Above the Galaxy

Tang Fei couldn't help but mock the name of the Shadowless duo; he had even already forgotten that he was the one who had named them.

Tang Fei looked at Phoenix and the old man, saying, "If these two can find this place through questioning witnesses, their partners can do the same... Our small courtyard is too cramped, unsuitable for deploying tactics. Once they arrive, we'll be wrapped up like dumplings. In the end, we'll just be taken away in one fell swoop."

"You mean to lure them out?" The old man looked at Tang Fei, understanding his plan.

"Yes," Tang Fei nodded. "Instead of hiding in this small courtyard waiting to be surrounded, why don't we take the initiative and flee into Hateful Mountain... What kind of place is Hateful Mountain? It's our backyard, the playground for Little Fatty and me."

"Where there's poisonous water, where there are beasts, and where traps can be set up—no one knows these better than us. In contrast, these assassins all come from New Star; they look down on the Old Land and haven't got much brains... If we draw them into Hateful Mountain, it'll be like walking dogs, dealing with them one by one. What do you all think?"

"I'll follow Big Brother," Little Fatty was the first to express support.

"Don't you have any thoughts of your own? We're discussing here, not dictating," the old man chastised him in frustration.

"No. Big Brother is smarter than I am; what Big Brother says can't be wrong," Little Fatty said with a smile.

"I agree too," Phoenix nodded.

Although she felt that leaving the courtyard carried the risk of exposing themselves, as Tang Fei said, it was better to strike first than to be caught and bundled up like dumplings.

If those people found their precise location, a well-targeted bee bomb could blast them into mincemeat.

Then, everyone's eyes focused on the old man's face, waiting for him to voice his thoughts.

"I agree," the old man stated decisively, even starting to issue orders, "Everyone pack up, take the important things with you, and hide what can't be taken. Get ready to head out for business."

"..."

So the old man had no other ideas either? What was the point of discussing?

"I'll go hide the meat," Little Fatty said worriedly.

He didn't possess anything of value; to him, the most valuable things were the meats he had.

Today, Tang Fei and Phoenix had brought back quite a few hunts, of which he had shown only half a rabbit and a pheasant, with the majority hidden away by him.

He was afraid that if they left the courtyard, those meats would be taken by the bad guys looking for them.

"Don't worry," Tang Fei reassured, "These assassins from New Star, they don't eat our meat... afraid of residual radiation..."

"They really are picky eaters," Little Fatty said with a face of blame.

He couldn't help but grin, thinking pickiness was good, as no one would rob him of his meat.

"..."

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Mr. Shan He examined the small courtyard before him, and the simple barbecue grill that had yet to be packed away, and touched the charcoal ash inside the grill, saying, "They've been gone for less than an hour... Have they not been found yet?"

"They've been found," Joker said, carrying a corpse in each hand as he walked out from the inner room, with a chuckle, "No wonder they're called Shadowless Wu Feng, turns out they like playing hide and seek. Hahaha, too bad, I still found them out..."

"I won. Victory."

"Joker, they were our teammates," Mr. Shan He reminded.

Shadowless and Wu Feng were already dead, and here Joker was, insulting their corpses...

They were assassins, not scum.

Oh, perhaps assassins were even worse than scum...

Scum couldn't do what assassins could.

"Teammates? I don't have any teammates that are dead," Joker scoffed at Mr. Shan He's words. "The dead can't offer any help to our operation, and they won't have any emotional value anymore."

Joker dropped Shadowless and Wu Feng's corpses on the ground and pointed at their masks, saying, "You see, what did I tell you before? Kill someone, and they can't see your face anymore. Once you're killed, they can look however they want, and you can't stop it... What's the use of wearing this mask?"

Joker squatted down and unceremoniously ripped the masks off Shadowless and Wu Feng's faces, revealing two very ordinary and easily overlooked square-shaped faces—one pale and the other sallow.

"Pah!"

"Pah!"

Joker spat on each of their faces and mocked, "That's all. These faces aren't even as good as mine..."

"Exactly, not memorable at all. Vulgar men," Snake Woman chuckled as she played with the small green snake in her hand, agreeing with him.

"Enough!" Mr. Shan He spoke up sternly, "Although we come from different organizations, we are a team on the same mission. If you always fight openly and secretly and keep your own counsel, it's very likely that our end will be the same as theirs. Let's not forget what consequences we're about to face."

"Who's keeping their own counsel?" Joker pointed at Shadowless and Wu Feng on the ground and said, "They were the first to locate the target. And what happened? Without a word of warning or sharing the target's coordinates, they came here hoping to act alone..."

"To act alone is to act alone, but they didn't succeed in the end; instead, they got killed by others... Hahaha, it's laughable... Don't we understand what their real intentions were? They just wanted the biggest slice of the cake."

"So let's take this as a lesson. I don't want this to happen again," Mr. Shan He said.

He went over to inspect the bodies of Shadowless and Wu Feng and said, "Wu Feng was injured by a sharp weapon, and someone stabbed him right through the heart with a single shot..."

"There's a smooth piercing hole, and there are burn marks on the skin. It looks like the assailant used the most advanced energy weapons from New Star."

"Ordinary people can't equip such weapons; it must have been our target."

After further inspecting the hole in Wu Feng's neck and the torn flesh where the arrowhead was removed, Mr. Shan He appeared deep in thought and said, "He was wounded by an arrow... This is strange, he was wearing a full set of nano armor, impervious to blades and bullets. How could a common arrow penetrate his defense?"

"Got careless and left an opening?" a bald man suggested.

Mr. Shan He shook his head and said, "He could be careless, but the armor wouldn't be. Once you wear it, it protects you every second... they must have used a special kind of weaponry, something with a lethality far beyond ordinary blades and arrows..."

Mr. Shan He stood up and pronounced, "Gentlemen, that brings us to the question... Wu Feng and Shadowless came here together and naturally would fight side by side to annihilate the enemy. But why were they both killed at the same time? And why were they killed using completely different weaponry?"

"Maybe that woman had an expert protecting her?" the bald man offered his 'unique' insight again.

"Impossible," Mr. Shan He shook his head again, "The client was clear, she fled alone in an escape pod... And that model of escape pod can only seat one person..."

"Are there experts on Old Land protecting them?"

"That's not realistic..." Mr. Shan He sounded somewhat less certain, "Experts on Old Land are scarce, how could she just happen to run into one?"

"This doesn't add up, neither does that. So what exactly is going on?"

Mr. Shan He glanced at the quiet young man behind him and said, "Xiao Dao, go ask around and see who lived in this yard."

"Yes." The young man responded and left.

Mr. Shan He then looked toward Snake Woman and said, "They had just left a moment ago; they must have gone into the mountains... Your pet could be of use now."

"No problem." Snake Woman placed the green snake into her palm and gently stroked its body before gently pressing a tiny protruding button on its head.

Click-clack click-clack...

The green snake began to transform, sprouting little wings from either side of its body, then took off into the air and flew towards the distant mountains.

It was actually a Mechanical Snake.

(ps: This chapter is another 4200 words, you know.

Thank you to the book friend 20230101002423448 for becoming our new patron in "Galaxy"; I've checked these numbers several times, afraid to miss or get one wrong—that wouldn't be you then...

I can't tell likes or gender from this name; look at you flaunting your whimsical style.

But, I like it!

Also, with Labor Day upon us, I wish the little friends a happy holiday. Cast your monthly votes and recommendation tickets. )