Chapter 522 - 357: Feint to the East, Attack in the West (Part 2)

Chapter 522: Chapter 357: Feint to the East, Attack in the West (Part 2)

He knew, of course, what all the commotion outside was about. The ruthless bastard who had dragged the Dome Corporation’s face through the mud was very likely the man standing right in front of him!

’At a time like this, he actually dares to show his face? How much nerve does this guy have?!’

"What’s the situation outside?" Wu Liangchen asked coldly.

"It’s total chaos!" Black Dog swallowed, forcing himself to calm down, and reported in a rapid-fire voice.

"The Dome Corporation is really pissed this time. They sent one of their internal heavy-hitters, a real piece of work named Schiller, nicknamed ’The Meat Grinder’!"

"I hear that guy’s a psycho. He doesn’t play by any rules, and he’s absolutely vicious. Falling into his hands is worse than death! They’ve turned the entire underworld upside down. If they suspect you in the slightest, they’ll kill you on the spot—no chance to even explain yourself!"

When he mentioned this "Meat Grinder" Schiller, Black Dog’s voice was clearly laced with fear.

Wu Liangchen’s brow twitched imperceptibly.

’Sounds like a troublesome character indeed. It seems the Dome Corporation really is desperate.’

"Good work." Wu Liangchen tossed over a small, untraceable currency card. "This is your reward."

Black Dog fumbled to catch the card, his face filled with gratitude.

"Thank you, boss!"

Wu Liangchen’s tone shifted. He asked casually, "The Dome Corporation is offering such a high reward. Didn’t you ever think... about selling my information to them?"

Hearing this, Black Dog’s body trembled violently, and he immediately waved his hands frantically. "Boss, you must be joking! I wouldn’t dare even if you gave me a hundred times the nerve! Besides..."

He gave a wry laugh, his expression a complex mix of fear and a hint of vindication. "To be honest, I’ve had it with those sons of bitches from Dome for a long time!"

"What do they take us bottom-feeders for? Trash? Insects? Dammit, they’re a bunch of animals in human skin! Besides, even if I sold your info to them, they’d take what they want and then silence me in a heartbeat. They’re more than capable of that!"

His words were honest enough.

Wu Liangchen nodded, then turned and left.

The closer he got to the Cyber Temple, the heavier the grim, murderous atmosphere became.

After silently circling around to the shadows of an abandoned building near the temple, Wu Liangchen focused his gaze.

The temple’s mottled iron gate was wide open. Standing outside was a crowd of heavily armed Night Patrol officers and Dome Corporation security personnel.

Master Jie Nian and several other "Iron Monks" were forced to stand in the center of the courtyard. Their exposed metal prosthetics glinted coldly in the dim light, but their faces remained as calm as ever, as if all this had nothing to do with them.

A group of search personnel was conducting a sweep of the temple’s interior. The sounds of objects being roughly tossed about and harsh shouts could be heard intermittently.

They were extremely thorough, not even missing the cracks in the corners of the walls. They even used some kind of energy detector, which traced faint blue arcs through the air.

The search went on for a long time. Eventually, the search party came out, muttering and cursing, and shook their heads at a low-level Dome Corporation team leader.

"Boss, there’s nothing inside. We didn’t find a single hair!"

The team leader’s face was grim. He shot a vicious glare at Master Jie Nian but was powerless to do more. He could only wave his hand and order, "Pack it up! On to the next sector!"

Seeing the search team depart resentfully, Wu Liangchen finally breathed a small sigh of relief.

’It seems Master Jie Nian really is resourceful. He successfully hid Jian Yi and Alina and evaded this search.’

’But this is by no means a long-term solution. The people from the Dome Corporation aren’t idiots. Just because they didn’t find anything once doesn’t mean they’ll give up.’

’As long as Schiller is around, the pressure on this district won’t let up, and the Cyber Temple will remain in danger.’ He had to find a way to draw that pressure away.

Wu Liangchen’s gaze swept over a distant street where another search team was roughly questioning a few homeless people huddled in a corner. When one of them showed the slightest resistance, an officer immediately smashed him to the ground with his rifle butt, drawing a pained grunt and a round of unrestrained, jeering laughter.

An idea flashed through Wu Liangchen’s mind like lightning.

Without the slightest hesitation, his figure melted into the deeper darkness like a phantom, silently stalking toward the abusive search team.

A few seconds later, the alley, once filled with shouts and wails, was suddenly filled with several short, choked-off screams and the harsh sound of twisting, breaking metal.

When silence returned, only seven or eight twisted, deformed corpses remained in the alley. Their weapons and gear were untouched, but their gruesome deaths made it clear they had been killed in an instant, without any chance to fight back.

Only one team member was left alive. He was slumped against a corner, a wet patch spreading across his crotch, his face a mask of terror.

As for Wu Liangchen, his figure had long since vanished.

A moment later, the man finally regained his senses and shakily pressed the emergency call button on his communicator.

"Hostile contact! Hostile contact! West Ninth District, Sector B-7, under attack by unknown enemy! My squad is wiped out! Requesting backup! Requesting backup!"

The shrill cry, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly shattered the silence of the night.

At almost the same instant, the several search teams scattered throughout the nearby sectors, including the one that had just left the Cyber Temple, all received the alert.

"Sector B-7? That’s just in the next block!"

"Quick! Everyone, with me!"

"Dammit, who the hell has the gall to touch our people!"

Shouted orders, footsteps, and revving engines filled the air.

The search forces, originally scattered, now converged on Sector B-7 like iron filings drawn to a magnet. The pressure around the Cyber Temple instantly eased by more than half.

Soon, the narrow alley in Sector B-7 was surrounded, completely sealed off. However, aside from the corpses on the ground and the terrified survivor, they found nothing.

Just then, a sleek, luxurious black helicopter arrived at high speed, hovering directly over the roof of a nearby building.

The hatch opened, and Schiller, dressed in a dark gray suit and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, slowly descended, flanked by several elite guards.

He arrived at the scene, ignoring the pungent smell of blood and the tense atmosphere. He simply crouched down and carefully examined the bodies on the ground, his movements as elegant as if he were appreciating a work of art.

After a moment, he stood up, wiped away some nonexistent dust with a silk handkerchief, and the corner of his mouth curled into a cold arc.

"Instant kills, precise control of force, no extraneous marks left behind... It seems this is no ordinary desperado."

He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose and glanced at the still-trembling survivor. "Leaving one person alive to report it, to draw our attention..."

Schiller’s gaze pierced the distant darkness, his eyes as sharp as a falcon’s. "A feint, then? Interesting."

He looked at his aide and said in a flat tone that carried an undeniable command, "Relay the order: intensify the search."

"Yes, sir!"

The aide acknowledged the order and departed.

"It seems our little rat has finally decided it can’t stay hidden and has started to move."

A near-maniacal smile spread across Schiller’s face. "Let’s see how long you can hide, then."

But events developed in an unexpected way. Merely a few hours later, Schiller was already starting to lose his composure.

In the temporary command post established on the edge of the West Ninth District, the atmosphere was as oppressive as a block of solid lead.

Schiller stood before a massive holographic screen. A three-dimensional map of Zhongjing shimmered with a faint blue light, dotted with a dozen or so constantly flashing red points.

Each red dot represented a brief, intense firefight—and a loss of his own personnel.

Schiller’s long fingers unconsciously fiddled with a smooth cufflink. The gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses was no longer as calm and elegant as it had been initially, but now betrayed a hint of unconcealable irritation.

He stared at the dots, trying to find some kind of pattern, some clue that could predict his target’s movements.

But it was all in vain.