The patrolling guard at the door seemed to have heard a noise outside and stepped out to investigate.
Lin Yu was already waiting outside—one swift strike, fatal.
The Mantis Blades were razor-sharp; when they pierced his heart, there wasn't even a sound.
Lin Yu was now very familiar with the interior layout, but there were simply too many people inside, and the stealth difficulty was far greater than in the game.
T-BUG plotted a real-time route that barely allowed them to avoid direct confrontation.
Still, Lin Yu decided to play it safer by hacking into the equipment inside to create a distraction.
//ROOT.
//Access request.
//Access granted!
These were all basic household appliances, nothing high-tech, so hacking them wasn't difficult.
Soon, an air conditioner in the corner roared to life—blowing hot air.
"Damn it, who the hell blasts hot air on a blazing day? Trying to roast fish or what?"
Immediately, the room erupted in noisy complaints, and the crowd gravitated toward the guy by the air conditioner.
It seemed the Scavs weren't exactly a united front.
"Move!"
Lin Yu breathed out softly and, using a large crate for cover, followed T-BUG's guidance toward their objective.
Following the planned path, they stuck close to the right-hand wall, where a door led into another room.
Just as Lin Yu and Jack reached it, a man stepped out.
Before he could utter a sound, Lin Yu's blade sealed his throat!
Before the blood could gush out, his body was dragged back into the room—leaving a corpse at the door would definitely draw attention.
This side room had a broken wall; by crouching, they could slip through.
The next room was an empty space, littered with trash, with doors on either side.
"Careful not to step on anything noisy," Lin Yu whispered again, sticking to the left-hand wall.
After passing through a short corridor, they found an office, with another rat patrolling inside.
This one stood facing the multiple doorways, and judging by his vigilance and the corridor's length, he was outside the range of a Mantis Blade dash.
Lin Yu decided to use the same trick: hacking the spotlight aimed at the door.
Originally intended to deter nighttime intruders, it now became a death trap for its own people!
The spotlight suddenly began to spark and sizzle, flashing erratically.
The rat inside the office was clearly the most capable among the Scavs here—sharp and cautious.
Instead of checking the light first, he immediately glanced toward the doorways.
Lin Yu and Jack instantly ducked behind cover along the wall.
Footsteps echoed as the rat noticed the adjacent hall was still calm; only then did he move to inspect the malfunctioning spotlight.
The moment his footsteps stopped—that was the signal.
In perfect sync, Lin Yu and Jack sprang into action, moving silently but swiftly.
The crackling of the broken spotlight masked their approach.
As soon as they were within dashing distance, Lin Yu suddenly accelerated and slashed the rat across the back.
Meanwhile, Jack kept a watchful eye on the left-side room, and once the target was confirmed eliminated, he gestured an "OJBK" hand sign.
Having cleared out the strongest enemy on this floor, T-BUG's voice came through: "No movement detected on the sensors. Looks like you've taken him out. You can move on."
"BUG, you should have a little more faith in V. After all, he's..."
"Huh? Where's the person we're supposed to rescue?"
Jack, feeling relaxed after their smooth operation, casually asked T-BUG—but then realized the room was empty.
"She's nearby. Look around!" T-BUG responded quickly.
The planned route ended here; from now on, they had to rely on themselves.
"Can't believe we actually snuck in all the way. Not really our style, but hey, if it works, it works."
Jack muttered while searching.
"Once we save her, you can do whatever you want."
Lin Yu chuckled, opening the bathroom door.
"Shit!"
The moment the door swung open, a wave of blood and strange chemical smells hit them. The bathtub inside was packed with ice—and two bodies.
The scene was far more gruesome than anything in the game. Even Lin Yu couldn't help but curse.
One of the bodies was clearly a corpse, but the other was the person they were here to rescue.
Lin Yu immediately recognized the girl with the shaved head; she looked even more stunning—and curvier—than she did on TV.
"Are we too late? Is she still alive?"
T-BUG's voice came through, tense. The girl lying there looked disturbingly lifeless.
"It's her. She should still be alive."
Lin Yu nodded, confirming it by her appearance—and based on the original story, she was supposed to survive.
He hadn't altered anything significant, so she should be fine.
"V, hook into her biomonitor and check her status!"
T-BUG urged. She needed a remote scan.
"Fuck! Ice-bathing a living person... these bastards are beyond redemption!"
Jack, after confirming no one was following, entered the room. Even this hardened man was visibly moved by the horrific sight.
"BUG, trust me—she's going to be okay."
As Lin Yu spoke, he yanked out the chip from the girl's neural port. Slowly, her vital signs began to stabilize.
He knew her system had been tampered with and poisoned; direct connection would have infected him too. Knowing the backstory saved him from that trap.
Once the signal recovered, the data streamed to T-BUG.
"Sandra Dorsett, NC570442, Trauma Team Platinum Member."
T-BUG quickly relayed the information.
"Whoa, Platinum?" Jack exclaimed. "They'd scramble a whole trauma team if she so much as lost a hair."
The "Trauma Team" Jack mentioned was a high-end medical insurance organization—except they insured lives. Whenever a client was injured, they dispatched a squad for emergency extraction and treatment.
The higher the membership tier, the better the service—and the pricier the fees.
Platinum members were unquestionably VIPs.
"Hey V, how'd you know to pull the chip out?"
T-BUG asked in amazement.
"Learned it back at the corp. Story for another time. Let's get out of here first!"
★★★