Xie Botao tossed a betel nut into his mouth, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled: "What do you think?"

"Zhao Chen isn't an idiot. If he's not in a hurry to die, there's no way he'd expose your line." Han Tuozi shook his head, clearly not believing Zhao Chen would betray Xie Botao.

Xie Botao sneered: "Old buddy, Zhao Chen's no fool, but the cops are even smarter. You were just telling me to be careful—now it seems the one who needs the caution is you, isn't it?"

Han Tuozi grumbled: "Cut the crap and unload the goods. You need to get going."

Xie Botao wasn't in the mood to bicker with Han Tuozi. Though they appeared to be on familiar terms, their relationship was far from cordial. Ultimately, it was just about the money.

And relationships based on profit are like sandcastles; a wave comes, and they're gone.

Xie Botao waved his hand, and three people immediately climbed down from the container. He looked at Han Tuozi: "Check the goods."

Han Tuozi nodded, joining the others as they headed to the rear of the container.

The door of the container opened, revealing a cramped space with more than thirty people huddled together inside.

These people were about seven or eight years old, with both boys and girls among them, their hands tied behind their backs, and mouths sealed with tape.

"This is my last deal." Han Tuozi suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Xie Botao frowned, "You thinking of going straight?"

It's no wonder Xie Botao was anxious. After Zhao Chen's arrest, Han Tuozi had become his only conduit in the country. Now, Han Tuozi expressing a desire to retire was an obvious threat to his business.

"Going straight is out of the question; it's just that age is catching up with me. I can't compete with you younger folks," Han Tuozi sighed: "Don't worry, I'll find someone trustworthy and help them get familiar with this route. Just don't come looking for trouble later."

"As long as there are no issues, I have no reason to bother you." Xie Botao said coldly.

The teenagers in the container all looked terrified, shrinking into each other at the sight of the people outside. Some were so frightened they began to cry, making only muffled "mm" sounds through the tape.

Xie Botao glanced inside the container and then turned to Han Tuozi: "Aren't you going to find a juicy one to take care of you in your old age?"

Han Tuozi didn't respond, only gave a strange smile, his eyes scanning the girls.

"What are you looking at? Unload them all at once," Xie Botao ordered.

The three subordinates on standby responded promptly and prepared to start moving the people out.

The teens in the container were even more frantic, their eyes filled with despair and fear.

At that moment, a clear yet cold voice called out from behind: "You treat these kids as merchandise; then what does that make you?"

Xie Botao and the others were shocked and hurriedly turned to look, only to see a young girl at the entrance of the factory.

"Who are you?!" Xie Botao asked sternly.

Though the girl looked just like a pretty youngster, it didn't make him lower his guard. In such a scenario, a normal person wouldn't stand there but instead, would be running away.

The girl wore a tracksuit, a necklace around her neck shining brightly under the overhead light. She casually strode into the factory, her pace steady, showing no hint of fear on her face.

In the next moment, the girl suddenly leaped up and yanked downwards on the shutter door.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The massive shutter door was pulled down entirely, blocking the only exit from the factory. Nobody thought she was courting death; instead, they felt a foreboding sense of doom.

At this moment, Lin Jiaxuan coldly surveyed Xie Botao and the others: "You don't need to know who I am. What you do need to know is that tonight, all of you must die!"

"Is that so?!" Xie Botao signaled, and four more men got out of the pickup truck, all armed and aiming at Lin Jiaxuan.

Han Tuozi whispered: "We can't drag this out. If she reports to the police, we'll be done for."

Xie Botao nodded. He had thought that this operation would be foolproof, yet who could have anticipated that at the new rendezvous point, a random girl would appear? The more he thought about it, the eerier it seemed.

Lin Jiaxuan sneered: "Relax. I won't leave you waiting for the police to come. Scum like you, living even a day longer, is a waste of air."

As her words ended, Lin Jiaxuan charged forward like an arrow. A man with a shotgun tried to pull the trigger but suddenly found his vision blacking out, followed by blood gushing from his neck like a fountain.

Such a swift and lethal move could only be pulled off by a professional assassin!

"Shoot! Shoot now!" Xie Botao roared.

He no longer cared if gunfire would attract the police. All he knew was that if they didn't kill this girl, they would be the ones dead.

However, just as he gave the order to shoot, he saw the armed men beside him fall limp to the ground. On their chests, a blood-red flower bloomed, both beautiful and horrifying.

Han Tuozi was already dumbstruck. In such a short time, this seemingly neighborly girl had killed five men!?

Lin Jiaxuan calmly retrieved her flying knife from one of the corpses, never once looking at Han Tuozi or Xie Botao. Yet her actions rendered them motionless with fear.

Just then, the sound of an engine revving echoed; the headlights of the container carrying over thirty children lit up and charged straight at Lin Jiaxuan.

Lin Jiaxuan rolled to the ground, then flicked her arm forward with fluid ease, executing each motion with grace.

"Bang!"

A loud crash echoed as the container blew through the shutter door, coming to a halt outside the factory. In the cab, the driver had a flying knife protruding from his head, with a noticeable gap in the glass on the left side.

Seeing all this, Xie Botao and Han Tuozi collapsed to the ground, too crushed to harbor any thought of resistance.

...

Meanwhile, Song Keren, lying in ambush at the suburban scrap yard, finally saw a truck entering her line of sight.

"Everyone, get ready. The target is in sight." Song Keren said over the wireless channel, and responses came through her earpiece from each ambush point.

"Point A ready!"

"Point B ready!"

"Point C ready!"

After the truck came to a stop, one of them whispered: "We need to move fast, let's get this done quickly."

The other two nodded and began dispersing.

However, all the police hidden around the perimeter and vantage points were bewildered.

They saw that the group, once inside, didn't behave like members of a crime ring about to make a handoff; instead, they headed straight for the scrap metal.

This left everyone with an indescribable feeling of nausea—were they really just here to steal scrap metal?

"Chief Song, what should we do?" came Wang Qiang's inquiry through the earpiece.

Song Keren was in a bit of a dilemma. She couldn't figure out whether these people were the vanguard of a criminal syndicate, sent to scout the area, or if they had just stumbled in by accident, inadvertently interfering with the operation.

"Let's wait and see what they plan to do before taking action. We don't want to spook them prematurely." Song Keren replied with a furrowed brow, feeling something was off but unable to pinpoint exactly what it was.

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