Night Raid on the Casino

The back alley of the "Obsidian" bar was filthier and darker than the street out front. Mountains of rotting garbage emitted a nauseating, sour stench, mingling with the acrid smell of cheap alcohol and urine, almost solidifying into a tangible mass. The only light source was a flickering, dim yellow wall lamp, its lampshade coated in grease and dead insects, casting distorted, swaying shadows.

Lin Xiao clung to the cold, damp brick wall like a gecko, his breathing suppressed to the absolute minimum. His eyes, hidden beneath the brim of his cap, adjusted to the darkness, sharply scanning the situation at the back door.

A burly man wearing the Blood Wolf Gang's signature red vest, his hat askew, leaned against a stained green dumpster. He appeared to be dozing, but one hand remained on the bulky hilt of a knife at his waist. A visible sentry. Another paced back and forth not far away, looking somewhat agitated, kicking an empty liquor bottle on the ground occasionally, producing a grating noise. A hidden sentry? No, too obvious. The real hidden sentry…

Lin Xiao's gaze locked onto the area above the back door, within the shadow of a highly concealed ventilation grate. It was almost completely merged with the darkness, but a faint, almost imperceptible breath and the subtle red glow of burning tobacco escaped his keen senses, honed by life-and-death trials.

Three. Consistent with the intel.

He couldn't wait any longer. Every second he lingered increased the risk of exposure.

His consciousness sank into his mind, and the faint blue light screen struggled to illuminate. The number [-1.510] felt like a searing hot iron, radiating a desperate sense of depletion. A cold tremor pulsed from the Viper's Kiss core deep within his right leg, as if mocking his overreach.

"Let's begin," Lin Xiao's thought was cold and resolute, like pulling a trigger.

[Command confirmed! Targets: Alley wall lamp circuit interface (aged), Back door electronic lock core (inferior), Second floor main circuit breaker fuse (overloaded)… Execution order disruption: Short circuit, Malfunction, Fuse blown! Source Energy Points consumed: 0.5!]

[Source Energy Points: -1.510 - 0.5 = -2.010!]

[Modification initiated!]

Buzzzzzzz—!!!

A surge of emptiness and agony, far more violent than any before, instantly engulfed Lin Xiao! It felt as if a large chunk of his very soul had been ripped out! His vision flashed black, a chaotic mess of bloody garbled text and static erupting. A sharp ringing in his ears felt like steel needles piercing him! A large mouthful of sweet, metallic blood surged into his throat, which he desperately bit down to suppress, though a trickle of dark red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. His right leg instantly turned cold and numb, as if it no longer belonged to him. The dark green Viper's Kiss core throbbed wildly, emitting a greedy wave of cold!

[Warning! Core depletion has exceeded safety threshold! Stability extremely dangerous! Viper's Kiss contamination activity +50%! Erosion rate: 0.05%! Risk of consciousness interruption: High!]

The cold prompt sounded like a summons from hell!

The changes in the real world were even more horrifying and immediate!

Pop! Sizzle—!

The already precarious yellow wall lamp erupted with a burst of blinding electric sparks! The lampshade instantly burned through, the bulb exploded, and glass shards flew everywhere! The entire back alley plunged into absolute darkness!

"Fuck! What the hell?!" The burly man leaning against the dumpster jumped up startled, looking towards the exploded wall lamp with suspicion.

Almost simultaneously!

Click, click, click!

The thick iron door of the back door, equipped with an electronic lock, emitted a series of grating, strange sounds from within the lock cylinder, like gears grinding and forcing their way through! The red light on the electronic screen flashed wildly a few times, then completely extinguished! The lock… had failed!

"Damn it! The lock's broken?!" The pacing gang member was also alerted. He cursed and walked over to the door, giving it a shove. The iron door didn't budge at all (due to the electronic lock's deadbolt).

"What's all the racket?!" A suppressed curse came from the ventilation grate. The hidden sentry had clearly been disturbed by the commotion below and poked his head out to investigate.

Now!

In this brief one-to-two-second window of chaos, with the darkness descending, the lock malfunctioning, and all the guards' attention drawn away!

Lin Xiao moved!

He shot out from the corner like a shadow merged with the darkness itself! His speed was so great that only a blurry afterimage remained! The meager True Qi of the Surging Waves Art was poured into his legs without reservation, unleashing his final burst of power! He forcibly ignored the cold numbness in his right leg; every step felt like treading on a blade's edge, bringing piercing pain, yet it didn't affect his speed or precision!

His target—the hidden sentry who had just poked his head out of the ventilation!

The hidden sentry had just finished cursing, his eyes not yet fully adjusted to the darkness below, when he felt a cold wind carrying the scent of death rush up from below! His internal alarm blared, and just as he was about to retract his head and issue an alert!

Too late!

Lin Xiao's figure rose into the air like a phantom. He pressed lightly against the dirty wall with his left hand for a brief moment to gain leverage. His right hand, wielding a dark green dagger, transformed into a cold, ethereal gleam, piercing precisely and unerringly into the exposed throat of the hidden sentry from below!

Squelch!

A faint sound, like a ripe fruit bursting.

The hidden sentry's body stiffened abruptly, all sound and movement frozen. His bulging eyes were filled with extreme terror and bewilderment, seemingly unable to comprehend why death had come so suddenly. Blood gushed from the dagger's fuller, dripping into the garbage pile below with faint pat-pat sounds.

Lin Xiao didn't pause at all. He twisted his wrist, pulled out the dagger, and his body descended as if weightless. During the descent, the tip of his left foot made a subtle, concealed touch on the hidden sentry's shoulder, which was not yet fully slumped, eliminating any sound of landing.

The entire assassination was clean, swift, and silent, happening in the flash of an eye!

The two visible sentries below were still cursing at the broken door lock and the exploded light bulb, completely unaware that a life had silently been extinguished in the darkness above them.

Lin Xiao landed, curling up in the shadows behind the dumpster like a nimble cat, breathing heavily. Each breath carried the pain of a torn soul and the thick smell of blood. The [-2.010] faint blue light flashed wildly in his mind, almost completely extinguished. He fought back the urge to faint, his gaze like ice shards dipped in poison, locking onto his next target—the burly man leaning against the dumpster, still shaken.

The hunt had just begun.