After Dress hung up the phone, Su Mo contacted a few more middlemen he was closely connected to.

But their responses were similar to Dress’s—there was no advantage in protecting Nuobai, a retired former mercenary.

Even if they had dealings with Nuobai in the past and had good relationships, that was all in the past, and each transaction had been fully paid. They owed her nothing.

What’s more, the bounty was five billion; you’d be a fool not to try to get it.

Some "well-intentioned" middlemen even advised Su Mo to rely on his friendship with Nuobai to get ahead of others, find a way to lure her out and kill her, and take the benefits for himself.

The phone calls went round and round, but in the face of great benefits, none of the connections Su Mo had built up were of any use.

In a last hope, he called Audiana, the first middleman he ever met.

But no matter how much he called, she didn’t answer, and it was unclear if she genuinely didn’t notice or if it was on purpose.

At this moment, Su Mo felt truly bewildered.

...

Late at night, snow swirled, dyeing Anmi New District a bleak white, and the vast manor loomed indistinctly in the wind and snow.

Audiana sat in the tea room, surrounded by darkness, with only a single dimly glowing candle on the table.

She wore tight silk pajamas with a mink coat draped over her. The candlelight illuminated her face, and her eyes quietly watched the snow outside, seeming a bit lost.

The phone on the table kept vibrating, showing Su Mo’s incoming call on the screen.

But she didn’t answer, or even look at it, as if it didn’t exist.

McCarthy was brewing ginger tea to ward off the cold for Audiana. He noticed the incoming call but remained silent.

He was merely a butler, nothing more.

An honorable butler needs only to take care of the master’s daily life and fulfill all their commands, without speaking out of turn.

"Lady Countess, your ginger tea." McCarthy placed the teapot and cup in front of Audiana, pouring her a cup as the steaming, brown-red liquid emitted wisps of vapor.

Audiana lightly held the teacup to warm her cold hands and softly asked, "McCarthy, how long have you been with me?"

McCarthy bowed slightly and replied, "I’ve been with you since you were five years old; it has been 27 years and 104 days to today."

Audiana: "Throughout this time, how have you viewed me?"

McCarthy: "You are my master. I vowed never to marry or have children, to dedicate my life solely to taking care of you."

Audiana: "Have you ever thought of me as your child?"

McCarthy paused, looking somewhat flustered, his gaze lowered as he said, "Lady Countess, how could I dare have such presumptuous thoughts? Your noble bloodline is far beyond my reach..."

Audiana: "It’s just the two of us here, no need to hide. Speak the truth; that’s an order."

McCarthy hesitated for a moment, then his voice softened: "Yes... After all, I watched you grow up. Spending so much time together every day, sometimes I really do see you as my daughter."

A faint smile appeared on Audiana’s face, her tone somewhat wistful: "Yes, watching a little girl grow up unsure and naive, face the world, go from inexperienced to being able to stand on her own."

"All the hardships she’s endured, all the blood, sweat, growth, and gains, you’ve seen it all; how could you not see her as your own child..."

The snow fell heavily, scattering messily on the windows, making a cold rustling sound.

In the darkness, only the faint candlelight flickered.

...

Su Mo couldn’t find Nuobai in the neighborhood and had no success seeking help from his connections, so he could only rely on his own abilities in the end.

He drove his black ark back to Edge Mansion, heading to the underground lab to find Qi Ling.

As soon as he entered the hacking room, even before Su Mo could speak, Qi Ling said first: "I just hacked into the New Moon City Public Security Bureau’s public safety network, implanting backdoor programs in all the city’s security cameras."

"I’ve embedded Nuobai’s facial recognition data as well; as soon as she shows up on the cameras, the location information will automatically be sent back to us."

The screen on Qi Ling’s computer was filled with densely packed, overlapping windows, all showing surveillance footage, continuously identifying all captured facial data across various districts of the Inner City.

Su Mo had come to Qi Ling for this very reason, and he hadn’t expected her to have anticipated his thoughts and set everything up in advance.

Su Mo nodded at her decisively: "You’ve done well... Have you discovered any trace of her yet?"

Qi Ling shook her head: "Not yet."

Su Mo muttered: "Nuobai is likely avoiding the cameras intentionally with her counter-reconnaissance awareness... Qi Ling, hack into the Public Security Bureau’s surveillance drones and use them for aerial reconnaissance. Inform me as soon as there’s any development."

Qi Ling: "Got it, leave it to me."

"I’ll leave this work to you." After Su Mo finished speaking, he made some calls and gathered a group of people.

This included Dongdong, Chu Nanyi, and more, totaling over fifty people.

These were the early members who joined the Edge Mercenaries, the pillar core of the Mercenary Corps, and the confidants Su Mo could trust.

Su Mo looked at the crowd before him and said: "What happened tonight, I’m sure all of you are aware."

"Some of you have met Nuobai, others haven’t, but everyone should know who she is."

"Today, let’s not talk about so-called interests, but let’s be clear on one point: Nuobai is my friend, my benefactor, and she’s saved my life on more than one occasion."

"To be honest, I’ve never considered myself a particularly good person, but I firmly believe in one thing that transcends good or evil, and that is the bottom line of being human: repaying kindness."