45: Chapter 45: Infiltration at the Construction Site, the Foreman's Misunderstanding

"Keep your heads down, bury your faces in the dust, and don't look at the cameras," Qin Feng whispered.

He kicked open the deformed car door with a violent shove and was the first to scramble out of the smoke-filled cockpit.

Behind him, the steel beast was still billowing black smoke, its engine emitting a "crackle" sound as if protesting the madness that had just occurred.

Pei Ji tumbled out, scrambling onto the concrete floor. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, and he kept muttering something about "Buddha bless me."

Su Tang moved with extreme speed, pulling two heavy black duffel bags from the back seat.

Alice jumped out last. She clenched her fists tightly, her gaze sweeping sharply across the surroundings.

They were on the twenty-second floor of an unfinished building. Beneath their feet lay thick layers of dust, and exposed rebar was everywhere.

"System, activate God-level Disguise Technique, template: low-level laborer," Qin Feng commanded in his mind.

Ding!

[Template loading... Fine-tuning facial masseter muscles, drooping eye corners by three millimeters, increasing skin tone depth by 40%.]

[Congratulations, Host. God-level Disguise Technique (Permanent Version) is now active. Current compatibility: 100%.]

Qin Feng felt a slight tingling sensation in his facial muscles.

He reached down, grabbed a handful of black dust mixed with engine oil from the floor, and smeared it fiercely across his face.

He then pulled a tattered, sweat-stained camouflage uniform with a yellowed collar out of the bag.

In less than ten seconds, the elegant and manic Joker had vanished.

In his place stood a construction worker with dull eyes, dark skin, and even the faint scent of cheap tobacco.

"Pei Ji, change your clothes, don't dawdle," Qin Feng said, tossing a lime-stained coat onto Pei Ji's face.

Pei Ji trembled as he put on the clothes and shoved a cracked hard hat onto his head.

Su Tang put on a worn-out straw hat, hiding her stunningly beautiful face in the shadows.

"Someone's coming," Alice warned in a low voice.

Just as she finished speaking, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

A burly man wearing a tank top, exposing his belly, with a thick gold chain around his neck, walked in. He was the foreman of this construction site, nicknamed Tie Zhu.

Tie Zhu had originally come to investigate after hearing the loud crash. As soon as he entered, he was completely stunned.

A pitch-black vehicle that looked like a tank was parked horizontally across his construction site.

The front of the car was still smoking, and a huge hole had been smashed through the wall.

"What... the hell is this? Where did this car come from?" Tie Zhu's eyes widened. His palms were sweating, and his voice trembled slightly.

Qin Feng suddenly turned around. He picked up a heavy bucket of cement as easily as if it were a box of cookies.

He hunched his back, his shoulders slumping naturally, projecting the simple, honest air of someone beaten down by life.

"Boss, the film crew is shooting a scene here," Qin Feng said with a simple smile. He revealed a set of stained, yellowed false teeth, his eyes glinting with amusement while appearing extremely sincere.

"The special effects were a bit too intense just now; the car didn't brake in time. I'm really sorry about that."

Tie Zhu looked at Qin Feng's calloused hands and his textbook "migrant worker" demeanor. Most of his suspicions vanished.

However, his gaze shifted to Su Tang nearby, and especially to Qin Feng's iron-tower-like arms. This kid, he's got that much strength?

Tie Zhu stared as Qin Feng hoisted a stack of scaffolding steel pipes weighing at least two hundred pounds, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"You new here?" Tie Zhu wiped away some sweat. He started calculating in his mind. Good laborers for this kind of physical work weren't easy to find in Jianghai City.

"Yeah. Brother, I just came up from the countryside, no work, just looking for a place that provides meals," Qin Feng said, keeping his head down. He acted out that desperate sense of "needing a job" to the bone.

"Work hard. Daily pay, two hundred a day, includes two meals," Tie Zhu said, lighting a cheap cigarette from a two-yuan pack and taking a deep drag.

"Thanks, Brother! I'll get to moving bricks right away!" Without another word, Qin Feng grabbed a nearby cart and walked off.

Pei Ji watched from behind, dumbfounded. He ranted internally: Brother Feng, with your switching speed, if the Oscars don't give you an award, it's a loss for the art world!

Meanwhile, the livestream chat had completely exploded.

"Holy crap! This costume change caught me off guard!"

"System: You play a hardened criminal. Qin Feng: I play a bricklayer."

"Does anyone get it?! His bricklaying posture is more standard than my great-grandfather's!"

"The SWAT Team will arrive in thirty seconds, and Qin Feng is busy working—the contrast is off the charts!"

Just then, the shrill sound of police sirens came from downstairs.

Red and blue lights instantly illuminated the base of the entire unfinished building.

"Attention all units! The suspect vehicle is located right here! Surround them at full speed!" Zhao Shanhe's roar echoed through the loudspeaker.

Dozens of fully armed SWAT Team members, carrying automatic rifles, quickly stormed the construction site.

Xie Qingshang took the lead. The scratches on his face hadn't healed yet, and his eyes were full of ruthlessness.

"Search! Don't let a single grain of sand slip by!"

The SWAT Team members moved with extreme efficiency, racing up the stairs.

Meanwhile, on the twenty-second floor, Qin Feng was squatting in the corner, holding a trowel and rhythmically tapping red bricks. Clack! Clack! Clack! Every brick landed with millimeter precision.

Pei Ji was squatting nearby mixing mud, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, terrified that one wrong look would give them away.

Several SWAT Team members burst onto the floor. Dark gun barrels swept through the air.

"Stop! Don't move!" a young SWAT Team member barked. He looked nervous, his finger locked tightly against the trigger guard.

Tie Zhu was so scared he raised his hands, nearly wetting his pants. "Officers... officers, don't fire! I'm the foreman, we're all on the same side!"

Xie Qingshang walked over with a gloomy face. He glanced at the wrecked SUV. The vehicle was still radiating residual heat. The people couldn't have gone far. His gaze, like a freezing ray, swept over every worker at the scene. Finally, it locked onto Qin Feng.

Qin Feng didn't look up. He remained focused on laying the wall, as if the red brick in his hand were the most important thing in the world.

"You, stand up," Xie Qingshang whispered. He pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and chewed it with a crunch. It was his instinct for relieving anxiety.

Qin Feng paused. He slowly straightened his back, his eyes unfocused, wearing a look of confusion from being interrupted.

"Officers... what's up? I'm in a rush to finish this work," Qin Feng said, wiping away sweat. The black, oily mud left a messy streak on his face. His back was slightly hunched, and his eyes were filled with simple-minded honesty.

Xie Qingshang stepped closer. He stared fixedly into Qin Feng's eyes. Those eyes were murky, dull, and exuded the numbness of someone whose spirit had been extinguished by heavy physical labor. This wasn't Joker. That madman's eyes held the sea of stars and the abyss.

"Did you see a car fly over just now?" Xie Qingshang asked in an icy tone, carrying an unquestionable air of authority.

Qin Feng pretended to be terrified and pointed overhead. He spoke with a hint of a local accent: "I saw it! Goodness! With a bang, I thought the sky was falling!"

"Where did the car land?"

"It landed... looks like it went toward the top floor over there." Qin Feng pointed casually. That was the far west side of the building, which was the blind spot for the broken viaduct.

"Pursue!" Xie Qingshang didn't say another word. He waved his hand, taking his men straight to the top floor.

The sound of the SWAT Team's footsteps faded. Tie Zhu leaned against the wall, his legs weak, sliding to the ground. He wiped away a cold sweat. "Scared the hell out of me... filming a movie these days is like fighting a war."

He turned his head and looked at Qin Feng, who was still diligently laying bricks. He suddenly felt that this young man was quite pleasing to the eye.

"Young man, you're steady! You didn't even flinch at the police's display just now." Tie Zhu patted Qin Feng on the shoulder and sighed, "You're a good, honest kid."

A good, honest kid? The livestream chat was already filled with "hahahaha."

"I'm dying of laughter, Consultant Xie, you finally met your match!"

"When Brother Feng leads the way, it's a dead end."

"This is what they call the most dangerous place is the safest place; he's laying bricks right in front of Xie Qingshang, and Xie Qingshang even has to thank him."