On the second floor of Hulong Commercial City, the “Children’s Paradise.”
It was 8:39 PM.
Despite being called “Children’s Paradise,” most of the area was actually composed of various toy stores and doll shops.
From time to time, one could see noisy children crying and rolling on the floor, demanding expensive toys, while their parents looked on with grim faces at the prices.
Consumerism unhesitatingly extended its claws towards children here, allowing traps woven from desire to seize every parent’s wallet.
Gao Yi looked behind him; the four trackers were still there, with no intention of leaving.
It seemed that as “mantises,” they had no idea of the “orioles” behind them.
And the “orioles’” encirclement, stretched by Gao Yi, loosened slightly.
This was because “Children’s Paradise” was a closed area with only a single exit.
Moreover, this was a Children’s Paradise, and people without children would not come to such a place to buy a large number of severely overpriced goods.
The Investigation Bureau’s trackers were completely unable to blend in.
At this moment, fearing exposure, they dared not enter directly and were waiting for further instructions.
This gave Gao Yi a brief window of opportunity.
Of course, the few robbers apparently hadn't considered this, following quite naturally behind.
Walking slowly deeper into the paradise, Gao Yi quickly calculated his plan in his mind.
Habitually, he began to list his objectives one by one.
First was the best-case scenario: he escapes perfectly, without encountering any trackers.
Then, in a safe place, he removes his disguise, takes the 【Stunt Belt】 home to sleep, and collects the reward for the 【Special Mission】.
The next best outcome would be to expose his true identity and face, abandon the 【Stunt Belt】, but successfully escape.
In this situation, the mission reward would be unobtainable, and he would fall into extreme danger.
But no matter what, he would still get away unscathed.
The worst-case scenario was being caught.
Then he would completely lose control and be unable to dictate his own fate.
Given Gao Yi’s relationship with Lady Luck, being unable to dictate his own fate essentially meant waiting for death.
“Being caught means I lose, the disguise time ending means I lose, being injured means I lose, exposing my true identity still means I lose…”
Soon, Gao Yi had clearly calculated this in his mind.
By now, evasion was no longer an option.
The first step was to deal with these four “mantises.”
Stopping again, Gao Yi easily turned his head, surveyed the interior, making it look like he was searching for something.
Then he nodded slightly and walked quickly to the right.
Seeing this, the four pursuers did not rush to quicken their pace, still following unhurriedly behind.
Gao Yi had given them codenames based on their appearances: Woman, Shorty, Fatty, and Skinny.
Fearing exposure due to mutual sensing between players, they had always carefully controlled their tracking distance, not getting too close.
But even after deliberately making several quick turns and corners earlier, Gao Yi still hadn’t shaken them off.
And when he disappeared from their sight, the trackers didn’t seem overly worried.
Based on this, Gao Yi made a basic judgment.
These people probably possessed some kind of tracking ability.
Although he didn't know if it was a characteristic ability or an equipment effect, this conclusion should be correct.
And through pulling and experimenting, Gao Yi could basically confirm that the only female among the four possessed this ability.
The remaining three were just following that woman.
At the same time, their tracking wasn't about knowing Gao Yi's real-time location, but more like being able to see some kind of “mark” left by Gao Yi’s movements.
Like crows following breadcrumbs, the woman could see the path Gao Yi had taken.
This was confirmed by their tracking method.
After several continuous turns, the woman would always retrace Gao Yi’s path instead of choosing a shortcut and directly approaching him.
Could it be her glasses?
Gao Yi had noticed early on that she wore a pair of highly futuristic glasses on her nose, which completely clashed with her dressing style.
“This is a breakthrough point, but where should I make my move…”
Gao Yi squinted slightly, quickly searching for a suitable stage.
The three men were actually following behind this woman, so there was only this small time difference in their movements.
In the dense crowd, they did not gather together but spread out.
The idea was actually not hard to understand; a larger encirclement could prevent Gao Yi from suddenly accelerating and escaping.
But on the other hand, this also gave Gao Yi an opportunity to defeat them one by one…
…
“The target sped up, damn it, were we discovered?”
A man’s voice came through the earpiece, with a hint of impatience.
Their long-tracked prey suddenly accelerated and disappeared from sight after a few turns.
What was more annoying was the surging crowd in this “Children’s Paradise,” with a bunch of harried parents running around with their children, greatly limiting their movement speed.
The red-haired woman lowered her head, quietly reported to her accomplices, and couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
Temporary partners were just unreliable, so timid.
They had already locked onto the information of that blue item; they just needed to act directly.
But they actually let the transaction succeed, and the item was transferred to another person.
The few idiots were quite happy, saying, “It’s better if the goods are with the woman; it’s easier to snatch.”
Damn it, they’re already out robbing, and that’s all the ambition they have…
From the red-haired woman’s perspective, a faint, almost transparent crimson thread was gently swaying and extending forward through the crowd.
This was the special effect of her 【Tracking Goggles】, which could track escaping enemies.
Relying on this, they had already carried out three successful robberies.
As long as they specifically targeted easy prey, they would encounter no resistance at all.
Following the trail, the red-haired woman frowned.
Why was this guy suddenly circling around? Could she have been discovered?
Looking up, the surroundings were full of counters displaying various colorful small objects, and in the center, cotton flew around in a huge square machine.
This was a commercial area called “Create Your Exclusive Doll.”
Many children were enthusiastically choosing various skirts, clothes, and decorations for their dolls.
Once chosen, the store clerk would fill them with cotton using a special machine, turning them into real dolls.
Looking at the entrance, a small doll was priced at 89, she wondered what they were thinking.
Of course, if your doll also wanted more accessories, changes of clothes, or exquisite pendants, the price would be even more unstoppable.
When children had chosen all the accessories, put them together, and had them filled with cotton.
When parents looked at the endless bill, it was actually very difficult to tell their children that they “can’t afford it” or “don’t want it.”
In a sense, this was probably why the number of people in this area was so much smaller.
Seriously, why is this prey circling so widely? What is she doing in here? She looks only in her twenties; does she have a child?
The red-haired woman became increasingly puzzled, and while she hadn't seen the target for a long time, the urging from her accomplices in her earpiece grew more intense.
Muttering a curse, she quickened her pace, following the crimson trail, and turned another corner.
This had already led her to the back of the large cotton-filling machine, and there were no more doll clothing counters, not even children running around.
Where was that prey?
Doubt arose again in her heart; had he really run away?
Following the crimson trail, the red-haired woman quickened her steps again.
Because the thread-like trail was faint and weak, she had to lower her head and search carefully to follow it closely.
Of course, she wasn't actually afraid of bumping into the other party.
The mutual sensing distance between “players” was about twenty meters.
If they truly got close, there would be a strong sensation.
Compared to being discovered by the other party, what was more important to be vigilant about now was the disappearance of the prey.
It wasn’t until her last turn, when she completely reached the dark side of the huge machine, that she discovered the trail had circled a few times in place and then abruptly stopped.
Where is he?!
This had never happened before; looking to the other side, there was no one standing at the end of the crimson thread in her glasses’ view.
Sticking to the back wall of the cotton-filling machine, following the trail forward, she still found nothing.
Just as the red-haired woman’s mind short-circuited for a moment, a pair of slender arms suddenly reached out from a hidden door behind the machine, grabbing her shoulders.
Her body had no time to react; the red-haired woman suddenly lost her balance and was yanked into the interior of the cotton-filling machine, where a large amount of cotton fluff was located.
Amidst the intertwining thoughts of “this is bad” and “why didn’t I sense her presence,” the woman had already lost the ability to resist.
....................
