48 Hours a Day

The Arc of Light had proved worthy of being one of the three major guilds. Although it was established after the other two significant guilds, it was weaker than the rest. Grow into a guild comparable to the other two in such a short time was a gargantuan task, to say the least.

Unlike the union’s haphazard workings, Arc of Light had been planning for this operation for a very long time. Their management was infamously arrogant and efficient, a known fact among players—whether planning or execution, they were ready even before the get-go-going as far as to plant one of their own in the union. This came in the form of a president of a small-time guild, voluntarily joining the union when it was first established, and even becoming one of its representatives later on.

It meant that, while the union was locked in conclave, Arc of Light watched their every move. They also managed to find out the whereabouts of the four players they hunted. Obviously, the deadline were words that meant nothing to them. After Shen Xixi made the announcement at 11:32 p.m, they would not just there and do nothing to wait for the people from the Arc of Light to look for them.

In fact, at 11.00 p.m, Arc of Light’s first assault team had already arrived near the target location. If Shen Xixi was willing to cooperate, it would all end well, and no blood would be spilled. However, if she was still adamant about going against them, the assault team would attack at midnight, and if everything went according to plan, the battle should end in less than ten minutes.

However, Arc of Light was surprised when they received the latest intel. Their targets had apparently been secretly transferred half an hour ago. Arc of Light’s internal evaluation of Shen Xixi had always held her in high regard. She was young, no doubt, but an equally mature and calm woman. Not to mention the natural charisma and charm she possessed. For these reasons, Arc of Light knew who they were dealing with and had the ball rolling in advance. The current escapade, however, could be the act of Shen Xixi alone.

It was a question no one could solve. It did not matter who was the one that tried to solve it. The fact that Shen Xixi managed to transfer her people secretly in such a risky situation even had Arc of Light bemused.

There was nothing she could do to fix the situation right now—the union’s impending collapse was imminent. Few were willing to stay by Shen Xixi’s side-relying on them take on Arc of Light was no different than using an egg to hit a stone. Moreover, Arc of Light had all the information about Shen Xixi and her comrades in their hands.

Although they stated that they wanted to capture and punish the four murderers tonight, they did not promise that those would be the only targets. If they could not locate who they were looking for, they would look for Shen Xixi next. Since she insisted on getting herself into this pool of chaos, they wouldn’t mind if they ended up with her anyway. They could then interrogate them about the four murderers.

This was why Zhang Heng couldn’t use the extra 24-hours to help her move her people out. Unless Shen Xixi and her allies chose to permanently leave the city and never come back, it would be pointless. She would never take that option unless it was the last resort.

Arc of Light’s leader, Eryue Weicheng, had finished work on time at 4:30 in the afternoon. He drove to the elementary school to pick up his daughter and was about to throw a birthday party for her at Sheraton tonight. He invited all her classmates, and since tomorrow happened to be the weekend, he made an exception to allow his daughter an all-nighter with her friends. Everything had to be pinpoint perfect tonight. His daughter was the only princess of the night, and everyone would be giving their best wishes to her. This importance of this had even surpassed the plan.

Everything that needed preparing had been prepared a long time ago, and it made no difference if he stayed to monitor the whole operation or not. Not to mention that were are two vice-leaders and three chairpersons in the current war-room. Naturally, Eryue Weicheng was not worried about the situation at all.

At 00:05.

No one noticed a parliament of owls perching on the telephone pole, staring down at them with their large yellow-brown eyes. This place was an urban village located at the edge of the Fifth Ring Road. Most local farmers built their own houses here, and some were rented out to migrant workers. Since the subway station was quite a distance away, the rent was relatively cheap. That said, a room with a separate bathroom would still cost up to 1,000 yuan. To save on money, some shared rooms with up to four other people. Li Bai’s rented apartment was shared among four individuals. The room had two bunk beds, just like the setup of a dormitory. Each of them had to fork out 400 yuan per month, and the landlady decided to shut an eye on the matter.

After Li Bai became a player, his income suddenly blossomed. However, he chose to exchange most of his game points for money and sent them back to his hometown, choosing to live here in this urban village. Two minutes ago, he hurried back to this room. It seemed he had come back to retrieve something, not even bothering to reply to his roommate’s jokes.

The two Arc of Light strike teams had quietly surrounded this place. After that, they looked at their superior, a bearded man dressed like a director, who shook his head. “Try your best not to alarm the residents here. Just wait until he comes downstairs.”

Everyone then waited for another five minutes, but still, Li Bai was nowhere in sight. The bearded man realized something was wrong and immediately led a group to the rental house. Inside, three men were topless, drinking beer and playing Honor of Kings. Li Bai was nowhere to be seen. The one guarding the window saw no one coming out of the room either.

Had Li Bai fooled them?

However, the bearded man did not seem too worried. He turned and said to a man behind him, “Find him.”

The latter nodded, lit a handful of weird tobacco, took a deep breath, and made an odd cry. He then rolled his eyes, and at the same time, the group of owls standing on the telephone pole outside the door seemed to have received a message. They quickly spread their wings one after the other and flew in all directions.

The bearded man knew that their target had realized he was being trailed. That meant he probably didn’t come back to get anything. He just wanted to take advantage of the urban village’s complicated layout to distract the strike team. On the other hand, Shen Xixi was preparing to get the four out of the city. It was a pity that they made the wrong move tonight. The second strike team was prepared for this situation.

Those owls were used to deal with this situation. The bearded man knew that Li Bai had been with Shen Xixi for a long time, and he could be considered as a veteran in Shen Xixi’s team. As long they capture him, he would be able to make him tell them the whereabouts of their targets.

There was no problem with his plan. However, he had underestimated Shen Xixi’s determination.

To be more precise, everyone had underestimated Shen Xixi’s determination. She knew all too well how precarious tonight’s situation would be. The strength between the two factions was severely unequal, and it was pointless for her side to mount a defense. From the beginning, she never intended to adopt a defensive strategy, and beyond expectation, chose an offensive tactic instead.

Arc of Light wanted to capture her ally to force her to surrender. At the same time, she wanted to capture the Arc of Light’s senior management as a bargaining chip to negotiate with them.

Li Bai was bait, but not to distract Arc of Light.

He was the bait to draw them in.