Chapter 62: Caring for Sheng Sheng, Starting with Her Feet

In Ye Sheng's view, the evacuation route designed by Li Xingming was quite mysterious.

Upon entering the villa area, following Li Xingming's instructions, Ye Sheng took out several key surveillance cameras using a classic Tier 1 spell of the Astral Path: Glimmerstone Shards.

Any transcendent of the Astral Path could use this spell; it was the equivalent of "1+1=2" within that domain.

As one of the most popular paths for ranged combat and theoretical spiritual power research, there were at least three digits' worth of local Astral Path transcendents in Maple Sugar City alone.

The destruction of the evidence chain and the counter-reconnaissance measures had all been thoroughly considered.

As expected of the team leader.

Just when Ye Sheng thought Li Xingming was going to lead them back the way they came, Li Xingming suddenly turned into a dead-end street, lifted a manhole cover with practiced ease, and led the two team members straight into the expansive drainage system of Maple Sugar City...

"Actually, Maple Sugar City's drainage system is quite famous. It has existed for over a century. Legend has it that in the early days of the Transcendence Revival, it was constructed under the supervision of an ancient engineer unearthed from some ruin. The previous drainage system used by Maple Sugar City was destroyed in a natural disaster, so the current drainage system can be said to be one of the country's very first infrastructural projects adapted for the age of transcendence..."

Walking through the Maple Sugar sewers, Li Xingming talked as he walked, introducing the material and cultural heritage of Maple Sugar City to the out-of-towner Ye Sheng.

The sun mask came with a built-in voice-changer function. This gadget was not provided by the Bang Bang Kaboom Company, but rather collected by Li Xingming from ancient ruins. He had stored quite a few, enough to issue one to every team member.

Through the mask, Li Xingming's voice sounded muffled, yet his narration still retained a gentle, storytelling quality.

Ye Sheng listened very attentively. She liked hearing Li Xingming ramble on about these random topics, just like countless times over the past three years when she opened her VR gaming console. Sometimes, they weren't even fighting; they were just sitting in a duo matchmaking lobby, listening to him talk nonsense.

It was interesting.

"...So Ah-Ming led us this way just so Sheng-sheng could go on a sightseeing tour?" Jiang Qianqian asked in sudden realization.

"Of course not!" Li Xingming chuckled. "It's for stealth. From now on, whenever we carry out any Shadow missions, we must sever all ties with our surface identities as much as possible. The sewers of Maple Sugar City are a natural sanctuary for shadow mercenaries."

"I see..."

"When the human squad that crusaded against the Demon King in the Sixth Epoch went on Shadow missions, did they also like to retreat through the sewers?" Ye Sheng raised a historical-academic question.

"Perhaps. If the sewers near the mission location were easy to navigate, then of course they would take them. Otherwise, they would figure out something else. The key is to be adaptable and make the best use of local conditions."

Listening to their conversation, Jiang Qianqian found it a bit difficult to chime in. She resolved that she must cram her knowledge of the historical legends surrounding the "South of Dusk" at her earliest opportunity, otherwise, whenever Li Xingming and Ye Sheng talked about this stuff in the future, she would only be able to stand by and stare blankly. Just thinking about it felt so pathetic.

Just as they were about to leave the villa, Li Xingming patted the dejected Section Chief Yu's face and left behind a single sentence:

"Remember, we are the 'South of Dusk'. If you have any needs in the future, remember to come to the mercenary trading network and place an order with us."

Thus, Jiang Qianqian understood that from now on, the team's shadow operations would probably use the name "South of Dusk." Come to think of it, it was quite a darkly humorous choice, flagrantly borrowing the name of the greatest squad from the Sixth Epoch.

Very well, that was entirely in character for Li Xingming.

Besides, tonight Li Xingming had demonstrated how to torture a mission target right in front of the two girls.

Ye Sheng's sense of morality was already rather detached, so she felt no ripples of emotion, simply admiring Li Xingming's methods.

As for Jiang Qianqian... she wasn't born cold-blooded, but she had witnessed Li Xingming's hardcore mode before, so she was already unfazed.

However, to stay true to the pure childhood-friend persona she was portraying, she would definitely have to take the opportunity to seek comfort from Li Xingming after returning home, hehe.

Winding through the sewers.

Emerging from a manhole cover in a dark alley.

They boarded an unremarkable black sedan prepared by the Bang Bang Kaboom Company, drove to the parking spot where Li Xingming's Silk Road Touring Edition was kept, switched cars, and changed clothes.

That completed the identity severance.

Driving the car, Li Xingming took a moment to send a message to Ouyang.

[Righteous Sun Knight: Mission accomplished, the dirt has been placed at the designated location.]

[TP Flank Ward: Got it.]

[TP Flank Ward: I'll send someone to pick it up.]

[TP Flank Ward: Did everything go smoothly?]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Flawless.]

[TP Flank Ward: Heh heh heh, so confident.]

[TP Flank Ward: By tomorrow morning at the latest, certain people are going to be sweating bullets.]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Which media outlet do you plan to leak this to? Make sure you do a clean job. If they trace it back to us following the vine, your old man will probably beat you half to death.]

[TP Flank Ward: [Side-eye smile] [Side-eye smile]]

[TP Flank Ward: Clock Tower Times]

[Righteous Sun Knight: [Azi has been cute since she was little_tender bullfrog]]

[TP Flank Ward: You know, although they smoothed things over with the people from the Spiritual Clock Tower during their previous negotiations, Grace actually really wants to use this to make a fuss and give the authorities a hard time. After all, at the end of the day, it's the authorities' fault. Now that he has the material to press the issue, naturally, he won't let the opportunity slip by.]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Who is Grace?]

[TP Flank Ward: [Lingvistic Taffy_Tone it down]]

[TP Flank Ward: Storm Axe-Blade, a Tier 3 permanently stationed in Maple Sugar City.]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Alright, I feel like we might run into each other soon... Did they catch that fugitive?]

[TP Flank Ward: Not yet, probably in the next couple of days, he should be arriving in Maple Sugar City.]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Send me a message if you get any news.]

[Righteous Sun Knight: Send it to this account, don't go blurting out random political nonsense on our unencrypted daily account.]

[TP Flank Ward: [Year of the Rabbit Auspicious Dong 雪莲_Cursing someone as a traitor]]

Arriving home.

Jiang Qianqian got ready to take a bath, but before she even stepped into the bathroom, Li Xingming silently appeared behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and pinched her cheek.

"How was it?"

"What was how?"

"The mission. The visual effects were a bit bloody... Though you did undergo stress-inoclulation training beforehand, seeing an interrogation scene for the very first time is still a bit... Well, looks like you're doing fine, your mindset is quite stable." Li Xingming placed his hand on Jiang Qianqian's forehead, speaking in a soft voice.

Jiang Qianqian was shocked: "Ah-Ming, you're amazing. You can tell my mental state just by touching my forehead? It's not like checking body temperature."

"I can make an educated guess."

"Well... indeed, I feel okay." Jiang Qianqian acted coy for a moment, then went along with what Li Xingming said instead of putting on a pretentious act of being a fragile, terrified little girl. She had a feeling that deep down, Li Xingming actually appreciated tough and strong girls even more.

She always liked guessing Li Xingming's preferences and subconsciously molding herself in the direction he favored.

Sigh.

Li Xingming nodded: "In that case, go take your bath. I'm going to go take care of Sheng-sheng. We'll figure out what takeout to order for a midnight snack later."

"Take care of Sheng-sheng? What... what's wrong with her?"

"Oh, her condition is great. We're just going to help her resolve the issue with her Astral Circuit. Changing lifestyle habits starts with taking care of her feet."

"???"