Leo Vance stepped out from behind the oil drum, moving through the remaining shadows.
Step two: communication equipment.
In a corner of the cave sat a makeshift communications station built from wooden boards, topped with a walkie-talkie charging dock and a shortwave radio.
While the guards’ attention was entirely focused on the searchlight malfunction, he circled around to the rear of the station.
He secured the antenna joint with fine string and pulled out the two batteries inside the walkie-talkie charging dock.
The comms equipment wouldn’t fail instantly, but its standby time would be drastically cut.
Step three: make noise.
Luke picked up a fist-sized piece of rubble by his feet and hurled it hard against the corrugated iron outer wall of the generator room.
*Clang.*
The sound was sharp and clear, echoing through the enclosed cave.
“Over there!” A guard turned, and three men ran toward the generator room.
Only three remained in place.
Step four: take them down one by one.
Luke stepped out from the shadows.
The first guard caught a blurry glimpse of a figure in the dark.
Just as he opened his mouth to shout, a leather-gloved hand reached out from behind, precisely gripping his jaw and larynx before wrenching him backward.
The guard’s cry was choked in his throat.
He lost his balance and crashed heavily to the ground.
Luke delivered a hand-chop to the back of his neck.
Confirming he was unconscious, he dragged the man into the shadows.
Fifteen seconds later.
The second guard tripped over a fine string catching his ankle as he passed from the side.
Pitching forward, his head slammed into the rock wall, knocking him out cold on the spot.
Thirty seconds later.
The third guard heard a strange noise, raised his gun, and spun around.
Pitch blackness met his eyes, save for a dark-coated figure flashing past from the flank.
He instinctively pulled the trigger in that direction.
*BANG!*
The gunshot exploded through the cavern.
But the bullet missed.
Luke was already approaching from another angle.
He grabbed the barrel of the guard’s rifle, shoving it upward while driving a knee into the man’s ribs.
The guard grunted, dropping to his knees.
Luke pressed down hard on the side of his neck.
Five seconds later, complete silence fell.
The entire process took under four minutes.
The guards over by the generator room were still inspecting the equipment; only one remained at the main entrance.
Luke didn’t chase down the rest.
Instead, he bound the three unconscious guards together with string and dumped them into the junk pile in the corner.
Then he walked over to the comms station, disconnected the power cord of the shortwave radio, and sliced through it with his folding knife.
*Hummm—*
The cave’s connection to the outside world was completely cut off.
Having finished all this, Luke retreated back into the shadows.
He didn’t disturb the men in the generator room, nor did he look for the sub-boss.
His goal tonight was simply to cause chaos, sabotage key facilities, and test his operational capabilities.
It wasn’t to capture or rescue anyone.
Just then, the door to the generator room was pushed open.
A guard poked his head out, frowning as he yelled toward the main area of the cave, “What was that gunshot about?”
No answer.
The guard shouted twice more.
Still, dead silence.
He tightened his grip on his rifle, slowed his pace, and cautiously began searching toward the main area.
After about ten steps, he suddenly froze.
Scattered on the floor ahead were several severed cables, alongside a walkie-talkie with a black screen.
He crouched down to check.
At that moment, a faint sound came from behind him.
The guard spun around, bringing his gun up.
Nothing was there.
The old bulb overhead flickered twice, then went out completely.
The entire cave plunged into pure darkness.
The guard’s breathing grew rapid.
He backed up two steps until his spine hit the wall.
He heard the sound of someone walking in the dark.
Very light.
Like the rustle of fabric.
Then a raspy, low voice—hardly sounding human—echoed from all directions, bouncing, refracting, and amplifying off the stone walls into an unlocatable reverberation.
“Batman.”
The guard stunned for a second, then actually laughed.
“Who the fuck—”
A dark figure dropped from above.
Toes touched his shoulder first before the entire body flipped down weightlessly, a hand simultaneously pressing down on his gun stock.
The barrel dropped.
The guard instinctively wanted to scream, but a hand had already pinched his throat with surgical precision.
“Shh.”
In the dark, the voice was close—extremely close.
“Let me ask you a question.”
The guard froze completely.
“Have you ever heard of Batman?”
The guard’s mouth opened and closed in a tremble, whether from terror or strangulation.
His voice shook uncontrollably: “In…
The movies…
Cos—”
Before he could finish, a numbness spread through the back of his neck.
The world went black.
Five seconds later, the guard lay neatly beside his comrades.
Luke stood in the dark for a moment.
Then he walked toward the ventilation duct, stopping at the entrance to look down at his shadow.
Tattered coat, dark scarf, military bandages, and leather gloves.
Crude, but at least it formed a silhouette.
He bent down and crawled back into the duct.
Inside the stone room.
Tony was leaning against the wall, the blue light on his chest pulsing rhythmically as his fingers tapped idly on the ground.
Ho Yinsen sat opposite him, his breathing light, eyes fixed on the door.
When a faint rustle came from the duct, both men looked up simultaneously.
Luke crawled out of the duct and landed on his feet.
He took off the coat, scarf, bandages, and gloves one by one, folded them neatly, and stuffed them back into the canvas bag.
Then he pushed the bag into the shadows in the corner of the room.
He didn’t utter a single word from start to finish.
Tony broke the silence first: “What’s the situation outside?”
“Searchlight broken.
Communications cut.
Four guards won’t be waking up anytime soon.”
Tony: “…Four?”
“That’s all for tonight.”
Tony’s mouth hung open.
“You call that—’all for tonight’?”
Luke sat back in his corner and closed his eyes.
“Just a warm-up.”
A system notification lit up in the dark.
[Role Completion: 11% → 13%]
[First Operation Rating: Excellent]
[Host completion degree has exceeded 10%.]
[Milestone Reward Distributed: Simple Equipment Schematics (Basic Batch)]
A stream of information silently flooded into Luke’s mind.
Smoke bomb formulas, crude grappling hook schematics, climbing claw crafting methods, basic jammer circuit principles…
None of these were finished products, but as long as he had the right materials, Luke could now craft them anywhere.
[Warning: The Ten Rings will conduct a full sweep of the cave tomorrow.
You will face your first true test then.]
Luke kept his eyes closed, but the faint curve at the corner of his lips flashed briefly in the dark.
Smoke bombs.
Grappling hooks.
Tomorrow, they would come in handy.