C9 Who Is the System?

"Hahahaha, such a hopeless romantic. Yet, this is the perfect ending," the man in black chuckled as he approached Su Yurou.

He had intended to eliminate Su Yurou, but unexpectedly, Ye Fan stepped in at the crucial moment.

With Ye Fan out of the way, Su Yurou, the stunning beauty, was once again within his grasp. This time, he was determined to savor the taste of this exquisite woman, with no one left to stop him.

The man in black reached Su Yurou, seizing her delicate arm with a lecherous laugh, "Come now, beautiful Su, it's just us two."

Su Yurou shut her eyes in despair.

"Hey, are you really going to overlook me like that?"

A voice as chilling as the reaper's whispered behind the man in black. His body then slowly collapsed, disbelief etched on his face until the very end.

It was Ye Fan!

He had risen once more, swiftly incapacitating the man in black with his strike.

Upon realizing Ye Fan was alive, Su Yurou couldn't contain her emotions any longer. She rushed into Ye Fan's embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

In that moment, she was no longer the formidable businesswoman; she was simply a wounded woman in need of protection.

"Cough, cough!" Ye Fan coughed painfully, "We need to get out of here, fast."

Ye Fan had merely incapacitated the assailants, not taken their lives. His objective was to rescue, not to kill. Now that the rescue was complete, they needed to make a swift exit. The police would soon be upon them, and explanations would be complicated.

"Right," Su Yurou acknowledged, her cheeks flushing as she realized she was in Ye Fan's arms. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and stood up.

Then she noticed the blood on the ground and turned to Ye Fan in alarm.

Blood was streaming from a wound on Ye Fan's right side, which he was pressing with his hand.

"You're hurt! We need to get you to a hospital right away," Su Yurou urged, her voice laced with concern.

"No need, trust me. It's not as bad as it looks. I can take care of it," Ye Fan reassured her, aware that a hospital visit would invite police scrutiny and complications. He wasn't one for trouble, and most importantly, he had his ways.

"But..."

"Come with me."

Ye Fan grasped Su Yurou's hand and quickly led her outside.

"Ding! The host has successfully completed a bodyguard mission. The system has recovered four energy units."

The sweet electronic voice in his mind gave Ye Fan a surge of relief: he had finally regained energy!

With the two units he had before, he now had six in total. This meant he could use the system for a while longer, which was undoubtedly thrilling news for him.

Ye Fan was cautious on the way, careful not to leave any blood trails. He tore a strip from his clothing and wrapped it around his wound.

His home was less than two kilometers away. Bearing the pain, Ye Fan managed to bring Su Yurou back to his place.

His living space was modest and somewhat disordered.

"I should have cleaned up yesterday if I'd known this would happen," Ye Fan muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"This is where you live?" Su Yurou was visibly shaken by the state of the house. It was clear that Ye Fan was not wealthy. But why had he refused her money before? Was it a matter of pride?

"Uh... sorry about the mess. Please, make yourself comfortable for a moment while I tend to my wounds."

Ye Fan rummaged around and found some gauze, but there was no alcohol to be found.

He had assumed the system would detect his injury and heal him automatically, but there had been no response since the last energy boost.

Thinking it over, Ye Fan concluded that the bullet still lodged inside him might be the issue, so he decided to remove it himself.

Biting down on a towel, he braced himself against the table with his left hand and reached for the wound with his right. The area was a bloody mess.

Su Yurou watched in disbelief. "Is he really going to remove the bullet with his bare hands? That's impossible. He could get an infection."

Noticing Su Yurou's concerned look, Ye Fan nodded reassuringly, as if to say, "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

With a grunt, Ye Fan's eyes were filled with blood vessels, and his forehead was slick with sweat as he pulled the bullet out.

Su Yurou's eyes were wide with shock as she witnessed Ye Fan extracting the bullet without anesthesia. She couldn't even begin to fathom the pain he must have felt.

Ouch!

It hurts so much!

I'm in agony!

Ye Fan nearly passed out from the pain, feeling the very real threat of death as blood incessantly poured from his wound, unstoppable.

"Ding! Severe injuries detected in the host, initiating recovery mode."

"Ding! Host's condition has been successfully restored. As a reward for completing the mission, no energy will be consumed this time."

With two electronic chimes sounding in his mind, Ye Fan felt the pain gradually fade away, and he quickly felt revitalized. He was thrilled once more about having the system.

Su Yurou, standing nearby, witnessed a shocking sight. As Ye Fan extracted the bullet, a white light emerged from the gory wound and entered it.

Ye Fan's wound miraculously started to heal itself. Within seconds, the bleeding ceased, and the wound rapidly closed up.

Su Yurou, an atheist, found the event before her inexplicable by science. What was that white light? Why did it heal the wound automatically? In just about a minute, Ye Fan's injury had vanished without leaving a single scar!

"You... You're okay?" Su Yurou asked, staring at Ye Fan in astonishment.

"Ah, well... I've always had a unique constitution since childhood." Noticing Su Yurou's amazed look, Ye Fan realized he had to be cautious. The system was his greatest secret, and he certainly couldn't reveal it to Su Yurou, so he improvised an excuse.

Su Yurou remained skeptical but politely refrained from probing further.

They sat in silence for a moment, the air filled with an awkward tension.

"Ye Fan, thank you," Su Yurou finally said, breaking the quiet with genuine gratitude.

"Heh, it's nothing, really," Ye Fan replied, scratching his head and appearing somewhat bashful.

"But why were you there today?" Su Yurou inquired.

"Oh, that's because today was my first day on the job. There's a lot I'm not familiar with yet, so I stayed late to learn more. When I was leaving, I happened to see you being kidnapped, so I followed," Ye Fan explained, conveniently omitting that he had actually fallen asleep at the office and that was why he had left so late.

"How are you adjusting to the company's atmosphere?" Su Yurou couldn't help but admire Ye Fan upon hearing his comment. He seemed to be someone with a lot of ambition.

"It's pretty good," Ye Fan said with a grin. With all the beautiful people around, how could it not be?

"I've been told you're quite skilled in both English and Tusmela, and you have a knack for lingerie as well?"

"Haha, I know a bit, just a bit," Ye Fan chuckled, feeling a bit overconfident. He thought to himself that as long as his system had energy, he could excel at anything.

"Oh, Ye Fan, about that... is 'the system' your girlfriend?" Su Yurou suddenly brought up the name Ye Fan had cried out in the heat of the moment when he lunged at the criminals, her curiosity piqued.

"Ah? What system? What are you talking about?" Ye Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he was instantly on guard. She couldn't possibly know about the system, could she?

"You're not familiar with the system? When you charged at them today, you clearly shouted, 'System, I love you.'" Su Yurou's eyes were fixed on Ye Fan, filled with bewilderment.

Ye Fan quickly realized his slip-up. In his excitement, he had let the words slip, and Su Yurou had overheard. He relaxed and explained, "You might have misunderstood. I just blurted something out in the moment to psych myself up."

"Anyway, who was it that you confronted?" Ye Fan deftly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"It was someone from the Su family and a few other shareholders of Iris International. They... Never mind, it's not good for you to know too much. I'll handle things from here," Su Yurou cut herself off.

"Okay, just be careful. If you need any help, give me a call." Ye Fan and Su Yurou exchanged contact information.

"It's getting late; I should head back."

"Let me take you. You're not familiar with the area, and I won't be at ease if you go back by yourself." Ye Fan called a car with his phone.

Su Yurou's residence was in Amethyst Manor, not within Blaland city but closer to the coast, accessible by a wide, privately built road. Along the way, one could spot numerous luxury cars worth millions, even tens of millions. Beyond that, there was nothing else.

Ye Fan and Su Yurou spent roughly thirty minutes in the car before they ultimately reached their destination.