"That little building up ahead is Black Spider's hideout. He lives on the third floor. He's probably very alert, so let's not make any noise," Li Yalin whispered.
Han Xiao's voice came through the earpiece. "No need to be so careful. Black Spider has already spotted you."
"How do you know?" Li Yalin pursed her lips, looking unconvinced.
No sooner had she spoken than a barrage of gunfire shattered the quiet of the night. Bullets rained down from above, and the three of them instantly rolled out of the way. They took cover around the corner of a nearby alley, their expressions grave.
When had they been discovered?
Although a simple sneak attack like that couldn't have hurt any of them, they wouldn't have reacted so quickly without Han Xiao's warning. At the thought, Li Yalin's expression turned a little more serious, and she carefully adjusted her earpiece.
A man stood on the elevated position from which the bullets had come, looking down at the three of them. His grin was sinister and strange, and he made no attempt to hide his arrogant air. He wore a black combat suit and carried an assault rifle, with a black spider tattooed on his left cheek. He waved a hand, and ten masked men in black emerged from the surrounding alleys with guns raised, loosely surrounding Li Yalin's group.
"The intelligence was wrong. How does he have backup?" Lin Yao's eyes widened.
Li Yalin's heart sank.
Black Spider sneered. "You think I'd dare stay in West Capital without making preparations? The Thirteenth Bureau got the better of me last time. I, Black Spider, always repay the slightest grudge. Since you dared reach your claws out to me, I'll chop them off!"
Black Spider was a lone bounty hunter and assassin, notorious throughout the underground world. He often laid a series of traps before his target even noticed, leaving them with nowhere to escape, as if caught in a spiderweb.
Li Yalin suddenly spun and kicked the wall. A bright yellow light flashed, and the wall collapsed with a crash. The fallen stones formed a barrier, blocking the enemies' view.
In the early stages of the Pugilist Class, energy could be channeled into fists, feet, and weapons, granting extraordinary strength. Li Yalin was E-grade, with an energy level above 300 Ouna, and was around level 25.
Black Spider and his masked squad formed an encirclement, using a furious barrage of gunfire to suppress the three.
Li Yalin and Lambert pulled Lin Yao along as they kept dodging through the alleys. Thanks to their exceptional strength, none of the three were hit despite the danger, but they were forced into a dead end.
Black Spider and his men blocked the entrance to the alley. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a rapturous look on his face as he murmured, "Little bugs caught in my web, every hair on your bodies is giving off the scent of fear."
"You think you've already won?" Li Yalin raised an eyebrow and secretly gave Lambert a signal.
Black Spider acted as if he had heard something unbelievable. He exaggeratedly looked back at his ten teammates, then spread his arms and said brazenly, "One order from me and you'll be riddled with bullets. What gives you the confidence to challenge me?"
"Then why haven't you made your move?" Li Yalin asked in a low voice.
"Killing you won't do me any good. If I take you hostage, I can collect a ransom." Black Spider wagged a finger, everything under his control. He knew his words could reach the Thirteenth Bureau through the three agents' earpieces, and he enjoyed showing off like this. Suddenly, he grinned viciously. "But I only need one of you alive!"
Black Spider waved his hand and was about to order his men to fire when Li Yalin suddenly leaped up. Bright yellow light flickered around her feet as she bounded from wall to wall, climbing higher with each jump. Her movements were as graceful as a dragonfly skimming water, and she closed the distance at high speed through the air, her path unpredictable.
"Kill her!" Black Spider's face tightened. His men opened fire on Li Yalin, but they struggled to aim at her as she moved almost fast enough to leave afterimages. Only a few bullets struck her body, flattening into little iron discs against her clothes.
Ceramic fiber bulletproof patches had been sewn into the lining of Li Yalin's skintight suit, and the bullets couldn't penetrate it. Her physical attributes allowed her to withstand their kinetic force head-on, so she had no fear of gunmen. Her earlier flight had been a show of weakness, drawing Black Spider's encirclement along and bringing the enemies together so she could take them all out at once.
In the brief instant the enemies' attention was divided, Lambert found his chance to strike. Both hands swept across the knife pouch at his waist, and four throwing knives struck four men in the throat in the blink of an eye.
The others were shocked. Half of them were about to turn their guns on Lambert when Li Yalin kicked off the wall high above, shattering it. Stones rained down on their heads, blocking the attacks from Black Spider and his men. Along with the falling debris came Li Yalin, swooping down like a hunting falcon.
Li Yalin drew the hilt of the Folding War Blade at her waist and slashed down. She was still thirty centimeters short of her enemy, who tilted his head back slightly, thinking he could dodge. Suddenly, sections of blade tens of centimeters long extended outward, instantly closing the gap. Steel flashed, and the enemy's throat was slit.
The element of surprise was another advantage of the Folding War Blade.
"Great weapon!" Li Yalin's eyes lit up.
The outcome was obvious when gunmen at the level of ordinary people let a martial artist get close. Thirty seconds later, blood covered the ground, and only Black Spider remained, lying on the ground with both hands severed.
Li Yalin gave a light huff and put away the Folding War Blade. It extended and retracted freely, becoming long or short as needed, and she was very pleased with it.
"Nicely done," Han Xiao said, offering mild praise. He had been silent the whole time and hadn't been the least bit worried that the three would fall here.
"Th-thanks," Lin Yao said awkwardly.
"That didn't include you."
Lin Yao lowered his head in dejection. He hadn't been of any use at all.
"Little lady, you can't kill me."
The badly wounded Black Spider laughed hoarsely, staring at Li Yalin with a mocking look, utterly confident.
Without a word, Lambert pulled out his gun and blew Black Spider's head apart with one shot, scattering red and white matter across the ground.
Li Yalin and Lin Yao silently looked at Lambert.
Lambert's face was expressionless as he said calmly, "We'd find out if we tried."
"...Oh well, dead is dead. Our superiors didn't tell us to keep him alive anyway. I'm going to take a proper bath when I get back. I'm covered in blood, and I stink."
Li Yalin stretched lazily.
Just then, Han Xiao spoke up. "Don't let your guard down. Black Spider is still alive."
Li Yalin nearly threw out her back. Pointing at the corpse, its head smashed to pulp, she said irritably, "He can still be alive like that?"
Han Xiao said calmly, "He's an esper, and his ability is extremely troublesome. Take the mask off the first masked corpse on the left, and you'll see."
Lin Yao hesitated. "But no information about Black Spider being a superhuman has ever surfaced on the dark web. Maybe you got it wrong."
Li Yalin pursed her lips and said earnestly, "Not maybe. You definitely got it wrong. Newbie, I understand you're eager to make a contribution, but you can't just make up false intelligence to mess with us."
Han Xiao was speechless. You silly girl, you need to rein in that imagination.