novelraw Chapter 22 : Borrowing a Knife to Kill
Chapter 22 : Borrowing a Knife to Kill
Chapter 22: Borrowing a Knife to Kill
“They’re hiding in the abandoned textile factory on the outskirts.”
Inside Lin Lan’s office, her calm yet clear voice sounded.
“Though the authorities have sealed off the city, it seems they still haven’t located their exact position.”
“Ms. Lin, what are your instructions?” Chen Xiang’s gentle and humble voice soon came through the communicator.
Lin Lan stood before the vast floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the city outside that was shrouded in an invisible net. A cold curve lifted at the corner of her lips.
“Chen Xiang.”
“It’s time for your performance.”
“It’s time to guide the authorities toward the direction of the ‘prey’.”
……
Inside the command center of the 【Candle Dragon】 task force, the atmosphere was oppressive.
Chen Mo stared fixedly at the enormous digital sand table, where red light dots marked the last known positions of Liu Gang and Zhang Jie.
“Report! We’ve sealed off the entire old industrial zone and are conducting a thorough sweep, but we’ve yet to find any trace!”
Report after report made Chen Mo’s expression grow darker.
Liu Gang had vanished like a drop of water into the sea it wouldn’t be easy to find him.
However, just as everyone was at a loss, a new piece of information was pushed onto the main screen in the command center.
“Report! The task force’s public tip email just received an anonymous encrypted message!”
Chen Mo abruptly raised his head.
The email’s content was simple, only a few short lines:
“I know who you’re looking for that monster with the surname Liu.”
“He’s hiding in the abandoned textile factory on the outskirts right now.”
“He has two accomplices: a woman who can control fire and a man who runs faster than the wind.”
At the end of the email, there was also a very blurry video attached.
In the video, a tall figure seemed to be manipulating some metallic parts, and beside him stood a woman in a leather jacket.
The entire command center instantly fell silent.
Everyone’s gaze focused on that email.
“Immediately trace the sender’s IP address!”
“Investigate the sender!” Chen Mo nearly roared the words.
“Report! The sender used multiple proxies and virtual IPs. The final trace leads to a public internet café unable to track to an individual.”
“Then investigate the person mentioned in the report!”
Chen Mo’s thoughts were razor-sharp. “Immediately retrieve all personnel files of former ‘Blackwater Security’ employees, especially those dismissed for gambling or misconduct!”
The efficiency of the state machinery was fully displayed at that moment.
In less than ten minutes, a detailed background report lay before Chen Mo.
“Found him!”
“Wang Hao, male, 34, former senior security officer of ‘Blackwater Security’. Three months ago, he was personally dismissed by Liu Gang for organizing gambling within the company and was detained by police for fifteen days.”
“This individual is a compulsive gambler, deeply in debt, and currently missing.”
“According to our investigation, his personality and motive align strongly with the sender described in the email.”
“What about the video attached to the email?”
“After comparison, the video background matches ninety percent with the interior of the abandoned textile factory on the outskirts!”
“Highly credible!”
“Then investigate this informant! Li Si! I want all his information!”
All clues pointed to one conclusion—the anonymous report was real!
“Seems like an internal conflict,” an aide analyzed. “This Wang Hao likely reported them out of resentment after being fired.”
“Send people to find this Wang Hao immediately and verify the intel!” Chen Mo ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Then Chen Mo looked at the red-marked point on the sand table—the abandoned textile factory—and light flashed in his eyes.
He immediately picked up the red emergency phone and connected with General Li, the overall commander of the joint operations.
“Reporting, Commander! We’ve pinpointed the target’s hiding place!”
……
Meanwhile, Lin Lan’s second step was quietly unfolding.
In her view, the authorities still didn’t understand what the transcendent truly meant. If those people escaped again, things would become very troublesome.
So she needed a backup plan to ensure there were no mistakes.
Night fell thick as ink over the abandoned textile factory.
A “fleshy rat,” completely different from ordinary rodents and pitch-black all over, silently crept into the factory.
It was one of Wu Ce’s proudest creations, fusing the stealth of a rat, the sonar of a bat, and the heat-sensing of a snake—a perfect infiltration tool.
It easily bypassed the simple alarm devices Sun Na had placed around the perimeter and, following the ventilation duct, climbed up onto a beam inside the plant.
From its viewpoint, the entire factory floor was clearly visible.
Liu Gang was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed in meditation.
Sun Na looked somewhat bored, occasionally flicking out tiny flames with her fingers to ignite bits of paper on the ground.
Zhang Jie was constantly stretching and moving. For a speed-type player, remaining still was torture.
None of them noticed Wu Ce’s puppet rat quietly infiltrating the plant.
Soon, the puppet rat locked onto strands of hair fallen from the three of them.
It first crawled near the sofa where Sun Na had lain and picked up a strand of her hair.
Then it slinked toward Liu Gang’s meditation spot and successfully found a few short hairs of his.
Two targets secured—only the last one remained, Zhang Jie.
However, just as it approached Zhang Jie, who was doing stretches nearby—
Liu Gang suddenly opened his eyes!
As a veteran who had survived countless life-or-death battles, his intuition for danger far surpassed ordinary people’s.
He clearly sensed a malicious presence nearby—one that didn’t belong to any of the three of them!
His gaze, sharp as twin blades, locked precisely onto Wu Ce’s puppet rat!
“Rat!”
With a low shout, Liu Gang flicked his right index finger before Sun Na and Zhang Jie could react!
“Buzz—!”
A steel ball shot out like a bullet, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming exactly at the puppet rat’s position!
“Bang!”
With a faint pop, Wu Ce’s puppet rat was instantly shattered by the steel ball.
However, what Liu Gang didn’t notice was that 0.1 seconds before impact, a puppet spider had ejected from the rat’s body, carrying Liu Gang and Sun Na’s hair as it silently dropped into a pile of dust in the corner.
“What happened?!”
Startled, Sun Na and Zhang Jie immediately stood alert.
“Something was watching us.”
Liu Gang stood and walked over to where the puppet rat had been, crouching to inspect the small puddle of black liquid on the ground. His eyes were cold as he pinched some of the hot residue between his fingers.
The texture was strange—not like any normal animal’s blood.
He glanced around. That chilling sensation of being watched from moments ago was gone, but he could still feel it lingering faintly.
“Someone from 【Shadow】?” Sun Na’s expression turned grim.
“Whoever it is,” Liu Gang said, clapping the dust from his hands, “it seems we can’t stay here much longer.”
The three fell silent. A suffocating sense of being hunted pressed upon their hearts.
They didn’t know that while they scanned their surroundings, the tiny puppet spider had quietly crawled back into a dark crevice, following its silken thread.
Minutes later, outside the factory, a crow perched on a tall tree, preening its feathers, suddenly opened its beak.
The puppet spider emerged from a drainage pipe and tossed the strands of hair precisely into the crow’s mouth.
The crow shut its beak and took flight, a streak of black lightning vanishing into the night.
……
“The mission failed—we were discovered.”
Wu Ce’s voice came through the puppet crow to Lin Lan’s ears. “Liu Gang’s alertness far exceeded my expectations. I only obtained Liu Gang and Sun Na’s samples. I couldn’t get near that speed-type transcendent.”
“No matter.”
Lin Lan looked at the two strands of hair sealed in a plastic bag that Wu Ce handed her, showing little sign of disappointment.
“It’s enough.”
Her tone was calm. “Weakening those two is sufficient for my plan.”
“The rest, leave it to Wang Defa.”
She placed the two strands of hair into a new envelope.
Then she dialed Wang Defa’s number.
“The items are at the usual place.”
“I want them to have no strength left to resist when facing the army’s siege.”
However, neither Lin Lan nor Wu Ce noticed—
A common sparrow hovering in the air tilted its head, its beady black eyes quietly observing everything below.
Inside the zoo dormitory, Yang Li slowly opened her eyes.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
“A player who can control animals? So I’m not the only one?”
“No… that didn’t feel like a living being. It felt more like… a puppet.”
She immediately took out her phone and sent this vital piece of intelligence to her unseen but trusted ally—【Embalmer】Su Wan.
“I discovered a transcendent who can ‘create’ and ‘control’ non-living puppets.”
“They just stole something from Liu Gang’s group.”
On the other end, in the funeral home, Su Wan read the message. A flicker of gravity crossed her calm eyes.
She replied: “Understood. Keep close watch on them and see what they intend, but be careful not to expose yourself.”
Then she opened a locked drawer, gazing at her notebook filled with player profiles and ability hypotheses, lost in thought.