Those Butterfly Wings Are Kicking Up Quite a Storm

Still, she had some black technology to help her. She spent one activity point on an infrared heat-signature jammer, and as long as she stayed put and kept out of sight, the villains' current equipment wouldn't be able to scan her.

"Is that a British Army Browning L9A1 pistol in your trouser pocket?"

Moriarty stepped out of the darkness. Unlike the coyness he had displayed when pretending to be gay, he finally appeared before Sherlock looking respectable in a suit and polished shoes.

"Or are you just excited to see me?"

Damn!

Crouching in a corner, Sitangna was so nervous she was about to break into a sweat, yet she also had to fight to hold back her laughter. It was torture. She had only understood the innuendo when someone pointed it out in the scrolling comments during her second viewing.

Moriarty stood across the pool from him, his hands in his pockets, calmly making a dirty joke to the great detective. Sitangna didn't know whether he had understood it, but Sherlock's perfectly serious "Both" nearly made her lose it.

What do you know? How can you say both?

"Jim? Jim from the hospital?" Moriarty asked and answered himself.

Sherlock had drawn his gun and aimed it at Moriarty at once, but the laser dots that appeared on Watson seemed to mock him for overestimating himself. His throat and heart were both extremely vulnerable spots.

Sitangna's heart tightened. To prevent any unexpected developments outside the plot, she hurriedly exchanged her newly earned case-solving points in the store for three golden bell shields and placed them on their trio.

Despite the elegant name, the item was even more effective than a bulletproof vest, and it could reflect attacks too. With the shields in place, she could relax and enjoy the show.

"Don't be silly. The others have rifles. I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty. Guess how many people I brought." Moriarty sauntered over, looking as leisurely as if he were strolling through his own backyard.

"I gave you hints before, Sherlock. More than a few." His expression remained normal, but the look in his eyes grew increasingly deranged.

"About how I get by in this broken world."

The incandescent light illuminated most of his face, but a small part remained hidden in darkness, the exact opposite of his state of mind.

"Do you know, the moment I saw you, I understood why she asked me to do this. You're just my type."

Moriarty spread his arms as if singing opera. The "she" he mentioned made Sherlock frown. Wasn't Moriarty the mastermind?

"Don't look at me like that. Don't you really think so? We're a match made in heaven. You're a consulting detective, I'm a consulting criminal. Hahahahaha~"

Moriarty teasingly slung an arm around Watson's shoulders. Watson's expression was fairly composed, but his fists were still clenched tight.

"How interesting is that!"

What's going on? I don't remember this part being in the show?? Sitangna took a deep breath. It's over. The butterfly's wings have stirred up a storm after all. The plot's starting to change.

The villain was still in the middle of his talkative phase. Sitangna was a little intimidated by the tense scene before her, but when she thought about how she now had a chance to ambush Moriarty, perhaps even capture him, the adrenaline in her body shot up as if she had been pumped full of chicken blood.

Should I capture him or not?

A strength pill had already appeared in Sitangna's palm. The system Guoguo also suggested she try weaving a new plot node. If she handled it well, she would theoretically receive more task points, and they could complete their task sooner.

There were simply too many plot points in Sherlock, but the system had given them only three months to complete the task.

The time limit for each world's task was calculated according to how heaven-defying its protagonist was. With someone as clever as Sherlock, the main system had calculated that he would notice something amiss with the world in as little as three months.

If the worldview of the absolute protagonist were overturned, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Unless the protagonist was a unique species like Deadpool, who already transcended dimensions and universes, the collapse of their worldview would be far more serious than simply "saving the galaxy."

"Sherlock, run!"

The crisis came suddenly. When Moriarty approached, Watson grabbed him, thinking that at worst he could die with him. But then a laser dot appeared on Sherlock's forehead too.

Damn it! Where did this Jim find so many snipers willing to follow his orders?

As Sitangna moved slowly, the three by the pool exchanged words back and forth. In the end, Watson let Moriarty go. Even holding him hostage would do no good now. In tonight's situation, unless this Jim showed them mercy, neither of them could escape.

"M! Emergency! A heat source suddenly appeared and is moving toward you...!"

"Watch this! Heavenly king covers the earthly tiger! Ha-da!!"

Sitangna's hiding place was a little way from Moriarty, but with the strength pill taking effect, she needed less than three seconds to sprint over. After precisely calculating the timing, she gathered her strength and kicked the big-eyed Chihuahua of a villain.

It happened so suddenly that Moriarty, who had only just received the warning through his earpiece, couldn't dodge in time. He fell into the pool with a splash.

"Get the bomb vest off, quickly!"

Sitangna and Sherlock each grabbed a sleeve and yanked Watson free in a flash. The bomb vest was flung into the pool. True to his status as a battlefield veteran, Watson immediately rolled aside to evade the snipers.

But Moriarty reacted quickly too. In the blink of an eye, he had climbed out of the pool. Sitangna spared him a glance. It was rare to see the Napoleon of crime looking so disheveled.

Whoosh-bang-whoosh-bang!

The snipers on both sides fired repeatedly without landing a single shot. Moriarty, sprawled at the edge of the pool and gasping for breath, shouted for them to stop. His game with Holmes had only just begun; he couldn't let them get rid of the only other player.

"Retreat!"

A continuous wail of urgent, piercing sirens sounded in the distance. Sitangna let out a breath. The golden bell shields only lasted five minutes, but fortunately, Mycroft had arrived early.

Seeing the laser dots around them gradually disappear, Sherlock understood that his dear brother had successfully brought the snipers under control. He signaled to Watson, and the two of them subdued Moriarty as he tried to escape.

Beep, beep, beep. What was that sound? Sitangna turned warily. It was the bomb they had thrown into the pool. Damn it, it still worked after being submerged that deep? It was much better than some phones!

Before she could even joke about it, Moriarty, pinned to the ground, pressed the decoder bracelet on his left wrist. The bomb's countdown sped up to three seconds, and the rapidly accelerating beeps hammered at everyone's hearts like a death knell.

Bang!!!!!!!!

The strength pill only lasted one minute, but to make sure it had taken effect, she had swallowed it before acting and adjusted her condition to build up her strength. Now the bomb was about to explode, but her legs had already given out.

I can't move at all! Sitangna wanted to cry but had no tears. She could only collapse to the floor and use her hands to crawl away. She hadn't practiced the skill of "creepy crawling" in so long since becoming an adult. If she made it back safely, she would definitely do more crawling.

At least she could make the best of a bad situation. It was her first time experiencing a scene with real guns and live ammunition, and the utterly real experience of being in mortal danger had turned her initial excitement into fear and horror. Joking was no help at all now.

She instinctively hugged herself tightly. She had expected the searing blast behind her and had already braced herself to be burned, but aside from the deafening bang, nothing else seemed to happen.

Splash~

After the blast subsided, the entire room looked as though it had been washed with water. All the three of them could hear was the sound of water pattering down around them.

Sitangna slowly opened her eyes. Her vision hadn't recovered from the impact, so the first thing she noticed was her sense of smell, which had been less affected.

She breathed deeply, vaguely making out the smell of disinfectant from the pool, the thick, acrid smell of the bomb, and a strangely familiar perfume surrounding her.

Crisp and cool, like a fir tree with its branches laden with winter snow.

Still bewildered, she lifted her head slightly. Soft breathing sounded very close, and it felt as though a breeze brushed past her ear. Could there be a breeze indoors too?

"Are you all right, Sherlock? Nana? Say something, quickly!"

Watson had clearly been farthest from the blast, but at the critical moment, he had still stepped back to try to protect Sherlock and Sitangna, mainly Nana.

This was probably the first time the young girl had encountered something so terrifying. He hoped it wouldn't leave her traumatized.

Watson was anxiously checking on the two of them nearby, so the person holding her now must be him.

"Sherlock."

"I'm here."

The loud bang indoors startled Mycroft, who had still been sitting in the car, into getting out at once. He didn't even take the umbrella he usually never let go of. His assistant Anthea's heart tightened, and she hurriedly called for the medical staff to get inside quickly.

Fortunately, the pool water and that cumbersome garment had reduced the force of the bomb. The three of them, caught completely off guard by Moriarty's move, had only been shaken by the blast and were not seriously hurt.

Sherlock didn't release the girl in his arms until the medical professionals came in. They moved various examination instruments back and forth over the three of them, but even after quite a while, she was still trembling. She was probably frightened.

She had been so brave when she kicked Moriarty.

"Apart from the gunpowder burns on Mr. Sherlock's back, we haven't found any other wounds so far. But I recommend that all three of you go to the hospital for examinations with more precise equipment to check for internal injuries. After all, you were far too close to the explosion."

After giving his diagnosis, the doctor asked a nurse to fetch a stretcher from the ambulance. According to the other gentleman, the youngest lady at the scene might have overexerted herself during the crisis, causing a temporary loss of strength. She needed further examination for things like displaced ligaments or fractured wrist bones.

Before the stretcher arrived, Sherlock scooped Sitangna up and carried her outside. Caught off guard, she gave a startled cry and clung tightly to his neck, though she only dared to look at his chest. Seeing this, Watson followed behind them, beaming like someone whose own boy had finally seen the light.

"What about me, Sherlock? You have no idea, my legs turned to jelly when I was wearing that bomb just now. Carry me too."

Sherlock paused and looked at Watson, who was teasing him and making faces.

"Hop on. I can carry another one on my back."

"Never mind, then. The back of your suit's been blown to pieces and it's covered in blood. I'm not getting on."

"At least you have a conscience."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

When the three of them came out supporting one another and reached the ambulance, Mycroft looked in surprise at the three who appeared to have just taken a shower. No, two of them.

The young girl he had met the day before yesterday was not the slightest bit wet, and Sherlock had brought her out in this strange manner.

"Are my eyes deceiving me, Anthea? Is he...?"

Anthea took one second away from the busy work on her phone to glance over and answered without hesitation.

"Yes, sir. That's a princess carry. Mm, very romantic."

"Sherlock? Romantic? Make me an appointment with an eye doctor for the morning after tomorrow."

Before he could speak to Sherlock, one of the police officers handling security came over to report that they still hadn't caught the culprit, Moriarty, and had arrested only two of the snipers.

"I suppose that's to be expected. Anyone who dares toy with Sherlock and Great Britain wouldn't be a fool."

"Boss, we need to get back. That lady says there's a lead on Moriarty, but..."

"Then let's go."

Wee woo, wee woo-

The ambulance raced along with its siren blaring. Sherlock disliked going to hospitals except when a case required it, but his wound probably needed a professional doctor's attention.

"Thank you, Watson. I'm all right now."

"And you, Sherlock, does your wound hurt?"

Sitangna sat resting on the stretcher, the blanket over her legs providing both warmth and comfort. Watson had one draped over him too. Sherlock was drying his hair with a towel; he didn't like being soaking wet.

"It stings a little. It doesn't hurt."

Still shaken, Watson leaned against the backrest and caught his breath. He had been on more dangerous missions than this, but after so many years, he was no longer in the same condition.

He had never expected to risk his life so readily for a "friend" he had only just met. It wasn't until many years later that he realized the bond of friendship had quietly formed back then.

"You were incredible, Nana. I never knew you could run so fast. He was already in the water before I even knew what was happening. That shout of yours was as cool as Bruce Lee."

Watson patted her head reassuringly. "In my heart, you're even more impressive than Jackie Chan!"

Whoa! That was some high praise. With everyone helping to ease the mood, Sitangna gradually calmed down.

"The situation was too urgent. Both of you had sniper rifles trained on you. If he'd gotten upset, it would've taken half a second. I didn't dare gamble."

She was still shaken after saying that. She hadn't expected this damned plot to go so far off course. Hearing that unfamiliar conversation had made her break out in a cold sweat, and Sherlock had also learned from it ahead of time that someone else was the mastermind.

Would East Wind Girl be brought in early too? No, please!

Sitangna wailed incessantly to the system Candy. East Wind Girl had made far too overwhelming an impression on her in the fourth season of the TV series, and she was a coward who shied away from difficulties... How was she supposed to fight someone with cheats?!

Golden finger, golden finger! I want a golden finger!