95: Chapter 95 Jiang Jiuyou says she can also be a bargaining chip!

Chen Chen sized up Jiang Jiuyou for two seconds.

"What is your definition of cooperation?"

"Resource sharing, information exchange, and independent operations. You continue to be your lone tyrant, and I'll continue to expand my Dark Division. But when we encounter regional-level events—of the scale of the Crimson Hive—we'll stand side by side."

"Side by side?" Chen Chen let out a short huff. "What you said in the global channel wasn't 'side by side.'"

Jiang Jiuyou's fingers paused for a moment.

"The position of vice-captain, the core resources of the Jiang Consortium—even myself, can all be your bargaining chips."

Chen Chen recited her original global announcement word for word. "Does that... still count?"

The tavern went quiet for two seconds.

The adjutant behind Jiang Jiuyou's expression changed instantly. The two Vanguards' hands began to move toward their guns again.

But Jiang Jiuyou herself—laughed.

The smile this time was wider than before.

On that cold, almost harsh face, an extremely complex emotion surged within her ice-blue pupils.

There was the sharpness of being offended, the catch-off-guard feeling of being hit by a direct pitch, and a tiny bit of—extremely subtle embarrassment, almost hidden in the marrow of her bones.

"We've only met this once,"

Her voice was kept very low, carrying a hint of a smile, "and you're already thinking about having me?"

Chen Chen leaned against the bar counter, his arm resting on the edge, his posture relaxed.

"Whether I go or not is one thing. First, I'm asking if it still counts."

"You already have quite a few on your vehicle, don't you?"

Jiang Jiuyou tilted her head, her silver-white hair sliding down from her temples and brushing across her slender neck. "And you still want to add more?"

"Five." Chen Chen held up one hand. "I just added a new one."

Jiang Jiuyou's smile froze for half a second.

There were already five on the vehicle.

"Your appetite—" Jiang Jiuyou weighed her words, "is indeed a match for that Su Xiaoqi on your vehicle."

"So, does it count or not?"

"..."

Jiang Jiuyou picked up her glass, tilted her head back, and took a large gulp. When she set the glass down, her brows were slightly furrowed, and her Adam's apple bobbed once.

She realized she hadn't actually refused immediately.

This was absurd.

She was the controller of the Jiang Clan Secret Department, ranked second in District 069, a queen who had fought her way out of the wasteland.

When the man in front of her said 'Will you count as my bargaining chip' to her face, what she should have done was flip the table.

But she couldn't.

Because this man had the capital to flip her table instead.

"When you truly have the ability to stand before me and say 'get on the vehicle',"

Jiang Jiuyou put down her glass, her voice returning to its steady tone. "I'll reconsider if it counts. For now—just drink."

She clinked the rim of her glass against Chen Chen's.

Chen Chen clinked back.

Both tilted their heads back at the same time, draining their glasses to the bottom.

The proprietress looked at the two empty glasses and silently poured two more.

Her tail wagged rhythmically, and her amber slit pupils darted back and forth between the two, as if watching a game of chess.

The wooden door of the tavern was pushed open from the outside.

A cold wind howled in, and the flame of the kerosene lamp flickered wildly.

The figure walking at the front wore a damaged high-end black professional suit. The extremely thin black stockings were stained with the dust of the wasteland. She wore stilettos, each step taken with extreme stability.

Shen Wanbing.

Three people followed behind her.

Shen Wanxing was still rubbing her nose, her eyes red.

Su Xiaoqi was being held by the back of her collar by Qin Hongye, her two legs dangling and kicking in the air.

Jiang Yanxue walked at the very back, her Shadow Instant-Kill Blade resting across her shoulder. Her dark red eyes scanned the doorway and immediately froze.

Because she saw the scene by the bar counter.

Chen Chen was sitting on a high stool, half a glass of purple wine by his hand.

Beside him, one stool away, sat a woman with silver hair and ice-blue pupils.

That woman wore a dark red military coat, legs crossed, clinking glasses and drinking with Chen Chen.

The blade Jiang Yanxue had across her shoulder was slowly lowered.

Shen Wanbing's footsteps paused for half a second.

Then she and Jiang Jiuyou locked eyes.

Jiang Jiuyou held her glass and tilted her chin slightly toward the door. Her ice-blue pupils reflected the kerosene lamp's flame, and a barely perceptible curve hung at the corner of her mouth.

Shen Wanbing's concentration ice heart necklace glowed with blue light, and the pendant at the bottom of the necklace vibrated slightly—a reaction that only occurred when her emotional fluctuations exceeded the threshold.

She pressed down on the necklace.

Then she stepped forward, walking toward the bar in her stilettos, and sat on the high stool on the other side of Chen Chen.

"One hour and forty-two minutes, just as I said."

Shen Wanbing looked sideways at Chen Chen, the blue light of the concentration ice heart necklace not yet fully subsided. "We sped at 240 kilometers per hour to get here. Shen Wanxing cried three times on the way."

"Twice!" Shen Wanxing stomped her foot from behind.

Chen Chen turned his head to look at them.

The tip of Shen Wanxing's nose was still red. Her gaze bounced back and forth between Chen Chen and Jiang Jiuyou twice, her small mouth pursed tight.

Jiang Yanxue leaned against the doorframe, holding her blade. Her dark red pupils fell on Jiang Jiuyou, as if sizing up a female beast of the same level.

Su Xiaoqi was set down by Qin Hongye and ran barefoot to Chen Chen's side, grabbing his thigh in a hug.

Then she looked up and saw Jiang Jiuyou.

Jiang Jiuyou also looked down and saw her.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

Su Xiaoqi buried her face in Chen Chen's trouser leg and hugged him even tighter.

Jiang Jiuyou's gaze moved from Su Xiaoqi, scanned across Shen Wanbing, Shen Wanxing, Jiang Yanxue, and Qin Hongye, and finally returned to Chen Chen's face.

"Five." She raised the glass to her lips, her voice smiling. "You didn't lie to me."

Chen Chen picked up his wine glass.

"One more wouldn't be too many either."

Shen Wanbing's fingers pressing the necklace tightened by half a degree.

Jiang Jiuyou lowered her eyelids and took a sip of wine, her silver-white hair obscuring most of her expression.

When she looked up, her ice-blue pupils had returned to complete calm.

"You are very interesting."

She stood up, straightened the collar of her coat, and her military boots clicked against the wooden floor.

"The entrance coordinates for the next map, I'll send them to your private channel. Free of charge."

She turned around.

After taking two steps, she stopped again.

She tilted her head, her silver hair sliding off her shoulder to reveal half of her profile.

"By the way—it counts."

She didn't explain which specific sentence 'it counts' referred to.

The wooden door was pushed open, and the cold wind poured in.

Jiang Jiuyou led her four people into the morning light of the wasteland.

The door closed.

The tavern was silent for five seconds.

Shen Wanbing released the necklace and turned to stare at Chen Chen.

"What she meant by 'it counts'—"

"Business matters."

Shen Wanbing stared for three seconds.

"My Radar Talent can track her location signal. Do you want to—"

"No need." Chen Chen swirled the last sip of wine in his glass. "She'll come on her own."

Behind the corner booth, Blood Rose shrunk her head, the aluminum foil packaging of an Energy bar in her mouth. She hadn't made a sound from beginning to end.

Shen Wanbing's gaze swept across the corner.

"Who is that woman?"