As soon as Ouyang pushed open the little private room’s door, a familiar voice drifted in from outside.

“Isn’t this Little Brother Long? How come you’ve got time to drop by today?”

“I’ve told you how many times, drop the ‘little’ and call me Lord Long. I’m about to get promoted and strike it rich. The Xiaomo Family’s second-in-command vanished the day before yesterday—didn’t even leave a corpse behind. That means, as the one with the longest seniority, I can officially inherit and run the Northern District’s business.”

The middle‑aged man outside sounded smug. “I came here today just to share the good news. Go on, congratulate me. But...”

A regular at the café around this time, the middle‑aged man suddenly felt the vibe was off compared to usual.

“Weird. Don’t you normally have a lot of customers at this hour? Why isn’t there a single one today? Got some VIP who booked out the place or what?”

He knew very well that only when special customers showed up would the café’s business look this different.

“No, no, nothing like that. The staff are having a team dinner today. Everyone went out.”

Ouyang remembered there were two Dragons in the Northern District. One was the big Dragon in charge of the whole area. The other was Little Dragon, who only managed a small sub‑district.

Hearing the “Little Long” from outside, Ouyang wanted to poke his head out and see if it was really that Little Dragon. The young bartender grabbed him back in one swift move.

“Shh...”

The bartender glanced out. Seeing that the people outside didn’t seem to notice them, he quietly pulled the door mostly shut, leaving only a thin crack.

“If you show yourself here, you’ll make Xiaomo Family’s Dragon suspicious. This section of the café is... special. It’s hard to explain.”

Following the bartender’s gaze through the crack, Ouyang saw an eye‑catching wooden sign not far away. Carved on it were the words: [No Humans or Pets Allowed].

Through that sliver of space, he saw a middle‑aged man standing at the café entrance. The man wore a dark navy dragon robe, black round sunglasses, and had a small beard on his chin. It was indeed the Xiaomo Family’s Dragon.

The bartender was right. If Ouyang walked out from here, Dragon would definitely bombard him with all kinds of weird questions.

“Congrats, Lord Grandpa Long!”

The young manager’s congratulations instantly knocked the title “Lord Long” down several levels. Ouyang saw Dragon’s brows knit together, his expression turning complicated. He couldn’t help letting out a quiet snort of laughter, which instantly drew attention from the front.

“Who’s there? Didn’t you say you guys were all out for a team dinner? Why’s someone still here?”

Through his sunglasses, Dragon stared up at the special area on the right. One of the private room doors had a tiny crack in it. Very suspicious.

“Oh, right, I forgot. We just hired a new bartender. He’s inside with his senior learning how to mix drinks.”

“Mixing drinks? That laugh just now sounded more like flirting than mixing.”

Through the door crack, Dragon caught a glimpse of the new bartender’s back. It looked a little familiar. But compared with that person he was thinking of, this guy was at least half a head shorter. No way it was him.

That person would never know about this place. And would never show up here.

“I’m here to collect the rent today. You’ve got everything ready, yeah?”

“Don’t worry, it’s all ready on time every month.”

Ouyang saw the moment the manager pulled out a silver suitcase with a combination lock and handed it over to Dragon.

The Xiaomo Family had rules. Everything had to go through proper, official procedures. They strictly forbade collecting any extra fees outside—like the “protection fee” happening right in front of him.

Ouyang quietly took out his phone, switched it to silent, and snapped a photo of the scene. He’d deal with this guy properly when he got back.

When Dragon left with the suitcase, Ouyang and the bartender came out together. Both of them relaxed a little.

“You said business is usually packed around this time?”

Standing in the quiet, cozy café, Ouyang hadn’t seen anyone come in or go out other than Dragon and himself. If business was always like this, the place would be on the verge of shutting down.

“Yeah... Normally this slot is when it’s the busiest. Today, His Highness the Bloodkin Prince specially booked out the place. For you.”

“Hold on. You just said the Bloodkin Prince booked out the café... for me?!”

Thinking he’d misheard, Ouyang blinked in confusion. “I don’t even know your Bloodkin Prince.”

“Wasn’t he the one who told you to come here?”

“What?!”

Ouyang’s face flushed in an instant. She stared at the calm bartender, both excited and shocked.

“That guy on the phone was your Bloodkin Prince?!”

“He didn’t tell you?”

Ouyang shook her head in a panic. She’d always treated that guy she kept talking to on the phone as some random kindhearted Blood Clan passerby—at worst, a target she needed to get rid of.

Wait a second...

Feeling something was off, she thought it through seriously for a few seconds.

Now that she knew the guy on the phone was the Prince, she suddenly recalled what the bartender said earlier about the Bloodkin Prince looking for a spouse. Her cheeks flushed all the way to the tips of her ears, and the curse on the tip of her tongue almost slipped out.

“That bastard... He’s been stringing me along this whole time. He better pray I never meet him!”

Fuming, she stomped downstairs, ready to head to her next destination, but the bartender blocked her.

“Where are you planning to go?”

“Home, obviously.”

Looking out at the two tallest white buildings two kilometers away, Ouyang heard his curious question:

“Aren’t you a Mosterian from the Zero District?”

“When did I ever say I was one of them?”

Behind his sunglasses, the young bartender’s eyes went wide. He stared at Ouyang in shock. “But you...”

The Bloodkin Prince had only told them that within half an hour, a human teenager wearing sunglasses would show up here, and that they should treat him according to the Prince’s instructions.

Not knowing what exactly the boy’s relationship with the Prince was, the bartender’s gaze suddenly shifted to the teen’s neck. That was when he noticed the very unordinary physiological trait that set him apart from normal boys. His eyes widened slightly in disbelief.

“You’re actually...”

Realizing he’d seen through her disguise, Ouyang looked up at his stunned expression. She lifted her right index finger to her lips and warned him seriously:

“Don’t tell anyone about this.”

After all, Ouyang had lived in this district since she was a kid. There wasn’t a soul around here who didn’t recognize her.

She took a cab to the base of the Xiaomo Family’s tower. The moment she got out, the stares from pedestrians and street vendors around her were like they’d just seen a ghost—everyone was frozen, eyes wide.

“Is Brother Long inside?”

“N‑No...”

The guard on duty at the main entrance stared at Ouyang like she’d just crawled out of a grave. Trembling, he shook his head. “He went to pick up Little Qiu from school.”