Chapter 226: Disguise

Fors also looked at 126 Market Avenue and said:

"Neither 'Black Scorpion' Luo Jie, nor 'Bald' Harman, nor 'Dwarf Candlestick' Castina have come out."

"Very cautious." Lu Mian evaluated objectively.

Fors sneered:

"If it were me, I'd be just as cautious. In a situation where I only need to endure until tomorrow night to turn the situation around and win, how much would I have to be unable to think to run outside? Even if someone tied Gardner up and chopped his hands and feet one by one at the door, I wouldn't come out."

This example isn't convincing... Lu Mian asked back:

"If the one tied up wasn't Gardner, but Jenna?"

"..." Fors fell into silence.

Feeling that the "Provocateur" potion had digested a bit more and was close to completion, Lu Mian didn't continue this topic and asked instead:

"What else did you observe?"

Regarding how to raid "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie and the others, he and Fors didn't have a specific plan yet, only a few relatively vague ideas, currently in the stage of doing preliminary investigation and preparation.

Fors recalled for a few seconds and said:

"There is a Poison Sting Gang member who goes back and forth between the Election Committee and here from time to time, as if reporting the real-time vote count to 'Black Scorpion' Luo Jie."

She paused and outlined the corners of her mouth:

"This can be utilized!"

At the same time, Lu Mian laughed:

"Isn't this just sleepiness meeting a pillow?

"Caring about politics is indeed a very dangerous thing."

Fors turned her head with amusement and glanced at Lu Mian:

"Your sister taught you a lot of hometown idioms.

"What do you plan to do?"

Lu Mian was silent for two seconds and said:

"If I were an 'Actor', the problem would be very simple, but at least I still have those glasses."

Fors nodded with satisfaction:

"This action is both a raid and an assassination. The importance of the assassination should be placed above the raid. Only in this way can we maximize the avoidance of the 'Warlock's' home-field advantage."

The two discussed slightly and moved to a shadow that was further from 126 Market Avenue but closer to the Parliamentary Election Committee of this district, waiting patiently.

Today's voting had come to an end. The staff of the Election Committee were working overtime to count the votes, issuing real-time results. I don't know how many newspaper reporters were squatting there, hoping to get the first-hand data.

If the situation was better than expected, Hugues Artois could get more than half of the registered voters' votes tonight and declare his election.

Time passed second by second, and the night became deeper. Suddenly, Fors patted Lu Mian and pointed to a figure who left the Election Committee quickly:

"That's the Poison Sting Gang member."

That figure was nearly thirty years old, with black hair and brown eyes, a long face, wearing a blue and white striped shirt, draped in a light brown jacket, and wearing a relatively thick golden necklace.

Lu Mian nodded lightly, left the hiding place, and walked toward that man, pretending to be in a

He pulled his dark flat cap down very low, concealing his signature black-streaked golden hair.

Seeing someone walking toward him, the Poison Sting Gang member cautiously changed his route.

At this moment, Lu Mian took a diagonal step, blocked his path, and greeted him with a smile:

"Long time no see. How are you doing in the Poison Sting Gang?"

The man froze for a moment, observing Lu Mian's face by the light cast from the gas streetlamp.

Lu Mian seized this opportunity, lunged forward, pressed his right hand against the man's neck, and pulled him into his embrace.

At the same time, Lu Mian pushed with his left hand, which was holding a small metal bottle, bringing it right in front of the target's nose.

He had already unscrewed the cap but had been keeping his finger pressed over the opening to delay the gas from leaking out.

The Poison Sting Gang member struggled frantically, but with his mouth and nose covered by Lu Mian's palm, he couldn't make a sound. His punches and kicks were either easily neutralized or, because his neck was being pressed down hard and his back was being restrained by an elbow, his head buried in his opponent's hand and leaning against his chest, he couldn't hit the enemy's vitals in his haste, and Lu Mian bore the blows head-on.

A few seconds later, the man's struggles began to weaken. Several passersby glanced at them with a look of realization for a few seconds before walking away, sensing nothing unusual.

After another few seconds, the man in Lu Mian's arms completely lost consciousness.

While propping up his "drunk" companion, he once again blocked the bottle opening with his finger.

Upon arriving at a deserted alley blocked off by barricades, Lu Mian discarded the target on the ground and screwed the cap back onto the small metal bottle.

"You're quite reckless." Franca walked out from the shadows nearby. "This only works in Trier. Anywhere else, someone would have loudly questioned you by now."

"It's only because it's Trier that I'd do this." Lu Mian squatted down, stripped the Poison Sting Gang member of his clothes and necklace, and used a rope he carried with him to tie the man's hands and feet behind his back.

After finishing this, he first fed the man a bit of "Truth Serum" before waking him up with occult smelling salts.

After three consecutive sneezes, the Poison Sting Gang member opened his eyes and blurted out in terror:

"Who are you? What are you doing?"

Lu Mian took off his flat cap, squatted in front of the target, and asked with a smile:

"Don't you recognize who I am?"

Aided by the crimson moonlight, the Poison Sting Gang member saw the black-streaked golden hair and the somewhat familiar face.

His teeth began to chatter uncontrollably:

"Ch-Charles!"

"I have some things I want to ask you. If you don't answer or try to deceive me, you know what the consequences will be," Lu Mian said with a smile.

His reputation for being cold, cruel, and insane was very well-known within the Poison Sting Gang, and the man was so frightened his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat:

"I'll talk, I'll talk!"

Lu Mian asked with an unchanging expression:

"Where were you planning to go just now?"

"To the Boss's place, to report the election vote count. Mr. Auguste Artois has already secured nearly half the votes, just a little bit more to go..." The man not only answered Lu Mian's question but also rambled on about extra details.

Lu Mian nodded in satisfaction and asked in detail about the previous times this Poison Sting Gang member had reported to "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie.

This included his attitude toward servants, how he addressed "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, his standing position, and his tone of voice.

After carefully memorizing these, Lu Mian used the anesthetic again to knock the Poison Sting Gang member unconscious.

Immediately after, he changed into the man's clothes, took out the "Spectator's Glasses," and placed them on the bridge of his nose.

This time, he still saw the underground filled with rats, insects, and snakes, but there was an additional charred, gloomy, and dark building, and a blurred face stuck behind one of the glass windows of that house.

That face had a pair of unnaturally hollow eyes.

Lu Mian's mind experienced a brief moment of chaos. He frowned, took off the "Spectator's Glasses," and brought out a pile of cosmetics.

Aided by the crimson moonlight and the light from the small torch in Franca's hand, he used the makeup mirror his companion carried to apply various things to his face.

About ten minutes later, his face shape became thin and long, gradually taking on the appearance of that Poison Sting Gang member.

His makeup skills weren't enough to truly restore the other man's appearance, but the effect of the "Spectator's Glasses" would make anyone who saw his face believe he was that guy named Alsay.

Snap!

Lu Mian closed the makeup mirror, not daring to look at himself again.

While putting away her own items, Franca told Lu Mian to turn around and face away from her.

She was afraid she would mistake her companion for a Poison Sting Gang member, which would affect their subsequent coordination.

After examining Lu Mian's hair color, she took out the disguise tools she had obtained from Lentas:

"Hair color and eye color are the biggest loopholes. First, use this stuff to dye your hair completely black, then put on this pair of brown contact lenses.

"Damn it, the occult field really is full of possibilities. With the technology of this era, an 'Actor' can actually produce 'colored contacts.' Although the material is different and they don't change your vision, they can indeed be used for disguise. Otherwise, Lentas couldn't have disguised himself as Eve, nor could he have disguised you. It's not scientific, but it's very occult!"

Lu Mian didn't pay attention to Franca's rambling at the end. He took the occult hair dye that could be washed off with a special reagent and, under her guidance, turned his black-streaked golden hair back to pure black.

Once he had put on the brown contact lenses, Franca seized the time to discuss the details of the upcoming surprise attack with him.

The two quickly had a general plan, but they didn't refine it further. Firstly, there wasn't enough time, and secondly, there might be many unexpected situations on-site that they couldn't exhaustively list. They could only adapt to circumstances as they arose, provided the general direction and main strategy remained unchanged.

At this time, Franca took out a coin pouch.

It was a fist-sized gray-white cloth bag filled with gold, silver, and copper coins.

Franca reached into the coin pouch, rummaged for a few seconds, and pulled out an iron-colored ring with a thick band and tiny spikes covering its surface.

"This is one of my magical artifacts, the 'Ring of Punishment'." She introduced it to Lu Mian. "It only has one function: to pierce the target's spirit body within five meters, causing them great pain and making them temporarily lose the consciousness to resist. In the low-to-mid sequences, there are very few supernatural abilities that can ignore other defenses and directly attack the spirit body. This is one of them."

Franca paused and added:

"Wearing it for a long time will make you irritable, bloodthirsty, cruel, and impulsive. Using it more than three times in an hour will cause your personality to alienate. And if you don't wear it, once you enter its five-meter range, you will suffer indiscriminate 'Spirit Piercing' damage. The way to seal it is to place it in a pile of metal coins that have monetary value."

Franca was currently wearing it, so neither she nor Lu Mian had been attacked.

She then handed the "Ring of Punishment" to Lu Mian hand-to-hand.

As soon as Lu Mian put the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, he felt an intense sense of irritability.

After calming his emotions, he put on black gloves on both hands, then ran out of the alley toward 126 Market Avenue.

(End of chapter)