Cooperation

Flame City.

A certain park.

Several luxury cars were parked at the park's entrance.

In a secluded pavilion within the park,

three young women with distinct temperaments were engaged in a conversation—though the atmosphere was far from harmonious. Their expressions ranged from indifference to icy detachment, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a knife.

The night wind rustled through the treetops, carrying a biting chill that felt especially sharp in the quiet surroundings.

These three were none other than Gu Ruoxue, Ji Qingyi, and Li Guanqi.

As the sound of falling leaves brushed the ground, Ji Qingyi's voice cut through the silence with crystal clarity:

"You've been scheming all this time, and now that everything's gone to hell, you come crawling to me?"

She cast a sidelong glance at the other two girls, lips pressed into a thin line, her face frozen in utter disdain. Her anger was unmistakable.

She already knew the full story—and it infuriated her.

The reason was simple: in her eyes, these two had deliberately excluded her from the start. Only after their plans had collapsed did they dare seek her help.

To her—

this was utterly unacceptable!

Since when did the world work this way?

More importantly, they had driven Su Cheng into such a desperate corner—and she had been kept completely in the dark.

How could she not be furious?

"President Ji, I believe you wouldn’t want to see things end like this either," Li Guanqi said, her eyes brimming with remorse as she looked at Ji Qingyi.

"So, you’re asking for my help now?"

Ji Qingyi turned to her, then shifted her gaze to Gu Ruoxue, who remained silent.

Gu Ruoxue gave a slight nod.

"My stance hasn’t changed. You can count me in as part of the earlier agreement."

"Hmph. You’re quite the saint, aren’t you?"

Ji Qingyi let out a cold laugh. "But did you really think a half-hearted plea would move me?"

"Regardless of what you think of me, that wasn’t my intention in coming here," Gu Ruoxue replied calmly. "I simply believe that with your capabilities, you’d recognize that cooperation would be the most efficient way to resolve this situation."

"Cooperation?"

Ji Qingyi’s expression remained frosty. "Apologies, but I have no interest in collaborating with those who lack sincerity."

"President Ji, please hear me out," Li Guanqi said firmly.

Ji Qingyi gestured for her to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Li Guanqi pressed on: "If you don’t intervene, we’ll all end up with nothing. Yes, there are deep disagreements between us—but the problem we’re facing now threatens to erase the very thing we’re disagreeing over. Shouldn’t we work together, at least until we’ve secured the foundation that allows us to keep arguing? As for your conditions… we’ll do our best to accommodate them, within reason."

Her gaze never left Ji Qingyi as she finished speaking.

A heavy silence followed.

Then—

"The ring."

Two words.

At this, Li Guanqi visibly stiffened.

"You… want the ring?" she asked hesitantly.

All three of them knew exactly what that ring signified.

"Yes. That’s exactly what I want," Ji Qingyi confirmed.

Handing that ring over to her would be tantamount to surrendering the right of priority—letting her take control of the claim.

"Tch. After all this circling, you’re still in such a hurry. Losing confidence in yourself?"

Gu Ruoxue didn’t seem particularly surprised, though a trace of disappointment flickered across her face.

"What, not willing to give it up?"

Ji Qingyi’s eyes narrowed, her voice laced with frost. "Fine. I’ll take my leave then. As for the ring… think it over. Time’s running out, after all."

After speaking, she turned to leave.

Li Guanqi wanted to stop her, but Gu Ruoxue blocked the way.

She sighed as she watched Ji Qingyi's retreating figure.

"Ji Qingyi."

Gu Ruoxue called out to her: "Wasting time is meaningless. You should understand that better than I do."

Ji Qingyi halted her steps.

Gu Ruoxue slowly walked toward her.

The two locked eyes.

"Since you’ve gone this far and seem so unsure of yourself, I’ll make my stance clear."

With that, Gu Ruoxue removed a thin red chain from her neck, revealing a ring in her hand.

It was the spatial ring Su Cheng had once given her.

She had always kept it with her.

Ji Qingyi frowned at the ring in her hand, thoroughly disappointed by its appearance.

A tarnished, rusted golden ring.

It was truly hideous.

This was the so-called spatial ring?

Li Guanqi also stood up, gazing at the ring with a complicated expression. She had always envied it a little.

Because a ring like this symbolized something far beyond ordinary possessions.

"Though I can’t give you the ring—"

Before she could finish, she clenched the ring tightly, her tone gentle: "But we can reshuffle the deck."

She tightened her grip on the ring and began to exert force.

Ji Qingyi immediately rushed forward, grabbing Gu Ruoxue’s wrist to stop her.

"What do you think you’re doing? Just because you can’t hold onto it, you resort to this?"

Ji Qingyi glared at her coldly.

"I didn’t have to come, but since I’m here, I might as well see it through. Now, I’ve made my move. I hope you can set aside your pride for once and listen to your junior’s request."

Gu Ruoxue responded calmly, her tone indifferent, as if she wouldn’t stop the other even if they insisted on leaving.

Their gazes clashed, sparks flying.

Seeing this, Li Guanqi quickly stepped between them.

Gu Ruoxue loosened her grip—the ring appeared unharmed—then took a tissue from her bag to wipe the blood from her hand, her expression still detached.

Ji Qingyi stared at the ring in her hand, then turned to Li Guanqi with a hint of disappointment and said, "That day, he didn’t just turn into a cat—he also became a penguin. Do you understand now?"

Hearing this, Li Guanqi froze.

Because Su Cheng had previously lied, claiming he received two rewards from Ling Ning: the first was turning into a cat and a dog, and the second was becoming a penguin.

Though they had all suspected Su Cheng was lying, they had no proof to confirm it.

Now, Ji Qingyi’s words confirmed the deception.

It seemed the so-called second reward was actually the attribute points he obtained from Hoshino Mirai!

Most likely intelligence!

But why?

Because after unlocking his intelligence, he realized their intentions—that’s why he lied!

Now everything made sense.

"We understand. Thank you."

Li Guanqi hurriedly replied.

Ji Qingyi nodded. "No need."

Then, she prepared to leave.

"Wait."

Gu Ruoxue suddenly called out to her.

Ji Qingyi turned back to look at her.

"What do you plan to do?"

"You have no right to question my decisions."

With that, Ji Qingyi walked away.

Li Guanqi watched her go, sighing helplessly.

"Senior..."

Li Guanqi hesitated, looking at Gu Ruoxue.

Gu Ruoxue shook her head. "What changes her isn’t reason, but mood. She’s too proud, too reliant on her own abilities. Once she hits a wall, she’ll come back to us on her own."

Li Guanqi nodded but couldn't help frowning. "So we just wait for good news then?"

Gu Ruoxue looked up. "There's still time. You can afford to wait until Ji Qingyi comes begging to cooperate with us."