Yu Sui’an brushed past him, just like last time, followed by a group of people, all of them his subordinates.
The scent of ancient wood incense drifted past him and into his nose. Xu Chi twitched his nose, tilted his head slightly, and greeted him, “Section Chief An.”
He watched as several people got into the car in front of him, but one person at the back of the line stopped beside him. Wearing frameless glasses and looking very much like an elite, he patted Xu Chi on the shoulder…
“Brother Xu, long time no see. Our director said you’ve been performing well recently. Let’s have tea together sometime.”
A cover for the real message. As his hand dropped, it clasped Xu Chi’s hand, and a slip of paper was passed into Xu Chi’s palm.
“Then I’ll be off. Goodbye, Brother Xu.”
Xu Chi’s expression did not change. He put on a fake smile, tugged at his trench coat, turned around, and left through the company gate.
Only after crossing a street did he lower his head to look at the note in his hand…
“Tonight’s task difficulty is five stars. We’ve assigned someone to assist you. This is the number xxxxxxx. Remember to contact them.”
The contact numbers used by people working for those above were specially customized. They were not the usual eleven digits, but seven digits, and the phone had to be switched to a specific program before that number could be dialed.
After walking a short distance, Xu Chi called the number. The other side picked up within five seconds and asked:
“Who is it?” A very deep, gravelly voice.
Xu Chi replied, “Plain noodle soup tonight.”
The other side paused for a moment, then the voice immediately changed, turning into a sunny, cheerful young man who grinned and said, “Hello, Brother Xu. This is my first time working with Brother Xu, so I wonder what Brother Xu has in mind?”
These were all internal code words. For example, if someone asked who it was, the answer had to be “plain noodle soup”; if they asked what you were doing, the answer had to be “egg fried rice.”
If you didn’t answer like that, it meant there was a special situation, such as the caller not being an insider, or the caller being forced to make the call with someone nearby.
“…” Xu Chi paused. He recognized this person: brown curly hair, the top talent in the internal information department, looking like both a puppy and a cat…
Lu Jiujian.
“I need photos, and I also need to know what they’re doing tonight.”
In the original manga, He Shou and Qin Shen hadn’t shown up yet at this point. How was he supposed to know what they were going to do at Red Lotus tonight?!
“…” Lu Jiujian froze for a moment, a little confused. How could this Xu Chi still be making requests? Wasn’t everyone in the internal department saying Xu Chi was an idiot, a fool who only carried out tasks without using his brain at all? He didn’t know how to arrange things, didn’t know how to plan, a mindless murder machine.
Xu Chi didn’t wait for his response and grew impatient. “What are you doing? Hurry up.”
Lu Jiujian was even more stunned, even more shocked. How could this Xu Chi still get impatient and even snap at him? Wasn’t Xu Chi supposed to be a block of wood, a dead log that would take any beating or scolding without fighting back?
Seeing no response, Xu Chi frowned and hung up directly. It was almost dark, and he was wasting time here.
Relying on others was worse than relying on himself.
Xu Chi had just put his phone in his pocket and was about to go to the nearest internet cafe to hack into He Shou and Qin Shen’s systems and check their routes when he had taken only two steps and his phone rang…
“Are you there?” That deep voice.
“…”
Xu Chi: “Sour bamboo shoot fried snail noodles.”
The voice on the other end immediately returned to normal. “Holy crap, Brother Xu, why did you hang up on me?!”
Xu Chi’s tone was cold. “You weren’t moving, so I thought you were no good and hung up.”
No good?! No good?! Lu Jiujian exploded on the spot!
“Fine! I’ll show you who’s no good!”
Rapid clattering sounds came from the other end. Within 30 seconds, message after message was sent to Xu Chi’s email.
Xu Chi opened it. It contained all the information on Qin Shen and He Shou, information on everyone who might appear at Red Lotus tonight, as well as the purpose and action route for the two of them going to Red Lotus tonight.
More than a hundred items were uploaded in two minutes, and half of them were the people He Shou was bringing to Red Lotus tonight.
There was also a map of Red Lotus, marking escape routes, room locations, camera positions, and so on.
Crystal clear.
“How about it? Who’s no good? I’ll give you a chance to say that again.”
“Mm, Brother Jiu is good.”
After reading the information, Xu Chi had a rough idea in mind, and his mood improved a little, so he answered Lu Jiujian.
Being praised, Lu Jiujian felt unreal.
Just as he was about to speak, the other side said, “I’m hanging up first,” and beep, the call ended.
“…” Lu Jiujian fell silent. Thinking of something, he raised an eyebrow, sat cross-legged, and quickly operated on his computer…
A few seconds later, a red dot appeared on the computer.
He was tracking Xu Chi.
Then he hacked into nearby surveillance, zoomed in, and Xu Chi’s face appeared on the screen through the camera.
Xu Chi… Holy crap!! He’s this good-looking??
No, no, he must have found the wrong person. Move over and look nearby…
There was no one nearby. This person is Xu Chi?! Is the location malfunctioning??
He took a screenshot and compared it with the company’s photos; they matched perfectly.
Holy crap!! This person really is Xu Chi!!
Xu Chi, damn, he’s this good-looking?!
Why couldn’t you tell from the photos at all, but the real person is this good-looking? Even the surveillance image looks this good; in person he must be…
Lu Jiujian was dumbfounded.
Then, in the surveillance camera, Xu Chi suddenly looked over…
Then casually looked away.
Two seconds later, a message popped up in Lu Jiujian’s email:
“The camera panned too fast.”
Lu Jiujian was so startled he fell off his chair.
Holy crap… Were those people in the internal department spreading fake news about Xu Chi?? This Xu Chi… clearly… has something going on, damn.
…
Xu Chi quickly came up with a plan for tonight.
He sent You Chumu a message saying he would be working late tonight and wouldn’t be coming back, and told You Chumu not to go out at night, fearing danger.
After that, he went to the nearest border of the Sin District, where it was sealed off by an electric wall. Ordinary people couldn’t even touch it.
Xu Chi found a spot, pressed it, and a drawer popped out. Inside were all kinds of murder weapons belonging to the original host Xu Chi: knives, swords, guns, vicious wolf-fang clubs, and so on, as well as Defense equipment.
Xu Chi stared at the equipment for two seconds in silence, then took out a bulletproof vest, an anti-superpower chip, and an anti-superpower suit.
Although wearing a bulletproof vest and an anti-superpower suit at the same time looked a little stupid, after checking the list of people attending tonight, he knew that using superpowers and guns was very likely. To save his life, he had to wear them.
After hiding in a corner and putting the clothes on, he closed the drawer and left.
He didn’t take a single piece of attack gear.
Of course Xu Chi was scared to death, but he didn’t think that if it really came down to a fight, he could survive among so many people.
Of course, if his plan went smoothly, no one would lay a hand on him tonight.