Chapter 1484: The First Glimmer of Victory
Just ten minutes before losing the game completely, Whit E. hadn"t felt certain he would lose.
Every move he made felt like walking on a tightrope.
The room he had to maneuver had shrunk to an almost unbelievable size, but somehow, he had managed to hold on until now. Honestly, even he found it hard to believe. After losing his office, his last ten monetary a.s.sets had long since lost their significance. The only lifeline currently preserving his right to play was Qian Dao, who thought he was unnoticed not far behind him.
If Qian Dao went back to his office, Whit E. would be done for. Ten units of currency wouldn"t even rent an office, leading to an immediate judgment of unsustainability. Whit E. exhaled lightly, and as he glanced at the search employee up ahead, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed the latter peeking into an empty office.
For now, he"d successfully kept Qian Dao"s attention, and the latter wouldn"t give up on him to return to his own tasks. But preventing Qian Dao from going back wasn"t enough. There would surely be defensive employees in his office. If Whit E. couldn"t take over Lin Sanjiu"s office, he had to conquer Qian Dao"s before he returned. But how could he handle that defensive employee?
As he pondered, Whit E. pretended to be slightly concerned, retracing a few steps.
His reflection s.h.i.+mmered on the gla.s.s wall of an office. His dark suit still looked sharp, betraying nothing of its weakening occupant.
This act was initially meant to mislead Qian Dao, making him think he remained unnoticed. But as his reflection flashed by, a sudden idea struck Whit E.
Theoretically, it should work, but the execution was tricky. If he wasn"t careful and Qian Dao noticed the ruse, his entire plan would be ruined.
Whit E. stood at the entrance of the corridor, scanning around.
Qian Dao was just around the corner on the left, hidden behind a tall potted plant. It wasn"t much of a hiding spot. His ability to blend made it hard to perceive him. Without forewarning, one"s gaze would subconsciously skip over him.
After looking around and seemingly satisfied, Whit E. let out a relieved sigh.
Standing at the corridor entrance with the peeping search employee behind him and Qian Dao further down the corridor to his left, Whit E. didn"t turn back. Instead, he pressed both hands on his face and, glancing at the employee, whispered, "a.s.similate."
Positioned in Qian Dao"s line of sight, he slowly morphed into the appearance of a search employee. Only then did he turn and walk back into the corridor.
He had noticed early on that Lin Sanjiu had at least two search employees.
Next, he had to let Qian Dao realize this, too.
With the distance between the two, guiding the first search employee—let"s call him Employee A—was easy. Before Qian Dao could catch up, Whit E. would rush forward a few steps, grab Employee A, and push him in the desired direction.
He still remembered where he had seen Employee B, not far from Lin Sanjiu"s old office. Guiding Employee A and leading Qian Dao, he returned to that spot. After some searching nearby, he indeed found Employee B.
Whit E. firmly held onto the two search employees. When Qian Dao caught up, he purposely made it clear to him that there were two employees present. Then, after glancing left and right as if he was hesitating, he released employee A.
In Qian Dao"s line of sight from the back, employee A started walking leisurely in another direction.
Whit E. took one last glance at him and was about to follow employee B. Pretending to have remembered something only at that moment, he slapped his forehead, mumbling, "Oh, I need to double-check."
Upon hearing this, Qian Dao immediately retreated behind the corner.
Whit E. returned to recheck in a showy manner. Once satisfied, he went back to following employee B— or at least wanted Qian Dao to believe so.
The moment Whit E. turned back, he hastily caught up with employee A, who hadn"t gone far, and attached a tracker to him. Immediately after, he grabbed the collar of employee A and tossed him into the corridor behind employee B, into a long and straight corridor without any branching paths. As for himself, the moment Qian Dao peeked out, he resumed his slow walk, much like employee A had earlier.
As he heard the rustling sound from Qian Dao, now quite close behind him, even the hair on his back stood up. Qian Dao now had two choices: continue following the fake Whit E. or rush up and kill this lone search employee before continuing to tail "Whit E."
If Qian Dao really attacked him, his cover would be blown immediately.
"It can"t be," Whit E. thought nervously.
He had purposely led the two employees far away to make Qian Dao feel that he wouldn"t have time to kill an employee and catch up. Moreover, he had likely planted the idea in Qian Dao"s mind to keep the hired search employees alive so they could find clients for him.
Whit E. dared not speed up, anxiously listening to the movements behind him, his legs quivering as he walked.
Qian Dao didn"t catch up.
Whit E. felt relieved as he let out a long, silent breath.
The two search employees wouldn"t deceive Qian Dao for long; he had to return before anything seemed off. Once their silhouettes disappeared, Whit E. raced toward Qian Dao"s office, shouting "Attack!" in a low voice as he reached the door.
The lack of an announcement proclaiming "Whit E. company successfully occupied Qian Dao company" on the broadcast was a clear enough message.
Without stopping, Whit E. took out the tracker and turned a corner, chasing the two search employees at full speed. Whit E. couldn"t risk pa.s.sing by Qian Dao and replacing the search employees, so he chose another direction.
Luckily, fate was on his side, allowing his audacious plan to succeed.
Just moments later, as employee B reached a corridor after a turn, Whit E. quickly halted. Hiding behind the corner, he grabbed employee B as he emerged, tossing him into a nearby corridor. With the mult.i.tude and complexity of the hallways here, after a few seconds, not even Whit E. could sense any movement from employee B, let alone Qian Dao.
After dealing with employee B, employee A, who was wearing his tracker, slowly rounded the corner. Whit E. reached out to retrieve his own tracker and whispered, "Attack."
It was as if someone had suddenly turned off a projector; employee A vanished in an instant.
Whit E."s heart still pounded heavily; he steadied his breath and exclaimed in relief. Then, pretending to be innocent, he peeked around the corner and looked back. "Did that guy notice me?" he muttered— perfectly, Qian Dao indeed halted his steps, standing at the other end of the corridor.
Whit E. feigned a thorough check of the corridor, then turned and headed towards where employee B had gone. He"d been away for less than a minute; from Qian Dao"s perspective, Whit E. had merely walked behind a search employee for a while, grew cautious, and checked the corridor without noticing his presence. Little did he know the defense employees in his office had already been neutralized.
Surprisingly, shortly after employee B left Whit E."s sensing range, he found a client. Whit E. saw employee B leading a little girl around the corner and realized that next, he would head to Lin Sanjiu"s office.
"You know the rest." After explaining his recent actions, he felt drained. If he knew he would eventually be defeated, why did he exert so much effort? The irony stung.
Lin Sanjiu nodded. "You"re pretty cunning. That was a good move."
Whit E. glanced at her skeptically— she seemed sincere, not as if she was mocking him.
"I had previously visited your old office area, so I"m familiar with that terrain, which is why I could think of this tactic." He sighed, still seated on the corridor floor. "Will you really help me?"
He didn"t even ask how. He feared that by asking, Lin Sanjiu might not answer, leading him to suspect her intentions. He was more afraid that she would provide an answer that seemed unviable.
Lin Sanjiu smiled, apparently oblivious to his internal conflict. "Just stick with Lily, and I won"t leave you behind. Even though I plan to win this game from Qian Dao, I don"t intend to have him killed."
Whit E. stared at her, stunned.
"Now, he"s bound to remain in hiding until he gains the client benefits and hires new employees," Lin Sanjiu said. "And he"ll get his client"s benefits at least ten minutes before I do. Do you have any ideas?"
"I can lead you to his office," Whit E. whispered. "You"ll lie in wait nearby, and as soon as he receives his income and is about to attack, you"ll strike first."