Chapter 97: Gu Ke Mocks Yi Ning’s Work
The television turned off just like that.
Yi Ning sat on the sofa, pulled out her phone, and glanced at the time.
Then, she did a quick mental count before slouching down and beginning to softly count backward.
“Ten.”
…
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One…”
“Ring-ring-ring…”
Before she could finish the final number, her phone began to ring.
She brought it up and looked at the caller ID.
Gu Ke.
Yi Ning’s lips curled into a sly smile, and she deliberately let the phone ring, not picking up.
Only when she estimated the call was about to end on its own did she finally answer and bring the phone to her ear.
“Hello”
“HELLO!”
From the other end came Gu Ke’s exasperated voice.
“Oh my~ and who might this be? If it isn’t our darling little princess, spoiled by mommy dearest?”
Before Gu Ke could even get a word in, Yi Ning launched into a snarky barrage.
It worked perfectly—cutting off Gu Ke’s momentum. On the other end, she opened her mouth, dazed, and forgot what she was going to say.
After a while, Gu Ke took a deep breath and slowly fought back.
“I’m not some spoiled princess.”
Yi Ning smiled. Perfect!
Gu Ke had fallen right into her rhythm.
Once that happened, Yi Ning was confident she'd crack.
Her eyes narrowed like a fox who’d just sprung a perfect trap.
“What do you mean, not a spoiled princess? You were just flaunting mommy’s protection a moment ago.”
She clicked her tongue and upped the pressure.
“And weren’t you the one who chose to stay a girl just to get more pampering from your parents?”
“You… Yi Ning… you…”
“And you say you’re not a spoiled little princess?”
Over the phone, Gu Ke was clearly on the verge of snapping.
Clutching her flat chest, her breath came in furious gasps.
Yi Ning had pushed her to the boiling point.
“I didn’t choose to stay a girl because of that!”
Gu Ke took a deep breath and launched a counterattack.
“You’re just jealous that I can still go to my dad—”
But she realized her mistake mid-sentence and awkwardly changed topics.
“A-Anyway… I called to deliver that message from my dad.”
Yi Ning nodded silently, choosing not to press further.
She did feel she'd gone a bit overboard.
But no way she was going to apologize first.
“Mm.”
So she just let out a soft acknowledgement.
“It’s about that Freedom Alliance guy who infiltrated D-City. I think his name was Rigil?”
Yi Ning raised an eyebrow at that.
She felt a flicker of interest.
Her first impression of Rigil had been… pretty terrible.
Arrogant, self-centered, completely full of himself.
Was that kind of person really worth attention from a high-up in the Evil Council?
But Gu Ke quickly cleared that up.
“He’s apparently the right-hand man of the Freedom Alliance’s boss.”
“You know, most of those guys in the Freedom Alliance were ex-Evil Council members who left because they didn’t like the peace treaty with the Hero Association. A bunch of them used to work under my dad. I think their so-called boss was one of his underlings.”
“So now that there’s a chance to take out one of his arms, how could he not make a move?”
“Wow, your dad sure holds grudges.”
Yi Ning couldn’t help but comment.
That cracked something open in Gu Ke. She launched into it right alongside Yi Ning.
“Right? You don’t even know. He looks all proper, but he’s incredibly petty.”
“When I was little, I teased him once, and for a whole week every time he—”
“Cough, cough.”
Gu Ke cleared her throat awkwardly and pulled the conversation back.
“Anyway, we’ve got an order from the top.”
“If you can capture Rigil alive, you’ll get a top-tier reward.”
“If not, a corpse will earn you a mid-tier reward.”
“And if there’s not even a body—so long as he’s confirmed dead—you’ll still get a lower-tier reward.”
“Are you quoting King Qi accepting remonstrance now?”
Yi Ning couldn’t resist the jab.
She raised her free hand to her ear and gave a sloppy salute.
“Understood. I guarantee I’ll bring that guy in!”
Then she hung up.
Her previously energetic demeanor vanished instantly.
Yi Ning rubbed her temples and slid off the sofa backrest.
She lay there, quietly staring at the ceiling light.
Just staring. Doing nothing else.
After a while, she let out a long sigh and smacked her lips twice.
Kinda craving something sweet now.
She got up, walked to the fridge, and took out a slice of cake.
Then she went to the utensil drawer and grabbed a small fork.
She carefully scraped off a bit of frosting, brought it to her lips, and stuck out her pink little tongue to taste it.
“Mmm~”
Yi Ning closed her eyes.
The sweet taste improved her mood significantly.
Then she scraped another bit of frosting and cheerfully popped it into her mouth.
The karma came back faster than she expected.
She’d always liked cake, but never had any fondness for frosting—it was too rich.
But ever since becoming a girl, she’d gotten kind of addicted to that cloying sweetness.
With a fork dangling from her lips, she hummed a little tune and returned to the sofa. She grabbed the TV remote and flipped on a random program.
She didn’t really have a preference—TV was just background noise.
With a forkful of cake in her mouth, Yi Ning thought about Rigil.
Didn’t expect that guy to be so valuable.
Yi Ning hesitated.
She hadn’t had much faith in the idea of milking Rigil as a cash cow. Her plan had just been to throw together a trap at work tomorrow—if he died, so be it.
But now his value had skyrocketed.
She considered whether she should just go back to the base tonight and work overtime to upgrade the trap to keep him alive.
At the very least, she couldn’t let him die in it.
But ugh—so lazy.
She sighed.
Scooping up the last bit of cake, she popped it into her mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.
Licking the cream from her lips, she smacked her mouth again.
Now she was kind of thirsty.