My Backing Is the Entire Official Division (Please Follow Along)

"Crack..." Zhang Anzai heard the sound of metal breaking beside him and decisively took a step back.

Just as he'd guessed, several steel pipes had somehow been wedged beneath the metal rack in front of him. The longest one was now clutched in [Bi Gan]'s hand.

Gripping the end of the pipe, he levered it upward with all his strength. The rack shot into the air.

"Crash!" The rack was loaded with countless imitation porcelain pieces. Though many were crudely made, they were all genuine ceramics. Now the rack tipped toward the wall, and the pieces slid off at once.

"Bang!" The metal rack crashed down against the storeroom's outer wall.

"Clap! Clap!" One porcelain piece after another hit the floor, breaking with a crisp sound.

Zhang Anzai quickly backed away several steps, but quite a few shards still flew at him and cut him.

"Just as I thought... This mask's ability is to enhance intelligence and calculation." Wearing the Wolf-Head Mask, Zhang Anzai panted heavily. He held the long Meat-Sawing Blade in one hand and shielded his face with the other.

On the other side of the rack, now propped against the wall, Bi Gan released the steel pipe. Stooped like a dying old man, he calmly turned and walked deeper into the storeroom.

A large bunch of keys dangled from his hand, spinning provocatively around his index finger.

As Zhang Anzai pursued him, he'd been struck by a lantern that fell after a thrown Pointed Knife cut its rope. He'd also been ambushed from behind by a billiards prop that Bi Gan had precisely calculated how to bounce and toss at him.

Add to that the way he'd effortlessly levered up the heavy metal rack, as well as the mask's origins he'd previously revealed himself, and its effects weren't hard to guess.

"Thank goodness... Our side has plenty of people who defy common sense, too."

"Good dodge. But next, he'll probably escape into one of the standalone storerooms. The simulated set is the most likely one. Be extremely careful once you go inside."

The Official Division's guidance continued without pause. Zhang Anzai had already done all the exploring, leaving them able to help only with the fight, but these people were clearly no pushovers.

Someone in the Official Division had calculated every ambush just now and warned him in advance.

That meant someone in the Official Division had calculation skills as powerful as Mr. Li's.

Just by watching the trajectory of an object, they could guess what he intended to do.

"A human calculator—terrifying..." Zhang Anzai growled and leaped into the air.

"Crack!" He landed on the rack, which was wedged against the wall at a forty-five-degree angle, and easily kept his balance. Step by step, he moved along its edge.

At first, he proceeded cautiously. Then he broke into a run, quickly crossed the rack, and rolled to the ground.

Zhang Anzai crouched and swiftly scanned the area with his wolf eyes, locating Mr. Li.

He was standing in front of the storeroom containing the simulated set, watching Zhang Anzai with a mocking smile. Seeing him cross the rack, he chuckled, then stepped backward into the storeroom.

Before Zhang Anzai could move, the Official Division's warning came through again: "This player's physical abilities are getting stronger. Tell him to stay cautious, but move faster. If he waits much longer, it may be very difficult to remove the mask."

Zhang Anzai knew that perfectly well. He was the one receiving the warnings, after all, and he could feel the changes for himself.

He'd just jumped over a meter straight up to reach the rack, then walked easily across its wobbling surface. Those were things he could never have done before.

That meant the Wolf-Head Mask was merging further with his nervous system and improving his reflexes. But the mask affected far more than just his physical abilities. Although he was feeling more energetic, his logical thinking as a human had taken a serious hit.

For one thing, when he landed just now, he'd instinctively sucked in the air and sniffed around. What kind of human had that sort of habit?

Zhang Anzai frowned, got up, and quickly reached the storeroom entrance. He pushed open the door, which had been left ajar.

"Grr..." Under the Wolf-Head Mask's influence, Zhang Anzai let out a low growl and tried to intimidate whoever was inside.

But, unsurprisingly, there was no one in sight near the entrance.

The scene inside had the atmosphere of a film set, but it wasn't a simulated studio. It was a recreation of a movie shoot from the previous century.

There were old tables and chairs, a red floor, green-and-white tiled walls, an old-fashioned film camera, and all sorts of cabinets.

Set props like long ladders stood to one side. Above them were the studio's ventilation ducts and incandescent lights.

Perhaps because the Wolf-Head Mask made Zhang Anzai unafraid of the dark, while Bi Gan's mask gave him only intelligence and otherwise left him at an ordinary person's level, the lights in the storeroom were on.

Not all of them, though. Some areas were bright, while others were dim.

By now, Zhang Anzai was struggling to think clearly. It wasn't that he'd lost all his wits. The Wolf-Head Mask simply carried a fierce wildness in its consciousness, and its tactics rarely went beyond circling around to attack from behind or ganging up on someone.

When his life was in danger, he didn't want to think while wearing the mask. He just wanted to charge forward and fight to the death.

Fortunately, Dexterous seemed able to rein in its recklessness to some extent. The Official Division members were also there to remind him and do the thinking for him.

"This guy's cunning. Be careful of anywhere someone could hide. It looks like he's turned on the lights because he doesn't plan to hide, but the lighting is actually well arranged to guide your gaze and conceal places people might overlook."

"He might also be trying to do the opposite of what we'd expect."

"It's fine. We're watching from a third-person perspective. You explore, and we'll keep an eye on things." As the Official Division members gave him instructions, they continued to remind him:

"Use the mask as much as you can before you feel an uncontrollable bloodlust or your flesh starts fusing with it. The lighting can mess with your vision, so rely more on hearing and smell."

Zhang Anzai nodded in acknowledgment. Gripping the Meat-Sawing Blade with both hands, he moved farther inside. The pair of ears on his head turned naturally from side to side, and he sniffed the air around him.

Sure enough, he discovered some clues.

"Over there?" Zhang Anzai caught a whiff of blood. Thinking back to the injuries the man had suffered earlier, he was sure he'd found the right spot.

He skirted the tables and chairs in the middle of the room and headed straight for the cabinets at the back.

The area was indeed just as the Official Division members had described: shaded from the light but not completely dark, making it less conspicuous.

But just as Zhang Anzai had rushed forward a few steps, a warning suddenly came: "Wrong! Behind you, under the table."

At the same time, Zhang Anzai took a sharp breath and caught a familiar smell of leather behind him.

"Whoosh!" He swung the heavy Meat-Sawing Blade in his hand.