Chapter 178 Infiltration

Upon hearing Lin Xiao announce that he would sneak over on his own, He Yun was the first to object.

"No way, it's far too dangerous for you to go alone. You need to remain here to command the entire operation. If someone has to go, let it be me."

With He Yun speaking up, the others immediately began competing for the assignment.

Lin Xiao could not help rolling his eyes.

"You can go if you want, but who can guarantee they won't be spotted before reaching the target area? If you can ensure that, then go ahead. But if you are discovered, can you bear the consequences?"

At these words, everyone fell silent.

Just as Lin Xiao said, even with He Yun being a ninth-tier expert, there was no hundred-percent guarantee of remaining undetected during the approach.

"That is why this mission requires me."

"What about the surveillance? Even if you take out those two guards, the people in the monitor room will notice almost immediately."

Lin Xiao looked at the speaker and rolled his eyes once more.

"Rest assured, everything visible in the monitor room right now is precisely what I want them to see."

He Yun sighed, never expecting things to turn out this way.

"Little... Lin, do as you see fit then. We will all follow your command."

"Good. Get yourselves ready. Once I've eliminated those two, I'll give you a signal. Rendezvous with me immediately at that time, and keep your movements quiet so the enemies in other directions don't notice."

With that, Lin Xiao dashed out of the small grove.

He moved forward at great speed. They were still quite some distance from the villa, and in the deep night, those terrorists did not possess vision as freakishly sharp as his own.

Over this stretch, as long as he refrained from making too much noise, detection was impossible.

If he had a choice, Lin Xiao truly would not have taken this task upon himself, but circumstances left him with no alternative.

In truth, many people could have managed a simple advance to eliminate those two guards.

The only reason Lin Xiao insisted on going himself was because he had discovered numerous traps arrayed around the perimeter of the villa.

He had kept quiet about them precisely to avoid causing undue panic among He Yun and the others.

After covering a certain distance, Lin Xiao slowed his pace. Advancing any further would bring him into the field of vision of the two guards, requiring absolute stealth to avoid detection.

At that moment, the two men responsible for keeping watch over this sector were smoking leisurely.

They glanced briefly toward the woods and paid it no further mind.

"Sigh, I really wonder what the boss is thinking. What's the point of watching this direction anyway? If the enemy tries to sneak over, they're bound to trigger the traps immediately."

"Alright, stop whining. Personally, I'm quite glad to be assigned here. In the other sectors, nobody would dare slack off like this."

"Ha, fair enough."

As the pair glanced toward the tree line, Lin Xiao swiftly flattened himself against the ground.

Seeing that they merely looked once and lost interest, his anxious heart finally settled.

With the guards currently turning their backs to him, failing to act now would truly do a disservice to these two fellows.

He rapidly covered another stretch of ground and dropped prone once again.

It was not that he wished to stop advancing; rather, the area directly ahead marked the boundary of the enemy's trap-laden zone.

Furthermore, he had now entered the coverage area of the surveillance cameras.

After Lin Xiao's departure, He Yun and the others had been monitoring the feeds closely. Seeing him appear on screen now only heightened their tension.

Yet, observing how the three men in the control room stared intently at the monitors while acting as though Lin Xiao was completely invisible, they realized he must have tampered with the system.

"What is happening? Such a good opportunity, why isn't he moving forward?"

"Unclear. There must be a reason for it, presumably."

Lin Xiao's actions quickly provided them with an answer. He swiftly and methodically cleared the traps ahead one by one, stowing the high-explosive grenades and landmines away into his spatial ring. Only after this entire zone had been completely cleared did he gesture toward one of the security cameras.

[Wait for my command. When I tell you to advance, follow this exact path. There are traps everywhere else, and I don't have the time to clear them.]

Using sign language directly toward the surveillance camera was about as brazen as it could get.

Even so, the enemies manning the monitors remained completely oblivious.

This feat deepened the special spiritual martial forces' awe of Lin Xiao tremendously.

At the same time, a cold shiver ran down their spines; had anyone else been sent instead of Lin Xiao, they likely would have already triggered the lethal traps.

In that instant, they finally understood why Lin Xiao had insisted on undertaking this alone.

With all the traps successfully disarmed, Lin Xiao was now quite close to the two guards.

Uncertain of their exact cultivation levels, Lin Xiao dared not act recklessly.

He resumed his advance on tiptoe, moving with extreme caution.

Before long, the murmur of their conversation drifted into his ears.

"Ah, once this job is over, I'm washing my hands of this life. I've saved enough money to live in luxury forever."

"Yeah, this client is remarkably generous. Once we smuggle the goods out, that's a hundred million per person. Just thinking about it gets me excited."

"The moment I get my cash, I'm heading overseas to find some foreign beauties, hehehe!"

"Focus on getting out alive first. You know what kind of entities we've provoked this time."

"What is there to fear? With so many hostages around, I refuse to believe they'd dare strike. Compared to us, the lives of the people inside are far more valuable. They won't take that risk. Honestly, I feel like making us patrol out here is completely redundant."

"Let's drop it. I'm going to take a leak, keep your eyes open."

"Go ahead. With all those traps laid out, I genuinely don't believe anyone could possibly sneak in here."

Elation surged through Lin Xiao. Just moments ago, he had been pondering how best to handle both men simultaneously.

Given his capabilities, even without knowing their exact tiers, he was confident he could take them down. The real difficulty lay in eliminating them without alerting others to anything unusual.

Their separation presented an ideal opening.

Dealing with them one at a time was infinitely simpler than facing them together.

An opportunity this rare was not one Lin Xiao intended to squander.

Though he had considered sneaking right up to the guard to dispatch him with a dagger, the risk of exposure remained too high when their exact strength was unknown.

He therefore resolved to use a firearm.

Drawing a pistol equipped with a silencer from his spatial ring, he prepared to strike.

When a problem could be solved with a bullet, there was no need to complicate things.

He aimed at the nearby guard and pulled the trigger.

With a crisp, muffled *thwack*, a bullet went straight through the man's head.

Since no other enemies were in the immediate vicinity, Lin Xiao no longer needed to conceal his presence. He surged forward, catching the guard's body before it hit the ground and lowering it gently.

With that, Lin Xiao's covert infiltration was a success. Now he merely needed to wait for the second fellow to return from relieving himself and finish him off.

Rather than waiting idly, Lin Xiao relied on his penetrating vision, rendering the other man's movements completely transparent.

He stationed himself directly along the path the guard was bound to take upon returning.

The moment the man emerged from his bathroom break, another silent round pierced his skull.

Thus, the most treacherous phase of the infiltration was officially complete!