Factory No. 3? Lin Mo's thoughts flickered. He recalled the layout of the factory complex from when he had scouted it from the rooftop. The
Factory No. 3?
Lin Mo's thoughts flickered. He recalled the layout of the factory complex from when he had scouted it from the rooftop. The memory reshaped itself clearly in his mind.
The entire area had three main factory buildings, a cargo vehicle parking lot, several storage zones, and a small residential area.
The whole complex had long been abandoned by the companies that once operated here. Most of the valuable machinery had been stripped out, leaving behind an empty shell.
Scavengers had taken the opportunity to occupy the site. Since they didn't produce anything, they mainly used the factory buildings and residential areas.
The rest of the space was filled with junk and scrap. Groups of people gathered around makeshift fire barrels radiating warmth. A radio played raucous music, marking what they called a "celebration."
As for what exactly they were celebrating—Lin Mo didn't need to ask. He could imagine the blood on their hands.
The building he and Sasha were in now was Factory No. 1, aligned with the other two along the southern edge of the site.
"What did those chat logs say?" Lin Mo asked, eyeing the screen.
"You don't want to know."
Sasha, unusually, didn't elaborate. Her voice was flat, her gaze lowered.
Lin Mo didn't press further. If the logs involved scavengers, they were likely soaked in filth and horror. Even the most curious person would feel disgusted reading about the kinds of things these people had done.
Sasha was sparing him—for now.
"Should we head out?" Lin Mo asked, glancing at the headless bodies. "Leaving these guys here—isn't that risky?"
"Could be. Let's just hope none of these scavs have olfactory enhancers."
She looked at the corpses with something like regret, as if they'd gotten off too easy.
"If you'd just knocked them out and then quietly snapped their necks, we wouldn't have to worry about the smell."
Sasha spoke with clinical calm, words as cold as steel, a contrast to her youthful face.
Lin Mo sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't meant to botch things. Clearly, sometimes being too quick to kill wasn't a good thing.
"Don't stress. Everyone screws up their first time. Just try not to rush next time," Sasha said, waving him over. "We'll circle around and infiltrate Factory 3 from the outside."
Lin Mo followed without objection.
The control room went silent again, the bodies inside unmoving. Blood had long since pooled around them, congealing into stillness. Scattered heads stared blankly into the void, confused even in death.
...
They exited through the side door, sticking close to the shadows. The scavs still hadn't noticed them. Remote corners like these were rarely patrolled.
Reality wasn't like a game.
In games, a crouch made you invisible. Enemies walked fixed patrols and never noticed a player hiding in plain sight.
But this was real. And real scavs weren't deaf or blind. Infiltration here wasn't easy.
Still, real life had its upsides.
No one had the energy to patrol 24/7. No one stood around just waiting to be killed.
Most of the scavs were at the open lot, partying. The few inside were goofing off. None of them spotted the pair sneaking behind the buildings.
Following the route from earlier, Lin Mo and Sasha reached the side door of Factory No. 3.
Sasha didn't even break stride this time. She hacked the lock in less than a second. The door clicked open with barely a blink.
Faster than saying "Open Sesame," Lin Mo mused.
The interior layout matched the first building exactly: a long hallway, glass windows on the right revealing the production floor, and an iron staircase at the end.
Sasha took the lead again, and Lin Mo trailed behind. She pointed toward one of the windows.
Lin Mo followed her gesture and spotted a woman leaning against a pillar. She looked like she was waiting for something—or someone.
"Careful. Don't get spotted," Sasha whispered.
Lin Mo nodded and crouched low.
They reached the stairwell and looked toward the control room. Three scavs were inside, chatting.
Lin Mo reached for his Black Unicorn—then paused. Remembering Sasha's warning, he let the katana slide quietly back into its sheath.
Each building seemed to have four scavs stationed inside. In the first, they'd been playing cards. Here, three chatted while the fourth—a middle-aged woman—stood apart.
She had walked off to a corner and was speaking softly to someone. Her faint orange-glow optics stood out in the dim light—it looked like a call.
"I can tap into their comms. Want to listen in?" Sasha asked in a whisper.
Lin Mo hesitated, then nodded.
If that woman was on a call with someone outside, attacking her now would blow their cover.
Sasha rerouted the signal to Lin Mo's comms.
"Sweetheart, it's not that I don't want to come home. I just can't leave right now. You know I only just found this job. Just be patient a little longer. I'll be back soon—and I'll buy you that birthday gift we missed, okay?"
"Really. I promise. Be good, and sleep tight. Mommy will come home."
Her voice was gentle as she ended the call. The glow in her eyes dimmed.
She sighed, stood up, and began walking toward the control room.
The factory suddenly felt colder. She imagined how nice it would be to warm her hands by the fire outside.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three heavy sounds echoed from upstairs—bodies hitting the ground.
She looked up, confused—then froze.
A shadow flickered down the stairwell—too fast to follow. Like a ghost.
She opened her mouth to scream—but a hand clamped over her face.
Through the gap between fingers, she glimpsed cold, merciless eyes. The rest of the face was hidden by a mask.
Then her head was slammed to the ground.
Thud.
Softer this time—Lin Mo had held back.
The woman collapsed, unconscious.
Sasha jogged over, frowning.
"I said be gentle. You didn't stab them, sure—but you still knocked those three guys out cold with that slam."
Lin Mo didn't react. He pulled off his mask and tucked it into his belt pouch, gently laying the woman down.
This was an infiltration op. He carried only what he needed.
The only firearm on him was a Kang Tao smart pistol.
"She should be fine. Try hacking her neural processor," he said.
Sasha checked her pulse—still alive—then pulled out her personal cable and slotted it into the port behind the woman's ear.
A few seconds passed. Sasha unplugged and nodded.
"Got the location."
"You also pulled data from her ID chip, right? Did she commit any crimes while working with them?" Lin Mo asked, crouching and placing a hand gently on the back of her head.
Sasha's optics flickered.
"No. She's new. Used to be a janitor. Just doing grunt work here."
Lin Mo retracted his hand, stood up, and dusted his palms.
"Then let's move."
Sasha gave him a long look, then said nothing. She led the way.
Thanks to the woman's data, they found the entrance to the basement—hidden beneath a stack of crates.
They exchanged a glance and descended.
As they crept down the stairs, Sasha kept her eyes forward, but asked casually:
"Lin Mo, if we'd found something incriminating in her chip... would you have killed her?"
"Yes," Lin Mo answered without hesitation. His voice was as hard and cold as the scabbard at his waist.
"She should be glad she wasn't too deep in this life—and that I overheard her call."
Sasha glanced sideways at him but said nothing.
He wasn't cold like a blade—he was more like the sheath that holds one.
Hard, yes. But not sharp. Not cruel.
And maybe, just maybe, that was the only kindness he ever offered his enemies.
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