66: Chapter 66 Betrayer's Headquarters

The intelligence came faster than expected.

On the morning of the fourth day, Chen Mo received a private message from Lao Zhou.

[Lao Zhou: Found the stronghold of that organization.]

[Chen Mo: Where?]

[Lao Zhou: At the end of Highway 17, there is a mobile fortress. They call it "Noahs Ark".]

[Lao Zhou: It stops every three days to resupply. The next stop is tomorrow at 4:00 AM.]

[Chen Mo: How many people?]

[Lao Zhou: Conservatively estimated at over fifty. The leader is Rank B, codename "Ark".]

Chen Mo looked at those numbers.

Fifty people.

One Rank B.

And that mobile fortress.

He closed the private message and started the engine.

Lin Wei looked at him.

"Where are you going?"

"A place to kill."

The pickup truck rushed onto the highway.

One day later, Chen Mo arrived at the end of Highway 17.

It was an open plain, desolate and uninhabited.

But in the center of the plain, a behemoth was parked.

A modified heavy truck, at least twenty meters long and five meters high. The body was covered in thick armor, filled with firing ports and observation windows. Several cannons were mounted on the roof, though it was unclear if they were real or just for show.

Dozens of tents were pitched around the truck.

Some people were patrolling, some were cooking over fires, and some were moving supplies.

[Target detected: Mobile fortress "Noahs Ark"]

[Alert level: High]

[Suggestion: Infiltrate or assault]

Chen Mo parked the car three kilometers away and approached on foot.

The night was the best cover.

He activated Infiltrator and vanished into the night.

Seven seconds of stealth, fifteen seconds of cooldown.

Combined with Time Perception and Prediction, it was enough to avoid all sentries.

The first sentry post, two people, standing on the east side of the truck.

Chen Mo waited for the moment they turned around and swept past them from behind.

The second sentry post, three people, gathered around a bonfire.

He made a fifty-meter detour and passed outside the range of the bonfire's light.

The third sentry post, one person, crouching in the shadows smoking.

Chen Mo passed two meters behind him, and he didn't notice a thing.

Seven minutes later, Chen Mo stood beneath the truck.

Noahs Ark.

Headquarters of the Traitors.

He looked up at the massive truck, at the densely packed armor plates.

Then he found the entrance.

A maintenance hatch hidden under the truck.

Chen Mo pried open the lock and crawled in.

Behind the hatch was a narrow passage.

Pipes and wires lined both sides of the passage, emitting the smell of oil and rust. A dim yellow light every few meters barely illuminated the path ahead.

Chen Mo walked along the passage.

In his Time Perception, the internal structure of the truck gradually became clear—

Three levels of space.

The bottom level was the engine room and storage compartment.

The middle level was the living area and command center.

The top level was the leader's private space.

He was currently on the bottom level.

Chen Mo continued walking forward.

After walking about fifty meters, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

The left led to the storage compartment, the right led to the engine room.

He chose the left.

The storage compartment was large and piled with various supplies. Fuel, food, weapons, medicine, everything was there.

There were people patrolling between the shelves, two of them, holding flashlights.

Chen Mo waited for them to pass and then circled out from behind the shelves.

He was looking for something—

A list.

The list of traitors.

Lao Zhou said that this organization specialized in selling Chosen Ones to the will of the ghost realm. Every person sold had a record.

If he found that list, he could make it public.

Let everyone see the true faces of these people.

Chen Mo searched the storage compartment for ten minutes.

Nothing.

He turned to the engine room.

The engine room was smaller, with only a few huge engines roaring.

Still nothing.

Chen Mo left the bottom level and went up the stairs to the middle level.

The structure of the middle level was more complex.

A main passage ran through the entire carriage, with dense rooms on both sides. Some doors were closed, some were open, and voices could be heard from inside.

Chen Mo walked forward, sticking to the wall.

In his Time Perception, the people in every room appeared in his mind—

The first room, three people, playing cards.

The second room, two people, eating.

The third room, one person, sleeping.

The fourth room, four people, arguing.

He continued walking forward.

At the end of the passage was an iron door.

A sign hung on the door:

"Command Center. Do Not Enter."

Chen Mo pushed the door open.

Inside was a spacious area, filled with various communication equipment and surveillance screens. The screens displayed real-time footage around the truck—those tents, those sentries, and the pitch-black wilderness in the distance.

A person sat in front of the screens.

With their back to the door, looking at something.

Chen Mo did not move.

He was waiting.

That person seemed to sense something and slowly turned around.

In his thirties, bald, with a scar running from his brow bone to his chin.

Zhang Lie.

But it wasn't Zhang Lie.

It was another Zhang Lie.

That name.

That best friend of Old Li.

The first person to be transformed.

"You finally came." He spoke, his voice hoarse, "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Chen Mo did not speak.

He just gripped his cleaver tightly.

Zhang Lie stood up.

His body was a head taller than an ordinary person, and his skin had an eerie golden sheen. In those eyes, there were no pupils, only two golden points of light.

"I knew you would come," he said. "From the day you killed the Rule Weaver, I knew."

He took a step forward.

"Do you know why?"

Chen Mo did not speak.

Zhang Lie laughed.

The smile was eerie.

"Because I am also on that list."

"The list targeted by the will of the ghost realm."

He spread his arms.

"Welcome to Noahs Ark."

"The home of the traitors."

Chen Mo looked at him.

In his ten-second Prediction, Zhang Lie's next movements were clearly visible—

He would speak first to stall for time.

Then he would launch an attack; his ability was body metalization.

The weakness was his abdomen, where the golden lines were the faintest.

Chen Mo spoke.

"Where is the list?"

Zhang Lie paused.

"What?"

"The people you sold out, where is the list?"

Zhang Lie was silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

"On the top level," he said, "in my room. If you have the ability, go get it yourself."

He rushed over.

Chen Mo dodged to the side.

He slashed his cleaver at his abdomen.

The blade went in.

But the feeling was wrong.

It didn't feel like cutting into flesh; it felt like cutting into metal.

Zhang Lie's body had completely metalized.

He looked down at the wound on his abdomen, then looked up at Chen Mo.

"It's useless," he said, "I have long been a dead man."

He threw a backhanded punch at Chen Mo's face.

Chen Mo activated Infiltrator and vanished from the spot.

Seven seconds later, he appeared behind Zhang Lie.

Another slash.

In the same spot.

A metalized body, when attacked repeatedly in the same spot, would also develop cracks.

Zhang Lie's expression changed.

He turned around, trying to grab Chen Mo.

But Chen Mo was faster.

The third slash.

The fourth slash.

The fifth slash.

The crack on his abdomen grew larger and larger.

Zhang Lie's movements began to slow down.

Those metalized parts were disintegrating.

He looked down at his body, watching the golden liquid pouring out from the cracks.

Then he laughed.

The smile was calm.

"Thank you."

Chen Mo paused.

"What?"

Zhang Lie looked at him.

"Thank you for letting me die."

His body completely disintegrated.

Turning into a pile of golden fragments, scattered all over the floor.

Chen Mo stood in place, looking at those fragments.

Thank you.

This was the second person to say thank you to him.

The first was Zhang Weiguo.

That Transformed One who didn't want to kill.

Now, it was Zhang Lie.

That traitor who had betrayed everyone.

But before he died, he said thank you.

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds.

Then he turned and walked toward the stairs leading to the top level.

The list was still up there.