Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Gu Ning’s First Mission

That night, as everyone gathered to tally the day’s spoils, their smiles stretched from ear to ear.

“Three evolved crystal cores and fifty supplementary crystal cores. And Gu Ning, these are for you,” Jia Daozhang said, pushing a pile of gold rings, necklaces, and various gold and silver jewelry toward Gu Ning.

Just as Gu Ning stored the items in her space, the door to the hall was knocked.

Everyone exchanged puzzled glances. Who could be knocking at this hour?

Luo Long opened the door, then turned to Gu Ning, “Gu Ning, it’s for you.” He gave Cheng Ming a look, then pulled the door wide open, revealing Zhang Ji standing at the entrance.

Zhang Ji said to Gu Ning, “Gu Ning, come out. I need to talk to you.”

Jia Daozhang glanced at Cheng Ming and remarked, “It’s late. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

Zhang Ji smiled at Gu Ning, “We’ve known each other for so many years. You wouldn’t deny me this small favor, would you?”

“I’ll be back soon,” Gu Ning said to Third Brother and the others before following Zhang Ji outside.

At Zhang Ji’s request, they descended the stairs and strolled into the night. The entire base was quiet, with only the Management Office lit up. Every ten meters or so, a fireball burned on a stand, casting light around. The streets were mostly empty, save for the occasional person returning to the base from outside.

After walking for a while, Zhang Ji suddenly said, “Remember the last time we took a walk like this at night?”

Gu Ning was taken aback. The last time she and Zhang Ji had strolled like this was after her college graduation. Zhang Ji had invited her and Lu Jiazhi to dinner, but Lu Jiazhi had left early due to some urgent matter. Zhang Ji had walked Gu Ning home that night. Now, hearing Zhang Ji bring it up, Gu Ning felt a pang of nostalgia.

Zhang Ji continued, “Have you and Jiazhi met since the apocalypse?”

Gu Ning hesitated, then replied, “No.”

“When I saw you yesterday, I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed a lot,” Zhang Ji suddenly stopped and looked at Gu Ning softly, “You must have been through a lot.”

Gu Ning sensed something odd in Zhang Ji’s tone but didn’t dwell on it. Just as she was about to speak, Zhang Ji leaned in slightly, placing his hands on her shoulders, “Come to my side. I’ll take care of you.”

Gu Ning was stunned, then suddenly laughed, “Are you saying this because of our past friendship, or because of my Space System ability?”

Zhang Ji didn’t expect Gu Ning to counter like that. He paused, then smiled, “Both.” He sat down on a nearby flower bed, patting the spot next to him for Gu Ning to sit. “But if it weren’t for our past, I might have been more inclined to kill you outright.”

Gu Ning hinted, “Zhou Yan in your team probably wants to kill me more than you do.”

Zhang Ji lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said leisurely, “If you come to me, I’ll naturally protect you. If necessary, I’d sacrifice her to save you.” He chuckled, then looked at Gu Ning, “You know, compared to before, I prefer this life now. It’s easier.”

Gu Ning didn’t respond, then glanced at her watch, “I need to go back.”

It was a refusal.

Zhang Ji stood up and asked abruptly, “Have you fallen for someone else?”

He couldn’t think of any other reason Gu Ning would reject him. His mind quickly flashed to the three handsome faces of Fang Fa, Cheng Ming, and Zhang Xiaobai. Thinking of this, his gaze at Gu Ning carried a hint of pity and a trace of disdain he didn’t even realize.

After Gu Ning went upstairs, she recalled the look Zhang Ji had given her and suddenly realized he had misunderstood. She felt a surge of anger. She thought about going back down to clarify things but decided it wasn’t worth it and went back to her room.

When she returned, it was clear everyone was “curious” about what Zhang Ji had said, but since it was Gu Ning’s private matter, they didn’t pry. Gu Ning, however, thoughtfully said, “He’s a senior from my school. We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we just chatted.”

That night, Gu Ning used her space ability to return to the other world.

The sky outside was just beginning to lighten. She changed her clothes, opened the door, and went out for a morning run. Half an hour later, she returned to find everyone already having breakfast. Yi Shaoqing, with his messy hair, drifted down the stairs like a ghost, holding his coffee. He looked at Gu Ning with half-closed eyes and asked seriously, “Gu Ning, can you tell me how you managed to be half-dead from Ji Jiuzhe’s training yesterday but still bouncing around today?”

Gu Ning thought for a moment, then replied earnestly, “Because there was no training yesterday.” She then sat down across from Ji Jiuzhe and started eating breakfast.

During training, she clearly felt that the pressure Ji Jiuzhe exerted on her had lessened. She could now spare some mental energy to observe his combat skills.

After three hours of training, there was a half-hour break.

Gu Ning sat against the wall, guzzling water without a care for her appearance. Ji Jiuzhe, on the other hand, even though he was sweating more than her, sipped his soda slowly and calmly, as if nothing in the world could make him rush.

Gu Ning suddenly wondered what he would be like facing zombies in the apocalypse. Then she thought of Yin Sang and Zhuang Chen, whom she had met in the apocalypse, but not Ji Jiuzhe and Yi Shaoqing… Gu Ning shook her head. With Ji Jiuzhe’s terrifying skills, even without evolving any special abilities, there was no way he’d be eaten by zombies.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Jiuzhe suddenly put down his drink and asked Gu Ning.

“Huh?” Gu Ning was caught off guard, “What?”

Ji Jiuzhe looked at her, “You were shaking your head just now.”

Gu Ning didn’t expect Ji Jiuzhe to notice and felt slightly flustered, “Uh, nothing.”

Ji Jiuzhe, however, recalled what Yi Shaoqing had told him the other day. Seeing the fleeting panic on Gu Ning’s face, he became more convinced of Yi Shaoqing’s theory and asked, “Do you have any issues with my training methods?”

He was genuinely asking for her opinion, but his expression was so serious that Gu Ning misinterpreted it as him reprimanding her for being dissatisfied. She immediately shook her head, “No, no,” her face full of sincerity.

Ji Jiuzhe stared at her for a moment, then said, “Had enough rest?”

Gu Ning quickly scrambled to her feet, “Yes, yes.”

After Ji Jiuzhe adjusted his training methods, Gu Ning once again demonstrated her remarkable ability to replicate movements. Her combat skills improved by leaps and bounds.

After all, it was no easy feat to satisfy Ji Jiuzhe.

Gu Ning received her first mission after joining the Five-Star Brigade three days later.

Before that, she had signed over twenty pages of confidentiality agreements.

Then, at midnight, she got into Ji Jiuzhe’s car, not knowing where they were going or what they were going to do. Whether she asked Zhuang Chen or Yi Shaoqing, the answer was always the same: “You’ll know when the time comes.”

Ji Jiuzhe was dressed in a tailored black suit, every inch of it immaculate, making him look even more imposing. A white shirt paired with a black tie completed the look of a true business elite.

Gu Ning even had the illusion that Ji Jiuzhe was the boss, and she was his secretary, about to accompany him to negotiate a very important deal.

Once in the car, Ji Jiuzhe tossed her a file and said succinctly, “This is the target of the mission.”

Gu Ning nervously took out the documents from the file and found a topographic map—more accurately, a spatial layout of a villa, including the external pool and every internal corridor and room, all clearly marked. The room at the center was circled in red.

Ji Jiuzhe started the car and said, “You have half an hour to memorize this map.”

Gu Ning didn’t say a word, just focused intently on the map. Starting from the entrance, within two minutes, she closed her eyes, and the layout appeared clearly in her mind. She then put the map back in the file and asked Ji Jiuzhe, “What do I need to do later?”

Ji Jiuzhe gave her an approving look and said, “Twenty minutes after I go in, you need to find a way into the villa, enter the marked room, and retrieve a document. It’s in the third book from the top on the right side of the bookshelf. You have ten minutes to get it.”

As he spoke, he pulled the car over to the side of the road.

He then extended his watch-wearing hand to Gu Ning, “Sync your watch.”

After confirming the time, Ji Jiuzhe reached into the back seat, picked up a silver case, and stepped out of the car. He leaned down slightly and said to the slightly nervous Gu Ning inside, “Be careful.”

Gu Ning nodded solemnly.

Then Ji Jiuzhe disappeared into the night with the case.

Gu Ning quickly got out of the car and pressed herself against the nearby wall, carefully moving forward to peek.

She saw Ji Jiuzhe walk straight to the villa’s entrance, where he was stopped at the gate. He spread his arms, and two young men thoroughly searched him before leading him inside.

Gu Ning took the opportunity to count. There were at least five or six guards at the entrance, and on the other side, someone was patrolling the villa with a flashlight. She glanced at her watch—seventeen minutes left. She needed to figure out how to bypass these guards and get into the villa…