Chapter 27: Everyone's Shock

C-7 District, a sprawling ruin of a commercial plaza flattened to the ground.

According to the agreement, the shelter will hand over Li Wei, along with all information about the first extermination target—the Rotten Corpse Spider Queen holed up in the large shopping mall in the east of the city—to him.

The Black Tortoise's massive body lay still in the center of the plaza; from a distance, its size resembled a small hill.

Lin Yue and Wang Gongtou sat on the balcony of the second floor of the core residential building, leisurely drinking tea leaves scavenged from some poor soul's backpack, brewed with purified rainwater.

"Lin kid, do you really think Commander Zhang will hand over that bastard Li Wei for you to deal with?"

Wang Gongtou took a sip of tea, his face still filled with disbelief.

In his view, no matter how worthless Li Wei was, he was still the shelter's deputy director, a position of high authority.

Would Zhang Zhen'guo really go so far as to hand him over just to win Lin Yue over?

"Yes."

Lin Yue gazed into the distance, his eyes calm,

"Zhang Zhen'guo is a smart man; he knows that one Li Wei, compared to the shelter's entire future, is trivial. Moreover, this incident was originally Li Wei's fault—by doing this, he can placate me, use my hand to eliminate a serious threat, and even establish his authority within the shelter, killing three birds with one stone. Why wouldn't he?"

"Ah, these officials—each one more scheming than the last."

Wang Gongtou sighed and shook his head,

"Dealing with them is exhausting."

"That's why we need to be strong enough that no one dares entertain any ill will toward us."

Lin Yue gave a faint smile.

Just as his words fell, the Black Tortoise beneath him suddenly let out an extremely faint low growl.

"Roar..."

Lin Yue's hand holding the tea cup paused slightly, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Gongtou immediately grew tense.

"Nothing."

Lin Yue shook his head, his gaze casually sweeping over the southeast corner of the plaza, where an office building stood reduced to its frame,

"Just a few uninvited flies."

After the Black Tortoise advanced to level 3, its perception range and precision underwent a qualitative leap.

At this moment, he could clearly 'see' that on the seventeenth floor of that office building, several blurry figures were sneaking through the windows, furtively peering this way.

They carried a faint killing intent.

"People from the shelter again?"

Wang Gongtou's face changed.

"Probably not."

Lin Yue shook his head,

"Just after Zhang Zhen'guo reached an agreement with us, he sends people to deal with me? I don't think he's that foolish. Still, what they'reholding is interesting."

In the Black Tortoise's perception, that group had set up several tube-like devices similar to mortars, their muzzles aimed straight at us from afar.

"Could this be Li Wei's backup?"

Wang Gongtou speculated.

"Who knows."

Lin Yue shrugged indifferently,

"Just a bunch of clowns—not worth worrying about. Let's wait for Wang Hailong and the others to arrive first."

As his words fell, the shelter's convoy appeared on time on the distant horizon.

Wang Hailong still led the team.

The convoy stopped outside the plaza, and Wang Hailong walked over alone.

"Mr. Lin."

He performed the customary military salute, his demeanor even more respectful than yesterday's.

"Colonel Chen, long time no see."

Lin Yue descended the staircase condensed from the Black Tortoise's back.

"The person you want, and the information you need, are right here."

Wang Hailong stepped aside; the two soldiers behind him escorted a man wearing a black hood, his hands and feet shackled, down from the prisoner vehicle.

At the same time, another soldier stepped forward with a sealed military data box, hurrying over to hand it to Lin Yue.

"Inside is all the data on the Rotten Corpse Spider Queen—its activity range, habits, and the internal structure diagrams of the shopping mall we drafted after multiple reconnaissance missions. According to our analysis, that spider queen's strength is no less than the Steel Bone Vulture you previously encountered, and it might even be stronger."

Wang Hailong's tone was very solemn.

Lin Yue casually took the data box, then turned his gaze to the escorted prisoner.

He walked over and yanked off the man's black hood.

A face twisted with anger and humiliation was exposed to the air.

It was Li Wei.

"Are you Lin Yue?"

Li Wei stared at him fixedly,

"An opportunist who relies on monsters to throw his weight around! How long do you think you can stay smug? I'll be waiting for you down below!"

"Oh?"

Lin Yue looked at him with interest,

"It seems Deputy Director Li bears a considerable grudge against me."

Pah!

Li Wei spat fiercely at his feet,

"Kill me, cut me, do as you wish! If I, Li Wei, furrow my brow even a little, I'm no hero!"

"Hero?"

Lin Yue laughed, he leaned close to Li Wei's ear, using a voice only the two could hear, and whispered,

"When you sent people to sneak attack me, you weren't acting like any hero. But rest assured, I won't let you die so easily."

Li Wei's pupils contracted sharply, a chill rose from his heart.

"The information and the person have been delivered, Mr. Lin. If there's nothing else, we'll take our leave."

Wang Hailong hurriedly spoke up, fearing another mishap.

"Wait."

Lin Yue, however, raised his hand to stop him.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping past Wang Hailong toward the rundown office building in the southeast, the corner of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.

"Captain Wang, you don't want to... watch a good show before leaving, do you?"

"A show?"

Wang Hailong stared, then followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

Just then!

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!

Several sharp tearing sounds burst forth from the direction of that office building without warning!

Armor-piercing shells with long trails of flame and white phosphorus incendiary bombs spewing white smoke poured down like a torrent onto the massive body of the Black Tortoise!

"Uh-oh! An ambush!"

Wang Hailong's face changed drastically, he instinctively wanted to drop to the ground.

But Lin Yue beside him didn't even lift an eyelid.

"Black Tortoise, Energy Shield."

Hum—!

A pale blue light cover arrived as expected, enveloping a radius of a hundred meters.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosion's deafening roar, flames shooting into the sky!

The armor-piercing shells shattered on the shield, sending out ripples.

The terrifying heat from the exploding white phosphorus bombs even distorted the air, yet it could not cause the slightest tremor in that thin light curtain.

Watching this scene, everyone was stunned.

Wang Hailong gaped, his face full of disbelief.

The soldiers behind him gripped their guns, palms slick with cold sweat, not daring to breathe.

The captured Li Wei's eyes were filled with despair and madness.

Impossible!

He had clearly deployed the Black Feather Special Forces, taking almost all the heavy firepower from the shelter's stores—why… why couldn't they even scratch a hair of the opponent?!

This monster's defense… how could it be so terrifying?!

"Look, the show's over."

Lin Yue patted nonexistent dust off his body.