Chapter 7: The Plan
Written in the Nether
"Nice work."
Mo Ying had appeared on the first floor at some point. She struck the back of the head of the man Ansel had just sent flying, ensuring he stayed down for good. Then, she swiftly moved to the building entrance and took down the last remaining opponent.
"How did you get down here?" Kagumo asked in surprise. She looked up, barely making out the shattered glass on the 40th floor. Did she just jump down?
"My ability lets me travel through shadows. I was worried about you, so I came down," Mo Ying said.
"You donât trust us?" Ansel asked.
"Itâs not that. I just figured neither of your abilities are combat-oriented," Mo Ying shook her head.
"What made you think that?" Ansel asked, surprised.
"Kagumo is a healer. I already knew that. And if you had a combat-type ability, you wouldnât have resorted to using a staff to hit people in that situation," Mo Ying replied.
"Oh, I see⦠Wait a second. You came down just when I hit him with my staffâso you originally planned to save Kagumo!" Ansel concluded.
Mo Ying blinked. Oops. Busted.
After all, she had only known Kagumo was a healer.
"Letâs hand these guys over to the police and head back to continue our discussion," Mo Ying said, very obviously changing the subject as she walked toward the building.
"No, that wonât be necessary," Ansel shook his head.
"Why not?" Mo Ying stopped in her tracks.
"Ah, we forgot to tell you earlier. Chairman Kraf only gave us thirty minutes to convince him. Weâve already run out of time," Ansel glanced at his watch. It was 7:33 PM.
"This attack really came at a bad time. Weâll have to ask the police later who sent them," Kagumo said, glancing once more at the shattered glass on the 40th floor before walking out.
"Letâs go back."
The car drove down the nighttime streets in silence.
"So now our only option is to rescue the hostages within the next two days?" Mo Ying broke the quiet.
"If we want to meet the client's request, then yes. But we should discuss it with the leader and the others when we get back," Ansel replied.
When they arrived at their base, Yvette called.
"How did it go?" Yvette asked.
"We failed. The conversation got interrupted," Kagumo said.
"Interrupted? Sounds like something interesting happened. Got it. Davis and I made some discoveries too. Weâre on our way back now."
"Alright, weâll talk when youâre back," Davis said.
"I wonder what they found out." Ansel set his phone down on the table.
"What were they doing?" Mo Ying asked.
"No idea," Kagumo shook her head.
Well, theyâd just have to wait.
"In the meantime, carry me in ranked," Kagumo pulled out her phone.
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"You still remember that I used to play games? And itâs been three yearsâyouâre still playing the same one?" Mo Ying was shocked.
"This is the only game Iâve played for over three years," Kagumo opened the game interface.
Mo Ying also opened her phone. She had the game too, but it had been in deep hibernation for a long time. "I havenât played in ages. My skills are probably rusty."
"Still better than her, for sure. Sheâs really bad at this. She once finished a match with zero killsâShe was either getting killed or about to be killed. In a fifteen-minute game, she played for less than five minutes total. The rest of the time, she was waiting to respawn," Ansel said with a cheeky grin.
Kagumo shot him a death glare. "Why would you say that out loud?! I curse you lose the 50/50 for both the next character and weapon banners!"
Anselâs face went pale. That was a truly wicked curse!
Despite her claims of being rusty, Mo Ying effortlessly carried the matches, wiping out the enemy team and securing two solid victories.
Just then, Yvette and Davis returned.
"Looks like youâre getting along well," Yvette said, looking pleasedâlike a mother watching over her kids.
Davis wore the same fatherly, affectionate expression.
Mo Ying, Kagumo, and Ansel all shuddered under their gaze. They did not want another set of parents!
"Uh, letâs discuss todayâs findings. Iâll go get some water," Ansel shot to his feet.
"Iâll go cut some fruit," Kagumo quickly followed.
Mo Ying was left behind.
â¦Wait a second. Wasnât the fridge only stocked with a single head of lettuce? Where is she getting fruit from?
Fortunately, Yvette and Davis had already returned to their normal expressions and sat down on the couch.
Ansel came back with four glasses of water. Kagumo returned with⦠one glass of water.
She set it down and got straight to the point. "Iâll go first. While negotiating with Chairman Kraf, we were suddenly attackedâ¦"
Kagumo explained everything that had happened.
"Who were the attackers?" Yvette asked.
"No idea. Knocked them all out. Weâll have to wait for the police to investigate," Ansel said.
"I acted too quickly. Sorry," Mo Ying said. In the heat of the moment, she hadnât thought to leave someone conscious for questioning.
"Itâs fine. Letâs focus on how to rescue the hostages. The deadline is the morning after tomorrow, so we only have one day left," Davis said.
"Good newsâweâve already found out where the hostages are," Yvette said.
"Seriously? Thatâs impressive!" Ansel was surprised.
"Had to call in some favors." Yvette brushed it off and pulled out her laptop, bringing up a map.
"Weâre here. About forty kilometers away, thereâs an abandoned factory."
"Theyâre being held there?" Ansel asked.
"No, that was their old hideout. The police found it," Yvette shook her head and moved the cursor to the building next to the factory.
"Theyâre here now."
"They moved right next door?" Kagumo was stunned.
"This is what they call âhiding in plain sight.â" Mo Ying commented. These criminals had some guts.
"Yeah. It used to be a shop, but the lease ended, and the owner moved out. Itâs been vacant and up for rent. No one usually goes there, so hiding inside wouldnât draw much attention," Davis explained. Some homeless people had tried staying there but were killed and dumped outside, which became a clue.
"Any deeper intel?" Mo Ying asked.
"No. Davis and I arenât suited for stealth. We didnât want to alert them," Yvette said.
"What if I pretend to wander in by accident?" Kagumo suggested. She was well aware of her deceptively harmless appearance.
"Too risky," Davis rejected the idea.
"Iâll go," Mo Ying said.
All four turned to look at her.
"Are you sure? Itâs dangerous," Yvette didnât want Mo Ying, who wasnât even an official member, to take such a risk.
"Conveniently, I can hide in the shadows. Stealth is kind of my thing," Mo Ying wasnât worried at all.
Yvette and Davis exchanged a look. Davis finally said, "Alright, youâll scout ahead and report back. Weâll follow up after that."
"Through phone contact?" Mo Ying asked.
"Yeah, but for real-time intel, weâll rely on him." Yvette smirked at Ansel.
Mo Ying turned to him. Ansel nodded. "One of my abilities is âshared vision.â I can link someoneâs vision to the rest of the team, but the range is limitedâthe shared and receiving parties canât be more than one kilometer apart."
Interesting ability. Mo Ying mused. "If you use it on an enemy and share their vision, wouldnât that make things way easier?"
Kagumoâs eyes lit up. "Thatâs genius!"
But Ansel shook his head. "Iâve thought of that, but my ability has a conditionâthe target has to agree to share the vision."
"Oh, you never mentioned that before," Yvette remarked.
"Looks like weâre sticking to the original plan. I suggest we move tomorrow night. For now, letâs rest," Mo Ying said. Nighttime was idealâguards would be more relaxed, and her shadow movement ability was strongest.
"Alright. Get some rest, everyone," Yvette announced.
Darkness enveloped the land. The crescent moon hung in the sky, stars twinkling.Look, the stars seem to fall into the room!
In the dim room, two glowing dots of light appeared in Mo Yingâs vision. She stared at the eyes.
When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.
And that abyss turned out to beâ¦
Mo Ying switched on the lightâ
A black cat sat on her bed.
"Meow." The cat licked its paw, then continued staring at her with big round eyes.