ebonymovies Chapter 87 Sun Donglai's Assist?
Chapter 87 Sun Donglai's Assist?
The wind on the rooftop was strong, blowing Wang Xing's sweat-dampened bangs into disarray.
Wang Xing stood rooted to the spot like a statue, his gaze fixed on the black hoodie in his hand.
The fabric of this garment feels somewhat rough to the touch, with a textured surface of a high-polymer abrasion-resistant coating on the edges. The inside of the cuffs has been worn smooth due to prolonged use of the mecha control stick.
On the edge of the right hood, a subtle yet flamboyant double-headed dog logo of the "Extreme" brand is embroidered in dark red silk thread.
Extreme Realm is one of the few brands in Chengdu that specializes in customizing everyday uniforms for high-level mecha pilots.
Wang Xing was all too familiar with this outfit.
This is the outfit Sun Donglai wears most often after undergoing the aberration modification. The hoodie is very large and often covers his face. Wang Xing had previously suspected that Sun Donglai wore this hoodie to conceal some of the facial changes caused by his aberration modification...
It is 100% certain that this garment belongs to Sun Donglai.
In other words, the person who just tried to assassinate him must have been Sun Donglai.
"Wang Xing, are you really alright?"
"Don't worry, we've already dispatched people to immediately seal off the New Mart shopping mall and activated the surveillance system to conduct a city-wide search."
Beside him, the leader of the peacekeeping force's mechanized division wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice filled with barely concealed panic.
This is the only candidate recommended for admission to Tian Shu. If something really happens in their jurisdiction, their careers will be over.
Without making a sound, Wang Xing crumpled the hoodie into a ball and stuffed it into his tactical shoulder bag.
He looked up, his face now showing a calmness beyond his years, a calmness that betrayed his shock and confusion.
"There's no need to blockade anymore. The other side used a miniature teleportation artifact from the Space Abyss Monster; they've already left the city."
Wang Xing brushed the shards of glass off his clothes and said calmly, "Besides, the bigger the commotion of the blockade, the easier it is to alert the enemy... Am I right?"
"A spatial treasure? These lunatics from the Black Armor Alliance actually have such a contraband..."
The peacekeeping mech pilot gasped, then gritted his teeth and said, "We'll immediately send more personnel to stay with them 24/7..."
"Brothers."
Wang Xing interrupted him, looking at them seriously:
"What happened today was an accident. I hope you can help me suppress the reports about this incident, at least before the provincial exam. Don't make a big fuss about it, and don't mention any details about the assassin's belongings to the higher-ups. I need a quiet environment to study for the exam."
The peacekeepers exchanged glances, somewhat hesitant.
But when they met Wang Xing's deep, even slightly dignified black eyes, they felt a sudden chill.
This young man, who had just awakened the power of the divine tiger, already possessed the aura of a powerful figure.
"Okay...we understand. But we will never withdraw our covert protection," the leading captain conceded.
"Thanks."
Wang Xing bowed slightly, then turned around and walked downstairs step by step along the emergency exit.
……
The hallway was dimly lit, with only the green emergency indicator lights emitting a faint glow.
As Wang Xing stepped onto the stairs, his mind raced like an overloaded quantum computer, frantically deconstructing everything that had just happened.
Not right.
Something's really wrong.
Is Sun Donglai an idiot?
First question: If he came to assassinate me, why was he wearing that highly distinctive custom-made hoodie? Was he afraid that others wouldn't recognize him?
When assassins go out to carry out an assassination, they all wrap themselves up like dumplings, afraid of revealing even the slightest bit of their identity information.
This is not logical.
Unless... he did it on purpose?
Second: How did this garment get stuck in the ventilation duct?
With Sun Donglai's current level 10 mecha strength, no matter how panicked he is, even if his level 10 strength is built up through mecha modification, he can still achieve his goal.
It's not like I would make such a basic, utterly insignificant mistake as getting my clothes caught in a ventilation duct while escaping—a mistake even a university intern wouldn't make…
Third: That very first shot.
Wang Xing recalled the moment the bullet grazed his temple. Although the shot was fast, the trajectory was straight, requiring almost no tactical prediction.
Sun Donglai's marksmanship at school is definitely not good, but don't forget that Sun Donglai recently made it to the finals of the school's major competition. He doesn't believe that Sun Donglai's marksmanship is that bad.
If he truly intended to kill, the trajectory of the bullet should have deflected slightly to the right by five centimeters, blocking his escape route into the alley.
"Is he... letting the water flow?"
Wang Xing's pupils contracted slightly.
"That shot wasn't meant to kill me at all. He deliberately missed, then deliberately lured me to chase after him, and then 'leaked' this garment on the rooftop..."
There is a fourth point, which is also the one that Wang Xing finds hardest to believe.
It has nothing to do with objective facts or physics, but rather with the friendship between Wang Xing and Sun Donglai...
If it really is Sun Donglai, why would he want to kill me?
Even though Sun Donglai has chosen the path of mecha transformation that goes against the orthodox mecha path, even though Sun Donglai has already subtly severed ties with himself.
But based on Wang Xing's understanding of Sun Donglai, that taciturn boy who would lower his head and walk away quickly if they bumped into each other in the corridor was not the kind of person who would pull the trigger on his former classmate.
Sun Donglai is introverted, insecure, and sensitive, but he also has his own bottom line. Wang Xing still remembers that in their first year of high school, a rich kid in their class bullied a girl from a poor family. Even though Sun Donglai couldn't beat him, he still rushed up and took three punches just to protect the girl's backpack.
Would someone like that assassinate me?
Would he really be willing to kill his former best friend?
Wang Xing's answer was no.
"Could it be that he had some hidden reason, was forced to do it, and then had a change of heart and couldn't bring himself to do it?"
Wang Xing muttered to himself, then shook his head.
"No... If he truly had a change of heart, he could have easily refrained from firing that shot. If he was truly forced, why would he choose this place and this time?"
"Could Donglai be sending him a signal through this almost self-destructive method?!"
"Give me a suggestion, give me a suggestion... Damn it, I'm just a mecha pilot, not a detective!"
Wang Xing clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm, the pain making his thoughts clearer.
Just then, a scene suddenly flashed through my mind.
New Mart Supermarket.
Oh, right, the New Mart shopping mall.
Why at the New Mart shopping mall?
Wang Xing walked down the stairs and stood in the corridor on the first floor of the mall.
Looking at the still-shaken vendors around me and the flashing neon signs in the distance, a memory from the depths of my mind suddenly surged up like a tide.
……
……
Xinmate Shopping Mall is the only large-scale complex in the old town that still retains its old-fashioned style.
Back in their first and second years of high school, Wang Xing and Sun Donglai came here quite often.
At that time, Wang Xing's family was poor, and Sun Donglai was not wealthy either, but due to their parents' pampering, they had a lot of pocket money.
Sun Donglai would always drag Wang Xing along, sneaking into the "Old Zhang's Casserole Rice Noodles" restaurant on the basement floor of this shopping mall.
Every time he comes, Sun Donglai always tries to grab the corner seat by the window, because from that angle, he can see the girls walking around on the pedestrian street outside through the glass.
In the summer, when the girls wore hot pants and showed off their long white legs, Sun Donglai would lower his head and pretend to look at his phone, but his peripheral vision would scan back and forth like a scanner.
"Donglai, can't you be a little more ambitious?" Wang Xing once laughed at him.
"What do you know?" Sun Donglai said without looking up. "This is called free spiritual nourishment. That's all the poor man's entertainment is left."
Wang Xing laughed, "You're treating someone's long, white legs like a cultivation stimulant!"
Memories of the past flashed through Wang Xing's mind like scenes from a movie.
The image of Sun Donglai from back then overlapped with the cold-blooded killer figure on the rooftop just now, making Wang Xing's nose inexplicably sting.
"What exactly is this guy trying to do?"
He suddenly realized that the shooting position... on the third floor of the New Mart shopping mall, near the west-facing floor-to-ceiling window... was not a good sniping spot.
There are blind spots.
Part of my view was blocked by the GG card on the other side.
Moreover, at that time, the mall had just opened, and cleaning staff were pushing cleaning carts in the third-floor corridor, which could have easily entered the ballistic trajectory.
A professional assassin wouldn't choose this position.
"You're saying Sun Donglai wouldn't choose to shoot here unless... the location of this shopping mall has some other significance?"
Wang Xing took a deep breath, tightened his shoulder bag, and stepped towards the escalator leading to the basement.
The food court on the basement level was somewhat chaotic at this time.
Although the shooting occurred on the upper floors, the piercing air raid sirens had already prompted many diners and business owners to evacuate... In this era, in urban areas, shootings, regardless of the circumstances, are no small incident.
The food court was nearly empty by then, a chaotic mess.
The owners of each food stall were giving statements and communicating with the police.
In Lao Zhang's rice noodle shop, several clay pots on the stove were still making bubbling sounds, and the sour and spicy aroma filled the air.
"Oh, officer, I really didn't know!"
Old Zhang, the owner of the rice noodle shop, a middle-aged, overweight man wearing a greasy apron, was wiping sweat from his brow as he complained to two peacekeeping police officers who were taking his statement: "That kid ordered the spiciest sour soup rice noodles. He had just sat down, and the noodles hadn't even gone into the pot yet, when 'bang!' he stood up and ran out without even paying! Young people these days are so untrustworthy; he even added double the amount of beef..."
Wang Xing stood outside the crowd, listening to Lao Zhang's complaints. His gaze went past the policeman's shoulder and landed on the reserved seat at the deepest part of the rice noodle shop, near the corner window.
The place was empty except for a plastic pepper spray bottle that sat crookedly in the center of the table.
Wang Xing discreetly bypassed the crowd and walked through the shadows of the side door.
He did not attract anyone's attention, pulled out the slightly wobbly plastic chair, and sat down calmly.
The table was a bit greasy, with some water stains left by the previous diners.
Wang Xing slowly placed his hand on the table, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
"Donglai, if you are really trying to tell me something, then this must be it."
"If I were you...where would I hide it?"
He closed his eyes, and the image of Sun Donglai hiding a martial arts magazine in class during his second year of high school flashed through his mind. He was investigated by the teacher and eventually triumphantly taped the magazine under his desk.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place."
Wang Xing's fingertips trembled slightly as his right hand slowly reached under the faux wood-grain tabletop, groping along the cold iron frame and rough edges.
Sudden.
In the innermost corner of the desk, near the welded steel pipe, his fingertips touched a sticky, hard object with rough edges.
It was something tightly wrapped with black insulating tape.
Wang Xing's eyes narrowed suddenly. He released a small amount of his Myriad Manifestations Prajna internal energy and, with a flick of his fingertips like a knife, pried the tape off along with its contents.
He pulled his hand back into his pocket.
In my palm was a metal gleaming with a cold light...
Mini USB flash drive.