Chapter 1477: Worse Than A Pig
Lily felt like a frog.
Thick layers of Higher Consciousness enveloped her elbows, knees, and other joints, acting as cus.h.i.+on pads, absorbing even the slightest rustling sounds she made. She crawled inside the ventilation duct with even more caution than before, because the individuals she was now tailing had exceptional senses.
As long as she stayed silent, Lin Sanjiu wouldn"t turn around. And if Lin Sanjiu didn"t turn around, she wouldn"t notice Qian Dao trailing her. Just a few moments of silence from Lily would lead to Lin Sanjiu"s downfall. Where else could she find such a golden opportunity?
However, tracking the two from inside the ventilation system was no easy task. The layout of the corridor and the ducts was different. Lily could only glance at Qian Dao and then estimate the direction to crawl in the ducts. It was evident that wherever Lin Sanjiu was headed, it had a ventilation outlet connected by a duct. Every time Lily crawled a bit and looked down, she could see Qian Dao silently gliding through the corridor.
Qian Dao"s stealth and tracking skills were truly extraordinary. If Lily hadn"t chanced upon him, he could probably have sneaked right by her ear without her noticing.
Hadn"t the two of them made an agreement? Why didn"t Qian Dao attack Whit E. as planned but instead started infighting?
While pondering, Lily observed the figures ahead through the vent.
Lin Sanjiu was obviously very careful. Frankly speaking, even Lily herself couldn"t have been more cautious. Sound, shadow, air movement—Lin Sanjiu thoroughly inspected every place she pa.s.sed. Yet, despite her combat skills and keen senses, she couldn"t detect Qian Dao just a few meters away. It seems Whit E. had been similarly cautious when he was tailed to his lair.
As she continued crawling, the corridor began to look more familiar, causing Lily to frown. Yes, Lin Sanjiu"s own office was here; she had tracked it once using the Higher Consciousness chain, but her attack had failed—wait a minute.
If she weren"t afraid of alerting the two below, Lily would"ve loved to poke her head through the vent blades.
"It"s not that office, is it?"
Right under her watchful gaze, Lin Sanjiu walked past the office Lily had attacked before and stopped a few meters ahead at another door. On it floated a tiny icon of Lin Sanjiu.
Realizing her mistake, Lily wished she could knock herself out.
Such a simple decoy strategy, and she had been duped. Had Lin Sanjiu ever spoken a word of truth? Maybe she never even formed an alliance with Qian Dao!
Without entering, Lin Sanjiu looked around and then peeked into the office, asking, "Was there any situation just now?"
Clearly, she was addressing her humanoid Special Item. From Lily"s perspective, she couldn"t see Qian Dao, so she had no idea how he reacted.
The voice of the Life Coach emanated from inside—a reminder to Lily of the Special Item she had thrown into the water. "No, no one came this way, and no one returned."
If Lily had harbored any doubts before, thinking maybe Lin Sanjiu had detected Qian Dao but pretended not to, they evaporated upon hearing Lin Sanjiu"s next words.
"That"s good," Lin Sanjiu said, relaxing her shoulders and sighing softly as she walked into the room. "I hope those guys stay inside. If they found out I can"t even afford to hire a single defensive employee, it would be disastrous."
Lily blinked slowly.
Did Lin Sanjiu not even have a single defender? If she had known that earlier, Lin Sanjiu"s office would have been hers by now!
This woman had left her office empty and just wandered around? Was she gambling with her life?
Before she could process this shock, Qian Dao made his move.
From Lily"s point of view, it seemed as if a faint shadow suddenly darted across her peripheral vision, charging straight towards Lin Sanjiu"s office. Qian Dao no longer concealed his footsteps, each step sounding like a roll of thunder. When Lin Sanjiu poked her head out again and saw Qian Dao and the employee on his back, for the first time, Lily saw the color drain from her face.
Lin Sanjiu, trying to put on a brave face, forced a smile at Qian Dao. "So, you were following me. Did you think you could—"
Qian Dao didn"t listen. It was as if Lin Sanjiu didn"t exist before him anymore, and her words were just noise. When he reached the door, he ordered in a low voice, "Attack!"
The level-five attack employee on his back vanished immediately; the employees hired with money are always the first to go.
Lily had to muster all her strength not to let out a long sigh.
While she despised Lin Sanjiu, she despised herself even more for being easily fooled by her. While she wished for Lin Sanjiu"s downfall, the fleeting joy was replaced with a sense of mutual dependence—after all, she, too, was like a wild sheep struggling not to sink into quicksand.
"Congratulations to Qian Dao Company for successfully seizing the headquarters of Lin Sanjiu Company. Best wishes for your business endeavors."
As the announcement sounded, Lin Sanjiu, who had been frozen like an ice sculpture at the door, finally reacted. Her face turned ghostly white. Quickly, she leaned against the doorframe, using her body to block Qian Dao"s path. When she turned back and shouted, "Come over here!" even her voice had gone hoa.r.s.e.
The office now belonged to Qian Dao, and the portrait on the door had been replaced with Qian Dao"s face. Lin Sanjiu couldn"t go back in. With mixed feelings, Lily watched as the office door was flung open. From behind the door, the Life Coach, a man carrying a canvas and a bag, and a flamboyantly dressed woman rushed towards Lin Sanjiu as if they were late pa.s.sengers hearing the final boarding call at an airport—yes, Lily had been to an airport and taken flights.
Whether Qian Dao realized these three were humanoid Special Items, Lily wasn"t sure, as she could only see the back of Qian Dao"s head. However, these humanoid Special Items were incredibly agile, almost as if they were genuinely panicked, even though that was impossible. Before Qian Dao could react, they all collided with Lin Sanjiu"s hand, turning into cards and vanis.h.i.+ng.
"Blocking the door is useless," Qian Dao said, for once saying something other than ordering an attack. "I can terminate the lease from here."
It seemed everyone thought of terminating the lease... Lily felt a flush on her face. Her recent state of mind had been poor. Ever since she entered this world, she was constantly anxious about her fate, leading her closer to an unspeakable end due to her distracted state.
Lin Sanjiu looked at Qian Dao, speechless. After all, what could she say?
She had lost everything.
"No, wait." Lily snapped to attention, realizing the game hadn"t announced Lin Sanjiu"s bankruptcy. Did this woman still have money? Yes, her office had clients and employees. If she hadn"t spent the ninety dollars she earned, she could start over.
"Where did you spend the money?" Qian Dao looked at Lin Sanjiu, lowered his arm, and slowly walked into the office. From inside, his voice came out, "Did you hire two level-five attack employees? Were you planning to attack the purple-faced one or Whit E.?"
"What purple face?" Lily thought, a bit displeased. "You"re all dressed up like you"re in a cult."
Lin Sanjiu pursed her lips, unable to utter a word.
"It doesn"t matter. Even if you still have money, you"re way too far behind," Qian Dao said calmly. In this game, where physical strength didn"t play a part, everyone felt a.s.sured when facing Lin Sanjiu, who had much higher combat power. "I"m going to cancel the lease for this office and take the clients and employees to my headquarters."
Clearly, this statement wasn"t meant for Lin Sanjiu. Although no announcement sounded, Lily heard someone rise from a chair inside, and Qian Dao"s small portrait on the door vanished. Now, even if Lin Sanjiu wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h something back, there was nothing left.
"You can follow if you want," Qian Dao said, grabbing both the employee and the client as he left the room, a sight that made Lily itch with unease. "I have one defender in my office, plus me. You can try your luck."
"Qian Dao doesn"t know I"m watching from above," Lily thought with a rush of warmth in her chest. The question was, could she crawl fast enough through the ventilation system to keep up with Qian Dao?
"Don"t worry, I won"t waste my time," Lin Sanjiu said hoa.r.s.ely, turning around and glancing upward.
Lily was startled, her hairs standing on end— but she soon realized that Lin Sanjiu hadn"t spotted her. She was looking at the next ventilation opening, not Lily"s. So, did Lin Sanjiu also consider using the ventilation system? Was she thinking of following through it?
But this method wasn"t feasible. Lin Sanjiu was right in front of Qian Dao. If she jumped up and crawled into the vent, even an idiot like Qian Dao would realize what she was up to. In this situation, it was improbable that Qian Dao would just turn and leave without watching his back. As long as Qian Dao was vigilant, Lin Sanjiu"s plan was impossible. She was probably just grasping at straws.
Lily s.h.i.+fted slightly, feeling oddly uneasy.
She felt as if she had forgotten something.
"I"m leaving," Lin Sanjiu said and pointed to the left corridor. "You go that way. Let"s head out separately so neither of us follows the other. It"s better for both of us."
"You accepted it quite quickly," Qian Dao said with a soft chuckle, walking to the right. "Whit E. yelled and cursed for quite a while."
With a stern face, Lin Sanjiu turned and left.
That"s good, that"s good. It seems she also realized that climbing up right under Qian Dao"s watch wasn"t realistic. Watching as the two of them moved farther and farther apart, backs to each other, Lily let out a slight sigh of relief. She decided to take a risk and follow Qian Dao. Lin Sanjiu believed she was still in the office, and her company was momentarily safe. In this game now, the biggest threat was no longer Lin Sanjiu but Qian Dao. She had to seize this opportunity to find the location of Qian Dao"s company.
As Lily followed Qian Dao"s direction and carefully crawled toward the next brightly lit ventilation opening, she finally remembered what she had forgotten.
That flamboyantly dressed woman was slowly squeezing a face into the vent in front of her, followed by a neck, shoulders... and soon, half a body had crawled into the ventilation shaft.
Lily was stunned.
Right, of course.
She had once seen this humanoid Special Item under the door crack—it must be one of Lin Sanjiu"s tactics, enabling the humanoid Special Item to squeeze out from various gaps. It seemed that Lin Sanjiu herself had gone far away but actually planned to have her humanoid Special Item follow Qian Dao!
Now, Lily was stuck in a section of the duct, too late to retreat, and the path ahead was blocked. She could only watch in horror as the humanoid Special Item turned its head and looked around.
Their eyes met.
Without concern for the possibility that Qian Dao might discover her, Lily used all her strength to smash the nearest vent, tumbling from the ceiling. Staggering momentarily, without any other consideration, she ran in Lin Sanjiu"s direction, filled with despair.
"Please." She knew she wasn"t as fast as Lin Sanjiu; in that moment, pleading was the only thing that came to mind. "I beg you, don"t attack me!"