The murderous intent in both their eyes quickly receded like the tide, returning to normal. Only then did they belatedly realize that their thoughts had been so chaotic that they had fucking forgotten to let go of each other’s hands!
Lance, who hadn’t made such a basic mistake during a mission for a long time, changed color slightly. However, with his rich experience in struggle and skilled disguise techniques, to prevent Zhan Pingchuan from detecting anything unusual, he first pretended to awkwardly steal a glance at Zhan Pingchuan, then quickly looked away, revealing a smile at the corner of his lips that he couldn’t suppress, suggesting that he had intentionally not wanted to let go.
Zhan Pingchuan, who had always been quite confident in his professional demeanor, felt unsettled. He had never expected himself to be such a shallow person. Just because their pheromones were highly compatible, did he have to hold hands?
Fortunately, his disguise skills were equally impressive. Receiving Lance’s gaze, he maintained his composure with a lazy smile, half-genuinely and half-falsely squeezed Lance’s wrist before releasing his slender, delicate wristbone in what seemed like 0.5x slow motion.
Their acting was so superb that—
Lance sighed lightly, inwardly expressing for the umpteenth time since kindergarten: This guy definitely has feelings for me.
There was no helping it; he had been as exquisite as a doll since childhood. Only that dog of an Outer God treated him like a weed to be trampled.
In Zhan Pingchuan’s mind, he propped his chin and shook his head slightly, showing for the thousandth time since he had shot up in height a matter-of-fact expression: The little cutie obviously likes me.
After all, from childhood to adulthood, people arranging marriage proposals had nearly broken down their door. If it weren’t for the fact that too many outsiders visited, resulting in him being kidnapped several times when the opportunity arose, he would hardly have maintained his purity.
Lance took the opportunity to cover his lips, making a nauseated expression, and said to Zhan Pingchuan with difficulty: “Sorry, this is my first time seeing a dead person. I might need to go to the bathroom.”
Zhan Pingchuan had been worried about not having a chance to talk privately. Seeing Lance leave on his own, he breathed a sigh of relief, though his face remained impassive: “Then I’ll head back to the dorm first. Take care.”
Lance nodded, his neck forming a beautiful arc. Then, clutching his throat, with a pale face and a look of lingering shock, he squeezed past the student council president and hurriedly left.
The student council president called out weakly behind him: “Everyone back to the dormitories! Stop watching!”
As soon as Lance reached the empty corridor, his panicked expression immediately disappeared. The acting he had done at school these past few days exceeded what he had done in his entire life.
But to complete the act, he still took large strides toward the bathroom while connecting with Mad Clown.
Mad Clown was as agitated and manic as ever: “Fuck his immortal board, you probably don’t know the latest news yet…”
Lance directly interrupted Mad Clown, racing against time: “I know already. First tell me about those two Blue Pivot inspectors.”
The most troublesome aspect of this matter was that they knew almost nothing about these two Blue Pivot officers.
According to standard procedure, the Blue Pivot Ability Inspection Team required rigorous assessment for new recruits each year, along with public announcement. Only after public approval could they take office. So the Black Lantern Society was well aware of those special ability users and had long practiced tactics against them.
But the owl-form Awakened and chameleon-form Awakened had appeared out of nowhere, indicating that the Federation government had been secretly cultivating a batch of talents as secret weapons.
If it weren’t for Erdiff being involved in the secrets of the rebellion suppression, the Federation government wouldn’t have exposed them.
Mad Clown knew this was a critical matter and hurriedly told Lance the information the Black Lantern Society had urgently gathered: “Owl-form Awakened, Boras, male Alpha, level unknown, specializes in sound wave abilities, tier unknown, attack power unknown. Chameleon-form Awakened, Kluova, female Alpha, A-level, first-tier ability [Absolute Concealment], second-tier ability [Scene Restoration].”
Lance kicked open the bathroom door, looked around to confirm it was empty, then locked it behind him, his voice carrying a cold murderous intent: “Where are these two now?”
Mad Clown: “According to the Inspection Team’s recent ticket bookings, they should be in Harbor Tan City.”
Lance raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised: “They went to Harbor Tan? What a coincidence.”
Harbor Tan was the headquarters of High Tower Guild, where Lance had lived all his life, and also where most of the Black Lantern Society members were concentrated.
Mad Clown: “According to Duma’s information, they have a 3 PM flight, arriving in Capital City at 8 PM, and could enter Star University as early as 9 PM.”
Lance: “It seems Blue Pivot doesn’t have any teleporting ability users. How many of our people are there?”
Mad Clown said grimly: “Only me and Duma.”
Lance: “Where are the others?”
Mad Clown gritted his teeth, his tone full of resentment: “That old bastard, the Night Walker Guild chairman, is marrying another Omega, his 88th grand ceremony. All High Tower Guild members received invitations and are on a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Only I’m stuck here working overtime with you to kill Erdiff.”
The seven executives of the Black Lantern Society, besides their positions there, were also important members of High Tower Guild, working two jobs with different missions. So everyone usually came and went independently, and Lance generally didn’t inquire much.
Lance smiled: “Then just you and Duma. Prepare for an airport interception. I’ll direct.”
Mad Clown snapped: “You might as well let me go alone. What does that little machine head Duma know about killing people!”
Lance comforted him thoughtfully: “At least he can notify me to collect your corpse if the mission fails. After all, getting the flight schedule so easily means the Federation government definitely has an ambush set up. Good luck.”
The ambush was within Lance’s expectations. Given the Federation government’s cunning and treachery, not having an ambush would be the exception. The Blue Pivot Inspection Team’s thunderous methods over the years had captured many ‘extremely vicious’ high-level ability users, not relying solely on strength.
Mad Clown: “You know there’s an ambush and still… What if I can’t kill them successfully?”
Lance faced the sink, methodically wiping his glasses, then smiled and left one sentence: “Then collect my corpse.”
In the classroom, Tang Li remained preoccupied with Lance and Zhan Pingchuan’s clasped hands. Seeing Lance leave, he quickly squeezed next to Zhan Pingchuan: “Classmate Zhan, you looked so cool just now. You look a lot like my future boyfriend. By the way, what’s your ability attribute?”
Ability attributes were actually considered private. Only extremely close people would discuss them, as it was equivalent to revealing one’s trump cards before a battle.
Zhan Pingchuan coldly replied: “Classmate, my heart is already as cold as Kilimanjaro.”
Tang Li couldn’t bear it anymore: “……”
Mount Everest just melted, huh?
Zhan Pingchuan pushed open the window, jumped down from the teaching building, and connected with the guild manager before his feet even touched the ground.
“To make a long story short, I might be exposed. The Blue Pivot Ability Inspection Team has sent ability users who can restore voice prints and scenes. Our conversation last night is a big problem.”
Ghost Eye Guild was nominally a regular guild organization under the Federation government, with operating rights, and needed to cooperate with all Federation government actions when necessary.
If the council’s high-level officials knew they were secretly investigating the truth about the rebellion suppression, they would become an illegal organization like the Black Lantern Society, facing worldwide crackdown.
Zhan Pingchuan couldn’t help saying: “On a side note, since Father wants to investigate the rebellion suppression, why not establish another illegal organization as a cover, called something like the White Ball Society?”
(Lance’s father: Huh?)
The manager calmly interrupted: “No side notes. Information on these two ability users is limited. Currently, we only know that the owl-form Awakened is B-level, with first-tier ability [Low-Frequency Standing Wave], second-tier ability [Voice Print Capture], third-tier ability [Night Hunt Search], a completely supportive talent. The chameleon-form Awakened, female Alpha, unknown.”
“Unknown?” Zhan Pingchuan raised his voice. Hearing “unknown” from the great, no-need-for-words manager was rarer than Mount Everest melting.
The manager said gravely: “Time is limited. There’s no time for investigation.”
Zhan Pingchuan had a wild idea: “Couldn’t you possibly cooperate with some organization, dividing the investigation work?”
The manager was cold and merciless: “No.”
Zhan Pingchuan: “…I’m innocent in this matter and don’t want to be associated with the Black Lantern Society. These two people absolutely cannot live.”
Manager: “We’ve already found out they’re taking the 3 PM flight from Harbor Tan to Capital City. No one else is traveling with them. There’s a high probability of an ambush.”
Zhan Pingchuan: “Is there any possibility of bombing the plane down?”
Manager: “We can send at most two people over. Ghost Eye Guild members are all familiar faces, and besides, the distance is far, making action inconvenient.”
Zhan Pingchuan ground his back teeth: “It would have been so good to establish a White Ball Society back then. We wouldn’t have to worry about these dirty, criminal acts.”
(Lance’s father: Are you referring to me?)
Manager: “I’ll send you high-definition satellite images of Harbor Tan International Airport. You’ll direct this afternoon.”
Zhan Pingchuan checked the time on his watch. The wutong tree shade cast sharp, chiseled shadows on his face. Though his tone was playful and relaxed, his brow had already taken on unprecedented seriousness. With a “ding,” the three-dimensional satellite map was transmitted to his phone.
##
dang they (the two guilds) really are enemies
polar opposites at every turn lol, even info gathering and naming