Chapter 43: Action Part 1

Wei Tingxia did not choose to act alone. Instead, he drove straight to the entrance of Vanderveel’s residence.

After hearing his request, the butler stood in place for two seconds in a daze, then walked into the house with a stunned expression that said one cannot judge by appearances, and called Yan Xinfeng out.

Yan Xinfeng was clearly very happy. He threw on a light gray windbreaker and jumped into the hovercar, looking excitedly delighted at twenty-three years old, as if he were going on a date with his sweetheart.

“Have you eaten?”

Wei Tingxia reached out casually, hooking the hair beside Yan Xinfeng’s ear, his gaze full of unusual fondness.

Yan Xinfeng nodded. “I have.”

Only then did Wei Tingxia turn to the butler and ask casually, “Where is Mr. Vanderveel?”

“The family head is not at the residence at the moment,” the butler replied respectfully with a bow. “But the family head instructed that if Your Highness wishes to take the young master out to play, you may do so freely.”

Wei Tingxia smiled.

The butler eyed the strikingly beautiful alpha prince sitting in the hovercar. His gaze lingered for a moment on the broken eyebrow on the left side, then quickly swept backward. Seeing that Wei Tingxia had not brought any attendants, he felt a deep sigh of admiration in his heart.

The family head had been telling the truth. The Second Prince truly held the young master in high esteem.

The butler bowed and withdrew.

The hovercar door closed silently, blocking out the external clamor and prying eyes. The constant temperature system inside emitted a pleasant warmth, and Wei Tingxia’s crisp yet unique scent turned into little hooks that wrapped around Yan Xinfeng’s wrist.

“Why did you ask me out?” Yan Xinfeng asked.

Wei Tingxia drove with one hand and glanced at him upon hearing this. “Do you like staying cooped up in there that much?”

“It’s alright,” Yan Xinfeng said. “Aside from someone coming by every five minutes on average to mock me for not looking like an omega and not being worthy of marrying you, everything else is perfectly wonderful.”

That was indeed quite peaceful.

Wei Tingxia nodded, making no comment on Yan Xinfeng’s good attitude.

“So what are you really taking me to do?” Yan Xinfeng was very curious. “But I’ll tell you in advance, I don’t support premarital sex.”

Wei Tingxia said without turning his head, “What a coincidence. I’m taking you to get a room.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Wei Tingxia lied without batting an eye, his tone even carrying a lazy tenderness. “I missed you.”

“…”

Yan Xinfeng fell silent for a moment, his knuckles unconsciously tapping the genuine leather armrest. Then he nodded, his tone relaxed. “Alright then.”

“Hm?” Wei Tingxia looked at him oddly. “Didn’t you just say you don’t support premarital sex?”

Feeling his gaze, Yan Xinfeng sighed as if very helpless. “What can I do? I’m not beautiful enough to match Your Highness, so of course I have to use every means at my disposal to satisfy you.”

This bastard was clearly the one whose heart was wandering, yet he pretended to bear the burden with feigned resignation, wanting both the substance and the show. Wei Tingxia found it amusing and was not really angry. He simply accelerated forward.

But contrary to Yan Xinfeng’s expectations, the car did not head toward any hotel. Instead, it wound around several times and finally stopped in a hidden corner at the edge of an abandoned industrial district.

After parking, all the headlights turned off. Shadows shifted in the darkness, surrounded by overgrown weeds and tall, dilapidated abandoned factories. It was so quiet that only the faint clicking of the cooling engine could be heard.

“Getting a room here?” Yan Xinfeng looked around and raised an eyebrow at Wei Tingxia. “Baby, you’re getting a bit wild.”

“Get lost,” Wei Tingxia flipped him the middle finger. “I’m not that kind of promiscuous alpha. I don’t support premarital sex.”

Having the tables turned on him, Yan Xinfeng’s Adam’s apple bobbed subtly. Just as he was about to say something, his attention was suddenly drawn to movement in the distance.

With a faint click, a heavy metal side door disguised as a warehouse shutter slowly slid open a crack in the distance. Two figures in gray work uniforms and duckbill caps slipped out.

After vigilantly looking left and right, the two headed toward a narrow passage beside them stacked with discarded pipes. They appeared to be going for a break or patrol.

Inside the car, the two exchanged a glance. Wei Tingxia held up two fingers together, pointed at Yan Xinfeng, then at himself.

One for you, one for me.

Yan Xinfeng said nothing. He glanced front and back, then flipped agilely to the back seat with extraordinary grace. He leaped out through the open sunroof, rolled forward on one knee, and vanished into the darkness.

Not a single sound from start to finish. Those two had their backs to the car and noticed nothing.

At the same time, Wei Tingxia silently pushed open the car door. His movements were swift as the wind, landing almost without a sound, like a shadow blending into the night, stealthily approaching the unsuspecting guards.

One of the guards lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled smoke while chatting idly with the other with a laugh.

The voices masked the footsteps. Wei Tingxia closed in quickly, his hand knife striking precisely and viciously at the man’s nape. At the same time, Yan Xinfeng dropped from above, cleanly knocking out the other.

Three minutes later, the two guards emerged from the shadows again. The slightly shorter one brushed the dust off his gray work uniform with the back of his hand as he walked, adjusting his duckbill cap when entering to cover the broken eyebrow on the left.

The taller one merely straightened his cuffs, similarly pulling down the brim of his cap.

They arrived at the heavy metal door.

Wei Tingxia raised his hand and pressed the magnetic card he had searched from the guards against the access panel.

“Beep—”

A light sound rang out, and the green light lit up. The metal door slid inward silently, revealing a corridor inside with cold white lighting and metal flooring. The air was filled with the mingled scent of disinfectant and some icy chemical agent.

The corridor was empty.

Wei Tingxia took the lead. Yan Xinfeng followed closely behind. In this way, the two boldly stepped into the core area of this secret experimental base.

The metal door slowly closed behind them, blocking out the last trace of outside light.

From the moment they entered, System 0188 automatically analyzed and organized the entire structure of the experimental base above and below, including all patrol personnel data, integrating it into a virtual map that hovered at the edge of Wei Tingxia’s vision.

They were now at one of the base’s entrances. There were eight underground levels, with the second, third, and seventh having the most people.

Normally, entry and exit to such an experimental base required permission verification. The two guards who had slipped out for a break surely had limited access.

Wei Tingxia’s gaze swept over several key nodes on the map without pausing, and his steps turned toward an inconspicuous narrow passage marked “Equipment Maintenance.”

He moved lightly and quickly, without looking back even once.

Under the glaring white light, overlapping footsteps approached from behind, unhurried and maintaining just the right distance. The shadow under Yan Xinfeng’s cap brim did not flicker.

At the end of the passage was a row of elevators extending downward.

Wei Tingxia headed straight for one, stopping in front of the verification area.

Yan Xinfeng stood half a step behind and to the side, his posture relaxed, but his gaze casually swept over the blind spots of the surveillance cameras on both sides of the passage.

The elevator required permission verification. Wei Tingxia raised his hand and pressed the magnetic card taken from the guard against the cold sensor. A deep blue scanning beam swept from top to bottom over his facial contours.

[Identity verification passed.]

A cold electronic synthesized voice rang out in the silence, devoid of emotion. The elevator door slid open silently, revealing the sleek metal walls inside.

The elevator descended silently, a slight sense of weightlessness passing in an instant.

When the elevator door slid open again, an air mixed with disinfectant, ozone, and some indescribably cold metallic scent assaulted them.

Before them stretched a corridor even wider than the upper level, with the same glaring white light, but now flanked by many tightly closed alloy doors marked with different function codes.

The corridor forked not far ahead.

The sign on the left passage showed a simple folder icon. The right passage had a more abstract marking: a complex molecular structure diagram.

According to the map, left was the archives room, right was the experimental area.

Wei Tingxia did not stop his steps. His gaze lingered on the fork for half a second, then he slightly turned his eyes to look at Yan Xinfeng.

Yan Xinfeng made no sound, merely lifting the brim of his cap slightly to meet Wei Tingxia’s gaze.

Wei Tingxia quickly made the decision. He pressed four fingers together with his thumb tucked into his palm, pointing firmly toward the right path in a clear directive gesture.

Following his signal, Yan Xinfeng swiftly turned and entered the right corridor, while Wei Tingxia went into the left.

The surveillance devices at the front of the archives room flickered with a shimmering blue light. But as soon as Wei Tingxia approached, the blue light shifted away as if manipulated by hand, failing to capture his figure.

There were guards in the corridor as well. They noticed this sudden arrival from the upper level, and two with capture equipment stepped forward to intercept.

But in that instant, immense mental power pressed down from above, instantly taking control of their actions. Wei Tingxia stood before the door as all the guards simultaneously raised their eyes and moved together to open the second door for him.

Inside the door was darker, damper darkness.

Wei Tingxia stepped forward, his posture still carrying that casual looseness, slipping into the passage like a ghost. Once inside, he waved his hand backward, and a fog seemed to lift before the guards’ eyes. By the time they came to, the door had already closed, and they had no idea what had happened.

The passages in the archives area were narrower than the main corridor, flanked by towering rows of file cabinets reaching the ceiling, forming natural visual barriers and casting large patches of usable shadows.

The air was filled with the dry scent unique to old paper and electronic storage media. Wei Tingxia paused in a shadow, a faint blue light flickering in his eyes.

[Sorting and summarizing commencing. Estimated time: 3 minutes.]

…

Meanwhile, in the deep passages of the experimental division.

Guards and researchers were neatly stacked on the other side of the corridor like a high wall, blocking the overhead white light and casting gray shadows on the floor.

Having dealt with everything, Yan Xinfeng stopped before a massive observation window.