206: Compassionate Orphanage

Chapter 206: The hall of Cixin Orphanage fell into a dead silence once again.

Cixin Orphanage.

It was the largest charitable organization in Jiangcheng, a model unit that received massive annual donations from the Wang Group.

Wang Daoming was even its honorary director.

"A wolf in sheep's clothing."

Ninth Master spat fiercely. "He turned that place into a slaughterhouse."

Just then, A-Qiang's body suddenly began to twitch violently.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

The heart rate monitor emitted a piercing alarm.

"Not good!" Su Qingxue was shocked. "His body temperature has broken 40 degrees! Brain pressure is rising! He's rejecting the data!"

"Because we opened the lock."

Li Ke tapped the keyboard frantically. "The data stream is too large; his nerves can't take it! We must cut the connection immediately, or he'll be brain dead!"

"You can't cut it!"

Chen Mo pressed down on Li Ke's hand. "The data hasn't finished copying yet! If you disconnect now, all the evidence will be destroyed!"

"But he'll die!" Su Qingxue roared. "Chen Mo! Look at him! He's bleeding from every orifice!"

Indeed.

Two streaks of blackish-red blood were flowing from the corners of A-Qiang's eyes and nostrils.

That exposed heart was beating so fast its outline was blurring, as if it would explode the next second.

Chen Mo looked at that face twisted in agony.

Save the man?

Or preserve the evidence to save those hundreds of children?

This was never a multiple-choice question.

This was a slow execution by a thousand cuts.

"Ninth Master."

Chen Mo suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse. "Did you bring the thing I wanted?"

"I brought it, but..." Ninth Master pulled a rusted iron box from his backpack. "This stuff is too potent. It's a sedative meant for elephants. What are you going to do?"

"Inject it into him."

"Are you crazy?" Su Qingxue's eyes widened. "One shot of this and his heart will stop!"

"I know what I'm doing."

Chen Mo grabbed the thick syringe and, without any hesitation, plunged it directly into A-Qiang's jugular vein.

"Push!"

The moment the liquid was pushed in...

A-Qiang's twitching stopped.

That frantic heart also seemed to be pressed down by an invisible giant hand, its beat frequency plummeting.

All the alarm sounds vanished.

"Heart rate... 20 beats per minute." Su Qingxue looked at the monitor, her voice trembling. "This is the threshold of death."

"Enough."

Chen Mo watched as the progress bar on the screen reached 100%.

"Li Ke, pull the cable."

Li Ke yanked out the data cable.

At the same time, Chen Mo's palm pressed against A-Qiang's chest, his Internal Energy flowing out to protect that faint heartbeat.

"Brother."

Chen Mo whispered in his ear, "Sleep a little longer. When I'm done with my business, I'll take you home."

A-Qiang's body went limp, his breathing so faint it was almost inaudible, but at least that terrifying state of near-explosion had disappeared.

"I got the data."

Li Ke held the scalding hard drive as if holding a red-hot iron. "It's all in here. Including the underground blueprints of that Orphanage and... the manifest for the next batch of 'goods'."

"The time?" Chen Mo asked.

"It's tonight."

Li Ke checked the time. "Three in the morning. A new batch of 'goods' is being shipped in. Supposedly, there's a special 'Host' this time that Wang Daoming personally requested."

Chen Mo raised his wrist.

The luminous watch face showed: 1:40 AM.

One hour and twenty minutes left.

"Ninth Master."

Chen Mo stood up straight, and in that instant, the exhaustion on his body vanished without a trace.

In its place was a chilling killing intent.

"Bring out those hidden weapons you've been stashing away."

Chen Mo walked to the faucet in the corner, turned it on, and thrust his head under the cold water.

Mud mixed with blood flowed down his chin and into the drain.

He looked up, staring at the bloodshot eyes in the mirror.

"Qingxue, you stay here and look after A-Qiang."

"No."

Su Qingxue said coldly while loading a magazine into her pistol, "I'm a police officer. I have to go to a place Li Ke that."

"That place isn't a crime scene."

Chen Mo turned around and picked up the bone cleaver from the workbench, its bloodstains not yet wiped dry.

"That place is hell."

He tucked the knife into the small of his back and put on a black baseball cap, covering most of his face.

"Since they Li Ke disemboweling people..."

"Then tonight, I'll go teach that Director Wang a lesson."

Chen Mo pushed open the heavy iron door as thunder rolled overhead.

Rumble—!

"What a real surgical operation looks Li Ke."

...A large, dripping padlock hung on the heavy iron gate of Cixin Orphanage.

Colorful graffiti was painted on the wall beside the gate:

Little figures holding hands, a smiling sun, and a line of large words painted in red—'Giving Orphans a Warm Home'.

But under the lightning of the stormy night, that red paint looked exactly Li Ke winding, flowing blood.

"Shut down the surveillance."

Chen Mo crouched in the bushes across the street, rainwater streaming down the brim of his hat, but he didn't even blink.

"Already done."

Li Ke's weak but clear voice came through the earpiece.

Although he remained in the air-raid shelter, he was forcing himself to take control of the security system here.

"This place's network is harder to crack than a bank's, but I've opened a backdoor for you. You only have ten minutes; after ten minutes, the backup power will kick in and the surveillance will restart."

"That's enough."

Chen Mo glanced back.

Su Qingxue was wearing a black tactical raincoat, her glock equipped with a silencer.

Ninth Master carried his large, rusted backpack, chewing on an unlit cigarette butt while holding a short-barreled shotgun.

"Listen."

Chen Mo pointed to his ear. "There are thirty-five heartbeats in this building. Besides the children sleeping on the second floor, there are two in the first-floor hall and four in the backyard warehouse. And six more... underground."

"Those six heartbeats underground are very steady, slower than an average person's." Chen Mo paused. "They're trained martial artists."

"Then those are the guards." Ninth Master spat out the cigarette butt. "How are we doing this?"

"Enter the village quietly; don't fire any shots."

Chen Mo crouched low, dashing across the road Li Ke a black panther.

He didn't take the main entrance. Instead, he took a few running steps, leaped off a trash can by the wall, grabbed the edge of the three-meter-high perimeter wall with one hand, and flipped over silently.

He landed without a sound.

The courtyard was terrifyingly quiet, with only the sound of rain hitting the banana leaves.

Chen Mo stood still against the base of the wall and closed his eyes.

Thump... thump... those were the heartbeats of the guards.

Two guards were standing under the eaves of the hall smoking, their red cigarette tips glowing in the darkness.

"This hellish weather, I really don't want to be on shift."

"Cut the crap. I heard President Wang is coming to inspect the goods tonight. Stay sharp."

"Inspect the goods? Those things again..."

Pfft!

Before he could finish, the back of a bloody bone cleaver slammed hard into his carotid sinus.

The guard didn't even grunt; his eyes rolled back as he slumped down.

The other guard was just about to draw his gun when Su Qingxue slid out from the shadows, locking his throat in a standard rear-naked choke.

Three seconds.

The two guards were dragged into the flowerbeds Li Ke two bags of rice.

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