Chapter Forty-Eight Locks
Deep within the BXX organization, in a sealed chamber isolated from all external light, the air was as stagnant as a tomb. The walls were covered with sound-absorbing material, and the only source of light came from a pale, shadowless lamp in the center of the ceiling, illuminating a long, gleaming metal table below.
Morse Black—codenamed "Dream Serpent"—stood by the table, his eerie green snake eyes appearing even colder and more inhuman in the pale light, his gaze fixed intently on an urgent intelligence summary spread out on the table.
The fragments of information on the paper, pieced together by the reverse tracking signals leaked from Mu Ye's side, pointed to a chilling fact: Xi Ya, the red-haired mad dog under Xu Yue's command, not only did not collapse under the successive blows, but instead, like a shark that smelled blood, was frantically digging along an extremely dangerous trajectory toward the core and most untouchable forbidden zone of BXX—the secret of the Kui family.
Lian Yeyi's connections, Xi Ya's own reckless infiltration capabilities, and a bit of damned luck allowed him to actually get close to the edge of the name "Di An Kui," which had been sealed away for twenty years.
“You ignorant fool…” Dream Serpent’s voice was low and hoarse, with a hissing sound like a venomous snake whose scales have been touched. His carefully planned infiltration and disintegration were intended to cause the Xuyue Organization to be consumed by internal strife, rather than to burn himself and expose the Kui family’s old secrets to the light of day.
Once Xiya brings back the truth that "Xuyue is the abandoned Di'an Kui," it will not only trigger a war between the two organizations, but may also shake the very foundation upon which BXX exists—the unquestionable authority of the Kui couple and the "pure" illusion they are trying so hard to maintain.
We must not allow West Asia to return alive with any conclusive evidence.
He and the secrets he uncovered must be completely erased from this world before he meets up with his contact. Conventional interception forces would likely be insufficient to complete the mission under Xu Yue's well-prepared support; he needs a blade that is sharp enough, stealthy enough, and also... insane enough.
He tapped a short command on an encrypted channel of the communicator with his fingertip.
On the edge of London's East End, deep within a swamp shrouded in industrial waste and the scent of oblivion, stands a wooden cabin seemingly abandoned by time. Completely different from the imposing steel of the Xuyue headquarters, this place is dilapidated and chaotic, yet strangely exudes a twisted sense of "life."
Around the wooden house, several stray cats with dirty fur but unusually alert eyes silently dart among the discarded machine parts and overgrown weeds, serving as a natural alarm system for this area.
Inside the cabin, the light was dim, and the air was filled with a strong smell of herbs, a faint smell of gunpowder, and... the smell of cat hair and some kind of rotten old wood.
Hei Yuankong was curled up on a window chair covered with a tattered blanket, wrapped in his faded black work jacket. Even in the relatively warm indoor environment, he still wore his signature black mask on his pale face, revealing only a pair of empty, unfocused black eyes.
His thin body was slightly hunched, and he would occasionally let out a suppressed cough, the sound of which was particularly clear and jarring in the quiet wooden house.
His fingers unconsciously twirled a small amulet meticulously crafted from a brass bullet casing. His gaze drifted unfocused towards the gloomy sky outside the window, as if his soul had long since detached itself from this filthy reality.
Not far from him, Hei Yuanying was kneeling on the floor, carefully wiping the barrel of a disassembled sniper rifle with a soft cloth dampened with water.
Her long blue hair cascaded down like a waterfall, making her small face appear even paler and more translucent. Her clear, amber eyes were fixed intently on the parts in her hands, her movements as gentle as if she were handling a precious work of art.
She wore a dark red Gothic dress with slightly worn edges, creating an eerie yet harmonious contrast with the dilapidated surroundings. Around her neck was the same bullet casing necklace that her brother held.
The encrypted vibration from the communicator shattered the deathly silence in the room.
His empty eyes narrowed instantly, a flash of extreme annoyance and wariness crossing his face, like a venomous snake whose peace had been disturbed. Ying stopped wiping herself, her amber eyes lifting to look at her brother, a barely perceptible glint of...expectation? Or perhaps, a weariness of the monotonous routine.
Kong stretched out her pale, almost transparent fingers, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed the answer button.
Dream Snake's unique, cold, and magnetic voice, like a venomous snake slithering across the eardrum, entered directly:
“Kong, Ying. There’s an urgent cleanup mission. Target: ‘Whale Shark’ Xiya. Location: Outside the abandoned slaughterhouse in the west of the city, near Assembly Point No. 3. Time: Within two hours. He has something that shouldn’t be there and needs to be completely eliminated. The reward is three times what was previously promised.”
The mission details were concise, but the underlying killing intent and sense of urgency were palpable.
Kong's brows furrowed instantly, and his lips pressed into a pale line.
It was someone from the Xuyue organization again, and it was that red-haired Xiya who had just lost "Little Butterfly" and was on the verge of a frenzied revenge! He could almost imagine the danger at the scene of the mission; Xuyue must have deployed a large force to support them. This was not a simple sniper kill at all, but a death charge that could potentially take on the entire elite of Xuyue.
"I'm not going." Kong's voice came through the mask, hoarse and cold, filled with suppressed anger and impatience. "Dream Snake, find someone else. We have no interest in this kind of suicide mission."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Meng She's low, chilling laughter: "Going to your death? Kong, are you worried about your sister's safety? Or... are you afraid of that stray dog, Xu Yue?"
His words were like poisoned needles, precisely piercing Kong's most sensitive areas—his protective instincts towards his sister and the unyielding pride hidden beneath his fragile exterior.
"Shut up!" Kong roared, his body leaning forward slightly from the shock, triggering an even more violent cough. He clutched his mask tightly, his knuckles turning white, the emptiness in his eyes replaced by a frenzied crimson. "I said I'm not going! No amount of reward will matter! Get out!"
However, at that moment, Hei Yuanying, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up. Her voice was soft, with an innocent yet almost cruel frankness: "Brother... triple the reward. With that money, we can leave here, find a cleaner, quieter place, and raise more cats... and," she paused, a hint of desire for challenge flashing in her amber eyes, "that 'whale shark,' I've heard it's very powerful. I want to... give it a try."
"Ying!" Kong turned sharply to look at his sister, his eyes filled with disbelief and an almost fearful anxiety. "Do you know how dangerous that is?! The people from Xuyue are a bunch of lunatics! That's not a target for testing guns!"
Ying tilted her head slightly, looking at her brother's excited expression, a hint of confusion and... subtle rebellion flashing in her eyes. Her brother was always like this, treating her like a fragile glass doll, shielding her from all the dangers he perceived.
But she was no longer the little girl who needed his constant protection; the number of people who died under her gun was no less than his.
“Brother,” her voice was still soft, but with an undeniable firmness, “we can do it. You cover for me, just like before. Once we get the money, we’ll leave.”
Her eyes were crystal clear, as if stating a simple and straightforward fact, completely ignoring the bloodshed and death they contained.
Looking into his sister's pure yet stubborn eyes, which reflected his own furious image, Kong felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly by an icy hand.
He knew Ying too well; once she became interested in something, especially when it involved firearms and targets, her focus and obsession were almost irreversible. Rejecting her would only trigger more intense and uncontrollable emotional fluctuations in her.
The goading and the lure of triple rewards from Meng She were like poison, eroding his already crumbling defenses. He needed money, he needed to get Ying away from this hellhole, he needed... to escape Meng She's relentless control. Perhaps, this really was the last time?
A violent internal struggle caused the veins on his forehead to bulge. He stared intently at the communicator, as if he wanted to crush it. A suffocating silence fell over the cabin, broken only by his heavy breathing and the faint meowing of a cat coming from outside the window.
Ultimately, under the combined influence of immense pressure, compromise with his sister, and a dark, lurking desire deep within him to destroy a powerful target, Kong slumped back in his chair, as if all his strength had been drained, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes was a cold, almost numb, resigned killing intent.
He spoke through gritted teeth into the communicator, uttering a single word:
"...Send me the address details."
Communication was cut off. Kong suddenly stood up, his movements somewhat unsteady due to excitement and illness. He walked to the weapons cabinet in the corner and began to silently and rapidly inspect the weapons, his movements so practiced as to be alarming.
The modified submachine gun, designed for close-quarters assault, was disassembled and reassembled in his hands like a toy, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
As Ying watched her brother's retreating figure, a nearly innocent and contented smile appeared on her pale face.
She carefully and quickly assembled the cleaned sniper rifle parts, her movements as fluid as a dance. She walked to her brother's side, gently tugged at his sleeve, and her amber eyes gleamed with excitement in the dim light, as if she were about to participate in a long-awaited game.
"Brother, let's finish this quickly, then go buy some dried fish for 'Coal Ball' and the others, okay?"
Kong didn't turn around, but paused stiffly for a moment, letting out a barely audible sigh from behind his mask, a mixture of endless exhaustion and doting affection. He reached out and roughly ruffled his sister's deep blue hair, the movement somewhat rough, yet carrying a twisted tenderness.
“Stay close to me,” he commanded hoarsely, his voice devoid of any emotion. “...Don’t leave my sight.”
The door to the wooden cabin was pushed open, letting in a cold, damp wind. The figures of the brother and sister, one in front of the other, disappeared into the leaden-gray mist outside.
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