"Sister Cipher, you're amazing!"
Luo Lin didn't hesitate for a second, throwing her arms around Cipher in a giant hug. Still immersed in the lingering thrill of the adrenaline rush, Cipher didn't move to avoid the embrace.
"Alright, let's focus on the task at hand first."
Cipher, who was gradually developing a resistance to Luo Lin's hugging attacks, gently pushed her away and pointed toward the warehouse door.
"Right! Sister Cipher, just leave the rest to us!"
With that, Luo Lin drew her handgun and aimed it at the entrance. "Big Bear, prepare to breach!"
"Understood!"
As soon as the command left Luo Lin's lips, Cipher noticed Xiong Lei's physique visibly swell, his muscles bulging so intensely they threatened to tear through his clothes. He took a deep breath, his icy gaze fixed on the warehouse door.
"Hah!"
With a thunderous roar, Xiong Lei swung his right fist, smashing it directly into the door's locking mechanism.
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed as the metal door buckled like a brittle cracker, a fist-sized hole appearing where the lock once was. Immediately after, Xiong Lei lashed out with a powerful kick. Since the lock had already been pulverized, the door flew wide open amidst a cloud of swirling dust.
Inside, six men stood frozen, staring at the entrance with expressions of pure shock. The moment she laid eyes on them, Luo Lin leveled her gun, a faint blue light beginning to shimmer in her eyes.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots rang out. Simultaneously, bloody holes blossomed on the foreheads of two men in the group. As for why she only fired twice—by the time the second casing hit the floor, the remaining gangsters had already scrambled for cover.
"Two confirmed kills. Three are hiding behind the sofa on the left, and one is behind the crate on the right."
"The crate might contain the trade goods. Big Bear! Flush those three out! I'll pin down the one behind the crate."
Luo Lin spoke with blistering speed, processing the battlefield and issuing orders within two seconds.
"On it!"
Receiving his orders, Big Bear dropped his defensive stance and charged toward the sofa like a runaway freight train. The three men hiding there heard the command and frantically poked their heads out, pistols drawn.
What they saw was a hulking brute charging at them with murderous intent.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three opened fire, unloading their magazines into Xiong Lei in a desperate bid to stop him. But as the bullets flew toward him, Xiong Lei didn't even blink. He raised his left hand, using his heavy metal gauntlet to shield his face.
The bullets failed to penetrate the metal. With a series of sharp clinks, they were deflected harmlessly, leaving not so much as a scratch on the gauntlet's surface. Some rounds struck his bulletproof vest, becoming embedded in the ceramic plates but failing to bypass them. Others hit his unprotected arms, only to tear through the fabric and bounce off his muscles—which had become impossibly dense due to his activated ability—leaving nothing but faint black singe marks.
Under the trio's despairing gaze, no matter how much they fired, they couldn't deal a single point of meaningful damage. Xiong Lei reached them in a flash, his right fist whistling through the air as it connected with one man's chest.
The unlucky soul was sent airborne, slamming violently into the warehouse wall. The other two tried to scramble away on all fours, but Xiong Lei wasn't about to give them the chance. He reached down, hoisted the sofa over his head, and with a powerful twist of his torso, hurled the furniture at the fleeing pair.
Carrying massive kinetic energy, the sofa struck them with pinpoint accuracy, sending them both into a very "deep sleep" instantly. His task finished, Xiong Lei turned back to Luo Lin, who was still in a standoff.
"Captain, the three are neutralized."
"Good job," Luo Lin replied without looking back. "Help me flush out the guy behind the crate. Be gentle this time; don't damage the cargo."
"Will do—"
"No need for all that trouble."
Before Xiong Lei could finish his response, a playful voice drifted down from above Luo Lin's head. Luo Lin glanced upward out of the corner of her eye and saw that Cipher had somehow managed to sneak along the ceiling beams of the first floor, positioning herself directly above the crate.
Cipher let go, dropping silently behind the box. She looked at the gangster leaning against the crate—who was now staring at her in sheer terror—and flashed a bright smile. She raised her right hand and lightly flicked him on the forehead.
The gangster, who had just raised his gun to shoot her, slumped over just like his colleagues, sleeping soundly.
[Assist the Spark Squad in neutralizing/killing members of the Tiger Gang and Maelstrom Gang. Stellar Jades +800]
'Oh? Eight hundred at once? That's five whole pulls. Why the sudden generosity?'
Watching the subtitles pop up before her eyes, Cipher murmured to herself in surprise.
"Generosity? Sister Cipher, did you say something?"
Luo Lin, having holstered her gun and walked over, heard the muttering and asked with a puzzled look. Cipher snapped back to reality and shook her head.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just talking to myself."
However, as she looked at the mess scattered across the floor, she fell back into thought.
'Where did that "Brother Tan" go? Based on last night's conversation, he should have arrived at the drop-off point ages ago. But whether it was when I was watching from the alley, or from the rooftops, or even now after we've cleared the gang... he hasn't shown up. Surely he didn't just bail?'
Cipher frowned, unable to find a logical explanation for the moment. But soon, her expression smoothed over.
'Agh, why worry about it? Whatever comes, comes. I'll just handle it when it gets here. First, let's see what they were actually trading!'
Thinking this, Cipher turned her attention to the large crate.
"Luo Lin, what do you think is inside this thing?"
Looking at the container, Cipher licked her lips, her fingers twitching with the irrepressible urge to open it.
"I don't know... but since it's this big, it's probably some kind of medium-sized machinery?"
Luo Lin gestured at the height of the crate. Looking at the box—which was nearly taller than she was—she fell into contemplation.
"Whatever, we'll know once we open it."
Seeing that Luo Lin didn't have a definitive answer either, Cipher stepped forward and began searching for the latch.