Chapter 38: Art Is an Explosion

While Mary and the others were busy running errands, Mo Yu found an excuse to slip away. He contacted the trio, instructed them to handle the cleanup, left the school, wandered around the vicinity for a while, and eventually ducked into an alleyway.

Turning his back to the alley entrance, he struck a cool pose and began talking to himself.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?"
"Speak."
"Hmph."

He paused for a moment after each segment of dialogue.

Once finished, he triggered a rewind, returning to the morning when he was buying breakfast. He deployed a mirror image, canceled the first one, and directed the second to perform the actions of the thug.

Mo Yu’s true self took his breakfast and returned to his apartment.

He proceeded exactly as planned.

As it neared 9:00 AM, he and Elise, who was disguised as a young boy, arrived at the coffee shop. Elise played with her phone for a moment before whispering, "He’s appeared."

"Let me see."

Mo Yu stood up and sat beside Elise. They huddled together to watch the screen; viewing his own performance from a third-person perspective felt rather strange. After weeding out the monster mole within, a thirty-minute preparation period began.

Mo Yu took the opportunity to question Elise. Leaning close to her ear, he breathed softly, "My lady, how do you intend to use this thug?"

"Don't get so close."

Elise pushed Mo Yu away and rubbed her ear, a faint, imperceptible blush coloring her fair cheeks. Only after maintaining some distance did she reply, "This human can identify monsters. As long as he is guided to the nursing home in Ximu Town, that will suffice."

"Why?"

"The true foundation of the Nani family is there. Two days ago, the public forces of these two families were annihilated, but that was merely a ruse to deceive the monster hunters," Elise answered.

Mo Yu asked, "What exactly do these two families possess that makes it worth all this trouble for you, my lady?"

As he spoke, he intentionally nudged Elise. During the day, this young vampire beauty felt much like a human—she had body heat, a heartbeat, and her skin was soft and supple to the touch.

"Something very important."

Elise replied, but she did not elaborate. Mo Yu decided not to press further.

Once the school operation concluded, he volunteered, "My lady, let me make contact with him. I am human; he won't be on his guard."

"If there is any danger, retreat immediately."

"Understood. I’ll use a video call."

Mo Yu set off. Under Elise’s guidance, he quickly caught up with the thug leaving the school. Keeping a video call open with Elise and hiding the phone in his jacket pocket, he followed the thug all the way into a small alley.

In the dim alley, the thug had his back to the entrance. He turned his head slightly and spoke in a synthesized electronic voice:

"Who are you? Why are you following me?"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Thug. Who I am is unimportant. What matters is that there is something you will surely be interested in."

"Speak."

"The Nani and Kedo families have not been wiped out. They have deceived everyone and are secretly cultivating forces. If you wish to achieve glory in Lieyue, go check the nursing home in Ximu Town."

"Hmph."

After answering, the thug vanished into thin air.

Mo Yu looked around, then pulled out his phone. "My lady, did you see that? He just disappeared."

From the other end came Elise’s grave voice: "I saw it. Return on your own. Act freely for the next two days; I am moving to another hideout for the time being."

As expected of Elise—excessively cautious. Mo Yu was pleased; with Elise gone, he could act freely.

He returned to his apartment immediately.

His first priority was to check on the "Penance." He summoned Alpha and opened its mechanical head. The cross inside was gone, leaving only a cross-shaped indentation on the metal plate.

"It’s gone."

Mo Yu exclaimed. Mary’s intelligence was correct. Judging by the remaining traces, the Penance seemed to have melted and fused with Alpha. He grabbed Alpha, dismantled it to check the internal circuits, and then opened the control panel to inspect the software functions.

There were no abnormalities.

Mo Yu even began to suspect that Alpha had accidentally lost the Penance. He stood up and paced. Although the Penance was lost, the intelligence was still useful and wouldn't significantly impact his plan; he just needed to leak false information so the opposition would believe the Penance was in Alice's possession.

What pained him was the loss of this treasure.

"Station Master, what are you grieving over?"

"You damn bucket of bolts, give me back my Penance!"

After grabbing Alpha and shaking it to vent his emotions, Mo Yu quickly calmed down. He needed to act early; there were only twenty days left in the current derivative timeline, and he didn't want to be chased by a deadline.

He called the trio.

"Shell, can you get your hands on plastic explosives?"

"Big Brother, those are controlled items. Even here in Lieyue, they are very hard to come by."

"As long as it's an explosive capable of destroying a building, that will do."

"I'll try."

After hanging up, Mo Yu changed his disguise and went to the designated meeting spot to wait. Before long, a dark green off-road vehicle appeared at the street corner and pulled up in front of him.

Abu jumped out and opened the door. "Big Brother, please get in."

Mo Yu got into the car. Fat Rat was driving, Abu was in the passenger seat, and Shell was in the back.

Once the car started, Shell reported, "Big Brother, we got the stuff. Three blocks of plastic explosives. Lieyue wouldn't usually approve it, but when Miss Mary heard, she let us have them, though she required a record of their use."

"That’s fine. Let me see them. Are there instructions?"

Shell retrieved a black box from under the seat. Mo Yu took it and opened it to inspect the contents.

The device was foolproof. One simply had to disengage the safety and press the start button to begin the countdown, which could be adjusted manually. He tested it, and it worked perfectly. However, the rhythmic beeping terrified the trio so much they nearly crashed the car.

He rewound time to before the test.

Mo Yu calmed down and closed his eyes to rest; the trio did not dare disturb him.

Ximu Town was thirty kilometers from Black City. It was located in a desolate area with few resources—a very backward and dilapidated small town. Thirty minutes later, the car entered the town and stopped at the mouth of a ruined street.

"Big Brother, what are we doing in this place?"

"There’s a big fish here. You guys drive the car further away. If things go wrong, escape immediately."

"Big Brother... shouldn't we call for backup?"

"No need. Do as I say."

"Yes."

Over the past week of building trust, the trio had come to admire Mo Yu immensely. After watching him disappear into the alley, they drove off and waited outside the town.

Ten minutes passed. Nothing happened.

The trio grew uneasy. Usually, Mo Yu would be done in ten minutes, and they would just go in for the cleanup. Today was abnormal.

Another ten minutes passed.

"Could something have happened?"

"Should we call for help?"

As the trio was debating, Shell’s phone suddenly rang—it was a call from Mo Yu.

Shell answered excitedly, expecting the usual good news, but all that came from the other end was heavy panting.

A weak, synthesized voice said:

"Remnants of the Nani family... so many 3-star vampires... report this immediately... Black City is in dange—"

Before he could finish, a massive explosion rocked the town. A pillar of fire shot into the sky, creating a giant mushroom cloud. Even from outside the town, the trio was staggered by the shockwave.

The line went dead, leaving only the sound of static.

The trio didn't have time for grief. They immediately drove away to report the incident to Lieyue.