17: Chapter 17 Alice makes her appearance, mistaking an actor for the Joker.

The wind outside the warehouse stopped.

That unsettling silence was like the low pressure before a storm, making one's chest feel tight.

A foot wearing a black tactical leather boot landed silently on the dusty concrete floor.

Alice Morgan, a senior agent of the Interpol Special Operations Group, code-named "Black Widow." At this moment, she was like a prowling cat, pressed against the red brick wall, a predator's cold light flickering in her deep blue eyes.

Ten minutes ago, her phone received a top-priority alert of an illegal network access at the safe house.

This was her secret base in Jianghai City; only the dead knew its location.

"Click."

The safety of the Glock 19 Gen5 in Alice's hand was gently pushed open by her thumb, the muzzle lowered slightly, maintaining a CARS stance ready to fire at any moment.

The rolling shutter door had been pulled open just a crack.

There were no signs of forced entry.

Even the high-end padlock with a biometric fingerprint lock had been professionally picked and hung neatly to the side.

An expert.

An absolute grandmaster of lock-picking.

Alice's heart instinctively skipped a beat, a physiological response honed from long periods of walking the edge of life and death. She took a deep breath, adjusted her breathing rhythm, and her body glided into the shadows of the warehouse like a ghost.

The air was filled with a faint scent of gun oil, and a trace of... instant noodle seasoning?

In the center of the warehouse, under the dim yellow incandescent light.

A man was sitting with his back to her in front of a solid wood workbench.

He wore a slightly worn black windbreaker. His back wasn't broad, but it was held straight as a spear thrust into the ground.

It was Qin Feng.

At this moment, he was holding the HK416 assault rifle that had been hanging on the wall.

"Clack—"

A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

Qin Feng didn't look back. His fingers moved over the gun's body, skillfully pulling the bolt and checking the rifling. His movements were smooth and fluid, carrying a sort of nonchalant elegance.

"This prop team has some skills."

Qin Feng was marveling to himself.

The weight of this gun, the cold texture of the metal, and even the grease in the rifling were made to look exactly like the real thing. Was the competition in reality shows so fierce nowadays? To pursue realism, they even dared to bring in controlled items like this (replica guns)?

He was about to try the scope.

[Ding! Extremely high-level danger source detected approaching from behind!]

[God-level Bandit Aura (Active) triggered.]

[Current Status: No Strangers Allowed, Gods and Ghosts Begone.]

The system's prompt exploded without warning.

Qin Feng's hand holding the gun paused slightly.

If it were a normal person, they would likely be scared into turning around and shouting, "Who's there?"

But Qin Feng didn't.

To keep that five-thousand-yuan appearance fee and maintain his hard-won "Godfather" persona, he forced down the urge to look back.

He simply placed the gun on the table slowly and deliberately.

That soft "thud" sounded exceptionally sharp in the empty warehouse.

Then, he turned the somewhat rusty swivel chair.

"Creak—"

The chair turned 180 degrees.

Qin Feng's handsome face appeared under the light.

He was expressionless.

His eyes, deep as an abyss, swept indifferently toward the shadows where Alice was hiding from five meters away.

They had no focus, yet seemed to see through everything.

"Hum!"

Hidden in the dark, Alice felt as if she were being stared down by an ancient beast.

In that instant, the hair all over her body stood on end. Her palm holding the Glock was drenched in cold sweat, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged from the excessive force.

What kind of gaze was that?

Indifference, coldness, even a hint of mockery toward life.

Like a deity high upon a throne, looking down at an ant trying to challenge his majesty.

This feeling...

This damn aura...

Alice's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinheads as a memory buried in top-secret files rushed back like a tide.

Three years ago, at the scene of a shocking jewelry heist in Europe.

She had seen a back through a surveillance screen.

That legendary thief code-named "Joker," surrounded by hundreds of SWAT officers, had also been nonchalantly wiping his firearm like this, scanning the scene with that same look of seeing everyone as trash.

That silhouette and the man before her overlapped strikingly!

"Joker?!"

Alice's heart pounded wildly, almost hammering through her ribs.

That supercriminal who had given Interpol a headache for five whole years and whose true face had never been seen, was actually in Jianghai City?!

And he had even taken over her safe house!

Is he demonstrating his power to me?

Or is he mocking the incompetence of the entire Interpol?

Alice bit her lower lip until she tasted a hint of rusty blood, only then forcing down the fear within her that urged her to turn and flee.

She was Black Widow.

She was an elite agent.

She couldn't back down.

Alice slowly stepped out of the shadows. She didn't put away her gun, but the muzzle was subtly lowered by three inches—a standard negotiation stance in the underworld, meaning "I don't want a fight, but I'm no pushover."

"The night is long."

Alice used fluent Chinese to tentatively throw out a slang phrase, her voice a bit tight: "Since Your Excellency is using my place to take shelter, shouldn't you pay some rent?"

This was a probe.

And a confirmation.

Sitting in the chair, Qin Feng's brow twitched imperceptibly.

A foreign girl?

Blonde hair, blue eyes, a hot figure, and a tight leather outfit that outlined breathtaking curves. She was even holding a "real" piece (a prop gun that looked very real).

"The production team really went all out..."

Qin Feng was secretly amazed.

What act was this? A new NPC? Or was this the final boss battle?

This foreign girl's acting was good; that tension and the cold sweat on her forehead were even more realistic than that Xiahou Dun from earlier.

Since it was acting, he had to play along.

Qin Feng leaned back in his chair, his slender fingers gently stroking the corner of the table, a half-smile appearing on his face.

Instead of answering directly, he thought of a classic line from a hit drama he'd seen before.

It was both cool and fit the current context.

"Rent?"

Qin Feng chuckled, his voice low and raspy, with an inscrutable magnetic quality.

He looked up, his gaze piercing directly into Alice's eyes.

"The bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish."

Just seven short words.

After speaking, Qin Feng said no more, simply watching her quietly with those eyes that "saw through everything."

This was actually nonsense.

It meant: I'm here to make the big bucks (appearance fee), so don't worry about the rent and just finish the scene so we can go home.

However.

To Alice's ears, these words were like a thunderclap!

"The bigger... the wind and waves..."

Alice's pupils trembled violently.

What was he hinting at?

Tonight's city-wide lockdown in Jianghai City was the "wind and waves." So what did the so-called "fish" refer to? Fifty million in cash?

No!

How could someone of Joker's level care about a mere fifty million!

That was just bait!

The real "big fish" was definitely a shocking case that would stun the world! It might even involve nuclear codes, biochemical formulas, or dirt on some head of state!

"He's warning me... the water is very deep this time. He's telling me not to interfere, or I'll be crushed by the waves..."

Alice imagined a shocking conspiracy involving global security, and she trembled, shaken by this "truth."

Too terrifying.

This man's depth was simply bottomless!

But he didn't kill me to silence me immediately. What did that mean?

Did it mean that in his eyes, I was still useful? Or perhaps he simply disdained to kill me?

Alice took a deep breath and made a decision that went against her instincts.

"Click."

In front of Qin Feng, she slowly holstered her Glock.

Since she couldn't beat him, she would join him.

As an agent who wanted to catch Joker, what better opportunity was there to gather evidence than to stay by his side?

"Since it's a big deal..."

Alice squeezed out a charming yet dangerous smile. As she spoke, she walked toward Qin Feng with her long legs. "Then I wonder if you could take me along?"

"I also want to taste what that expensive fish is like."

She walked slowly, each step carrying a specific rhythm—the seductive gait of a professionally trained agent.

However.

Just as she was about to reach the workbench.

A petite figure, like a cat with its fur standing on end, suddenly lunged out from the side.

"Stop right there!"

Su Tang spread her arms, firmly blocking the way in front of Qin Feng.

Her small face, originally pale from fright, was now flushed red from some inexplicable sense of crisis.

A woman's intuition, especially that of a woman who had just fallen in love (unilaterally), was terrifyingly accurate.

This blonde, blue-eyed foreign girl wasn't here to fight.

She was here to steal her man!

Look at that gaze! It was practically dripping with desire!

Look at the way she walked! As if she wanted to snap her own waist!

And she wanted to taste the fish? Bah! I think you want to taste my brother!

"Who do you think you are!"

Su Tang was like a little hen protecting her food, her chin held high. Although she was half a head shorter than Alice, her momentum didn't falter: "Stay away from my brother! We're not short on hands here! And we're definitely not short on women!"

Alice was stunned for a moment.

She looked down at the Eastern girl in front of her, dressed in a bank uniform and full of collagen.

Brother?

Is this the legendary hostage?

The poor girl brainwashed by Joker, suffering from severe Stockholm Syndrome?

"Little sister." Alice tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, her lips curling into a playful arc—a dimensionality reduction strike from a mature woman to a young girl. "This kind of adult game is very dangerous. Can you... handle it?"

"It's none of your business whether I can handle it or not!" Su Tang stomped her foot in anger. "Anyway, Brother is mine... No, I'm Brother's hostage! I have priority!"

"Oh?" Alice raised an eyebrow, her gaze passing over Su Tang to look at Qin Feng behind her, a hint of provocation in her eyes. "Mr. Joker, your taste... is quite unique. You like this kind of undeveloped little white flower?"

Qin Feng: "..."

He felt like his head was going to explode.

A foreign girl with a gun whose friend-or-foe status was unknown, and a brain-dead hostage with a crush.

How was this a safe house?

This was clearly a Shura Field!

"I say..." Qin Feng rubbed his temples, just about to tell these two women to be quiet.

In the corner, Pei Ji, who hadn't dared to make a sound, weakly raised his hand.

He was huddled between two supply crates. He pushed up the glasses sliding down his nose, glanced at Alice and her full-blown aura, then at the combat-ready Su Tang, and finally looked pitifully at Qin Feng.

"Um... Brother..."

"Is this plot... a bit beyond the script?"

"If there's nothing for me to do... can I go eat that bowl of instant noodles first? I think I smell braised beef flavor..."

Qin Feng: "..."

He was tired.

Just let it all be destroyed.

Can't I just give up on earning this five thousand yuan?