The car door was pulled open again, and Fyren looked up to see a furious Xena. "What now?"
Xena growled, "This is my car!"
...
Fyren walked down the streets of Crystalpeak City, lost in thought.
He didn't call Zaring to pick him up - he needed time to calm down.
It had been a long time since he'd smoked, but facing certain death, he didn't care anymore. He bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked as he wandered aimlessly.
Suddenly, a car pulled up beside him. Sherry pushed the door open and stepped out. Before Fyren could say a word, she knocked him unconscious and dragged him into the vehicle.
When Fyren woke up, he found himself tied to a chair.
A bright spotlight shone directly at him, making it hard to open his eyes. He could barely make out the outline of a man.
"Fyren, you're quite the tricky one."
"Otto?" Fyren felt instant despair. After falling into his hands, could there possibly be a good outcome?
"I had no choice!" Fyren hurriedly explained. "When we met, he tried to molest Xena! You weren't there, and I couldn't fight him off. Was I supposed to let him harass Xena? She's part of your harem, right? So I was protecting her for you!"
"Then why the hell did you impersonate me at the coffee shop? To get him to invest five billion in your project?"
"Big brother! In that situation, could I have told the truth? I slapped him four times to protect Xena! If he knew I'd lied to him, he'd have beaten me to death! Would you have stood up for me?"
"Haha, absolutely not."
"So I had no choice!"
"Well then, don't blame me. There's nothing I can do about it now."
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry, I won't take your life."
Otto said gloomily, "I never imagined that for a mere five billion dollars, I'd actually have to use the Face Shift Technique."
"What... what are you talking about?"
Otto adjusted the spotlight and patted Fyren's cheek.
"To get that five billion as soon as possible, I don't have time to play games with you. So I'll borrow your face first - let that idiot transfer the money. After that..."
Otto gritted his teeth. "Once I've annexed the three major families, it'll be your Zhang family's turn. Sherry, get ready."
"Hey hey hey, what are you doing? Stop! Let's talk this through! I'll give you the five billion, I'll—"
Sherry stepped forward. "Shut up. We're not taking your life - just swapping your face with the young master's temporarily. It won't hurt or itch, but within twelve hours, your identity will no longer be your own."
"Shit! You bunch of crazy bastards! How come you know all these weird tricks? It's not fair! I'm just a rich villain, while you guys have experts one moment and magic treasures the next - are you just showing off to make me look bad? I despise you! I fucking despise you!"
Otto and Sherry completely ignored Fyren's outburst.
"Young Lord, with your current injured condition, I'm afraid you won't be able to sustain the Face Shift Technique for very long. After casting it, you might lose your strength again soon."
"No matter." Otto had made up his mind. "Strength means little now. The Jianghu isn't about fighting and killing - it's about human connections. If we can't handle this matter, there's no hope of uniting Crystalpeak City's four major families. Besides, it's only twelve hours at most. No problem."
...
Meanwhile.
Iron King stood before a hotel's floor-to-ceiling window, head bowed. "Yes, yes, I was wrong... I apologize, Tactician. I didn't anticipate this."
The Tactician was furious. "You didn't anticipate? You mistook your own master - could you possibly be more wrong?"
"But when I first arrived, I had no name, no number, not even a code phrase for identification..."
"What kind of person do you think the Young Lord is? We can't let anyone know he's connected to our Mighty Syndicate! Did you expect him to have some code phrase like you common operatives?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant! The problem is that Fyren was too convincing - truly flamboyant and dashing, surrounded by beauties, with an extremely high pretense index!"
"I don't give a damn what's going through your pig brain! You'll take full responsibility for this mess!"
"Yes, yes, I'll go to the Young Lord immediately and apologize."
"If this isn't handled properly, don't bother coming back unless it's with your own head!"
The Tactician hung up in rage.
Iron King closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Utterly humiliating."
"Sir... was that Otto really the Young Master?"
Iron King clenched the phone so hard it shattered in his grip. He ground his teeth. "Fyren! That bastard! How dare he make a fool of me!"
Whirling around, he grabbed his subordinate by the collar, jaw clenched. "He even slapped me four times in public and called me an idiot! The fucking audacity!"
The subordinate said, "Calm down, sir. We'll find him and finish him off."
Iron King shoved him away. "Damn right we will."
He exhaled heavily. "But not now. We can't kill him yet - it would disrupt the Young Lord's plans in Crystalpeak City. But if I can't kill him and just let him get away with this... I've been in the jianghu for decades, and I've never been humiliated like this! In my entire career as an assassin, I've never suffered such bizarre humiliation!"
"Let's set out immediately - break his legs and put him in a wheelchair for life!"
"No! I want to go personally! I won't rest until I've dealt with that Zhang bastard myself!"
...
After what felt like an eternity, Fyren regained consciousness.
He felt no physical discomfort, but being trapped in an unknown dark place still made him shiver involuntarily.
What to do? He had to act - they couldn't just wait here to die.
That's it! The flash card!
Fyren summoned the operating system in his mind and selected the flash card.
Flash me!
He chose to flash straight downward. While flashing sideways might free him from his bindings, he'd still be trapped in this room. Judging by the surroundings, they were in some kind of building - flashing down should take him to another floor where he could escape.
With a thud, Fyren dropped straight into a large bathtub.
The woman bathing there immediately screamed and jumped up.
Fyren surfaced from the water to see... Eliza.
Eliza grabbed a bath towel, covering her chest as she backed into a corner, shouting in horror, "Otto! What are you doing!?"
Fyren quickly explained, "It's me! I'm Fyren!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Get out now or I'll call for help!"
"Don't! Please don't scream! I really am Fyren - Otto used some technique to change my face!"
Eliza pressed her long legs together, freshly emerged from the water. Those improbably long thighs were distractingly beautiful.
Water cascaded down her thighs, only enhancing their seductive power.
"You... Eliza, you might want to prioritize covering your bottom."
"Ah!" Eliza screamed again, hastily adjusting the towel to cover her lower half.
Now panicked, Eliza found herself in a dilemma - covering her bottom left her top exposed. She could only press her plump breasts flat against her chest with her slender arms, the pressure distorting their shape.
Fyren quickly grabbed another nearby towel and offered it to her.
As Eliza reached for it, she suddenly remembered her nudity and recoiled. "You... turn around!"
Fyren ignored this and stepped closer, handing her the towel to properly cover herself.
"Eliza, listen - I'm Fyren. Three years ago at the Mid-Autumn party, I confessed to you and you threw red wine in my face telling me to get lost. Your birthday is [X month X day]. Besides economics, you love music and art - you'd be a painter if not for business. You play piano and cello. You like Sichuan food but can't handle much spice. Your childhood friend who betrayed you was named Lingling. For three years I've been sending you thunder lilies because they're your favorite flower... I really am Fyren."
Eliza was stunned.
Otto would never know these things - only the most obsessive admirer would remember such details.
"You... really... are... Fyren?"
Eliza decided to take a bold gamble. "Okay, if you're Fyren, recite Uncle Zhang's phone number. There's a landline here - call him immediately and tell him to arrange our engagement as soon as possible."
Fyren didn't understand what Eliza was scheming, his eyebrows twisting in confusion.
"What engagement? He already said we're incompatible! If I call him like this, won't he beat me to death with a broom later?"
"Think of one thing in your heart right now."
"What?"
"I don't care - just immediately think of one thing in your heart right now."
"This..."
"Quick! Or I'm calling security!"
Fyren had no choice but to think:
[Damn girl, fine! I'll rip off your towel and bend you over that massage table for a spanking!]
Eliza heard the familiar inner monologue and finally confirmed this was indeed Fyren.
"So it really is you?"
"And you can still hear my thoughts!?"
"How did you... turn into Otto?"
"It's complicated. That bastard knows some face-changing magic and wants to use my appearance to trick Iron King into transferring money quickly."
"There's actually such magic? Just who are you people?!"
"I don't know anything! Only he can do these weird tricks. Now hurry up and get dressed - I'm not looking."
Fyren turned around as he spoke.
Eliza quickly put on her robe, still stealing glances at Fyren.
[It's fine to look a little, right? Why am I being so prudish?]
[In this situation, if I don't mention it, she'll probably let it go too.]
[What the hell am I thinking about now? Survival first!]
Eliza laughed, now fully recognizing Fyren.
Just then, someone knocked at the door.
The secretary called through, "Eliza, Fyren is here saying he wants to discuss the investment project."
"Understood."
"Eliza, are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
Eliza rolled her eyes. "I'm fine!"
"But I heard your voice just now—"
Fyren snapped, "She said she's fine!"
The secretary froze - why was there a man's voice inside?
Eliza smacked Fyren and cracked the door open. "Secretary."
"Eliza, you—"
"It's nothing."
Seeing Eliza truly unharmed, the secretary relaxed.
[The boss is human too... keeping a lover in the golden chamber... understandable.]
Reading her subordinate's thoughts, Eliza smiled. "It's Fyren."
"Oh!" The secretary sighed in relief, patting her chest. She'd worry if it were anyone else, but with Fyren there was no concern.
First, their engagement was public knowledge.
Second, while anyone might harm Eliza, Fyren would rather lose his head than let her suffer.
Still embarrassed, Eliza flushed. "I don't know how he got into my room. Please handle things outside - I'll be out shortly."
The secretary smiled knowingly. "Of course, no rush. You... can continue."
Before Eliza could explain further, the secretary had already left.
Eliza turned to glare at Fyren.
The secretary found the situation increasingly amusing - these two rivals had been at each other's throats for three years, creating such chaos that both families had been embarrassed.
But... after all this time, it seemed they'd finally gotten together.
Relieved, the secretary headed to the conference room - then froze in confusion.
Wait.
There was already a Fyren outside.
So who was in there with Eliza?
Was Eliza... cheating?