Top edge chapter 18

In Shen’s memories………

“Captain,” Laizhe wiped his gun and spoke to Shen Siwei, “Have you heard Sara’s songs?”

Shen Siwei’s gaze remained on the spacecraft window. “Yes, I have.”

Strictly speaking, he hadn’t just heard them. After receiving the mission, Shen Siwei had casually listened to a few songs to understand his target.

Sara’s voice was passionate,  just like the scorching sunlight outside the window, illuminating the dark lower levels with all its might.

“If possible, I really want her to sign this for me.” Laizhe took out an album with a red cover from his tactical vest. “But she probably wouldn’t want to sign for me.”

Back at the Klet residence,,……

 Shen Siwei changed into a burgundy silk pajama with a button torn off.

Since there was no one else in the house, wearing tattered pajamas didn’t matter.

Shen Siwei lay awake on the bed, dialed Moran’s communication ID.

“How’s the situation?” Moran’s voice came through.

“I found out that Klet and Barn are at odds,” Shen Siwei said in a flat tone, providing seemingly valueless information. “The refugees are not united internally, so maybe we can launch a direct counterattack.”

“No, we can’t,” Moran’s response was as expected. “We must investigate the situation at the power station thoroughly before taking any further action.”

“Then I’ll continue the investigation,” Shen Siwei said.

“Good,” Moran’s tone softened. “I hope you return soon. I miss you.”

“Yeah,” Shen Siwei endured the goosebumps that formed on his body and behaved as usual.

After giving the report, he regained his hair and eye color, returning to blonde hair and blue eyes.

Shen Siwei lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, wondering whether to carry out the mission or not.

Having been deceived by Morann, he naturally felt a surge of anger, but personally, he didn’t want to see chaos within the Tree of Life. Investigating the power station was crucial to restoring stability to the Tree of Life.

In addition, there was another reason. Shen Siwei couldn’t escape Moran’s control at the moment.

After much thought, it seemed that staying put was the only option.

Suddenly, Laizhe’s handsome face appeared in his mind, and Shen Siwei’s heart sank, feeling a sense of regret.

Previously, he always thought that the events twenty years ago were far back and couldn’t affect him anymore. But as his memories gradually resurfaced, the little details regained color, awakening the human emotions in him.

That rascal Laizhe couldn’t even get Sara’s autograph.

Thinking about this, he felt a bit uneasy.

Wait a minute, the red-covered album?

An idea crossed Shen Siwei’s mind, and he swiftly turned over and got out of bed. He turned on the small night light in the living room and went to the CD shelf to search.

He remembered that among a pile of cartoons, there were a few movies and albums. Those CDs were plain and unmarked, and Shen Siwei hadn’t paid much attention to them at the time. But now, in retrospect…

There it was.

Indeed, it was Sara’s album.

Not just the red-covered one, but Sara had released a total of five albums, all displayed on the CD shelf.

At least twenty years ago, physical albums were already rare. Laizhe was a fan of Sara, but did that mean Klet is too? But even if he is, it doesn’t seem to indicate anything.

Shen Siwei opened the album with the red cover, intending to listen to the songs, hoping to recall more memories. However, at that moment, a sudden “bang” sound came from downstairs.

Someone was shooting.

Shen Siwei immediately set aside the album and went to the window to look downstairs. He noticed that the refugees who were playing cards downstairs when he returned had disappeared.

After the gunshot, silence followed.

Disputes among ordinary people don’t erupt suddenly with gunshots. Shen Siwei almost immediately thought that someone was assassinating the refugees downstairs and  fired a shot.

So, did another assassin come to kill him?

His intuition was quickly confirmed as a dense sound of footsteps echoed outside the door.

Shen Siwei quickly retreated to the balcony, preparing to jump off, but the next second, the person who kicked the door open… turned out to be Barn.

It seemed that the standoff in the square hadn’t resolved the issue.

“Don’t be nervous, negotiator,” Barn instructed his subordinates to turn on the lights in the room and looked at Shen Siwei, who was huddled on the balcony. “I’m here to pick you up.”

Shen Siwei furrowed his brows slightly. “Pick me up?”

Barn looked at Shen Siwei’s exposed chest and spat on the ground. “Klet indeed doesn’t know how to negotiate properly.”

Then he switched to a gentler yet sarcastic  tone. “Are you startled? did he do this to you.”

Shen Siwei calmly adjusted his collar. “He didn’t do anything to me.”

“You don’t have to fear him.” Barn approached the balcony and grabbed Shen Siwei’s wrist. “You can negotiate with me. I represent all the refugees.”

Barn’s mechanical right arm exerted a slight force, pulling Shen Siwei out of the balcony.

His cotton slippers couldn’t withstand the pushing and shoving, slipped off Shen Siwei’s feet.

Shen Siwei stepped back barefoot, struggling, and said, “Let go of me.”

He didn’t use much force. Otherwise, Barn would have been thrown like a wrecking ball into the neighboring building, smashing the adult toy sign.

“Don’t struggle , negotiator.” Barn seemed to enjoy restraining his strength, playing a pushing and pulling game with the fragile Shen Siwei. “As long as you come with me, I guarantee that we can quickly reach an agreement.”

“No.” Shen Siwei clung to the door frame, making a final struggle. “I’m here to negotiate with Klet.”

“How is it? Has Klet been treating you well?” Barn completely discarded his disguise and grinned. “Whatever he can do, I can do even better”

Shen Siwei felt annoyed.

Negotiating with Barn was a complete waste of time. 

“So, should I tie you up and take you away, or will you walk on your own?” Barn asked.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Siwei suppressed his annoyance and put on an expressionless face as he returned to the room, putting on his cotton slippers. “I’ll walk on my own.”

Barn gestured a “please,” and the ten or so people outside the door instinctively stood on both sides of the corridor, creating a path for Shen Siwei.

Only the last button of his pajamas maintained some dignity, and the people on both sides of the corridor all looked enviously at Shen Siwei’s faintly visible chest.

With a straight gaze, Shen Siwei walked toward the elevator, but secretly accessed the communicator in his hand.

He had Klet’s communication ID. Previously. The fastest way to resolve the situation was to call Klet. However, Shen Siwei couldn’t make his actions too obvious.

The elevator doors opened slowly, and Shen Siwei was prepared to enter the elevator while pretending to look down but actually glancing at his palm, accessing Klet’s conversation icon.

However, at that moment, the corner of his eye caught sight of a small head hiding in the shadows.

It was knock.

In terms of iris characteristics, lighter-colored irises contain less pigment than darker-colored irises, allowing more light to enter the eye. Therefore, people with light-colored eyes generally had better night vision than those with dark-colored eyes.

No one’s eyes were lighter than Shen Siwei’s eyes, so apart from him, no one saw knock hiding in the shadows.

Assuming that knock would inform Klet, Shen Siwei temporarily relaxed and put away the communicator in his palm.

Barn took Shen Siwei to a strip club near the music square.

In the cramped private room, a steel pole stood at the center of the coffee table, projecting three-dimensional images of naked women performing erotic moves on the pole and only Barn and two individuals who seemed to be his right-hand men sat on either side of Shen Siwei.

“Negotiating here?” Shen Siwei surveyed the dimly lit private room.

There were surveillance cameras in both the hallway and the private room, so he had to continue maintaining his delicate negotiator image.

“Why not?” Barn’s gaze swept across Shen Siwei’s chest, as if saying, “Since you’re dressed like this, what does the location matter?”

“Fine.” Shen Siwei said with patience, “What are your conditions?”

“It’s simple.” Barn smirked, “Give me control of City Z, and I will let all the civilians go.”

Shen Siwei raised an eyebrow, “is that it?”

“Of course, there are additional conditions.” Barn had an expression that said, “I’m not that foolish,” “You have to stay here as a hostage.”

“Hmm.” Shen Siwei chuckled softly, “That’s your condition.”

It seemed that Barn was completely clueless from the beginning.

He thought the military hadn’t taken any action because they were worried about the refugees holding civilians hostage.

In reality, the military simply couldn’t assess the situation at the power station, so they didn’t take any rash actions.

Once the military started a full-scale counterattack, how could these makeshift refugee forces possibly resist the well-trained regular army?

In the end, the cards held by the refugees were never civilians, but the power station.

But Barn clearly didn’t realize this.

“So, you’re unwilling?” Barn said, “If you follow me, I guarantee we will treat you good.”

The other two immediately chimed in.

“Our boss keeps his word, don’t think too much.”

“You’ll still be seen as a hero by those civilians, where else can you find that kind of honor?”

Shen Siwei furrowed his brow and said, “This kind of condition can also be negotiated with Klet.”

In other words, what power do you have?”

Of course Shen Siwei had also considered that Klet might have other plans of his own; no wonder he was unwilling to negotiate.

But speaking of which…

Why hadn’t he arrived yet?

“Or,” Barn suddenly leaned over and embraced Shen Siwei’s shoulder, “do you want to try the goods first?”

The expected moment had arrived. Shen Siwei wasn’t surprised at all.

“Take your hands off me,” he said coldly, “if we’re going to talk, let’s talk properly.”

“being fierce huh?.” Barn seemed to be getting excited and directly pushed Shen Siwei onto the sofa, his knee squeezing between Shen Siwei’s legs.

The silk pajamas slid along the smooth skin, revealing the thin and symmetrical lines of his chest and abdomen.

Barn’s gaze fell on the two pink cherries, and his breathing visibly became heavier.

“You can’t do this?” Shen Siwei, mindful of the surveillance cameras, could only struggle with controlled force, “Don’t forget, I’m a negotiator!”

Shen Siwei became increasingly annoyed.

If this continued, he had  to figure out a way to avoid the surveillance and make Barn “meet an unfortunate accident.”

But that proved to be difficult.

Just as Shen Siwei was considering what to do, he heard Barn say, “I’ve turned off the surveillance in the hallway and the private room. A negotiator can’t rely on empty words, right?”

Shen Siwei suddenly stopped struggling and faced Barn displaying an innocent and beautiful face, “You turned off the surveillance?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Barn said triumphantly, ” why would I leave evidence for you?”