If You Can't Beat the Enemy, Steal Their Account

I'm being ambushed!?

A thousand thoughts raced through Le Yu's mind. The precise time and location of this meeting were known only to him and his contact, yet someone had been lying in wait for him, successfully ambushing him and dragging him into a dark room!

Clearly, something had happened to his contact!

They probably even scattered their ashes!

But Le Yu wasn't a quail waiting to die — at least, his body wasn't! He quickly stabilized his stance, completely disregarding the danger of his left hand being restrained. He slammed his right elbow backward and pressed his entire body against the person holding him from behind!

Biting Combat Arts: Torrential Spit!

"Good boy, don't struggle," a chilling voice chuckled softly.

Smack!

His elbow strike was blocked by a palm, and his full-body press, exerted with all his might, was like a stone sinking into the sea. Le Yu only felt his whole body go numb, as if he had run into steel!

Le Yu's expression drastically changed!

His attack had almost no effect!

How is this possible!

It wasn't that Le Yu was overly arrogant, but rather due to the environment — there was no light source in the room. Awakened had no light to work with, so it was purely a test of physical strength. Even if the opponent was a Lan Yan-level expert, Le Yu wouldn't be at a disadvantage in the dark, especially since he wasn't afraid of pain!

Unless the opponent was a 300-pound fatty expert, then Le Yu truly wouldn't be able to break through their defense. However, he could tell from his sense of touch that the opponent wasn't much stronger than him.

Yet, despite that, his fierce counterattack was easily nullified by the opponent!

Le Yu's heart turned cold. The gap was like a child fighting an adult. Even if he resisted, it would be useless. The opponent's account character level was clearly a tier higher than Qian Yuliu's!

So, he stiffened his neck and burst into laughter, looking as if he welcomed death:

"Kill me if you dare!"

Le Yu understood. When encountering an unbeatable enemy, don't panic!

At worst, I'll die!

Anyway, if I die, your account will be mine!

If you can't beat the enemy, steal their account!

This was Le Yu's philosophy of survival!

"I won't kill you," the chilling voice said without inflection, as if merely stating a fact, dragging Le Yu into the darkness. "Don't make a fuss, don't forget your purpose."

Le Yu was slightly startled. He found himself being quickly dragged into an underground passage by the other party — his Steel-soled Boots clanged crisply against the stairs.

Oh no, oh no. It seems they might not want to torture me. Actually, torture isn't so bad, since I'm not afraid of pain. But what if they're also lusting after Qian Yuliu's body? I can't handle that kind of personal humiliation…

Just as Le Yu's mind was racing, lights suddenly illuminated the underground passage. The light breaking through the darkness made Le Yu squint slightly.

"It seems you've misunderstood something… 'Meteor'," the chilling voice chuckled softly.

Le Yu paused, realizing the grip on his throat and left wrist had loosened. He quickly adjusted his posture to face the enemy, then realized the other party was calling him. He suddenly understood. "You're Star Picker?"

Standing before Le Yu was a young man in a black hooded trench coat. His face was very pale, his lips thin, and his features gaunt. He didn't appear particularly strong, even looking somewhat soft.

Yet, this was the person who, in a dark environment, had pinned Le Yu down and thoroughly beaten him. If he had ill intentions towards Le Yu, Le Yu truly wouldn't have been able to fight back.

The hooded young man said nothing, turning back to pull the cover plate over the ground, preventing others from discovering this underground passage. Le Yu looked at the secret passage, wide enough for two people's shoulders, and asked in surprise, "Did you dig this yourself?"

"Most people in the Eighteen Streets understand the principle of a cunning rabbit having three burrows. I merely connected a few of them," the hooded young man made a 'gesture' to invite him. "You go first."

"Why?"

"I'm not used to people walking behind me."

"Neither am I," Le Yu insisted on contradicting him.

The hooded young man looked at Le Yu seriously. "Your personality is quite different from what Stargazer described."

'Stargazer' referred to Lin Jinyao. Le Yu's eyes flickered. "How is it different?"

"Your intelligence is different," the hooded young man said, hands in his pockets. "I can go first, but I'll have to turn off the passage lights. Are you sure?"

Le Yu's face darkened. In the dark, he was completely defenseless, so he obediently walked ahead, exposing his back, backside, and many other weaknesses.

The passage wasn't long, perhaps a dozen meters. Le Yu reached a wooden door at the end of the passage. At this point, the hooded young man said, "Don't touch the handle. Just push the other side."

Le Yu blinked. Pushing the other side of the door actually opened it directly — the side with the handle was the pivot!

"What would happen if I gripped the handle and pushed?"

"It would detonate the Radiant Stone bombs in the passage, and the entire passage would collapse."

This contact job isn't easy either… Le Yu muttered. After pushing open the door, he found another passage.

"Why do we have to keep walking?"

"If someone triggers the trap, they'll think this passage leads to the house above," the hooded young man explained. "It's common sense not to put traps right at your doorstep, isn't it?"

Le Yu twitched his lips. "I'm quite sure that's common sense I didn't know."

"You're welcome. We're colleagues, so I won't charge you tuition," the hooded young man said with an air of nonchalance.

It took Le Yu a 360° turn of his brain to understand what the hooded young man meant. He thought to himself, If I weren't so outmatched, I'd immediately show him why his butt would be so red. Walking to the end of the passage, he found another wooden door. This time, Le Yu had learned his lesson. "How do I open this door?"

If I follow logical reasoning, the enemy would be aware after the previous traps and wouldn't touch the handle, so I should set the handle to be the correct way to open the door. But if I follow counter-logic, perhaps the enemy would anticipate that anticipation, so setting the handle to trigger a trap would also be correct. However, if I follow both logical and counter-logical reasoning...

As Le Yu brainstormed, the hooded young man calmly said, "I've noticed you not only lack common sense, but your memory isn't very good either."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't I say not to put traps right at the doorstep? This is the doorstep. This is just a normal door; you can open it normally."

Though the hooded young man's tone was flat, his words clearly implied scorn.

Le Yu pushed open the wooden door with a dark expression and entered a not-so-spacious basement. A white light hung from the ceiling, and four-tiered shelves lined the walls, holding various glass bottles. In the center of the basement was a bed—Le Yu preferred to call it a slaughter table—and on a tray on the bed lay many gleaming silver scalpels and forceps, a sight that sent shivers down his spine.

"Welcome to my home."

The hooded young man snapped his fingers, and the lights in the passageway immediately flickered out. He closed the wooden door, walked to a chair beside the bed, and sat down. He beckoned to Le Yu, pointing at the chair in front of him. "Please sit. Don't touch anything in this room, except the bed. I've disinfected the bed; you can sit on it if you like."

Le Yu had no interest in his twisted sense of humor. He pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time: 10:05.

He finally understood. "The meeting point was a decoy from the start."

The hooded young man nodded. "Of course. I have to guard against the possibility of you being turned, captured, coerced, or tracked. When meeting someone for the first time, not revealing any information about yourself is standard operating procedure for intelligence work. The fact that you don't even know this proves my caution is justified."

Le Yu's face darkened. "Then how did you confirm you could intercept me midway?"

The hooded young man pointed to the wall behind him. "There were only three paths leading to the agreed location. One path was blocked by accumulated debris, and another was completely impassable due to illegal construction. You only had one path you could take."

Le Yu looked over and saw a map of Star Engraving Prefecture hanging on the wall. But this map was far more detailed than his official one—it not only marked the territories of various factions but also included detailed annotations for small paths, shortcuts, and even light intensity.

"As far as I know, you had a 'small conflict' when you entered Eighteen Streets," the hooded young man said nonchalantly. "Though it's a bit hard to say, I think you might have some issues upstairs. It might be the right choice for you to reincarnate sooner rather than later."

If it's hard to say, then don't say it so harshly!

"That's not my fault; he came looking for trouble with me. What else could I do but beat him up?"

"Avoiding trouble is common sense for intelligence operatives."

"I told you, I don't know your 'common sense'!"

The hooded young man's tone remained flat. "And I told you, you're welcome."

Le Yu felt a pounding headache. He rubbed his temples and grumbled, "You're so much stronger than me, shouldn't you be the one to go to the Statistics Department as a spy, and I'll be your contact? Wouldn't that be more reasonable?"

The hooded young man blinked, then suddenly smiled, a subtle curve appearing on his lips. "I don't think I've formally introduced myself yet."

He pulled back his hood, revealing pale hair streaked with a few strands of black. The light in the basement immediately dimmed slightly—this wasn't a figure of speech; the light genuinely became darker!

"I am White Night's underground liaison officer stationed in Star Engraving Prefecture, 'Star Picker' Yin Yinyin." He took out a hair tie and bound his hair. "It's a pleasure to meet you, 'Meteor' Qian Yuliu."

Le Yu stared at his white hair, frozen for a few seconds, and a possibility immediately came to mind.

He suddenly understood and asked directly, "How many years do you have left to live?"

"Three years," Yin Yinyin said lightly, as if discussing a trivial matter.

P.S.: The characters 'Qian Yuliu' and 'Le Yu' are on the March list. Everyone can give hearts to the driver and Number One (Machine) (`).