One hour later, just as Lin Mo had predicted, the Sword Bearers Division building had fallen into complete silence.
The corridor was empty and deserted, with most of the office lights on both sides extinguished.
The entire building was so quiet that it seemed only their two pairs of footsteps echoed back and forth.
Chu You carried a black climbing backpack, walking alongside Lin Mo as they crossed the lobby.
The two stopped at the main entrance and embraced like an ordinary couple bidding farewell—Chu You walked out, while Lin Mo turned and headed back inside the building.
After walking along the road beyond the surveillance range, Chu You immediately changed direction, quickening her pace to circle around to the back of the building.
“Knock, knock.”
Just as she turned the corner, two soft knocks came from above, tapping against the glass.
Chu You looked up.
On the fourth floor, the far-right floor-to-ceiling window was pushed open, and Lin Mo was leaning out, watching from the window.
They exchanged a knowing glance.
The next second, a climbing rope dropped down from the window, hanging precisely in front of Chu You.
She swiftly put down her backpack and pulled out a pair of heavy-duty dark gray tactical gloves—the military-grade P09 second generation, made of composite bio-materials.
After some training, anyone wearing these could easily scale a hundred-meter building with bare hands.
“Knock, knock.”
Lin Mo knocked on the glass again, then pointed behind her.
Chu You nodded in understanding, quickly put on the gloves, slung the backpack onto her back, tested the rope’s weight capacity, and began climbing.
Almost simultaneously, a subtle oracle wave, like a thin veil, spread over the rear area of the building.
Even if someone happened to pass by now, they would only see an ordinary building silently standing in the night wind.
Chu You nimbly climbed to the window ledge on the fourth floor, ready to leverage herself inside, when a bony, articulated hand reached out before her.
She instinctively looked up and met Lin Mo’s calm gaze.
Without any extra words, she extended a hand steadily toward him.
The two worked with perfect coordination; Lin Mo’s wrist pulled upward with force, and Chu You lightly jumped inside, landing silently.
The office lights were on, and the computer was connected to speakers, playing a piano piece to mask any noise.
At this point, the operation had reached what Chu You considered the most critical phase.
Chu You glanced at Lin Mo and furrowed her brow slightly: “Turn around.”
A knowing smile curled at Lin Mo’s lips, and he complied smoothly, slowly turning his back.
Chu You pressed her lips together, placed her backpack on the floor, and took out the silver-white “Silent Walker” from the sofa armrest.
Her movements were a bit stiff as she removed her tailored blazer.
Her fingertips paused on the shirt buttons, hesitating for a moment before methodically unbuttoning them one by one.
The subtle sound of buttons sliding out of the buttonholes was especially clear in the silent office.
As the shirt slid open to either side, large patches of fair skin were exposed to the cool air.
At that moment, a cool evening breeze blew in through the window.
Chu You shivered, swiftly removed the shirt, no longer hesitating, then unzipped the side of her uniform skirt and let the fabric slide down along her legs to the floor.
Next, her hands hooked the edge of her pantyhose, quickly pulled them off, tossing them aside.
She grabbed the tight-fitting suit from the sofa, hurriedly pulling it on.
The special material felt cool against her skin, and as she adjusted it, the fabric gradually wrapped tightly around every curve.
“You can turn around now,” Chu You said as she bent down to retrieve the full-face mask matching the suit from her backpack.
“Has that security director left?”
Lin Mo turned at her voice.
His gaze faltered imperceptibly the moment it landed on Chu You.
The “Silent Walker” suit clung perfectly to her skin, like a second layer of flesh, outlining smooth, graceful curves.
The silver-white material shimmered subtly in the indoor light, sharply delineating every contour, making her look even more breathtakingly alluring than usual.
Lin Mo’s Adam’s apple rolled uncontrollably before he spoke in a slightly deeper tone than usual, “He’s gone home.”
He diverted his gaze toward the heavy darkness outside the window, his voice quickly regaining its usual calm, “As usual, Zhao Dongyuan will stay home tonight to be with his daughter. We have plenty of time.”
Chu You nodded, oblivious to the brief abnormality in Lin Mo’s expression.
“The earlier we finish, the sooner we’re done for the day,” she said briskly, inserting a miniature comms earpiece into her ear, her voice hushed. “I promised Xia Ji we’d have dinner at her place tonight.”
Lin Mo said nothing further, merely nodding before heading toward the office door first.
He pushed the door open a crack, his sharp gaze sweeping quickly down the corridor, confirming no one was around, then stepped aside to let Chu You pass.
She slipped out like a shadow, pressing her body close to the wall’s darkness as she moved swiftly.
The building layout Lin Mo had sent earlier was already imprinted in her mind; the carefully planned route completely avoided all surveillance coverage.
She hurried through the long corridor, pausing briefly at the corner to glance ahead.
Seeing the office area empty, she immediately crouched down, keeping herself precisely within the blind spot of the overhead security camera.
Passing through this area, she melted back into the shadows by the wall and quickly reached the fire escape at the other end of the building.
Standing before the firmly closed fire door, Chu You tapped her earpiece with her fingertip.
Almost instantly, the red indicator light above the doorframe went out.
She gently pushed; the heavy fire door slid open silently, just wide enough to slip through.
Chu You slipped inside like a fish, swiftly descending the stairs—the fire escape was pitch black, only her breathing and heartbeat echoed in her ears.
A faint tension crept into her chest involuntarily.
“Hiss, hiss…”
At that moment, a faint electric static crackled through the earpiece.
Then, a soothing piano melody began playing—Lin Mo seemed to sense her mood through the darkness and activated the comm channel at just the right moment.
The melodious piano notes flowed like a warm current, dissipating the unease that had just risen inside her.
In the darkness, Chu You’s lips lifted in a small smile as she lightly tapped the earpiece again.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, heard the “tap tap” through the earpiece and let the corner of his mouth curl upward slightly.
A silent understanding passed between them.
Chu You quickened her pace and reached the fire exit on the first floor, tapping the earpiece again.
The red light above the doorframe blinked off.
She cautiously pushed the door open just a crack and peeked outside.
Not far down the corridor, two people were chatting and laughing as they passed through the lobby.
Immediately, she pulled the door closed, leaving only a slit just enough to watch through, holding her breath as she observed the two backs until they disappeared through the main entrance.
Once she confirmed the coast was clear, she gently pushed the fire door open and slipped out, blending into the shadow of a lobby column.
Though there were some complications along the way, Chu You soon arrived near the division’s storage room.
She tapped her earpiece to send a signal, then slipped into the shadows of nearby plants, holding her breath and waiting.
Before long, Lin Mo’s figure appeared at the storage door.
He glanced toward the faint silhouette hidden behind the plants, then withdrew his gaze and pushed the door open.
At the storage door’s left side, the clerk in the registration room looked up and, seeing Lin Mo, immediately stood and nervously greeted, “D-Deputy Director!”
Lin Mo nodded slightly.
“The headquarters investigation team is arriving in a couple of days. The team leader is an old acquaintance of mine.”
His tone was casual, but his gaze scanned the interior of the storage room.
“That guy’s pretty sharp-tongued; I’ll need to check everything myself, make sure he doesn’t find any dirt on us… You go ahead with your work; I’ll just take a quick look.”
Hearing this, the clerk quickly responded in agreement.
It was only natural for the deputy director to inspect the work personally, and a lowly clerk wouldn’t dare to question it.
What he didn’t notice was—at the very moment Lin Mo pushed open the door, a shadow slipped silently in, sticking closely to his back and entering the storage room unnoticed.
Soon after, deep within the storage room’s floor-level area, Lin Mo and Chu You stood before the elevator, stopping as the faint sound of its operation ceased.
They exchanged a glance, perfectly in sync.
The elevator doors opened.
Chu You took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Lin Mo stayed put, watching the doors slowly close, the metallic surface reflecting his pensive expression.
Only when the indicator showed the elevator was moving did he look away and pull a palm-sized terminal device from his pocket.
His fingers danced quickly across the cool blue screen.
Though the “Silent Walker” suit could bypass most sensor alarms, it couldn’t achieve true optical invisibility, so surveillance cameras could still capture images.
But as expected of his senior—along the path from the office to the storage room, not a single camera managed to record her presence.
Only upon entering the more densely monitored storage area did a few strategically placed cameras capture her silhouette.
No big deal!
Lin Mo’s fingers moved so fast on the terminal they left afterimages.
Within thirty seconds, every surveillance feed that showed Chu You’s presence was completely corrupted.
If the entire building’s cameras went dark simultaneously, it would surely arouse suspicion from Zhao Dongyuan or the incoming investigation team leader, Gu Qiancheng, arriving soon at Binhai.
But if it was limited only to the storage area, they could probably get away with it.
Finishing the task, Lin Mo pocketed the terminal and leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.
Meanwhile, in the underground corridor entrance of the storage area, Chu You tapped her earpiece twice with her fingertip, took a deep breath, and slipped into the deep, shadowy corridor.
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