Her short, fiery red hair was slightly messy, like a flame sprite dancing in the dark. The tight red leather outfit perfectly outlined her tall, slim figure, showing off flawless proportions.
Beyond her stunning body, her face was absolutely perfect.
A devil's body with an angel's face. She was the kind of woman people always talked about.
But she was also a thorny rose—dangerous to approach. Right now, her presence felt cold and terrifying.
Her beautiful eyes, full of endless anger, stared at the items on the table.
There were a few anonymous black cards from international banks, a stack of IDs and passports from different countries, and one ordinary-looking brass whistle.
Then her eyes landed on a piece of paper with bold, flowing handwriting:
"I'm leaving. The organization is now yours to lead... Take care."
The woman's hand trembled as she held the note. The next second, red energy surged from her palm and burned the paper to ash instantly.
"Bastard!"
At that moment, a blond man with blue eyes appeared behind her. He said softly, "He's gone. Once he makes a decision, nobody can stop him, right?"
"I'll find him. No matter what!" Her voice was firm and unshakable.
"You know that if he wants to hide, no one can find him," the blond man said with a frown.
"As long as he's still alive... As long as he's somewhere in this world…"
Her eyes were full of determination as she clenched her teeth. "Even if I have to search the whole world, I'll find him!"
The blond man sighed quietly. He looked at her graceful back, not sure whether he should feel sad or relieved.
The man was gone. She had searched the entire world, trying so hard to find him. But if it were her who disappeared... he probably wouldn't care at all, right?
After the blond man left, the woman picked up the brass whistle from the table, gripping it tightly as she whispered, "Why? Why couldn't you just let it go… even in death?"
---
In the ancient country of Huaguo, on a coastal highway in the southeast, a young man in his twenties stood by the side of the road.
This stretch of highway was between two cities, with no villages or shops nearby.
Other than the occasional speeding car, it was nearly empty.
The young man carried a dirt-colored canvas bag. He was around 5'9". Not super handsome, but not ugly either.
He wore a brown casual outfit, and his face looked a little pale, like he'd just recovered from a serious illness.
He looked average, but there was a quiet determination in his eyes that made him stand out just a bit.
He had tried to wave down a few cars, but no one stopped. Finally, a passenger bus appeared in the distance.
Even though intercity buses weren't supposed to stop outside of stations, let's be real, who didn't want to make a little extra cash?
Screech!
The bus pulled over.
The young man walked up slowly. As he stepped onto the bus, his eyes scanned the entire cabin.
In his head, he already remembered where every single passenger was sitting and what they looked like.
There were 46 seats and 35 people onboard. Among them were 19 adult men, 12 adult women, and four children, three kids and a baby.
Nobody noticed the small detail: while he seemed to casually glance around, his eyes paused just a little longer on one person.
It was a woman.
No...
She was beautiful, sure, but that wasn't why his gaze lingered.
It was because she was wearing a police uniform. It wasn't anything fancy, just a basic outfit without rank insignia, but it still made her stand out.
The female officer looked like she was in her early twenties.
Maybe not stunning, but definitely pretty. What really stood out were her eyes.
They looked like something out of an anime, huge, bright, and full of life.
Combined with her short bob haircut and bangs, she had a super energetic and cheerful vibe.
"Ticket price is 18 bucks," the chubby female conductor said with a blank face.
"Here," the young man replied, snapping out of his daze as he pulled a bill from his pocket and handed it over.
The conductor's already round face twisted into a scowl. "What kind of money is this? Are you kidding me?!"
"This money… can't be used?" the young man frowned.
"No, it can't!" the conductor snapped, her tone sharp and unfriendly.
"Got it," he shrugged, then turned to face the passengers in the carriage. "Excuse me, can anyone help me exchange some money? Euros for Guohua currency. One to one."
The whole carriage instantly went silent, everyone staring at him.
A female police officer sitting in the fourth row frowned, clearly suspicious.
Exchanging foreign currency?
Seriously?
In Guohua, this was a classic scam, completely exposed by the media ages ago. Nobody was gonna fall for something that outdated.
Seeing the doubtful, wary, and even hostile looks around him, the young man felt confused. What was with these people?
Suddenly, a guy with dyed yellow hair in the fifth row looked at the female officer in front of him, then stood up and shouted at the young man, "Hey, kid! Trying to scam people in broad daylight? Are you looking for trouble? You think we're all dumb enough to fall for that lame old trick?!"
His voice was loud, full of righteous energy like he was some kind of hero.
As he spoke, he walked straight up to the young man, still yelling, "Everyone, watch this! I'm gonna expose this scammer's tricks!"
The young man didn't say anything. He just stood there and let the guy come up, grab the euro note from his hand, and even take his backpack.
It wasn't like he couldn't stop him, he just wanted to see what this fool was going to do.
"This euro note's definitely fake!"
The blond guy waved the 20-euro bill around, then opened the canvas bag and dumped everything out. "If someone falls for the first note, he'll ask to exchange more. And those'll be fake too… Yep! All these euros are fake!"
Clatter…
The bag's contents spilled onto the floor. Most of it was junk, but all eyes were locked on the stacks of fresh euros neatly sealed with tape.
Wow!
The passengers gasped. It really looked like the blond guy had caught a scammer in the act. Using that much fake money? This guy had guts!
"Scammer!"
"Call the cops!"
"Why call? There's an officer right here!"
"Yeah! Officer, look—"
"I see it."
The female officer's eyes flashed coldly as she stood up and walked over to the young man, her face full of anger. "You're bolder than I thought."
To try such an old trick with a cop on the bus? This guy wasn't just gutsy, he was straight-up dumb!
"Pick it up." The young man ignored her and calmly spoke to the blond guy.
"You…" The blond man's face twisted with anger.
"Wait a sec!" the female officer's expression suddenly changed. She bent down, picked up a stack of cash, and froze. "These… these euros are real…"
The entire bus fell silent. You could've heard a pin drop. Everyone stared at the neat stacks of high-denomination euros, their faces full of mixed emotions.
Excitement.
Shock.
And even… greed.
Each stack was thick, probably a hundred bills, all 500-euro notes. There were twenty stacks in total, easily over 700,000 in local currency.
Carrying millions in cash? Who was this guy?
The blond dude, who thought he was the hero of the day, was instantly turned into a complete joke.
Passengers, still eyeing the cash with burning excitement, looked at him like he was just some clown in a bad show.
And the blond guy?
He was burning with shame and bitterness, but he didn't dare say a word.