Grey Blade moved through the villa.
All around was deathly still, pitch black, as if his entire figure merged into the darkness.
He made not a single sound.
Grey Blade's eyes swept over every corner of the villa.
Suddenly, he looked in a certain direction, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile.
It was an ordinary wall, seemingly no different, but when he knocked on it, it felt solid.
Yet, Grey Blade did not walk away; instead, he continuously caressed the wall, from top to bottom, from left to right, until he pressed hard on a certain spot.
Clearly seamless, that small section of the wall collapsed inward like a separate brick.
The next moment, accompanied by a faint clicking noise,
the unremarkable wall in front of Grey Blade slowly opened, revealing a deep metallic passageway within.
Clearly, this villa had been modified by Lin Wei. After the apocalypse, being able to undertake such a massive project without drawing attention could only be the work of someone with corresponding special abilities.
At that moment, in the underground chamber, a bald man suddenly opened his eyes, "It's not the boss, but a little rat has slipped in. What are those patrollers even doing? Lucky the boss left a trick up his sleeve and had me stay here."
He got up, ready to deal with that little rat.
But abruptly, a voice came from behind him, causing the bald man to freeze on the spot.
"Oh, is it just you here? That means, whatever happens, no one will find out, right?"
The voice wasn't loud, yet it rang next to his ear.
The bald man's body suddenly expanded, veins bulging all over, as the aura of a Fifth Tier Peak Awakener instantly exploded around him like a violent wind.
He turned and, without a glance, swung a punch in the direction of the voice.
The punch was incredibly powerful, utilizing special techniques to maximize force. Even a small sedan would be flattened by such a strike!
Not to mention the fragile human body!
However, the punch missed.
The bald man was shocked, "I clearly heard the sound right beside me, how can there be no one!"
He stayed alert, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, but he didn't spot any enemy.
The bald man's eyes widened in horror as he realized that, out of nowhere, an ordinary-looking man had appeared behind him, a sharp dagger already plunging through his heart.
Outside, a group of black-clad Awakeners moved quickly, surrounding several villas by the creek.
Leading this group was the Captain of the Guard Team, Zhou Zhenglei.
To prevent Lin Wei's contingency plans, Lu Jianjun had sent Zhou Zhenglei, a formidable master, this time.
At the front of the villa, the patrolling Awakeners panicked at this sight.
"This is Committee Lin's villa, what are you trying to do!"
"Are you trying to cause trouble in the Lindong Sanctuary, especially here at Linxi Villa? Do you not value your lives!"
The Awakeners were shouting, but they were quickly subdued by the Military Awakeners in a few moves.
"Team one, secure the perimeter, teams two and three search those villas, make sure no one escapes. The rest of you, follow me."
After speaking, Zhou Zhenglei took the lead heading towards Lin Wei's villa.
The main gate was already locked, but he didn't hesitate and punched out, easily shattering the gate.
His men dispersed, searching every nook and cranny of the villa inside and out.
"Report to the Captain, the second floor has no valuable items."
"Report to the Captain, nothing in the hall either."
"Nothing in the kitchen..."
"Nothing in the study..."
"Report to the Captain, there's a significant discovery here."
Zhou Zhenglei followed them to an ordinary wall. After knocking, he frowned, "Is there really a secret passage here?"
"According to our speculation, the highest possibility is that the secret passage is behind this wall," a team member beside him answered.
"Alright, everyone step back."
Zhou Zhenglei said, swinging a punch.
The punch roared like thunder!
The wall burst open with a crack, but contrary to Zhou Zhenglei's expectation, it did not reveal a secret passage behind it, but instead, a much thicker metal wall.
This seemed to be some kind of extremely strong special metal; even when he had used half his strength in that punch, it left no mark at all.
Zhou Zhenglei's expression turned serious.
He took a deep breath, and thunder wrapped around his right hand.
Crackle and fizz, the purple-blue lightning gathered into a ball, emitting a piercing, grating noise.
He thrust his right hand forward, pressing forcefully against the metal wall.
A terrifying explosion followed, and the robust metal gate was completely blown apart, with pieces of metal flying everywhere, embedding themselves into surrounding objects like knives.
Luckily, the other members were capable Awakeners who had moved back earlier, so they were spared from injury.
After the metal wall was blasted open, a passageway was revealed.
Zhou Zhenglei's face broke into a smile, "It seems that the guy surnamed Lin has hidden all the good stuff inside."
The passage was not long, and they quickly arrived in front of an underground chamber.
Zhou Zhenglei suddenly stopped.
The team members behind him did the same, staring ahead with their mouths open in surprise.
Inside the chamber, a bald man lay on the ground, with blood trickling out from under him.
His gaze was fixed on the end of the chamber, where there was another metal gate. However, it had been sliced open; from this angle, the inside looked ransacked.
No, it had been ransacked.
Someone had gotten there first?!
Green Shadow Sanctuary, after an explosion of shells, nothing else happened, and the survivors went about their business.
It was as if they had just set off some invisible fireworks.
After witnessing Lin Wei's death, Tang Yu returned to the castle, leaving the rest to be handled by others.
The battle had gone smoothly, although he was not quite satisfied... After all, those dozens of Arrow Towers, heaven knows how many Source Crystals they had cost him, even now, as Rich Lord Tang Yu, it was still heartbreakingly painful.
Thrift is a virtue, and he was deeply immersed in it.
This time, the Patrol Team members were all mobilized, even Chen Haiping, who usually seldom engaged with the Patrol Team, had joined the fight.
Such intense combat was bound to lead to casualties.
Two of the Awakeners were unlucky and died on the spot during the battle; among the remaining patrol team members, many suffered severe injuries, the kind that even pre-apocalypse major hospitals might have struggled to treat.
Not to mention in the apocalypse, where medical equipment was scarce.
Fortunately, Winnie had earlier summoned a skilled Healer from the Clergy, who pulled these people back from the brink of death.
Now, these injured Awakeners were essentially not in danger, except for still feeling a bit weak and needing some time to recuperate; there was little else to worry about.
For the two fallen Awakeners, Tang Yu had only seen them a few times and could hardly recall their names. It would be hypocritical to express sorrow, but they had after all contributed to the Sanctuary, and both in sentiment and reason, he needed to do something.
Compensation had been awarded to their relatives in the Sanctuary, or to those who were particularly close to them.
After some time, he also planned to build a memorial within the Sanctuary...
In the future, whether he liked it or not, sacrifices were unavoidable.
In this era, it was inevitable.
The departed had passed, but something had to remain, a tribute to the traces they had once left.