Chapter 460: The Figure in the Painting

Bang—

The heavy door closed with a bang. Jian Changsheng and Heart 9 stood in the empty room, letting out a long sigh...

“We finally shook them off…”

This was originally the Beidou Casino, but it was now Chen Ling's property. Before leaving, he had made all the necessary arrangements. The casino's main areas operated as usual, while some hidden rooms deeper inside had become Jian Changsheng's temporary base. Though not as luxurious as the VIP lounge at an auction, the facilities were quite good. Most importantly, its hidden location made entry and exit very secure.

“Shaking them off wasn’t hard; the main thing was leading them near the Beidou Consortium,” Heart 9 shrugged. “If it weren’t for that guy Heart 6 stirring up trouble, I would have killed them all by now!”

“You almost killed me too!” Jian Changsheng couldn't help but curse. “We’ve only been together for a few days, and you’ve already blown me up twice! The enemies haven’t touched a hair on my head, but my own teammate almost blew my brains out!”

“Don’t worry about the details! As long as the mission is complete, it’s fine!” Heart 9 said with a grin.

Jian Changsheng rolled his eyes at him, turned on the room lights, and looked out the window. The first floor of the casino was bustling with people. At this hour, it was packed, with people from all walks of life in Hongchen Main City gathered there, spending lavishly, making the business extremely prosperous.

“Heart 6 is gone. From now on, we’ll have to rely on ourselves,” Jian Changsheng murmured.

“Not ‘we,’ you.” Heart 9 sat on the sofa, peeled an orange casually, and popped it into his mouth. “You can call me for fights, but for other matters… I’m most likely to just mess things up.”

“…I can tell.”

Honestly, Jian Changsheng was truly afraid that one day this guy would be unhappy and blast the casino to smithereens over some trivial matter. If that happened, all their efforts would be for naught, and they’d be back to eating steamed buns by the roadside overnight.

“What’s your plan now?” Heart 9 asked.

“What plan could there be? Hold our ground, gather information, and wait for the other members of the Twilight Society to arrive,” Jian Changsheng said, looking at the bustling casino below. “At least we shouldn’t be short on funds now.”

“You should learn more from Heart 6. Look at how skilled he is in disguise and wealth accumulation. I wonder where Suishi Chu found such a talent.”

Jian Changsheng: …

“Oh, right, what about that painting?” Jian Changsheng seemed to recall something.

“I have it.”

Heart 9 swallowed the orange in his mouth, then opened his mouth wide and reached in with his right hand. A sound of metal clashing came from his throat, as if an entire warehouse was hidden in there… After a moment, he seemed to grab something, and a slender scroll was pulled from his mouth. Heart 9 handed the scroll to Jian Changsheng, who instinctively recoiled half a step with a look of disgust, as if finding it a bit nauseating…

“It’s not covered in saliva!” Heart 9 couldn’t help but retort.

Jian Changsheng reluctantly took the scroll and unrolled it. There was indeed a Club 8 mark on the back. But when he flipped it to the front and saw the maid painting, his brows involuntarily furrowed, and he let out an uncultured sigh just like Chen Ling:

“What in the world is this painting…”

“Don’t ask me; I don’t understand it either.”

Jian Changsheng turned the painting over and over in his hands for a long time but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Just as he was about to put it away and find a time to hand it over to the Twilight Society, his nose suddenly twitched. He paused, then suspiciously brought the painting closer to his nose and took a deep sniff.

“Something’s not right…”

“What’s not right?”

“There’s a smell of blood in this painting.”

Heart 9 raised an eyebrow, his mouth agape in shock. “What are you, the Path of Military Gods, Military Dog Branch?!”

Jian Changsheng: …

Jian Changsheng knew Heart 9 was getting back at him for his earlier “Path of Ingenious Gods, Robot Branch” comment. Too lazy to argue, he laid the scroll flat on the table and began to examine it closely from the side. Then, as if discovering something, he placed his fingertip on a corner of the scroll and firmly wiped downwards. Under the influence of his power, the pattern on the scroll quickly peeled away, revealing another image beneath it…

“What’s going on? There are two paintings?” Heart 9 exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this.

“It seems Club 8 painted another layer over the original painting, concealing its true content…” Jian Changsheng’s eyes gleamed. He swiftly peeled away the surface layer of the maid painting, revealing a completely new image before them.

Heart 9 examined the inner painting and asked doubtfully: “What the… beneath a portrait is still a portrait?”

“Is it also a woman?” Jian Changsheng stared at the face for a long time. “Who is this person? Do you know her?”

“No…”

“I don’t either.”

“Is the woman in this painting the message Club 8 went to such lengths to convey to us?” Jian Changsheng scratched his head, completely baffled. “But… who exactly is she?”

On the scroll, a woman lay peacefully on the ground, her hands clasped serenely together. Petals, stained with blood, covered her sides, vibrant yet still. The woman wore a white research gown, looking as if she were simply asleep.

If Chen Ling were present, he would be greatly shaken the moment he saw this woman’s face… Unlike Jian Changsheng and Heart 9, if nothing went wrong, he would likely be one of the few people in this era who could recognize her. Former member of the Red Star Shard Exploration Team, and now one of the Nine Sovereigns of Humanity… Dr. Su Zhiwei, a string theory physicist.

“Finally, back.”

Chen Ling pushed the cart across the desolate gray land. Seeing the faint outline of Mount Chou in the distance, he let out a long sigh. He removed the golden mask, tore it from his chin, and reverted to Chen Ling’s appearance. His black trench coat also transformed into a large red theatrical robe, fluttering in the wind.

“Eeyah!!”

Choujiao sat atop the mountain of banknote boxes, his small face filled with excitement. For him, this was his first long trip, and after several days of wild play outside, he deeply missed Mount Chou upon seeing it again. He bounced hard on the banknote boxes, then flew up into the wind, landing lightly on the peak of Mount Chou. Facing Chen Ling, who was slowly walking up the mountain, he made a “welcome home” gesture.

Chen Ling smiled and patted Choujiao’s head, saying: “Fifth Senior Brother, I’ll go report to the senior brothers and sisters first… We’ll see each other again at dinner tonight.”

“Eeyah!!”

As his words fell, Chen Ling pushed the cart to the edge of the cliff and, with the entire cart full of banknote boxes, leapt down!