Chapter 172: The Swap [1]

Bang!The Vigilants, thanks to Athena, watched in horror as the bullet passed through Zero’s head.

"Hmm?" The man on the other end let out, "there’s usually a couple of blanks before the actual one with the bullet...atleast in the movies anyway."

OmniTech’s avatar’s expression didn’t give away a single change, he just held a frown even as Zero’s head slumped forward.


His eyes had gone completely blank and his hands twitched for a few seconds before completely relaxing.

It was obvious enough that his life had exited his body with the bullet, followed by brain matter that exited the wound the bullet left behind.

"Damn, you really are cold." The man said again, "you just lost a man and yet, there’s not a single change in expression."

Ethan’s avatar finally let out a sigh before hopping off the cube and walking closer to the screen before saying, "it should recharge in a few seconds."

"Hmm?" The man let out a bit confused about his words, but that confusion didn’t last long as the body before them suddenly started glitching and right before their eyes, it started growing.

Soon enough Zero was completely gone, replaced by his former disguise, Laohu whose head was still slumped forward and was still very much dead.

The man was confused seeing the change before asking, "and what do you hope to achieve by reactivating your disguise tech?"

A moment after the words left his mouth, he froze and looked down at his hand, the Mimic tech he had removed still lay there....so how ?

" Your silence shows you’ve realized what’s happening, but all me to explain."The avatar said with a smile on his face.

"Let’s start from the beginning shall we" he said, lifting a finger as if lecturing a student.

****

[Five hours Earlier]

"Boss Laohu, are you sure about this?" A bald man wearing a suit asked, "we don’t even know a single thing about this person."

Laohu looked at his reflected self in the mirror before sighing and turning to the man speaking.

"Listen Tu Qian," he started, "I also don’t trust this stranger, but Madam Xu ordered we listen and follow his plans, besides I’m the one who’s going to be the bait, so there’s no need for you to worry."

Each and every one of them fully trusted Madam Xu, so anything she said, goes.

That was why Laohu was appointed as a temporary leader and the reason why he was acting as bait to draw out whoever the attackers of the previous night were.

"As you command, Boss Laohu. But I don’t like this plan. Not one bit."

Laohu Po chuckled in response before patting Qian’s shoulder and added, "besides, think of this as a way to get Madam Xu to return quickly, after all, even I feel uncomfortable being addressed as boss."

Tu Qian also chuckled at his words as he nodded, "you’re right, then let’s go."

With that, they walked out of the mansion that had been attacked the previous night towards a row of black car waiting.

Their plan was simple, they had let just enough information about his movement to Madam Xu’s traditional safe house leak.

Enough information for whoever was targeting them to want to make a quick move.

***

They made their first scheduled stop at a busy public plaza, this was also part of the plan. It was a place full of civilians, cameras, vendors, and blind spots that were small but exploitable.

They wanted the attackers to feel cocky enough to make their move and they would be ready.

"Boss Laohu, we’ll be moving again in five minutes," Tu Qian informed him as he opened the car door.

Laohu nodded. "I’ll stretch my legs, too much sitting stiffens the joints."

"Madam Xu always said the same thing." Tu Qian said with a smile, this was exactly the plan, to allow

Laohu stepped out of the car and took three steps toward the small fountain before he bumped into two men.

The men bowed in apology before moving away, but Madam Xu’s men saw as one of the men slip something into Laohu’s pocket.

"Boss!" Tu Qian took a step forward, already reaching for his concealed gun.

But Laohu simply waved it off, "relax, it’s probably nothing."

He placed a hand in his pocket to search for what was placed there only to freeze, pulling his hand out, he revealed.... nothing?

They had all clearly seen the man put something in their boss’s pocket so how had it just vanished?

They turned to the men who suspiciously looked back before walking quickly, trying to disappear into the Crowd.

"They know something," Laohu said, "let’s follow them."

Qian nodded and immediately set off, so did most of the other guards, but a single one remained, keeping his eye on Laohu.

For all he knew, this was a distraction tactic.

"Excuse me, young man," a voice came from behind the guard.

Turning around, the man was faced with a frail, hunched old woman clutching a wooden cane with trembling fingers.

"Excuse me, young man," she repeated, eyes squinting up at him. "I... I’m lost. Could you help an old woman find her way?"

The guard’s expression froze, this was the wrong place and wrong time.

But ignoring her would draw attention. Cameras were everywhere, civilians too. Plus she looked like a harmless old lady, he’d just calmly reject her.

So he forced a smile to appear on his face.

"Ma’am, now really isn’t—"

"Oh, bless your heart," she interrupted, leaning closer. "My granddaughter said we should meet near the flower stalls... but my eyesight isn’t what it used to be..."

The guard was stuck in a dilemma, "alright... alright. Just quickly. The flower stalls are..."

That was all the distraction needed, before Laohu could follow Qian, some grabbe his wrist and said, "isn’t this little Lao."

He turned around to see a face he could recognize, but before he could force the man to let go or even say something, he felt something prickle his skin causing him to feel lightheaded and fall forward.

The man caught him like a drunk friend and calmly guided him towards their vehicle, a van marked as Municipal Repair Services.

Not a single one of the people in the crowd noticed anything off and they just went about their days.

The distracted guard finished helping the old lady with directions, looked towards the direction where Laohu was standing and noticed he was still there, also about to chase after the two men.

With a sigh, he approached and asked, " boss Laohu, are you okay?"

"Yes," Laohu said, nodding his head, "let’s get back to the card, it seems our targets are around."

"Yes boss," the guard said as he led his boss to the car....or so he thought.