Xie Ruolan

Fifty thousand Credits. Alive. Ten thousand Credits. Terminated.

Li Fang had his breath caught in his throat. That was an astronomical sum, enough to buy a small Sect-Corp and start his lending business like a Qi-Credit loan shark, or clear his own Qi-Credit debt ten times over.

Bank of Reincarnation…

Void Sect…

He'd heard the names whispered in the deepest corners of the Undermarket, spoken with tones laced with awe and terror.

The Bank was not a simple financial institution, it also handled the metaphysical accounting of souls across lifetimes, the vast, incomprehensible ledgers of karma and reincarnation that underpinned Neo-Tian's entire spiritual economy.

And the Void Sect… they were at the top. Apex predators, if one might say. The largest, most powerful Sect-Corp in the city. Their influence is woven into every circuit, every soul.

Someone who managed to embezzle from them and threaten their hegemony was probably not a simple criminal but a force of nature or an unimaginable fool.

And apparently, this Xie Ruolan was nearby. Very close by.

[Target Location Update: Xie Ruolan detected 30 meters southeast of Host's current position.]

[Currently attempting evasion through Sector Theta-7 residential warrens.] [Pursuer vectors rapidly triangulating.]

[Probability of Successful Evasion by Target: 12%.]

[Probability of Target utilizing lethal countermeasures if cornered: High.]

As the chatter of the Quantum Fortune System filled his vision, Li Fang spotted her. She was like a fleeting shadow and a ripple in the pre-dawn gloom as she darted across a narrow gap between two towering, dilapidated hab-blocks.

She moved with a surprising speed and grace that ignored the panic clearly etched on the brief glimpse he caught of her face.

She wore simple, functional clothing, but her posture and movements hinted at a former life of discipline and privilege. Clutched tightly in one hand was a small, metallic data case. Its surface shimmered faintly with what looked like high-grade defensive wards and talismans.

The pursuit squad, numbered six, altered their course instantly. Their movements were a silent and deadly ballet as they homed in on her position.

Energy beams, likely set to stun for capture given the 'alive' bounty preference, stitched across the alleyway she'd just vacated, scorching the grimy walls, melting the muddy, unkempt earth.

Li Fang knew, with absolute certainty, that he should run away. Avoid getting implicated. Turn around, melt back into the Undermarket tunnels, and forget he'd seen anything.

This was Void Sect business. This was a 50,000 Credit bounty. A league so far above his own that even breathing the same air felt dangerous.

What is he to do as someone who had his dantian sealed? Someone whose foreclosure notice loomed in a little more than a day? Getting involved was not just insanity, it was suicide. Even in his most hopeless state, he still wanted to struggle.

But even as his survival instincts screamed at him to flee, the QFS pinged again, its cheerful, incongruous tone apathetically ignoring the life-and-death drama unfolding nearby.

[Opportunity Analysis: Subject Xie Ruolan possesses confirmed high-level expertise in: Advanced Spiritual Finance, Karmic Accounting & Auditing (Bank of Reincarnation Protocols), Sect-Corp Internal Operations & Regulatory Loopholes, High-Security Data Encryption & Counter-Espionage.]

[Potential Asset Value to Host's 'Empire Building' objective: Extremely High.]

[Estimated acceleration of System Task progress upon successful 'Acquisition' and integration: 300-500%. ]

Acquisition. Li Fang sighed.

The system still framed it like she was a rare component, a valuable piece of tech he had to acquire.

Yet, the numbers were undeniable. Her knowledge, her experience… it was exactly what Li Fang lacked, what he would need to navigate the treacherous financial and political landscape of Neo-Tian if he ever hoped to build anything beyond a portfolio of desperate borrowers.

She understood the very systems he was trying to game, to infiltrate from the inside out.

It was a gamble of monumental proportions.

Financial Cowardice, fleeing to protect his meager existence, versus Suicidal Audacity, intervening in a Void Sect takedown for a potential ally whose knowledge could transform his entire operation.

The Quantum Fortune System didn't make the choice for him, it merely presented the data, the cold, hard probabilities.

"System," Li Fang muttered with his ragged breathing. His decision was already made in the knife-edge moment between self-preservation and reckless ambition.

He was already moving, not away, but parallel to the pursuit. He hugged the deepest shadows as the QFS overlay highlighted routes that would bring him closer to the unfolding confrontation.

"Calculate optimal intervention point for target extraction. Objective: Extract Xie Ruolan. Minimize direct conflict. Maximize confusion and escape window."

The QFS responded instantly, its processing power churning through tactical scenarios.

[Calculating Optimal Intervention Strategy…]

[Environmental Hazard Analysis…]

[Pursuer Weak Point Identification…]

[Recommendation: Utilize remaining Ghost Candle (Prototype v1.2 – Enhanced Destabilization Matrix) as primary diversionary device.]

[Target: Primary pursuit team's flank, coordinated with localized sensory overload.]

[Simultaneously trigger cascading overload in adjacent Sector Theta-7 Power Conduit Junction Box (Designation: PCJ-08B - known for unstable regulators).]

[Requires precise application of 5 Qi-Credits worth of focused QFS-modulated energy.]

[Estimated Escape Window Created: 4.5 seconds]

[Probability of Successful Extraction: 28%]

[Probability of Host sustaining critical injury: 65%]

Twenty-eight percent success. Sixty-five percent chance of getting himself killed or crippled. The odds were atrocious.

But the potential reward… an ally who understood the game at a level he could only dream of. It was the kind of asymmetric bet the QFS seemed to favor. And perhaps, deep down, Li Fang was tired of just surviving. He wanted to play. He recalled the first set of messages this system showed him. It measured his desperation value!

He had three Ghost Candles left in his satchel. He pulled all three out, their crude casing feeling familiar in his palm. He channeled a tiny bit of Qi into it from his Passive Stream, not to activate them, but to prime their unstable core as per the QFS's 'Enhanced Destabilization' suggestion.

He also mentally queued up the 5 Qi-Credit expenditure for the power conduit overload.

He sprinted through a connecting maintenance tunnel, its entrance hidden behind a pile of overflowing refuse containers. The Quantum Fortune System guided him, its tactical overlay painting optimal paths, predicting pursuer movements.

When he emerged, his heart pounded like it was about to explode. He slipped out behind a different stack of overflowing bins, much closer to the dead-end alley where the Void Sect squad was now cornering Xie Ruolan against a high wall covered in faded, ancient prayer scripts.

"Here goes nothing." He murmured to himself as he prepared to take action.