"Run, keep running for me!"
Li Tieshan gripped his iron hammer, his face full of ferocity.
Qin Ziwen followed closely behind, seeing the baseball cap man sitting against the wall, surprised that he had actually stopped running.
He glanced at the headless corpse downstairs,
Head... headless?
Qin Ziwen sharply turned his head again.
In front of the headless corpse, a head stood on the ground like a ball.
I told you to stop him, why did you have to be so brutal.
But at least he understood why the baseball cap man had stopped running.
Qin Ziwen looked at him, "Name?"
The baseball cap man wore an expression of resignation, "Meeting ruthless people like you, I admit defeat."
Below the stairs, Qin Ziwu said coldly, "I'm a law-abiding citizen, don't slander me here."
The baseball cap man's eye twitched—what kind of law-abiding citizen acts like you people? "Let me go, and I can tell you who hired me."
Qin Ziwen said indifferently, "Not important, I've already guessed who it is. I'm just curious how you managed to open my door."
"Let me go, and I'll tell you everything."
Qin Ziwen remained expressionless, "Do you think you have the right to bargain with me? I can let you go, but the premise for letting you go is that your attitude of admitting mistakes satisfies me. When I'm in a good mood, I might spare your life—you should be grateful to me. Not you setting conditions with me. Do you think you have the qualifications to bargain with me?"
The baseball cap man lifted his head; he had a scar on his nose bridge and looked to be in his thirties.
He smiled bitterly, "You're being too domineering. I was just stealing something. I've been in this line of work for years, and I only ever steal, nothing else."
"Don't explain to me." Qin Ziwen instructed Li Tieshan, "Break his arms and legs, take him back."
"Sir, wait, you haven't even asked yet! Ask me and I'll confess everything!" The baseball cap man retreated in panic. If he were really tough, he wouldn't have become a thief.
Qin Ziwen made a stopping gesture, and Li Tieshan perceptively halted.
"How did you open my door?"
"I used a Tesla coil to open the door, this thing here." As he spoke, he reached into his pants pocket.
"Don't move! Let go of your hand!" Qin Ziwen's eyes narrowed as he raised his knife in warning.
The baseball cap man's mouth twitched, but he still followed the instruction, slowly spreading his fingers and pulling his hand out of his pocket. "This isn't a gun. It's not like before—ordinary people can't get those things now."
Qin Ziwen said, "Turn around, lie face down, hands behind your head."
After the baseball cap man complied, Qin Ziwen stepped forward and pulled a small black box from his pocket.
The top of this small black box had a circle of metal wire bent into a mosquito coil spiral.
The front of the box had a button, looking very crude, as if homemade.
"This is the Tesla coil?"
The baseball cap man said resentfully, "It's just a handmade high-frequency electronic pulse that can interfere with nearby electronic devices. If the door lock's anti-electromagnetic design isn't adequate, it gets disrupted by strong electromagnetic interference. Either it resets and unlocks automatically, or it misinterprets it as an unlock command. Of course, it doesn't work on all electronic door locks—it mainly depends on whether the manufacturer cut corners.
Our residential complex has electronic locks installed uniformly by the developer. I tested it repeatedly on my own door lock—this frequency is all calibrated."
"How do you use this thing?" Qin Ziwen gestured with the Tesla coil in his hand.
The baseball cap man quickly explained.
Qin Ziwen soon understood how to use the Tesla coil and its principle.
He glanced at the baseball cap man, "So you're actually a craftsman."
The baseball cap man forced a laugh, "Keeping up with the times, keeping up with the times."
Qin Ziwen suddenly asked, "Who sent you?"
The baseball cap man instinctively wanted to bargain, but the words reached his lips and he honestly said, "It was a woman, also living in this building. Her surname is Xue, medium build, long hair, thin eyes, thin lips, and her voice is somewhat sharp."
"Oh, it's really her." Qin Ziwen nodded—the description matched Xue E.
Qin Ziwen pondered, considering how to handle the follow-up.
The baseball cap man sitting on the ground was sweating profusely; he knew his life hung on this person's whim.
The other party had already killed several people—they certainly wouldn't mind adding another life to their tally.
"Come here." Qin Ziwen beckoned.
The baseball cap man quickly scrambled up from the ground, hurried forward, his face crammed with an ingratiating smile.
Qin Ziwen stuffed the small black box into his hand and said earnestly, "That woman lives in Building 8, Unit 2, Room 801. Her husband is dead, only her and her child are left at home. She's really pitiful, and she just had to encounter a criminal like you who commits home robbery."
The baseball cap man's pupils dilated, his hand trembling—he guessed what the other wanted him to do.
So heartless—even he, an old habitual thief, thought this was heartless.
"Sir, this kind of thing... you're the professionals..." "What do you mean we're professionals? You're slandering me again! I told you this is called self-defense! If you hadn't come to steal, would this have happened! Huh! Speak!" After saying this, Qin Ziwen angrily kicked him.
If not for them, he would have gone to the altar to get the second card today—that's a full fifty points!
The baseball cap man looked grief-stricken—he regretted it.
If he could return to yesterday, he would definitely slap his past self hard, then grab his collar and warn him through gritted teeth not to listen to that bitch.
"Ah!"
With a scream, a neighbor who was about to return home had just entered the first-floor lobby, saw the corpse on the ground, screamed in terror, and ran away.
Qin Ziwen said to his brother, "Throw it in the first basement level first, don't disturb the neighbors."
Qin Ziwu dragged the corpse by one hand holding the foot, the other hand grabbing the head, leaving a long blood trail on the ground.
Watching this scene, the baseball cap man took a deep breath and nodded fiercely, "Fine, I'll go."
...
East of the residential complex, outside the altar cave.
Zhang Bo walked in, looked at the card floating on the altar in the cave, and couldn't help laughing angrily, "Interesting. Yesterday the card was taken early, and today no one comes at all."
He turned to look at Lu Hongtao, "You think that group can predict the future or something?"
Lu Hongtao's eyes were icy. They came so early yesterday, yet the card was taken—meaning whoever took it knew the card's refresh time and also knew they would come.
Today they staked out all night, taking risks with a group gathered in the wild.
And yet, today no one came to steal the card.
The facts laid out here could only mean one thing—they had a traitor among them.
Zhang Bo said, "Then we'll take this card. According to the rules we agreed on initially, the second card should be ours."
Lu Hongtao remained silent—personally he thought this was fine.
But someone in Lu Hongtao's team disagreed.
"We wasted so much time, guarding this place with you—we can't possibly get nothing."
"Right, your time is time, but our time isn't?"
"I understand you, but you need to understand me too. I didn't leak the information. I have two elderly parents at home, plus a wife and children—all waiting for me to provide for the family."
The team argued incessantly.
Each side insisted they were right, neither willing to yield to the other.
Eventually, the two teams parted on bad terms.
They came together, but when leaving, they split into five separate teams.