“Humanity is a hypocritical species by nature. Who would dare expose their truest self in front of others?” Zhong Mo said with a faint smile.
“Right, right. Whatever you say,” the one-eyed man replied dismissively.
“The faction behind the Tulip Security Company is very powerful. I’m curious—since you’ve already feigned loyalty to them, why not go all the way? Why not follow their orders and help them attack that colleague of yours as a token of your loyalty?”
A sharp glint flickered in Zhong Mo’s eyes. “That colleague is no pushover. Besides, Tulip Security is very likely to burn their bridges once they’re done with me. There’s an eighty percent chance they’re only pretending to accept me and will probably dispose of me right alongside him afterward.”
“My loyalty isn’t sincere, and their acceptance is likely fake as well. We’re both just using each other.”
The one-eyed man chuckled. “I see. You’re hedging your bets, leaving yourself a back door on both sides.”
Zhong Mo neither confirmed nor denied it. His tone suddenly turned wistful. “I only found out yesterday that my colleague is actually with the Investigation Bureau. Otherwise... I really would have liked to stand by him, to take him with me and flee together~”
The smile on the one-eyed man’s face grew even more exaggerated. Knowing Zhong Mo, he knew the man likely intended to use emotional and moral shackles—like a life-saving debt—to bind others into working for him.
If the target didn’t fall for it, Zhong Mo would resort to violence, squeezing every bit of value out of them until there was nothing left.
After all, even a transcendent’s corpse was worth a fortune.
Thinking of this, the one-eyed man couldn’t help but offer a sarcastic reminder. “Let me remind you, don't forget your status. This is not the time to go looking for trouble, and there’s no need to have excessive contact with irrelevant people.”
“What I choose to do is none of your business,” Zhong Mo said coldly.
The one-eyed man didn't waste any more breath. He simply said, “Suit yourself. If you happen to cause any trouble, I’ll be the one to clear those stumbling blocks for you.”
With that, he pushed the door open and left, making sure to avoid the nearby surveillance cameras as he made his exit.
Once the door was shut, Zhong Mo’s expression instantly turned grim.
Tulip Security Company was making its move on transcendents. On the day Yue Shi had gone missing, Zhong Mo had assumed he had met with an ‘accident’ just like Fang Jianxin and Jiang Cifei.
Zhong Mo had used his connections to get in touch with the faction behind Tulip Security and feigned surrender to buy time for his escape.
He hadn’t expected Yue Shi to still be safe and sound. Zhong Mo’s top priority was to join forces with Yue Shi to weather the storm together—ideally building some friendship in the process—because he had already seen that Yue Shi had immense potential for growth.
To achieve his goals, he needed reliable and powerful partners.
But to his surprise, Yue Shi was actually a member of the Investigation Bureau.
Zhong Mo didn’t know how long Yue Shi had been with the Bureau, nor did he know what Yue Shi’s attitude toward them was. As a fugitive, Zhong Mo was truly reluctant to have too much contact with the Investigation Bureau.
...
On the other side, as soon as Yue Shi left Zhong Mo’s home, he immediately pulled out his phone and contacted Ling Xun. “Are you ready?”
Ling Xun’s voice came through the receiver. “You have too many demands. Even for me, it was hard to get everything in such a short time. But don’t worry, it’s all ready now.”
After saying that, Ling Xun asked with some confusion, “You mentioned wanting to run a sting operation. Can you really catch anyone?”
Yue Shi didn’t explain. He only said, “I suspect someone will attack me very soon. I must be fully prepared in advance.”
Ling Xun didn't press further. Instead, he said, “The equipment you wanted is in a red private car parked outside the Happiness Apartments. The keys are hidden under the tire. You can pick it up whenever you need.”
“Thanks.” Having obtained what he wanted, Yue Shi hung up.
He soon returned to the Happiness Apartments and found the red car. He retrieved the key from under the wheel and climbed inside.
The car had been modified; the back seats were gone, leaving a large open space.
Yue Shi scanned the interior. The cabin was filled with various devices: signal jammers, supernatural detectors, pinhole cameras, lockpicks, listening devices, as well as backpacks and some firearms...
Most of these things... weren’t actually that useful for this particular operation. Yue Shi had simply taken the opportunity to fleece the Investigation Bureau for extra gear.
He packed all the equipment into a backpack and quickly got out of the car.
Returning home, he dumped most of the gear into a pile of dirty laundry, keeping only a few listening devices, lockpicks, and pinhole cameras. These would be enough to maintain appearances. Since he already knew the enemy was coming, he could just report the other equipment as lost or damaged after the fact.
Next, he activated Hidden Black Feathers and left the house in a state of invisibility, heading toward Bai Qingyu’s address.
Ling Xun had used his authority at the Investigation Bureau to look up her home address.
Bai Qingyu wasn’t home. Based on observations, she had recently taken to wandering around crowded areas during her free time for unknown reasons.
After confirming that no one was inside, Yue Shi used the lockpicks to open the door.
The room was clean and tidy, decorated in warm tones. As soon as he entered, Yue Shi got to work, installing listening devices and cameras in hidden corners.
Once finished, he double-checked to ensure he hadn’t left any traces before quietly closing the door and leaving.
Next, Yue Shi planned to sneak into Pei Yue’s home to perform the same operation.
However, halfway there, his phone suddenly rang. He looked down and saw it was Ling Xun.
Normally, Ling Xun wouldn't call him at a time like this unless it was urgent.
Yue Shi quickly stepped into a deserted corner of the street and answered.
Ling Xun’s solemn voice came from the other end. “There’s a suspicious person wearing a mask and a hat lingering near your house!”
Hearing this, Yue Shi immediately turned around and began running back toward his home.
Yesterday, he and Ling Xun had agreed to use him as bait for a sting operation.
Ling Xun had agreed to the proposal and had already quietly stationed people around the Happiness Apartments to monitor the area in secret.
If Ling Xun called someone a suspicious person, there was a high probability that they were truly a problem.
Yue Shi speculated on who it could be.
Bai Qingyu? Pei Yue? Or perhaps that mysterious helper sent by the person behind the scenes?
“What is the target doing right now?” Yue Shi asked as he ran.
“Teasing a cat downstairs,” Ling Xun replied. “It looks like they’re checking to see if you’re home.”
Just as he finished the sentence, Ling Xun let out a gasp of surprise. “Wait! The target just disappeared!”
“Disappeared?” Yue Shi was confused.
Ling Xun: “I didn’t see clearly. One second they were there, and the next they were gone from my sight.”
Yue Shi: “Fine. Keep watching. Contact me if anything else happens.”
Ling Xun: “OK.”
The call ended.
A short while later, Yue Shi rushed back. He circled the apartment complex while invisible but found nothing.
He entered the neighboring unit. Ever since his unlucky neighbor, Cai Zetao, had mutated, the dilapidated room had remained uncleaned, and even the front door was still broken.
Crossing over to his own living room via the balcony, Yue Shi deactivated his invisibility. He adjusted his breathing and stretched in front of the window, pretending he had been there all along.
After waiting for a while, Ling Xun finally called again, his voice filled with anxiety. “Careful! There’s someone outside your door!”
Yue Shi whipped his head around, staring directly at the front door.
Rate on N.U.
