Chapter 70: Inviting the Enemy into the Trap

“Parrot, ask Greasepaint which black dog is coming. We can set up an ambush—So what if it’s a black dog? Can she take on four of us alone?”

Hyena forced himself to calm down. Paper Cutter was right; they had the advantage now, not just in numbers. That black dog was out in the open, while they lurked in the shadows. They could design a solid ambush and seize the initiative—what was there to fear? They had already barged into the Su family’s territory by force. There were no paths left for retreat.

After listening, Parrot nodded and replied a moment later, “Greasepaint says it’s the Black Fur Monster. She has a young girl with her, probably taking a newbie on a mission.”

“To hell with that,” Dry Wood muttered quietly, “It’s that accomplice.”

The colors and lines on the mask he wore shifted rapidly—turning a dull blue one moment, an angry red the next, then a brown… Even a fool could see the raging turmoil in his heart. How could he possibly be calm? He unzipped his jacket and broke a strange branch off from his chest—the branch looked as though it were part of his body. When he snapped it off, the pain made him tremble uncontrollably, yet he didn’t make a single sound. Then another branch, and another… He only stopped after breaking off three. The exposed neck below his mask was already drenched in cold sweat.

“Don’t waste these,” he said coldly, handing the branches to Parrot and Paper Cutter beside him. He gave the last branch to Hyena. Hyena reached out and grasped the slender branch still stained with pale green sap, but Dry Wood didn’t let go. He leaned closer to Hyena and hissed, “Don’t you dare turn half-assed on me now, got it? Boss? If you show any cowardice this time, I swear I will kill you.”

“Dry Wood!” Parrot scolded in a low voice, her tone sounding like a stern Dean of Students, “Now is not the time for infighting.”

Hyena didn’t speak. He just held the branch and stared at the boy before him, whose mask was now half red and half brown. Silence fell between them.

The silence didn’t last long. Dry Wood released his grip, patted Hyena on the shoulder, and smiled at Parrot behind him. “Infighting? Isn’t this me just having a heart-to-heart with the Boss?”

Parrot sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

“You wouldn’t want to be mid-fight and suddenly find out the Boss has run off, would you?”

Dry Wood’s voice carried a laugh, but the anger on his mask remained a furious red.

“I won’t run away again,” Hyena murmured, his voice so soft it seemed he was making the promise more to himself than to Dry Wood.

“I’ve already decided. I will become a shooting star.”

(——————)

A wall on the verge of collapse shattered. Firelight and thick smoke filled every visible corner. Flames licked the slightly blackened walls with incessant crackling, punctuated by the dull rumbles of collapse. The omnipresent fire, like a pack of roaring, ferocious beasts, gnawed at the massive, towering structure.

As a precariously hanging wall crumbled, a terrifying black shadow emerged from the dense smoke. Before the two girls huddled in the corner could scream, Li Yuan acted first. She extended the enormous, stretched-out claw from her back, which shot out like a python. It scooped up the girls who were desperately shrinking back, wailing in utter hysteria, and carried them swiftly through the smoke-filled corridor, tossing them out a window onto the air mattress below.

Rescuing them one by one was a clumsy method, but there was no other way. Li Yuan sighed inwardly. If only Zhou Liao were here? If that girl were present, a snap of her fingers would probably eliminate these annoying flames and smoke, right?

She didn’t care about the terrified expressions on the girls’ faces when they saw her, because by this point, she couldn’t fully pass for human anymore. Her once-delicate features were slightly twisted and deformed. Coarse, pitch-black hair gradually covered her originally fair, soft skin. Her neat, trimmed nails were replaced by sharp, jet-black claws. On her long arms, not yet covered by fur, one could clearly see the deep black veins.

After taking off her jacket, the back of her T-shirt was hollowed out. The terrifying, elongated claw had retracted into a somewhat deformed, scrawny thing, hanging pitifully on her smooth back. A few sparse, soft black hairs covered its back, making it look like a little monkey’s paw.

Compared to the less noticeable changes on her upper body, the transformation below the waist was far more horrifying. Her pants had long been torn apart. Her legs, covered in black fur, no longer looked human. The word ‘monster’ was perfectly fitting. Her knee joints bent backwards, and the exaggerated muscle mass was a clear sign of explosive power. After she retracted the huge claws on her feet, she walked without making the slightest sound—a natural-born predator.

“Were those the last two?” She walked to the fire escape and looked at the girl before her. Her voice was hoarse, like a wild beast’s growl.

Qi Xin nodded. “Floors one through five have been completely checked. Zero deaths, only four injuries, all minor bruises from bumps—thanks entirely to this manager, Liu Xia. When the fire started, before the main entrance on the first floor was sealed with cement, she pulled the fire alarm and organized the night-shift employees for evacuation. So, aside from a few who didn’t hear the alarm, almost everyone working nights from floors one to five got out safely.”

“The timing doesn’t match up. The ones who set the fire and the ones who poured the cement aren’t the same group. The cement-pourers were trying to take advantage of the chaos,” Li Yuan mused thoughtfully, speaking quietly. “Which means there are at least two separate forces here right now.”

The woman standing beside Qi Xin tensed up abruptly upon seeing Li Yuan, then quickly lowered her head. Li Yuan assumed she was frightened by her current appearance, so she reverted back to her original form and tied her jacket around her waist to cover her exposed legs.

Damn it. Greasepaint, disguised as Liu Xia, kept her head down and inwardly complained frantically to Parrot. Why isn’t this Black Fur Monster heading up? Does she really have to stop for chit-chat? Is she this obsessed with formalities?

Parrot, feeling somewhat helpless, could only soothe the exasperated Greasepaint. She told her to keep playing along and make absolutely sure nothing slipped, preferably guiding the Black Fur Monster to the archives room. They had a big surprise waiting for the Black Fur Monster.

“Looks like the Su family’s fire drills have paid off,” After she had straightened up, Li Yuan extended her hand towards the manager named Liu Xia. “I’m Li Yuan, Executor from Team 2 of the Pingjiang Special Execution Group, ID number 000146. First time meeting you. I hope to receive your assistance on this mission.”

“Huh?” Greasepaint took a deep breath inwardly and forced herself to stay calm as she grasped the hand. “Hello. What do you mean by ‘hope I assist’…? No, I mean, how can I assist you?”

Li Yuan frowned slightly. “Didn’t the Su family brief you on the mission details?”

“…The situation is a bit complicated,” Liu Xia released her hand, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Before this all happened, I had some business to attend to…”

Racking her brains on how to fabricate a convincing story, she suddenly remembered what the real manager had been doing before being knocked unconscious. She quickly added, “Before the incident, two esteemed guests of Young Master Su arrived here. I was receiving them… so I might have missed the message.”

“Esteemed guests of Young Master Su?” Li Yuan paused, a bad feeling forming in her gut. She pointed at Qi Xin. “Were they two young-looking girls? One of them bearing a strong resemblance to her?”

How the hell should I know? I ambushed and knocked out the manager who had just come down by the elevator. I have no clue who Young Master Su’s esteemed guests might be. Greasepaint opened her mouth, feeling on the verge of tears inwardly. Working the front desk on the sixth floor, she hadn’t seen what the two people with the manager looked like at all. Left with no choice, she steeled herself and nodded. “Yes.”

Li Yuan’s brows knitted together. Her gaze briefly lingered on Greasepaint’s thin shoulders. Then, her voice calm, she asked, “Where did they go? Also, where is Young Master Su right now?”

A sudden surge of joy shot through Greasepaint’s heart. Striving to keep her expression neutral, she said, “They went to the archives room. Young Master Su is there as well. My clearance is too low, so I couldn’t enter. They told me to leave first, saying they’d leave on their own once they were done… I just came down when the fire broke out.”

“I think I understand,” Li Yuan sighed. “Please take us to this archives room.”

Greasepaint couldn’t fully conceal her delight. She nodded, transmitting the message that the prey had taken the bait straight to Parrot.