220: Chapter 220 Waiting for a Rabbit to Fall into a Trap

Zhao Haokun stood up abruptly, his aura exploding with a roar.

"Pass down the order!"

"Deploy the Shadow Guards."

"Also, invite the two Consecrated Elders to oversee the operation personally."

"Tonight, I will wash the South Suburb Base in blood!"

"I want to turn Lin Fan's base into my Zhao family's arsenal!"

...

The night was as dark as ink, shrouding the entire Capital.

The South Suburb Base stood alone in the wilderness, like a sleeping giant beast.

Usually brightly lit, the base appeared exceptionally quiet tonight.

Only a few dim yellow streetlights swayed in the wind, stretching the shadows of the buildings long.

The base gates were tightly shut, and the security booth was empty.

It seemed that, just as the intelligence said, Lin Fan had taken everyone out for field training.

In a thicket five hundred meters away from the base.

Over a dozen dark figures lurked there like ghosts.

They wore special night-ops suits made of a material that could absorb light and radar waves, making them nearly invisible in the night.

Each person exuded a heart-palpitating scent of blood.

This was the Zhao family's most elite unit of death soldiers, the Shadow Guards.

Every Shadow Guard was at the Martial Master Peak level, specializing in assassination and surprise attacks.

At the very front of the team stood two elderly men in gray robes.

They were not masked; their faces were deeply wrinkled, and their eyes were sinister.

These were the two Late-stage Grandmaster powerhouses, "The Wind and Thunder Duo," whom the Zhao family had spent a fortune to consecrate.

"Big Brother, this place is a bit too quiet."

The gray-robed elder on the left lowered his voice, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Although that Lin Fan is young, he's no fool. How could he leave the base so empty?"

The elder on the right sneered, his eyes full of disdain.

"Second Brother, you're just too cautious."

"That Lin Fan is nothing more than a lucky upstart who built his fortune by scavenging junk."

"What does he know about defense? What does he know about the art of war?"

"Besides, Mo Yu's intelligence has never been wrong."

"Didn't the drone just confirm it? Thermal imaging shows almost no signs of life in the base."

"Only the south warehouse has some faint energy fluctuations; it should be the production line equipment still running."

At this point, a hint of greed flashed in the elder's eyes.

"As long as we get that production line, our Zhao family can master the core technology of the blind boxes."

"When that time comes, forget a mere Lin Fan—even that old fogey General Ye Canglan will have to show us some respect."

The elder on the left nodded and said no more.

Wealth is found in danger; for the future of the Zhao family, this gamble was worth it.

"Move out!"

With a low shout, the dozen or so dark figures suddenly lunged forward.

Their speed was extreme, leaving afterimages in the night.

For these martial arts powerhouses, five hundred meters was but the blink of an eye.

"Zizzy~"

Just as they approached the base's perimeter wall.

The infrared sensing net, which should have triggered an alarm, showed no reaction at all.

"As expected!"

The leading elder felt completely reassured.

"The intelligence was correct; the outer defense system has been shut down."

"Go to the south side!"

The group changed direction and, like geckos climbing a wall, silently scaled the ten-meter-high perimeter wall.

They landed without a sound.

The interior of the base was silent.

The massive training ground was empty, with only a few empty soda cans rolling on the ground in the wind, making "clink-clank" noises.

This dead silence only served to magnify the tension infinitely.

The Shadow Guards maintained their combat formation, quickly advancing toward the south warehouse area.

Along the way, they passed the dormitories, office buildings, and the cafeteria.

All the buildings were dark and silent, with no movement.

Smooth.

Too smooth.

It was so smooth it was almost like coming home.

"We're here."

Soon, a massive silver-gray building appeared in their sight.

This was the core of the base, Warehouse No. 1.

It was also the place where Lin Fan stored the core secrets of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

At this moment, the warehouse doors were indeed not fully closed, just as the intelligence had stated.

Where the s-grade alloy doors should have been installed, there was now only a thin canvas curtain hanging.

Through the gaps in the curtain, the deep blue indicator lights of the equipment could be seen flashing inside.

"Haha! Heaven is on my side!" the elder on the right couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"That Lin Fan is truly an idiot, actually daring to leave such a huge loophole in such an important place."

"Quick! Charge in!"

"Once we haul away the equipment inside, we retreat!"

Under the temptation of immense profit, even Grandmaster Level powerhouses lost their usual composure.

The two elders led the way, charging through the canvas curtain with the dozen Shadow Guards.

"Rip!" The canvas tore.

They filed in one after another.

However, the moment they rushed into the warehouse.

Everyone's footsteps came to a sudden halt.

The smiles on their faces instantly froze.

This... was not a production line.

It was empty; there wasn't even a single screw.

In the massive space, only a single, lonely small school desk stood in the center.

On the desk lay a sheet of white paper.

By the deep blue emergency light, they could clearly see two large, crooked characters written on the paper:

【Welcome】.

Below the word "Welcome," a large smiley face was drawn.

The smiley face was drawn poorly and was full of mockery.

"Not good!" The elder on the left's face turned pale instantly, a chill rushing from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"It's a trap!"

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

He roared, turning to rush out.

But it was too late.

"Rumble!"

A dull mechanical roar suddenly rang out.

At the entrance where the canvas curtain had hung, a silver metal wall half a meter thick slammed down.

Its speed was as fast as the blade of a guillotine.

"Open!"

The elder on the right roared, his blood qi exploding.

The terrifying power of a Late-stage Grandmaster gathered in his palm as he struck the metal wall with a ferocious blow.

"Clang!" A loud bang rang out, making everyone's eardrums ache.

Yet the wall didn't budge, not even leaving a single dent.

Instead, the elder was knocked back three steps by the recoil, his palm trembling slightly.

"This... what kind of metal is this?!"

The elder was struck with terror.

With this palm strike, he could have crushed even tank armor.

But this wall was completely unscathed?

Just then, rows of black muzzles suddenly flipped out from the originally smooth walls around the warehouse.

At the same time, a playful voice echoed throughout the warehouse via the intercom.

"Friends of the Zhao family, instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, you've come to inspect my work?"

"Since you're here, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

"I happen to have a newly developed 'Fully Automatic Massage and Physiotherapy System' here, and I was just worrying about having no one to test it."

"Since you all are quite thick-skinned, you can help me test the data."