Chapter 146: Removable head
The Gray Gang's bases were concentrated in the northern part of the city, including various entertainment venues such as casinos, clubs, and bars.
Having Lily wait in a safe location, Lin Ye infiltrated a remote underground casino base alone.
The quality of Gray Gang members was significantly higher than that of the Wild Dogs Gang, but before Lin Ye, the difference wasn't substantial.
It didn't take much time for Lin Ye to infiltrate the hidden room located in the deepest part of the casino.
The room contained only one Gray Gang executive who was sleeping.
Lin Ye pulled a chair to the bedside and sat down, took a wet wipe from the headboard to clean his hands, and placed a piece of milk soft candy in his mouth.
Until the soft candy began to melt, the bald fat man on the bed still hadn't woken up.
Lin Ye had to use spiritual energy to wake this fat pig up—it was the first time he'd seen a spiritual energy user with such poor alertness.
"...Who are you?"
The fat man barely opened his eyes, glaring at Lin Ye impatiently. "Who am I? That question is somewhat complicated, but for you, I'm just an intruder with ill intentions."
Lin Ye chewed the soft candy cheerfully as he spoke.
"...Someone! Help!"
The fat man finally understood his situation and made the most normal reaction.
Lin Ye didn't stop the fat man from screaming. The morning simulation mission had left him mentally exhausted, and now he needed some time to alleviate this fatigue.
After experiencing complex abnormal events, friendly communication with normal people was quite a good way to relax.
The fat man shouted for a long time, but outside remained completely silent.
Seeing the fat man stop, Lin Ye finally spoke with a smile:
"Do you know what perfect infiltration is? Perfect infiltration means the infiltration process wasn't discovered by a single person. Now there's no one left outside, so I've perfectly infiltrated this room."
"...What do you mean there's no one left outside?"
The fat man trembled all over. Usually being the abusive party, this was the first time he deeply felt this kind of helpless trembling sensation.
"...What do you think?"
Lin Ye narrowed his eyes and relaxed against the chairback. The chair was high-quality and very comfortable to sit on.
"You must be here for the legacy component, right? That thing is in the hands of Gray Gang boss William. I'm his brother-in-law! Spare my life, and I can definitely help you get that thing!"
The fat man showed an obsequious smile and, without Lin Ye needing to say anything, spilled everything he should have said.
In some ways, he could be considered talented.
"I am indeed here for the legacy component, but that's just a task assigned from above. I've also taken on some private work. The above task isn't urgent—first help me find someone."
Lin Ye took out the photo Lily had given him and placed it before the fat man.
"She disappeared outside. I heard the Gray Gang was involved. Help me find her, and I won't kill you."
When the fat man saw the young girl in the photo, his pupils contracted slightly, and his body unconsciously shrank back.
"You've seen her, and it left a deep impression."
Lin Ye grabbed the fat man's head, staring into his eyes as he asked softly:
"Where is she?"
"She was bought by a cultist, but that was already months ago! I don't know where she is now!"
Feeling the increasing pressure on his head, the fat man quickly explained loudly.
"Tell me everything you know. Be clear."
Releasing the fat man's head, Lin Ye leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.
"She was the prettiest in that batch of goods, supposedly a noble young lady of high status. At the time, I had some... improper thoughts, which is why I recognized her immediately just now. If she hadn't been merchandise reserved by a distinguished guest, I would have... ahem. William told me that distinguished guest was a mid-level believer of the Spider God Cult, not someone to mess with, so I abandoned those thoughts."
The fat man carefully described the situation at the time. He didn't think that merchandise could still be alive now, so he was very afraid Lin Ye would take his anger out on him.
"Good. Now I'm your newly recruited underling. Take me to the Gray Gang headquarters for a walk. I'll be watching you. If anyone discovers my identity, I'll kill you and escape. Of course, you can also try calling for help in front of William and see if he can save you."
Lin Ye walked outside the room, changed into clothing that more resembled an underling's outfit, then locked the casino's main door before taking the fat man to his sports car parked by the roadside.
The fat man's driving skills were fairly good, and the sports car quickly stopped outside a luxury hotel.
Handing the car to a parking attendant nearby, the fat man brought Lin Ye into the hotel. This luxury hotel was the Gray Gang headquarters.
Caston Hotel had 12 floors, with three additional underground levels housing a luxury casino.
William usually stayed on the hotel's top floor, where the entire level served as his residence.
With the fat man leading the way, Lin Ye quickly figured out the hotel's structure and Gray Gang member distribution. As long as he dealt with William, the remaining Gray Gang members were insignificant.
Just as Lin Ye was considering how to easily handle William, he sensed that some kind of ritual seemed to be taking place above them in the hotel.
"Take me up. Quickly!"
Lin Ye pulled the fat man along and used his face to access the elevator that went directly to the top floor.
"The elevator will be detected by William as soon as it approaches the top floor! I rarely bring people up here—he'll definitely suspect your identity! If we get trapped in the elevator, neither of us will escape!"
The fat man anxiously whispered.
"You probably don't need to worry about William anymore."
Lin Ye changed into his Nightfall Formalwear, took out Red Blade, and began tracing runes around them.
As the elevator ascended, Lin Ye had already made his preparations.
9, 10, 11, 12
The elevator doors opened. Lin Ye activated all the runes on his body, and with the various runic enhancements, he disappeared from the elevator.
Earlier in the elevator, Lin Ye had avoided carefully sensing the top floor for fear of drawing attention. The moment the elevator doors opened, Lin Ye saw William with half his body mutated into a spider monster, and also saw a tier four cultist intently maintaining some kind of ritual.
Lin Ye didn't hesitate for even a moment—with one Heavy Slash, he cut off the tier four cultist's head.
The opponent reacted quickly. Even though ambushed by Lin Ye, he managed some response, but his fragile spiritual energy shield and short-distance body movement couldn't avoid Lin Ye's Heavy Slash.
The ritual was interrupted. William, who had been forcibly mutated into a spider monster, had completely lost his rationality and only knew how to frantically attack everything around him.
The cultist's body didn't fall to the ground. Numerous spider legs and silk strands grew from within it. Strands of spider silk swept around, with one strand sticking to the cultist's head and pulling it back, casually reattaching it to the cultist's chest.
Lin Ye quickly retreated to avoid the spider silk while simultaneously drawing his CL0 Pistol and firing at that head. The bullet, enhanced with collapse and weakening runes, spiraled as it struck the cultist's chest.
Those spider silk strands pulled its head away again.