"Marry him?"

Liu Yuanyuan scoffed. "Director Yan, tell me you're joking. The higher-ups sent me to get close to Boss Huang, and the whole first goal is to bewitch him and then set him against the Sea Snake King, right? That's a plan for mutual destruction. And you're telling me it's a good match for me?"

Yan Jike gave an odd little smile, as if he could already picture Shen Cong and the Sea Snake King tearing into each other, both left in ruins.

He coughed and said, "You need to have faith in Boss Huang's strength. He's got a battle pet on the same grade as the Sea Snake King backing him up—his odds are good. When it's done he'll be a hero of the human race, and so will you. Both of you."

"Hmph. You think I don't understand war?" Liu Yuanyuan's face changed all at once, and she gave a cold snort. "I want a guarantee. If this works, I get onto the standing committee. And even if it falls through, I still want a committee seat!"

"What kind of joke is that!"

"Pulling off something this big, is one standing committee seat really too much? You people up there get to warm your seats and do nothing, but the ones who actually earn it aren't allowed the power they're owed?"

"You've got no seniority. Who's going to respect you?"

"Once I've done this, I'll have the seniority."

"That's a matter for after it's done—and honestly, you don't need to be grabbing at things right now. Once it's done, Boss Huang is a hero. If he lives, you're a hero's wife, and the doors of the standing committee open for you. If he dies, you're the family of a martyr, and with the Secretary pulling strings, getting you onto the committee won't be hard either."

Liu Yuanyuan narrowed her lovely almond eyes, thinking it over. "Director Yan has a point."

"So—do the work, and it'll pay off in the end."

"Then the higher-ups had better watch. I will make this thing a success!" Liu Yuanyuan curled the…