Chapter 495: Trap
Perhaps others might not find anything strange about this, but both Lin Qing and Elorie had worked for the Dimensional Limit Mechanism. Just two hours after they left, the intrusion point conveniently went into construction, which is undoubtedly a signature move of the agency.
"Damn, they came way too fast," Lin Qing couldn’t help but complain.
On the surface, this place merely appeared to have a construction barricade, but the reality was far from simple. After detecting an erosion fluctuation, the Intelligence Team would immediately notify the Execution Team and Logistics Team. The former’s task was to investigate and control possible Wanderers, while the latter would use various methods to isolate the erosion site from the public and ensure it didn’t attract external suspicion.
At this point in time, Chen Xuan had not yet made public the existence of Ability Users, and the Dimensional Limit Mechanism remained submerged underwater.
"I remember now!" Elorie suddenly clapped her hand, "Sister Honglian said this theme park was built specifically to lure intrusion points, and it has successfully helped the agency attract multiple erosion phenomena before."
"So we’re basically jumping up in front of the agency’s face?" Lin Qing sighed, "No wonder they can catch the scent so quickly."
Although she wore a look of impatience, she didn’t actually take the agency too seriously.
After all, after half a year’s contest, she was already thoroughly familiar with the strength of Jiang City’s division.
In terms of combat power, as long as the Arbitration Court’s Ability Users weren’t deployed, the combined forces of the division’s four Execution Teams wouldn’t be a match for Ji Lian.
From a combat perspective, the three of them could absolutely run rampant in Jiang City.
Rather than dealing with the agency, it was more crucial to hide themselves and try to avoid making any noise, to prevent any uncertain future impacts.
"That person... I know him!" Elorie lowered her voice, pointing at a middle-aged man walking out of the mall, "He’s Engineer Li from the Logistics Team, he helped me before."
"How did he help?"
"My electric scooter broke down after work, and Engineer Li fixed it for free." Little Angel clasped her hands together, "He’s a good person."
Lin Qing twitched the corner of her mouth, "Forget about him... what’s your procedure after discovering an intrusion point?"
"Let me think," Elorie recalled, "First is control, to ensure it won’t be accessed by unrelated personnel. Then there’s data sampling, with Logistics Team operatives entering the Erosion Zone to acquire basic parameters of the other world. To suppress the expansion phenomenon, the first wave of entrants are usually ordinary employees without abilities."
"It seems these rules are the same everywhere," Lin Qing frowned, "Miss Ji, if we engage, will our disguise be removed?"
Ji Lian shook her head, "Unless the enemy uses an illusion-breaking Technique, or their personal willpower exceeds mine."
"That’s good," she quickly laid out her plan, "We should first use the Invisibility Talisman to infiltrate the mall, and assess whether to enter the Erosion Zone: if there’s someone guarding the entrance, we’ll knock them out; if it’s an Ability User, we’ll use the Law Decree True Words to paralyze them. As for after we get past the door..."
Lin Qing hesitated, "Forget it, even if we don’t make a move, the agency shouldn’t have too much interest in a lifeless world."
Elorie and Ji Lian both agreed.
Finding an empty corner of the street, they once again entered an invisible state, then easily slipped into the palace-like indoor mall. The number of visitors had clearly doubled, and even some previously quiet stores now had several people moving inside.
They were evidently all plainclothes from the agency.
This place was already under tight surveillance by the Dimensional Limit Mechanism.
The room under renovation was even more so; not only was there another layer of construction barricade outside, but two "security guards" stood at the entrance.
Given this, it called for plan B.
Lin Qing and Elorie silently circled behind the guards from left and right, striking them at the back of the head. Both experienced warriors, they were adept at controlling their strength, and knocking out an ordinary person without causing fatal injury was second nature to them.
In the eyes of other observers, these two colleagues seemed to have suddenly fallen asleep.
Immediately, someone began to move over.
And Ji Lian had already picked the reinforced door with her Thousand Thoughts Sword.
No words were exchanged; they swiftly slipped into the room, heading straight for the intrusion point.
Ji Lian was the first, followed closely by Elorie.
Lin Qing walked last.
Just as she was about to touch the door frame, the world suddenly spun around her! Lin Qing was shocked, and when she came to her senses, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar room!
"Failed?" someone asked.
Lin Qing looked towards the voice, spotting two people standing at the door; they were Honglian and Wang Baihu. Honglian held a gun with both hands, the barrel steadily aimed at her position.
No... Don’t shoot!
She almost instinctively called out their names.
Almost simultaneously, Honglian decisively pulled the trigger!
Lin Qing saw a bright flame burst from the gun barrel, followed by a sharp pain in her chest. She slowly lowered her head to find a uniquely shaped needle embedded in her body, with only half the tail exposed.
"There’s really someone here!" Wang Baihu was utterly shocked, "Is it invisibility?"
"Whoever you are, stay put!" Honglian loudly warned, "That way, we might spare your life!"
Hearing this voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, Lin Qing was filled with emotion.
To think... she had formed a connection with her this early, a cruel joke from history indeed. The only pity was... she couldn’t tell her who she was.
Looking down at the gray floor tiles that had mysteriously appeared, Lin Qing fully grasped the situation.
Honglian had applied "Shifting Form and Shadow" to the floor in front of the door, transforming it into a nearly invisible trap. When the floor, as part of the room, was shifted, the people and objects on it were carried away too.
Taking out the guards naturally alerted on-site personnel, but she never thought anyone could pose a threat to Ji Lian within those few seconds. However, Honglian’s ability happened not to reveal any hostility; upon receiving the alarm, Honglian had almost immediately activated her ability, the interval of three or four seconds coinciding perfectly with her at the rear.
The Invisibility Talisman was disturbed by foreign objects and was beginning to gradually fail.
Worse still, Lin Qing felt a strong sense of dizziness, overwhelming her — the anesthesia was aggressively attacking her nervous system. Theoretically, this anesthetic bullet specifically designed for Wanderers was exceedingly potent; even an elephant would be knocked out for half a day, and the fact that she hadn’t fallen yet was likely due to the support of "Mind Fortress."
Faced with cybernetics or neurotoxins alike, her willpower simply wouldn’t allow her to lose herself easily.
Lin Qing mustered all her strength, drawing a dagger from her waist.
"Don’t move!"
"Drop your weapon!" Honglian and Wang Baihu simultaneously warned. They could now vaguely discern the contour of the Wanderer — it seemed to be a young male, holding a sharp object in his hand, unmistakably a lethal weapon.
Lin Qing remained unmoved; without hesitation, she turned the knife towards herself, driving it fiercely into her shoulder!
Their actions stunned both of them.
The Blade Sword sliced through skin, pierced muscle, only stopping at the shoulder blade. The intense pain instantly triggered the body’s defense mechanism, with the Purifying Heart Technique operating at far surpassing efficiency and the Living Dead lowering blood pressure and body temperature demands to avoid threatening her life.
This was precisely the effect Lin Qing aimed for.
The dizziness vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, her control over her body returned, bringing along the familiar sensation of combat.