Brain and Weapon

After transferring buses twice, Wen Yiqian finally arrived at the Serene Café on Sanling Road.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see Fox sitting by the glass, reading a book.

Today she wore a pair of slim-framed glasses, bathed in soft afternoon light, the picture of effortless intellectual elegance.

Wen Yiqian took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and walked in.

At this hour the café was nearly empty, the servers leaning against the counter in idle conversation.

Fox, who had been quietly reading, looked up at the sound of the door and smiled slightly when she saw him, giving a small nod.

Wen Yiqian sat down across from her, back straight, restless hands gripping his pant legs.

“Making a girl wait two hours isn’t exactly gentlemanly behavior,” Fox said, gently closing her book.

“I overslept,” Wen Yiqian replied, a little sheepish.

“Didn’t sleep well?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

He could hardly tell her he’d been too busy picking up money in his dreams.

“Well,” Fox said. “If it were anyone else, I’d be quite annoyed.”

She paused, glancing at him with a light laugh. “But for you, I’m willing to wait.”

“Hehehe…” Wen Yiqian scratched his head with a foolish grin.

Even as oblivious as he was, he knew better than to think this woman had any interest in him.

A woman this sharp would never be moved by something as inconvenient as feelings.

If he took it seriously, he’d end up as nothing more than a tool in her hands.

“Care for something to drink?” Fox took a sip of her coffee.

“No thanks.” Wen Yiqian shook his head.

“This isn’t a blind date. Why so nervous?” Her eyes swept over his face with faint amusement.

“I just didn’t expect to meet you in person,” Wen Yiqian admitted, scratching the back of his head. “I thought you’d send some stand-in to relay the message.”

“Why?” Fox gazed at him calmly.

“Because… well…” He fumbled for the words and couldn’t find them.

“You mean,” Fox said, “that I’d be too afraid of what you might do to show my face?”

Wen Yiqian lowered his head slightly and said nothing.

“Let’s get to the point,” Fox said with a small shake of her head. “You’re now a member of Mask, but only a provisional member.”

“What does that mean?” Wen Yiqian looked genuinely lost.

“Only by becoming a full member will you truly be accepted by Mask,” Fox explained. “Think of yourself as a temp right now. We can let you go at any time.”

She paused. “Once you become a full member, you’ll have better treatment and access to Mask’s core secrets.”

“Can I resign?” Wen Yiqian asked before he could stop himself.

“Do you really want to?” Fox’s lips curved into a smile, but her eyes went cold.

“Just a joke,” Wen Yiqian sensed the shift immediately and shook his head.

This was, after all, an organization regarded as the world’s top criminal outfit. You didn’t just walk in and out as you pleased.

More likely, you’d walk in on your own two feet and be carried out horizontal.

“So how do I become a full member?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Survival of the fittest.” Fox held up five fingers. “Only one in five provisional members makes it.”

“Then I definitely can’t do it.” Wen Yiqian had no illusions about himself.

He still remembered Fox’s assessment of him clearly.

To qualify as a full member, you had to be capable of unraveling another person’s intricate schemes from the inside. None of the other provisional members would be easy to deal with.

“A man can’t say he can’t.” Fox narrowed her eyes slightly. “If you can’t… you’ll die, you know.”

Wen Yiqian swallowed and went quiet.

“Don’t worry too much, though,” Fox added. “The others aren’t as formidable as you’re imagining. Full members of Mask generally fall into two types.”

She adjusted her glasses. “The first type handles planning. They work with their minds and stay relatively safe. We call them Brains.”

“You’re that type?” Wen Yiqian ventured.

“Yes.” Fox nodded. “The second type we call Weapons. Their role is exactly what it sounds like: carrying out the Brain’s orders. Killing, cleaning up, disposing of evidence, and so on.”

She smiled, and the smile had an edge to it. “Sea Hare was one of those.”

Wen Yiqian’s expression stiffened slightly. After a moment he asked, “Now that Sea Hare is dead, doesn’t that leave you without a Weapon? Isn’t that a problem?”

“I never said Sea Hare was my only Weapon.” Fox waved a hand. “I have four.”

Her fingers tapped absently on the table. “Sea Hare was the most difficult and the least capable of the four.”

She paused. “You understand what happens when a Weapon disobeys orders or fails to trust the Brain completely.”

Wen Yiqian nodded.

If Fox laid out a meticulous plan and Sea Hare went off-script, it could unravel everything. Worse, it could put Fox herself in danger.

“What about the other three?” Wen Yiqian asked carefully.

“When I sense danger, I bring one or two along,” Fox said easily. “Like the night I came to your residential complex to find you…”

She left it there.

“How many did you bring that night?” Wen Yiqian asked.

“Four.” Fox held up four fingers and smiled sweetly. “It was late. A woman going alone to find a young man in the middle of the night could run into all kinds of trouble. Better to be cautious.”

Wen Yiqian stared at her.

Four people had been hiding in the shadows that night, and he hadn’t sensed a single one.

If he had made one wrong move, he would have died on the spot.

“What about now?” A chill ran down his spine. He glanced around.

“The other three are all here,” Fox said pleasantly. “They might be servers in the café, or tucked away in some corner somewhere.”

She tilted her head toward the window. “One might even be in the building across the street right now, with a sniper rifle trained on your head.”

She paused. “One casual signal from me, and your head goes… boom. Like a watermelon.”

Wen Yiqian went cold all over. Like a poorly oiled machine, he turned his head slowly and stiffly toward the window.

He finally understood why Fox had shown up in person without a flicker of concern.

She had invited him here knowing full well that she had already laid a net with no exit. Nothing was left to chance.

Wen Yiqian knew she wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

His life or death rested entirely in her hands.

(End of Chapter)