"Wait, speaking of hating the rich—"
Jiu De Mai paused for two seconds, "Doesn't Chu Tianjiao also drive a Maybach?"
"Yes, the top-tier 62s configuration."
Su Enxi nodded, then tore open a bag of original-flavor potato chips she had bought from a convenience store. Slipping her slender fingers inside, she pulled out a chip, chewed on it, and replied:
"Why do you ask? Aren't we all working under the Boss? The car was given to him by the Boss back then anyway."
She looked baffled.
Although Lu Mingfei was terrified of the Maybach, Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei barely had any interaction to begin with.
"Nothing, just random association," Jiu De Mai brushed it off.
Maintaining the Underworld Glow for so long took a massive toll on her physical stamina. If she weren't a ninja with exceptional endurance, she wouldn't just be slightly tired right now; she would be completely exhausted.
"Tch, I'll never understand the way you ninjas think."
Su Enxi gave a little scoff, grabbed a whole stack of chips from the bag, and instead of handing any to Jiu De Mai, she shoved them all into her mouth at once, crunching down hard with her teeth.
As a veteran potato chip consumer, she knew that eating just one piece at a time never satisfied her.
So whenever she felt annoyed, she always pulled out a huge handful, letting her taste buds fully embrace the multi-layered flavors of modern processed food.
"Heh."
Jiu De Mai just chuckled.
Having been colleagues with the Chip Girl for so long, how could she not know the other woman's habits? In situations like this, the best way to handle it was to change the subject.
"Let's go. We need to rendezvous with Chu Tianjiao. We haven't exchanged the intel on Lu Mingfei from today yet."
"If he finds out that Lu Mingfei might have already awakened a Spiritual Word, he'll probably show... some reactions different from usual."
Under the glow of the streetlights, the two figures dissolved once more into pitch-black ink spots, melting into the rain like water, heading toward their shared destination.
***
Deep in the night, Lin Mai tested various aspects of his current condition. Aside from his hardness and transformation abilities, he checked his hearing and eyesight.
First, his hearing was just like when he was human; he still couldn't make out conversations from far away, which meant it hadn't grown any stronger just from receiving the Spark Structure.
As for his eyesight, that was a different story.
Lin Mai's observation skills were now more than a notch higher than they had been at the kendo dojo—he could even see the individual fibers on flowers and grass clearly.
Clearly, hearing was related to the signal receiver, while eyesight was tied to soul strength, which had noticeably improved after acquiring Cybertronian knowledge.
"It wouldn't hurt to upgrade both of these when I have time. They should provide plenty of convenience when fighting comes around."
The blade slashes the flesh; the heart slashes the soul.
As an Autobot, he was doing pretty well for himself. He had both the talent to alter his body shape through part durability and the backing of power from his group members' worlds, giving him a very promising future.
Lin Mai pondered to himself.
Before that, however, he still needed to focus on the big picture—like improving his hardcore combat strength.
"Let's see if there's anything good in the store."
Holding his breath, he opened the Dimensional Chat Group.
Now that the Level 2 group store was unlocked, the items inside would undoubtedly be much more valuable than before, without a doubt.
Besides, spending group points wouldn't affect his progress toward the next level, so it was a win-win either way.
With a thought from him, the store inventory popped up.
【Floating Turret】
【Level: 2】
【Price: 2,000 points】
【Remarks: Consumes oil or electricity to inflict any number of beam attacks on the target ahead.】
【Chainsaw Modification Module】
【Level: 2】
【Price: 2,500 points】
【Remarks: Can attach a chainsaw to swords or blades, increasing their sharpness without consuming any energy.】
【...】
Lin Mai's mind flicked, immediately locking onto the top two items and checking them both.
Children make choices; adults want everything.
"Detected group point balance: 7,499. Do you wish to purchase the 【Floating Turret】 and 【Chainsaw Modification Module】? A total of 4,500 group points is required."
"Yes."
Hearing this, Lin Mai nodded.
"4,500 group points deducted."
As his group points rapidly ticked down to 2,999, the two items were promptly removed from the store shelves, replaced by a conspicuous "Sold Out" sign.
Clearly, unlike the wholesale goods in the Level 1 store, these unique items were permanently removed once purchased.
"Please wait a moment..."
"Ding! All items have been distributed!"
With two crisp notification chimes, Lin Mai instantly felt two streams of pure power flow into his body.
His steel blade could now freely transform into a chainsaw-steel hybrid.
And the floating turrets could be summoned at will, overcoming the drawback of being unable to use oil and electricity while relying on the Spark Structure.
"So this is what gear feels like?"
Lin Mai carefully examined his car door, sensing that he could transform this harmless steel product at any moment into the reigning king of cold steel that smelled of blood—the chainsaw.
As for the floating turrets, they could naturally be summoned at will to command against enemies.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the strength of his Maybach had just undergone another surge of enhancement.
***
At that very moment, inside an abandoned factory.
This was the agreed-upon meeting place. Su Enxi and Jiu De Mai had already arrived, while Chu Tianjiao had traveled a long way to get there.
"Did the expressionless girl not come?"
Su Enxi looked at the man and asked.
"She didn't."
Chu Tianjiao glanced around, then fixed his gaze on the two women standing before him.
"Let me share my intelligence first."
"Su Jiannan, the father of Lu Mingfei's classmate Su Xiaoqiang, may not be of dragon blood, but as a well-known mining tycoon in this city, he has had business dealings with the Shandao Eight Families of Japan."
He rubbed his forehead, a troubled look on his face:
"You might think this news sounds ridiculous, but I haven't been able to monitor anything useful from Lu Mingfei himself. Besides, you have to understand the mid-life crisis of an old man like me—I still have to pick my kid up from school every day, it's really tough..."
Su Xiaoqiang!
That name instantly echoed in both of their minds.
Jiu De Mai and Su Enxi exchanged glances. Wasn't this the girl who planned to drive Lu Mingfei home tonight? Her father actually had business ties with the Shandao Eight Families?
"Tell us more," Jiu De Mai stepped forward and said.
"Huh?"
Chu Tianjiao looked slightly puzzled. He hadn't expected this chip-and-long-legs duo to actually be interested in this.
Still, he quickly settled down.
He himself was an S-class Executioner operative from Cassell College. When it came to recalling and articulating information, no one in this region had more capability than him.
Unless that expressionless girl "Ling", who possessed the Mirror Pupil Spiritual Word, arrived on the scene, no one could really rival Chu Tianjiao's mastery of intelligence.
After a moment, Chu Tianjiao slowly began:
"Lately, in order to expand a smelting industrial chain for the Su family enterprise, Su Jiannan has been searching everywhere for partnerships, and his trading volume has been massive, far surpassing his industry peers."
"Sure enough, he managed to hook up with Genghis Heavy Industries, the leading enterprise of Japan's Shandao Eight Families."