As the clock struck seven, the sky began to darken. By this time, Ling Moâs backpack was filled with a whole bag of âblood blisters.â The outer layer was unexpectedly tough, which made Ling Moâs collection work much easier. With these things, Old Lan might just be able to research a way to help Ling Mo alleviate his troubles and also deepen his understanding of the Black Widow.
âOld Zheng, youâre in charge of blocking off this street. With Mu Chen and the others helping you, it shouldnât be too much of a problem. Lan Lan and the others will stay by your side, and take this sunglasses man with you,â Ling Mo said, crushing the food wrapper in his hand and swallowing the last bite of his dry rations as he stood up. They were hiding in a shop at the moment, peeking through the door to catch a distant glimpse of the building. Ling Moâs target was inside thereâ¦
âYou want us to hold off Falconâs reinforcements, right? I got itâ¦â Old Zheng nodded with a bitter smile. At this point, he had no choice but to cooperate.
The sunglasses man, upon being mentioned, shot Ling Mo a cold glance, wishing for nothing more than for Ling Mo to never return. As for his own neck⦠as long as he had that intelligence, he still held value. Even if someone got hold of that intelligence, theyâd surely want more from him. In fact, in his opinion, this battle was essentially a contest over himâ¦
But just as he started thinking this, Ling Moâs gaze suddenly swept over to him. The sunglasses manâs heart skipped a beat, and his smile turned into a twitch. For some reason, he seemed to detect a hint of mockery in those bright eyes, even a trace of ridiculeâ¦
âNot just reinforcements; we also need to prevent anyone from escaping,â Xia Na said with a sly wink.
ââ¦Fine by me,â Old Zheng said helplessly. âBut this street isnât the only entryway. What about other places? You know my Illusion has a range limitation. If they manage to find another way around⦠I think Iâd better go with you.â
Just as he was about to step forward, a tall figure blocked his way. Li Yalin raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, âThat wonât doâ¦â
âWhy?â Old Zheng asked, momentarily stunned.
âToo much in the way,â Li Yalin replied earnestly. She was telling the truth; with other humans present, their actions would inevitably be restrictedâ¦
Old Zhengâs eyes welled up with tears immediately, âLet⦠letâs pretend I never said thatâ¦â
âDonât worry, I have it all planned out. All you need to do is keep this road blocked until my mission is successful. To be honest, I donât know if their reinforcements will come, when they will arrive, or how many of them there will be. But with your Illusion, I trust youâll be able to hold them off,â Ling Mo said, patting Old Zheng on the shoulder with a serious expression, âGood luck!â
âGood⦠How am I supposed to âgood luckâ after youâve said all that?! Iâll just have to go all out!â Old Zheng exclaimed helplessly.
Despite his words, Ling Moâs gaze gave him a different feeling. In the past, heâd only seen calm in those eyes, but this time, there seemed to be a hint of eager excitementâ¦
âFor three days heâs been holed up in his room with his girlfriends⦠Could it be related to this?â
Before Old Zheng could ponder further, Ling Mo took a deep breath and headed outside, âLetâs get startedâ¦â
As night fell, the building seemed to become even more silent.
In the oppressive atmosphere, a pair of eyes peeked through the curtain for a moment, then disappeared again behind it. But just as the curtain fell, four figures emerged suddenly from a dark corner and swiftly crossed the street. By the time the eyes reappeared, they had silently approached an Iron Door at the bottom of the building. �
It was a tightly closed security door, and through the warped peephole, they could vaguely make out some scenes inside. A staircase leading upwards, with numerous Billboards seemingly hanging at the corner, and a couple of flower pots placed by the wallâ¦
As they left, Ling Mo hadnât paid much attention, but it now seemed that this building was full of shops. A beauty salon⦠an insurance company⦠the layout was quite complex, he thought to himself.
The door was locked from the inside. Ling Mo used a Tentacle to feel around a bit and whispered, âItâs a padlock, the largest kind, not easy to open⦠Thereâs also a string of bells hanging on it, which is hard to removeâ¦â He retracted the Tentacle, frowning, âThis warning method, while simple, is quite effective. If the door were opened carelessly, the bells would definitely ring. But even if youâre careful, itâs almost impossible to unlock it silentlyâ¦â
âLet me handle this,â Li Yalin said, licking her lips with a bit of excitement.
She stared at the door for a couple of seconds, then inserted her finger into the peephole. As she gently lifted it upwards with her fingertip, the peephole began to slowly widen. Due to her steady strength, the door and bells remarkably didnât make a sound during the process.
Once the peephole was wide enough, Li Yalin stood on her tiptoes and extended her entire Arm through it. While doing this, she maintained a distance from the door to avoid making noise. Her body was extremely flexible, but it was the first time Ling Mo had seen her use her Arm so advantageously.
Anyone else attempting this would either not have the balance on their tiptoes or would have to press too closely against the door to extend their arm fully. In this awkward position, a normal person could only get their elbow through at most, but Li Yalin managed to defy common skeletal limitations.
Simply reaching in wasnât the real challenge; next, she had to figure out how to open the doorâ¦
The curtain upstairs opened once more, but the location of the Iron Door was directly under the watcherâs nose, and thus he failed to noticeâ¦
âAh, Iâve got it,â Li Yalin suddenly smiled after a few seconds. With a quiet âclick,â the supposedly unbreakable padlock was twisted open by her fingers. As she carefully withdrew her hand from the peephole along with the lock, the bells didnât make a sound. The whole process took only around ten secondsâ¦
âThat was easy,â Li Yalin said, placing the lock gently on the ground with a satisfied grin.
âThatâs because it was meant to stop people,â Ling Mo said, casually ruffling her Hair before opening the door.
âMa-Ge, do you really think theyâll come? Itâs been all afternoon⦠If you ask me, we should go after them instead of sitting here waiting,â said a man holding a gun quietly on the second floor of the insurance company. As he spoke, he couldnât help but yawn, looking somewhat tired.
âThe captain said we canât afford to fail this mission, but who can keep going like this? I think Ling Mo is just a bit crafty, but heâs not that strong⦠Is it necessary to be so cautious? The captain shouldnât have bothered negotiating with him in the first place. Why talk about capturing him alive? Couldnât we just take him down a notch and capture him afterwards?â The man muttered, turning his head to ask, âRight, Ma-Ge?â
A shadow against the wall shifted slightly, followed by an impatient voice, âDo you really think the other side is made of clay? If Ling Mo hadnât wanted to retreat cleanly today, the question of whether youâd still be alive might have been up in the air. This guy doesnât show off recklessly, and youâd do well to take him more seriously.â
Ma-Ge was crouched less than five meters away from the man, but he remained focused on the doorway, never putting down his gun. Only when he replied did he frown and glance at the man.
âThat was just his luck. If he hadnât run so fast, we might have used the explosives set on the Rooftopâ¦â the man said dismissively. âI think youâve been listening to too many rumors, Ma-Ge. Who knows if any of that stuff is true⦠Anyway, I, Zhou Laoba, only trust this gun in my hand. So what if heâs a superhuman? Iâm a Sharpshooter myselfâ¦â
As he spoke, he shook his head with a cold smile and casually glanced toward the door.
The moment he saw the door, however, his pupils contracted sharply, and a chill shot up from the soles of his feet.
His body tensed immediately, and a sheen of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Meanwhile, Ma-Ge continued, âMaybe⦠However, he seemed very calm to me, and I donât think it was an act. Compared to impulsive types, I actuallyâ¦â Ma-Ge suddenly paused, asking with confusion, âWhatâs wrong?â
From Ma-Geâs position, he could see the man leaning against a table, trembling uncontrollably. His eyes were fixed forward, and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was trying to utter a sound⦠But just as he was about to yell, he seemed to be frozen in place.
With a thud, the man fell to the ground, his face turned towards Ma-Ge. He looked terrified, his eyes wide open, and a blood hole slowly appeared in the center of his foreheadâ¦
Ma-Geâs heart skipped a beat, and he quickly raised his gun. However, just as he did, a Dark Shadow flickered, blocking his view⦠A sharp glint appeared at his left eye, the tip of a knife less than a centimeter away from his eyeballâ¦
âIâ¦â Ma-Ge trembled all over, his voice broken and shaky. He had no idea what the man had seen before his death, but the fear within him was no less than what the man must have felt. He dared not move his eyes, not even blink, but he vaguely understood that his assailant was a woman, while several other figures lingered by the manâs corpse.
âHow did they get inâ¦? Aside from the alarm on the door, there are several traps in the hallwayâ¦â