Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Evelyn glanced at Cui Ming and continued to focus on the telescope. "If that's the case, the area by Azure Lake is a great opportunity to observe Jayce. However, the target doesn't know that Jayce will be staying overnight."
"Of course they would know. Because an hour after Jayce arrived, the godfather's daughter called and asked the nursing home to prepare a room, saying there would be a guest staying overnight," Cui Ming replied. "It's not suitable to kill during the day. If I were the target, I would gather intelligence during the day and attack Jayce at night. I only know that Jayce will stay for one night; I don't know when he will leave."
Evelyn said, "What worries me more is that so far, we have only discovered Jayce has Force and no other practitioners." Where could they be hiding?
Once Jayce and his godfather left their residence, they began to encounter more people—fishing enthusiasts by the lake, locals seeking a cool breeze, and even medical staff accompanying them. There was even a boat nearby collecting aquatic weeds from Azure Lake. Jayce's godfather was clearly a celebrity; everyone living here was noble, mostly elderly, and even if they hadn't met before, they had heard of each other. During the two-plus hours of fishing, people came over to chat and greet them. One man in his fifties even sat down at their fishing spot to fish together. Fishing was a leisurely activity; the three of them enjoyed tea and conversation. However, Cui Ming had no idea who this man was, and Jayce couldn't tell him either, so he could only guess.
At five o'clock, when he saw Jayce and his godfather return to the villa, Evelyn finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon after, Cui Ming became tense again because at five fifteen, a visitor arrived—almost certainly a spy from the Fire Cult—known as Liu Meier, often referred to as the First Beauty, Charity Goddess, or Eternal Goddess.
"Liu Meier? Liu Family?" Evelyn said. "This might alert the target." She was unaware of Liu Meier's identity and worried that her appearance would cause the target to abandon their plans.
The situation was becoming somewhat uncontrollable; why had Liu Meier come? Cui Ming fixed his gaze on her as she got out of a vehicle at the nursing home entrance and then took a sightseeing car straight toward the villa where Jayce was staying. However, she didn't stop there but continued on for another hundred twenty meters to another villa. Two people emerged from that villa—a lady and a young male bodyguard. The lady embraced Liu Meier and invited her into the villa.
"Who is she?" Cui Ming asked.
Evelyn looked at her notes. "Linda, former mayor of the second-largest city in Dawn Empire. She has been in politics for twenty-six years and even served as Speaker of Parliament. She retired from her political career at fifty-five to become one of the highest-ranking judges in Dawn Empire. Two months ago, she resigned due to illness and has been living here since. She also has another identity as the founder of the Global Women's Protection Foundation, which primarily helps women suffering from domestic violence. This woman is very influential in Dawn Empire; she is the first female high-ranking official in its thousands of years of history. Linda belongs to the hawkish faction and has a very firm stance against the Fire Cult because its religion and customs reduce women to mere appendages of men, leading to low status and frequent domestic violence."
Cui Ming said, "If that's the case, then it's normal." Among women are also young girls; in some underdeveloped countries, abandoned girls face much harsher living conditions than boys. Currently, Liu Meier is dedicated to helping children worldwide; besides providing financial aid, she also applies diplomatic pressure on some countries to protect their children. The Eternal Alliance completed its formation hundreds of years ago; although Fire Religion Nation has related regulations, their enforcement is weak—especially for girls who hold low status within families. There have even been incidents where girls under ten were married off to men over fifty.
However, Cui Ming knew something was off; such coincidences were unlikely. The good news was that it indicated the target was indeed very interested in Jayce. Perhaps Liu Meier just happened to be nearby? From Liu Meier's disheveled appearance details, it was evident she had traveled quite a distance; her hair was somewhat messy—this clearly did not align with her status unless there was one reason: she had rushed over without time to tidy herself up. Cui Ming recalled Mi Xiaonan mentioning that Liu Meier would soon be visiting Dawn City and Nordo City—two city-states known for their wealth—seeking funding from them. Thus her presence in Dawn City made sense; however, appearing at a nursing home while being associated with a foundation from Western Continent seemed far-fetched without any direct connection with its management—it suggested she had hurriedly come over.
The bad news was that Cui Ming could not guess the target's intentions regarding Liu Meier.
There were two questions: Would Liu Meier be exposed? Was it worth exposing her? The second question was, if the other party discovered it was a trap, they wouldn't let Liu Meier come to help. If they didn't realize it was a trap, why would they want Liu Meier to come and assist? What could Liu Meier possibly do?
Cui Ming held his head in frustration in the rocky cave. Time was tight, and without understanding the other party's motives, he couldn't grasp the situation. Cui Ming was clearly becoming anxious. Evelyn, as an experienced officer, sensed Cui Ming's emotions and did not correct him. Instead, she said, "I'm hungry; let's eat."
"Huh?" It was lunchtime, and they were supposed to take turns eating.
Evelyn replied, "We need to stay alert right now; my night vision is better than yours." The night had slowly begun to fall.
Cui Ming took out some rice. It was self-heating rice; there was lime at the bottom, which mixed with water when pulled, heating the food above. Cui Ming leaned to one side and fed Evelyn bite by bite. At first, they were not in sync; Cui Ming had never fed anyone before, and with the binoculars obstructing his view, his posture was awkward. However, as he focused more, he mastered the technique. Evelyn seemed pleased; there were two possibilities for her enjoyment: either Cui Ming's anxiety increased further or he shifted from anxiety to concentration. She was glad it was the latter.
After feeding Evelyn, Cui Ming took a box of rice for himself and ate slowly, savoring each bite. When he thought about something, his other movements would slow down. As he neared the end of his meal, he put down the box and clapped his hands together. "I got it."
"What is it?"
"The target doesn't intend to kill Jayce but wants to capture him alive," Cui Ming said. "A living Jayce is more valuable than a dead one."
Due to the tense relationship between Twilight City and the Fire Religion Nation, royal family members were always accompanied by bodyguards. There was an unspoken rule among practitioners: Fire Cult Practitioners would not kidnap or attack important figures from Twilight City for a simple reason—otherwise, the Ye Family would retaliate against the Pope or the President. In such cases, the Alliance would intervene. Unless Fire Cult Practitioners had the strength to defeat the Force Alliance, they wouldn't let practitioners do dirty work.
Attacking Jayce would be like how the Ye Family ambushed Fire Cult Practitioners this time; it would create a huge mess. The best way to avoid taking the blame was to eliminate witnesses and leave no evidence behind. An attack on Jayce could lead to discovery; the Alliance would definitely investigate. The Ye Family didn't need objective evidence; subjective evidence would suffice for them to seek revenge.
Kidnapping Jayce seemed like the smartest approach, especially by utilizing Liu Meier. If Liu Meier could succeed, then they would go ahead with the kidnapping. If not, then it would just be considered a failed attempt.
"The good news is that the target hasn't discovered our presence," Cui Ming noted. What he didn't say was that the bad news was that he didn't know what methods Liu Meier would use to contact Jayce; however, Cui Ming firmly believed that Liu Meier wouldn't engage in any dirty work.
Evelyn struggled to understand, as she always believed Liu Meier was on their side. However, Cui Ming made a valid point; the likelihood of targeting Jayce for kidnapping was much higher. What did it have to do with Liu Meier? Evelyn asked, "It has nothing to do with Liu Meier, right?"
"Not at all," Cui Ming concealed part of the truth and said, "I hope Liu Meier and Jayce do not meet; otherwise, there will be an opportunity for them." Although this was nearly impossible. Cui Ming had also deduced the target's plan: Liu Meier would meet Jayce, they would share a meal or drinks, and Liu Meier would poison him. The poison wouldn't kill but would incapacitate him to some extent, similar to the alcohol Jinjin drank, as practitioners could not expel certain substances that entered their bloodstream. Liu Meier wouldn’t do the dirty work; she would leave, and an incapacitated Jayce would be waiting to be taken in the dead of night.
It seemed like a good plan from Cui Ming's perspective, luring the snake out of its hole. But in reality, it was a terrible plan—if Jayce lost his ability to resist, once the enemy showed up, they would undoubtedly go straight for him. At that point, even Cui Ming's teleportation might not save Jayce. Once the target realized they had fallen into a trap, they would certainly kill Jayce first since he would be a burden and at least they could gain some interest.
Would Jayce fall for it? Yes, he definitely would, because aside from Cui Ming and a few others, only Yellen and Wandering knew Liu Meier's true identity.
At eight-thirty in the evening, Liu Meier left Linda's house and parked her electric scooter in front of Jayce the Godfather's villa. When Jayce came out and saw Liu Meier, he appeared very surprised but still shook her hand. Currently, Liu Meier was Ye Wen's fiancée; however, Ye Wen was busy with family matters while Liu Meier focused on charity work, so there had been no further developments between them. Because of this, Jayce was very warm towards Liu Meier and even introduced her to his godfather.
From the cave's perspective, half of the living room was visible. The room was brightly lit, with staff preparing tea and fruits while Liu Meier and Jayce engaged in pleasant conversation. They chatted like proper friends for about an hour before Liu Meier excused herself to use the restroom. Afterward, she took her leave. The godfather had already gone to sleep, and Jayce escorted Liu Meier to the door as she departed.
Evelyn found it strange why Cui Ming was watching so closely during that hour. Logically speaking, when Liu Meier visited, the target shouldn't act. Additionally, Cui Ming seemed anxious after seeing Liu Meier, which felt somewhat inexplicable.
Cui Ming didn’t explain but continued to watch intently; the glow of Force in the night was quite striking. He wasn’t worried about a direct attack on Jayce since that would lead to early detection; Jayce’s room was on the second floor of the villa near Cui Ming’s own room. Cui Ming reminded Evelyn: "The enemy might launch a surprise attack from one hundred to two hundred meters away to assault the villa and target Jayce."
"Understood," Evelyn replied. "You should rest for a bit." It was already one-thirty in the early morning.
"Alright," Cui Ming said; his eyes hurt from focusing too long.
He closed his eyes and leaned against the cave wall to rest; fatigue quickly took over and he fell asleep. (To be continued.)
Comment 0 Comment Count