Chapter 848: Chaos Within the Walls

Sister and Little Nineteen were already on a killing spree…

…

…

Just as Lu Xin stared in disbelief at Five’s face on the TV, an ambush had already been set inside the upscale yet not overly fancy hotel where old classmates were reuniting. Many well-trained operatives had infiltrated it.

Two assassination squads had slipped into the hotel.

Armed with submachine guns, their faces concealed by black masks and sporting custom-sealed sunglasses, they were equipped with special plasma weapons and thunder bombs. From both ends of the corridor, they advanced swiftly along the wall toward Lu Xin’s room.

Meanwhile, what appeared to be ordinary guests checked into the rooms directly above and below Lu Xin’s floor at the same moment.

The very first thing they did after entering the guest room was to quickly open a suitcase and carefully extract a specialized bomb.

One installed the bomb on the floor while another attached one to the ceiling using an adhesive device.

It was as if Lu Xin’s room had been caged like a sandwich cookie.

In the building opposite Lu Xin’s room, not fewer than seven or eight trained snipers had taken positions by the window, ready to target anyone inside, their sniper bullets already chambered.

At a spot near the hotel’s piping, someone was loading a highly volatile, high-strength anesthetic—tripled in dosage—into the ventilation system.

Soon the anesthetic began seeping through the ducts into every room in the hotel.

…

…

Like a tightly drawn string ready to snap, the tension was mounting, poised to unleash devastating force at any moment.

Then, these professional and methodical killers suddenly encountered inexplicable phenomena.

First came two silent gunmen climbing the fire escape, creeping toward Lu Xin’s room.

They moved quickly, their steps almost soundless.

Not even their breathing could be detected from as close as their faces.

That was professionalism.

It also underscored that targeting someone of Mr. Gao Qiang’s caliber wasn’t mere reputation—it was deadly serious.

The upper echelons of High-wall City were no joke.

Besides, hadn’t the orders been to eliminate a fugitive accountant carrying a huge sum of cash?

Just a trivial task!

Then, just as they were nearing their target with nerves taut,

a faint, barely audible giggle echoed down the corridor ahead.

The front-line gunmen abruptly looked up. At the corner of their eyes, they caught a glimpse of a tiny figure in a white dress, leaning against the wall. The little figure tilted her head at them and, just as their gaze locked on, vanished suddenly.

“A ghost?”

The gunman was startled, his steps faltering.

Everyone behind him also stopped, every nerve on high alert.

“What did you see?”

A light tap on his shoulder— the captain was asking him in sign language.

Unable to respond with sign language, the front-line gunman could only signal: “Something’s amiss!”

“Advance…”

The captain felt immense pressure, fearing that another squad might snatch the fugitive accountant’s life.

After a full two seconds with no sign of abnormalities, he hurriedly urged them onward.

What’s the big deal? As assassins, they all knew too well that in this world, one often encountered lunatics.

They had killed plenty already; what was there to fear?

Only the front-line gunman felt a quiet dread—after all, he himself had taken a few lives as an Ability User…

…but he had never seen a ghost!

…

…

But bound by the captain’s orders, he had no choice but to press forward, summoning every bit of courage to take a step ahead.

“Hee hee…”

Suddenly, a faint, intermittent sound rang out, disturbingly clear.

The gunman halted immediately, his eyes scanning warily, yet finding nothing suspicious.

Until he lowered his head.

Then he saw a cute little head emerging from beneath the floor, as if it had crawled out of water.

It had disheveled jet-black hair and a pale, twisted arm.

At that moment, the tiny hand was clutching onto his boot.

Her fingernails, unnervingly sharp, had pierced through the custom fiber of his boot, embedding deep into flesh.

“What on earth is this…?”

In his final moment of lucidity, the gunman’s thoughts flashed, then he suddenly lost control and spun around violently.

A dark gun muzzle was pressed right against the captain’s back.

Behind those black sunglasses, his eyes seemed to offer a hint of apology to the captain.

It was unclear if the captain had noticed.

In the next instant, a blue bullet slammed into the captain’s body with a deep, muffled thud.

“Chik… chik… chik…”

In an instant, that armed squad was wiped out—but this was far from over.

Every fallen team member was quickly grabbed by a preceding gunman.

Then, those seized were soon to grab another.

Their bodies contorted in bizarre, unnatural ways, twisting and snapping together like mechanical parts. One after another, they locked shoulders, surged forward with both hands gripped tightly, relentlessly charging ahead.

“What’s happening?”

From another direction, a squad of armed men began to sense trouble—detecting a subtle tremor in the floor. They quickly looked up to see a group of strange figures materializing in the pitch-black corridor lit by sound-sensitive lights.

One by one, they patted their own shoulders, moving like a flock of chicks under an eagle’s shadow.

They raised their arms and charged at full speed.

…

…

“This isn’t good…”

That all-too-familiar yet eerie scene prompted the squad leader to shout orders to fire while ordering a retreat.

However, as bullets struck the squad that resembled a flock of chicks being devoured by an eagle, they began to sway left and right like a snake.

They even defied gravity, rapidly clambering onto walls and ceilings.

In a spiraling charge, they closed in swiftly.

Even so, many bullets struck them. Their blood flowed freely, yet they remained unfazed.

To them, it was as if they were nothing more than segments of a serpentine beast, strung together.

Defying gravity, impervious to bullets.

Soon enough, they merged into that monstrous snake, lengthening like a greedy serpent.

Sitting atop the head of the last soldier in the armed squad, Sister’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

She controlled this human snake, deftly maneuvering it throughout the hotel.

They surged toward the ventilation ducts on the fifth floor, swallowing whole the group deploying the anesthetic.

Then they hit the room on Lu Xin’s floor, swiftly corralling the two bomb-planting operatives.

Taking advantage of their spider-like agility, she carefully retrieved both bombs, hugging them with pure glee.

Soon, rooms below—those involved in bomb installations on the ceiling, rooms posing a threat to Lu Xin, or even those making strange noises, like the surveillance room or a guest whose snoring was excessively loud—were all in disarray…

Sister led her greedy snake unit on a rampage through the hotel.

Occasionally, they burst into an innocent room, glaring at the occupants awkwardly frozen in place.

Covering her eyes, Sister commanded the long line of operatives and at the same time raised her right hand to announce:

“Sorry about that!”

“…”

By the time Lu Xin registered what his Sister and Little Nineteen were up to, the enormous human snake had completely encircled the hotel’s roof. Countless people, hand in hand, adopted a bizarre and dangerous posture—tumbling from mid-air with their heads slowly leaning toward the hotel window, staring blankly, curiously, and eerily inside.

…

…

Earlier, a sniper had taken position in a high-rise directly opposite the hotel.

Patiently waiting for the order to engage, his scope suddenly revealed a strange figure.

A very young girl, expressionless, had appeared on the street between them and the hotel. She floated in mid-air as if defying gravity, clutching a gleaming, sharp dining knife in her tiny hand.

“This is on the fourth floor…”

A shiver of eerie terror surged among them: “What the hell is that thing?”

In an instant of paralyzing dread, one man’s hair stood on end as his fingers nearly squeezed the trigger.

But he didn’t even pull the trigger—he had only just thought of it.

The little girl floating in mid-air suddenly looked up at him.

Then, in a flash, her image disappeared from his sight.

Just as a jolt of panic hit him, he rolled backward, clutching his sniper rifle, when a fleeting figure darted past.

The next moment, his vision blurred and he felt something wet drop at his feet.

Summoning the last of his strength, he realized it was half of his own head.

Simultaneously, tiny figures in white dresses flashed like eerie lightning across various floors.

The sharp dining knife periodically reflected a cold, brilliant light, and as blood splattered, the white dresses vanished.

Four seconds later, Little Nineteen stepped lightly out of the building opposite.

Her face expressionless, she lowered her head and wiped away the single spot of blood from her foot.

…

…

“Sister, what are you doing?”

Only when Lu Xin snapped to attention from Five’s alert did he consider checking on what his Sister and Little Nineteen were up to.

He was instantly horrified.

His habit was to avoid watching his Sister and Little Nineteen while they played.

After all, they were just little girls—issues that adults shouldn’t pry into.

If they encountered danger, he would instinctively act to protect them; otherwise, they were free to simply be little girls, playing and wandering as they pleased…

And then he saw what these two ordinary little girls had done.

The focus was on his Sister.

That human snake, which nearly encircled the entire hotel, truly startled him.

In one sweeping glance, he naturally deduced the killers’ identities.

Yet seeing his Sister orchestrate such a grand spectacle in the middle of a city still filled him with anxiety.

He hurriedly scolded, “Didn’t I tell you? In crowded places you can’t act like this. What if someone sees?”

“What if you scare people?”

“What if you wreck something?”

“…”

“Hmph!”

His Sister stood atop the head of the human snake killer, arms raised defiantly and declared, “They want to hurt you.”

“And even if no one sees or is frightened, nothing got broken…”

“Absolutely not.”

“…”

Lu Xin gritted his teeth and cast a glance at timid Little Nineteen beside him. “Then what about corrupting Nineteen?”

“She’s still young…”

“…”

His Sister blinked and surveyed the suddenly silent building across the street, saying nothing.

Little Nineteen also paused, quietly tucking the bloodstained dining knife behind her.

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…

Lu Xin took a deep breath and glanced at the distant street.

Thankfully, there was no wailing of sirens, nor any rapid approach by Security Hall or City Defense Department personnel.

This indicated that no one had yet noticed the chaos unfolding or raised the alarm.

However, it was clear that many rooms in nearby buildings had quickly turned their lights on—and then frantically off—suggesting that quite a few had witnessed the eerie human snake on the hotel’s upper floors, and were terrified.

There was still time to remedy the situation…

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…

“I don’t know what you mean by crazy,”

Lu Xin exhaled deeply and quickly shifted his gaze back to Five on the TV, whispering, “But I really didn’t expect them to chase us down so fast.”

“Now, I have to leave the city.”

He frowned and glanced at the endless lit buildings of Soda City, feeling a tinge of unease.

“Since these people are so deranged, they might well use mental weapons against me.”

“Such weapons have a massive impact on ordinary people.”

“So…”

He hesitated, his tone tinged with reluctance.

“Everything that needed to be said has already been said.”

Five gave no further explanation, merely replying coolly; his face revealed no sign of reluctance.

This left Lu Xin feeling a bit disheartened.

After a brief pause to regain his composure, he turned to Fourteen and said, “Then, what now…”

“Jiu Ge…”

Fourteen glanced at the killer transformed into a human snake by his Sister, clearly disturbed.

He shrank his head and replied, “You heard Fifth Sister’s words.”

“You see, I have no quarrel with you—if everyone is willing to help, I have no choice but to do so…”

“After all, I promised Ayi…”

“But if no one helps you, my presence won’t matter, will it?”

“…”

“This…”

Lu Xin’s heart skipped a beat as he sadly realized the truth.

He lowered his head for a moment before reaching into his black bag, pulling out a wad of cash which he stuffed into Fourteen’s arms, saying, “I need to leave the city; we’ll deal with the rest later. If you need help, meet me in Qinggang.”

As he spoke, he turned and noticed that both his Sister and Little Nineteen had quietly gathered around him.

They had no intention of leaving his side.

It turned out that the only ones who unconditionally trusted him were indeed the two little ones…

Deep inside, Lu Xin quietly mused and addressed the TV, “Five, release Number Eight…”

“Tell him to meet me in Qinggang.”

“…”

Without further hesitation, he swiftly packed his belongings and left the room.

It wasn’t until he heard a flurry of rapid footsteps downstairs, confirming that Lu Xin had already departed, that Fourteen let out a soft sigh of regret.

With a look that pleaded for help, he turned to the television, only to find that the screen had gone blank. Five had, at some unknown moment, severed his mental connection.

Resigned, he silently crouched down, scratched his head, and began to weep…

“Jiu Ge, you left me a wad of cash—quite generous. But why are they all one-dollar bills?”

“That won’t even pay for a meal…”

“…”

“…”

At the same time, Lu Xin had already reached the entrance of the restaurant where he had been before, mounting his motorcycle and glancing at the jeep.

Realizing that Fourteen was in an unfamiliar place and that Number Three might not even look after him, he decided to leave the vehicle and supplies behind for Fourteen. Instead, he placed Little Nineteen on the front fuel tank while his Sister sat behind, clinging to his waist.

Then, with a final determined glance toward the steel drawbridge at the exit of High-wall City, he slammed the throttle.

Under the red moon hanging high above the city, the motorcycle’s blinding headlights pierced the night as it sped toward the city’s edge.

Perhaps this mission was a failure…

But in truth, it was also a success: he now knew that Number Three was alive and well, and he understood exactly what kind of help Five needed.

Even the parting words from Five—those words of understanding and forgiveness—moved him deeply.

They were afraid of the Old Director and wouldn’t readily help him; that was something he couldn’t force.

But he would do what needed to be done regardless.

Even if they didn’t assist him, there would still be many others with shared goals who would.

Like his Sister and Little Nineteen, Number Two, even Number Eight who had just laid on the operating table whining in protest, and Father, Doll, Gecko, Doctor An of the Research Institute—and most of all, trusting Qinggang…

He was not truly alone; hope was still within reach to stand up against the Old Director.

Thinking that over, Lu Xin’s gaze hardened with resolve.

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…

“He really chose to leave the city…”

Though the hotel where Lu Xin had taken refuge was some distance away, it sat squarely along his escape route. In one high-rise building along the road, an observer clad in advanced protective gear—trained to suppress any emotional fluctuations that might reveal his presence to ability detectors—was silently turning from the floor-to-ceiling window and speaking into a camera behind him.

The camera fed directly into another meeting room, where four individuals draped in cloaks woven from special material sat. Their cloaks bore eerie patterns and strange expressions, represented by the symbols of Square, Plum, Spade, and Heart.

“It is inevitable,”

one man in a red-heart cloak replied in a monotonous tone:

“He’s an exceptionally rule-bound character; you might call him a patient with severe obsessive-compulsive tendencies.”

“Among those rules are his unwillingness to break local laws, to harm ordinary people in any way that might leave him with a guilty conscience, and to cause monetary losses.”

“That’s why before entering Soda City, he cleared out the assassins to create a deterrent.”

“Deep down, he never wanted these killers to strike him in High-wall City and cause chaos that could harm others.”

“Likewise, if he detects someone trying to attack him in the city, he will choose to leave immediately.”

“…”

“Then…”

A man in a spade cloak asked in a low voice, “Is this erasure plan feasible?”

“The secret security team has already been diverted elsewhere. The Moon Eclipse Research Institute’s monitoring devices will soon be blinded. Even the Technology Church of the South and some other high-level mental entities won’t be able to see him for a while.”

“So, this is a rare opportunity.”

“If we guide him as per my report, he will definitely walk right into the trap.”

“And if the trap works as you say…”

“…”

The man in the red-heart cloak paused, then said gravely, “He will surely die.”

After a moment of silence, he pulled a document from his sleeve and placed it on the conference table.

Beneath the lights lay a file sealed as ‘Single Soldier Psychological Assessment Report (Top Secret)’.

He sighed softly and added, “After all, no one in this world understands him better than our Qinggang.”