183: Chapter 183 Operation

The white-haired girl's head turned stiffly, her eyes carrying an indescribable dead silence.

Because of his field of vision and the fact that he was messing around with the girl, Qian Mo, who was pinned beneath her, didn't know someone had arrived outside.

However, he could clearly feel the girl's body tremble slightly; her entire being became extremely rigid, as if she had been struck by lightning.

"Young Miss Xing Yan... are you alright..."

Although it was good to avoid a beating, Qian Mo's priority was now caring about the girl's state.

Xing Yaoyan didn't speak; she simply stood up quickly and walked to the side, pretending to observe the weapons and equipment on the wall.

With her move, she immediately cleared the line of sight she had been blocking, and the group of onlookers standing outside the door appeared in Qian Mo's field of vision.

*Cough cough...*

He quickly sat up, feigning composure, and lowered his head to cough lightly to hide his embarrassment.

But at the same time, an inexplicable joy welled up in his heart—'Great, now everyone knows that Young Miss Xing Yan has feelings for me...'

The System at this moment: 'That love-struck brain is beyond saving...'

...

In a quiet street in Kyoto.

This was an old district of Kyoto, where the peeling paint on the bricks and tiles carried the cultural atmosphere of an unknown era. It looked like a world apart from the outside; not only was surveillance extremely rare, but almost no one lived here except for some elderly people who were unwilling to leave.

The environment here was somewhat damp, with many small puddles on the ground.

Suddenly...

The sound of "da-da-da" footsteps rang out in succession as several men and women wearing the black cloaks of Enforcers walked in.

"Everyone should understand our mission, right?"

The middle-aged man in the lead, wearing a cloak embroidered with a silver dragon pattern, asked his teammates behind him in a low voice.

"Search for hidden Star Beasts and 'smuggled' Yao. If things don't look right, prioritize survival and quickly call for backup... Uh, also, Star Beasts and any Yao who dare to resist can be executed on the spot..."

Xing Yaoyan spoke up quickly.

Her mind wasn't on the execution of the mission at all; she was currently thinking fast about how to pass the information she had obtained to Moss and the others. As for why she answered so proactively, it was simply to make herself familiar to the group to achieve her goal.

"Well said, but it's missing a little something..."

Before the captain, Crow, could finish speaking, the youth beside the girl spoke up.

"There's also an important point: do not alert the enemy unless we are absolutely certain, and minimize all possible casualties..."

"Hmm..."

The middle-aged man nodded, thinking to himself that these two unexpected newcomers were quite serious.

Originally, when he received orders from his superior saying that the person coming to join their mission was a masked mute girl, he had been somewhat reluctant.

After all, his entire team had just reached a Breakthrough to the fourth rank, and he himself had successfully broken through to the fifth rank, promoting them to a Silver Dragon Enforcer Squad. They should have been able to show off their skills in more dangerous places like the West or North Districts of Kyoto, rather than performing a search mission in the city just to babysit newcomers.

Moreover... if the person was mute, there would be huge gaps in communication. Once action began, if information wasn't integrated fast enough, unnecessary casualties were highly likely.

However, he heard that the superior who gave the order held a very high position, so he had no room to refuse.

But fortunately... the ones who came weren't who the mission described, but rather a... very energetic couple...

He naturally knew their identities; after all, he had received the personal information of these two newcomers before they arrived.

But who could blame them for just delivering a massive blow of 'dog food' to this middle-aged bachelor...

"Wolf, Owl, you two follow me down this path in a moment..."

In the tactical execution of an Enforcer squad, real names are generally not used; codenames are used instead.

Xing Yaoyan was Wolf, and Qian Mo was Owl.

"Nightingale, Parrot, you're one team, go this way..."

The man with glasses and the woman with purple curly hair nodded simultaneously.

"Spirit Sparrow, Hummingbird, your Superpowers are 'Absolute Defense' and 'Plant Control' respectively; neither has much lethality. If there's an anomaly, just hold them off..."

The remaining green-haired man and yellow short-haired woman also nodded.

"Good... Everyone remember, if you encounter an emergency, send a signal for backup first... Parrot, as soon as you see a signal, immediately deploy the combat barrier. That's it, everyone, move out."

"Yes!"

As their voices fell in unison, the others spread out in a disciplined manner according to the plan.

Only Crow and the other two remained where they were.

"I'll say the ugly words first. Although one of you is a Genius youth from the Longxiang Academy and the other is the Saintess of the Demon Race here for an exchange with the Human Alliance... as long as you're with me, you follow orders. Don't run off blindly... otherwise, don't blame me for turning hostile..."

Crow spoke seriously, giving off an inexplicably convincing vibe.

"Understood."

The two behind him answered in unison.

But their minds had long since wandered elsewhere.

Xing Yaoyan knew from her time at the Star Nest a few days ago that today was the day the bar procured supplies. Because of its remote location, someone had to be sent alone to buy them.

Normally, at this time of day, the person sent out should be on their way back. If she could find an opportunity to give the information in her hand to him to take back, that would be best...

Going directly to the bar was undoubtedly the worst plan; she was being watched by Qian Mo and Crow, the captain of the Birdcage Squad...

"Qian Mo, let's go... what are you dazing off for?"

"Oh! It's nothing..."

The youth seemed startled; coming back to his senses, he realized he had accidentally gotten lost in thought and had fallen behind the two of them by quite a distance.

"Focus!"

Crow was somewhat dissatisfied, thinking to himself that young people were indeed a bit flighty, daring to daze off while executing this kind of mission...

Though they had strength... this mysterious overconfidence was often the culprit that led to a Genius's premature death.

Precisely because he had experienced it, he didn't want such a thing to happen to others, especially his own team members.

Over the next ten minutes or so, the three walked cautiously. From time to time, when they encountered a house that the System showed as occupied, Crow would stop to knock and ask routine questions to see if there were any anomalies.

All three held detection devices, but the things hadn't made a single sound until now.

Just as Crow was feeling relieved that everything was safe, the sound of wheel hubs suddenly came from the distant alley entrance.

And at that moment...

*Beep...*

The detectors in everyone's hands emitted a faint sound.