Chapter 1525: Into The Hostile Zone II

The night thickened over the construction site, drowning the half-built giant in a labyrinth of steel and shadow. Darkness seeped between stacked metal boards, pooled beneath the silent forklift, and wrapped itself around the dormant machinery like a waiting beast.

It’s a perfect cover.

Zhao Li Xin slipped ahead first, a streak of motion swallowed instantly by the dark. Clift, Jay, and Samuel followed close behind, their silhouettes dissolving into the industrial gloom. Ahead, the guards paced lazily, cigarettes glowing faintly in the dark as they chatted, blissfully unaware of the predators moving just outside their circle of light.

A faint tick rang against the stone pillar—a tiny sound, but sharp enough to cut through the stillness. Zhao Li Xin’s pebble had landed exactly where he intended.

One of the guards stiffened. "What was that?" His eyes swept the shadows, suspicion sharpening his voice.

"Let’s go check it out," he whispered, already edging forward.

"Yeah," the other muttered, lifting his gun as they moved, barrels rising with slow, deliberate caution. The tension thickened with every step they took toward the sound.

Once the guards wandered off toward the sound, flashlight swinging. As he moved, the team glided into the deeper shadows they left behind. But they froze almost immediately, as they found another cluster of guards stood further ahead, and these ones armed to the teeth, their stances crisp and alert. More than one. More disciplined.

Clift and the others exchanged a glance, searching instinctively for another route. There wasn’t one. The path ahead yawned open, too wide, too exposed, and washed in harsh white light. Leaving not a single shadow to disappear into. No cover. No mercy.

They had no choice; they had to remove them first.

Clift inhaled deeply, then all of a sudden the shadows at his feet shivered, and a heartbeat later, his body sank soundlessly into the shadow—as if it swallowed him.

Later on, a ripple of ink-like shadow shot forward, rising behind the armed guards. Clift emerged silently from their own feet, and before anyone could turn, he struck.

Two guards dropped in a single, fluid sweep, their throats opened before they even registered the danger. They collapsed with a muted thud, swallowed quickly by the night.

The third man, however, was a different story.

The instant he saw the silhouettes fall, something brittle inside him snapped. Courage wasn’t in his nature; it had never been. Instead of raising his weapon, he recoiled as though the shadows themselves had struck him. His eyes went wide, shimmering with raw panic, and his breath hitched in his throat.

He didn’t even consider standing his ground. Instinct chose for him—flight, not fight. In the next heartbeat, he spun away, and he was about to run away and scream for help.

However, before he could even take two steps, a bead shot through the air, silent, precise. It struck the side of his head. The man froze mid-run, then collapsed, just like a puppet with its strings cut.

Clift clicked his tongue in irritation, chastising himself for assuming every guard here would have the integrity to actually do their job. Clearly, he’d given them too much credit.

He nodded gratefully at Zhao Li Xin, which Zhao Li Xin returned with a small, imperceptible nod.

After that, with an efficient move, Clift dragged the bodies toward a massive pipe lying on its side. One by one, he stacked them inside, out of sight and out of mind, at least for now.

Only after the last uniform vanished into the hollow metal did Clift wipe his hands and signal forward. The team pressed deeper into the construction site, the night stretching before them, quiet, heavy, full of danger waiting to be stirred.

Finally, they reached the secondary entrance from the park—exactly where they needed to be. Unfortunately, it was guarded not by people but by rows of CCTV cameras scanning every angle with cold precision.

Jay immediately pulled out his phone, screens lighting up his focused expression. His fingers typed in a rapid blur. "We have ten seconds before the cameras reboot and catch us," he reminded everyone there.

Clift glanced at the cameras, then smirked. "Ten seconds is more than enough."

Jay nodded sharply. "Alright—starting the blind the camera in three... two... now."

The moment the word left his lips, they surged forward in haste. Zhao Li Xin led the charge, a streak of silent motion cutting through the dark. Samuel followed close behind.

Jay sprinted after them, breath sharp, while Clift didn’t run at all—he slipped into the nearest shadow, gliding along the ground like a living streak of night, moving faster than any footstep ever could.

They reached the door with seconds to spare.

There was no time to waste—the cameras would return to normal in less than ten seconds, and the CCTV would catch them the moment they did. With no room for hesitation, Zhao Li Xin carefully pushed the door open.

Inside, Zhao Li Xin could hear them before he even stepped through—several construction workers lounging in the break area, unwinding after their shift. The clink of coffee cups. The soft glow of phone screens. Casual laughter drifted lazily through the room. Completely unaware of the danger about to enter.

There was no time for hesitation.

Zhao Li Xin lifted his hand, signaling with quick, precise fingers how many men were inside. Jay nodded once. He abruptly pushed the door open and swiftly aimed his gun.

Thup—thup—thup.

The darts fired in rapid succession, each one striking cleanly before a single worker could look up. One by one, they slumped in their seats or slid to the floor, unconscious before they even realized something was wrong.

Samuel slipped in last and quietly shut the door behind them. He scanned the bodies on the floor, frowning. "They’re all dead?"

Jay slid his gun back into the holster at his waist, the motion smooth and practiced.

"No," Jay replied, then explained. "Just tranquilizers. They’re regular workers, after all."

He glanced at the unconscious men sprawled on the floor. "With this, they’ll be out for ten hours and wake up with no recollection of any of it."

Samuel paused for a moment, realizing what Jay’s words meant.

So he hadn’t killed a single one. And by wiping their memories clean, the workers wouldn’t even face repercussions from their superiors.

He’d heard the rumors—the King’s men were trained to avoid civilian casualties whenever possible—but seeing it up close was another matter entirely. It drew a stark contrast to Luxemborough, where civilians were often treated as leverage, tools, or collateral.

Samuel had his own share of memories from those missions...

memories he’d never been proud of.

"Put them here," Clift said suddenly.

A few square wooden storage boxes sat in the corner, the kind meant for holding helmets, jackets, and other work gear. Clift flipped one open, the hinges giving a soft creak, while Jay and Samuel moved without wasting a second—lifting each unconscious worker and settling them gently inside.

Before closing the last lid, Jay crouched down. His fingers brushed the worker’s nametag, plucking the access keycard from the uniform with practiced ease.

"We almost forgot about this," Jay said, dangling the nametag between two fingers before tossing one to Samuel.

Samuel caught it effortlessly, a smirk tugging at his lips. "This’ll come in handy."

Meanwhile, Clift was sifting through the stack of papers left scattered across the table. He flipped through them lazily at first—until something caught his eye. His expression brightened, a spark of triumph igniting there.

"Well, well... what do you know."

He unfurled a rolled blueprint across the worktable, the paper snapping open with a crisp flutter.

"We’ve got the blueprint for the whole area."

The team’s expressions brightened. They gathered around the blueprint in haste, spreading it across the workbench. Clift leaned closer, his brows knitting together. "There are ten floors underground beneath the tower. Huh, it’s bigger than I expected..." he murmured.

"Oh—I found the laboratory on B3," Jay said, pointing at the map.

"The code might be there," Clift replied, glancing at Zhao Li Xin.

"I’ll be there," Zhao Li Xin said immediately. For him, Lory’s safety was always his priority, while everything else could wait.

Jay checked his phone again, eyes flicking between the screen and the newly uncovered blueprint. "The tracker on Igor puts him at B10," he muttered, tracing the corresponding level with his finger. "Right beneath the tower."

A shadow crossed his expression. "I wonder what they’re building down there... Is this the real form of the Aetherion Spear Igor mentioned?"

Clift rolled the blueprint tighter under his arm. "Who knows. We’ll find out ourselves." He jerked his chin toward the door. "Samuel, you’re with me."

"Yes, Sir," Samuel replied casually, already preparing to move.

Without further delay, they slipped out of the room and pushed open the door that led deeper into the tower. A harsh mix of dust and chemicals hit their noses immediately—sharp, cold, and unmistakably artificial.

Zhao Li Xin raised his head slightly, having a stronger sense of hearing than ordinary people coupled with his high cultivation he immediately noticed three people standing guard upstairs.

"There are three people up there," he muttered. "One person was standing right in front of the exit... and two more were standing guard not far from him.

Jay’s jaw tightened. "We need to take out the one at the door first. If he falls backward, the others will notice."

"I’ll handle it," Clift said, voice low enough to disappear into the hum of machinery.

He slipped up the narrow stairs, each step placed with the precision of a hunting predator. Not a creak. Not a misplaced breath. At the top, he lifted a hand and knocked twice—light, deliberate—before flattening himself against the wall.

A moment later, the door cracked open.

"Hey, don’t mess around. I’m tired, you know!" the guard grumbled, irritation thick in his voice. He leaned out, eyes sweeping the landing with a frown. Nothing waited for him there—just stale air and dim light.

The confusion lasted a single heartbeat.

The door slammed shut behind him.

He barely had time to turn before an arm snaked around his neck, clamping down like a steel trap. A strangled gasp tore from his throat as his hands flew up, clawing desperately at the forearm, crushing his windpipe. His knees buckled, strength bleeding away with every second.

His breath faltered—then vanished. Then, his body went limp.

Clift eased the fallen guard onto the floor with the same deliberate care he’d used climbing the stairs, lowering the man as if handling something delicate and breakable.

Once the body settled soundlessly against the ground, he let out a soft, almost imperceptible whistle—a signal meant only for those attuned to its quiet call.

Moments later, Zhao Li Xin, Jay, and Samuel emerged from the shadows below and ascended the narrow steps. Their eyes immediately landed on the guard sprawled across the floor.

"There are two more outside," Zhao Li Xin quietly said, his gaze already shifting toward the exit.

"And more CCTV," Jay groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Ugh, so troublesome."

Samuel tapped the tablet strapped to his wrist, brow creasing. "According to the map, there’s a stairway leading down to the underground levels, but it only goes as far as level five. If we want to reach the core structure, we’ll need to use the elevator."

Jay shot him a flat look. "The elevator also has cameras."

Silence settled, thick and inconvenient—until Clift exhaled softly.

"It’s fine," he said. "I have a plan."

Jay’s expression immediately brightened with a wicked sort of amusement. "Oh? Is this a Lory-type plan?"

"Kind of..." Clift admitted with a faint chuckle.

Samuel blinked, baffled. "Oh, what kind of plan?"

"Risky," Zhao Li Xin answered before Clift could.

His tone was calm, almost casual, with a faint, playful acceptance, as if he’d seen this kind of plan far too many times and had long since learned to just go along for the ride.

___________________________

Somewhere in a mystique realm, Lory was sneezing nonstop. However, her face was beaming with joy. "It seems my husband can’t stop thinking about me."

"Mom, are you sure you don’t have a cold?" Little Jade gave Lory a glass of warm water.