Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 104

The abandoned sewer was filled with a putrid smell, as if something had rotted there. Joshua guessed it was probably rats. These resilient creatures had followed the settlers from Old Earth to various planets, setting up camps and conquering the new world in their own way. They were born in darkness, died in darkness, decayed in darkness, and then became darkness itself.

The assassin held a flashlight high, dispelling the thick darkness. Dominic Fourier led the way, with two other assassins following behind. The rest of the group, along with Jolene, were attacking from the front of the building. There were no surveillance cameras in this abandoned building, and Leo had risked using a military satellite, but it was of little help. That’s fine, Joshua thought. Both sides were equal, and now it was all about strength.

At the end of the sewer was a rusty ladder. A group of rats, startled by the light and footsteps, scattered in all directions. Dominic, holding the flashlight in his mouth, was the first to climb the ladder, struggling to move the manhole cover.

“Let’s go.” He leapt up like an agile feline. Joshua followed closely behind.

Exiting the sewer, they found themselves in a narrow lightwell, flanked by walls stacked with layers of steel bars, like towering mountains pressing down, leaving only a small patch of starry night sky to catch their breath.

Dominic opened a holographic map, pointing to a small red dot. “This is where we are. Ms. Jolene will attack from this direction—” His finger slid along a line to the top of the map. “If the enemy doesn’t want to die with us, they’ll escape in this direction. Capture any one of them and find out where the hostage is being held.” He glanced at Joshua, as if asking, “Do you understand?”

Joshua felt insulted. “I understand.”

“The priority is to rescue the hostage,” Dominic said. “Don’t get entangled with the enemy. Even if they escape the building, your AI and hacker can track down any stragglers.”

“…I know that too.”

“Then let’s split up as planned.” Dominic pointed to the earpiece in his ear. “Stay in touch.”

“What’s going on?!”

A loud explosion echoed into the small interrogation room, causing Leslie Faraday to release the nearly lifeless hostage and push the door open to question the guard standing by.

“D-don’t know, Mr. Faraday.” The guard stammered, meeting the unfeeling cybernetic eye.

Faraday kicked him to the ground. “Useless!” His half-metal skull had a built-in communicator, now filled with static noise, irritating him. “What’s happening!” he barked at his men downstairs.

“Reporting! There’s an intruder!”

“Who?”

“Unknown!”

Faraday spat. “How many of them?”

“M-many!”

“Damn it!” A bunch of useless fools! He grabbed a submachine gun from a nearby subordinate. “You stay here. I’ll check it out. Don’t let the hostage escape!” As if that guy could escape!

The chaotic sounds of battle reached Faraday through both the communicator and the air. Annoyed, he jumped down a makeshift steel ladder, landing on a platform. From here, he could clearly see the battle below—a group of strangers was fighting his men. The enemy’s weapons were excellent, and they were well-trained and coordinated—not a random band of robbers but an organized and disciplined army.

Could it be that the Mourner had already discovered their hiding place? Where did he gather these people from?

Faraday tried to contact “Salesman”. Earlier, Salesman had messaged that the chip was safely stored in the bank, but there had been no word since. Had something happened to him? Or had he defected with the chip? If it was the latter, was it his own decision or the Duke’s order?

The sounds of fighting grew louder, and Faraday felt increasingly uneasy. He had been closer to death than anyone else and should no longer fear it, but in reality, his previous brush with death made him value life more. If he died, he wouldn’t achieve his goals, restore his honor, or get his revenge.

There was still a small squad on standby at the top of the building, awaiting his orders. He ordered them to retreat. Running away wasn’t cowardice. It was preparing for the next victory.

“Should we take the hostage?” the squad leader asked.

Faraday initially wanted to say “take him,” but bringing the hostage would slow their retreat. Besides, the hostage couldn’t move in his current state. If he died on the way, they’d have to deal with the body.

“Kill the hostage,” he said. “Leave no loose ends.”

“The boss says to kill the hostage.” The guards at the cell door exchanged glances.

“Is that okay?” one asked. “If we leave him here, he’ll surely be dead by tomorrow.”

“The boss probably wants to speed things up.” His companion peeked into the cell. The walls were smeared with blood, looking like a crime scene. A dark red figure lay in the corner, barely alive.

“Give me the gun.” His gun had been taken by the boss, and the weapons room was on the other side of the floor. He didn’t want to run that far, so he grabbed his companion’s submachine gun and walked into the cell.

“Oh, poor guy,” his companion said. “The boss tortured him so badly, and now he’s going to die. Give him a quick death. Just hearing his screams hurts me. If the boss had a bit of humanity, he’d…” He didn’t finish, as a blond man in black appeared like a ghost, slitting his throat with a hunting knife.

The guard inside the cell was unaware of what was happening behind him. “Humanity?” he responded absentmindedly. “What’s that? Can you eat it?”

Then a cold blade pressed against his back.

“No,” someone whispered from behind. “It’ll choke you.”

The knife pierced his heart, spilling droplets of blood. Dominic withdrew the knife and caught the falling body. He gently laid it down, closed the dead man’s eyes, and then approached the corner of the cell.

The hostage they needed to rescue lay there. As the Mourner had described, his left hand was gone, his right hand was cuffed to the wall, either broken or dislocated, and his body was covered in various wounds, likely from different torture devices. The air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh, suggesting the furnace on the other side of the cell had been used.

Dominic pressed his earpiece. “Ms. Jolene?”

“Dominic? Have you found the hostage?”

“Yes, madam, on the west side, ninth floor, in a windowless room.”

“…Is he alive?”

Dominic brushed aside the blood-matted hair and felt for a pulse on the hostage’s neck. “He’s alive.” The assassin sighed in relief. “But it’s best not to let the Mourner see him… He’ll go mad.”

Joshua was nearly going mad. He had searched layer by layer upwards, not encountering a single enemy. He checked every room, hoping to find Alois or at least run into an enemy to vent his anger on.

But he found no one, not even a rat. At one point, he even suspected Dominic had set him up; that blond guy didn’t look trustworthy.

Every second wasted increased Alois’s danger. Joshua was burning with anxiety, forgetting to conceal his presence. He might be discovered, but he welcomed it. If he couldn’t find the enemy, let the enemy find him.

A laser beam brushed past his ear, piercing the rusty steel framework behind him. The already unstable framework groaned but didn’t collapse immediately.

Joshua quickly pinpointed the enemy’s location and returned fire.

Ping!

The beam entered the shadows and bounced out at a strange angle—it had been deflected by something.

“Come out.”

The sound of one heavy and one light footstep told Joshua the enemy had a mechanical leg. That explained the deflected beam; advanced metal prosthetics could reflect light.

Leslie Faraday stepped out of the shadows, his intact eye fixed on Joshua like a fly on food, while his cybernetic eye spun aimlessly in its socket.

“Mourner?” His half-metal, half-flesh face twisted into a grin. “Here to save your lover?”

The gun was aimed at the center of the smile. “Where is he?”

Faraday dropped his gun, and a sharp blade popped out from his prosthetic limb. “In the arms of the Lord.”

The Mourner’s pupils contracted sharply.

He threw away his gun, drew a short knife from his leg, and then slowly removed the white flower pinned to his chest, tossing it forward gently. The flower twirled in the air like a feather.

“For you.”

The short knife struck like lightning as white petals fluttered and scattered.

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