Ten Rules to Bind Her Heart - Chapter 60
Shen Yu straightened and walked toward another climate-controlled display case.
Inside rested a matte-black mechanical instrument, all cold, severe lines.
It was a relic he had recovered years ago from the wreck of an ocean-going vessel, and one of the few mechanical pieces he still personally calibrated.
He opened the case and lifted it out.
The instrument was constructed entirely from aerospace-grade alloy. Only neat, finely spaced graduations marked its surface, and its edges had been honed to a sharp finish.
Shen Yu turned a concealed knob with his fingertips. A continuous, muted whir of machinery came from within.
Xia Zhiyao set down the watch and stared, utterly transfixed.
This was a colder, harder kind of mechanical beauty—the pinnacle of industrial craftsmanship.
Shen Yu’s long fingers pinched the top of the chronometer. With a slight exertion of force, he sent it spinning swiftly between them.
He glanced up at the dumbstruck girl.
“A custom nineteenth-century European marine chronometer, salvaged from a shipwreck. The movement was made entirely by hand and keeps precise time even in extreme conditions.”
“A shipwreck?”
Xia Zhiyao swallowed. “Mr. Shen… you’re incredible…”
She did not know much about mechanical instruments and had never been particularly interested in them, but the word “shipwreck” was enough to leave her awestruck.
Shen Yu smiled faintly.
Hmph.
The little thing had truly seen nothing of the world.
Over the years, he had heard every extravagant form of flattery imaginable. Politicians, merchants, and buyers had exhausted their most ornate vocabulary praising his power and wealth, bowing and scraping before him.
Yet for some reason, all of those words combined had never pleased him as much as this little thing’s single, heartfelt compliment.
He liked the reverence shining in her clear eyes as she looked at him.
“Come.”
Shen Yu straightened.
“I’ll take you somewhere else.”
…
They left his collection room, passed through layer upon layer of shelving, and finally crossed one last heavy, blast-resistant isolation door. The view abruptly opened before them.
Buried deep underground was an enormous indoor training ground, so vast that it appeared to have hollowed out half the mountainside.
The ceiling soared overhead. Rows of high-powered industrial lights made the space bright as day, their cold, harsh glare exposing every detail of the floor. Smoke from training still hung throughout the arena.
A squad in black combat uniforms was conducting security drills.
Their shouts were deafening.
The sheer force of the sound made Xia Zhiyao’s heart race and drained the color from her face. She instinctively covered her ears and shrank behind Shen Yu.
From the corner of his eye, the instructor in charge spotted the tall man standing in the shadows by the entrance.
The instant he recognized him, the massive, bear-like instructor’s expression changed. He blew his whistle sharply.
The shouting stopped dead.
Every member of the squad ceased moving within a fraction of a second, swift and perfectly synchronized.
The instructor turned and jogged over without even pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow. Three meters from Shen Yu, he came to an abrupt halt.
“Salute!”
Snap!
He delivered a flawless Wolf Corps salute.
The dozen or so men behind him wheeled around in unison, came to attention, and saluted.
“Boss!”
Dozens of killing intent–hardened men roared the word together, their voices reverberating through the enclosed chamber.
Their faces were obscured by camouflage paint, but the fervor and reverence in their eyes were unmistakable.
Shen Yu stood with one hand in his pocket, his expression indifferent.
He casually lifted his other hand and flicked his long fingers outward.
The gesture could not have been more offhand.
The instructor understood at once.
“Everyone, clear the field!”
“Yes, sir!”
There were no unnecessary words. In barely more than ten seconds, the highly trained squad gathered their equipment and streamed through a side door like a receding tide of black water. The once clamorous arena fell empty.
The heavy pressure door slowly closed.
Only Xia Zhiyao and Shen Yu remained in the cavernous space.
And, in the distance, dozens of silent training mannequins.
“What is it? Haven’t seen enough?” Shen Yu smiled as he looked at the girl still huddled behind him like a frightened quail.
Only then did Xia Zhiyao return to herself and cautiously peek out.
“Mr. Shen…” she asked softly. “Why did those men call you… Boss?”
The smile at Shen Yu’s lips deepened. “What else should they call me?”
Xia Zhiyao blinked her clear eyes and considered the question very seriously.
“Um… shouldn’t they call you something like… Big Boss?”
Was that not what they always said on television?
Hmph.
At last, Shen Yu could not suppress a quiet laugh.
Stupid puppy.
“I am a legitimate businessman. All my business is legal, so naturally they call me Boss.”
He was standing rather close, and Xia Zhiyao’s face reddened once more.
With those fierce-looking men gone, the pressure of the place somehow felt even heavier.
Cold white light fell over the targets in the distance, casting long shadows.
Some were lifelike humanoid dummies made from a polymer material. Others were specially manufactured steel plates, while still others were mannequins dressed in battered camouflage uniforms.
Xia Zhiyao’s gaze settled on the farthest figures.
Those were…
A chill passed through her.
The chests of those mannequins had been torn apart, exposing the stuffing inside. Yet large, dark-red stains marked the ragged edges, and a dried, blackened pool stained the concrete beneath them.
She knew pigments well. That dried texture, that somber shade…
It did not look like red paint.
Was it blood…?
Had living things… been used as targets here…?
It was only a guess.
But cold crept up her spine, and Xia Zhiyao swallowed involuntarily.
She wanted to turn away at once, yet for some reason her entire body seemed frozen, her eyes fixed helplessly on the bloodstains.
A warm hand suddenly covered the back of her head and forcibly turned her gaze away.
“Stop staring.”
Shen Yu’s cool voice sounded above her.
“Come here.”
Forced to tilt her face up, Xia Zhiyao met his bottomless black eyes.
He had plainly seen what she was looking at and understood what frightened her, but he offered no explanation.
Shen Yu led her to a long table at one side of the range, where various pieces of security-training equipment had been laid out.
He opened a black velvet case.
