H City .11:00 PM.
The mechanical keyboard clicked one last time as the balance on the screen shifted: $1,200,000,000.00.
Lin Xiao didn't celebrate. She stared at the green numbers, her pulse steady. In the Lin family, she was the invisible child, a scholarship student who spent her nights in a cramped apartment rewriting code.
The power in the apartment cut out. Total silence.
Lin Xiao reached for her lukewarm tea. "The door was locked from the inside. You're three minutes early."
A man stepped out of the shadows near the window. He wore a dark, tailored suit that made the small room feel like a pressurized chamber.
This was Lu Sheng.
He didn't pull a gun. He simply leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on the glowing laptop screen.
"You used a triple-layer proxy," Lu Sheng said. His voice was calm, but it carried a weight that made the air feel thin. "The security teams are still chasing your ghost in the Singapore servers. They don't know you're sitting in a closet in H City."
"But you found me," Lin Xiao said. She turned her chair to face him.
"I don't follow digital trails. I follow people." Lu Sheng walked toward the desk and closed her laptop without asking. "The contract on your life was issued sixty seconds after the transfer. I've already accepted it."
Lin Xiao looked at his hands clean, steady, and capable. "If you accepted the contract, why am I still breathing?"
"Because the people who hired me tried to lower my fee," Lu Sheng said. He picked up her backpack and began sliding the laptop inside. "I don't work for people who negotiate after the fact."
"So you're stealing me instead?"
"I'm securing a better deal." He looked at her, his gaze cold. "You moved the money. You're the only one who can move it again. That makes you more valuable than the contract."
Lin Xiao stood up. "I have a kill-switch. If I don't check in every ten minutes, the account locks."
Lu Sheng didn't blink. "I know. I bypassed your local router and simulated your heartbeat signal two minutes ago. Your kill-switch is currently talking to a dummy server I set up in the hallway."
Lin Xiao felt a cold drop of sweat slide down her neck. She had underestimated him. He wasn't just a brute; he was a professional.
"What now?" she asked.
"Now, we leave." Lu Sheng tossed her the backpack. He didn't wait for her to catch it. He headed for the door, his movements fluid.
The sound of a heavy van screeched to a halt on the street below. Shouting followed.
"The second team is here," Lin Xiao whispered.
"They're amateurs," Lu Sheng said, not looking back. "Stay within two steps of me. If you fall behind, I won't come back for you."
Lin Xiao gripped the straps of her bag. She didn't argue. She followed him into the dark hallway.
"I haven't agreed to work with you," she muttered.
"You haven't died yet," Lu Sheng replied. "That's agreement enough."