"Hello, can you hear me? Hello, hello?"
"I can hear you, stop shouting. I haven't adjusted the volume yet."
Tianyuan Mining Phase Three Family Quarters, on the rooftop of the fifth floor.
Jiang Chuan took off his headphones and rubbed his ears that were numb from the shock, quickly adjusting the communicator volume to 30% and putting it back on.
Standing here, leaning against the low wall at the edge of the rooftop, his field of vision was wide enough to see most of the neighborhoods in both B and C districts.
This was one of the best observation points in the buffer zone.
Including the distant B7 district, as well as C11 district where Mu Shuang was located.
At this moment.
He picked up the high-power telescope beside him, the lens slowly sweeping across the windows of the residential buildings, "I've reached the high ground, but I'll remind you once more, don't act recklessly."
"What are you worried about? If I were going to act recklessly, the Hundred Ghosts Gang outside would have been overturned by me long ago."In the room, Mu Shuang stood sideways behind the curtain, her fingertips lifting a small gap to glance at the several unusual figures that had suddenly appeared downstairs, unable to help but smile.
"The people under Inspector Cheng are really conscientious and responsible. I've only been back for less than ten minutes and I'm already being watched."
"Did you think they were just eating for free?" Jiang Chuan's voice came through the earpiece, carrying some seriousness, "I don't care about ordinary guard handguns, you figure out how to dodge them yourself, but if someone points a rifle at you, consider today's mission a failure."
"Alright, alright, alright. If I really get a rifle pointed at me and still can't escape, I'll definitely be the first to raise both hands in surrender."
Mu Shuang let go of the curtain and walked to sit on the bed, opening her bulging backpack.
Inside were various props she had prepared last night.
Two palm-sized smoke grenades, thin steel wire wound around her wrist, grappling hooks and cables, several flash discs disguised as buttons, a powerful flashlight, and some scattered small items.
Walking the wasteland, some methods might not be presentable, but they were the best way to survive to the end.
"Additionally, you have no injury quota. At most you can knock people unconscious, cause ordinary flesh wounds. If anyone bleeds or gets seriously injured, the mission defaults to failure."
Jiang Chuan continued reciting the "rules," his tone brooking no argument, "Also, if anyone engages you in close combat, you're not allowed to use weapons or killing moves. At most you can only use the basic combat power of the Dao Embryo Realm..."
He paused, emphasizing his tone, "Most importantly, your transcendent power is completely forbidden for this entire mission!"
"Yes, Officer Jiang Chuan!"
Mu Shuang drawled her response, followed by a string of clear laughter.
"Don't worry, that Big Dragon is just an ordinary tendon gate practitioner who's holding a false embryo. Being able to catch you is already impressive enough. He surely can't catch me too, right?"
"Heh, hehehe." Jiang Chuan chuckled coldly twice, his field of vision just catching sight of Big Dragon directing people to set up control around the residential building. The command wasn't exactly professional, but the people below followed orders without question.
"Wait until you have a gun pointed at the back of your head later, then you'll know whether you should be so arrogant."
"Can you say something more auspicious? If I really get caught, won't you as the observer also be derelict in your duty?"
"I'm only responsible for providing you with key information. Don't count on me when you're running away."
"Key information is enough~"
Mu Shuang's fingertips were as nimble as dancing, the thin steel wire being wound around the inside of her wrist circle by circle, hidden in her sleeves, the smoke grenades wrapped in soft cloth and stuffed into her boot shaft.
Next, she rummaged through her backpack for several bottles and jars, unscrewed the caps, and began applying them to her face.
"Four people, two chose problematic positions, sleeping in shacks where refugees gathered, only to be cornered in their bedding while sleeping. Another one panicked while escaping and nearly fell through maintenance piping that was being repaired, almost breaking his leg."
She recalled, unable to help laughing, "Only that pretty boy was the smartest, discovering he was being tailed right away and trying to take a detour to withdraw. But he ended up drilling into a pocket formation they had deliberately set up. After running for half the day, he instead forced himself into a dead end in the shantytown, purely throwing himself into the trap."
"So you plan to drag it out in the urban area?"
"What else?" Mu Shuang patted powder evenly in front of the mirror, and the face in the mirror had already changed to the waxy yellow and dark complexion common in the buffer zone, "Go to the northern or southern suburbs? I don't have wings growing on my back. Could I really fly away?"
She pulled out a wig from her bag, dull gray-looking long hair, with several strands deliberately messed up.
She also took out a canned gel substance, using her fingertips to dab and apply it to her cheekbones and brow bones, gradually changing her facial contours.
Finally, she picked up a dark eyeliner pencil, applied it below the corner of her mouth and blended it with her fingertips, then stuck on a prepared black mole prop, adding a bit of realistic "common folk" atmosphere.
After finishing all this, Mu Shuang stood in front of the mirror.
In the mirror was a strange middle-aged woman's face, waxy yellow and gaunt, with deliberately drawn fine lines at the corners of her eyes, the black mole at the corner of her mouth particularly conspicuous. Anyone who saw her would only think she was an ordinary community resident.
"Jiang Chuan, you don't really think I went through all this trouble just to play cat and mouse with Inspector Cheng, do you?"
"Oh?" Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow, "What, the station chief's mission isn't worthy enough?"
"Of course it's worthy. Not to mention the station chief, the director explicitly told me to protect him with my life."
Mu Shuang leaned against the headboard, smiling, "But protection is protection, there's no problem with the mission. However, Inspector Cheng's appetite isn't small. If he learns my identity, he'll inevitably want me to do other things."
"Heh, I don't know what magic potion he fed you to make you consider him so much. I'm also curious, if he can pass my test, I'll be like you, whatever he says goes."
"Oh my, this sounds like you want to change bosses and don't want to work for Director Liu anymore?" Despite trying to hold back, Jiang Chuan eventually laughed.
"You'll find out soon enough."
"So confident?"
"If you were single-mindedly focused on escaping, I wouldn't be confident. But you insist on getting close and playing face-to-face with Inspector Cheng..."
The two chatted intermittently.
Suddenly, Jiang Chuan turned his telescope, the lens firmly locking onto a transport vehicle approaching from the distance, "He's here, get ready."
"He's here?" Mu Shuang immediately stood up and walked to the gap in the curtains to look outside.
A military green transport vehicle stopped on the open ground at the community entrance, and Cheng Ye opened the car door and got out.
"Good, now just watch my performance."
"Sir, Target Five went upstairs and hasn't appeared again until now."
As soon as Cheng Ye parked the transport vehicle at the street corner, Big Dragon quickly approached and reported in a low voice.
"Which floor is she on?"
"Don't know. She used to live on the fifth floor of Building 3, Unit 2, but today she went to Building 7, Unit 1, and didn't go back."
Following the direction Big Dragon pointed, Cheng Ye looked up at the residential building complex not far away, his brow slightly furrowed.
"To avoid alerting the target, the brothers only dared to squat at the community entrance. We saw her enter Building 7, but we haven't figured out which specific unit she went to upstairs."
Big Dragon continued explaining.
Cheng Ye nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the entire community.
This was C11 district, near the southern suburbs, exactly five and a half blocks from B7.
Different from the tube buildings at the electronics factory, this community was obviously a new-style community built after the millennium.
Its interior was no longer independent rooms, but layouts like one-bedroom-one-living-room and two-bedroom-one-living-room arrangements.
More than a dozen residential buildings were squeezed together, some facing the street with rusty independent iron gates.
Others were hidden deep in the complex, with two unit buildings connected back-to-back, their wall paint peeling to reveal the red bricks underneath.
"How many people live in this place?"
"At least four thousand and up." Big Dragon answered, "One of the largest communities in the buffer zone. Inside there are not only residents but also many small workshops and grocery stores, many of whom are old-timers from when Happiness City was first established. The stairwells are piled full of miscellaneous items, all winding and turning. She chose this place because she definitely saw that it's not easy to be discovered."
"However, although the terrain here is chaotic, it has also formed independent community management internally. Although the constraints aren't strong, during the last infection surge, they were also the first area to organize militia teams."
Hearing Big Dragon say this, Cheng Ye immediately understood.
This place definitely couldn't be stormed.
Even though most people had gone to work now, there were still many elderly and children in the community. Directly rushing in to arrest people would inevitably cause chaos.
If the other party became desperate and started shooting randomly in such a densely populated residential area, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Big Dragon, this place is too complex. We can't storm it, we need to find a way to force her out."
After observing for several minutes, Cheng Ye quickly formulated a plan.
Although he wasn't a professional detective, he had watched plenty of arrest scenes in movies. It was nothing more than using information gaps and psychological warfare.
Either isolate and set up control, waiting like a hunter, or visit door-to-door to probe and pinpoint the location precisely.
Furthermore, there was deliberately releasing some information to lure the other party to take the bait.
When dealing with the previous four people, he had used these "stupid" methods with significant results.
Only Wang Qing's case was a small setback, letting the other party detect and slip away early, but that guy wasn't familiar with the buffer zone terrain and was eventually easily captured by Big Dragon in the shantytown.
"Force her out?" Big Dragon nodded repeatedly, "Same as last time, going door-to-door to deliver warmth?"
"Mmm..."
Cheng Ye shook his head gently, then asked, "Has Target Five been confirmed as female?"
"Yes! We've been following for several days. Today she didn't deliberately disguise herself, definitely female!"
"What about age?"
"Not clear, never seen her face."
"Good, then let's change the approach."
Cheng Ye smiled, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes, "Go to the grocery store and buy thirty washbasins, a hundred towels, plus some other household items. Buy more, I want to organize a charity event in the community."
"Um, as for money..." Cheng Ye made a gesture to take out money.
But Big Dragon quickly waved his hands, "Sir, we haven't used the money we confiscated from those four people yet. It's enough to buy these things!"
"Good, if it's not enough, come get more from me."
Cheng Ye nodded.
Standing outside the community for these few minutes, he didn't sense Target Five's gaze directed at him.
Either the other party was completely unguarded and didn't notice he had come, or... she had already prepared countermeasures!
But this wasn't important. What he wanted was to alert the enemy and make the other party panic first.
Once the snake moved, flaws would appear, and catching her would be much easier then.
The one thousand happiness coins confiscated from the four people came in handy. Big Dragon quickly returned with people carrying four large bags of daily necessities.
"Spread out the items and categorize them, have people maintain order."
Cheng Ye instructed, "Find a few with loud voices to shout in the community: The inspection station is doing charity, giving supplies to stay-at-home women. Bring your ID badges to collect them, first come first served, no waiting after the deadline."
After speaking, he added, "Arrange people to go up to the rooftop terrace of the neighboring building to prevent her from moving positions via the rooftop. Post people at the entrance of the unit building where she's located, everyone stay alert. Anyone who comes down, ask them about the market prices of daily necessities. Those who can't answer..."
"Understood!"
Big Dragon immediately took action, spreading out washbasins, towels, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, skincare oil and other items on the open ground, and found four militia members with loud voices to continuously announce in the community.
During work hours, those staying in the community were mostly elderly, children, and housewives. Hearing about free supplies, many immediately stuck their heads out of windows. After seeing the items on the ground, they were even more delighted.
Thud, thud, thud.
In less than a minute, many figures poured out of various stairwells, including aunties carrying vegetable baskets and young women holding children, all excitedly running toward the distribution point.
Cheng Ye stood in the shadows nearby, not approaching the crowd.
Suddenly, a gaze fell on him, immediately triggering Fire Sprout's reaction.
It was the familiar feeling of being watched, no mistake!
He forced himself to resist the urge to turn around and immediately possessed Fire Sprout, looking in the direction of the gaze.
Fourth floor, behind the gap in the beige curtains, a gaze was "ardently" staring at him.
"Took the bait so easily?" Cheng Ye was delighted.
Cat and mouse games depended on information gaps.
Police catching thieves relied on open and honest frontal methods.
To really play dirty would be incredibly stupid, abandoning one's own advantages to rely on others' strengths.
He wouldn't be foolish enough to search door-to-door. Whoever had less information would be passively beaten.
"Too bad Fire Sprout can't fly yet, otherwise I could fly up directly and see who it is."
"Hmm, when it gets bigger, maybe I won't even need to act personally, just knock the person down directly."
More than ten seconds later, that gaze disappeared.
Cheng Ye made no moves, continuing to fold his arms and watch the crowd queuing for supplies.
An auntie had already received a bucket and was shouting excitedly with joy, repeatedly expressing thanks.
The scene became increasingly lively. Besides women coming down to collect supplies, elderly and children also came rumbling down to stand aside and watch the excitement.
Sure enough, after more than ten seconds, that gaze appeared again, this time only staying for two or three seconds before hastily disappearing.
"He's alerting the enemy, trying to make me throw myself into the trap." Mu Shuang let go of the curtain and spoke in a low voice.
"Oh? So what do you plan to do?" Jiang Chuan held up his telescope, his gaze sweeping across the lively crowd in the community, "Women from your building have also gone down to collect supplies. If they ask them about the situation later, you won't be able to hide."
"So I must leave now."
Mu Shuang shook her head, her tone carrying some surprise, "I originally wanted to wait for them to come door-to-door checking, deliberately create some trouble to delay time. I didn't expect him to be so smart, not only not taking the bait but also throwing the choice of whether to leave or not to me."
"I suggest you don't go downstairs yet." Jiang Chuan reminded, "Your neighboring Unit 2 and Unit 3 rooftops already have people stationed, Second Dragon is leading people guarding your unit building entrance, and every person going out is being questioned. If you can't answer..."
"Do you think my disguise will be seen through?" Mu Shuang touched the black mole at the corner of her mouth.
"You can try, I'm only responsible for providing information."
After Jiang Chuan finished speaking, he added, "Also, Cheng Ye has gone over again and is speaking quietly with Second Dragon, looks like he's giving new instructions."
"Is he so certain about me?"
Mu Shuang took a deep breath.
She hadn't expected that their confrontation had only just begun, yet the scales of victory had already tilted infinitely toward Cheng Ye.
Now she was left with only two paths.
First, go to the rooftop, use grappling hooks and cables to evacuate quickly, and find a new location to continue tangling with Cheng Ye.
But this method was simple and crude. Once she showed herself, it was equivalent to all her previous disguise being wasted.
As long as Cheng Ye reacted fast enough and brought people to pursue and block routes with guns, the game would be over directly.
Second, go downstairs, bite the bullet and pass the inspection, then find a way to blend out of the community.
After actively showing herself, attracting attention, and still being able to leave openly after Cheng Ye completed his layout.
According to this game's rules, she would have won this round.
"This Inspector Cheng is really quite interesting."
Mu Shuang quickly adjusted her mindset and repeatedly practiced the smile of a "mercenary big sister" in front of the mirror.
Eyes slightly narrowed, corners of mouth stretched wide, revealing a greedy yet restrained expression.
She even imagined the excitement of about to receive free supplies, breaking it down into staggering steps and finger-rubbing small movements, striving to make every detail flawless.
These years of struggling in the wasteland, situations requiring her to disguise her identity were not uncommon, and it had long become instinct.
Soon, she had completely entered the role, opened the room door, and imitated the excited footsteps of someone going to get things, thudding down the stairs.
Reaching the first floor.
Second Dragon was guarding the entrance with four militia members, and more than ten militia members were also surrounding the area outside.
Everyone had guns at their waists, looking at the stairway entrance with seemingly smiling but not smiling expressions, their eyes carrying scrutiny.
"Have they discovered me?"
Mu Shuang's heart skipped a beat, but her body showed no hesitation, and her facial expression revealed no flaws.
"This big sister, here for the supplies?" Second Dragon spoke first, his tone sounding normal.
"Yes, yes, for the supplies."
Mu Shuang quickly nodded, handing over the ID badge in her hand, her voice deliberately hoarse.
She deliberately exposed the skin on her arms, which due to years of struggling in the wilderness appeared slightly dark, covered with small scars, even rougher than ordinary thirty-something women's skin.
"Oh, we need to verify your identity, no problem?" Second Dragon took the badge, his gaze lingering on her arm for two seconds.
"No problem, no problem." Mu Shuang cooperatively lowered her head, displaying a "fear of officials" appearance.
Second Dragon pretended to examine the badge surface and suddenly asked, "Do you know how much a toothbrush costs at the grocery store?"
"Sir, you're joking. Toothbrushes aren't sold individually. They're all bundled in threes for 1 happiness coin." Mu Shuang answered without thinking.
"Oh, what about toothpaste, the new Shoufu brand?"
"Shoufu brand has been around for 5 years, it's not really new. Besides, that's not sold separately either, two tubes for 5 happiness coins, better than the Happiness brand but more expensive."
Mu Shuang frowned, her tone carrying some authentic complaining about prices.
"Hey, big sister knows quite a lot."
Second Dragon smiled and returned the badge to her, stepping aside to make way, "No problem, go queue over there to get your things."
That's it?
Mu Shuang secretly laughed. She wasn't like those four idiots who only thought about hiding their identities when lurking.
Real disguise required immediately understanding the local customs and living conditions of the common people, truly sinking in, to disguise without any flaws.
Moreover, she had grown up in the buffer zone, so if she couldn't figure out these price trivialities, she would have lived in vain!
"Next, I just need to find a way to blend out of the community!" she calculated in her mind.
Besides the stairwell entrance, the community's entry and exit points were definitely also guarded by Cheng Ye's people.
But having already come out of the unit building, getting out of the community would be simple.
However, she had only taken two steps forward when Jiang Chuan's voice suddenly exploded in her earpiece, "They've discovered you!"
Without any hesitation, the tacit understanding of years of partnership made her react instantly.
The moment Jiang Chuan's words fell, Mu Shuang immediately rolled on the ground while simultaneously pulling out a smoke grenade from her left boot shaft, her finger gripping the pull ring.
Sure enough, the sound of "swish" came from behind as guns were drawn. Second Dragon already had his gun in hand, the muzzle pointing directly at where she had just been standing.
Fortunately, they were all handguns, no one used rifles, so it didn't count as mission failure.
Boom.
The special smoke grenade exploded thunderously, gray-white thick smoke instantly filling the stairwell entrance, blocking all vision.
Using the smoke screen for cover, Mu Shuang darted back into the stairwell and flew up the stairs like the wind.
Being aimed at by so many gun muzzles while lurking for the first time, her heart couldn't help but race wildly.
"How did they discover me?"
"I don't know, maybe you answered something wrong?"
"Impossible! Absolutely not wrong!" Mu Shuang rushed back to the fourth floor, but found no pursuit footsteps coming from downstairs.
This made her heart sink heavily, but there was no time to think carefully now, so she turned and rushed to the rooftop.
On the rooftop, she crouched low and rushed toward the adjacent Unit 3, which faced the street and was the fastest escape route.
Several militia members squatting on Unit 2's rooftop saw this and immediately raised their guns to aim.
However, the disparity in strength was ultimately too great. Mu Shuang raised her hand and threw the second smoke grenade from her right boot shaft.
With a boom, gray smoke quickly shrouded half the rooftop's field of vision.
But she didn't take the opportunity to rush over. Instead, she suddenly changed positions, the flash disc hidden in her palm flipping over while she pulled out her powerful flashlight to shine at the militia.
Several militia members who were about to shoot had their vision just disturbed by the smoke, then were instantly blinded by the sudden bright light.
By the time they reacted, Mu Shuang had already closed in, her movements so fast they were impossible to see clearly. In a flash, their weapons were seized and they received chops to the back of their necks, groaning as they fell unconscious.
The remaining four militia members in Unit 3 couldn't escape either, being cleanly and efficiently disarmed and knocked out.
"Not bad at all..."
Jiang Chuan couldn't help but praise.
Without using transcendent power, still having to control herself to Dao Embryo Realm combat strength, being able to achieve this was enough to prove that Mu Shuang hadn't wasted her years in the wilderness, her combat ability far exceeded his estimation.
"Stop the nonsense, what's the situation now?"
"Second Dragon is leading people up from Unit 1, Big Dragon is heading to Unit 3 to block you off..."
Jiang Chuan paused, his tone grave, "Cheng Ye is leading people up from Unit 2."
"I'm withdrawing!"
Mu Shuang hardly needed to think.
Second Dragon and Big Dragon were both in the Dao Embryo Realm, though both had false embryos, but if she got entangled with them in the narrow stairwell, she could easily get dragged down, and then be surrounded and finished.
Only Cheng Ye, this trainee inspector who hadn't even completed all four powers, was currently the weakest link.
But if Cheng Ye just blocked the stairwell entrance with guns, that would be game over.
She would then be surrounded on three sides with nowhere to go.
Swoosh.
The grappling hook and cable hooked onto a corner of the rooftop. Mu Shuang made a skillful flip, her body quickly pressing against the building surface as she descended.
Fourth floor, third floor, second floor...
In three to five breaths, she had descended to the second floor, her body landing on the wall surface like an agile cat, rolling toward the ground.
It had been a long time since she'd been in such a predicament...
Mu Shuang shook her head secretly, her heart full of chagrin.
She hadn't expected that in her first contact with Cheng Ye, she would be defeated so thoroughly. Her carefully prepared disguise seemed fake and useless.
Fortunately, there was still room to continue the tangle. As long as she could withdraw from this community and hide again...
Boom!
While her thoughts were still swirling.
The second-floor window near her landing point suddenly exploded, wooden frames mixed with glass shards flying out in a fan shape.
A swift figure wrapped in violent wind crashed through the window opening.
The entire person was like a stone roller shot out by tremendous force. When landing, he seemed unaffected by gravity, not even bending his knees, just standing straight there three steps away from her.
The figure's mouth curved into a smile, looking her up and down.
As if admiring his prey, or deliberately delaying time.
"Big sister, since you're here, now isn't the time for you to leave."