Li Chuan's phone vibrated once, the sudden buzz slicing through the tense silence in the car.
He glanced down. On the screen, an encrypted email appeared. No sender, no traceable source. Just a short, chilling subject line:
"You have stepped into what you shouldn't have touched."
"Aiyo, so drama," Cheng Mo snorted as he glanced at the screen.
Li Chuan, however, showed no amusement. The corners of his lips merely curled up slightly as he forwarded the message to Shen Qiu.
Seconds later, Shen Qiu's voice came through the earpiece, laced with tension. "Standard dark web warning. This means they are not just watching you already—they are evaluating your threat level."
Su Man crossed her arms. "Evaluating? Means what, we still got chance to pass their test?"
Shen Qiu sighed. "More like they haven't decided whether to move on you yet. 'Branding' doesn't accept missions lightly. Once they lock onto a target, they won't back off. But this... this means someone put a bounty on you, and they haven't fully executed it yet."
Li Chuan tapped his finger against his knee, deep in thought. "That means... we still have time."
Su Man raised a brow. "And what you wanna do with this 'time'?"
"Find out who made the request," Li Chuan said, voice calm like the Pasir Gudang harbor on a windless night. "If we cut off the source, 'Branding' will drop the job."
"Easier said than done," Shen Qiu muttered, his fingers dancing over his keyboard. "'Branding' operates in the shadows, their contract system is almost impossible to trace. Even for me."
Li Chuan flipped the small black chip between his fingers. "Then we use another way—talk to them directly."
Hours later, in an underground bar in Jalan Alor, the air was thick with cigarette smoke and stale whiskey. The place smelled of cheap liquor and desperation, where backdoor deals were more common than happy hours.
Li Chuan, Cheng Mo, and Su Man occupied a dim corner, staying low-profile.
"This plan, ah... really not your best," Shen Qiu's voice came through the comms, clearly uneasy.
"We have no better one," Li Chuan murmured, swirling the drink in his hand without taking a sip. "We either strike first, or wait for them to kill us."
Just then, the bar door creaked open. A tall man in a black trench coat stepped in, scanning the crowd briefly before walking toward their table.
He pulled out a chair, his sharp gaze landing on Li Chuan. "You were looking for me?"
Li Chuan met his eyes without hesitation. "We want to make a deal with 'Branding'."
The man's expression didn't change. He merely drummed his fingers against the wooden table. "We don't take sudden contracts."
"We're not hiring you," Li Chuan corrected him, sliding the chip across the table. "We're here to buy back an order."
For the first time, a flicker of interest crossed the man's face. He picked up the chip, examined it briefly, then leaned back. "How did you get this?"
Cheng Mo grinned. "If we can take it, means we know more than you think."
The man remained silent for a few beats. Then, he chuckled. "And what exactly do you plan to offer in return?"
Li Chuan's voice was calm. "A piece of intelligence that's worth more than the job you've been paid for."
The man tapped the chip against the table, considering.
Finally, he nodded. "I can arrange a meeting. But the final decision... isn't up to me."
"That's enough," Li Chuan said smoothly. "When and where?"
The man adjusted his cuffs as he stood. "Tomorrow. Midnight. Old docks at Port Klang."
With that, he turned and disappeared into the smoky haze of the bar.
As soon as the man left, Cheng Mo let out a low whistle. "Well, we got their attention."
Su Man, however, remained wary. "Doesn't mean they'll actually change their minds. 'Branding' doesn't drop jobs easily."
Li Chuan's lips curled slightly. "That's why we'll make sure they see our offer as the better deal."
Shen Qiu's voice came in again. "I'll set up surveillance around the docks, try to monitor their movements. But listen—this deal is risky. If they decide your intel isn't worth it, they might just kill you instead."
Li Chuan exhaled slowly, his fingers tightening around his glass. "That's what makes it interesting."
Outside, the neon lights flickered, casting distorted reflections on the rain-slick streets.
Somewhere in the dark, unseen eyes were already watching.
Shen Qiu's voice came through the earpiece: "If I'm not wrong, that's an encrypted data chip used by the 'Brand' organization."
Li Chuan's eyes narrowed. "Brand?"
Shen Qiu sighed. "A dark web syndicate that only takes high-stakes contracts. They never fail once they accept a job."
Cheng Mo let out a sharp laugh. "Well, looks like they failed tonight."
"Yes," Shen Qiu said, his voice grim. "But that also means… you've been marked."
Li Chuan ran his fingers over the chip, his gaze unreadable.
"Then," he murmured, "how should we strike back?"