Kathy watched Li Xin busy in the kitchen; no matter how busy a Secretary was, she still had to look after this younger brother.

"Sister Kathy, have you not been eating well lately? You look thinner." Li Xin brought the stir-fried dish to the table. He was originally supposed to work overtime tonight, but Kathy had dragged him back.

"Yeah, someone’s trying to piss me off to death so they can inherit my estate." Kathy said blandly.

"Ha, ha ha, who’s got such guts? Tell me, I’ll go beat him up." Li Xin laughed.

"Sit down first. Lin Fei and her chief editor will come later." Kathy pointed at the chair opposite.

The Shadow Owl captain immediately sat down obediently.

"If you’re short of money you can tell me. Why’d you have to touch the Black Market?" Kathy said, a bit annoyed. "And another thing, I can handle my own problems. Don’t go stirring up trouble!"

"Oh come on, you scared me for nothing. Sis, you’re dealing with big stuff, how could I meddle? I’m just collecting what the Night Patrol is supposed to collect, doing things by the rules." Li Xin said with a smile.

Ever since Luo Jin died, there was no one to shield her from the wind and rain anymore. And from that moment on, Kathy truly grew up; the potential she unleashed when there was no one behind her even surprised herself.

After entering the Church Court, although she rose swiftly with the help of divine favor and the Chief Red-robed Archbishop’s recognition, the pressure and enemies she faced were endless. But she never spoke of it, never complained. She wanted to be the one who shielded Lin Fei and Li Xin from the wind and rain.

She didn’t believe a single word of what Li Xin said. These past few days she had racked her brain, yet it was hard to give Hundred Martial Hall a heavy blow without dragging in the Church Court, and she still had to mind the limits—she couldn’t provoke a large-scale conflict between Hundred Martial Hall and the Church Court, or it would cause turmoil and bring the Cabinet in.

This wouldn’t do, that wouldn’t do, and she was just a Secretary. Even if she had some favors owed, she couldn’t just throw requests around. Once she showed a flaw, she’d easily get schemed against. She never expected that after she casually complained to Li Xin, he’d already started moving.

"You can still laugh? The whole city’s in an uproar right now, everyone’s waiting to watch the joke. Does Lei Qinglu know?"

"I’ve reported to the Metropolitan. He’s very supportive." Li Xin said.

Kathy frowned slightly, somewhat displeased. She got along well with Lei Qinglu; they were aligned in their ideals, which was why she’d placed Li Xin in Shadow Owl. For something like this, the fact that Lei Qinglu didn’t stop him—what was that supposed to mean?

"You can’t touch the Black Market; once you touch it, it blows." Kathy said. "If Night Patrol’s funding isn’t enough, I can figure something out. It’s not just Hundred Martial Hall—there are countless Secret Associations that have existed for hundreds or even thousands of years. Their power is beyond your imagination. Doing this will offend them, and in the secret world you’ll never be able to take a step."

"Sister Kathy, the trouble inside the Church Court is already bad enough. This little matter I can handle. And I know my limits—I’m not trying to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth, just taking what should be ours. No matter who comes, we’ll be standing on the right side." Li Xin said. "Come on, eat a bite to pad your stomach first."

"Reason is built on strength. You’re taking too big a risk."

"Sister Kathy, if you’re not in the position, you don’t meddle in its affairs. Now that I’m this captain, I have to do the job for as long as I wear the title. A single round of funding won’t change anything; for the entire Night Patrol it’s just a drop in the bucket. This problem has to be solved. Night Patrol upholds Justice in this world—then I’ll uphold Justice for Night Patrol." Li Xin said calmly.

Kathy looked at Li Xin, a little dazed. He was very much like Old Luo, yet also different. This kid had even bigger guts, maybe even a bit crazy.

Sigh. Just as stubborn.

"Sister Kathy, this won’t cause you trouble, will it?"

Kathy took a sip of red wine and said lightly, "You’ve basically done me a huge favor. Don’t say there won’t be trouble—even if there is, so what? As long as it’s something you want to do, even if the sky falls, it’s no big deal."

"Ha ha, then I’ll go do it. I also really want to see what kind of loach can jump out of this dragon’s pool and tiger’s den of Dragon Capital." Li Xin said with a smile.

"Say it, what exactly are you planning?" Seeing the look on Li Xin’s face, Kathy’s worry soon turned into realization. "I heard you’re doing this in the name of the entire Night Patrol. Are you trying to use this incident to see who stands on your side?"

"Ha ha, nothing gets past Sister Kathy." Li Xin nodded. "Night Patrol is big. There will be friends, and there might be enemies. I’ll first get a rough idea."

This was his other goal. A move that looked like delivering his head on a platter from the outside—he wanted to see who in Shadow Owl supported him, and how many people inside Night Patrol truly backed him.

That dinner didn’t mean much.

After the sugar-cake incident last time, Kathy no longer treated Li Xin as a child. In fact, his vision and level when handling matters surpassed many people.

"If you want to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth, you have to solve two problems. First is unification. People don’t worry about scarcity, they worry about inequality. You need to get the Gold Market on board, or everything else is meaningless. That’s something I can’t help with." Kathy said. Not to mention her—even a Red-robed Archbishop didn’t have much say in front of the Five Great Sanctuaries.

"The Gold Market is basically settled. I just didn’t dare ask for too much." Li Xin said. Sigh, if he’d known the Immortal would agree so readily, he should’ve asked for more.

Kathy was stunned for a second, stared at Li Xin for a long while, then let out a breath and slowly nodded. "If you can settle the Gold Market, then you’re already halfway there. The second obstacle is Hundred Martial Hall. Other organizations will object, sure, but it’ll be superficial. The only one that will truly jump out front is Hundred Martial Hall; otherwise their prestige and influence in the Black Market will be replaced by Night Patrol."

"I’ve long heard of Hundred Martial Hall’s great name. I’ve wanted to test them since Celestial Capital. This time’s also an opportunity. If we can talk, great; if not, then it’ll go how it has to go. They can’t be sending a Great Angel against me, right?"

"What are you thinking? You think Great Angels grow like cabbages? The Grand Hall Master of Hundred Martial Hall is a Great Angel, but he’s been missing for many years!" Even though Li Xin was her dearest little brother, Kathy couldn’t help rolling her eyes a bit. This kid was always low-key, low-key, then suddenly opened fire.

"Then it’s fine. When it comes to dealing with Angels, I’m still somewhat confident." Li Xin said with a smile.

Kathy was torn between laughter and tears. "It probably won’t even be an Angel. Most likely it’ll be that inheritor from the Yan Family."

Ever since she received the news, Kathy had been paying close attention to this matter. Only after she had figured out the whole thread did she come to find Li Xin.

"Yan Tianguang?"

"Yes. Yan Tianguang is very likely to become the Young Master of Hundred Martial Hall, which has greatly boosted the Yan Family’s momentum. The two major factions have already started yielding benefits to the Yan Family, trying their best to win them over." Kathy said.

"Yan Tianguang is someone who listens to reason, and he counts as an old acquaintance. We can talk. Of course, if he doesn’t want to talk, there are other ways to solve it." Li Xin smiled.

Looking at the confident Li Xin, Kathy felt a bit emotional. Once he became a captain, he really was different.

"Yan Tianguang is the number one expert of the younger generation. With the Bai Family’s elixirs helping him, he’s even more unrivaled in Dragon Capital. His family heritage is extremely deep. If you two end up fighting, you can only win, not lose. Otherwise, you’ll be unable to move a step in the future, and Lei Qinglu is very likely to sacrifice you."

"Sister Kathy, I know. Right, any leads on that Puppet Master from Song of Hell?"

"Nothing yet. I’ve sent people to investigate, but it’s strange—the trail’s completely cut off. I suspect this person has tremendous clout in Dragon Capital and has been living here the whole time."

"Highly likely. Sister Kathy, haven’t you noticed? Song of Hell knows Hex-Tech in extreme detail, including some of the latest developments. That absolutely means there’s someone who’s long been in Dragon Capital and has access to Hex-Tech Core tech—not just the superficial stuff."

"The former Chief..." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"We still don’t know if it involves the former Chief. It’s also possible he just gave Captain Jiang Wu an assignment. There are others in similar positions. But the Slave Master killed Captain Jiang Wu—for that alone, he deserves to die." Li Xin no longer hid his motive.

Kathy looked at Li Xin. Ever since he became captain, he seemed different from before. She’d seen that look in someone’s eyes before—just as stubborn.

"Song of Hell is an enemy of the Church Court. It must be eradicated."

"Sister Kathy, just take good care of Aunt Fei. I’ll handle the Slave Master." Li Xin said. The fact that the other party had used Tiss on him made him extremely wary.

Kathy smiled. "You don’t need to tell me that. I begged the Chief Lord for that protective charm—no one in Dragon Capital dares touch her. If we discover the Slave Master, don’t rush in. We’ll act together. As long as he’s on Dragon Capital soil, he won’t escape."

Hearing this, Li Xin was relieved. Although Kathy made it sound easy, she must have paid a great price to get it. Now he truly understood why Luo Jin never let anyone close to his heart.