Chapter 18: Escape

Mo Ying looked up and spotted a surveillance camera. She didn’t have a gun, so she flicked her finger—pop—the camera sparked and exploded.

“You... you!” The only remaining patrol officer trembled, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

“I ask, you answer.” Mo Ying’s scythe blade was pressed against his neck.

“What floor is this?”

“B-Basement level one.”

“Where’s the exit?”

“O-On the first floor, of course.”

“Stairs?”

“A-Ahead, turn right at the end, then left.”

Footsteps approached from the distance. More people were coming. Mo Ying immediately slashed the man’s throat with her scythe, then ran toward the stairs.

“She’s running! After her!”

An angry shout echoed. Mo Ying turned left and saw the staircase. She ran up.

Just as she reached the first floor, she saw several people rushing in her direction. She quickly darted the other way.

She had barely escaped for even a minute before they reacted—such efficiency.

The lighting in this area was bright with few shadows, making it difficult to hide. Mo Ying pressed herself against the wall, waiting for the group to pass.

“Where did she go? She’s still moving so fast even after getting injured? You, go that way. You, take the other side!” a man commanded the others.

“I hereby declare—no one is allowed to enter any shadows!” the man continued, activating his ability. He had been part of the team that ambushed Mo Ying. He knew her powers.

An Order Affinity User! That made hiding even harder for her.

More footsteps echoed—both left and right. Mo Ying pressed her left hand back and felt the wall recess inward. No—wait. She stretched her arm farther back and pressed again.

A door.

No time to hesitate. Mo Ying slipped through it quickly.

The space beyond the door was completely dark. She turned on a desk lamp. It didn’t offer much illumination, but enough to see the room.

Outside, the sound of footsteps and voices continued.

With no better option, Mo Ying started rummaging through the room.

There was a long table, some chairs, and a bookshelf. She sifted through the books—novels, magazines, manuals. There were too many to go through quickly. Then, one caught her eye.

Amid the pile of books, a silver cover stood out. She pulled it out. There were no words on the cover—only a gold emblem shaped like an eye.

Book of Prophecy? Mo Ying opened it. The pages were all blank, just like the one Wei Zhiheng had shown her. She flipped through idly, and near the end, a thin sheet of paper fell out.

She picked it up—it was an expired check. The amount: one million Galts. The payee field was blank, but the payer was ARA Corporation.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Was this check issued by the organization funding the armed group? ARA Corporation?

Mo Ying slipped the check into her pocket. Outside, the footsteps had thinned. She opened the door slightly—only to lock eyes with a woman.

Mo Ying: “...”

Woman: “...! She’s in here!”

Although Mo Ying yanked her inside and covered her mouth immediately, the woman’s shout had already echoed out.

Mo Ying cursed under her breath and suddenly had an idea. She pressed her scythe to the woman’s throat. “If you don’t want to die, do exactly as I say.”

Before long, a group arrived outside.

“The voice came from here, right? There’s a door. She might be inside,” one of them said and reached for the handle.

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman poked her head out. “Whew, Allen, I found her just now, but I can’t fight. She ran toward the main entrance!”

“Damn it!” The man called Allen led everyone away at once.

“Perfect.” Mo Ying swung the scythe at the woman’s back. She fell unconscious.

That group had missed a crucial detail: How would Mo Ying know where the main entrance is?

Now, they had unwittingly led her straight to it.

Allen arrived at the entrance only to find the doors securely shut.

“Looks like she hasn’t gotten out yet.” Allen sighed in relief and turned to search elsewhere.

Mo Ying was hiding behind a wall, planning to open the door once they left. But unexpectedly, one person stayed behind.

“Wait a minute,” he said.

Allen turned back, annoyed, but his expression softened when he saw who spoke. “Kaye? Something wrong?”

Kaye was sharp. Allen knew that, so he stayed calm.

“She might still be nearby. She didn’t know where the entrance was. We just showed her,” Kaye said.

What he found suspicious was Tina—the woman who claimed Mo Ying ran toward the door. There were only two directions in that hallway: left and right. A normal reaction would be to point and say, “She ran that way!”

Instead, she had said: “She ran toward the main entrance!”

So Kai reasonably suspected it was a trap, set to find out where the exit was.

“I don’t like perceptive people,” Mo Ying sighed. There were many people here and many shadows. If her shadow-diving ability wasn’t suppressed, escaping would’ve been easy. But now, thanks to that Order-aligned Affinity User, it was.

Seven people. Killing them all at once was impossible. And she couldn’t afford to delay.

With a flick of her finger, a black-and-gold fire lotus bloomed at the door—BOOM!

Strike first before they can react!

Most dodged, but the fire lotus’s range was large. They were still injured.

Then, a scythe wrapped in black flame came flying, slashing through the door and blowing a massive hole through it!

Mo Ying dashed forward, using her speed advantage. But things didn’t go smoothly—Allen and the others had already recovered!

Suddenly, vines wrapped around her arm. A Life-aligned Affinity User. While she was restrained, they blocked her path.

Charging through them wasn’t going to be easy. At least, that’s what Allen thought. Even avoiding Mo Ying’s eyes, they had numbers on their side.

But Mo Ying remained calm. Not a flicker of panic in her eyes. She even smiled.

Then, the flames consumed the vines.

A fire lotus appeared between them. It was large enough to kill all eight people here.

“You dare risk it?” Mo Ying said. Everyone, including herself, was within three meters of the exploding lotus.

“Damn it, you lunatic! You’ll blow yourself up too!” Allen shouted as he retreated.

BOOM! The explosion shattered the door, blasting everyone away. The entrance was left in ruins.

The noise drew everyone on the first floor. They arrived to find only injured people and what remained of the door—just the frame.

“Get her! Where is she?!” Allen was the first to stand up, but Mo Ying was already gone.

“She probably escaped,” Kaye said, looking toward the door.

“Damn it!” Allen punched the wall.

A crack split through the brick. Behind him, cars roared by. The noisy city only deepened his frustration.

“Davis, calm down,” Yvette said, her voice tired.

“I know,” Davis retracted his fist.

They took the elevator and returned to their base.

Yvette sat down on the couch. Caroline had not only demanded she join them, but also that they kill at least one member of the Special Operations Unit.

Yvette recalled Colton’s reply:

“Ms. Yvette, we’re glad you’re willing to cooperate. But in this situation, how can we be sure you won’t act against the Special Ops Unit’s interests?”

The Special Ops Unit couldn’t fully trust them, but they also couldn’t side with the armed group.

So now, what should they do?

“Yvette, did you find anything?” Ansel asked.

“No. It’s not easy to locate the armed group’s base,” Yvette shook her head.

Silence filled the living room.

Then, after some hesitation, Ansel spoke. “I hate to say this... but do we have to save Mo Ying?”

“What are you saying?” Kagumo stood up and glared at him.

“We’ve only known Mo Ying for less than a month. And now, if we stop caring about her, all our problems go away,” Ansel said calmly. If he could, he wanted to save her too—but he didn’t want to risk becoming a criminal.

“You...” What Ansel said made sense, and Kagumo couldn’t find a rebuttal.