"Speaking of which," Miss Chai, who was hiding inside Li Ang, asked, "Why are you cycling here?"

At this moment, Li Ang was draped in a cape of justice, cosplaying a character from One Piece, and showing off his cycling tricks in the park. The park was filled with students skateboarding, roller-skating, and biking, surrounded by a circle of parents watching over them. Li Ang, noticeably older and dressed in a white cape, stood out among the students. Even more eye-catching was the fact that he was riding a shared bicycle, performing flashy moves like the front triple flip, back triple flip, and side triple flip on the bike, then throwing it aside and inexplicably starting a front triple somersault followed by street dance moves, which dazzled the crowd of students and parents, leaving them staring in bewilderment.

"Just bored," Li Ang replied to Miss Chai in his mind. Anyway, there's still some time before the mission starts. And by my estimate, my other teammate is also heading toward the suburbs now.

"Hmm..." Miss Chai asked, "Aren't you worried he'll run off to the other end of the city?"

"That's something we can't help." Li Ang nonchalantly performed a challenging street dance backflip and thought to himself, In this type of team deathmatch where players are maliciously induced to kill each other, it's better to trust yourself than your teammates. You should know that for ordinary players, staying hidden is the primary objective of this mission. Teammates are just a safeguard in case they encounter an enemy.

"So why are you being so ostentatious?" Miss Chai said with a headache as she watched the crowd at the edge of the field, who were cheering for Li Ang and recording short videos. "Aren't you afraid of attracting players from other teams?"

"I have more than one Vest," Li Ang said. "As long as I keep changing Vests, the enemy won't be able to keep up with me."

Amidst the admiring gazes of the surrounding kids, he silently rose from the ground, dusted off his cape of justice, and coolly pushed his bicycle toward the woods at the edge of the park.

Just as he was about to disappear from view, Li Ang suddenly bent down, half-covering his mouth, and pretended to retch violently into the ornamental bushes. The sound was so loud it drowned out the cheesy dance music some people were playing on their speakers in the park, as if he were about to vomit his guts out.

After a moment, Li Ang straightened up and gave a thumbs-up to the onlookers. "Sorry about that, I just danced a little too hard."

Without waiting for their reactions, he wiped his hands on a tree trunk and rode away.

Miss Chai clearly saw Li Ang take out a small bottle, seemingly of eyeglass sanitizing solution, and spray something into the bushes. Then, while pretending to wipe his hands, he discreetly inserted a tiny, thumb-sized camera he had crafted from spare parts into the tree bark.

"Uh, was that the Queen Bee Pheromones?" Miss Chai asked. On their way there, Li Ang had explained all the equipment, skills, items, and trump cards they currently possessed to ensure better coordination.

"Yep." Li Ang nodded and said nonchalantly, "Later, I'll just wear this cape of justice and go out looking for trouble. Other players, recognizing my appearance from surveillance footage or the short videos these parents took, will find their way here. As they approach the bush where I pretended to vomit, they'll come into contact with these Queen Bee Pheromone components. Then, using the Scout Soldier Bees, I'll be able to locate them."

Miss Chai asked, "What if they don't come, or if ordinary people mess up your setup?"

"Doesn't matter. It's just a waste of some Queen Bee Pheromones and the use of one Scout Soldier Bee," Li Ang said leisurely. "There are enough Scout Soldier Bees to afford some trial and error."

Actually, using hacker software to hack into nearby surveillance cameras would be more efficient. But in the current information environment, hacker software leaves too many traces. It's easy to be misled or tracked, and it could even allow someone to trace me back to my true identity by following the trail. It's better to use biological pheromones combined with crude, hard-to-track micro-cameras for surveillance. Since I'm here, I might as well keep busy.

Li Ang rode his bicycle away from the park. With the mission start time fast approaching, he wasn't in the slightest panic. He leisurely found a shady spot and stowed the highly conspicuous cape and the shared bicycle into his inventory.

Then, unhurriedly, he walked into the subway entrance and found a spot to stand against the wall.

Chaichai exclaimed in astonishment, "You're taking the subway?"

"Mhm," Li Ang replied. "To be precise, I'm lying in wait. In this mission, we need to consider not only how to conceal our tracks but also the possibility that some teams might take advantage of an early upper hand. They might plan to strike at other teams right from the outset. For example, they could possess equipment powerful enough to easily crush players of the same level. Or, they might encounter each other early on, quickly form a duo, and aim to use their numerical advantage to gain an edge early in the game. The rule that automatically triggers the Ball Technique at a distance of one kilometer further enables teams that meet early to 'plow' through the Suburb of Yin City like a compass at the beginning of the game."

Li Ang paused for a moment, looked up at the clock inside the subway station, and said quietly, "After the mission starts, we'll see whether the enemies find us first, or if we meet up with our other teammate. If he's not foolish, he should also be near the suburbs right now..."

The teammate Li Ang was referring to was currently driving a nondescript black sedan, slowly cruising along the highway. This was Liu Wu Dai, one of the designated heirs to the Liu Family. The car she drove incorporated many novel technologies obtained by the Special Affairs Bureau from script worlds. Not only was it as sturdy as an armored vehicle, but it could also activate jet propulsion for brief, wall-hugging bursts of speed when necessary.

As one of the financial conglomerates, the Liu Family had also pondered their moves upon receiving news of the "Killing Game." The emergence of supernatural factors signaled a complete reshuffling of the social order. As vested interest holders, the Liu Family could never let such a process unfold before their eyes without actively participating. Unfortunately, the Special Affairs Bureau's stance was quite firm. Before the Liu Family could take any substantial action, Bureau employees, having received information, paid them a visit.

Moreover, the Liu Family patriarch (Liu Wu Dai's grandfather) was in declining health. Her father, Liu Kejian, suffered from a strange disease that left him bedridden and unable to withstand wind or temperature changes. Consequently, the Liu Family abandoned their schemes and pledged full allegiance to the Special Affairs Bureau. The Fire Rat Fur Li Ang had traded to Liu Wu Dai earlier only slightly lessened Liu Kejian's suffering.

To find a cure for the disease and uncover the hidden truths behind it, the Special Affairs Bureau gathered patients with the same affliction as Liu Kejian in two or three different underground stronghold hospitals. They reported the research progress on this disease to headquarters daily. As a partner of the Special Affairs Bureau, the Liu Family also held a certain level of security clearance. The Bureau would pass on some patient health reports to them. Sometimes, they even allowed Liu Wu Dai to accompany her mother to the isolation wards in these underground strongholds to see Liu Kejian through several panes of glass.

Everything seemed to be improving.

Then, an hour ago, something changed. Under the watchful eyes of surveillance cameras, Liu Kejian, along with all other patients being treated in the underground strongholds, was suddenly swallowed by a fog that emerged from the void. They vanished without a trace.

At that exact moment, Liu Wu Dai received a mission briefing from the System. It was impossible to conclude that these two events were unrelated.

If it hadn't been for this, as the future heir of the Liu Family, she could have easily used her family's wealth and power to acquire formidable equipment and items. She would not have needed to accept such a routine, rejectable mission.

As she pondered, the digital clock on the car's dashboard finally struck nine o'clock sharp. Liu Wu Dai felt a sudden weight on her right hand. An unremarkable, metallic blue, round wristwatch had appeared on her wrist, though she hadn't noticed when.

「The mission had begun.」

Liu Wu Dai took a deep breath and glanced at the 2D virtual map of Yin City on her wristwatch. The red dot symbolizing her teammate was located in a subway station to her north.

Teammate, hold on!

SCREECH—

Liu Wu Dai slammed on the brakes, spun the car around, stomped on the accelerator, and sped north.