Chapter 22 Give Them a Little Shock

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...

"Mr. Detective, aren't we going to continue moving?"

Judy felt the carriage had been stationary for quite some time, and the man sitting opposite her, Zhou Zhi, maintained his silence as if pondering a vitally important issue.

That afternoon, before the detective had come knocking at her door, Judy's heart had been pounding fiercely as though something was about to happen. When he did appear and announced that he had located Dane, she could hardly contain her excitement and immediately agreed to the detective's request—to hire a private carriage and head to Golden Street in the northern part of the town around eleven at night.

In hindsight, she had been too rash, alone with an adult male during a late-night operation. If he harbored any ill intent, she would undoubtedly find herself in a very passive situation.

She couldn't expect the coachman to help her, after all, she had hired a carriage, not a mercenary.

Judy subconsciously touched her lower back, where a dagger was hidden.

If he was indeed coming for her, she was determined to drag someone down with her even in death.

"No, we'll wait here," the detective suddenly said.

It was also the first sentence he had spoken since boarding the carriage.

For some reason, Judy breathed a sigh of relief—anything he said was better than his silence. "Waiting? Do you mean Dane is nearby?"

The detective fell into a daze again.

Damn it, what's with all the mystery? Judy thought angrily. Since entrusting Mr. Zhao with the search, she had asked several people with knowledge of the field, and none had heard of Mr. Zhao. She had even tried to follow him after a few meetings, to see exactly where in the city he lived. Each time, though, she would lose track of him halfway through, disappearing as if into thin air, like losing sight of him after turning a corner, which was utterly unbelievable.

Furthermore, Judy noticed another detail: the detective wore the exact same clothes every time they met, as though he had only that one set of clothing. He had no assistant by his side, and never used a carriage when leaving, which could only mean one thing: Mr. Zhao was truly poor.

And a poor detective meant poor performance, poor performance meant he would struggle to fulfill clients' requests, let alone a request as challenging as hers.

If it weren't for Mr. Zhao's seemingly dedicated behavior, asking her about the questions related to Dane's belongings at each encounter, she might have already dismissed him.

Judy drew back the curtain and peered outside—the streets were utterly silent, a few street lamps emitting faint light. Extending her view slightly outward, all she could see was pure darkness. The clouds were thick today, with even the moonlight losing its usual brightness, barely illuminating a corner of the sky.

She really couldn't guess where on Golden Street Dane might appear.

"Since he's right here, why are you sitting still without moving?"

"If you don't want to go find him, tell me the address, and I will. However, your commission will be halved!"

"Would you talk!"

After asking for so long without a response, Judy became anxious.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of an abnormal flicker out of the corner of her eye.

Startled, Judy looked out the window again and to her surprise, she saw a faint light turn on inside a building at the end of the street.

Was that... Sinclair Grand Theatre?

It was nearly midnight; how could there possibly be someone in the theatre?

Unless—

Judy rose to her feet, intending to leap from the carriage.

But a hand firmly grasped her shoulder and pushed her back down into her seat.

"Stay here, don't move," the detective said softly. His fingers were like an iron clamp, preventing her from moving.

"Dane is in the theatre, isn't he? I remember now... all those serial murders happened at night. Is he involved because he's investigating?" Judy couldn't help swallowing, "Has he... has he been harmed?"

"As far as I know, not yet."

"Then I must go to save him!"

"Now is not the time!" the detective stated coldly, "Listen carefully, I didn't call you here for no reason. You can indeed help him, but you must follow my instructions! If you act on your own now, you will not only lose your own life but also endanger his!"

Judy shivered all over.

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Despite the detective being an obscure nameless gumshoe, the words he uttered carried a strangely persuasive power. She stared at the detective for a long while, then slowly nodded her head.

"So... we just sit in the carriage and that's really going to save Dane?"

"Do you think I'm working this case all by myself?" the detective lowered his hat brim, "Don't worry, the rescue has already begun."

...

"They're here!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the first Bluecoat had crashed through the door and charged into the corridor.

What followed was a scene he couldn't believe—the six rats hadn't scrambled in panic but were instead all gathered at the entrance. Not only that, but there wasn't much fear on their faces; instead, the moment they saw him, they revealed ferocious smiles!

"Sukarnobert, shoot at me again!" Anthony clenched his sword with both hands and chopped down with all his might.

The Bluecoat didn't have time to raise his gun before his head was split from his body.

"Kill!" The Russian stomped on his corpse and lunged toward the enemies behind.

"Damn it, they didn't run!"

"Fall back, these people have broken through!"

"Bayonets, get the bayonets ready!"

The formation of the Bluecoats was thrown into complete disarray; they had not at all anticipated that the rats would still have the courage to bite back at this moment! Previously, whenever it was their turn to act, it was always an easy and relaxed hunt. Their prey could only hide here and there or kneel and beg for mercy, while they would devise various ways to kill them.

But this time, the rats bared their fangs.

Bang, bang, bang!

The rifles fired in succession, and Anthony's body was splattered with bursts of blood, but he didn't care. After piercing the chest of an enemy before him, he slashed the throat of a third.

"Hahaha... this is the hunt I've been thirsting for!" he laughed maniacally. "Come at me, all of you; come at me together!"

Tyler and Qianyuan Meiko took advantage of Anthony drawing all the Bluecoats' attention and peeked out from the doorway, starting to pick off their foes with crossbows.

Although crossbows required manual loading, the bolts they shot were as deadly as bullets—if hit, you wouldn't be able to move, and at the very least, it would cause a major bleeding wound.

"Watch out for the enemies opposite us!" Zhou Zhi warned.

Bluecoats coming from the other side had also reached the edge of the corridor, and their gunfire immediately became much denser.

Anthony, hit by more than a dozen bullets, could no longer stand, even with his dulled senses. His last action was to grab an enemy and viciously bite into his neck, pulling him down together.

Joe James, who had also charged out, was forced back, his right arm broken by a bullet.

"Fall back; don't get tangled up with them at the door anymore!" Zhang Zhiyuan shouted.

So the remaining five retreated back through the corridor, smashing open the doors to the lounges, planning to use these rooms for cover as they continued to fend off the approaching men.

The police captain outside also realized that the situation was unlike what he had imagined.

His men seemed to be engaged in fierce combat at the corridor entrance, and then they surprisingly stopped outside the door, each holding a gun pointed down the hall, but few dared to enter.

"What are you dawdling for? Why haven't you taken care of the rats yet?" he yelled at the people downstairs.

"Lord Ghost, there's something wrong with these people!" one of the subordinates replied with a troubled expression.

"What's the problem?"

"They seem not to fear death!"

"What?" The police captain couldn't help but doubt his own ears. "Then can't you shoot them?"

The subordinate's expression grew even worse, "We did... but they seem impossible to kill. They took a dozen shots and didn't fall; they even killed three of us! It's like... the bullets don't bother them at all..."

"What did you say?" Ghost's expression finally changed. "Secure the entrance, I'm on my way."