"I am never touching that stuff again... Blegh... I got the benefits, and I pulled the prank, but why did I have to go and tempt fate like that?!"
Back at Lu Zhaoran's home, Cipher complained while rubbing her stomach with a miserable expression. Her face was a picture of pure unhappiness.
As for why she was like this, the story goes back to the moment she handed over the coffee.
"Oh? Coffee?"
Li Yan looked surprised as he took the cup Cipher offered.
"I didn't expect Excellency Cipher to drink coffee as well. In that case, let me have a taste."
He reached out and accepted the cup.
Hehe. You might be smart and your conditions are great, but that 'perfectly composed' vibe of yours is really annoying! This is coffee brewed by Himeko—let's see if you can stay that calm after you drink it!
Cipher remained outwardly composed, but internally she was staring at Li Yan's hand as it slowly raised the cup. Her inner little devil was screaming at him: Drink it! Drink it!
But just as the rim was about to touch his lips, he paused and slowly lowered the cup.
Drink! Why did you stop! Did he sense something?
Seeing Li Yan put the cup down, Cipher was confused but dared not let it show. She had to wait until he drank it, until he was so bitter he wanted to vomit, before she could laugh!
However, Li Yan spoke first.
"This is your cup after all; it wouldn't be right for me to drink directly from it. It would be more hygienic to pour it out first."
Before the words had even finished, Li Yan produced a clean coffee cup and poured most of the liquid into it.
Oh, just changing cups. Fine, change all you want, as long as you drink it.
Cipher breathed a silent sigh of relief and continued to watch with anticipation. Finally, her patience was rewarded as Li Yan brought the cup to his mouth.
He took a slow sip. Instantly, his expression underwent a subtle shift. His natural smile seemed to stiffen considerably.
He drank it! Well? How is it? It's terrible, right! I don't believe you can keep it together after that.
The corners of Cipher's mouth began to twitch upward. She was eagerly anticipating the moment Li Yan lost his cool.
However, to her shock, Li Yan didn't put the cup down.
After a pause of about two or three seconds, under Cipher's stunned gaze, his Adam's apple rolled once—excruciatingly slowly. Then, Li Yan tilted his head back and, in one go, actually downed the remaining half-cup of coffee!
He... he finished it?!
Coffee that has pushed bitterness and astringency to the absolute limit, and he just gulped it down?!
Cipher thought incredulously. The smile she had been preparing to unleash completely collapsed.
Thump.
Li Yan placed the cup back on the table, though it seemed he used a bit more force than intended, resulting in a heavy thud.
He took a shallow breath and, with a slightly strained smile, spoke to Cipher.
"Excellency Cipher... this coffee is... truly unique." He paused, seemingly searching for the right words, his speaking rate a fraction slower than before, though he maintained the same tone. "A rich, charred aroma... and a piercing acidity. It makes a very... hmm... deep impression."
"If I may offer... a small suggestion." His gaze swept over the empty cup, and a flash of agony flickered deep in his eyes—a detail Cipher missed in her state of shock. "Next time... perhaps consider filtering the grounds... a bit more thoroughly? The texture... might be... smoother."
"I... I'll keep that in mind."
For a moment, Cipher didn't know what to say. She could only follow his lead in a daze.
"Since the coffee has been drunk... and the reconciliation is complete... Excellency Cipher... Excellency Pardofelis... I will have someone escort you out now."
With that, Li Yan tapped his Terminal. Shortly after, the leader who had brought them there reappeared.
"Excellency Cipher, Excellency Pardofelis, please follow me."
"Okay." x2
Once they reached a secluded alley outside, Cipher looked suspiciously at the tiny bit of coffee remaining in her hand.
"Could it be that the taste of this coffee has somehow improved? Otherwise, how could that Li Yan guy finish a whole cup?"
Tempting fate, Cipher carefully poured the last remaining drop onto her tongue.
"BLEGH!!!"
The moment the drop hit her tongue, Cipher's face contorted into a mask of agony. She leaned against a wall, dry-heaving violently.
"So bitter... urk... How did he... blegh... drink a whole cup of this stuff?!"
"Blegh..."
Meanwhile, inside the restroom of the Countercurrent Alliance sub-base.
Li Yan had lost all of his previous composure. His gold-rimmed glasses sat on the counter as he gripped the sink, his face twisted in agony, vomiting into the basin.
An unidentified dark liquid surged up from his throat. As it passed through his mouth, it stimulated his tongue all over again. The sour, bitter, and astringent taste combined with the nausea to spread through his entire body, forcing him to keep retching.
After nearly an hour of this, Li Yan sat slumped against the wall on the restroom floor, exhausted, completely disregarding whether the ground was dirty or not.
"Yo, Number Two, finally done puking? First time I've seen you look so pathetic, hahahaha!"
A voice drifted down from above, mocking him. Li Yan slightly raised his eyelids to look at the owner of the voice.
"Number Five, you brainless oaf. If you drank that stuff, you'd be looking even worse than me."
"Hmph." Number Five—the brawny man from the conference table earlier—snorted and crossed his arms dismissively. "It's just coffee, how bad could it be? At most it's a bit bitter. I drink bitter-as-death Traditional Chinese Medicine all the time, you think I'm scared of that?"
"Then I'll have Excellency Cipher bring you a cup to taste next time," Li Yan replied calmly, slowly pushing himself up using the sink for support.
"Fine by me! You think I'm scared?" The brawny man gave Li Yan a "friendly" international hand gesture, utterly unfazed by the threat. "By the way, are those two really from that world deep within the Spiritual Tide?"
"How should I know?" As he spoke, Li Yan put his glasses back on. "But the probability is high."
"And if they aren't? What if they're just Genetically Modified Humans from Genesis Tech? Wouldn't you have leaked that intel for nothing?"
"Stupid." Li Yan rolled his eyes at him. "Even if they aren't, as S-rank powerhouses, they would have found out that information sooner or later. Why shouldn't I be the one to reveal it ahead of time?"
"If they didn't know the intel, then I've essentially contributed a decent piece of information for free, which naturally garners a bit of goodwill or attention."
"If they did know the intel but my deduction was wrong—that they aren't from the depths of the Spiritual Tide—then I simply look like an overthinking clown. That would make them feel I'm not a threat, causing them to subconsciously lower their guard and creating a more favorable environment for conversation."
"And if my deduction is correct and they truly are from there, then I have a natural advantage in future negotiations because I know their background."
"So, regardless of whether they knew or not, or whether they are or aren't, it results in a positive gain for me. Why wouldn't I say it?"
"...You scheming types really have dirty hearts."
After listening to Li Yan's explanation, the brawny man was silent for a long time before finally squeezing out that sentence.
"Thank you for the compliment."