The First Order

Ren Xiaosu remembered that it was exactly the same situation as the previous time. After he had set up his sniper rifle, Zhou Yingxue started munching on melon seeds next to him. Back then, after the two of them accomplished their mission and went downstairs, Zhou Yingxue even shouted for him to save her when she got surrounded by enemies.Ren Xiaosu gave Zhou Yingxue a displeased look. “Stop munching on melon seeds. Take the spotting scope and check on the situation down there.”

When the two of them looked into the park, Ren Xiaosu immediately spotted Wang Congyang. He was sitting on a bench and reading a newspaper as though he were a normal resident enjoying the fresh air in the park.

However, Wang Congyang stayed in the park for the next five hours, and this made Ren Xiaosu even more certain that there was something up with his trip here. A normal person would not come to sit on a park bench for five hours if they had nothing to do. Besides, sitting there for so long would definitely make their butt hurt too!

Just as the sun was about to set, Zhou Yingxue suddenly said, “Master, a few suspicious people are approaching from the south side of Liberation Park.”

Ren Xiaosu took the spotting scope from Zhou Yingxue and looked over. She was not wrong. There really was a group dressed in black jackets and beanies approaching the park. As they walked, their arms did not swing naturally with their footsteps. This was clearly because they had guns hidden under their armpits.

On the other side of the park, Wang Congyang suddenly stood up and left.

There had to be some kind of connection between these two groups of people. Ren Xiaosu supposed they were up to something in Liberation Park.

But what could be here in Liberation Park? It was clearly just a normal park.

Right after, Ren Xiaosu saw someone among the people in black jackets take out a pocket-sized device resembling a cell phone. After fiddling with it for some time, one of them drew a circle on a certain patch of grass in the park.

After they finished, they quickly left. But they didn’t go too far away and ate at a nearby restaurant. It was as if they were waiting for something.

“Are they thinking of digging up the area marked by the circle?” Zhou Yingxue asked. “It’s just that there’s still normal stronghold residents out in the park now, so they can’t do anything about it. They’re probably waiting until the curfew is in effect before making a move.”

“But why did Wang Congyang appear here? Could he be the one leading the group that’s trying to dig for something in the park?” Ren Xiaosu analyzed, “There’s a very strong possibility that he’ s the mastermind behind this operation. Don’t the masterminds in the field of intelligence also coordinate operations from behind the scenes? They don’t join the operations directly, right?”

“That’s right.” Zhou Yingxue nodded.

Ren Xiaosu’s interest was piqued. Whatever Wang Congyang was trying to dig up must be very valuable, right?

“Master, what are we gonna do?” Zhou Yingxue asked.

“We’re gonna snatch the prize from him, of course.” Ren Xiaosu chuckled. Wang Congyang had looked for trouble with him on several occasions before. If Ren Xiaosu went easy on him this time, that wouldn’t make sense, would it?

“Then how should we do it? Go down there after they’re done digging?” Zhou Yingxue asked.

“No, I’ll go and deal with Wang Congyang first. When they get frightened off, we can dig up the lawn and find out what’s underneath,” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile.

With that, he led Zhou Yingxue downstairs and walked to where Wang Congyang would be.

However, they did not expect to bump into Wang Congyang right after walking past two streets!

Ren Xiaosu wore the hood over his head and even deliberately pulled up the zipper really high. With his head lowered while walking, the other party could only see his chin at most.

Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue remained standing in their spot while Wang Congyang also did the same. The two groups stood there in a deadlock.

However, although Wang Congyang did not recognize Ren Xiaosu, he recognized Zhou Yingxue!

He had already been suspicious of Zhou Yingxue in the morning. Now that he saw a familiar face again, he realized in an instant that he had been followed!

A group of students who just finished their evening self-study session passed by. Some of the students even looked curiously at the three of them, but they did not pay too much attention to it. They had to hurry home since it would be curfew soon.

Just as the students walked past Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue, Wang Congyang suddenly turned around and ran!

Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Wang Congyang was still as careful as ever. He did not even intend to fight and only thought of fleeing!

Ren Xiaosu sighed and said, “We’ve alerted him.” Zhou Yingxue and he could not go after him as it would be too obvious to start a chase in the streets at this time. In fact, it might even cause the Zhou Consortium’s troops to come after them. Importantly, there were also supernatural beings among the Zhou Consortium troops.

Next to him, Zhou Yingxue cautiously said, “Master, my four-leaf clover extract only allows me to determine the general direction, not the distance to the target. I wasn’t expecting him to be walking towards us either.”

“Never mind.” Ren Xiaosu took a look at the sky. “Since we’ve alerted them, the people who would be doing the digging should also have left. Wang Congyang would surely have found a way to contact his partners about us. Let’s head to the park right away and see what exactly they’re after over there. You don’t have to follow me. Just head back to the hotel first. It’ll get a little dangerous there.”

What Ren Xiaosu was trying to say was, even if Zhou Yingxue was also a supernatural being, she would only be a hindrance to him. After all, her combat power was way too terrible.

But Zhou Yingxue thought her master was pretty concerned about her safety.

“Master, I’ll come with you,” Zhou Yingxue said obediently.

“Get lost!”

“Alright, alright!”

…

Ren Xiaosu found a public bathroom and changed his attire. He also summoned his shadow clone and dressed it as well, even putting a Pigsy mask on it.

The white mask from before could not be used as it would draw animosity from anyone who saw it.

Under the cover of the curfew, Ren Xiaosu hurried towards Liberation Park, running behind his shadow clone.

But what left Ren Xiaosu surprised was that before he got there, he could already hear the sound of digging.

Wait! Did Wang Congyang not notify his partners to leave? Why was that group of people still digging up the ground over here?

He ordered his shadow clone to go over. When the group saw his shadow clone approaching in its mask, they were not surprised. After all, they were carrying out something sneaky, so who would want to expose their identities to the consortiums?

The people in black jackets looked at the shadow clone, and one of them said, “You must be Wang Congyang, right? Where’s your steam locomotive?”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned when he heard this from where he was hiding. They had mistaken his shadow clone for Wang Congyang?!

Could it be that Wang Congyang was not with them? And as a result, Wang Congyang did not let them know that he had been discovered?

But why did these people want Wang Congyang’s steam locomotive? It was as if they also needed it for something besides using it to confirm his identity.

However, after some thought, he gritted his teeth and conjured the steam locomotive out of thin air. He also deliberately controlled the train to not make any loud sounds. The leader of the black-jacketed people sized up the steam locomotive and nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, your identity has been verified. After we get the data out from the ground, we’ll board your steam locomotive and force our way out of here. You said that your steam locomotive can reach a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, so the Zhou Consortium’s troops will definitely not be able to catch up to you in the wilderness. When we get out of the stronghold, there will be people from the Company coming to back us up. The research data will be placed in your steam locomotive, and since you’ve already accepted the payment, you’ll have to ensure that it’s delivered without a hitch.”

During their conversation, someone struck a metal cover in the ground while digging. The other party lifted the metal cover and entered inside. Fifteen minutes later, someone crawled out of the ground carrying a silver box with a logo of the Pyro Company on it!

Ren Xiaosu was dumbfounded. So these people were the Pyro Company members in disguise. So it turned out that there was really a Pre-Cataclysm research laboratory in Stronghold 73. Moreover, due to the Zhou Consortium’s blockade, the Pyro Company was not yet able to transport the research data out. Therefore, that was their reason for finding Wang Congyang. They wanted to use his steam locomotive to barge out of the stronghold!

Had Wang Congyang switched industries to providing delivery services?!