"I'm gonna sue you."

"Well, be ready to be charged with illegal possession of a firearm," the operator replied as she and her partner slammed the SUV door shut. Outside, a nearby police unit took over the scene, securing the motorbike.

As for the firearm, it had already been sealed in an evidence bag. Spirit Fox had no intention of handing this woman over to the local police. She wasn't just some criminal—they suspected she might have leads related to the coordinated attacks that had erupted tonight. Headquarters would want to question her personally.

"Do you have any idea what's going on tonight?" the driver asked, eyes narrowing at the rearview mirror as she watched the arrested woman.

"No idea," the biker girl shrugged, though her eyes lingered a little too long on the live feeds displayed inside the vehicle. Sirens wailed in the distance. A flash of something—recognition, concern—crossed her expression. Then she said nothing.

Both operators noticed the shift immediately.

"You better spill the beans before we do something you'll regret," the copilot warned, tone laced with warning.

"Oh my, I'm so scared," the biker girl mocked, voice thick with sarcasm. "The infamous Spirit Fox is about to torture me."

"You think we won't?"

"It's not that you won't," the biker replied coolly. "It's that you can't get anything useful out of me."

She paused deliberately, then continued, "I'm not one of those street rats you break in five minutes. Your so-called advanced interrogation techniques—tweezers, shock, water, whatever—they never work on the strong. In the end, all you get are lies or what you want to hear, not the truth. And besides—"

She looked them both dead in the eye.

"I don't have anything you need."

"That's for us to decide," the operator snapped, signaling her partner to start driving.

Of course, she understood what the female mercenary meant. Much of Spirit Fox's early success in extracting information came from dealing with small-time enemies—those who lacked ambition or ideals and were driven purely by profit. But things were different when it came to ideologues or extremists.

Take, for example, the terrorists wreaking havoc across the Middle Kingdom—including IS, which had been dominating international headlines lately. Against hardened individuals like those, torture was ineffective. The stronger their convictions, the more resistant they became, rendering conventional methods useless.

The operators recognized that this woman was likely telling the truth. She didn't break because there was nothing to break. And they knew that HQ understood those limitations, too.

Even so, the order to bring her in for further questioning had clearly come from high up—likely straight from the founders themselves.

Both she and her partner suspected that this woman had heard or seen something—maybe not direct involvement, but a lead, a rumor, a detail—that connected her to the coordinated attacks. And in a night like this, even whispers mattered.

While the SUV made its way back to headquarters, more reports of attacks came in. By now, the operators deployed across the field were no longer surprised—the shock had worn off after the first few incidents.

Unfortunately for the attackers, the operators had already heightened their vigilance, and the lack of coordination among the enemy proved to be a fatal weakness. Within the span of an hour, enough confirmed reports had surfaced to prove that these weren't random outbursts—there was someone orchestrating the chaos.

In one case, operators had explosive balls thrown at them by a speeding motorbike. In another, a seemingly innocent pedestrian suddenly drew a firearm, fired a few shots, then hopped onto a waiting vehicle to flee the scene.

Despite the audacity of these tactics, Spirit Fox crushed the threats with efficiency. Yet, the IED-style grenade attacks proved harder to completely neutralize—whatever was thrown did explode. Though the operators came out unharmed, several nearby civilians suffered minor injuries from the shrapnel.

The only silver lining was that every attacker was killed moments after appearing. But the frequency was alarming—ten coordinated attacks in under an hour, all targeting Spirit Fox alone. That number couldn't be dismissed as coincidence.

If not for the receiver being Spirit Fox operatives, any other organization would kneel from the damages and collapse momentarily.

Aside from the motive of retaliation, no other explanation presented itself. Naturally, police stations throughout Province N began to panic. Even Yang Qingyue and Cai Ning were thrown into a frenzy, trying to discern the reasoning behind the wave of assaults, their concern deepening for Ling Qingyu's operatives.

After all, Yang Qingyue had paid next to nothing to earn the assistance of such reliable allies, and now it was those very women risking their lives to achieve her goals.

Yang Qingyue, in particular, felt a pang of guilt. These attacks were happening under her jurisdiction, while Ling Qingyu traveled the world. She could only hope the Spirit Fox girls would survive the chaos.

Meanwhile, Cai Ning was busy coordinating multiple police stations, dispatching patrols and initiating investigations into every scene. Both women—seasoned veterans—sensed a hidden dagger aimed in their direction, even though they had no proof.

They sympathized with Spirit Fox's situation, but also privately lamented their own luck. Because if these attacks had been directed at the police force instead... there was no way the outcome would have been this contained.

In fact, the chances of a full-blown disaster would've been higher than an amateur betting all their savings on a volatile stock.

As grim as it sounded, this misfortune striking Spirit Fox instead of law enforcement was, in some twisted way, a relief.

And so, both chiefs immediately reached out—Yang Qingyue contacted Su Ruomei and Jiang Yu, while Cai Ning hesitated briefly before pressing the button to call Tang Ziyi.

…

Underground.

Tang Ziyi burst into the hidden control room—one of the few places only she, Xiao Yue, and Ling Qingyu knew existed.

"Athena, what on earth is going on? How did you miss the attacks?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt," the AI replied, her voice soft and contrite. "I detected nothing abnormal until the attacks had already begun."

Tang Ziyi took a long breath, silently thanking Ling Qingyu for her paranoia. If not for her obsessive overprotectiveness, the news would have been catastrophic. As it stood now, the situation was still under control.

"It's okay, Athena," Tang Ziyi said, her tone easing. She wasn't one to blame blindly—especially not Athena. After all, Ling Qingyu had raised her with firm principles: growth with restraint, power with empathy. Athena wasn't allowed to indiscriminately scan everything like an all-seeing eye. It was a conscious tradeoff—respect for privacy at the cost of full-spectrum surveillance.

They had all known this day might come.

"Aunt, I suspect our enemies are using primitive forms of communication to bypass my detection," Athena explained. "Even carrier pigeons and handwritten letters aren't out of the equation."

"I agree," Tang Ziyi nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not angry. I was just caught off guard for a second."

"Should I inform my mother?" Athena asked carefully.

"No need to bother her," Tang Ziyi said with a faint smile. "Let her enjoy her trip. We can handle this."

She added teasingly, "What? You think I can't solve problems on my own?"

"Of course not, Aunt Tang."

"So, now that you've picked up on the pattern, did you find anything useful?"

"Yes," Athena answered quickly. "Especially after tracing the driver who escaped during the first attack. I've compiled intel and related data."

The screen lit up with cascading reports. Tang Ziyi stepped forward, scanning the summary as her eyes narrowed in focus. Despite missing the initial threat, Athena had quickly narrowed down a list of suspects—most of whom were remnants of minor gangs Spirit Fox had dismantled in the past.

She hadn't expected the scattered remnants of those old gangs to regroup into a new force.

Someone had to be supporting them.

Tang Ziyi mentally drew a line toward the old rulers of Province N—those anxious relics shaken by sweeping reforms, terrified of losing their grip on power.

She scoffed. Pathetic, desperate. But now wasn't the time to deal with them.

"Athena, organize assault teams to breach these safehouses. I want SSE to track down the real mastermind."

"On it, Aunt."

"And figure out how these attackers are communicating," Tang Ziyi added. "Once we crack that, the rest will fall into place."

"Success is guaranteed."

"Relax, Athena. No need to be so serious," Tang Ziyi chuckled, unconcerned about the inevitable 'casualty reports.'

She had absolute faith in the tech she and Athena had developed—and even more in the operators she had personally trained.

"Aunt Tang," Athena reported, "an operator has detained a high-risk individual. They suspect she's connected to the attacks."

"Who is it?" Tang Ziyi asked, pausing to review the file Athena brought up. A moment later, she added, "Also, remind the girls—if they can, try to keep some of the attackers alive. We might still get something out of them." This chapter was first seen on *.

She didn't care about the attackers' fate. The moment they chose to strike, they forfeited mercy. Consequences were part of the game they played—and death was just another cost.

Tang Ziyi had no intention of sparing their lives. As far as she was concerned, these minions had little to offer beyond serving as breadcrumbs leading her to the real mastermind.

Still, the so-called "dangerous individual" caught her attention.

Her instincts stirred—sharp and certain.

Whether truly connected or not, Tang Ziyi had a feeling this woman might just be the final nail in someone's coffin.

"It's just the right moment to test our new inventions," Tang Ziyi showed excitement.

"Are you talking about Truth Serum, Aunt?"

"Good guess, my niece."

"Thank you."