Scarlet Descent

Wei Wei was a bit puzzled. How did this intern team member, whom he hadn't seen at the office during the day, suddenly appear in the room he had just rented? And she came armed with a gun. This girl looked a bit strange too. She was quite pretty, and her clothes and a few inconspicuous small accessories looked quite valuable, but she appeared unkempt.

She even had a smell similar to the pig-feeding auntie from the training camp?

It was really strange.

However, although Wei Wei had questions in his mind, he didn't dwell on them much. He picked up the phone and dialed Captain Ouyang.

The call connected, and he briefly explained the situation.

On Captain Ouyang's end of the phone, the sound of "clatter-clatter" mahjong tiles could be heard, interspersed with a few muffled curses:

"Whoever wins with a shitty hand is a bastard..."

"Eight of circles..."

Marveling at the captain's good sportsmanship, Wei Wei knew this wasn't a good time to disturb the leader, so he quickly reported in the briefest manner.

Listening to Wei Wei's report, Captain Ouyang first responded with a few "mm"s, then suddenly raised his tone: "Huh?"

Wei Wei continued his report, also describing the girl's condition.

Captain Ouyang suddenly became nervous: "Fuck?"

Finally, he dropped a "I'll be right there" and hurriedly hung up the phone.

"This leader is reliable; he really cares about his subordinates..."

Wei Wei sighed as he hung up the phone.

After thinking for a moment, he carried the fellow intern to the sofa to lie down, and continued painting his wall.

Not long after, Wei Wei heard the sound of a motorcycle with a sidecar screeching to an emergency stop downstairs, followed by the sound of someone rushing up the stairs.

Captain Ouyang appeared at Wei Wei's doorstep, his forehead covered in sweat. His elegant and handsome face bore a vivid lipstick mark from who knows where. He first nervously looked at the fainted Ye Feifei, anxiously asking: "What's going on here?"

"Well..."

Faced with this question, Wei Wei was also a bit embarrassed. He pointed at the wall: "I was painting the wall."

"She suddenly burst in..."

"Then, before I could ask her what she was doing, she fainted..."

"..."

"Fainted?"

Captain Ouyang was clearly surprised by this answer, but after surveying this small house being painted, and Wei Wei with a bit of paint on his face, he gradually understood the answer. At the same time, new questions arose in his mind...

"You... you like such bright colors?"

Captain Ouyang looked at the half-painted wall with some embarrassment, his expression strange as he asked.

"Yes..."

Wei Wei looked at the bright red paint, slightly proud, and said: "It's festive."

"It gives a homey feeling, doesn't it?"

"..."

Captain Ouyang's expression suddenly became a bit strange.

This was a haunted house, where a shocking murder case had occurred that shook the entire Scrap Iron City.

Because of its notorious reputation, this small apartment building, even now, was still a haunted building that others dared not look at directly.

The former case subject had returned to Scrap Iron City, insisted on renting this apartment, and then on such a rainy night, accompanied by dim lights, was gradually painting the walls of this apartment a bright, eye-piercing blood red...

"…Hmm, very reasonable."

Not only did Captain Ouyang find it reasonable, but Sister Lucky and Uncle Gun, who quickly rushed over, also found it reasonable.

After the two checked on Ye Feifei and confirmed that she had only fainted from fright, and that her weapon belt was securely fastened, they were slightly relieved. They immediately arranged for someone to take her back to the office to rest, while preparing to provide psychological counseling when she woke up.

At such a young age, they couldn't let her develop any lasting trauma.

"Is this the intern team member you mentioned who's in the same batch as me?"

Captain Ouyang didn't rush to leave, so Wei Wei also paused his wall painting, politely poured a cup of water for the leader, and sat down.

"Sigh, it's different."

Captain Ouyang scratched his neck irritably and said: "You're from a proper training camp, while she..."

He couldn't explain clearly for a moment, but Wei Wei could understand.

So young, yet interning at a mysterious branch of the Foundation, specially equipped with a gun, but still so timid...

He tactfully didn't inquire further.

Instead, Captain Ouyang, after shaking his head slightly, took out a pack of cigarettes and offered them to Wei Wei, smiling bitterly as he explained: "We're all on the same side; I can't hide it from you. This little girl's background is not simple. You'll have to be careful in the future, don't offend her..."

"After all, she's the young lady of the prestigious Level 3 Consortium, the Ye family..."

"..."

"A consortium heiress?"

Wei Wei was immediately surprised.

Countless large consortiums and alliances had long emerged in this world, with enormous scale, vying for various powers and resources. Some countries were even under their control, with the appointment and dismissal of presidents being just a word from the consortium's behind-the-scenes mastermind.

However, there was no distinction of levels among them.

The consortium level Captain Ouyang mentioned was actually divided within the Foundation based on the amount of sponsorship they provided.

Whoever gave more sponsorship to the Foundation would have a higher level.

And the reason for this division...

...Wei Wei believed what the instructor had said before, that this was definitely not for special consideration at certain key points!

...And to trigger internal competition among consortiums, vying to sponsor!

In any case, a Level 3 Consortium was already an extremely high level within the city defense line, and couldn't be ignored.

Especially since these consortiums didn't just sponsor the Foundation headquarters.

They were also very friendly to the garrison teams in surrounding cities.

Of course, Wei Wei wasn't surprised by this girl's identity, but rather surprised that:

If she had such a special identity, it should at least be a secret. How did the captain just blurt it out?

"It's better to make things clear, to avoid you young people causing any trouble in your rashness."

Captain Ouyang sighed, then remembered something and hurriedly reminded Wei Wei: "But don't let it slip in front of her."

"Now everyone in our office pretends not to know her identity."

"..."

"Alright, I understand..."

Wei Wei smiled and nodded, going along with it.

But as Captain Ouyang listened, he suddenly looked up at him and said:

"You think we're just kissing up to her, playing along with this little girl's game?"

"..."

"Well..."

Wei Wei hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to best answer this question.

Isn't that the case?

As if seeing through Wei Wei's thoughts, Captain Ouyang shook his head helplessly and said: "The little girl has a dream—giving up her good life to come here. Our small local research institute is also in a difficult position. Now, by pretending not to know her identity, if she wants to become a formal employee or investigate major cases, I can clearly refuse. If she makes other requests, I can also pretend to ignore them."

"But once her identity is revealed, how can I refuse her future requests?"

"..."

Wei Wei was stunned for a moment, looking at this foxy middle-aged handsome man in front of him, suddenly enlightened.

"That makes sense..."

Then he also became slightly interested and smiled: "But Captain, can such a young lady really work?"

"She works very diligently."

Captain Ouyang's face was full of praise as he said seriously: "She goes on patrol every day at the scheduled time."

"Do we really need to patrol?"

"We don't, but we have to arrange some work for her to do, to make it look official..."

"..."

"She's a good girl..."

Captain Ouyang praised: "When told to patrol, she patrols, and only finishes work after completing the patrol."

"After work, she first takes the subway for two stops, then drives her sports car back to the villa to rest."

"Usually, she chooses the cheapest boxed meals to eat, living frugally to pretend to be poor, afraid that we'll find out her true identity..."

"..."

Wei Wei immediately became curious: "Then how did you guess her identity?"

"On her first day of reporting for duty, her father's secretary called me directly..."

Captain Ouyang said: "Specifically instructing us not to let her notice that we're taking care of her, but to take good care of her..."

"..."

Wei Wei was speechless: "That must be difficult for you."

"No, no..."

Captain Ouyang suddenly became enthusiastic, waving his hand and saying: "Her father is very generous with sponsorship; all our allowances depend on her..."

So it's a willing giver and a willing receiver...

Wei Wei marveled inwardly, while outwardly showing an admiring smile.

He knew it was lively in this small Scrap Iron City when he came back, but he didn't expect it to be even more interesting than he imagined.

Just as Wei Wei was thinking, Captain Ouyang, who had just spilled all the details about Miss Ye's identity, suddenly turned to look at Wei Wei, smiling calmly but seemingly with some other meaning, and said:

"However, this young lady usually wants to handle big cases, and has turned the archives of Scrap Iron City upside down, so... she probably recognized you just now, right?"

Wei Wei nodded slightly and said: "She probably did."

Captain Ouyang's pupils contracted slightly, and he suddenly said: "So, are you really him?"

"From three years ago, that family massacre case..."

He paused slightly, his gaze fixed on Wei Wei's face: "...the perpetrator?"