Jiang Chen was so angry he nearly fell backwards—the system's betrayal came completely out of nowhere.

[Forget it, forget it. It's just getting seriously ill, right? Being able to see my baby makes it worth it.]

Jiang Chen recalled the original plot and calmed his mindset, waiting for Lu Chiyuan's fury.

However, the thunderous rage he expected didn't come. Lu Chiyuan raised his hand, signaling Scarface to let him go.

Jiang Chen stood up, rubbing his aching arm with a somewhat bewildered expression. Had he dodged a bullet?

Lu Chiyuan looked toward Scarface and said, "Chen Jiu, are you certain that all the rooms have been carefully searched?"

Chen Jiu replied, "We searched them. Even the young miss's room—we checked it several times."

"Really?" Lu Chiyuan asked in return, calmly looking toward Jiang Chen. "What do you think?"

Jiang Chen, controlled by the plot, was on the verge of tears. His mouth uncontrollably said he didn't know, while his heart frantically complained: [Baby, don't trust him. He's a traitor who was bought off by Shen Zhiyi long ago. Even the hidden compartment where Shen Zhiyi is hiding—he's the one who helped her make it.]

Lu Chiyuan's expression turned cold as he looked at Chen Jiu, his gaze sharp as a blade.

Chen Jiu was the villa's security chief and one of the earliest people to work with Lu Chiyuan, considered a veteran among Lu Chiyuan's inner circle.

Lu Chiyuan trusted him greatly, leaving both major and minor affairs for him to handle. But now Jiang Chen's inner voice was telling Lu Chiyuan that this person had betrayed him.

On one side was the mysterious inner voice, on the other was a subordinate he'd worked with for years. Lu Chiyuan didn't easily believe either side.

He stood up and walked to Jiang Chen's side, grabbing Jiang Chen's arm. Looking at that innocent face, he said, "Come with me."

Jiang Chen was confused, dragged upstairs in a daze.

Chen Jiu, seeing the situation turning bad, immediately followed.

Jiang Chen took a few quick steps to catch up with Lu Chiyuan's pace, changing from being dragged to walking side by side. He followed Lu Chiyuan around a long corridor and stopped in front of a pink door.

In this villa filled with cold tones, this pink door seemed like a different art style—completely out of place with everything around it.

Lu Chiyuan stood at the doorway, his hand resting on the door handle. He only needed to grip it and turn lightly for the door to open, and the answer he wanted would appear before his eyes.

But at this moment, some inexplicable force was stopping him, telling him not to investigate further. The momentum that had driven him upstairs disappeared with his halted steps, and an unprecedented fatigue washed over him.

He looked at Jiang Chen and asked seemingly casually, "Where would Shen Zhiyi go?"

Jiang Chen had already learned to play the fool who knew nothing about anything, looking at Lu Chiyuan with a silly grin.

[Where else would a lovesick young lady go? Of course to find her blonde boyfriend for a passionate elopement.]

[Although she was eventually found and brought back by my baby, my baby lost another major business deal because of her. Damn it, seeing my baby lose money hurts more than losing my own money.]

Jiang Chen was heartbroken, only regretting that he couldn't personally go into action to find Shen Zhiyi from the room.

Lu Chiyuan's eyebrow twitched violently. All the unstable factors preventing him seemed unable to overcome his inner disgust and resistance after learning he would have to clean up Shen Zhiyi's mess again, gradually dissipating.

Lu Chiyuan turned the handle. With a click, the door opened, and the invisible force enveloping him also disappeared.

Chen Jiu, following behind, looked grim, but quickly composed himself. He hurried into the room, raising his voice: "Lu..."

Before he could finish, Lu Chiyuan's sharp glare swept over, and Chen Jiu's voice immediately stuck in his throat. Not daring to make any more moves, he glanced subtly at the wardrobe, praying in his heart that Lu Chiyuan was just taking a look and hadn't discovered anything.

Jiang Chen walked around the room and realized this was the walk-in closet where Shen Zhiyi was hiding in the original story.

[When I was reading, I didn't think about it, but standing here now I realize—in this hot weather, with no ventilation in the hidden compartment, how stuffy must it be? She's really determined to be able to run away.]

Jiang Chen couldn't help but admire Shen Zhiyi's perseverance: [I wonder why my baby suddenly decided to come up here. If we could delay for a while, would Shen Zhiyi be unable to endure it and jump out herself?]

Jiang Chen looked at Lu Chiyuan, who was close at hand, and found that Lu Chiyuan was also staring at him. Those slightly blue eyes were deep and captivating.

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was getting lost in that beautiful face, he suddenly heard Lu Chiyuan's voice: "Doesn't your head hurt?"

"Huh?" Jiang Chen touched his injured head. Blood had already flowed down his neck, soaking his white shirt.

Perhaps the soul-body integration from transmigration needed time—his pain sensation came and went. Only with Lu Chiyuan's reminder did he realize he felt palpitations and weak legs. His vision went black, he stumbled, and fell straight toward the ground.

The expected pain didn't come. Lu Chiyuan caught the falling Jiang Chen, picked him up and placed him on the sofa in the walk-in closet, saying to Chen Jiu: "Bring the medical kit."

Chen Jiu didn't move. He felt this was a great opportunity and said, "Brother Lu, Little Jiang has lost a lot of blood. It's not convenient here—let's take him outside."

Lu Chiyuan remained unmoved, saying coldly: "Medical kit!"

Jiang Chen felt dizzy and nauseous. He had wanted Lu Chiyuan to stay a while longer, but he hadn't meant for him to suffer!

The aftereffects of blood loss made him feel sick to his stomach. Jiang Chen groggily opened his eyes and saw Chen Jiu glaring at him viciously before leaving.

Jiang Chen: [What kind of person is this? I haven't even complained about him hitting too hard.]

Jiang Chen muttered in his heart as his consciousness gradually sank.

Lu Chiyuan stared intently at his face, his gaze profound. The light and shadow from his profile hid half his expression, making it impossible to read clearly.

"Ding dong, System 302 is now online, connecting."

"Host confirmed, system binding in progress. Transferring you to intelligent image customization. Please select an image."

"Friendly reminder: The system image will accompany the host through an entire mission. Choose carefully!"

A sweet, soft voice rang in Jiang Chen's mind. Jiang Chen opened his eyes, his consciousness floating in a dark space. In front of him was a computer-sized holographic display screen showing several small animal images waiting for selection.

Jiang Chen was stunned for a moment, then realized this was the system's true face. Unlike the earlier impression of being unhelpful and annoying, the one before Jiang Chen now sounded gentle and soft.

Jiang Chen immediately perked up, scanning the screen: "Cat."

"Host has selected. System image generating."

The sweet voice sounded again. The holographic display screen transformed into points of starlight, gathering in the darkness to form a silvery garden cat. It leaped gracefully through the darkness, circled around Jiang Chen once, confirmed Jiang Chen's aura, then jumped onto Jiang Chen's shoulder.

The phantom cat had no weight. It licked its paws elegantly, its voice changing from a sweet little girl to a child's voice: "Hello, host. Nice to meet you. I'm called Snowball."

Jiang Chen raised his hand, grabbed and pinched, seizing Snowball by the scruff of its neck, lifting it before his eyes with an evil smile: "I'm not well! I want to file a complaint. When I needed you just now, why did you block me?"

Snowball's ears flattened in fear, its cat eyes widening: "I'm innocent, host! I just started work. Earlier it was the main system executing the transmission mission—it had nothing to do with me."

Jiang Chen was half-convinced: "You weren't the one forcing me to follow the script?"

Snowball quickly shook its head, explaining: "If the host is referring to triggering forced plot events, it might be the main system protecting the host to avoid the host offending the female lead right away and being targeted. The host just arrived in this world with unstable luck—going head-to-head with the child of destiny would result in a big loss!"

Jiang Chen thought about it—that did make sense.

Given Shen Zhiyi's petty nature, if she knew he had revealed her hiding place, she might make his life miserable afterwards.

But even if the reasoning was sound, it couldn't calm Jiang Chen's inner indignation. He released Snowball, looked around at the dark surroundings, and said: "Now shouldn't you explain to me why I transmigrated? And what about that conquest mission? The electrical static kept buzzing—I didn't hear it clearly."

Snowball shook its head and flicked its ears, looking puzzled: "Mission? What mission? I'm a gossip system. Missions are the conquest system's business—nothing to do with me. Host, you applied for 'wandering the universe, always on the front lines of gossip.' Did you forget?"

Jiang Chen: "???"

Snowball: "..."

Snowball: "Host, please wait. Let me check."

The information mismatch made Snowball acutely aware something was wrong. This familiar sense of chaos reminded it of the main system's major glitches when entering the space, making its heart sink.

Soon, Snowball let out a mournful cry. Sure enough, the main system had glitched again and bound the wrong host.

Snowball looked at Jiang Chen with drooping ears, saying pitifully: "Host, if I told you I'm just an ordinary gossip system, would you still love me?"

Jiang Chen sneered: "What do you think?"

Snowball immediately knelt down, hugging Jiang Chen's ankle: "Meow meow is very good! Meow meow has the latest upgraded gossip system that can gossip about anyone in this world. Except for not being able to do conquest missions, meow meow can be called an all-around good cat!"

The silver cat hugged his leg and cried. Jiang Chen's cold heart didn't last even a second before being shattered.

He had inexplicably transmigrated into the book. While he was happy to see Lu Chiyuan, after the brief joy came bewilderment.

This world looked familiar but was actually completely strange.

Before figuring out all the reasons, having a gossiping pet by his side wasn't bad.

And as a system, Snowball wasn't completely useless—Jiang Chen still needed it.

"I forgive you," Jiang Chen said magnanimously. "First, let me return to my body."

The dark environment was oppressive, and Jiang Chen didn't like it.

Snowball wagged its tail happily: "Understood."

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Chen felt a strong sense of weightlessness. His consciousness returned to his body, gradually feeling his heartbeat and body temperature.

Snowball didn't disappear—it was connected to Jiang Chen's consciousness.

Jiang Chen felt someone bandaging his wound, their movements very gentle. The approaching body carried a unique scent of grass and wood, like a fresh green after rain and clear skies, evoking thoughts of vigorous vitality.

Jiang Chen thought it should be Lu Chiyuan.

[Baby is so close, baby smells so good.]

Lu Chiyuan's movement of wrapping gauze around Jiang Chen paused as he looked down at his face.

Jiang Chen lay with his eyes closed, appearing completely normal, not knowing that his flushed ears had already betrayed him.

Jiang Chen hesitated whether to wake up when he suddenly heard a thud from outside and a hoarse voice coughing.

[The female lead can't hold it in anymore, hahaha!]

Jiang Chen realized it was Shen Zhiyi and curiously opened his eyes, wanting to watch the excitement.

But when he looked up, he didn't see Shen Zhiyi—instead, he met Lu Chiyuan's eyes.

Lu Chiyuan was very close to him. At some point, he had removed his suit jacket and tie, wearing only the shirt underneath.

Perhaps due to the heat, the shirt's top buttons were also undone. As he leaned forward, his collar opened, revealing a large expanse of his chest. Solid muscles, smooth lines, wheat-colored skin—it was a finely crafted masterpiece, simply perfect!

Jiang Chen's gaze shifted slightly downward, seeing everything clearly. His heart raced wildly, and his brain exploded like a burst of fireworks.

He somewhat awkwardly tried to sit up and dodge, but his nose grew warm and a trickle flowed down.

Lu Chiyuan raised an eyebrow and handed over the unused gauze in his hand.

Jiang Chen took it to cover his nose, stopping the nosebleed, feeling too embarrassed to face anyone.

[Wuwuwu, I want to bury my face in baby's chest.]

Lu Chiyuan: "..."

Lu Chiyuan silently stood up, buttoned his shirt, and looked at Shen Zhiyi, who appeared surprised beside them, saying coldly: "Finally willing to come out?”