Chapter 58

Dalei: "…Alright, I promise I will try to save your mother and the villagers first. As long as they haven’t done anything wrong or broken the law, they won’t betray or sell us out after we save them."

Liu Hailan: "No problem, we are not ungrateful people; we won’t betray Princess Diana."

Dalei: "How many times do I have to tell you, I am not Princess Diana. Remember that and don’t call me that in front of others." —— (Exhausted)

Liu Hailan: "Yes, Big Sister Dai, I will keep the secret."

Dalei: "…Forget it, I’ll go find Gordon and the Cheshire Cat. I don’t know where they’ve gone. You wait here for me."

Liu Hailan: "…" —— (Doubtful, suspicious)

Dalei: "Don’t worry, I won’t leave you behind. I swear on the honor of a princess."

Liu Hailan: "Okay." —— (Relieved, happy)

Outside Snail Village, the big hole dug by the Cheshire Cat, Gordon stands at the edge of the hole observing.

Gordon: "Hmm… The depth and width are sufficient, but I should go down and check it out."

Cheshire Cat: "You go down, and then I can bury it." —— (Red-eyed)

Gordon: "You fool, don’t you understand why I asked you to dig this big hole and leave the village?"

Cheshire Cat: "I don’t need to know and don’t want to know. I won’t be fooled by you again. Die!" —— (Attempts to kill Gordon)

Gordon: "So… (Activates a device on his armor) To deal with a fool, you have to subdue them first. Get down!" —— (Shouts)

With Gordon’s shout, an invisible force field instantly pinned the Cheshire Cat to the ground. The Cheshire Cat tried several times to lift his head but couldn’t, as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on his head and body, rendering him immobile.

I (Narrator): "Wow, what a powerful device, it subdued the Cheshire Cat in an instant. If Gordon hadn’t held back, he might have crushed him into a meat patty."

Cheshire Cat: "What is this, a super-gravity device?" —— (Struggling)

Gordon: "You’re really dense. If the organization had developed technology to control gravity, it would have been used in aerospace long ago, not kept secret until now."

Cheshire Cat: "Then what is this?"

Gordon: "These are force field generators on my body. The force pressing down on you is… (Thinks for a moment) just think of it as an air wall." —— (Lazy to explain)

Cheshire Cat: "…"

Gordon: "This thing consumes a lot of energy, so I won’t waste words. I’ll tell you the purpose of digging the hole and hiding from Dalei." —— (Weakens the force field, steps forward to explain. The force field generators cannot operate at full power while moving, so the field must be weakened to move.)

Cheshire Cat: "No need to explain, die!" —— (Seizes the opportunity to adjust his position and activates the mechanism on his iron claw gloves)

The iron nails on the iron claw gloves shot out like bullets, piercing through the force field and striking Gordon’s black armor. Instantly, the sound of metal clashing rang out, and the iron nails sparked against the chest plate.

Cheshire Cat: "Ouch!" —— (Groans)

Gordon: "Fool, fool, big fool. You think my chest plate is made of leather? It has a nanocoating of adamantium metal. Your iron nails, after breaking through the force field, are just spent arrows. How could they pierce my chest plate? You’re a brainless fool. Now, you’ve been hit by your own nails. Tell me where the antidote is, so I can save you." —— (Completely removes the force field, steps forward to help)

Cheshire Cat: "…I don’t need an antidote. Can a snake be poisoned by its own venom?" —— (Stands up, calms down)

Gordon: "So you’re immune to all toxins." —— (Helps remove the iron nails from the Cheshire Cat’s back)

Cheshire Cat: "This is my only superpower, but it only works against a few highly toxic substances. I can’t be immune to everything. How ridiculous." —— (Disappointed)

Gordon: "What’s so ridiculous? I’m not immune to anything." —— (Comforting)

I (Narrator): "The old man is comforting someone? That’s rare. Or is this a strategy to win his loyalty, alternating between carrot and stick?"

Cheshire Cat: "No need to comfort me. I know I’m useless, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been sent to slow you down."

Gordon: "That was all to provoke you. To make you more motivated, not to discourage you. You’re a top-notch assassin in your prime, a successor to the two-thousand-year-old assassination fist, a valuable asset."

Cheshire Cat: "Yes, I’m in my prime, but my strength, speed, and skills can’t improve any further. In a few years, I’ll start to decline."

Gordon: "You’re exaggerating… Was it the [Terrifying Shadow]’s comprehensive evaluation?"

Cheshire Cat: "Yes, you know how accurate the [Terrifying Shadow]’s evaluations are. Unless I have some lucky encounters like in comics and novels, this is the best I can achieve in my life."

Gordon: "That’s why Lei Xiaogu sent you to work with me on this mission. You’ll have plenty of lucky encounters like in comics and novels if you follow me."

Cheshire Cat: "You’re just lying. I’ve checked your records. No matter how difficult or impossible the tasks, the temporary teams you lead always succeed, but the death rate of the field agents who work with you is the highest in the organization. Those who survive are either disabled or insane, while you always bounce back with minor injuries. Do you know how the higher-ups reacted when you asked Leila to go on a field mission with you? They almost went crazy. You’re the undisputed Grim Reaper, a team killer, to both enemies and allies."

I (Narrator): "The old man’s dark history is as sharp as ever."

Gordon: "You silly girl, do you think impossible tasks can be completed by a hastily assembled team? Do you think this is a movie or a novel? This is a real covert operation! If I had to form a new team for each mission, the issues of cooperation and trust would have killed me a dozen times over. Completing the mission? Daydreaming!"

Cheshire Cat: "Are you saying you have a fixed team to work with on these missions? Then why did [Terrifying Shadow] send someone this time? And those records…"

Gordon: "Those records are fabricated to deceive outsiders. Do you think someone at your level could see them? As for why I asked [Terrifying Shadow] to send someone this time instead of using my fixed team… it was my miscalculation." —— (Honest)

Cheshire Cat: "Miscalculation? Didn’t you plan everything before you came?"

Gordon: "Dalei withheld the specific information about the island. How could I plan in advance? I didn’t expect those guys to already be on the island. I thought it was just a reconnaissance mission. It wasn’t until I encountered them in this village that I came up with a plan. That’s why I lured you out of the village and told you about my plan and the purpose of this big hole."

Cheshire Cat: "To keep it from Dalei?"

Gordon: "Exactly, an eye for an eye. She outsmarted us, so I’ll outsmart her. My specific plan is…" —— (Whispers in the Cheshire Cat’s ear)

I (Narrator): "Ah, ah, ah~! I can’t hear again. Old man, take off that scarf, I can’t read your lips!"

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