Chapter 18: Killing with a Borrowed Knife

It wasn’t until the afternoon of the next day that Tong Sheng’s side completed the verification.

The first message he sent was, "Did you get the data?"

Qi Fei knew she couldn’t hide it from Tong Sheng—after all, he was the one who had helped find the person.

“Thanks, Xiao Jiu. You really helped me a lot this time.”

Hearing Qi Fei call him Xiao Jiu, Tong Sheng held back from correcting her. In all these years, apart from his parents, no one else had ever called him that.

“How much did the hacker charge? I’ll transfer it to you.”

Qi Fei felt a bit nervous when she said this. If the information were that easy to obtain, it would have been scooped up long ago. She hadn’t been idle these past few days and knew well the difference between hackers—the prices wouldn’t be cheap.

Seeing her message, Tong Sheng paused before replying, “Friends don’t charge each other.”

To be honest, he wasn’t exactly happy to hear that. His pockets were nearly empty, and he was deeply in debt. At this moment, he didn’t have the luxury to pretend to be wealthy.

Qi Fei, understanding Tong Sheng’s temperament, wasn’t one for false politeness and didn’t bother to be overly courteous in return.

“Alright, consider it a favor I owe you.”

“If you ever need anything, just contact me.” Though her current situation was less than ideal, she didn’t think she would stay that way. She had come to understand the status and influence of celebrities in this world.

Once she became famous and her influence grew, she would naturally be able to repay this favor.

That was why she accepted it without hesitation—she wasn’t worried about being unable to return the debt.

Tong Sheng smirked at Qi Fei’s message but said nothing, instead asking, “What’s your plan?”

He was genuinely interested in her.

Qi Fei, however, kept her cards close to her chest. “You’ll see when the time comes.”

Tong Sheng didn’t press further. He trusted that she had a clear plan. “Then I’ll wait and see.”

“Want to play this afternoon?” Qi Fei was in a good mood and wanted to get a few people together for a game.

“Busy.” Tong Sheng was on a business trip abroad and couldn’t join even if he wanted to. The servers were different, after all.

Qi Fei didn’t wait overnight and got to work that very night. Based on the hacker’s provided address, there were three residences where the owner of San Du Entertainment often stayed. They weren’t close to each other, so she realized she’d need a couple more days.

In truth, Qi Fei was somewhat relieved. When she had sneaked into the homes of the scumbag couple before, luckily there were no surveillance cameras. Although she wore a mask, recognition wouldn’t have been hard.

Now, as a seasoned infiltrator, she dressed all in black, wearing gloves, a mask, and a hat—making sure that even if there were cameras, her identity would remain concealed.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, the first residence was empty. Qi Fei wasn’t the type to leave empty-handed after such effort.

After searching, she found a safe in the study. Seeing it, her excitement grew—anything kept in a safe had to be valuable since no one stores worthless things there.

Confident, she leaned in. This was no challenge for her. A few minutes later, with a slight smile, she easily opened the safe.

But after searching thoroughly from top to bottom, all she found were some jewelry, gold bars, and cash—nothing of the sort she was looking for.

Unwilling to give up, that night she broke into another mansion.

Upon arrival, Qi Fei quickly noticed someone was tailing her. Though she didn’t know who they were, it wouldn’t stop her from finding the evidence.

Seeing guards at both the front and back doors, she scratched her head. This was indeed troublesome.

But such a minor obstacle wouldn’t deter her. She silently slipped into the shadows, evading their gaze, and easily pried open a window without alerting anyone.

She had expected the house to be occupied—otherwise, why would there be watchers outside? But after tiptoeing around cautiously, she found it empty.

So many people tailing her for nothing?

Could she be overthinking? Perhaps these people were watching a different mansion?

Regardless, as long as they didn’t interfere, she didn’t care who they watched.

After another sweep, there was still no one, and no useful evidence was found. Just as she thought this trip would end empty-handed, she unexpectedly discovered something intriguing in the basement.

Have you ever seen a basement within a basement? This was her first time.

During the apocalypse, Qi Fei had encountered numerous air-raid shelters and had even lived in one for a while to avoid zombies.

But a basement dug beneath another basement, and hidden so well? Qi Fei didn’t believe it was without secrets.

This discovery thrilled her. The more concealed something was, the more important its contents likely were.

Although she managed to open the first door, what lay beyond was truly astonishing—a realm unlike any other, and it looked increasingly like the vault door of a bank she had once seen.

This sight left Qi Fei dumbfounded. She couldn’t handle this massive door.

If her teammates were here, it would be a matter of minutes to open it. But alone, she could only ponder.

She regretted not heeding advice to study hard back then. Who would have thought those skills would come in handy in this world?

During the apocalypse, every mission had a dedicated refuge—an impregnable and utterly concealed safe house.

These were several abandoned vaults turned into sanctuaries. Thanks to these vaults, they always returned safely from missions.

The key to their unobstructed access and protection from outsiders was—

Her team had a master locksmith. Each vault was stocked with high-calorie, long-lasting food.

As long as they reached the safe house, they could survive for ten days or more amid zombie hordes.

Looking at the vault before her, more sophisticated than any she had seen, Qi Fei suddenly realized she had underestimated the situation. Who in their right mind installs such a door, and so secretly?

She didn’t even need to try. She knew she couldn’t open it, so there was no point in wasting time.

Though this trip ended empty-handed, it was not entirely fruitless.

The next day, Qi Fei gave up on gaming. Upon waking, she began searching for ways to open the vault door.

Without teammates to help, she could only hope the internet in this world would surprise her.

After all, if she wanted to see what was inside, at least she had to know how to open this door.

Qi Fei had a strong feeling that what lay inside was extremely important. Whether she could take down this old man depended entirely on what was hidden within.

Just then, her phone rang.

Seeing the caller, Qi Fei’s eyes lit up instantly. Just when she was at a loss, Zhao Shan appeared.

She couldn’t open it herself—wasn’t there someone who could?

Besides, no rule said revenge had to be done personally. Using a proxy was a perfectly reasonable strategy.

Besides, killing was illegal in this world. If she couldn’t settle it herself, there was no need to obsess over investigating personally.

Looking at the data in front of her, she was confident this would be enough to keep him occupied. The rest—dealing with the vault—she left to the professionals.

Qi Fei instinctively reached for her hat and mask but immediately realized she no longer needed to hide.

Thinking of this, she smiled and headed to the agreed meeting place without any disguise, carrying her helmet.

Before hanging up, she didn’t forget to say, “The meal isn’t free, Captain Zhao. I’ve brought you a gift.”

Qi Fei knew without a doubt that Zhao Shan probably already suspected she was behind the recent events.

In fact, Zhao Shan had guessed early on but hadn’t expected Qi Fei to find such incriminating videos and cause such a stir.

Even more surprising was that the videos were all from Qi Fei’s own doing. Like most others, he had thought the footage had long been recorded and Qi Fei had simply obtained them.

Hearing Qi Fei’s words, Zhao Shan grew curious about the gift she mentioned.

Before he could say more, Qi Fei ended the call. He hadn’t even told her that he wasn’t the only one coming today.