76: Chapter 76 He's fucking tired of living.

The smiling face of his younger sister, Chen Yan, the image of his mother chasing him with a rolling pin, the warm lights of their home in Hangzhou...

These images flashed through his mind, only to be suppressed by a surge of cold fury.

Zhou Ziming, Li Junfei.

He remembered those two names; they had been mentioned in Nightingale's routine reports as the flies buzzing around Xiao Yan.

At the time, he thought it was just the usual nonsense from adolescent boys—that Xiao Yan could handle it herself, and as long as security kept an eye on things, it would be fine.

He hadn't expected the flies to be unsatisfied with just buzzing and start trying to bite; they actually dared to resort to such low-life tactics as drugging and kidnapping?

They're truly tired of living, damn it.

"Hack the school's surveillance system, including the surrounding streets. I want to be able to take control at any time and see the real-time feed."

President Chen Ran spoke, "Nightingale team, maintain maximum alert. You are authorized: if there is any attempt to harm or forcibly take Xiao Yan, do not issue warnings. Intervene with force immediately and neutralize all involved personnel."

"If anything happens, I'll take responsibility. There will be people back home to clean it up."

"Xiao Yan's safety is paramount; everything else is bullshit."

"Also, have White Dove, the female bodyguard by Xiao Yan's side, contact her directly. Tell her not to be afraid, to eat and drink as usual, but aside from what she gets from the cafeteria or brings from home, she is not to touch anything anyone else gives her to consume—not even a single piece of candy."

"Try to stay with trusted classmates in the evenings and avoid being alone."

"Understood, Boss!" Nightingale replied without hesitation.

After hanging up, the fire in President Chen Ran's chest was still burning.

He took a few deep breaths of the scorching air, forcing himself to calm down.

With Nightingale and White Dove in Hangzhou—both elite operatives handpicked from Heavy Hammer—protecting Xiao Yan shouldn't be a problem.

But he hated this feeling of passively waiting for a threat to materialize.

It was like being in the deep sea; when you know a predator is circling nearby, the best approach isn't to wait for it to pounce, but to find it first and eliminate it.

Just as he was thinking this, Victor walked in hurriedly with an encrypted tablet, his expression grave.

"Boss, the Anvil team has detected unusual activity in the United States."

Victor handed him the tablet. "Lawrence Rockefeller, the owner of Ocean Exploration Capital."

"His intelligence analysis team and security contractors have been unusually active over the past two weeks. Significant resources have been diverted to gather all information on you—from your school records in Hangzhou to details from the New York auction. They've even attempted to infiltrate our peripheral logistics and hired personnel."

"They've also increased the number of reconnaissance vessels disguised as research ships in the waters around Deep Blue Nation, and their activity is frequent."

"Our assessment of their intent: they are trying to uncover the secrets of our technology and may be planning to infiltrate, steal, or take more aggressive action."

President Chen Ran looked at the photo of Lawrence Rockefeller on the tablet—wearing a captain's hat on a yacht, with a reserved smile but sharp eyes—as well as the attached summary of Ocean Exploration Capital's dark history, which included deep-sea mining, military contracts, and multiple instances of using non-commercial means to suppress competitors.

Another shark that had smelled blood and come rushing in.

And this shark looked to have sharper teeth and a deeper background.

Almost at the same time, a system notification sounded in his mind:

[Successfully averted a major security threat against immediate family (pre-empted and deployed). Reward: +500 points.]

[Current points: 1870 + 500 = 2370 points.]

The 500 points had arrived, but President Chen Ran didn't feel relieved.

The threat had only been anticipated; it hadn't been eliminated.

And Lawrence Rockefeller, this venomous snake, was already slithering over, flicking its tongue.

"It seems someone thinks I, President Chen Ran, have a good temper and am just a piece of fat that anyone can come and take a bite out of."

President Chen Ran put down the tablet. "Arthur Crawford's estate, the scenery is quite nice, isn't it?"

Victor immediately understood what President Chen Ran meant, his eyes sharpening. "Boss, what are you implying?"

"I hate being targeted, especially when it involves my family and my livelihood."

President Chen Ran walked over to the world map on the wall and pointed at the East Coast of the United States. "Doesn't Lawrence Rockefeller want to know my secrets? Let him go to hell and ask."

"Notify Heavy Hammer Team A, currently on standby in the U.S., to initiate Operation Scavenger 2.0."

"Target: Lawrence Rockefeller and the core team members who are directly involved in this investigation and aware of the primary intent."

"Requirements: Eliminate them completely. Interrogate them to extract all information they hold about us, their personal and associated secret accounts, and transfer all available assets."

"The operation must be fast and clean, as if it never happened. The time for the operation is tonight."

"Yes!" Victor had no questions and immediately turned to relay the order.

For enemies attempting to harm the boss's family and core interests, the best way to handle them is to make them disappear forever before they can even make a move.

This was the code of conduct for Anvil and Heavy Hammer.

President Chen Ran sat back in his chair, his gaze returning to the ocean outside the window.

Beneath the deep sea, the law of the jungle prevails.

Above the sea, it is the same.

He had given China the coordinates of the shipwreck, showing some sincerity in cooperation while also revealing a portion of his capabilities.

This had attracted some collaborators, but it had also drawn more greedy eyes.

Dealing with voyeurs requires no logic; you must use a language they understand: iron and blood.

Hangzhou, evening. The school bell had rung a while ago.

Chen Yan held her books as she walked toward the cafeteria with two girls from her dormitory.

She looked no different than usual, chatting and laughing, but the corner of her eye was constantly scanning her surroundings.

Her phone was in her pocket, pressed against her thigh, and the emergency alarm disguised as a lipstick was in her coat's inner pocket, within easy reach.

"Xiao Yan, are you going to the library tonight? There's a physics problem I just can't figure out," a girl asked.

"I don't think I can tonight. I'm a bit tired and want to go back to the dorm early to organize my notes," Chen Yan shook her head and refused with a smile.

She had received an encrypted message from White Dove advising her to minimize time spent in public study areas at night.

"Alright, then get some good rest."

As they reached the fork in the road leading to the cafeteria and the dormitory area, Zhao Lili appeared from nowhere with a smile on her face, holding a cup of milk tea. "Xiao Yan! Perfect, I ran into you. I brought you a cup of milk tea, half-sugar—your favorite!"

Chen Yan paused, looking at the milk tea being offered. The plastic seal was intact, and the straw hadn't been inserted.

Zhao Lili's eyes looked very sincere, even a bit ingratiating.

"Thanks, Lili," Chen Yan smiled as well, not taking the milk tea. "But I've been cutting down on sugar recently; I'm afraid drinking milk tea at night will keep me awake."

"You should drink it yourself, or maybe give it to Wang Xuan?" She pointed to a girl nearby.

The smile on Zhao Lili's face stiffened for a moment before blossoming again. "Oh, oh, cutting sugar, okay... never mind then."

"I thought you'd like it." She sheepishly withdrew her hand.

"By the way, Lili," Chen Yan said, as if suddenly remembering something. "Didn't you say last week that you wanted to borrow my annotated version of 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'? Shall I bring it to you when I go back to the dorm tonight?"

Zhao Lili's eyes flickered. "Ah... that, no rush, no rush. You keep reading it."

"I... I might have something on tonight. I'll ask you for it another day." Having said that, she waved at Chen Yan and the other two girls, turned, and walked quickly toward the library, her back looking a bit hurried.

Chen Yan watched her retreating figure, and the slight suspicion in her heart hardened into a cold stone.

Zhao Lili had never mentioned borrowing a book; she was probing.

Furthermore, when Zhao Lili had approached just now, she had faintly smelled a trace of a cloying scent that didn't belong to any common skincare product.

"Let's go." Chen Yan pulled her gaze back, linked arms with the girl beside her, and spoke in her usual tone, though her fingers gripped slightly tighter.

East Coast of the United States, the night was deepening.

The waves tirelessly lapped against the private beach, the sound low and rhythmic.

Lawrence Rockefeller's estate was embedded in this quiet, seaside woodland. With high walls, electric fences, sensors, and a security team of over thirty former special forces elites, it resembled a steel hedgehog crouching in the darkness.

Two in the morning—the hour when people are most weary.

At the edge of the forest, shadows darker than the night itself began to gather and flow.

They were President Chen Ran's Heavy Hammer, an elite tactical operations group with a complement of fifty.

Tonight's objective: Eradicate Lawrence Rockefeller and his core threat network—leave no one behind.

Operation codename: "Clean Sea."

The captain of Heavy Hammer crouched behind the gnarled roots of an ancient tree, data streams scrolling across his helmet's visor, taking in the estate's electronic defenses, heat signatures, and patrol routes.

Fifty men waited in silence via encrypted bone-conduction channels.

"Team A (Electronic Warfare/Surveillance), take control of the perimeter systems, create a twenty-minute safety window, and jam all external communications."

"Team B (Perimeter Clearance), twelve men, silently eliminate all outer patrol sentries and fixed hidden posts."

"Team C (Maritime Infiltration), eight men, infiltrate from the flank of the beach, clear the pier and coastal defenses, and rendezvous with the main assault force."

"Team D (Sniper/Observation), six men, occupy the high ground, provide full-field visibility and precise fire support."

"Team E (Main Assault), twenty men, follow me in a frontal assault on the main building, clear all internal resistance."

"Team F (Perimeter Blockade/Pursuit), four men, remain on mobile standby, block all escape routes, and pursue any remaining enemies."

"Move."

The orders were issued in an instant.

The four members of Team A, like electronic ghosts, hugged the walls and monitoring nodes.

Specialized equipment breached the system within seconds, replacing live surveillance with looped footage and temporarily disabling sensors in specific areas.

The screens in the estate's monitoring room showed everything as normal; the alarms remained silent.

The twelve members of Team B split into six two-man hunter teams, using thermal imaging and sound localization to begin harvesting in the shadows between the forest and the estate's edge.

Submachine guns fitted with high-efficiency silencers and specialized crossbow bolts made soft "pfft" sounds. Several outer patrol sentries and carefully disguised sniper positions were taken out one by one, their bodies quickly dragged into hiding.

The operation was efficient and swift.

Almost simultaneously, the eight members of Team C approached the estate's private beach in silence, riding black inflatable rubber boats from the sea, far away from the main entrance.