Chapter 21: The Sun Tattoo

「Ah…」

The camel desperately clutched the horrific wound on his neck, yet could not stop the gushing blood, his eyes wide open as he stared at Lin Qing.

He staggered backward a few steps, leaning against the bathroom wall, then slowly slid down to the floor.

Immediately, he lost consciousness.

【Order Level increased by 0.2】

After the camel died, a line of green text appeared before Lin Qing’s eyes.

Order Level had now reached 0.5.

«So it’s also 0.2…»

Lin Qing sheathed his retractable knife, rolled up his sleeves, crouched before the camel, and his hands became blurred afterimages—within a blink, he stripped off the camel’s shirt and searched his entire body.

It didn’t matter if his hands touched the camel’s blood—he wore thin rubber gloves extending to his arms, leaving no fingerprints or skin tissue behind.

«Huh?»

Lin Qing suddenly felt several coin-shaped hard objects in the inner pocket of the camel’s shirt.

With a flick of his hand, the blood on the gloves was flung away.

Then he opened the pocket and found indeed several coins, their color dark and dull, engraved with intricate circular patterns—not the kind of coins children in the slums commonly used.

«This is…»

Lin Qing examined them closely and suddenly recognized their origin.

——According to investigation records, these were rare metal coins brought by an extraterrestrial civilization, highly valuable on the black market; judging by their denominations, they were likely worth one or two hundred thousand.

Yet Lin Qing did not take the coins—he returned them all to the pocket.

One or two hundred thousand was a lot, but not worth the risk.

Who knew what problems these coins might carry? In an era where cash had long been obsolete, only children without phones used coins—and yet this man, likely to be searched, carried coins worth hundreds of thousands? Even if for a quick escape, such valuable items couldn’t be spent immediately—he’d need to find a black market first.

He felt something was off.

A hundred thousand wouldn’t change anything; no need to be greedy.

As for other items on the camel’s person, nothing unusual was found.

«Hmm?»

Suddenly, Lin Qing noticed a tattoo on the camel’s chest, and he froze slightly.

There had been nothing there just ten seconds ago.

And the tattoo was growing deeper and more distinct—as if it had only appeared after the camel’s death?

The tattoo’s shape consisted of lines radiating outward—perhaps… a sun? Though unusual, Lin Qing didn’t care.

He was only checking for hidden recording or surveillance devices.

What seemed slow took only half a minute—from the fatal strike to the search.

«One more…»

Lin Qing stood up, about to turn and leave the bathroom, when he heard footsteps and the sound of a door handle turning outside.

He moved instantly, his steps becoming afterimages, vanishing into a nearby stall.

«Camel, there’s an undercover in the bar—want to check it out?»

The bathroom door swung open; a deep voice entered, and footsteps approached the stalls.

Lin Qing immediately recognized the voice—the towering, muscular man.

«Camel?»

Tie Wuluo received no reply and smelled blood—he instantly sensed danger, rushed past the sink, and entered the restroom.

There, he saw the camel slumped against the wall, his pale, lifeless face and the spreading pool of blood leaving him stunned.

How was this possible?

He’d only gone to the bathroom—and now he was dead? Who killed him? Just then—

«Bang!»

Tie Wuluo suddenly heard the stall door behind him being kicked open; as he turned, a cold silver flash slashed toward his neck!

Too fast! His heart lurched—he had no time to draw his retractable baton from his back, so he raised one hand to block.

«Splat!»

The sharp blade instantly severed half of Tie Wuluo’s palm; blood spurted out—but this gave him a split-second reprieve. He twisted his hand, using his palm bones to trap the blade, while his other fist slammed forward! «Die!»

Tie Wuluo roared, pain fueling his fury—he ignored the widening wound, swung his arm with full force, determined to crush this man with one punch! Strength was his greatest pride; even compared to those who had mastered the Four-Six Training Method and power-based combat techniques, he still held the advantage.

With this punch, even steel would warp!

Yet—

«Whooosh!»

To Tie Wuluo’s disbelief, the faceless stranger simply shifted his body, evading the punch like a phantom—his fist swung empty! «How is he this fast?»

Before Tie Wuluo could finish the thought, the stranger instantly retracted his knife, stepped forward, and raised his hand.

Tie Wuluo couldn’t see the blade—only those cold, icy eyes.

In an instant, silver light flashed across Tie Wuluo’s throat.

«No…»

Tie Wuluo felt his neck grow cold, then sensed something gushing outward—his heart froze.

He knew he was dying; helplessness and terror surged, as if he’d returned to that cold laboratory.

«Who…»

Tie Wuluo clutched his throat with one hand, raised the other weakly to grasp at nothing—his massive frame finally collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Lin Qing moved like wind, shutting the bathroom door again, then returned to Tie Wuluo’s side.

【Order Level increased by 0.2】

Once the Order Level notification appeared and he confirmed Tie Wuluo posed no threat, he began searching the body.

Quickly, Lin Qing confirmed Tie Wuluo carried no suspicious devices—yet this man was absurdly muscular, towering and built with freakish strength.

Even his neck was covered in dense muscle—he must’ve trained for years.

Otherwise, his earlier slash should’ve nearly severed the neck, leaving only the cervical spine and a thin layer of skin.

No wonder his strength was terrifying—luckily, he was slow and inflexible, perfect prey for Lin Qing.

After activating the combat technique «Agility», the giant’s speed looked no faster than a turtle crawling to Lin Qing’s eyes.

All that raw power meant nothing if he couldn’t land a hit.

«Good thing «Agility» is at the instinct level—if it weren’t, I’d have to run…»

Lin Qing silently sighed in relief.

At that moment, he noticed a sun-like tattoo slowly emerging on the giant’s neck too.

«Same tattoo?»

Lin Qing raised an eyebrow. «Were these two from the same organization?»

He didn’t linger—he pulled out a small jar of homemade incendiary agent, poured it over both corpses, then lit it with the lighter taken from the camel.

Before the bar’s automatic fire suppression system activated, the flames would reduce the bodies to unrecognizable char.

At least, wound patterns and exact time of death would be hard to determine.

Everything happened within minutes.

Lin Qing cast one final glance at the spreading fire in the bathroom, lowered his hat brim slightly, and turned to leave.

Inside the noisy bar, blaring music drowned out all sound—even the Blue Scarves thugs were lost in alcohol and desire, none noticing what had happened tonight.

After leaping from the second-floor balcony, Lin Qing avoided the sparse surveillance cameras and found a secluded sewer entrance.

He bundled his coat, gloves, hat, mask, height inserts, shoulder pads, and wig into a tight package, doused it with the last of the incendiary agent, and tossed it into the sewer to burn clean.

Then he headed home.

He avoided all neighborhood surveillance, deliberately skipped the elevator, and used an unmonitored stairwell to return to his apartment.

For a Patrol Officer like him, locating surveillance cameras was trivial.

«Good thing this era is chaotic—cameras are either broken or just for show…»

Back home, Lin Qing glanced at the smartphone on the living room table—it was casting an old TV drama.

Then he summoned the Entropy Reverser, gazing at his Order Level of 0.7, and allowed himself a faint satisfied smile.

«Tomorrow I’ll investigate Ironstone Bar—once the Blue Scarves are disbanded, Order Level hits 0.8.»

(End of Chapter)