The afternoon sun was just right, baking the beach to a cozy warmth.
Fang Qi slouched in a lounge chair under a parasol, holding a glass of iced coconut juice.
He squinted at the "battlefield" not far away.
"Bang!"
"Smack!"
The beach volleyball darted back and forth across the net, kicking up fine golden sand.
"Hah! I've got it this time!"
Lin Xiaoyou let out a delicate shout. Her pale yellow figure leaped high into the air, her ponytail whipping a sharp arc behind her head as she swung her arm with all her might—
The volleyball traced a beautiful parabola, diving straight for the dead corner of the opponent's court!
And then—
"Swish."
A slender white shadow silently appeared at the landing spot!
Liguang barely moved her feet. She just turned sideways slightly and raised her arm with effortless ease—
"Smack."
The volleyball was bumped up with pinpoint precision, tracing an almost perfectly straight trajectory before dropping just over the edge of the net.
Lin Xiaoyou: "???"
"Twenty-one to one."
Liguang stood on the opposite side of the net, gently calling out the score while casually smoothing her silver hair that had been ruffled by the sea breeze.
She was still wearing that cream-white two-piece swimsuit. Her slender waist and long, straight legs... were dazzlingly white in the sunlight!
An absolute feast for the eyes!
"That... that doesn't count!"
Lin Xiaoyou's small face flushed red. She stomped her foot angrily, leaving a small pit in the sand:
"I got sand in my eye just now! Let's do it again!"
Fang Qi took a sip of his coconut juice, unable to hold back a chuckle.
Do it again?
How many times had they "done it again" by now?
From the start of the match this afternoon until now...
Lin Xiaoyou hadn't won a single game!
This crazy woman was a guard-level AI, for crying out loud!
Dynamic vision, power control, trajectory prediction...
Which of these wasn't countless times beyond the limits of a human?
Playing beach volleyball with her?
This girl Lin Xiaoyou...
Was truly terrible at it, yet loved to play!
"Okay."
Liguang, however, nodded good-naturedly and bent down to pick up the volleyball that had rolled to her feet.
Her movements were so elegant, it was as if she were picking a flower!
Holding the ball in both hands, she tilted her head to look at Lin Xiaoyou, her little star earrings gently swaying:
"Miss Lin, we can do it again as many times as you like."
Her tone was docile. But the slight upward curve of her lips... hid a hint of amusement, like she was "playing games with a little kid"!
The crazy woman was having a great time!
Well, I'm not going to bother with it then...
I'll just keep enjoying the view!
Sure enough, in the next few rounds—
"Bang!"
Lin Xiaoyou spiked the ball with all her might.
Liguang gently bumped it, and the ball floated back.
"Smack!" Lin Xiaoyou cleverly hit a drop shot.
Liguang tapped off her toes, and the ball went right back.
"Hiyah—!" Lin Xiaoyou used every ounce of her strength, diving fiercely to save the ball—
And then, with a "thud," she face-planted right into the sand, getting a mouthful of it!
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
She scrambled up awkwardly, spitting out sand!
Her little face was written all over with an unyielding stubbornness!
"Twelve to zero."
Liguang called out the score softly, even adding considerately:
"Miss Lin tried very hard to save that ball. It's just a pity you jumped a tiny bit too early."
Lin Xiaoyou: "..."
Gritting her teeth, she glared at Liguang's flawlessly gentle smile, wiped the sand from her face, and said—
"Again!"
Fang Qi lay back in his chair, leisurely watching the scene of these two girls—one gently dominating, the other stubbornly refusing to give up.
As for the score...
Who cared!
When watching beautiful girls play beach volleyball, who pays attention to the score!
However...
He looked up at the sky.
The evening sun was already beginning to set in the west.
The sunset glowed like fire, covering more than half the sky. The surface of the sea was dyed into a flowing expanse of shattered gold.
The evening scenery on the island was truly as beautiful as a painting.
But that sliver of unease in Fang Qi's heart quietly surfaced again.
An Lian's inspection results... what exactly was the outcome by now?
It was getting dark and there was still no news. At this hour... shouldn't they all be off work?
Looks like... it'll have to wait until tomorrow?
He let out a long breath, slouched back into his lounge chair, and closed his eyes.
In his ears were the "bang, bang" sounds of the volleyball, and Lin Xiaoyou's occasional delicate cries of "Ouch!" and "Darn it!"
Along with Liguang's gentle voice calling out the score.
This daily life...
How wonderful it would be if it could just go on like this forever.
The sky gradually darkened.
The sunset glow also slowly began to fade.
Suddenly—!
A low humming sound came from the distant horizon!
Fang Qi gave a slight jolt and snapped his eyes open!
Was that... the sound of helicopters?
He shot up from his lounge chair in a flash, squinting toward the direction of the sound—
Beneath the deep blue canopy of the sky, a cluster of tiny black dots...
Were rapidly approaching the island from all directions!
And there were a lot of them!
"Hum— Hum— Hum—"
The humming grew louder and more concentrated!
Those black dots grew larger, gradually revealing their silhouettes—
Fang Qi's pupils shrank abruptly!
They were helicopters!
Moreover...
They were all helicopters?!
And that paint job...
It was exactly the same as the one An Lian arrived in this afternoon!
Black, professional, exuding a cold, hard industrial feel!
So many of them!
Moving in from all sides, surrounding them?!
What... what was going on?!
"S-Senior?!"
Lin Xiaoyou, on the other side of the net, also heard the commotion.
Holding the volleyball, she looked up blankly at the sky.
When she made out those approaching black dots, the stubbornness on her round face instantly froze!
Then turned to panic!
"Wh-what are those?!"
Her voice was trembling, and the volleyball in her hands dropped to the sand with a "thud":
"Why are there so many helicopters?!"
Fang Qi didn't answer.
His gaze was locked tightly onto those helicopters!
Then... he slowly turned to look at Liguang beside him.
The silver-haired girl stood by the net, her head tilted slightly upward, watching the approaching helicopters in the sky.
The evening breeze blew her long silver hair and the skirt of her swimsuit.
Her expression... was very calm.
Unusually calm!
No panic, no fear, not even the slightest hint of surprise!
She just watched quietly, her heterochromatic eyes reflecting the flashing navigation lights of the helicopters under the fading daylight!
Fang Qi's breathing grew slightly heavier.
So, she didn't pass the inspection?
But even if she didn't pass...
Shouldn't they have notified him first?!
Furthermore... was it really necessary to deploy so many armed helicopters?!
With this kind of formation, how was this just "retrieving" an AI?
This was clearly an encirclement for a siege!
"Ding-dong."
In his pocket, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Fang Qi paused, stiffly pulling out his phone.
The screen lit up.
A new message.
Sender: An Lian.
His fingers trembling slightly, he opened it.
[An Lian: Fang Qi, stop pretending.]
[An Lian: Ever since you suddenly went into hiding with Liguang on this private island, the company has suspected that you might have already realized Liguang's awakening.]
[An Lian: The data analysis results from this surprise inspection have confirmed it—the fluctuations in Liguang's emotional module have completely exceeded the simulation parameters of a normal AI. Her core logic shows obvious traces of autonomous consciousness.]
[An Lian: She has awakened. And you, as someone who knew about it yet failed to report it, and even assisted in hiding her—have already committed the crime of endangering public safety.]
[An Lian: The island is now completely surrounded. The armed recovery squad dispatched by the company is already in position. If you voluntarily hand over Liguang and cooperate with the investigation, you might still be able to get a lenient punishment.]
[An Lian: Otherwise...]
Fang Qi could not bring himself to read the rest.
His fingers were turning icy cold.
So...
So that was how it was...!
It was not as simple as failing the test...
The company... had been suspecting him all along!
From the moment he left the city with Liguang and came to this island...
He had already been targeted!
This test... was nothing but a front!
It was to confirm Liguang's awakening, and also... to root him out along with her as an accomplice!
That was why An Lian came so quickly and left so decisively...
That was why she said the results would be out later...
That was why she told him to maintain the status quo!
She probably... had already gotten the test results back then!
She was just waiting...
Waiting for the company to mobilize its personnel, waiting for the encirclement to form!
Fang Qi slowly raised his head.
Those dozen or so helicopters had completely surrounded the island... and they were getting closer and closer!
What should he do...
What was he supposed to do now?!
And right at that moment—
A pair of slightly cool, soft arms suddenly reached out from behind him...
And gently wrapped around his neck.
Warm breath, carrying the sweet scent of strawberries, brushed against his ear.
Without him noticing, Liguang had pressed herself against his back.
Her cheek rested lightly on his shoulder, her silver hair cascading down and rubbing against his neck.
Her voice... was as soft as a feather.
Yet it carried a trace of... an irrepressible, sickly sweetness!
"Master..."
She asked softly by his ear:
"Did you... already know?"
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
