Chapter 158
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Chapter 158: The Mantis Catches the Cicada
El and Li Rui’s target for the night raid was a military officer from the logistics department.
Recently, a city defense team of two hundred had just replaced their standard weapons. This officer forged destruction records and planned to store those two hundred guns in a warehouse on the outskirts, waiting for the right moment to act.
The deal was set for last night.
After extensive surveillance, El arrived at the scene right on time, using his mastery of the Heart Exchange Law to fully align the intentions of the military officer and the black market leader.
However, this alone wasn’t enough; the two hundred guns still existed, and as long as they were around, disputes would continue to arise.
El wasn’t stubborn about destroying them; he simply took the batch of weapons and used his ability to sink them underground.
Who knows, they might be useful in the future?
The whole process was nearly flawless, with Li Rui stationed nearby to keep watch, even without getting involved in the fight.
The only issue arose during the final wrap-up, when both sides outside the warehouse noticed something was off inside.
After finishing with the weapons, El began his retreat.
But phasing through walls truly tested the triggering conditions of the Dimensional Shift.
Amidst the panic sparked by the rain of bullets, the Young Man mishandled his maneuver and got stuck in the back door of the warehouse, causing a tear in the muscles of his arm.
Although El quickly reactivated his ability to remove himself from the battlefield, he realized that such an injury was beyond his capability to handle.
Recalling the information he received during his second lucid In Dream just a couple of days ago, he forced himself to wait until morning to go to Lin Qingliu’s clinic to tend to his wounds.
“It seems the pain hasn’t clouded your mind. The inner city isn’t like the outer city; coming here at night is almost always a sure capture.
“After all, it’s hard to focus under that kind of pain, and the loss of control in Dimensional Shift could greatly increase.
“If half your body gets stuck in the ground, that would be a real death sentence.”
Listening to Lin Qingliu’s summary, El realized he had narrowly escaped death.
“Your body’s recovery ability is stronger than that of a normal person, so such a wound can heal with some rest. The only issue is that it might leave a few scars.”
El didn’t mind the potential consequences; instead, he asked another question:
“Doctor, do you think what I’m doing is good or bad for Hope City? Was my previous idea too naive?”
Lin Qingliu pondered for a moment before responding:
“Hmm, from my perspective, it is indeed somewhat naive. However, since the population of Hope City isn’t particularly large, your actions do have a certain deterrent effect. In other words, while the changes you brought may not be immediately observable, the crime rate should show some decline.
“And if you can’t accomplish other goals for now, then there’s nothing wrong with this approach; after all, it counts as doing good deeds. Oh, wait, given your frequency of action, it should be ‘half a month, one good deed.’
“Speaking of which, how long do you plan to use that guy named Luke?”
Lin Qingliu referred to El’s intention to use Luke’s investigations to help eliminate some enemies.
“He’ll find out sooner or later, but before that, I think I should have three or four chances to escape.
“If I were him, I would probably figure out the Heart Snatcher’s patterns after about three tries. After that, I would start paying attention to those less-than-clean individuals, setting traps around them to catch them before the next attack occurs.”
“Hmm, that does align with their style of operation. It seems you understand that this can’t go on forever.
“Well, I just happen to have something that can align with your plan, after all… I have a few matters I’d like to discuss with Mr. Luke.”
Hearing this, El first felt delighted, but then his expression turned troubled as he spoke:
"Captain Zhuang told me that Luke has already reached the Third Level as a superpowered individual and wields the abilities of Holy Shield. There’s no way I can defeat him."
The boy’s meaning was clear: if I can’t win, then Dr. Lin, you definitely stand no chance either.
"It’s fine; someone will handle it."
Lin Qingliu was referring to Paster.
El compared the abilities of the two in his mind and concluded that they were at least evenly matched, which eased his concerns.
"Alright, how should I cooperate with you?"
"It’s simple. You and your subordinate should carry on with your tasks. Before each operation, you need to inform me here. If everything is ready on my end, I’ll join you in action.
"If the timing isn’t right yet, just proceed as usual."
"Understood."
"Ah, one more thing. Could you ask that subordinate of yours—the one with the arm that’s about to fall off—if he has any of the nutrient solution he used for arm maintenance left?
"If he does, I’ll offer him a price he can’t refuse."
Lin Qingliu smiled, signaling to El not to overthink it.
The timing was ripe. Whether it was the network of followers or his personal strength, Lin Qingliu no longer needed to go with the flow.
Recalling how cautious he had been when he first arrived in this world, Lin Qingliu couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly things had changed.
Back then, he couldn’t make any significant moves; whether searching for suitable followers or accumulating initial capital, he had to take things as they came.
But now, before he officially began to subtly influence the decisions of Hope City, there was one thing he needed to make clear to those council members.
That is, the organization of the "followers" is not so easy to investigate.
—
On the edge of the inner city, in a suburban warehouse.
Though it was called the suburbs, it was only in comparison to the bustling areas of the inner city.
Here, numerous factories and warehouses were clustered, and the area became sparsely populated at night.
At this moment, Luke had brought his subordinates to investigate the crime scene from the previous night.
Two expressionless corpses were placed in specially designed containers after a preliminary autopsy.
This was to prevent them from emitting foul odors during the late summer season.
Or perhaps just to delay it.
After confirming the abnormalities in the heart areas of both bodies, the criminal known as the "Heart Snatcher" was quickly identified.
Looking at the report handed over by his subordinates, Luke’s expression darkened:
"Over three hundred bullet holes and not a single drop of blood—when did Hope City gain so many blind gunmen?"
Suppressing his anger, Luke turned to his well-prepared subordinates:
"Team One, go capture the underlings of the trading parties who were here last night; they might have faced the Heart Snatcher directly.
"Team Two, search for the guns. I refuse to believe this was a mere verbal agreement; since when has the black market in Hope City ever been about honesty?"
