Chapter 26
The hotel provided by City C is located in the core area of the city. It looks cold and hard on the outside, but is extremely luxurious on the inside. It tries to comfort the soldiers who are about to step into hell with soft fabrics, warm lights and expensive fragrances.
They were greeted by the liaison officer sent from City C, a middle-aged man with a warm smile but a shrewd and calculating look in his eyes.
His eyes swept between Qin Feng and Lin Yao, and when he saw Lin Yao's outstanding appearance and standing next to Qin Feng, he showed a look of understanding.
"Captain Qin Feng, I've long heard of you! The room is ready for you two. It's a top-floor suite with a view, guaranteed to be quiet and comfortable."
The liaison officer attentively handed over the room cards, but only gave one to Qin Feng. "This is the master card for the suite. It has complete facilities and a superb view. It's absolutely worthy of your status."
The implication in his words was obvious—he treated Lin Yao as Qin Feng's partner and directly arranged for them to share the same room.
Qin Feng's face, frozen for a thousand years, suddenly turned red. From his ears all the way down to his neck, it was like a ripe tomato.
He suddenly looked at Lin Yao, his eyes filled with unprecedented panic and nervousness. He opened his mouth to explain, but his words became incoherent due to extreme embarrassment and worry: "No...no, he...we...are not what you think. We need to separate and have two rooms."
He was afraid that Lin Yao would misunderstand him, afraid that Lin Yao would think that he was a villain who was taking advantage of others.
Especially after Lin Yao experienced Lu Cheng's betrayal and Qin Mu's coercion, this misunderstanding was like rubbing salt into the other party's wounds that had not yet healed.
He was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. The S-level expert who usually commanded with confidence now looked like a big boy who had been caught doing something wrong.
Lin Yao looked at Qin Feng's embarrassment and panic, and his desperate attempts to explain himself. He felt nothing in his heart, and even felt a little bored.
But a smile of understanding and a bit of helplessness appeared on his face at the right time. He gently pulled Qin Feng's sleeve and spoke gently to help.
"This gentleman has misunderstood."
He looked at the liaison officer with a polite yet distant smile, "Young Master Qin Feng and I are just teammates. Please arrange for us to have adjacent rooms."
He turned and gave Qin Feng another reassuring smile, his blue eyes clear and honest. "Master Qin Feng, don't be nervous. I know you're not that kind of person. It's just a small misunderstanding, don't take it to heart."
I know you're not that kind of person.
I believe you.
These two sentences, like warm spring water, instantly extinguished the anxiety and embarrassment in Qin Feng's heart.
He stared blankly at Lin Yao's eyes full of trust, and an indescribable warmth surged through his body.
From childhood to adulthood, he has been misunderstood by countless people because of his silence and cold appearance - arrogant, indifferent, and unkind.
Few people are like Lin Yao, who is so determined to trust him and help him out in the face of potentially embarrassing misunderstandings.
This trust was invaluable to him. His tense body relaxed, and when he looked at Lin Yao, besides the clumsy concern, there was something deeper in his eyes.
In the end, the two of them checked into two adjacent suites. Qin Feng's room was spacious and cold, just like him.
Lin Yao's room was thoughtfully decorated by the liaison officer to be more cozy and soft. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling window was the bustling night scene of City C composed of various colorful lights.
…
Dinner was served in the hotel's revolving restaurant on the top floor. Beyond the huge glass windows lay the dazzling yet cold city galaxy. Teams from other cities also dined in their own areas, creating a subtle atmosphere.
Lin Yao knew the time had come. He needed to give Qin Feng a little sweetness to pave the way for the next move.
He took the decanted red wine and poured a glass for Qin Feng and himself. The dark red liquid rippled in the crystal glass, reflecting the cold light.
"Master Qin Feng," Lin Yao raised his glass, his silver hair gleaming in the soft light. His blue eyes held a rare softness, as if he had let down his guard. "Thank you... for taking care of me in City B, and for tonight."
His voice was soft, but it reached Qin Feng's ears clearly. "This is for you."
Qin Feng watched Lin Yao raise his glass, and his heartbeat quickened uncontrollably as he listened to the rare intimacy and gratitude in his words.
He was a little flattered, and quickly picked up the wine glass and responded awkwardly: "No...you're welcome, it's my duty."
He raised his head and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, trying to hide the throbbing in his heart and a hint of inexplicable panic.
Lin Yao took a sip, put down his wine glass, picked up his knife and fork, and cut the food on the plate gracefully.
He casually brought up some lighthearted topics, like the unique architectural style of City C and the melodious music in the restaurant. His voice was soft, and when he occasionally looked up at Qin Feng, his eyes held just the right amount of focus and a subtle hint of...dependence. Whenever this happened, Qin Feng found it difficult to breathe, and could only drink, trying to quench the unfamiliar fire in his heart.
Lin Yao seemed oblivious to Qin Feng's embarrassment and continued with his performance.
When he handed the seasoning bottle, his fingertips would inadvertently brush against the back of Qin Feng's hand. When Qin Feng spoke, he would lean closer, bringing with him a faint, cool fragrance like a pine forest after snow.
When looking at each other, their eyelashes will tremble slightly, and then they will look away with a little shyness, leaving an itchy lingering aftertaste.
These ambiguous and superficial teasings were like feathers gently scratching Qin Feng's heart, which had never been opened to anyone.
Every touch, every glance, melted Qin Feng's iceberg a little.
He had never experienced this feeling before, clumsy, flustered, but with a secret, indescribable pleasure.
Lin Yao's trust and the closeness revealed at this moment, with a hint of vulnerability, made him feel cherished and let down all his guard.
So, when Lin Yao raised his glass again and said with a relaxed smile as if he had lifted a heavy burden, "Here's to the unknown tomorrow, and I hope everything goes well," Qin Feng drank it all in one gulp without hesitation.
He didn't know that his alcohol tolerance was ridiculous in Lin Yao's eyes. He also didn't know that the red wine Lin Yao chose was very strong.
One cup, two cups, three cups...
The warmth of the red wine mixed with the unfamiliar throbbing in his heart, like a surging tide, quickly drowning Qin Feng's reason.
His stern face was stained with a noticeable blush, and his eyes began to blur. The usual sharpness and coldness disappeared, leaving only a dull, silly concentration, firmly locked on Lin Yao's face.
"Yao... Yaoyao..." He murmured vaguely, his body shaking slightly, "You... are so beautiful..."
Before he finished speaking, his tall body swayed, his head tilted, and he fell directly on the dining table, completely drunk.
The gentle smile on Lin Yao's face disappeared in an instant, leaving only a cold scrutiny.
He put down his wine glass, walked over to Qin Feng, and looked down at the drunken S-rank expert.
How fragile, Lin Yao sneered in his heart.
The consequences of idle emotion. He left himself vulnerable without any defense. If I wanted to kill him, I could simply snap his neck or shred his brainstem with mental threads. It would be easier than crushing an ant.
The old world's survival rules echoed clearly in his mind: emotion is poison, trust is suicide.
He lifted Qin Feng's heavy body with an expressionless face, half-carrying, half-dragging him back to the room, and threw him on the bed. Qin Feng was unconscious, only emitting heavy breathing sounds.
Lin Yao stood by the bed, taking one last look at this now-useless tool. Then, he turned and quietly left the room, like a ghost blending into the night.
…
In the early morning hours of City C, the neon lights faded, leaving only the steel skeleton casting a sinister shadow under the cold moonlight. The cold wind howled through the metal pipes like the cries of ghosts.
Lin Yao changed into an inconspicuous dark grey hoodie, the hood covering his conspicuous silver hair.
According to the coordinates analyzed from the pocket watch, he shuttled through the maze-like steel tunnels like the most sophisticated navigator.
The target location is an abandoned machinery repair shop on the edge of the old industrial area of City C.
Far away from the hustle and bustle, the air is filled with the pungent smell of rust and waste oil. It is a forgotten corner of the city.
Now was the perfect time to investigate. Elite teams from various cities had just arrived, and the mix of personnel was intense, their attention focused on the upcoming dungeon and on mutual vigilance.
City C's official surveillance efforts were primarily concentrated in the new city and hotel districts. This forgotten ruin was like a perfect shadow.
He climbed up the rusty outer wall of the repair shop like a gecko and sneaked in silently through a broken ventilation hole.
The interior was pitch black, filled with discarded mechanical parts and covered in dust. But in Lin Yao's spiritual perception, this place was not dead.
Deep within the factory, an extremely sophisticated energy shielding field was hidden. From beneath it, faint but regular energy fluctuations could be heard—a communication signal. And… several extremely vigilant beings, their spiritual cores unusually cold.
This is indeed a secret base of the Purifier Organization in City C.
Lin Yao's mental thread, like the thinnest probe, carefully skirted the edge of the shield, trying to capture fragments of conversation within. He needed intelligence about the eye of the storm, about the gatekeepers, and about their true purpose in destroying the instance.
Just as he was concentrating on spiritual penetration, a strong and pungent smell of alcohol mixed with the sour smell of vomit suddenly came from a dark alley full of garbage not far away.
At the same time, there was also a suppressed, painful whimper like that of a wounded beast.
Lin Yao's spiritual perception swept over subconsciously.
The next second, his body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Deep in the alley, a familiar figure huddled in a grimy corner. Messy hair, a wrinkled and stained D City uniform, sunken eyes, and a bloodshot, hollow gaze...it was Lu Cheng.
He was holding an empty wine bottle in his hand, and there was vomit at his feet. He exuded a strong sense of decadence and despair, like garbage abandoned by the world.
He seemed to have noticed the movement at the alley entrance and looked up blankly.
In the dim light, those empty, bloodshot eyes scanned the hooded figure at the entrance of the alley without any focus.
He did not recognize Lin Yao, but just lowered his head like a walking corpse, buried his face in his arms, and let out a more painful and desperate whimper.
Lin Yao coldly withdrew his gaze, as if brushing away a speck of dust. A self-exiled loser wasn't worth wasting a single second of his time on.
His figure flashed and completely disappeared into the darkness, continuing to dive towards the energy shielding field deep in the repair shop that exuded a mysterious aura.
The truth is right ahead.
Lu Cheng's tragedy? Just another insignificant speck of dust in this cold, steely city.
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