Chapter 172: Sleepless Night Schemes

Chapter 172: A Long Night of Restless Schemes

All through the night, Xiao Yu couldn’t sleep.

He spent the dark hours analyzing the assassin group, planning possible strategies and figuring out how to track them down.

When he finally got up, Xiao Yu’s mind felt utterly exhausted.

Signs of brain overload emerged; his concentration was wavering.

After only two hours of sleep, Xiao Yu got up just after nine, made a glass of milk and stirred in half a cup of sugar.

Not worried about diabetes?

There was no other way; the best remedy for brain fatigue was to intake sugar.

Sugar is the only energy source the brain can actually use.

Most people love sweets, not because they’re irresistibly tasty,

but because the brain drives the body to crave sugar.

It’s nature’s way to ease mental fatigue and recharge energy…

Leaving his home, Xiao Yu headed to a street food stall.

A normal guy, satisfied with just a glass of milk?

Come on!

At the stall, Xiao Yu wolfed down a hearty breakfast.

Just as he was about to leave, a woman slid into the seat next to him.

“Hey handsome, add me on WeChat?”

Xiao Yu looked her way.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, dressed in a light blue jacket with a black leather mini skirt, her long hair dyed a dark grey that cascaded naturally over her chest, her skin unusually pale.

Not conventionally beautiful, but exuding a distinctly feminine charm.

But…

Though her approach seemed like friendly banter—with a sweet smile and calm eyes—there was an inexplicable coldness lurking beneath.

“Sure,” he replied.

Xiao Yu nodded, pulled out his phone and opened WeChat, ready to scan her code.

“Whoa, you don’t even know the tap-to-add feature?”

The woman laughed as she teased.

Tap-to-add… it suddenly clicked for Xiao Yu.

It was a nifty new feature that made adding contacts a breeze.

Using NFC technology, two phones merely needed to be close to add each other as friends…

Xiao Yu grinned, activated the feature on his phone and brought them close together.

Ding.

Validation complete.

“Thanks,” she said.

As she got up to leave, she shot Xiao Yu a playful glance, “Cutie, chat with me tonight.”

“Ha!”

Xiao Yu chuckled, shook his head, and began his walk home.

Yet there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.

He suspected that she had used some trick to ‘hijack’ his phone.

Maybe this was the third test?

By hijacking, he meant using ingenious methods to seize control of someone’s phone, stealing data, and even controlling the camera, microphone, and other hardware functions.

Worse still, some hackers could even exploit a hijacked phone to ‘mine’ cryptocurrency.

If your phone, which was running fine, suddenly begins to lag, freeze, or delay… be cautious.

A cold smile played on Xiao Yu’s lips as he headed back home.

He deliberately fiddled with his phone for a bit.

Although nothing seemed amiss, his inner thoughts were full of ironic amusement.

Her methods were quite impressive—a simple friend request could hijack someone’s phone?

Do ordinary people have such capabilities?

How did Xiao Yu figure it out?

While his phone showed no obvious glitches, it was noticeably overheating.

Even with the screen off and no activity, it continued to heat up…

After a full day,

Xiao Yu found himself sitting in front of his computer, playing a match of ‘League of Legends’.

“Face the storm… Let ‘er rip… The road is long, only my sword is my companion… Death is like the wind, always by my side…”

His Yasuo seemed fierce as he shouted commands and executed plays with the ferocity of a tiger.

Yet the actual stats were so garishly bad they were almost unbearable to watch.

Who would have thought that someone like Xiao Yu, whose hands lagged behind his mind, would be labeled nothing more than a gaming loser?

No, Xiao Yu wasn’t a loser; he was just putting on an act.

He deliberately shouted louder so that the phone beside him would ‘hear’ it.

It wasn’t until the afternoon…

Ding!

A black phone from the assassin group chimed with a notification.

He quickly set aside his mouse and keyboard and grabbed the black phone.

The screen immediately turned pitch black.

Then, a message popped up.

【5,000,000. Complete the task in three days. The transaction will use cryptocurrency: an initial deposit of 1,000,000 with 4,000,000 upon completion.】

A second dialog appeared with a transaction link.

Clicking it, Xiao Yu was taken to a cryptocurrency exchange platform.

“Even account details can’t be traced!”

Xiao Yu remained calm, returned to the black screen, and typed into the dialog, “No problem, I’ll get the crypto ready by tomorrow!”

But then the app crashed and the phone reverted to the home screen—call ended…

Glancing at his hijacked phone, Xiao Yu stood up and moved towards the bathroom.

Although his phone had calling functions, it also had noise suppression features.

Keep a distance and even if you’re listening in, it’s useless.

In the bathroom, seated on the toilet, Xiao Yu muttered, “Getting 1,000,000 worth of crypto ready.”

“Got it,” came Wang Dong’s voice in his ear. “When do you need it?”

“Tomorrow,” Xiao Yu continued. “Set up a dedicated account on a designated platform—I’ll use it shortly. My phone’s been hijacked, so I need to act out a scene via QQ messages from my computer.”

“Understood!” Wang Dong replied.

After hanging up with Wang Dong, Xiao Yu returned to his computer and opened QQ.

No sooner had he logged in than a message popped up in his friend list.

Xiao Yu feigned casual chat for a moment before switching to voice call.

“Old Wang, you’ve got a cryptocurrency exchange platform, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Cut the crap—send me the link. I need to convert some crypto.”

“Okay, wait for 880…”

A link was sent over.

A smirk played on Xiao Yu’s lips.

It paid to be in security—efficiency like this was on point.

After ending the voice call, Xiao Yu proceeded to exchange his crypto, converting 1,000,000.

Now all that was left was to wait for the transaction tomorrow.

That evening,

Ding.

His phone received a WeChat notification.

A WeChat chat window opened.

Rough and sweet: “Hey handsome, you there?”

Xiao Yu: “Who am I speaking to?”

Rough and sweet: “I added you this morning on WeChat—already forgotten about me so fast?”

Xiao Yu: “Oh, it’s you. What’s up, beautiful? Can’t sleep on such a long night? Looking for someone to chat about life?”

Rough and sweet: “Haha, you’re so annoying… Want to meet up somewhere?”

Xiao Yu: “No need for fuss—come over to my place. I live at…”

Rough and sweet: “Sounds good. See you in a bit.”

Xiao Yu set his phone down, his face gradually turning cold.

Something was off.

By all accounts, this woman’s approach that morning

was merely a test, aimed at hijacking his phone.

How could she then set up a meeting?

What was her real objective?

Considering countless possibilities, only one conclusion remained.

Xiao Yu’s expression grew even colder.

He was exposed!