149th Second

149. The Second Second

So it was a tranquilizer dart. He didn't want to alert the others when he dealt with me during the infiltration?

The thought flashed through Carl's mind like lightning, followed by a peculiar feeling.

She was really being underestimated.

"Pfft."

Accompanied by the faint sound of the tranquilizer dart striking the ventilation duct wall, Carl had already pulled her head back.

"Trying to take me alive?"

Carl's voice produced a strange, faint echo within the narrow metal duct. "Who are you?"

The gray-clad man did not answer, but Carl heard the rustle of fabric against the duct wall. He was adjusting his posture like a viper poised to strike. Missing that shot had clearly not disturbed his composure in the slightest.

The gray-clad man clearly had no intention of explaining himself to Carl. Rather, the moment Carl dodged his first tranquilizer dart, he had already prepared to attack again.

Looks like this isn't the kind of situation where we can talk it out and avoid a fight by finding common ground.

Since a fight was unavoidable, she would strike first!

Hopefully Slider would listen to an explanation when she saw a stranger.

Carl's right leg slammed against the duct wall, sending her forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. The instant she exposed herself, her left hand fired three quick shots from Liberty to seal off the man's escape routes, while her right hand hurled the Neurotoxin Knife toward his chest.

In that instant, Carl had blocked every route the man could take to evade within the cramped space.

But the gray-clad man's response exceeded Carl's expectations. He somehow executed a backward flip in the tight confines, and a kunai sliding from his sleeve knocked aside the inconspicuous knife with a clang. As he dodged