89. When the concubines (?) began exchanging information among themselves

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The door to the basement sounded with a rapping, then was unlocked by someone with a key. White Fox, gnawing on bread in the corner, raised her head in alert and called out indistinctly, “Who’s there?!”

“It’s me.” The girl’s cool, crisp voice echoed from the doorway. A maiden with a Hime cut stepped slowly into the dim, blood-scented basement, then turned and locked the door behind her.

“Miss Asougi, what brings you here?” White Fox’s ears fluttered affectionately up and down as she set the bread aside.

“You don’t even turn on the lights in a room this dark?” Chiyo Asougi flicked the switch on the wall, and the formerly pitch-black room was suddenly flooded with brightness, revealing blood stains splattered across the floor and walls.

The abrupt glare made White Fox squint, grumbling in pain, “It’s too bright! I lived in the underground district before, I’m used to darkness there!”

Ignoring her complaints, Chiyo spoke directly, “Tonight is your last night here. The Grand Arena Tournament starts tomorrow.”

As she spoke, she handed White Fox a package. “These are new clothes tailored for your condition. Try them on.”

Ever since White Fox had been ambushed by assassins, her clothes had been pierced by a harpoon, exposing raw, bloody flesh.

Blood and mangled flesh constantly oozed from that gaping wound, splattering the basement with stains.

Yet White Fox seemed indifferent, only occasionally wiping up the blood and tossing scraps of flesh into the trash.

“Thank you for taking care of me these days. You’re good people!” White Fox waggled her ears amicably, smiling as she accepted the package.

Over the past week, Chiyo had arranged for White Fox to stay in the basement, instructing Motobu to relocate all untrustworthy gang members from the vicinity. Under the pretense of “stocking up on emergency food,” she’d bought a batch of instant bread and military rations, quietly sending them to the basement.

With the help of painkillers, White Fox had behaved remarkably well—nestled quietly in the basement, making no trouble at all. She was nothing like the rumored “crazy lady who blows up everything she sees,” saving Chiyo much worry.

Of course, Chen Shang had specifically reminded her: White Fox’s “good behavior” only lasted as long as the painkillers worked. Once she was back in constant agony, she’d revert to being a reckless, explosive maniac.

Faced with White Fox’s straightforward praise, Chiyo let out a bitter hum, her expression somewhere between a smile and a smirk. “You’re the first to ever call our gang ‘good people.’”

“I know you’re a gang. The kind that kills and robs at will,” White Fox’s ears twitched contemplatively.

“At first, I thought the planner was a bad guy too. He just turned up at my place out of nowhere, then randomly commissioned me to join the Grand Arena, and even fought me.”

White Fox thought for a moment before continuing, “But later, the planner saved me and gave me all these painkillers. So I decided he’s a good person... as long as he didn’t lie to me.”

“You’re the same. Even if you’re a gang, you’ve been good to me these days, so you’re good people to me.”

Chiyo was at a loss for White Fox’s blunt words, but a hint of suspicion crept in. “Wait, what did he lie to you about?”

“Oh—he said the champion prize for the Grand Arena is a gene repair kit, so that’s why I’m joining.” White Fox tapped her chin with her finger, recalling, “But the organizers haven’t announced the champion prize yet... If he lied to me, I’ll blow him up.”

“Gene repair kit?” The term seemed to trigger something in Chiyo.

As a privileged heiress mingling in the circles of powerful syndicates, she’d occasionally heard bits of rumor about this year’s tournament.

But she distinctly remembered that the gene repair kit wasn’t the champion prize—it was the “hidden prize.”

To win the hidden prize, a team had to not only clinch the championship, but also defeat an extremely dangerous “hidden boss” on the field.

—Did Chen Shang really lie to her? Or... did he plan to claim both the championship and the hidden prize?

In all past tournaments, no one had ever completed the hidden quest. There had even been tragic cases where someone, already champion, insisted on challenging the hidden boss and ended up getting their entire team killed.

Chiyo’s heartbeat quickened.

She’d come today to set aside her prejudices and talk to White Fox, hoping to learn more about Chen Shang.

But the more she found out, the more she felt like her heart was failing.

Chen Shang’s reckless ambition was even greater than she’d thought.

“Are you alright, Miss Asougi?” White Fox waved her hand before Chiyo’s eyes, snapping her out of her dazed, glassy-eyed state.

“Ahem, I’m fine.” Chiyo cleared her throat, deciding not to reveal this news to White Fox just yet.

After all, once Chen Shang made up his mind, no matter how insane the task, he’d see it through—he’d even blow up the three major sects of the Kunlun District just to amuse her.

After a moment’s thought, Chiyo shifted the topic. “So, what’s your impression of him, really?”

When Chen Shang had brought White Fox to the Tokugawa Syndicate, Chiyo had at first suspected their relationship was... that kind. But after some analysis, she realized White Fox and Chen Shang were simply in a straightforward employer-employee relationship—not nearly as complicated as she’d imagined.

Even so, Chiyo remained a bit wary, so she decided to probe White Fox for hints.

If Chen Shang truly turned into the typical scoundrel protagonist of some Japanese light novel, flirting wherever he went, Chiyo would let him see the dark side of Night Pivot City without hesitation.

Imprisonment play sounded rather nice...

“The planner?” White Fox pondered, her ears bobbing with delight. “He’s a good person, just like you. But he’s very strange.”

“Strange?” Chiyo furrowed her brow.

“It’s like he can predict everything, and he’s incredibly confident,” White Fox recalled. “In the preliminaries, it was thanks to him that we advanced so easily.”

“You relied on him?... If I remember, most contestants committed suicide during the preliminaries, didn’t they?” Chiyo’s thoughts raced, surprised by White Fox’s words.

To her recollection, the live broadcast of the tournament had been abruptly interrupted by strange footage. When the stream resumed, contestants began killing themselves one after another.

“Right, the planner pulled out a weird book and told us to cover our ears,” White Fox tried to remember.

“When he finished reading from it, all those contestants went mad... The planner himself looked crazy while reading, too. It was pretty scary.”

“This...” It was as if Chiyo had heard something shattering to her worldview—she was stunned in place.

Just reading from a book could drive people insane and suicidal? Night Pivot City was known for strange events, but this was unprecedented.

If White Fox was telling the truth, Chen Shang must have used some mysterious and dangerous technological weapon—perhaps even connected to a terrifying secret organization.

It took Chiyo half a minute to recover, and she finally took a deep breath. “Can you tell me more?”

“I don’t really remember, my head hurt so much then I couldn’t think.” White Fox shook her head apologetically. “You could ask the uncle with the giant sword—he might know more than I do.”

“Forget it, I’ll deal with that later.” Chiyo shook her head, her thoughts growing tangled.

After a moment’s contemplation, she suddenly clapped White Fox’s shoulder, earnestly pleading, “You must protect him!”

“I—I know! I need to help him win the championship!” White Fox patted her chest, flashing a confident smile. “And I want that gene repair kit too!”

“More than that, if he tries anything dangerous, you must do everything you can to stop him!” Chiyo added.

“Oh, oh! No problem, of course! He’s my employer—I can’t just let him die!” White Fox shot her a strange look, her fox ears twitching as she agreed.

Only then did Chiyo breathe out, leaving the basement with heavy thoughts.