CHAPTER 425: CHAPTER 425: ACCIDENTALLY DOING GOOD

Sang Ning raised her brows and gave him a thumbs-up. "Not bad, bro. You’re really on top of all the latest internet memes!"

The "bro" was internally collapsing. All his life, he’d been robbing others—this was his first time being robbed.

Sang Ning’s hit wasn’t serious; the guy was still mobile. But he didn’t want to be bossed around by Sang Ning and had his eye on the defenseless Lu Yujing, planning to snatch his weapon back from her.

He had barely glanced at Lu Yujing, but she screamed and retreated several steps, clutching the weapon tighter. "Don’t come near me!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lu Yujing accidentally fired, and the rounds landed near Sang Ning and the guy’s feet.

Sang Ning jumped up on the spot and dodged to the side. "Big sis, if you want me dead, just say it outright!"

Free of his restraints, the guy endured the pain and charged toward Lu Yujing. Sang Ning reached out, trying to grab him, but her hand came up empty—she didn’t even graze the guy’s shirt. She could only watch as he slowly collapsed in front of her, spasmed a couple of times, and then stopped moving completely.

Lu Yujing’s eyes widened in shock. She dropped her weapon and screamed, "Oh no, did I just kill someone?!"

She fell to the ground with a thud, scooting backward helplessly. Her hands tangled in her hair as she broke down and grabbed her head.

"Ah! I didn’t mean to!"

"Am I going to get arrested?"

Lu Yujing alternated between clutching her chest, covering her mouth, and pulling at her hair.

Sang Ning was momentarily stunned but couldn’t help offering a few comforting words upon seeing Lu Yujing’s disoriented state: "It’s not as serious as you think. Don’t scare yourself."

Just as she finished speaking, Lu Yujing picked up the weapon she’d just discarded and tossed it at Sang Ning’s feet. "You fired it, not me! This has nothing to do with me."

Sang Ning: "..."

Lu Yujing had perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be both timid and reckless.

Seeing no point in continuing the conversation with Lu Yujing, Sang Ning walked over to the guy on the ground and kicked him lightly. No response. He was lying there with his head tilted to the side, his eyes wide open.

Sang Ning flipped him over more forcefully. Besides the wound she’d inflicted earlier, there were no other injuries on him.

The guy was... pulling off a hellish-style fake death!

Lu Yujing was still drowning in panic. After throwing her weapon to Sang Ning, she dropped to her knees, clutching her chest and dry heaving.

Suddenly, the sound of helicopter blades spinning filled the air. Sang Ning looked up to see small, flashing lights approaching.

Squinting, Sang Ning spotted someone waving at her from one of the helicopters.

As the helicopter got closer, Sang Ning finally made out who it was—it was Zhou Rui, someone she’d been longing to see. The proximity allowed her to hear Zhou Rui calling out to her. "Don’t be afraid! We’re here to rescue you!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Lu Yujing stopped dry heaving, leapt to her feet, and frantically waved her arms at the sky. "Director Zhou! I’m here! Hurry and save me!"

When the helicopter neared the ground, a ladder was dropped. Sang Ning watched as Zhou Rui slowly climbed down, followed closely by Song Shiye.

Once they landed, both men sprinted toward Sang Ning and enveloped her in a bear hug, holding her tightly with tears streaming down their faces.

"Sister Sangsang, thank goodness you’re okay!" Song Shiye’s heart, which had stopped several times that day from fright, started beating again.

Zhou Rui was so choked up that he couldn’t even speak; he just silently shed tears. In the end, Sang Ning had to pat his back lightly to comfort him for a while.

She hadn’t cried—so why were these two crying as if the world had ended?

Irritated, Sang Ning pushed them off and only then remembered the guy lying on the ground. She asked, "We’re safe now, but what about him? He’s already dead—can we still leave New Island?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yujing quickly distanced herself from the blame. "Sang Ning did it, Director Zhou! If anyone needs to stay on the island, it should be her—the real troublemaker here."

"Huh?" Zhou Rui was utterly bewildered, unable to follow the banter between Sang Ning and Lu Yujing.

The intensity of the situation finally eased a bit. Zhou Rui wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and glanced at the person lying on the ground. Only then did he understand: Sang Ning and Lu Yujing thought the guy was dead.

He hastily explained to both, "Don’t worry. He’s not dead—he’s just sedated. He’ll wake up once the anesthesia wears off."

Sang Ning exclaimed, "Wait, you guys did this?"

"Not us," Zhou Rui shook his head emphatically, then pointed toward the still-hovering helicopters. "It was our reinforcements."

Finally, Lu Yujing let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness...

Song Shiye, still emotionally unsteady, became particularly chatty and, along with Zhou Rui, explained the whole situation in vivid detail, using hand gestures to narrate.

Turns out New Island had long wanted to take care of this group of pirates and had been preparing to do so.

But the pirates had insiders on New Island who would tip them off about any crackdowns in advance. As a result, the pirates would behave for extended periods, leaving New Island without an excuse to act.

Coincidentally, Sang Ning’s group’s plane had touched down today, and things had erupted.

Zhou Rui had pulled strings and built connections. As soon as New Island authorities learned of the incident, they launched an investigation.

The inside informants revealed that Hu Yaoji’s gang had been planning to escape that very night, staying away for a while before returning once New Island was "safe."

Though their escape had nothing to do with Sang Ning’s crew, somehow word had gotten back to the pirates that a show crew with celebrities was arriving.

Figuring that these stars would be filthy rich, the pirates grew bold and decided to pull off one last kidnapping heist before fleeing.

Pressed for time, they couldn’t demand astronomical sums and instead planned to squeeze tens of thousands from the unfortunate souls they’d grab in their first carload.

Their plan was flawless—except for the fact that they targeted the wrong people.

Sang Ning sighed in amazement. "So basically, we accidentally did everyone a favor, huh?"

Even though everyone’s spirits and bodies had been battered, taking down the pirates could be counted as accumulating good karma.

Zhou Rui admired Sang Ning’s audacity. After such a nerve-wracking ordeal, she still managed to stay incredibly composed.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "My dear, this kind of thing—something nobody wants to deal with—how can you call it a ’favor’? You sure are big-hearted."

Lu Yujing clasped her hands together and prayed to the heavens.

Seeing this, Zhou Rui joined her in folding his hands to pray.

But Zhou Rui not only prayed to the heavens; he also folded his hands and bowed toward Sang Ning. "Sang Ning, if not for you stalling them, I don’t even want to imagine how bad it could’ve been."

Sang Ning sneered, her disdain showing. "Do me a favor and stop bowing to me like that. You know that’s how people pay respects to the dead, yeah?"

Zhou Rui, scolded by Sang Ning, hastily stood upright and offered a proper thank-you. "Ancestor, thank you!"

Sang Ning: "..."

Utterly futile communication.