"What's the plan this time? Where are we restocking?"
In a meeting room of a Countercurrent Alliance base in the Pit District, Cipher, who had already disguised herself as Pardofelis, leaned casually against the wall. Standing before her was that fellow who still wore those signature gold-rimmed glasses, Li Yan.
Faced with Pardofelis's question, Li Yan replied with a smile:
"Still an old acquaintance—Apex Entertainment's District 5 branch."
"We 'visited' them once and now they're old acquaintances?" Pardofelis raised an eyebrow, her tone teasing. "I've 'restocked' at your place three or four times now; does that mean we're almost close enough to be relatives?"
"If Your Excellency Pardofelis is willing," Li Yan replied smoothly, his smile unchanging, "we would be more than happy to claim such a relation."
"Shoo, shoo," Pardofelis waved her hand in feigned disgust. "Who would want that?"
Li Yan merely smiled without speaking.
"Alright, tell me the target info first."
Seeing that he was impervious to her jabs, Pardofelis didn't bother haggling further and got straight to the point.
At this, Li Yan retracted his smile, his expression turning serious. He leaned over, pulled a chip from beneath the table, and pushed it across the surface toward her.
"Ever since your last 'restocking' behavior, other branches of Apex Entertainment have started making various moves. Even Cyber Logistics, the third wealthiest organization, has begun guarding against your arrival. It took us a great deal of effort to acquire this deployment map."
As he spoke, he pointed to the chip on the table.
After hearing Li Yan's explanation, Pardofelis picked up the chip and inserted it into her Terminal. In the next moment, a 3D deployment map labeled District 5 Branch appeared before her eyes.
The layout was presented exactly like the one used for the District 3 branch, detailing the structural traps of every area and the routes taken by patrol robots. After scanning through it, Pardofelis instinctively clicked to the next page.
She discovered that the entire file consisted of only that single page.
"Tsk," Pardofelis clicked her tongue in distaste. "Several days of work and you only got one building? Your efficiency..."
"It couldn't be helped," Li Yan spread his hands, looking helpless. "Locking down the detailed layout of a building within a few days is the limit. Don't forget, we are merely a subordinate organization of the AMA."
"Fine, fine," Pardofelis didn't dwell on it. To her, a map was just the icing on the cake. As a Demigod of Trickery with the ability to "force lies into reality," she was confident in succeeding with or without a map.
"The train ticket to District 5 is booked, I assume?"
Having said that, she naturally reached her hand out toward Li Yan.
"Um... I didn't book one," Li Yan replied quite frankly.
"Then give me the tick—" Pardofelis's hand paused mid-air, and she snapped her eyes up to glare at him. "You didn't book it?!"
Facing Pardofelis's suddenly sharp and suspicious gaze, Li Yan defended himself with an innocent look:
"Don't look at me like that. I really didn't book it. Didn't you just 'swish' and teleport to District 3 last time? I thought the ticket-booking step was purely redundant, so I skipped it."
"..."
Pardofelis silently rolled her eyes, said nothing, turned on her heel, and began to walk away.
"Hey—wait, wait, wait!" Li Yan hurriedly rose to stop her, a trace of a successful smirk appearing on his face. Like a magician, he produced a card from his pocket. "I didn't prepare a train ticket, but I did prepare... a plane ticket. First class, even."
"Heh." Pardofelis snatched the ticket away. After confirming the destination was District 5 and the time was correct, she stuffed it into her pocket and gave him a sharp glare. "That cold, calculating persona of yours that's always a step ahead has completely collapsed. You're being as childish as a kid right now."
"You flatter me," Li Yan accepted the comment readily, pushing up his glasses with a slight curl of his lips. "This is called 'vying for every inch of revenge.' How can it be considered childish?"
He then waved his hand at her.
"I wish you a pleasant journey, Your Excellency Pardofelis."
After speaking, he turned to walk toward the meeting room door.
Pardofelis stared at his back with annoyance, grumbling inwardly:
Revengeful? Hah, I'd say his heart is smaller than the tip of a needle! Diagnosed as a pure black-bellied type—otherwise, he wouldn't have forced that guy Buck to drink coffee... wait, coffee?
A thought flashed through her mind, and Pardofelis's footsteps nailed her to the spot. As she looked at Li Yan's back again, an irrepressible glint of mischief curved her lips.
With a faint glimmer in her hand, a cup of pitch-black coffee steaming with a thick, ominous aura appeared out of thin air. Then, with a flick of her finger, a peculiar coin was tossed high into the air.
Buzz—
Time suddenly slowed to a crawl. The entire world seemed to have a slow-motion filter applied, even the flow of air was clearly visible. Pardofelis directly entered her Godspeed state.
Holding the coffee cup, she "leisurely" walked up to the frozen, statue-like Li Yan.
"Vying for every inch of revenge, are we?" She gently pried open Li Yan's frozen lips and carefully poured a portion of the incredibly foul-tasting liquid inside. "Good endurance, are you? It was your skill that you downed it in one go last time, but what about this time?"
Thinking this wasn't quite enough to vent her frustration, Pardofelis's figure flashed, appearing instantly in the base's kitchen to find a funnel. Then, she flashed back to Li Yan's side and firmly inserted the funnel into his pried-open mouth.
"Enjoy your 'farewell gift'!"
The moment she finished speaking, Pardofelis tilted her wrist, pouring every last drop of the remaining coffee into the depths of the funnel.
After finishing, she clapped her hands in satisfaction. Just as she was about to return time to normal, another thought occurred to her.
If his reactions were fast enough, he might immediately pull the funnel out. Wouldn't the coffee be wasted then?!
At this, Pardofelis recalled another prop. She pulled a pink bubble gun from her bag and sprayed a Bubble at Li Yan. Then, she ran back to the kitchen to get some plastic wrap to seal the funnel tight.
Now, she was truly satisfied. She reached out and took back the Flipping Coin.
Instantly, the flow of time returned to normal.
"Mmph, gurgle... blegh..."
A painful sound like a drowning person suddenly rang out, followed immediately by a string of silver-bell-like laughter.