Li Ran frowned slightly.
Under the combination of [Lookout] and his x-ray goggles, he quickly picked out some shadows whose auras differed from the local inhabitants. Normal natives appeared on x-ray like flickering candle flames, but he detected several figures glowing like blazing torches.
“Could they be enemies?” Li Ran muttered, frowning.
He turned to glance at Zhao Yingzhi—and instantly regretted it. The moment he looked, he was almost hit with a massive nosebleed.
Hidden beneath the girl’s slender frame was a shocking sight...
“Damn, that was close.”
Li Ran quickly adjusted the focus on his goggles. With that adjustment, Zhao Yingzhi’s heat signature also revealed a blazing torch-like form. Her aura was strikingly similar to those other figures.
That confirmed it—those torch-shaped figures he had observed were enemies involved in this mission.
“There are multiple enemies hiding in just this one mission? Are they all here for Zhao Yingzhi?”
While surprised, Li Ran also realized that these enemies had blended perfectly into the surroundings. On the surface, they were indistinguishable from ordinary people. Without their unusual torch-like aura, he wouldn't have noticed anything at all.
He also noticed something strange about one female police officer's aura.
“The organization behind Zhao Yingzhi isn’t simple… no wonder the police are going to such lengths to extract information from her.” Li Ran was inwardly shocked and relieved that he hadn't ended up on the wrong side of such a terrifying group.
“But if these enemies are only as strong as Zhao Yingzhi, then with my abilities, I can easily take them down—maybe even in a single strike.” After the past few days, Li Ran had developed strong confidence in his combat prowess.
“Huh? There’s one in the café too?”
Li Ran noticed an enemy disguised as a kitchen staff member in the café’s back kitchen, positioned right behind Zhao Yingzhi.
“He’s behind you,” Li Ran warned Zhao Yingzhi through the earpiece.
Zhao Yingzhi immediately pretended to get up and go to the restroom. The man from the kitchen followed her in. Hiding behind the restroom door, Zhao Yingzhi launched a surprise attack. Though the fake chef reacted quickly, Zhao Yingzhi’s ambush dealt a heavy blow. The two clashed inside the restroom, each move deadly and aggressive. Thanks to the assassin muscle memory of her original body, Zhao Yingzhi quickly gained the upper hand.
By the time Li Ran arrived, the fake chef had already been killed by Zhao Yingzhi.
His corpse morphed into a massive, grotesque stitched monster made of flesh and blood, wielding two giant knives. Still, Zhao Yingzhi had slain him.
Zhao Yingzhi looked pale and visibly exhausted.
“You’re late,” she said, drenched in sweat.
Li Ran looked at her with disbelief. “You killed that terrifying monster… on your first mission?”
He looked at Zhao Yingzhi with renewed respect. To kill an enemy of equal strength in her very first battle—and still remain calm—was no small feat. She had done better than most, especially considering she was a girl fighting a monster in such a confined space.
“Three more are coming this way. Be careful.”
With that, Li Ran melted into the shadows behind the door and vanished like a phantom.
Zhao Yingzhi tidied her clothes and hair slightly and returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.
At that moment, a couple walked in through the door. They headed straight toward Zhao Yingzhi, chatting and laughing, and sat down two seats away from her.
Another person entered—a female police officer. Her target was clearly Zhao Yingzhi.
“Miss Zhao, I’m here to protect you.” The officer sat down directly across from her, flashing a badge.
“I don’t need protection. Thank you,” Zhao Yingzhi said expressionlessly.
The officer continued, “We received intel that you’re being targeted by an organization. Your situation is extremely dangerous. You should trust that the police are capable of keeping you safe.”
She pointed to the opposite corner. “Only under police protection will you be safe now.”
Zhao Yingzhi remained unmoved. One hand was beneath the table, the other elegantly stirring her coffee. She smiled faintly. “Thank you for your concern.”
The officer narrowed her eyes slightly, her right hand slowly reaching toward her waist. Just as she was about to draw her gun—
Zhao Yingzhi sprang into action. Her right hand flicked out like lightning, launching a dagger that stabbed directly into the officer’s gun hand.
However, the officer didn’t even flinch from the pain. She wore a chilling, bone-deep grin—and then, something horrifying happened.
Her eyeballs suddenly popped out like springs, and from the dark voids of her eye sockets emerged two pitch-black gun barrels.
Seeing this, Zhao Yingzhi’s face changed drastically. She dove to the side in a flash.
“Bang bang bang!!”
Twin barrels spat out flames like enraged serpents, shredding the table and couch in front of her to pieces.
Screams erupted throughout the café.
Customers and staff alike fled in panic.
Zhao Yingzhi moved swiftly, using tables and couches for cover, dodging back and forth. But the officer’s firepower was too fierce, leaving her almost no room to escape.
“Aah!!”
Suddenly, the officer let out a blood-curdling scream.
Her throat had been slit open by some unknown force, blood spraying like a fountain. The scene was horrifying.
No one saw what had happened.
But a dark shadow slithered away beneath her feet.
“Hmph.”
At that moment, the couple in the café moved.
The man suddenly grabbed the woman beside him. From his back sprouted rows of tendrils and belts of blood-red bullets.
The woman crawled forward, her head, abdomen, and back all sprouting blood-red tendrils that wrapped around the man’s arms. Her entire face collapsed inward, replaced by a spinning, multi-barreled Gatling gun.
This grotesque transformation stunned Li Ran, who had been hiding in the shadows.
“Okay, losing your girlfriend to a mobile game is one thing…”
“But turning your girlfriend into a freaking Gatling gun?!”
“Ratatatatata!!!”
This blood-soaked Gatling combo unleashed a terrifying barrage at Zhao Yingzhi.
The entire café was ripped to shreds under the heavy firepower, a scene of utter devastation!
Zhao Yingzhi could only hunker beneath a sofa, shielding her head, while the table and couch above her were reduced to splinters and fluff.
“If you don’t do something, I’m going to die!!” Zhao Yingzhi shouted, covering her head.
As the couple unleashed their insane firepower, a cold glint appeared from a dark corner of the café, aiming at the Gatling-woman.
“Hmph, even a dog would be ashamed of this combo.”
With a cold snort, the glint of light shot forward at lightning speed—piercing the Gatling woman’s rear end.
“Huh?”
The couple frowned and looked at the arrow.
Just as the man reached out to pull it—
“BOOM!”
The arrow exploded in a massive blast.
Blood rained down everywhere...
Zhao Yingzhi crawled out from under the sofa, staring in horror at the scene before her.
“Your strength far surpasses my imagination,” Zhao Yingzhi said.
“This isn’t over yet. There’s still one more. This one’s hidden very, very well,” came Li Ran’s voice from the darkness.
(End of Chapter)