Arthur’s secret base is located on one of the city’s most chaotic streets on the east side, within a narrow alley that emits an indescribable stench. The houses are tightly packed together, but their walls have peeled off, revealing the grey bricks inside. Some even have cracked walls, making one easily suspect that the house might collapse at any moment and crush you underneath.
Two people wearing clothes that starkly contrasted with this area, riding a flashy motorcycle, instantly attracted countless gazes, with many glances cast inconspicuously towards them.
"Hiding things in such a chaotic place, your father is really smart," Xu Ke said as he looked around at the environment.
"Unfortunately, no matter how smart he is, he’s destined to fall at my hands today," Ariel raised an eyebrow at Xu Ke, and the two parked and locked their motorcycle before strutting in.
They finally stopped in front of an extremely inconspicuous house at the deepest part of the alley.
"This is the place," Ariel said as she reached into her pocket, taking out a very delicate lady’s pistol. "There’s only this one gun, so I can’t share it with you, but I believe with your skills, you should be able to handle them," Ariel said to Xu Ke.
"Of course," Xu Ke did not refute, and with a kick, he shattered the wooden door before him.
The inside of the room was fully exposed.
Four burly men were sitting around a square table drinking beer. Hearing the sound of the door breaking, they all turned their gaze to the doorway, locking eyes on Xu Ke and Ariel.
Their faces were covered in beards, and they were flushed with alcohol, exuding a fierce, bloody aura that was completely out of place with this decayed and rotten setting.
Ariel mercilessly opened fire on the men, her speed at drawing the gun extremely fast. Moreover, more attention was focused on Xu Ke, resulting in them being caught off guard when Ariel started shooting. In almost a flash, the four men were taken down by Ariel, but her tiny lady’s pistol also rendered itself useless, casually tossed aside by Ariel.
The next moment, a door that had been tightly shut suddenly swung open, and a man with a build similar to the preceding four rushed out from inside, wielding a rifle and firing towards Ariel and Xu Ke.
Xu Ke pulled Ariel into his embrace, rolling onto the ground to easily dodge the man’s attack, leaving a line of black bullet holes where they had just been standing.
The man’s bullets were flying around the room, and by the time the gunfire ceased, the place was almost riddled with holes, with dust swirling in the air.
Ariel was about to jump out from behind the wall they were using as cover to deliver a fatal blow, but Xu Ke grabbed her hand, forcibly stopping her action.
Listening to footsteps approaching closer, Ariel’s expression showed some urgency, "If he finds we’re not here, we won’t get the item today, and we’re finished," Ariel whispered to Xu Ke.
"Don’t go, let me handle it," Xu Ke gestured for silence to Ariel, replying in the same low voice.
Next, Xu Ke took a deep breath, picked up the small bag Ariel had handed him earlier, quickly took out two throwing knives, and then launched himself past Ariel at extreme speed. A faint whistling sound was heard, followed by two dull thuds, one heavier than the other.
"Come out," Xu Ke called Ariel out, seeing the man lying on the ground, rifle in hand, eyes wide open, dead as a doornail. He stepped forward, picked up the rifle, and right in front of Ariel, removed two bullets from it, letting them slide from between his fingers to the ground.
"I didn’t want you to come out just now because I heard there were still two bullets left in it. I was afraid they’d hurt you."
Though Xu Ke’s tone seemed somewhat nonchalant, Ariel looked remarkably pleased, gazing at Xu Ke with eyes sparkling like stars, bright and beautiful.
"What to do, I suddenly find that I seem to like you even more. If this place wasn’t so inappropriate, I’d really want to do something unhealthy with you," Ariel licked her lips, saying with a hint of regret in her voice.
"There’ll be plenty of chances, no need to rush," Xu Ke glanced at Ariel, his gaze momentarily flaring up as well. Perhaps it was a leftover tension from witnessing blood and fire, the urge to do something thrilling to relieve it, but as Ariel said, the place wasn’t quite right.
"Let’s find the item first, everything else can wait until we’re safe," Xu Ke said after a quick scan of the room.
"I don’t know exactly where my father hid them; I only know it’s in this house. Let’s see if there’s any mechanism or something," Ariel said, kicking away the body lying by her feet.
"In that case, we should split up and search, one person on each side. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes," Xu Ke said, glancing at his watch.
Ariel had no objections to Xu Ke’s suggestion and proposal.
The two quickly went to work, and Han, being a demolition expert, overturned the place in less than ten minutes but found nothing.
Feeling her chin, Ariel’s face took on a grim look. This was the stronghold she found. If there was truly nothing here, their loss would be immense, and such a setback was something Ariel couldn’t accept.
"There can’t be nothing. It’s impossible. The previous investigations clearly didn’t make any mistakes—how can things be gone just like that? Could he have sensed something and removed the item ahead of time?" Ariel mused, considering this possibility.
"Perhaps there’s another area we haven’t checked thoroughly," Xu Ke said, casting his eyes around the house again. "Let’s search again, and if there’s still nothing, we’ll leave."
"Alright, we’ll follow your lead. If there’s nothing, we’ll retreat," Ariel agreed with Xu Ke’s words. In their second search, they were more thorough, even shifting all the furniture around and finally discovering a safe next to the bedside table.
"Who would’ve thought he’d be quite adept at hiding? We almost missed it," Ariel smiled, looking at the safe embedded in the wall.