Chapter 2 The Dark Depths

The two walked in the darkness, deeper and deeper into the underground.

As Lena watched the tunnel lead further into the earth, not towards an exit, the apprehension in her heart grew stronger.

She felt as if she were stepping, step by step, into an abyss...

Finally, Lena couldn't bear the strange, cold atmosphere any longer. She spoke cautiously, "Mr. Su Lun, where are we going? Are we not going back to the surface?"

Judging by her timid, darting glances, she probably thought that if something happened in this environment, no one would hear her even if she screamed her lungs out.

"..."

Hearing this, Su Lun looked back at her. After a moment of pondering, he finally said, "You didn't think you were safe now, did you?"

"Huh?"

Lena felt a little guilty under his gaze, as if she could see the word "idiot" engraved on her forehead.

Su Lun thought for a moment and explained, "The explosion will carry far enough to attract the assassins. The mutated monsters were just a means of murder, but the mastermind... is human. If they find out you're not dead, do you think they won't come after you? If we go out now, I guarantee there are assassins waiting for you outside."

If saving her were as simple as dealing with a few mutated monsters, he wouldn't have hesitated so much before deciding whether to act.

It was the mastermind behind the scenes that he truly feared.

.......

"Ah? I... I..."

Upon hearing this, Lena's mind seemed to be flooded with contradictory information, and her words became incoherent.

She had been too busy being chased by monsters to think clearly. And then, she had changed clothes naked for the first time in a strange environment, under the gaze of a stranger. Her head was still buzzing blankly.

Listening to his words, she instantly understood.

Now, she knew that the man before her was indeed as her aunt had said: he possessed an almost inhuman calmness in any situation. (Her original words seemed to be about betting at the gambling table, but that was the general idea, and it wasn't important.)

Thinking of this, Lena realized that she had just asked a very stupid question.

Such an intelligent man must have guessed her foolish and naive thoughts.

Her face flushed, and she weakly apologized for her wild guesses, "I'm sorry..."

"..."

Su Lun paid her no attention, seemingly not caring at all, and continued forward.

To ease the awkward atmosphere, Lena thought for a moment and proactively said, "Mr. Su Lun, aren't you curious about why the trial went wrong? Or who the mastermind is?"

Su Lun frowned, seeming to find her a bit verbose.

Perhaps the confined environment made this young lady feel uneasy, prompting her to talk to seek some comfort. But was this the time for idle chat?

Heh, as expected, women only hinder drawing a gun.

He said blandly, "Not curious."

"..."

Lena's expression froze awkwardly.

Seeing that she still looked like she wanted to say something, Su Lun decided to kill this pointless chat.

He thought for a moment and said in one breath, "If I'm not mistaken, your father is either critically ill or about to retire, and you are the first in line to inherit the family fortune, set to do so smoothly. Unfortunately, you also have some uncles and cousins who are very ambitious, and... the mastermind behind this attack is probably a direct relative who would be most likely to inherit the family fortune if you died?"

Hearing this, the shock in Lena's crystalline eyes grew stronger and stronger, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Ah... You... How did you know?"

"..."

Su Lun's mouth couldn't help but twitch, feeling slightly bored.

It was because the entertainment industry and communications in this world weren't developed enough, so commoners couldn't get the latest gossip from the upper class.

But this kind of internecine warfare among the wealthy had already been played out in novels and real-world corporations in Su Lun's previous life. What about the gambling king forcibly extending his life, with several concubines fighting for power? Or the son of a Korean chaebol forcing his father to step down and seize power? Or the wealthy prince chasing after the bodyguard and lover who had cuckolded him...

Reality was even more melodramatic than novels.

The richer they were, the more ruthless they were to their relatives.

There were no new stories.

Su Lun felt he had said enough nonsense and didn't speak again.

However, the benefit of saying such a long speech was that Lena was indeed sensible and followed obediently behind him, poking her fingers together.

She felt that this man seemed to be able to guess everything.

Calm like a monster.

.......

As the two went deeper, the stench of the sewers grew stronger.

As they walked, Su Lun suddenly realized something. He turned to look at Lena, whose delicate face was flushed from holding her breath, and a helpless smile appeared in his eyes.

He had been thinking about other things and forgot that this girl was only wearing a thin shirt, without even a gas mask.

But perhaps because she had been repeatedly rebuffed earlier, Lena was too embarrassed to ask for one.

Su Lun shook his head slightly, then took out clothes, a firearm, a dagger, and bullets from his storage ring.

"The bulletproof vests in the Outer City are technically backward and very heavy. Wearing one will greatly affect your agility. The choice is yours. Without a vest, you have no room for error, and you must maintain constant vigilance. The underground is very dangerous; a moment of carelessness could be fatal. But if you wear it, you won't be able to escape if you encounter danger..."

Lena took the heavy bulletproof vest. It was dozens of times heavier than the Academy combat suit. She was about to put it on, but when she heard Su Lun's analysis, she hesitated and retreated, weakly replying, "I... I think I won't wear it."

Su Lun put away the vest, then pointed to the firearm hanging on her waist and reminded her, "Try the feel of the gun first, but don't fire it. The firearms in the Outer City aren't as refined as the ones at your Academy. The recoil will be very strong, so be mentally prepared in case you encounter a situation. The other one is a rune firearm, which Charlie gave me before. It should be more useful. But the alchemical bullets are limited, so please don't fire it randomly unless absolutely necessary..."

"Oh."

Lena felt that she understood everything, but in front of this man, it was as if she didn't understand anything at all.

She was like a puppet at his disposal. Whatever Su Lun said to do, she could only say "Okay," with no room for refusal.

This man had already considered everything before speaking.

The clothes were Su Lun's menswear, which were very large on Lena. In the end, she only wore the thin shirt, not even the pants, revealing her white legs. Fortunately, the darkness concealed the embarrassment on her delicate face, and Su Lun didn't give her a second glance, which prevented her from feeling shy and awkward.

The shoes didn't fit either, so she went barefoot. However, the catwoman's talent included enhanced toughness of the plantar muscles, so being barefoot wasn't a problem, except that stepping in the wet sewer felt a little disgusting.

After distributing the equipment, Su Lun then spoke, announcing, "Alright, from now on, keep a safe distance from me. Don't talk to me, and don't make any unnecessary noise... Maintain absolute silence."

"Ah?"

Lena looked puzzled upon hearing this.

Su Lun didn't hide anything, explaining directly, "From now on, you are the bait. I will assess the strength of any enemies that may appear and see if I can save you again. Don't look at me like that. If you're with me, the enemy will only choose to kill us both at once. I'm just an unremarkable gangster hitman. Only if I survive can you live..."

Su Lun had one more sentence he didn't say: if the enemy was too strong to resist, he would abandon the "bait" without hesitation.

After a pause, he added, "Of course, the ideal situation is that those enemies think you were killed by the mutated monsters and no one will come after us."

"..."

Lena listened blankly, her delicate face full of incomprehension.

Oh yeah, there are still assassins.

Hearing it this way, it seemed like his words... made a lot of sense?

But even though it made sense, she felt that something about his words was strange.

Wouldn't gentlemen from the upper class prioritize the safety of their female companions, even in the face of death?

Why would Mr. Su Lun let me be the bait?

Although she hadn't experienced this kind of sudden event before, Lena still felt that the way the plot was unfolding was not quite right.

She wanted to ask, but she didn't know what to say; he had already said everything.

Su Lun felt the aggrieved gaze偷瞄ing at him from behind, but had no intention of turning around. He quickened his pace and said as he walked, "I'm just an ordinary guide... I risked saving you because of Qian Tiao's sake, since she's your aunt."

Not attributing the merit to himself would save a lot of trouble.

He could also curry favor with Boss Qian Tiao, which would make things easier later.

Moreover, Su Lun's actions weren't just feigning coldness, but the most rational choice.

Because he understood human nature very well.

When facing this kind of proud young lady, if you treat her well, she'll take it for granted, because that's the kind of treatment she's used to in her daily life; however, when she realizes that your kindness comes at a price, then she'll truly value it.

Bait is more valuable than a burden.

To be good bait, you have to have the awareness of being bait.

In short, simps get nothing; equivalent exchange is the eternal truth.

If you want to be saved, you have to pay the price.

Besides, although his words were heartless, this was also the most likely way Su Lun could think of to save Lena's life.

He knew very well that the assassins who dared to target this young lady were not simple.

ps. Sorry for the late update. Please vote~