28: Chapter 28 Art is an Explosion

The night in Black Rock City never belonged to tranquility.

But on the top floor of the Chamber of Commerce headquarters building, Vice President Wang felt that tonight's night was exceptionally beautiful.

Expensive mutant animal skin rugs, cigars smuggled from the Western Continent, and two female slaves as docile as cats in his arms—all of this intoxicated him.

"Vice President… does that man surnamed Lin really have so many good things?"

A female slave used lips painted with cheap lipstick to feed a shriveled grape into Vice President Wang's mouth, her voice sweet and coquettish.

"Hehe, more than just many!"

Vice President Wang drank the red wine in his glass in one gulp, a greedy light flickering in his eyes.

"You guys haven't seen it! Those women, they're so fresh they could drip water! And that car! It's simply a mobile fortress! As long as I get my hands on all of this, that City Lord Lei Hu is nothing! This Black Rock City will be mine sooner or later!"

He laughed proudly, fantasizing about his future of ruling this steel city, sitting on luxury cars and surrounded by beauties.

"Report—"

Just then, a trusted subordinate scrambled in, his face full of panic and ecstasy.

"Vice President! Good news! The 'Night Crow' squad, they… they…"

"Did they succeed?!" Vice President Wang sat up abruptly, asking excitedly.

"No… not…"

Before the subordinate could finish, his voice stopped abruptly.

A cold blade edge silently emerged from behind him, gently slicing across his neck.

"Pfft."

Blood sprayed.

The subordinate's eyes widened, clutching his throat, and he fell straight down.

"Who?!"

Vice President Wang jumped up from the bed in shock, and the two female slaves were so scared they screamed and shrank into the corner.

At the door, two figures like reapers walking out of hell slowly stepped in.

The leading man, in a black Zhongshan suit, wore a smile as warm as the spring breeze, and was leisurely wiping a silenced pistol with a clean white silk handkerchief.

Behind him, the stunning woman in a black high-slit cheongsam slowly sheathed a blood-stained Tang dao, her cold eyes examining the messy bed in the room with interest.

"Vice President Wang, good evening."

Lin Xiao threw the used silk handkerchief on the floor, as if it were something filthy.

"I heard you are very interested in my people and my car?"

"Lin… Officer Lin?!"

Vice President Wang was struck by lightning; he was completely stunned.

How could he be here?!

What about the guards outside? What about those dozens of heavily armed guards? And the "Night Crow" squad?!

"Oh, if you are looking for those dogs of yours."

Lin Xiao seemed to see through his thoughts and pointed outside the door.

"They are all sleeping in the hallway. They are sleeping very peacefully, you don't need to worry about waking them up."

Vice President Wang looked in the direction he pointed and saw more than a dozen corpses lying helter-skelter in the corridor, each killed with a single blow, their deaths tragic.

His legs went weak, and he fell to his knees with a "thump".

"Spare… spare my life! Officer Lin! This is a misunderstanding! It's a misunderstanding!"

Vice President Wang kowtowed wildly, his forehead banging against the floor.

"It was all that one-eyed dragon! He instigated me! He said you were a liar and told me to test you! I… I was just confused for a moment!"

"Misunderstanding?"

Lin Xiao laughed.

He slowly walked up to Vice President Wang, bent down, and gently patted his cheek with the silenced pistol that still carried the residual warmth of gunpowder smoke.

"You sent twelve killers with submachine guns to ambush me; is this also a misunderstanding?"

"You wanted to sell my woman to the underground black market; is this also a misunderstanding?"

Vice President Wang trembled like chaff, and a smell of urine instantly came from his crotch.

He knew he was doomed today.

But he still wanted to make a final struggle.

"No! That's not it! I… I have money! I'll give you all the money in the Chamber of Commerce! And this building! I'll give it all to you! Just spare my life!"

"Money?"

Lin Xiao stood up straight, looked around the luxurious bedroom, his eyes full of disdain.

"I'm not interested in your money."

"However…"

His tone changed, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"I am, however, a bit interested in your safe and this building."

...

How did all this happen?

Time rewinds to fifteen minutes ago.

When Lin Xiao decided to counter-attack, Luo Yao's voice was calm and clear in his earpiece.

"Squad Leader, I have used [Electronic Ghost] to invade Black Rock City's security system. All surveillance cameras within three hundred meters of the Chamber of Commerce headquarters building are now playing a loop from five minutes ago."

"The infrared alarms and pressure sensors inside the building have also been temporarily disabled. You have twenty minutes of golden infiltration time."

"Well done, Luo Yao."

Lin Xiao took Su Qingqian, along with the five most agile and courageous girls selected from the Dance Department (led by Liu Ruyan), and like several black ghosts, they silently infiltrated the shadows of the Chamber of Commerce building.

"Liu Ruyan, you take the team and clear the perimeter. Remember, use this."

Lin Xiao handed her several pistols equipped with silencers.

"If you can solve it with one shot, never use a second. If you encounter something you can't solve, leave it to Qing Qian."

"Yes, Conductor."

Excitement and tension flickered in Liu Ruyan's eyes.

This was her first time participating in such a core operation since submitting to him. She knew this was Lin Xiao testing her, and also giving her a chance to make a contribution.

She and those girls from the Dance Department had excellent physical flexibility, moving like cats in the narrow passages. Those lazy guards hadn't even seen a figure before they had their throats slit from behind with daggers.

Occasionally, when encountering a tricky one, Su Qingqian's figure would flash past like a ghost, leaving behind a cold corpse.

The whole process was efficient, cold, and professional.

In less than ten minutes, they had silently reached the top floor.

This was not a battle at all, but a hunt from a higher dimension.

With a top-tier hacker like Luo Yao as backup, they were in this seemingly impregnable fortress as if walking in an empty courtyard.

...

Back to the present.

Inside Vice President Wang's bedroom.

Lin Xiao took out a few square, rubber-like things from his tactical backpack.

"**[C4 Plastic Remote Explosive (System Improved Version)]**"

This was what he had redeemed with points earlier; it was three times more powerful than conventional C4 and more stable.

"Lin… Officer Lin, what… what are you doing?"

Vice President Wang was scared out of his wits looking at those pieces of "plasticine" emitting a dangerous aura.

Lin Xiao ignored him.

He walked to the huge alloy safe against the wall and firmly stuck a piece of C4 on the door.

"I heard you hid all the Chamber of Commerce's assets in here?"

"I'm a bit clumsy, I don't know how to pick locks. I can only use some violent means."

Then, he walked to the thickest load-bearing pillar in the center of the room and carefully pasted the remaining C4 in a circle.

"This pillar is not bad, thick enough, hard enough. It will be spectacular when it explodes."

After doing all this, Lin Xiao clapped his hands, as if he had completed a work of art.

He walked to Vice President Wang, who was slumped on the ground, squatted down, and looked him in the eye.

"Originally, you were just greedy. Greed is not a capital crime."

"But you shouldn't have touched my woman. This is my reverse scale."

He stood up and took one last look at this man whose face was already bloodless.

"Next life, keep your eyes open."

Having said that, he put his arm around Su Qingqian's waist and turned to walk out.

Without the slightest nostalgia.

"No… don't… don't go! Take me with you! Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

Vice President Wang let out a desperate roar, scrambling to chase after him.

But Lin Xiao just pressed the remote control in his hand without looking back.

On the remote, a red button lit up with the light of death.

"Goodbye."

...

On the roof of a high-rise building in Black Rock City.

Lin Xiao and Su Qingqian stood by the railing, the night wind blowing their clothes.

Beneath their feet, most of the entire city was plunged into darkness and silence.

Lin Xiao raised the remote control in his hand, aimed it at the towering Chamber of Commerce building in the distance, and pressed it gently.

"Qing Qian, watch closely."

"This is the art lesson I was talking about."

"BOOM—!!!!"

Without warning.

A deafening roar instantly tore through the tranquility of Black Rock City!

I saw the distant Chamber of Commerce building suddenly explode with a blinding fireball from the middle position!

The fire was so intense that it illuminated half the night sky as bright as day in an instant!

Immediately after, in the terrified eyes of countless people.

The sturdy reinforced concrete building, like building blocks cut in half by a giant, disintegrated in the violent explosion, turning into countless rubble and fire rain, mixed with desperate screams, falling from a hundred meters high!

The huge shockwave swept out, shattering the glass of all buildings on several surrounding streets!

"Rumble…"

The earth was trembling, and the entire Black Rock City seemed to have fallen into a sudden earthquake.

Countless people woke up from their dreams, rushed to the street, and looked in horror at the fire and rolling smoke rising into the sky.

"What happened?!"

"Earthquake? Or was it hit by a shell?"

"Oh my god! That is… the Chamber of Commerce building! The Chamber of Commerce building was blown up!"

Inside the City Lord's Mansion.

City Lord Lei Hu, who had just gone to bed, was shaken off the bed by this loud noise.

He didn't even have time to put on his clothes, rushed to the balcony shirtless, looked at the Chamber of Commerce building that had turned into ruins in the distance, and was completely stunned.

"Who did it?! Who the hell did it?!"

He let out a beast-like roar.

This was simply a hard slap in the face of City Lord Lei Hu!

Just then.

"Buzz buzz buzz…"

A small drone suddenly flew over the City Lord's Mansion.

A loudspeaker was hanging under the drone.

Immediately after, Lin Xiao's calm, even slightly smiling voice resounded through the sky of Black Rock City via the broadcast.

"Good evening, everyone in Black Rock City."

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lin Xiao from the 'Northern Legion'."

"I am very sorry to disturb everyone's rest in the middle of the night in this way."

"The fireworks just now were a small gift I gave to Vice President Wang of the Chamber of Commerce. Because he didn't understand the rules very well, wanted to grab my things, and wanted to touch my woman."

The broadcast voice paused, leaving time for everyone to digest this shocking information.

"I, Lin Xiao, came to Black Rock City to do business and to make friends."

"I like peace and am willing to follow the rules."

"But the premise is that others must also follow my rules."

"My rules are very simple."

"First, don't mess with me."

"Second, never forget the first rule."

"Tonight, it was just a small warning."

"If there is a next time…"

"I don't guarantee whether these fireworks will bloom at the City Lord's Mansion or some other place."

"Alright, that's all. Everyone, continue sleeping, good night."

The broadcast ended.

The drone circled once and disappeared into the night.

The entire Black Rock City fell into dead silence.

If anyone still doubted Lin Xiao's identity as the "Northern Legion" before, then after this gorgeous and cold explosion art, no one dared to doubt it anymore.

To be able to blow up a headquarters building silently under the City Lord's nose, and dare to broadcast such an arrogant declaration.

This is not a dragon crossing the river, this is a prehistoric crocodile!

City Lord Lei Hu stood on the balcony, his face blue.

...

Beside the ruins of the explosion site.

Lin Xiao put away the remote control, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Art should be fleeting, but shocking."

Su Qingqian stood beside him, watching his side profile that looked a bit evil under the firelight, her heartbeat quickening involuntarily.

This man, sometimes humorous, sometimes domineering, and sometimes like now, like a demon king in control of everything.

Every look made her deeply fascinated.

"Let's go."

Lin Xiao took her hand.

"While the whole city's attention is here, we should go collect some 'interest'."

"There should be a lot of good things in the Chamber of Commerce's underground warehouse, right?"

...

...

The aftermath of the explosion had not yet dissipated, and the roar of the Chamber of Commerce building collapsing was still echoing in every corner of Black Rock City.

The shrill alarm, people's terrified screams, and the whistles of the City Guard's emergency assembly intertwined, playing a chaotic midnight symphony.

Countless fires rose from the ruins, illuminating the entire area like purgatory.

And in a shadow a few hundred meters away from the ruins.

Lin Xiao was leaning against the wall, smoking leisurely, admiring the "masterpiece" he had directed himself.

The firelight jumped in his deep eyes, reflecting not fear, but satisfaction.

"Squad Leader, all the City Guards in the city have been attracted, and City Lord Lei Hu has also personally led a team to the scene."

Luo Yao's excited voice came from the earpiece.

"I have found the entrance to the underground warehouse of the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, it is under a building disguised as a public toilet fifty meters to the east of the ruins. The firewall of the password lock is very strong, but I have already bypassed it using [Electronic Ghost], leaving you a three-minute backdoor."

"Three minutes? That's enough."

Lin Xiao threw away the cigarette butt and crushed it with his toe.

He turned back to look at the team behind him.

Su Qingqian was still in the blood-stained black cheongsam, cold and beautiful like frost, the Tang dao gleaming in the firelight.

Liu Ruyan and the five girls from the Dance Department she led had changed into tight black combat uniforms. Although there was still a trace of tension on their faces, their eyes were filled with more excitement and stimulation.

The silent infiltration and assassination just now had greatly exercised their courage and self-confidence.