Light Barrier - Chapter 16: Night

“Why would a rich second-generation heir with a deposit of five hundred thousand yuan only buy cheap earphones worth a couple hundred…” The girl’s voice echoed softly.

The sound quality was a little rough and mixed with a faint static sound.

Gu Shen had just put his earphones into his ears and put on his cap when he heard Chu Ling’s complaint.

He had always been communicating with the girl through text.

When they first met in the carriage, the voice he had heard seemed to come from a dream, and it was too vague to remember clearly.

Chu Ling’s voice was very pleasant, ethereal and melodious like an elf’s. But unlike her delicate appearance, her voice sounded powerful and fleshed out, giving people a sense of stability and security.

This time, Gu Shen didn’t feel like he was dreaming. “You connected so quickly.”

He explained earnestly, “It’s easy to go from frugal to extravagant but hard to go from extravagant to frugal. And there’s the matter of the electronic bill…”

Even if he had known that there was five hundred thousand yuan on the card’s balance, he would have still made the same choice.

“I’ve been waiting for this.” The girl smiled helplessly. “Have you forgotten what I do? I can take care of the electronic bill for you and erase some items. Next time, buy a better device. In fact, the first pair of glasses was pretty good.”

Gu Shen was a little surprised. Did Chu Ling see the scene of me picking and choosing in the supermarket?

But it was reasonable. She had such powerful access permissions, so it wasn’t strange for her to see anything.

“But for this operation, you bought the right device,” Chu Ling said. “There are too many places that require real-time monitoring. You just have to be careful not to expose yourself. I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”

Night fell. After they left the city center, the dazzling neon lights gradually faded away.

The old city resembled a silent and faded painting with distinct colors. After the sun set, street lights lit up one after another, but they failed to illuminate a corner. Black and white seemed to be cut apart by ink…

Gu Shen was leaning in the secluded corner, just outside the range of the street lights’ lighting. He was wearing a loose black tracksuit, looking like a shadow standing up. He was silently staring at the cordon a hundred meters away.

It was 22:45.

There was still fifteen minutes until the operation.

He had arrived an hour early and chosen a good spot in a blind spot of the surveillance  cameras. He could clearly see the full extent of the cordon in front of the old building. There were guards patrolling inside the police tape, and a minibus arrived and stopped beside the police tape.

“Did the shift-change guards arrive early?” Gu Shen was trying his best to regulate his breathing and calm his mind. “Has the plan changed? Am I still going to take action?”

Generally, they would arrive five minutes early.

“Perhaps this is part of the plan?” Chu Ling smiled. “Take a closer look.”

Gu Shen had always had good eyesight since he was young. He squinted his eyes and saw several people wearing large protective suits and masks getting off the minibus. One of them approached the guards in front of the cordon and communicated with them.

“These people are crime scene investigators responsible for extracting information from the scene,” Chu Ling said. “Because the two transcendents who attacked you suffered severe damage to their body tissues, their identities are no longer recognizable. So they need to rely on some technological means to restore the scene.”

Gu Shen asked, “So, does this mean these investigators are all from the Adjudication Bureau?”

“Originally, yes,” Chu Ling replied. “Since such a major incident happened to you, Zhou Jiren will definitely investigate this case strictly. They’ll follow the clues and start investigating from those two transcendents to uncover the assassination organization behind them.”

Gu Shen nodded, confirming his earlier thoughts. Suddenly, he was startled. “Wait… Originally?”

“In a situation where they’re fish on someone’s chopping board, even if they die, they have to struggle a bit.

“Zhou Jiren is about to make a move. Those people don’t want to wait for death. As long as they destroy the primary scene and the evidence, the dead won’t tell any tales.” Chu Ling’s voice carried a hint of mockery. “The real investigators haven’t arrived yet. They’re imposters.”

Cold sweat broke out on Gu Shen’s forehead.

These impostor investigators had already taken out their credentials. It seemed that the guards responsible for patrolling should be complete outsiders. They had been hastily dispatched because of the sudden incident. They didn’t recognize the forged credentials and didn’t realize that people were impersonating the replacement guards.

Someone had already pulled up the police tape, preparing to let them in.

“Don’t worry. The show has just begun. It won’t be easy for these people to succeed.” Chu Ling’s voice turned solemn. “Have you remembered the infiltration route? The operation is about to begin.”

Gu Shen nodded.

He stared intently into the distance.

Just as the guards were about to allow passage, a black figure slowly emerged from the darkness of the dilapidated old building and extended a hand to stop the investigators clad in bulky protective suits.

…

“Wait!”

The moment this voice sounded…

Not only were the investigators stunned…

Even the guards were stunned.

Most of the guards here had rushed to the scene as soon as the fire broke out to evacuate the crowd and protect the victims. Due to the urgency of the situation, they had been dispatched from nearby. After completing these tasks, they had followed the orders of their superiors and set up this cordon.

They had strictly guarded against outsiders entering twenty-four hours a day in order to protect the primary scene and wait for the subsequent personnel to take over.

They were certain that no one had entered the scene.

But this voice clearly came from within the cordon… What was going on?!

A thin young man walked out of the darkness of the old building. His facial features were handsome, and his skin was so pale that he looked like a vampire. He looked so fragile that it seemed a gust of wind could blow him away.

“Mr… Mr. Zhong Wei!” The captain in charge of protecting the scene recognized the young man and immediately saluted.

This sudden fire seemed to have significant implications.

The only order the guards had received was to protect the scene. They didn’t have any further information. They only knew that after tonight’s shift change, a powerful task force would take over this case.

The captain knew just a little bit more information, having seen a photo.

It was a photo of Zhong Wei.

The leader of the rumored task force that was about to take over… was this frail-looking young man standing in front of them.

“Yes.” Zhong Wei nodded politely to the captain. He took out his credentials and introduced himself to the other guards. “Special Task Force, Zhong Wei.”

“Did you come long ago?” The captain smiled wryly. The voice just now had startled him, making him fear that some oversight had occurred.

Fortunately, they were on the same side.

“I just arrived,” Zhong Wei said calmly without further explanation. “My colleagues for the shift change haven’t arrived yet, so I decided to take a look around the scene.”

In truth, he had been guarding here the whole time.

However, these guards hadn’t noticed.

This case was related to transcendents. The moment Zhong Wei received the notification, he had come to the old building to prevent any accidents from happening before the commissioner of the Adjudication Bureau arrived.

After Zhong Wei appeared…

With the police tape marking the boundary, silence fell on both sides.

The investigators, wearing thick protective suits and masks, froze visibly.

Only the leader remained unfazed, maintaining his composure as he slowly retracted his hand to take back his credentials.

“Mr. Zhong Wei, I’ve just checked their credentials. The seals are all in order…” The captain sensed the uneasy atmosphere and gestured for his team members to reposition the cordon.

“Oh? It’s impossible to forge seals.” Zhong Wei approached the lead investigator. “Since they’re genuine, I’ll check again.”

He stretched out his hand, signaling for the credentials.

The other party slowly handed over the documents.

At the moment of exchange—

Muffled laughter came from the soundproof mask.

With a sizzle, the documents burst into flames like a magician’s fireworks.

Flames exploded out of thin air!

This eruption came without warning. The surrounding guards barely had time to comprehend what was happening before they saw a burst of bright flames splattering in all directions, like a starting gun firing.

The investigators in bulky protective suits charged forward. Their robust bodies under the thick protective suits knocked down the guards in their path, broke through the cordon, and swiftly headed for the old building.

Bang!

With a grim expression, Zhong Wei was already prepared as he kicked the fireworks in front of him.

His speed was astonishing, and his seemingly thin body contained considerable strength. With a quick whip-like kick, he knocked over one of the robust investigators trying to break through.

After creating this chaos, the ‘magician’ leader turned around and ran back.

Zhong Wei turned around and shouted, “Stop them!”

More than ten guards rushed forward and knocked down the strong men desperately trying to break into the old building.

These men were only physically strong, not transcendents!

I have to catch the leader. Zhong Wei’s eyes were icy as he instantly locked onto the fleeing figure. This person was very cunning. He escaped into the minibus and prepared to drive away.

Zhong Wei took a deep breath and began to run. He was so fast that his speed defied human limits, resembling more like a cheetah!

The moment the minibus started, Zhong Wei jumped up and grabbed its roof with both hands. Immediately after, the medium-sized minibus roared to life and accelerated, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust. The bus veered wildly like a snake and drifted violently, while Zhong Wei remained steadfast as a nail.

Then there was a sharp turn.

Maintaining his balance, Zhong Wei used the momentum to swing sideways, shattered a window with a kick, and landed inside the minibus.

He said icily, “Since you’ve dared to come, don’t even think about leaving.”