates, the black Mercedes and the white BMW both belong to the Ishihara Corporation.” The team leader quickly identified the owners of the cars.
“Everyone in the two vehicles perished. The fire in the tanker was too fierce. It burned both cars down to their frames almost immediately. Aside from those, there were no other casualties at the scene. Traffic on the highway has been stalled and the traffic police should be on their way.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded. He looked up at the larger screen to see traffic police, fire trucks, and ambulances quickly making their way to the scene through the thick black smoke and huge flames.
“Leave one agent behind to discreetly monitor the scene. The others are to follow Miss Gu.” Huo Shaoheng suddenly paused after he said this. “…Where is Miss Gu?”
His original plan had been to monitor Gu Nianzhi from every angle.
But now he realized that Gu Nianzhi had been missing from his screen for a full minute.
The team leader immediately replied, “We have personnel following Miss Gu. The scene is very chaotic at the moment. The surveillance may be unable to connect at this time.”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t reply. His gaze was ice-cold as he watched the large screen.
Although he didn’t speak, his oppressive yet calm aura seemed to be traveling through the phone line.
The leader of the elite team suddenly felt a shudder. He quickly connected with his team members.
Soon after, the disconnected surveillance went back online.
The image of a bright red Ferrari appeared on the large screen in front of Huo Shaoheng. It looked especially eye-catching amidst the swirling fog and smoke-filled highway.
Gu Nianzhi watched the devastating accident through her rearview mirror.
The traffic was already a complete mess. While there weren’t many cars in front of her, all the cars behind her were completely blocked by the 18-wheel tanker that was blocking both sides of the highway.
The blazing flames soared into the air as snow gradually fell from the sky.
Gu Nianzhi stopped her car in the emergency lane of the highway and opened her car door to step outside.
She appeared very cool in her short sapphire-blue coat. Her blue, straight leg jeans accentuated her straight legs. The spotless white sneakers she wore were a stark contrast against the gray and dreary scenery on the highway.
She leaned against the door of her bright red Ferrari. She was breathtaking.
Gu Nianzhi also wore sunglasses. Her fair skin and expressionless face make her look as fierce as the flames she was looking at.
The fire somehow seemed a bit familiar to her.
When she was 12 years old and had suddenly appeared in downtown C City, had her car burned fiercely like this?
That car accident had caused serious psychological trauma on her young mind. She still hadn’t recovered her memories to this day.
But now, these things didn’t seem to have any effect on her.
Huo Shaoheng was right. The correct way of conquering fear was to face it, not to evade it.
When she could look directly at the past that had once caused unbearable pain, she would be able to truly leave it all behind.
At that moment, Gu Nianzhi could only feel her heart becoming more stable than ever.
This was confidence learned by experience.
She would never lose to anyone as long as she relied on herself.
Those people emphasized family background and status, but what did those things matter in comparison to her strong abilities?!
…
Huo Shaoheng’s eyes were completely enraptured by the on-screen image of Gu Nianzhi leaning on the bright red Ferrari. He couldn’t avert his gaze.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze cheered loudly as soon as Gu Nianzhi appeared on the large screen.
After they finished cheering, Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze started to worry. “Huo Shao! Nianzhi has psychological trauma from car accidents. Should we…”
Before they even finished speaking, they felt a gust of wind rush past them. The office door banged open as Huo Shaoheng’s figure disappeared.
“Running so fast! As if he could say he wasn’t worried?!” Yin Shixiong cackled as he picked up his car keys and patted Zhao Liangze’s shoulder. “Little Ze, you stay on standby here while I go check Nianzhi’s school.”
Zhao Liangze cried out, “Why do I have to stay on standby here?! I’m going to see Nianzhi at school. You stay on standby!”
“I’ve been suspended for a month.” Yin Shixiong put on a stern face. “I can’t interact with work.”
“Hmph! Who was dispatching staff so happily just now!?” Zhao Liangze kicked him. “Remember to bring your phone. I have to see how Nianzhi is doing!”
“I know!” Yin Shixoong rushed out of Huo Shaoheng’s office door with a smile and chased after him.
However, Huo Shaoheng was much faster than him.
By the time Yin Shixoong sat down in his car, Huo Shaoheng’s car was already on the highway.
The Special Operations Forces headquarters base was on the Third Ring Road, while Gu Nianzhi was on a two-way highway on the Fourth Ring Road.
But it only took Huo Shaoheng 15 minutes to get to the highway Gu Nianzhi was on.
The highway entry and exit had been blocked, so Huo Shaoheng had no choice but to present his special identification before being allowed inside.
He sped his silver Bentley SUV down the highway until he finally saw Gu Nianzhi’s bright red Ferrari.
…
Gu Nianzhi stood in front of her car for a while before taking out her phone to record a video.
The highway was currently closed, so she couldn’t exit the highway until the accident scene was cleared.
But it was still early in the day, so there weren’t many cars getting off the highway causing congestion.
Gu Nianzhi stared at her phone screen and suddenly noticed a familiar looking silver Bentley SUV through her camera lens.
What?
This car was nearly the same as Huo Shao’s?
Hmm?
Even the license plate was the same?
Gu Nianzhi had never even considered that Huo Shaoheng would be able to personally drive over.
The silver Bentley parked on the emergency lane of the highway not far behind her. Gu Nianzhi instantly understood what was happening, so she helplessly put away her phone and turned around to hide in her car.
At that moment, Huo Shaoheng got out of the car.
“Gu Nianzhi!” a harsh voice called out behind Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi’s back instantly stiffened as she squeezed the car door. At that moment, she couldn’t go inside or stay outside.
There was nowhere for her to retreat anyway. She was already the final winner, what was she afraid of?
Gu Nianzhi’s heart was set as she slowly turned around.
Because Huo Shaoheng had hurried here, he was still wearing his dark green, wool military uniform. His weaponry belt was tied around his waist. His long legs were clad in tall military boots.
There was a rare, harsh expression on his face.
Adjusting his gloves, he walked over at an even pace to stand before Gu Nianzhi.
“Miss Gu, you’ve certainly surprised me.” He turned around to point at the car accident scene with its rolling smoke and blazing flames. His voice was deep and emotionless. However, it still carried invisible pressure as he said, “Did you know that this was very dangerous? Not only did you put yourself in danger, but you could’ve gotten innocent people involved too!”
“I would never involve innocent people!” Gu Nianzhi balled her hands into fists, unable to bear this kind of accusation. “I calculated everything!”
“You calculated everything!” Huo Shaoheng latched onto her words and moved one step closer, forcing her into the corner by the Ferrari’s door. “How did you calculate that? Don’t tell me that you also accounted for that white BMW?! Ishihara Taro was inside the black Mercedes, but what about the white BMW?”
“Ishihara Wakashi was in there!” Gu Nianzhi shouted without holding back, glaring at Huo Shaoheng. Her beautiful face was like the huge, blazing fire. “I already told you that I wouldn’t allow innocent people to get hurt! But I would also never let off anyone who tried to hurt me! You said that the Ishihara family hates me for the death of their father, so they would never let me off! If that’s the case, let them go ahead!”
“I won’t let them off either!”
Although Gu Nianzhi forced herself to remain calm, her emotions finally got out of control and she began screaming madly.
Huo Shaheng looked down at her. His heart finally gave in and he reached out to envelop her in his arms. His large hands smoothed her back. His deep voice carried traces of tenderness as he consoled her anxiety.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, I’m not blaming you.”
Gu Nianzhi calmed down before gently pushing Huo Shaoheng away. She whispered, “…We’re outside, it’d be bad if other people saw you like this.”
He was still wearing his military uniform too…
Huo Shaoheng patted her head but didn’t continue hugging her. He picked up the earlier topic and asked sternly, “Ishihara Wakashi was inside the white BMW. How did you know that?”
He didn’t even know that himself.
“…Was this something your chaos algorithm calculated?”
If that was true, then this was truly an impressive algorithm…
A wave of unease rose in Huo Shaoheng’s heart.
Gu Nianzhi cocked her head and snickered. “How could that be? Then I wouldn’t be a human, but a god.”
“So how did you know that?” Huo Shaoheng exhaled quietly and relaxed.
With some embarrassment, Gu Nianzhi shoved her hands into her coat pockets and kept her head down as she stepped on the pebbles of the highway’s emergency lane. She replied quietly, “Ishihara Taro had the support of the Ishihara Corporation. He used a lot of resources and manpower to track me and investigate my daily situation. He could only make precise calculations by constantly enriching his database.”
“I can’t do that since I don’t have the time or manpower.”
She couldn’t allow anyone else to know about what she wanted to do, so she didn’t ask Huo Shaoheng for help or confide in He Zhichu.
Huo Shaoheng snorted. “…No manpower? Are you pretending that I’m dead or something?”
Gu Nianzhi averted her gaze. “I said I’d rely on myself, so that’s what I did. I wouldn’t be relying on myself if I asked for Huo Shao’s help.”
“So how did you do it?”
“I didn’t track Ishihara Taro, I started with the results to reverse engineer his patterns of behavior.”
“Speak simply.” Huo Shaoheng glared at her. “Don’t show off your technical jargon at me.”
“Fine then.” Gu Nianzhi spread her palms with a giggle. “I’ll speak plainly then. I hacked into the Ishihara Corporation’s computer and discovered that they were planning to completely withdraw from our country to return to Japan. Also, their head secretary booked two first-class ANA tickets for 9 A.M. today.”
Ishihara Taro was too vigilant, so the computer he used for calculations had no internet connection at all. Gu Nianzhi couldn’t directly hack his computer.
Ishihara Taro’s cellphone was a blank slate as well.
In the end, Gu Nianzhi could only hack into the Ishihara Corporations’ official website to enter through their background processes.
She understood clearly that if Ishihara Taro’s ultimate goal was to kill her, then there was no question that the first thing Ishihara Taro would do upon his success would be to immediately flee the Huaxia Empire and return to Japan.
“…Then I took a look around ANA’s flight booking website and, as expected, I discovered the names Ishihara Wakashi and Ishihara Taro. It was then that I knew Ishihara Wakashi was leaving too.”
Once she confirmed that Ishihara Wakashi was also in the Imperial Capital and would be leaving together with Ishihara Taro, her plan suddenly changed with the addition of another variable.
Because she was purposeful and knew that some situations were bound to occur, she needed to make fewer calculations than Ishihara Taro did. However, she needed to be much more accurate.
“So then you took advantage of Ishihara Taro’s plan and walked them into their own trap?” Huo Shaoheng crossed his arms and still didn’t look very approving. “What if the tanker didn’t get into trouble according to your plan? That was too risky.”
“That wasn’t something I could decide on.” Gu Nianzhi shrugged her shoulders, pointing her finger at the scene of the car accident down the road. “If Ishihara Taro hadn’t created this twisted plan to use against me, then he certainly wouldn’t have died today. I never wanted to kill anyone unless they wanted to kill me, which makes it self defense. Today’s grand spectacle was the funeral they planned for themselves. What do you think? Impressive?”
