Chapter 2: Twin Sisters

After wandering around several key departments at Lumaria, James soon arrived outside an upscale townhouse complex.

His motorcycle was quite eye-catching.

He had just parked in front of an all-white house when a young woman blocked his way.

The girl glanced at a photo in her hand, then threw her arms around James.

Her soft, curvy body instantly pressed against James. He instinctively raised his hands to push her away, but when he saw her face clearly, his force melted into a gentle touch on her shoulder.

"James! It's really you!"

"Bianca?"

"—James! I'm Cleo! You got us mixed up again!"

Cleo pouted and let go of James's waist.

Though James's eyes were on Cleo, his ears were listening to sounds from all directions.

Someone was watching them from nearby. More than one person.

Without showing any sign, he put his arm around Cleo's shoulder and half-carried her into the house.

His movements were gentle, but his eyes had already turned cold.

"What happened?"

James asked in a low voice, still sounding warm but with a hint of tension.

Cleo's eyes immediately reddened:

"Bianca's paper authorship got stolen again. You know Bianca is a genius! Her talent in pharmaceuticals and weapons manufacturing is unmatched."

James didn't need Cleo to tell him about Bianca's talent.

After all, back on the ship, he had witnessed the homemade tracking torpedoes made by thirteen-year-old Bianca. Without Bianca, that ship would likely have been stopped by the senator.

Once stopped, everyone on that ship would have died.

But if it was just about stolen paper authorship, it shouldn't cause such a big reaction.

Besides, would his payment be worth just one paper authorship? Seemed too cheap.

Seeing the expression on James's face, Cleo knew he had misunderstood.

After they entered the room, Cleo said in an extremely quiet voice,

"Father has disappeared..."

"Someone broke into our house to steal things. Cleo and I were almost kidnapped twice while walking outside. Reporting to the police didn't help."

"The police said we were crazy and threatened to lock us up in a mental hospital if we reported again."

"Cleo and I used all the money we could access to hire members of the Ghost Legion to protect us."

"From thirty people at the start, now there are only four left at the door and inside the house."

"James, if you hadn't come, Cleo and I wouldn't have survived much longer."

Tears fell from Cleo's eyes.

James's heart tightened.

His waist also tightened.

Cleo had already thrown herself into his arms.

Her soft chest heaved against his abs. James unconsciously swallowed.

Back when he was rescued by the Hill family of three, they spent thirteen days together on the ship before parting at the Novaria dock.

That year, the twin sisters Bianca and Cleo were only thirteen.

Who knew girls could change so much when they grew up?

James wiped away Cleo's tears with the back of his hand and continued walking toward the basement with his arm around her shoulder.

Over the years, he had been keeping tabs on Cleo's family.

Bianca had been smart since childhood. She completed all her graduate courses at fourteen and had her own lab by sixteen.

In bacterial biochemical cultivation, she was already a well-known expert in chemistry circles.

Not only that, she also had a small reputation in weapons formula development.

Just one video of her homemade Christmas fireworks went viral and instantly gave her 400,000 followers.

Most of the followers' IP addresses were virtual...

"I should have listened to you back then. I should have kept Bianca hidden and not filmed those videos for her... It's all my fault! Dad must have been kidnapped by those arms dealers who couldn't get to Bianca. What do we do now, James?"

"Where's Bianca?"

"She..."

Cleo sighed,

"She's not doing well."

Cleo led James through twists and turns into the basement.

Bianca's busy figure showed no concern for who was standing behind her.

She wore a lab coat, her hair casually tied back with a few loose strands hanging by her face.

Her eyes were fixed on the test tubes in front of her, as if the whole world had nothing to do with her.

The room was full of equipment undergoing various chemical reactions, with a somewhat pungent smell of mixed gases.

James said nothing.

Bianca showed no sign of stopping either.

Cleo held her breath and waited for ten minutes before finally walking over and removing Bianca's headphones.

Bianca froze for a moment, then turned around.

The moment she saw James, her eyes lit up briefly, but then dimmed again. Her expression was very calm, even somewhat distant.

"James?"

She called out softly, without surprise or enthusiasm, just calmly confirming his presence.

But if you looked carefully, you'd notice her fingers curled slightly—her habitual gesture when nervous.

"Sulfur reactor, you're developing C5 explosives?"

James asked with his arms crossed.

His tone was flat, like discussing the weather.

But those who knew him would understand he was testing—testing how far her research had progressed, testing whether she was truly in danger.

Bianca tilted her head, a glimmer of light in her eyes:

"You understand this too?"

"The alcohol lamp separator here, use a four-port, not a seven-tube. And here, this ratio is off by 0.021. Without enough precision, the explosive power will be reduced."

Though James was criticizing, he was secretly shocked inside.

Bianca was only nineteen, yet she had already made a breakthrough on the most discussed item in the underground world and the best-selling thing on the black market—C5 explosives.

He had developed this, but the formula was exclusive.

He didn't create it for arms dealing, just made a few samples to scare off some dishonest rivals.

Unexpectedly, these people got serious and really wanted to mass-produce it.

Obviously, the most talented Bianca had become the target these people were fighting over.

Hearing James's words, the light in Bianca's eyes brightened for a moment but quickly dimmed again.

She didn't ask how he knew, didn't ask what his connection to this thing was. She just lowered her head and said softly:

"This thing was made by you."

Not a question, but a statement.

James's mouth twitched slightly, feeling complicated inside.

Bianca was still the same as before—smart to a frightening degree, yet unable to hide her emotions.

She knew too much, said too little, and carried all the pressure on her own shoulders.

"I'll handle it."

James said, his voice softer than before,

"First, I'll clear out those small fries at the door for you. What do you want to eat tonight? Should we go to the supermarket?"

Cleo instantly brightened up, clapping and jumping.

Since entering this house and with bodyguards disappearing one after another, she and Bianca hadn't dared step outside, afraid of being kidnapped.

If Bianca got kidnapped, at worst she'd lose her freedom but would definitely be treated as an honored guest.

But if she got kidnapped, there'd be no good outcome.

No helping it—one of them was born with genius intelligence, the other with stunning beauty.