Chapter 33: A New Model of Cooperation

Lin Yilin did not bother with the leisurely subway ride, opting instead to flag down a taxi on the side of the road.

"Where to, young lady?" asked the middle-aged driver, whose face was plump and somewhat greasy.

But when his gaze shifted to the rearview mirror, he froze. A "meow-meow gun" was pressed firmly against his head from the backseat.

"The Xiaohe Society bunch often use the convenience of driving taxis to 'collect corpses' and loot valuables. Overcharging is just the norm, isn't it?"

"...Calm down, calm down. I don't know how I've offended you, but—"

"Save the talk. Drive to the location I specified, as fast as you can," Lin Yilin interrupted.

The driver dared not say another word, slamming his foot on the accelerator as the vehicle sped away.

Zheng Fan sat next to Lin Yilin, legs crossed casually. "You really have these small gangs wrapped around your finger."

These small-time thugs, who bullied the weak and feared the strong, were usually terrified once Lin Yilin did a deep dive into their affairs. A single gun pointed their way was enough to turn them into docile tools.

The car sped down the street. Calling it "speeding" might be an exaggeration, as the Xixike streets lacked strict traffic enforcement; besides, even if there were rules, the metropolitan police likely couldn't be bothered to enforce them.

Lin Yilin lowered her head to check her phone. Zheng Fan watched as new information refreshed constantly on her screen. It was all related to the operations of the Shenlai Agency.

It seemed to be in real-time?

*Tsk, tsk.*

Zheng Fan increasingly felt that the girl beside him was no mere amateur detective acting on a whim, but rather the underground queen who had been operating in the Xixike streets for years.

"The Shenlai Agency has begun their move. A large number of Kannetong remnant strongholds are being searched and wiped out. They've even caught wind of some personnel fleeing and have set up a containment net. Such a large workforce and high efficiency—it’s quite enviable. They’re bound to suffer heavy losses this time," Lin Yilin said while reading.

The driver: "?"

Lin Yilin's sudden monologue made the already terrified man feel even more uneasy. Was this stuff he was supposed to be hearing?

"Have our targets been discovered?" Zheng Fan asked.

"No signs of a concentrated assault yet, but they seem to have realized something is amiss. There are scout teams moving in that direction. We still have time."

Lin Yilin looked up, locking eyes with the driver in the rearview mirror. The urgency in her gaze was clear. The driver broke into a cold sweat, forcing himself to focus solely on the road, not daring to let his mind wander.

The car soon arrived at its destination: a detached house in a remote part of the Xixike streets. From the outside, it looked long-abandoned; the courtyard was overgrown with weeds, with no signs of human activity.

At least, that was how it looked at first glance.

In reality, the moment Lin Yilin stepped out of the car, she could spot several camouflaged but still visible flaws.

She took out a paper bill and tossed it to the driver.

The driver was pleasantly surprised. After being held at gunpoint for the whole ride, he didn't expect to walk away with anything, let alone his fare. But when he looked, it was only the minimum starting price. For a trip this long, even without overcharging, the standard fare would have been much higher!

As he glanced sideways, he saw Lin Yilin fire a shot directly at his roof.

Accompanied by a cheerful "meow" sound and the driver's horrified gaze, a bullet hole was permanently etched into the metal.

"Pleasure doing business. Looking forward to next time," Lin Yilin said as she holstered her gun.

The driver didn't hesitate, driving off as if fleeing for his life. His mind was already racing with thoughts of leaving the Xixike streets, though he couldn't quite grasp what that big shot had meant by her last remark...

He was destined to live in fear of Lin Yilin for a long time to come.

Lin Yilin, naturally, paid him no further mind. She knew that given his circumstances and cowardice, he wouldn't dare to run far. Besides, she wouldn't have to borrow Uncle Drake's car anymore, which was a relief.

"We've been noticed since we got out of the car," Zheng Fan remarked, eyeing the building.

"If my deductions are correct, this is a key strategic point... Keep an eye on that garbage truck over there." Lin Yilin looked at a large truck parked by the road, where the driver was smoking and chatting with a colleague.

"Their people?"

"More than that. At this time of day on this street, a garbage truck shouldn't be parked here, and the load shouldn't be very heavy. But this truck is clearly weighed down, the chassis visibly sagging. It’s not carrying trash," Lin Yilin analyzed rapidly.

Zheng Fan appeared beside the truck as if by teleportation, peeked inside, and quickly returned to Lin Yilin's side. "You're right. It's full of things that look very expensive. Should we intercept them?"

Lin Yilin glanced toward the other end of the street, where another car was approaching.

"Leave it to the Shenlai people. Our mission is to find Linde."

With that, several black earthworms emerged from Lin Yilin's hand, biting down on the latch of the old gate.

*Snap!*

Lin Yilin pushed the gate open and strode toward the house.

Zheng Fan transformed into a gray-eyed bat, flapping his wings over her head and entering the building first. Before going in, he shouted, "Two o'clock, in the tree."

Lin Yilin responded by raising the meow-meow gun and pulling the trigger.

*Meow~.*

A corpse fell from the tree, hitting the ground with a dull thud, muffled by the dense grass.

Lin Yilin glanced at it and moved on.

"There's a machine gun trap at the entrance," Zheng Fan's voice echoed from nowhere.

Lin Yilin quickly turned, flicking her hand to release the earthworms, which bound the machine guns tightly. A crunching sound followed as they were chewed into scrap metal.

"The lock is just for show. Kick the door in."

*Bang!*

Lin Yilin kicked the old wooden door open.

Immediately, Zheng Fan’s voice rang out: "Fire at will, straight ahead."

*Meow, meow, meow, meow~~~.*

Lin Yilin didn't see the targets, and she didn't need to. The bullets from the meow-meow gun had a degree of self-tracking. While they weren't as lively in her hands as they were in Zheng Fan's, they were more than enough for the situation.

The infinite ammunition and bizarre firing rate allowed a mere handgun to perform like a submachine gun. The constant chorus of "meows" was perhaps a bit too manic and surreal.

"Finished. The entrance hall is cleared."

Following Zheng Fan's signal, Lin Yilin stepped into the house, walking through a pool of blood.

She heard the sound of chaotic footsteps inside; it seemed her swift and decisive breakthrough had caught them off guard.

"Some tough guys are coming. Retreat or engage?"

Lin Yilin was silent for a moment. "Retreat."

"Fine. Smash the wall to your left." Zheng Fan had no objections and gave the order immediately. Lin Yilin obeyed, smashing through the wall and finding a secret passage, which she followed deep into the building.

Even if hallucinations didn't intentionally erase one's consciousness, frequent possession and reckless squandering of the body would lead to abnormalities. However, whenever Zheng Fan used her body, he never held back.

For this reason, Lin Yilin needed to improve her physical endurance while further honing her combat skills. Fortunately, she had the "red elixir" produced by Zheng Fan to help her recover.

Direct possession had become a tool she had to use with restraint, though neither she nor Zheng Fan hesitated when the time was right.

This cooperative mode—leveraging Zheng Fan's illusions while Lin Yilin executed the actions—was a dynamic they would likely repeat many times in the future.

Happily, for this first attempt, their coordination was quite good.