The System 2.0 upgrade finished compiling in my mind right as Old Chen pulled the Maybach into the underground parking garage of the Jinghai Grand Auction House.
[Ding! System 2.0 Online.] [New Feature Unlocked: 'Destiny Plunder Chain'. The Host can now see the exact plotlines connecting the Protagonists to their Destined Heroines.] [Scanning current target: Mu Xue'er (The Scarlet Queen).]
A translucent golden thread materialized in my vision, mapping out the author's lazy plot.
Mu Xue'er was the Commander of the Scarlet Guard, an elite private military contractor. Three years ago, she contracted a lethal 'Nine-Yin Frost Poison' during a mission in Siberia. In the original novel, Long Chen was supposed to return to Jinghai, casually cure her using his "Dragon Yang Qi," and instantly secure her absolute loyalty and military might.
Not on my watch, I thought, stepping out of the car and adjusting my cufflinks.
[System Prompt: To counter the Nine-Yin Frost Poison, the System has awarded the Host the 'Supreme Sun-Flare Physique (Stage 1)'! Your blood and Qi are now the ultimate cure for all Yin-based toxins.]
A wave of intense, comfortable heat washed through my veins, settling deep into my bones. The freezing rain from the airport was instantly burned away from my clothes. I felt invincible.
"Old Chen," I said, walking toward the VIP elevator. "Which lot is the 500-Year Blood Ginseng?"
"Lot 42, Young Master," Old Chen replied, falling into step behind me. "It's the finale. The Mu family has expressly warned all other wealthy families in Jinghai not to bid on it. Commander Mu desperately needs it."
I smiled, a dark, dangerous curve of my lips. "Perfect. Let's go spend some of the company's money."
The main hall of the Grand Auction House was packed with the city's elite.
I didn't sit in the general admission rows. I bypassed the velvet ropes and walked directly into VIP Box 1, a glass-walled balcony overlooking the stage.
Across the hall, in VIP Box 2, sat the Scarlet Queen.
Mu Xue'er wasn't wearing a dress. She wore a sharply tailored, dark crimson military dress uniform with silver epaulets. Her midnight-black hair was cut in a sharp bob, framing a face that was stunningly beautiful but as cold and hard as a diamond.
Even from fifty yards away, my enhanced senses could see the faint, unnatural blue tint on her lips and the slight tremor in her fingers. The Frost Poison was flaring up. She was dying, holding on by sheer willpower.
Down on the stage, the auctioneer brought down his gavel.
"And now, our final item! The 500-Year-Old Himalayan Blood Ginseng! A peerless medicinal treasure! Bidding starts at fifty million!"
The room was dead silent. Every billionaire in the hall kept their paddles firmly down. Nobody wanted to offend the Scarlet Guard. They all knew Mu Xue'er needed it to survive the winter.
In VIP Box 2, Mu Xue'er's lieutenant raised a paddle.
"Sixty million," the lieutenant called out, her voice echoing in the quiet hall.
The auctioneer smiled nervously, raising his gavel to quickly end it. "Sixty million going once. Sixty million going tw—"
I pressed the intercom button in my VIP box.
"Five hundred million."
My voice dropped into the silent hall like a live grenade.
The entire auction house collectively gasped, hundreds of heads snapping up to look at VIP Box 1. Who in their right mind had the sheer, suicidal audacity to outbid the military queen of Jinghai by nearly ten times the starting price?
In Box 2, Mu Xue'er stood up. Her piercing, hawk-like eyes locked onto me through the glass. The killing intent radiating from her was so intense it actually cracked her champagne flute.
"Six hundred million," her lieutenant shouted, her voice trembling slightly with rage.
I didn't even hesitate. I leaned into the microphone.
"One billion."
Complete pandemonium broke out on the ground floor. One billion for a root? It was financial insanity. But to me, it was pocket change. It was a fraction of the daily operating budget of the Chu Consortium, and an incredibly cheap price to hijack a protagonist's main storyline.
The auctioneer was sweating profusely, looking at Mu Xue'er's box in sheer terror.
Mu Xue'er raised her hand, silencing her furious lieutenant. She stared at me for three long seconds. She recognized me. Everyone knew the "Trash Heir" of the Chu Consortium. But the man looking back at her wasn't a trash heir.
I met her murderous gaze with absolute, relaxed indifference. I even raised a glass of scotch in a mock toast.
She turned on her heel and marched out of her VIP box.
"One billion going once... twice... sold to Mr. Chu!" the auctioneer slammed the gavel, practically running off the stage to avoid the crossfire.
"Old Chen," I said, setting my glass down. "Open the door. We have a guest."
Before Old Chen could even reach the handle, the heavy oak door of my VIP box was violently kicked open. The wood splintered, the locking mechanism shattering into pieces.
Mu Xue'er stepped into the room, flanked by four heavily armed Scarlet Guard elites. The temperature in the room plummeted. The Frost Poison inside her was leaking out through her killing intent, coating the edges of the broken door in a thin layer of actual ice.
"Chu Feng," Mu Xue'er said, her voice a raspy, commanding whisper that demanded absolute obedience. "Have you lost your mind? You think your father's money protects you from me? Hand over the ginseng."
Her guards raised their hands, resting them threateningly on the grips of their holstered firearms.
Old Chen stepped forward, his own internal Qi flaring up, but I simply waved him back.
I remained seated on the plush leather sofa, crossing my legs. I didn't activate my Overlord Aura. Against a hardened military commander, brute-forcing dominance wouldn't spark romance; it would just start a war. I needed to use precision.
"Commander Mu," I said smoothly, gesturing to the empty armchair across from me. "You kicked down my door over a dried root? How unseemly."
"That root is military contraband as of two minutes ago," she lied effortlessly, her hand resting on the military saber at her waist. "I am confiscating it. If you resist, I will arrest you for obstructing a Scarlet Guard operation."
"Arrest me?" I let out a soft, mocking laugh. "With what strength, Xue'er? You can barely stand."
Her eyes widened slightly, a flash of genuine shock breaking through her icy exterior.
I leaned forward, my tone turning deadly serious. "Your lips are cyanotic. Your breathing is shallow. The Nine-Yin Frost Poison has already breached your heart meridian. If you try to draw that saber, the exertion will freeze your blood in your veins, and you will be dead before you hit this expensive carpet."
The four elite guards instantly drew their weapons, aiming them directly at my head. "How do you know about the Commander's poison?!" the lieutenant screamed. It was a Class-A military secret.
Mu Xue'er held up a shaking hand, forcing her guards to lower their guns. She stared at me, her chest heaving as she fought down a wave of agonizing, freezing pain that suddenly spiked in her chest.
"Who told you?" she demanded, her voice losing its commanding edge, replaced by a desperate, raspy gasp.
"Nobody told me. I have eyes," I replied, standing up slowly. I walked right past the barrels of her guards' guns, completely ignoring them, and stopped inches away from the Scarlet Queen.
She was freezing. I could feel the unnatural cold rolling off her skin.
"You think that 500-Year Ginseng is going to save you?" I whispered, looking down into her defiant eyes. "It's a band-aid. It carries too much raw Yang energy. If you ingest it in your current state, your fragile meridians will shatter. You won't freeze to death; you'll explode."
"I don't have a choice!" she gritted her teeth, her legs finally betraying her. She stumbled forward, the poison completely paralyzing her nervous system.
She braced for impact with the floor, but she didn't fall.
I caught her by the waist.
The moment my arm wrapped around her, my newly acquired [Supreme Sun-Flare Physique] instinctively flared to life. A wave of pure, concentrated, scorching Yang Qi rushed from my body into hers.
"Ah!" Mu Xue'er gasped, her back arching.
It wasn't a gasp of pain. For the first time in three years, the agonizing, bone-deep ice inside her chest was instantly suppressed. A rush of incredible, euphoric warmth flooded her frozen meridians, melting the poison away from her heart.
She looked up at me, her face mere inches from mine, her blue-tinted lips slowly returning to a vibrant, healthy pink. The military commander, the woman who terrified warlords, was currently gripping my suit jacket like it was her only lifeline in a stormy sea.
"What... what are you doing to me?" she whispered, her voice entirely stripped of its authority, leaving only a raw, breathless vulnerability.
"I'm keeping you alive," I said softly, my eyes locking onto hers. "Long Chen betrothed you, but he left you here to suffer while he played mercenary in the desert. He's a failure. I'm not."
At the mention of her supposed fiancé, her eyes widened.
"Cancel the engagement, Xue'er," I murmured, my grip on her waist firm, unapologetic, and scorching hot. "Swear loyalty to me, and I won't just suppress this poison. I'll burn it out of you forever."