515: Chapter 515 Having finished eating, awaiting the enemy.

At dusk.

The evening glow across the sky dyed the entire Jiuchang Street a warm orange.

This was the liveliest time of the day in the old district.

Workers off duty rode electric bikes, honking their horns as they shuttled through the narrow alleys.

Children leaving school carried their schoolbags, chasing and playing in groups of three or five.

The fried skewer stalls by the street had just been set up, and business had not yet started, waiting for the sky to turn completely dark.

The windows of residents on several floors of the Tubular Building were wide open, and the clanging sounds of spatulas stir-frying dishes were endless.

That rich smell of cooking oil, mixed with the fragrance of soy sauce, scallions, and ginger, surged upward all at once.

Top floor, Room 908.

Completely different from the bustling, worldly scene downstairs, it was eerily quiet here.

The lights in the room were not turned on, making it dim and oppressive.

The afterglow of the setting sun penetrated the gaps in the curtains, casting long, narrow patches of light on the floor.

Other than that, there was only a deep shadow.

Fang Cheng sat cross-legged alone in the center of the floor.

He was shirtless, his robust muscles presenting a sculptural texture in the dim light.

With the rhythm of his breathing, his chest rose and fell slightly, and his entire body exuded an indescribable, solemn Aura.

That streak of sunset happened to shine on half of his profile, outlining his facial features in a half-lit, half-dark manner.

Resembling a half-open, half-closed divine statue in a temple, it exuded a heart-palpitating majesty.

Fang Cheng was in Meditation, adjusting his breathing and calming his heartbeat.

Attempting to adjust every nerve and every muscle of his body to the optimal standby state.

Just then, the miniature headset hanging on his auricle suddenly lit up with a red dot, breaking the indoor silence.

"Calling Chairman, this is the 'Hawk-Eye' surveillance outpost."

A low voice came from the headset, with the background sound mixed with slight static and keyboard tapping sounds.

"The target area, around Building 4 of Jiuchang Street, has been under surveillance for eight hours."

"As of now, no high-threat targets or suspicious personnel have been found entering the warning range, and the environmental safety Rank is Level Three."

That was Monkey's voice, revealing professional and capable traits in his words.

Immediately after, another slightly rough voice squeezed in with a bit of anxiety:

"Chairman, I am Dachui, and I've been wandering downstairs for most of the day. Except for a few scavengers and food delivery guys, I haven't seen any suspicious personnel."

"Could those bastards have already discovered us? Should we change our staking-out spot? I think that recycling station opposite is pretty good, with a wide field of view..."

Fang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

In an instant, some kind of light seemed to flash across the dim room.

Two substantive bolts of lightning burst forth from his pupils.

"Continue."

His voice was calm, yet it exuded an inexplicable power.

"Do not be impatient. The most needed quality for a member of the Illuminati is patience."

The other end of the headset fell silent for a second, followed by the two men's neat reply:

"Yes, Chairman!"

The communication was cut off, and the headset returned to silence once again.

His Meditation was interrupted, and Fang Cheng did not continue it.

He stood up and looked at the distant scenery through the gap in the curtains.

The setting sun was slowly sinking into the forest of high-rises in the city, burning the clouds on the horizon red like clumps of congealed blood clots.

Shadows were rapidly spreading across the earth, devouring the last bit of light.

"It's almost dark..."

Fang Cheng muttered to himself in a low voice, a cold glint flashing in the depths of his eyes.

He then turned around and walked into the bedroom.

On the bed, several items were neatly arranged.

Fang Cheng walked to the bedside and reached out to pick up a pitch-black semi-automatic pistol.

The gun body was icy cold, quite heavy, and exuded the cold light unique to metal.

This was precisely the trophy he had captured from that pursuer back then.

Although it hadn't been used for nearly half a year, under long-term maintenance, it was still in perfect condition.

"Old friend, it's time for you to take the stage again."

Fang Cheng's fingers gently stroked the gun body, feeling the cold and hard texture, and his eyes became somewhat profound.

"Click."

He skillfully unloaded the magazine, checked the glistening bullets, and after confirming that the firing pin and recoil spring had no resistance whatsoever, he reloaded and chambered a round.

Afterwards, he tucked the pistol into the quick-draw holster at his lower back, pulled down the hem of his T-shirt to conceal it.

After finishing all this, Fang Cheng began to pack the canvas bag beside him.

A set of ordinary gray sportswear, a pair of silver-gray running shoes convenient for movement, and an exceptionally eye-catching pair of red underwear.

Were carefully folded by him one by one and stuffed into the bag in order.

These were all prepared for tonight's action to cope with special scenarios and avoid the predicament of being stark naked like before.

Next was a dark blue identification card.

Fang Cheng held it in his hand and scrutinized it carefully.

The card was exquisitely made, with a golden shield and crossed saber emblem printed on the front.

Below was a line of striking font:

[Special Affairs Investigation Team Dongdu City Detective Detachment Level 2 Affairs Officer Officer Zhou Liang].

This item was also a crucial link in tonight's plan.

Fang Cheng carefully placed the ID card into the side pocket of the canvas bag.

Then came a brown kraft paper folder, inside which were clamped several A4 sheets densely printed with text.

It was stamped with a red "Top Secret" seal, looking quite serious, as if it were really some extraordinary confidential document.

Finally, his hand paused on a mask.

That was a white demon mask, with hideous and terrifying facial features and exposed fangs.

Two ruby-like lenses were embedded in the eye sockets, flashing an eerie light in the dimness.

Fang Cheng stared at the mask for a few seconds, the corners of his mouth curling into a gruesome arc:

"I hope I won't have to use you tonight..."

He stuffed the mask into the bottom of the bag, zipped it up, and walked out of the bedroom carrying the bulging canvas bag.

Coming to the living room, Fang Cheng did not rush to start his action.

He walked to the old-fashioned refrigerator, reached out to open the door, and a blast of cold air hit his face.

Taking out two one-liter boxes of pure milk and four raw steaks from inside.

There was no intention of cooking at all.

Fang Cheng directly tore open the steak packaging and shoved the raw meat stained with blood directly into his mouth.

"Guji... Guji..."

The teeth-aching chewing sound resounded in the quiet room.

His teeth were as sharp as knives, easily tearing through the tough raw beef fibers.

Bright red blood overflowed from the corners of his mouth, but Fang Cheng didn't care at all, still swallowing in large mouthfuls.

This eating manner was neither elegant nor civilized.

Instead, it exuded a primitive and barbaric aura, just like a humanoid beast feeding.

Soon swallowing the four thick-cut steaks, he tore open the milk box again, tilted his head and drank it all in one gulp.

As a large amount of high-calorie food entered his stomach, Fang Cheng could feel his stomach writhing frantically.

Like an efficient biological furnace, it rapidly converted these food into the purest energy, transporting it to all limbs and bones.

His body grew slightly warm, and power surged in his blood vessels.

Feeding complete.

Fang Cheng wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth and let out a long breath.

There was a tough battle to be fought tonight, and he had to ensure his body was in a state of full energy.

For this reason, all afternoon, except for Meditation and Cultivation, he basically arranged no physical exercise.

Anyway, he couldn't level up in a short time. The most important thing now was to adjust his state and meet the battle with full force.

Glancing around, looking at his dim and quiet home, Fang Cheng's eyes slightly congealed.

His mom had long been sent away by himself under a fabricated excuse to Wanghu Town to take care of his grandpa, so there were no worries left here.

But Fang Cheng still chose to return to Jiuchang Street from Haitian Garden.

Tonight's destined drama must never get out of his control.

He wanted to be the only director, personally intervening in the timeline of fate and guiding the direction of the entire plot.

To be honest, even if Lin Chuqiao hadn't used her prophetic ability to warn him in advance, Fang Cheng had originally planned to come back to live in Jiuchang Street.

Because tomorrow was Sunday, Zhou Xiumei was going to participate in the auditions for the singing competition, and Wen Xin was also going there to cheer her on.

Fang Cheng had promised Zhou Xiumei before that he would be her dedicated driver and cheerleader, and drive them to the competition venue early tomorrow morning.

If he did nothing and let the situation develop.

Perhaps everything would really be like what Lin Chuqiao saw.

A violent explosion would occur in the Tubular Building, with flames soaring into the sky and thick smoke rolling.

Not only would Zhou Xiumei living next door be in mortal danger, but the neighbors of the whole building, including Wen Xin, would suffer as well.

These two girls were both his weakness and his reverse scale.

He absolutely did not allow any mistakes to happen here.

Therefore, he had to come back to take charge.

Since danger was destined to come, he would resolve and crush it with his own hands, thoroughly changing this ending.

Fang Cheng walked to the window and stood in a blind spot that could not be peeped from the outside.

He reached out to push aside the gap in the curtains, his gaze coldly watching the pedestrians coming and going on the street downstairs.

In his mind, information about the enemy surfaced once again.

According to the scene predicted by Lin Chuqiao, that assassin was extremely fast, either possessing the superpower to create explosions or carrying lethal weapons like bombs.

Fang Cheng deduced that the opponent was very likely an agility-type awakened one, skilled in assassination and destruction.

And their personality was mostly flamboyant or crazy, otherwise they wouldn't make such a big commotion unscrupulously in a bustling district.

Fang Cheng had already calculated properly in his heart and had a fixed plan.

"Must never fight the opponent in the building."

The structure of this old Tubular Building was fragile and could not withstand high-intensity combat at all, let alone the impact of an explosion.

Once a fight broke out, it would be a living coffin.

He had to lure the opponent away first and take them to a place more suitable for a big brawl.

Doing this, besides considering the safety of relatives and friends, was also to avoid further exposing his identity and attracting the attention of the authorities and the Special Investigation Team.

Of course, besides the overt plan of "luring the snake out of its hole", Fang Cheng also had a plan to execute secretly.

He wanted to ensure that the entire situation was completely under his own control.

Even taking advantage of this opportunity in reverse to obtain the desired intelligence and achieve his true purpose.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng picked up his phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice and was quickly connected.

"Are you ready?"

Fang Cheng asked in a low voice.

A slightly frivolous voice came from the other end of the phone:

"Boss, everything is OK, the actors and props are in place, just waiting for you guys to come over."

"Very good."

Fang Cheng nodded slightly and hung up the phone.

His gaze cast toward outside the window once again.

At this time, the sky had already darkened.

Street lamps lit up one by one, shrouding Jiuchang Street in a dim yellow halo.

Meanwhile.

Opposite the Tubular Building, on the second-floor attic of "Old Wang's Repair Shop".

This was a small warehouse piled with sundries, but at the moment it had been temporarily converted into a simple monitoring room.

Several laptops were placed on the dilapidated table, and several monitoring screens and jumping data streams flickered on the screens.

Monkey was sitting cross-legged on a chair, staring intently at the screen.

His fingers sometimes tapped the keyboard rapidly, skillfully controlling this temporarily built monitoring System.

When he first moved in here in the morning, Monkey had already used his hacking skills to silently hack into several old security surveillance cameras on the street, and specially installed a few hidden miniature cameras.

In this way, every move within a radius of five hundred meters could be said to be in full view.

And at the location of the street intersection.

A tall, muscular man was squatting by the roadside, with a cardboard sign reading "Professional Moving, Great Strength" placed in front of him.

This person was precisely Dachui.

He looked just like an ordinary porter, casually toying with something that looked like an old-fashioned radio in his hand.

In fact, that was a modified military-grade "signal detector".

This thing could capture abnormal communication signal fluctuations within a certain range around it, and transmit the data in real-time to the monitoring room in the attic for Monkey to monitor and analyze.

Because it was a portable model, the detection range was relatively small, only about tens of meters.

Therefore, Dachui needed to get up and walk around from time to time, pretending to solicit business or buy things, but actually to expand the search radius.

This was Monkey's idea.

As an expert born from special reconnaissance troops, Monkey insisted that "personnel defense" plus "technical defense" was the safest.

Although Dachui did not understand technical issues, he excelled in being obedient and having strong execution, making him most suitable to act as a mobile detection node.

"Buzz..."

Inside the quiet room, a slight static sound rang out.

Monkey's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly, his body leaning forward, staring firmly at a corner of the screen.

"Chairman, there is a situation."

He reported in a low voice in his headset, and his tone suddenly became serious:

"There is a person wearing a 'Gas Company' uniform who looks relatively suspicious. Height around 1.75 meters, thin build, wearing a duck-tongue cap pressed very low."

"Can't see clearly whether there is a mole on the forehead, but the facial contour and the beard... highly match the characteristics described by Miss Lin."

"He is carrying a toolbox, stopping at the entrance of 'Li's Baozi Shop' on the east side of the Tubular Building, chatting with the boss."

"The distance is too far, I can't hear the specific content here."

Fang Cheng stood in front of the window on the ninth floor.

Although it overlooked from above, the line of sight happened to be blocked by the sunshade downstairs, so he couldn't see the specific situation of the baozi shop.

He pressed the headset and calmly issued instructions:

"Received, continue surveillance, do not make any rash moves."

"I'll go over and take a look."

At this time, Dachui's honest yet urgent voice came from the headset:

"Be careful, don't expose your identity."

Monkey reminded:

"If that guy is an awakened one, his perception might be very acute."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll just go buy a cage of steamed buns and listen in by the way."

After Dachui finished speaking, he stood up and patted the dust on his butt.

Looking like he was hungry and wanted to eat something, he swaggered toward the baozi shop.

(End of Chapter)