Chapter 196 Fu Lilian's Past

"puff!"

A dull thud, like a heavy object falling to the ground, sounded particularly abrupt in the absolute silence of the darkness.

The sound of a silenced pistol being fired is minimized, but the whistling of the bullets cutting through the air and the muffled thud of them hitting objects cannot be completely masked.

The bullet was aimed at the center of Lady White's head.

In the emerald green vision, Fu Lilian clearly saw that, in the instant the muzzle flashed, the crawling white figure seemed to have eyes in the back of its head, or rather, it was some kind of honed instinctive intuition for deadly danger that made it make an incredible dodge!

Without attempting to stand or roll, Madam Bai's body, like a boneless mollusk, twisted and bent sharply to the left just as the bullet was about to hit her! Her entire upper body almost pressed against the carpet!

"Sizzle—"

The bullet grazed her back, tearing through her expensive suit jacket and kicking up a cloud of tiny fibers, before embedding itself hard in the obsidian floor not far in front of her, sending sparks flying.

Madam Bai didn't even cry out in pain.

She only stiffened slightly, then lunged forward with even greater speed!

Instead of lunging at the display case, she lunged at a dark gray carpet along the path she had just crawled along!

She gripped the edge of the carpet with both hands and used all her strength to lift it upwards!

A corner of the thick carpet was lifted, revealing the smooth alloy floor underneath.

In the center of the floor, a palm-sized, blood-red circular button emitted a faint, ominous glow.

That's the physical manual start switch for the backup power and ultimate defense system! It has higher priority than the one under the desk!

For the first time, a fierce and almost ferocious look appeared on Madam Bai's face. Ignoring everything else, she slammed her bent knuckles down hard on the red button!

"No!"

Fu Lilian's stern shout and Han Ming's low growl rang out almost simultaneously!

Fu Lilian wanted to fire a second shot, but Madam Bai's movements were too fast, and the angle at which her body was curled up made it difficult for her to find an absolutely fatal shooting point.

Han Ming suddenly darted out from behind the wall, trying to pounce and stop him, but the distance was too great, and it seemed he was about to miss his chance—

Just as Mrs. Bai's fingertip was less than five centimeters from the red button—

“Clang, thud.”

From the top of the room, came a clear, distinct sound of a mechanical lock being opened.

It wasn't the button Mrs. Bai pressed that activated, but rather... the sound of another mechanism being activated?

Immediately afterwards—

"Buzz—hum—"

A tooth-grinding low-frequency humming sound came from all directions of the room!

Suddenly, countless blinding scarlet rays lit up from some decorative gaps in the ceiling, walls, and even the floor!

These rays crisscrossed, instantly weaving a net of light in the air that covered the entire room without any blind spots!

At the same time, a decorative panel in the center of the ceiling slid open silently, and six menacing, spider-like floating gun mounts slowly descended from the hidden compartment!

Each gun mount is equipped with a multi-barrel rotating muzzle and a miniature missile launcher. The scarlet aiming laser, like the forked tongue of a viper, swept across the room and finally locked onto the three living people in the room—Fu Lilian, Han Ming, and Madam Bai, whose finger was frozen an inch above the red button!

All the hovering gun turrets adjusted their muzzles slightly, emitting a faint whirring sound as they pointed at Fu Lilian's head, chest, and abdomen, Han Ming's vitals, and Madam Bai... However, the two laser beams aimed at Madam Bai clearly avoided fatal spots, serving more as a deterrent.

The room fell into an eerie silence.

The only sounds were the low hum of the motor running on the hovering gun platform and the faint hissing as the red ray swept across the surface of the object.

The light came back on—not the cool white natural light of before, but a dark red, ominous glow like a blood moon, casting an eerie light on everyone in the room.

Madam Bai slowly, very slowly raised her head.

She removed her finger from the red button, slowly straightened up, and patted off non-existent dust from her suit.

The momentary dishevelment and ferocity she had just displayed seemed like an illusion. She regained her elegant and composed demeanor, only her eyes were colder than before, and a smile mixed with mockery and cruelty played on her lips.

"Quick reaction, Fu Lilian." She said softly, her gaze falling on Fu Lilian's hand still holding the gun, then glancing at Han Ming, "And you, Xiao Ming. I didn't expect you to help outsiders against me, your... 'auntie'?"

Her tone carried the disappointment of an elder for a disobedient junior, but given the current scene and the floating deadly weapons, it only seemed particularly hypocritical and terrifying.

Han Ming's face appeared obscure and inscrutable under the dark red light.

He didn't look at Madam Bai, nor at Fu Lilian, but stared at the floating gun emplacements, his voice hoarse: "I just don't want to die without knowing why."

"Unclear and ambiguous?" Madam Bai chuckled and shook her head. Under the "protection" of the floating gun platform, she seemed to have regained her sense of security, and even calmly tidied her slightly messy hair. "Of course you won't die. I can't bear to."

Her gaze lingered on Han Ming's face, her eyes filled with a chilling mix of possessiveness, longing, and deep obsession.

"You're looking more and more like him... especially those eyes. How could I bear to let you die?"

Fu Lilian's arm holding the gun remained steady, but her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The night vision goggles were still attached to her left eye, giving her a strange dual vision of the world—one side a clear, eerie green, the other a dark red, oppressive threat of death.

She could feel at least four gun barrels locked onto her, ready to tear her to shreds the moment she made the slightest move.

“So,” Fu Lilian began, her voice slightly hoarse with nervousness, but she forced herself to remain calm, “this is your trump card? These lumps of iron?”

"A trump card?" Madam Bai seemed to have heard something amusing. She strolled along, surrounded by the floating gun emplacements, and slowly walked to the wine cabinet on one side of the room. She poured herself a glass of amber liquid, took an elegant sip, and said, "No, child, this is just a little... a small safety measure. It's for dealing with disobedient little bugs like you who are always trying to break free from control."

She turned around, leaned against the wine cabinet, swirled her wine glass, and glanced back and forth between Fu Lilian and Han Ming: "To be honest, I'm very curious. Fu Lilian, your father was a good-for-nothing, a piece of trash who ruined my life. I thought you would at least be a little smarter than your father and know how to assess the situation. It seems I was wrong; you inherited his stupidity and stubbornness."