Lin Shuo: Lao Mo, time to get serious

Late at night, it was unusually quiet.

There were no Hollow alarms, no Ether storms. Even the cries of stray cats had vanished.

Only the streetlights cast pale halos onto the street, like silent gravestones.

Lin Shuo stood outside the ramen stall, his Sharingan glowing dark red in the night.

The three tomoe slowly rotated. In his field of vision-

The Ether flow was abnormal.

It was not the violent fluctuation of an expanding Hollow, but a subtler, more concealed infiltration.

Like ink dripping into clear water, it slowly but steadily contaminated the area.

The source lay in the direction of the fish market.

"They're here," Lin Shuo said quietly.

Lao Mo emerged from the shadows behind him.

But tonight, Lao Mo was completely different from usual.

His dark blue waterproof apron was gone, replaced by an all-black tactical suit-not standard Defense Force issue, but some kind of homemade composite material, its surface patterned with grooves that absorbed Ether fluctuations.

He wore a half-face mask and night-vision goggles, leaving only his chin and lips exposed.

He still had a lollipop in his mouth, but this time it was mint-flavored.

Most striking of all was the weapon in his hands-

A modified sniper rifle, its barrel a third longer than a conventional model's, its body engraved with intricate Ether circuits. A suppressed pistol hung beside it, a suppressor fitted to its muzzle.

"You're... well equipped." Lin Shuo raised an eyebrow.

"The situation is serious."

Lao Mo's voice carried an electronic echo through his mask. "Seven anomalous Ether nodes have been detected near the fish market-not Ethereals, but humans. But their internal Ether concentrations... are abnormally high."

"People from the Order?"

"Yes." Lao Mo nodded. "And not grunts-every one of them smells of 'stabilizer,' however faintly."

Stabilizer.

The word made Lin Shuo's heart sink.

The biggest problem with the Order's Sacrifice Potion was its unstable transformation-apart from exceptions like Qian An, ordinary people injected with it either immediately went berserk and became mindless Ethereals, or could only maintain Half-Ethereal Transformation briefly before undergoing complete mutation.

But if they had a stabilizer...

Mass-producing half-Ethereal soldiers would no longer be a fantasy.

"The target?" Lin Shuo asked.

"The Tymfield estate." Lao Mo's voice was icy. "Intelligence says they're going to abduct Alice tonight-use her as a hostage to force her grandfather to hand over the core formula for the corrosion-inhibiting potion."

Lin Shuo tightened his grip on God Cutter.

"How many?"

"Seven in the open, at least three more snipers hidden."

Lao Mo adjusted his night-vision goggles. "They're all in a state of Half-Ethereal Transformation-unstable, but with enough combat power for a short fight."

He paused, then added, "Qian An is leading them personally."

The air instantly froze.

Qian An.

For Lin Shuo, that name meant complicated pain. For Lao Mo... it meant pure killing intent.

"That bastard..." For the first time, a clear emotional fluctuation entered Lao Mo's voice-cold fury. "He got away. This time..."

He did not finish, but Lin Shuo understood.

This time, he would not get away.

"The plan?" Lin Shuo asked.

"You take the front. I cover you."

Lao Mo kept it brief. "But there's a problem-Alice is in the estate's basement laboratory right now. It's the most weakly defended part of the building."

"Does she know she's in danger?"

"She knows," Lao Mo said. "Yesterday, I gave her an emergency evacuation route and three hiding places. But she... refuses to leave."

Lin Shuo frowned. "Why?"

"She said, 'The patent data hasn't finished backing up. I can't leave it for the enemy.'"

Lao Mo's voice held helpless irritation. "That girl... is more stubborn than a mule."

That certainly sounded like something Alice would say.

Lin Shuo thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "Lao Mo, I have a plan."

"Tell me."

"Since she refuses to leave, we'll put on a show." The corners of Lin Shuo's mouth lifted slightly. "One that 'forces' her to cooperate with us."

Lao Mo tilted his head, the red light on his night-vision goggles flickering faintly.

"...Elaborate."

The basement laboratory of the Tymfield estate.

Alice sat at the data terminal, her mismatched eyes fixed on the screen.

Her blonde twin tails were somewhat disheveled-she had just hurried from her third-floor bedroom to the basement, bumping her rabbit ears against a doorframe along the way. Now her left ear was a little crooked.

But she had no time to worry about symmetry.

On the screen, the corrosion-inhibiting potion's patented formula, experimental data, production process... all the core information was being encrypted and backed up as quickly as possible.

Progress: 87%.

"Hurry... hurry up..." she urged softly, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Suddenly, the laboratory alarm sounded.

It was not the estate's general alarm, but the Ether anomaly detector she had installed herself-it had detected high-intensity Ether fluctuations rapidly approaching.

Alice's face instantly went pale.

She glanced at the screen-progress: 90%.

Just a little more.

But she was out of time.

According to the evacuation route Lao Mo had given her, she should immediately leave through the ventilation duct at the side of the laboratory and head for the first hiding place.

But...

"No..." She bit her lip.

"Just a little more... if the data falls into the Order's hands..."

In that instant of hesitation-

Bang!!!

The laboratory's blast door was blown clean off.

Three figures rushed through the smoke.

They were not human.

At least, not entirely-their right arms were all covered in pale chitin, their fingers had become sharp claws, and their eyes shone a murky yellow in the darkness.

Half-Ethereal Transformation, unstable state.

Alice could smell the pungent mixture of Ether and blood.

"Target found." The man in front grinned, revealing sharp teeth.

"Little bunny, come quietly, and you won't have to suffer so much."

Alice stepped back, reaching toward her waist-there was a stun gun Lao Mo had given her, along with three smoke grenades.

But she knew they would not stop three half-Ethereals.

She could only stall for time.

"Y-you can forget it!" She struggled to keep her voice from shaking. "I've already called for help! The Defense Force will be here any moment!"

"The Defense Force?" Another man laughed loudly. "By the time they arrive, you'll already be on the Order's altar!"

All three lunged at once.

Alice closed her eyes and pressed the button on a smoke grenade-

But the smoke never burst out.

Because someone was faster.

Clang!

A deafening clash of metal.

Alice opened her eyes and saw a familiar figure standing in front of her.

Lin Shuo.

He held God Cutter across his body, its blade covered in blue flowing water-a simplified version of Hard Vortex Water Blade, blocking the simultaneous attacks of three claws.

"Brother Lin Shuo?" Alice froze.

"Get back." Lin Shuo did not turn around.

"Is the backup done?"

"Th-there's still five percent left..."

"Keep going," Lin Shuo said.

"Leave this to me."

The three half-Ethereals exchanged glances, retreated simultaneously, then launched a second round of attacks from three directions.

Their tactics were clear: avoid a head-on clash with Lin Shuo, use their numerical advantage to pin him down, and wait for the others to reinforce them.

But Lin Shuo's Sharingan had already seen through everything.

A rotating wall of water rose from the floor, separating the three.

Lin Shuo seized the opening and surged forward, slashing God Cutter toward the leftmost man-not at a vital spot, but at the chitinous joint of his right arm.

Squelch!

The water sliced into the gap, and the man roared in pain and stumbled back.

But the other two had already circled the water wall, their claws driving straight toward Lin Shuo's back.

Just then-

Bang!

A faint gunshot.

It was not a live round, but some kind of special Ether-disruption round.

The bullet struck the right-hand half-Ethereal's shoulder. Instead of blood, blue electrical light burst out. His entire body stiffened, his movements halting for half a second.

Half a second was enough.

Lin Shuo turned and swept God Cutter horizontally.

The blade sliced through the air with compressed water, precisely severing the chitinous connection in the man's right arm.

"Aaaagh!"

Amid the scream, the third half-Ethereal suddenly went berserk-a side effect of his unstable state, which made him prone to losing control when agitated.

Abandoning defense entirely, he pounced at Lin Shuo like a beast, his claws swinging wildly.

Lin Shuo was just about to counterattack-

Bang!

A second gunshot.

This time, it was a live round.

The bullet came through the ventilation opening above the laboratory, precisely piercing the berserk half-Ethereal's right knee.

The man screamed and collapsed.

The vent grille was kicked away, and Lao Mo jumped down.

All-black tactical gear, mask, night-vision goggles, and the modified sniper rifle in his hands.

After landing, he did not even glance at the enemies on the floor, walking straight over to Alice.

"Is the backup done?"

Alice stared blankly at the screen-progress: 100%.

"I-it's done..."

"Move." Lao Mo grabbed her wrist. "Evacuation route C. Now."

"But Mr. Lin Shuo..."

"He can handle it."

Lao Mo pulled her toward the ventilation duct. "You'll only hold him back by staying here."

The words hurt, but they worked.

Biting her lip, Alice took one last look at Lin Shuo, then followed Lao Mo into the duct.

Watching them disappear, the corners of Lin Shuo's mouth lifted slightly.

If you're putting on a show, you have to see it through.

He turned toward the three half-Ethereals on the floor-one with a severed arm, one with a broken leg, and one twitching from electrocution.

"Go back and tell Qian An," Lin Shuo said calmly.

"If he wants to take someone, he can come himself."

With that, he leaped out through the laboratory window.

Outside, the battle was only just beginning.

The front courtyard of the Tymfield estate.

Seven against one.

No, strictly speaking, it was seven against one and a half-Lin Shuo was the "one," while Lao Mo, hidden in the shadows, counted as "half."

Seven half-Ethereal soldiers surrounded Lin Shuo in a fan formation.

Their condition was more stable than that of the three in the laboratory-clearly, they had been on the drug for less time, or their doses had been more precise.

Their leader was a tall man whose right arm had completely transformed into an Ethereal's, his left eye glowing a murky yellow.

"Lin Shuo... former Obsidian Camp elite." He licked his claws.

"Lord Qian An said you were hard to deal with-but today, you're not getting away."

Lin Shuo said nothing.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Lao Mo to get Alice somewhere safe, waiting for Qian An to appear, waiting for... a certain moment.

"Nothing to say?" The man sneered.

"Then die!"

All seven charged at once.

But through Lin Shuo's Sharingan, their movements were as slow as snails.

The three tomoe spun wildly, predicting every attack trajectory and calculating every angle of evasion.

Lin Shuo moved.

Not backward, but forward.

He met the densest cluster of attacks head-on, God Cutter spinning in his hand-

He wasn't attacking the men, but the ground.

High-pressure water jetted from the blade and struck the ground, throwing spray and dust into the air.

The instant their vision was obscured, Lin Shuo vanished.

Body Flicker Technique.

When he reappeared, he was already behind the seven men.

Lightning traveled through the water on the ground, paralyzing all seven at once.

It lasted only half a second, but that was enough.

Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!

Dozens of small fireballs shot from Lin Shuo's mouth. Rather than attacking directly, they curved through the air, striking the enemies from every direction.

The half-Ethereals' armored defenses were strong, but their joints were weak points.

The fireballs struck each man's elbows, knees, and shoulder joints with precision-

"Aaah-!"

Screams rose one after another.

All seven fell. They weren't dead, but they were out of the fight for the time being.

Lin Shuo landed and sheathed God Cutter.

He looked toward the mansion's second-floor balcony.

There, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

Qian An.

Just as he had in Solov Hollow, he wore a dark red robe. Pale armor covered his right arm, and his left eye was clouded.

But this time, his expression was colder.

"Lin Shuo." Qian An's voice was calm, as calm as the sea before a storm.

"You always manage to surprise me."

"You haven't improved much yourself," Lin Shuo said.

"Still only know how to throw bodies at a problem."

"Throw bodies?" Qian An laughed, his smile twisting.

"These were just the appetizer-the real target is the one behind you."

Lin Shuo's heart tightened.

Behind me?

He whipped his head around-

Lao Mo had returned at some point and was standing on the mansion's roof, his sniper rifle aimed at Qian An.

But Qian An's target wasn't Lao Mo.

It was Alice.

The girl hadn't followed the evacuation route after all. Instead, she was hiding behind a flower bed beside the mansion-probably wanting to make sure Lao Mo was safe.

Foolish, but... very much like Alice.

"The young lady of the Timefield family..." Qian An said softly. "What an unexpected prize-I only meant to take you hostage, but now... I've thought of a more entertaining game."

He raised his right hand, pointing his claws at Lao Mo.

"You. Kill her."

The air froze.

The muzzle of Lao Mo's rifle trembled slightly.

Alice's eyes widened, unable to believe what she had heard.

Lin Shuo tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

"Qian An..." he said in a low voice. "You've gone mad."

"Mad?" Qian An roared with laughter.

"No, I'm perfectly lucid-lucid enough to know that for some people, killing the person they want to protect hurts more than killing themselves."

He stared at Lao Mo, a cruel light flickering in his clouded left eye.

"Mo... right? The little puppy Elidel picked up back then. I looked into your records-damaged emotional circuits, unable to experience normal emotions. The only thing you cared about was 'Elidel's last wish.'"

He paused, his smile twisting further.

"But now, you seem to have found someone new to 'care about'-so what kind of expression would you make if I had you kill her yourself?"

Lao Mo said nothing.

His mask hid his face, but Lin Shuo could see his knuckles whitening around the rifle.

"Qian An..." Lin Shuo stepped forward.

"I'm your opponent."

"Shut up." Qian An didn't even look at him. "This is between him and me-he ruined three important plans of mine and killed seventeen soldiers I'd painstakingly trained. I have to return that 'gift.'"

As his words fell, Qian An suddenly raised his hand-

He wasn't attacking Lao Mo, but Alice.

A shock wave of corrupt energy shot from his claws, hurtling straight toward the flower bed.

Lao Mo fired.

Not at Qian An, but at the shock wave.

The special Ether-disruption round burst in midair, neutralizing most of the corrupt energy, but the residual blast still struck the flower bed-

"Ah!"

Alice was thrown backward, slammed into the wall, and lost consciousness.

"Alice!" For the first time, unmistakable panic entered Lao Mo's voice.

He was about to jump down-

"Don't move," Qian An said coldly. "Move an inch, and I'll strike again-the next blow will kill her."

Lao Mo froze in place.

Lin Shuo could feel Lao Mo's killing intent surging-a nearly uncontrollable rage unlike anything he had ever seen from him.

"Qian An..." Lin Shuo gritted his teeth.

"What exactly do you want?"

"I want a show." Qian An smiled.

"To see whom a loyal hound will choose between its master and its prey."

He raised his left hand, gathering a mass of dark red corrupt energy in his palm.

"Now, Mo-I'll give you two choices."

"One, shoot me dead, but I'll detonate this energy before I die, and that girl will die with me."

"Two, watch me kill Lin Shuo, and then I'll let you and the girl go-what do you say? Fair enough, isn't it?"

It wasn't fair.

It was the most vicious of traps.

Whatever Lao Mo chose, he would bear the guilt for the rest of his life.

Lin Shuo looked at Lao Mo.

Their eyes met.

No words passed between them, but years of understanding let Lin Shuo read the look in Lao Mo's eyes-

Trust me.

Lin Shuo took a deep breath, then smiled.

"Qian An..." he said.

"You made a mistake."

"Oh?"

"You underestimated Lao Mo."

Lin Shuo slowly raised God Cutter. "And you underestimated me."

The instant the words left his mouth, both men moved.

Lao Mo swung his rifle-not toward Qian An, but toward the sky.

A special flare shot into the night sky, bursting in a blaze of dazzling white light.

Qian An instinctively narrowed his eyes.

In that mere 0.2-second opening-

Lin Shuo's Sharingan changed.

The three tomoe spun and rearranged, forming a Mangekyō pattern.

"Amaterasu."

Black flames ignited on Qian An's left arm.

"Wha-?!" Shocked, Qian An immediately cut off the supply of corrupt energy and threw all his strength into suppressing Amaterasu.

But he had forgotten there was a third person on the battlefield.

Lao Mo leaped from the roof, rushing not toward Qian An, but toward the unconscious Alice.

He scooped the girl into his arms, turned, and ran-not along the evacuation route, but deeper into the mansion.

Qian An wanted to pursue him, but Lin Shuo was already blocking his path.

"I'm your opponent," Lin Shuo repeated what Qian An had just said.

"Don't get distracted."

"You-!" Qian An roared. His right arm transformed completely into an Ethereal's, his claws extending wildly. "Then I'll kill you first!"

A savage barrage came at him.

But Lin Shuo remained calm.

He didn't need to win, only to buy time-

Until Lao Mo got Alice somewhere absolutely safe.

Until... a certain plan took effect.

Deep inside the mansion, on the second basement level.

Lao Mo laid Alice on a makeshift medical bed and quickly checked her injuries-a mild concussion, possibly cracked ribs, but nothing life-threatening.

He let out a breath, then pulled a remote from inside his tactical suit.

He pressed the button.

Every light in the Timefield mansion went out at once.

It wasn't a power outage, but the activation of an "optical camouflage system"-one Lao Mo had secretly installed over the past few months, without even Alice knowing.

From outside, the mansion would completely "vanish" into the night, leaving only an empty plot of land in view.

At the same time, the basement's blast doors automatically locked, and the Ether disruptors activated at full power.

This was now one of the safest places in New Eridu-it could hold out for at least an hour.

With everything done, Lao Mo looked at the unconscious Alice.

He hesitated, then removed his mask and night-vision goggles.

His dark gray eyes looked softer than usual in the faint glow of the emergency lights.

He took his last mint-chocolate lollipop from his pocket-not to eat it himself, but to gently place it beside Alice's pillow.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For dragging you into this."

With that, he put his mask back on, turned, and headed for the exit.

There was still a battle to fight.

The battle in the front courtyard had reached fever pitch.

Qian An had gone completely berserk-not an unstable state, but a controlled, deep Half-Ethereal Transformation.

His right arm had swollen to twice its original thickness, his claws extending into half-meter-long bone blades. His left eye had turned entirely murky yellow, and beastlike growls rumbled from his mouth.

"Lin Shuo-!!!!"

The bone blades slashed down with a shriek that tore through the air.

Lin Shuo blocked with God Cutter, but the difference in strength was too great. He was sent flying, crashing through a perimeter wall.

"Cough..." He spat out a mouthful of blood. At least three of his ribs were broken.

The Mangekyō's side effects began to show-blurred vision and throbbing temples.

But he was still smiling.

"Qian An..." Lin Shuo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You know what? Your biggest weakness is how easily you get carried away."

"Shut up!" Qian An lunged at him again.

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

The bone blade slashed down-

But this time, Lin Shuo did not dodge.

He stood where he was, forming hand seals with both hands.

A very slow, very complicated seal.

Qian An sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late to stop.

When the bone blade was only ten centimeters from Lin Shuo's forehead-

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

It did not gush from Lin Shuo's mouth.

It came from the mansion's fire suppression system.

Optical camouflage was not the only thing Lao Mo had activated earlier.

He had also activated the fire sprinklers throughout the house-filled not with water, but with a specially formulated, highly concentrated dilution of corrosion inhibitor.

A patented Thymefield family product, it had an extremely strong neutralizing effect on Ether-corrupted entities.

Whoooosh!!!!!

Hundreds of sprinklers activated at once. Corrosion inhibitor poured down like a torrential rain, instantly flooding the entire front courtyard.

Qian An screamed.

The instant his half-Ethereal body touched the corrosion inhibitor, it began smoking as though doused in sulfuric acid. His carapace melted, his sharp claws disintegrated, and his corrupt energy was rapidly neutralized.

"Wh... what is this...?!"

"A gift prepared just for you." Lin Shuo stood in the "rain," drenched from head to toe, but his eyes were bright. "Like it?"

Qian An tried to flee, but his body was rapidly regressing-from his half-Ethereal form back to human form.

The process was excruciating. He fell to his knees, convulsing all over.

Lin Shuo walked up to him and set God Cutter against his neck.

"It's over, Qian An."

"...Not yet." Qian An raised his head, a trace of madness flashing through his cloudy left eye.

"You think... this was all I had prepared?"

He pulled a syringe from inside his clothes-filled with a dark red liquid.

Sacrifice Potion, a concentrated version.

"I'll become a complete form..." Qian An grinned viciously. "Then I'll destroy... everything here..."

He was just about to inject himself-

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

The bullet knocked the syringe away, bursting it into a cloud of red mist.

Lao Mo stood at the mansion's entrance, smoke still rising from the muzzle of his sniper rifle.

He walked over to Lin Shuo, glanced at Qian An, then said coldly:

"You don't deserve to become a complete form."

Qian An's eyes widened. He wanted to say something, but the corrosion inhibitor had already taken full effect, and he passed out.

The battle was over.

Lin Shuo let out a breath of relief, swayed, and nearly fell.

Lao Mo caught him.

"You holding up?"

"Won't die." Lin Shuo smiled wryly. "Just... used up a bit too much ocular power."

Lao Mo said nothing. He pulled a recovery injection from his tactical suit and jabbed it into Lin Shuo's arm.

The cool liquid flowed into his veins, easing his fatigue a little.

"Thanks," Lin Shuo said.

"Likewise." Lao Mo looked at the unconscious Qian An. "What do we do with him?"

"Hand him over to the Defense Force," Lin Shuo said. "He should have important intel on the Order in his head-but before that..."

He looked at Lao Mo, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"Shouldn't you go check on that young lady who's 'more stubborn than a mule'?"

Lao Mo stiffened.

"...She's fine."

"I know she's fine." Lin Shuo's smile deepened. "But someone still owes an explanation for the lollipop he left beside her pillow, right?"

Lao Mo turned his face away.

"...Busybody."

"It's called 'being a good comrade to the end.'" Lin Shuo patted his shoulder. "Go on-I'll clean up here."

Lao Mo hesitated for a few seconds, but finally turned and headed toward the mansion.

After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back.

"Lin Shuo."

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks."

"You're welcome." Lin Shuo waved a hand. "Just remember to treat me to ramen-with double chashu."

The corners of Lao Mo's mouth seemed to rise by 0.1 centimeters before he disappeared into the night.

Lin Shuo stood where he was, surveying the wreckage strewn across the courtyard, then glanced at the unconscious Qian An.

He sighed, took out his communicator, and dialed the Defense Force's emergency number.

"Scott Outpost? Yes, it's me, Lin Shuo... I need a 'special specimen' picked up. The location is the Thymefield mansion, front courtyard."

Ending the call, he looked up at the night sky.

The stars were bright.

Tomorrow would probably be another clear day.

Though the trouble was not over, though the Order was still around, though Qian An was only the tip of the iceberg-

At least tonight, they had protected the people who mattered.

That was enough.

[System notification: Mission to assist in protecting Alice Thymefield completed. Rewards: Ōtsutsuki Fragment ×1, Ether Crystal ×5000. Increased affection between Lao Mo and Alice detected. Special achievement "Steel Tenderness" unlocked.]

Lin Shuo closed the interface and smiled.

Steel Tenderness?

That name suited the guy pretty well.