On the plane, Cipher stared somewhat blankly at the wisps of clouds drifting past her.
It was already early the next morning. After settling Luo Lin and the others, Cipher had first given them several EMP Grenades to defend against the technological weapons that might appear later.
Following that, she had conveniently "borrowed" a chessboard from Cerydra's side and given it to Luo Lin and her team. This way, if Luo Lin and the others activated the board, Cerydra would be able to sense it.
Although she didn't know if Arasaka Heavy Industries would continue sending people after losing this squad, Cipher felt that with these safeguards in place, even if they came, there shouldn't be any issues.
Thus, after staying with them for a short while, Cipher left to catch her flight.
Sitting on the plane, she watched the scenery outside with a trace of wonder. Previously, when she used Firefly to fly through the sky, her speed was usually very fast, reaching her destination in no time. This resulted in her rarely having the chance to appreciate the scenery along the way. This was essentially the first time she had slowly admired these sights from a high altitude, and she found it quite novel.
Moreover, because she was in first class, no other passengers came to harass her, allowing her to look at the scenery in peace.
However, the tranquility did not last long; a fragment of low conversation caught her attention.
"That person named Cifera hasn't shown up for five days. I wonder when she'll come."
"Do you really want her to come that badly? You know, a lot of people died back then."
"Why wouldn't I? The first person to discover and report her can have this year's KPI cancelled. I don't believe you aren't tempted."
"Besides, I'll just knock myself unconscious when the time comes. I've seen her recordings; she doesn't seem like the type to indulge in indiscriminate killing."
"It's tempting indeed, but there are so many people in the company. How can you be sure you'll be the first to find Cifera?"
"Heh, that's where you're wrong."
"In any case, if Cifera goes to the District 5 branch, that reward for cancelling the KPI is as good as mine."
...
After that, the conversation shifted to some inconsequential matters. Seeing this, Cipher stopped eavesdropping.
"Cancelling the year's KPI for the person who finds me? That's quite generous."
She knew exactly how intense those so-called KPIs were. Back then, even when she, the intruder, stood right in front of people, they had ignored her because of their so-called KPIs.
"However," Cipher shrugged nonchalantly, "if I'm found, then I'm found. I never intended to hide anyway."
She was, however, a bit curious: what new tricks had the executives of Apex Entertainment come up with to deal with her this time?
A short while later, the plane landed smoothly at the District 5 airport.
Cipher walked down the airbridge, her gray cat ears atop her head twitching slightly as she began searching for the two people she had overheard in first class.
Before long, two familiar voices were successfully captured by her cat ears.
"Found them."
Cipher's eyes lit up. She then headed toward the direction of the voices.
In the VIP passage, a young man in a sharp suit was complaining to the middle-aged man beside him, who was also in a suit. His tone was full of impatience.
"I've really had it. I specifically told my assistant to prepare the meeting materials last night, and even a small task like that was done in a complete mess!"
The middle-aged man replied somewhat listlessly, "If they can't do it, just change them. Young man, don't be so irritable. Look for the reasons within yourself more. If you can't even pick an assistant well, your vision... tsk tsk, it's not quite up to par."
"Hmph!" The young man interrupted unhappily, crossing his arms with an arrogant look. "Quit trying to lecture me with that nonsense you use on your subordinates. We're of the same rank! And you say my vision is poor? Do you know how top-tier my assistant is? Fair-skinned, beautiful, with a great figure, that body..."
"Hi, sorry to interrupt," mid-sentence, a crisp, pleasant, and slightly playful voice suddenly interjected. "Excuse me, are you from Apex Entertainment?"
Interrupted at the height of his excitement, the young man turned around with a look of displeasure. "Who is it! Can't you see I'm talk—"
The words had just left his mouth when he looked as if someone had choked him, and the rest of the sentence was swallowed back down.
What met his eyes was a striking head of silver-gray hair, with a pair of nimble gray cat ears standing atop it. Looking down, he saw an exquisite, flawless face with a hint of playfulness, and... a truly perfect figure.
Gulp. The young man subconsciously swallowed. The anger on his face evaporated instantly, replaced by what he considered a most charming smile. He responded rapidly, "Yes, yes, yes! I am the manager of the Idol Department at the Apex Entertainment District 5 Branch, Lin Mingyu! Beautiful lady, may I ask your name? Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Uh..." Cipher was a bit speechless at his instantaneous face-changing skill, and she subconsciously took a small step back.
However, for the sake of the "fun" to come, she took a deep breath and got straight to the point:
"My name is Cipher. I'm mainly here because I happened to overhear you in first class earlier... something about 'cancelling this year's KPI for whoever finds someone'? So I came looking for you. Is that really true?"
"Oh! You mean that!" Upon hearing this, Lin Mingyu immediately perked up, as if he had found the perfect opportunity to display his worth. "That matter was mainly because our Manager Wu—"
"Hey! Lin Mingyu!" The middle-aged man who had been watching coldly suddenly interrupted him, his voice laced with anger. "Has water entered your brain? You're blurting out everything?"
Interrupted for a second time, and this time in front of a beautiful woman, Lin Mingyu's temper flared up instantly. He snapped his head around, looking at the middle-aged man with extreme dissatisfaction.
"It's fine if Miss Cipher interrupts me—I'm a man, I won't hold it against a young girl! But you, you old fogey, you're the same rank as me. What kind of big shot are you pretending to be here?! First you lecture me, and now you interrupt me in front of others without giving me face. Do you really think of yourself as a senior?"
The middle-aged man's face turned ashen from the scolding. He pointed at the young man's nose and rebuked him angrily:
"I think you've lost your mind because you're thinking with your lower half! Did you not consider if she might be a spy sent by another faction?! You're just spilling the beans because she asked? If she asked for company secrets, would you tell her those without hesitation as well?!"
"I really don't know how a fool like you climbed to the manager position! Leading a pig would be better than leading you! At least a pig won't be unable to move the moment it sees a woman!"
His voice shook slightly, clearly incensed.