Chapter 90: Basement

Meanwhile, in a basement somewhere in the West District—

In the buildings left over from the old era, even apartments and residential complexes often had underground passages that served as temporary facilities for evacuation or shelter in special circumstances.

This was one such abandoned underground warehouse, formerly the storage room for a small convenience store.

Inside were several discarded, rusty shelves and some other miscellaneous items.

At this moment, several figures appeared in the pitch-black basement.

A tall woman, four tall men armed with guns, as well as Uzuki Saori, and the still-unconscious Shiina Rin.

Except for Shiina Rin, they were all wearing hooded cloaks.

“Buz, you’re in charge of guarding the outside.”

The man who appeared to be the leader set up a fluorescent light tube and gave the order.

“Yes!”

“Xin, establish a connection.”

“Yes!”

The man called “Xin” was holding a laptop.

He squatted on the ground, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard.

“You, check our equipment. Make sure nothing is missing.”

“Yes!”

After quickly assigning the tasks at hand, the man looked at Uzuki Saori.

Uzuki Saori’s dim eyes showed no interest in what they were doing.

The leader paused for a moment, then looked at the tall woman in the team.

“Karina,” the leader took out a white plastic-wrapped box and threw it to her, his voice deep.

“I’ll leave this to you. Be quick about it. That doctor might expose our actions, so we don’t have much time.”

Karina caught the object the man threw to her and opened it.

Inside were two syringes.

She examined the syringes in her hand for a moment, appearing somewhat nonchalant.

“Captain, what are you afraid of? That Ephnel?”

The damp air in the basement was not pleasant at all, filled with a nauseating musty smell.

In the corner were piles of opened and ransacked packaging from sold goods, dark mold stains, and rat carcasses.

It looked like someone had been here before, but a glance at the dust and footprints on the ground suggested that person had been gone for some time.

“I’m not sure, but I’m indeed not very willing to face her.”

The man replied, his tone flat.

“You’ve seen her file. You should know that it’s absolutely impossible for a few ordinary people like us to win against her.”

Karina didn’t speak, but instead looked at Uzuki Saori, who was standing to the side.

“Don’t count on me,” Uzuki Saori said indifferently, her eyes lifeless.

“Even if you brought ten more of me, we still couldn’t beat her, and neither can you.”

Uzuki Saori’s words were clearly pointed.

The leader and Karina heard the undisguised sarcasm in her tone.

It couldn’t be helped.

Although sending out Sakurai Sachi was not their squad’s own intention, the fact that Sakurai Sachi hadn’t lasted more than three moves against Ephnel was something everyone had witnessed.

Sakurai Sachi was not the strongest in their branch, but her simple defeat was an outcome none of them had expected.

This also led to them having to abandon Sakurai Sachi, a powerful combatant.

Because of this, their original operational plan was postponed by their superiors.

“If you’re willing to take my advice, just stay away from her. That’s the best way.”

Uzuki Saori snorted coldly, offering her advice.

The man glanced at Uzuki Saori and patted Karina on the shoulder.

“Don’t do anything unnecessary when it’s not needed, Karina. Leave Ephnel to the ‘Angel’ to deal with. We just need to complete our mission. Go on, do your thing.”

“Understood.”

Without another word, Karina walked over to Uzuki Saori and, under the light of the fluorescent tube, carefully examined the condition of Shiina Rin in Uzuki Saori’s arms.

“Put her here.”

Karina pointed to a dilapidated wooden table on the side and ordered Uzuki Saori.

On that wooden table were two leftover cans and a pile of bottle caps.

Uzuki Saori frowned slightly, pushed the miscellaneous items aside, and wiped the tabletop clean with her cloak before tightly holding the unconscious Shiina Rin and gently placing her down.

She looked up, her expression blank as she met Karina’s gaze.

Karina, in turn, took out the two syringes.

“What are you going to inject her with?”

“The same as before, an inhibitor, and a little sedative.”

Karina snorted coldly, removed the safety cap from the needle, and expelled the air from the syringe.

She looked like a skilled nurse and quickly administered the two injections.

She glanced at Uzuki Saori.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t keep that sour face on. The only reason we took you two burdens in is because ‘that person’ insisted on meddling. I’m under no obligation to entertain your nonsense.”

“I’m not causing trouble.”

“Ha? You know damn well how that doctor got away!”

“She was about to die.”

“But she’s not dead yet. Because of your ‘great mercy,’ we’ve been exposed to danger.”

Karina shot a malicious glare at Uzuki Saori and the unconscious Shiina Rin, casually tossed the empty syringes aside, and her fingers intentionally or unintentionally rested on the sleeping girl’s neck.

“Although I’ve said it more than once, let me remind you, she has less than twenty-four hours. If you want to prevent her from becoming a ‘Remnant,’ you’d better be a little more obedient.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t use Rin to threaten me.”

“I advise you not to try to Sync. If you attract the Agents, I’ll execute you two first.”

“Yeah, you can give it a try if you think you can.”

Uzuki Saori narrowed her eyes and stared at Karina, tit for tat.

As she raised her hand, the bracelet on her wrist was revealed.

That was her Beacon.

At this moment, a silver light flowed on the bracelet, indicating that Uzuki Saori could enter Sync at any moment.

This sight made Karina frown.

As soon as Uzuki Saori initiated Sync, the fluctuation signal she triggered would be immediately received by the Order Organization, and they would be able to pinpoint their location very quickly.

Then, they would immediately be in an extremely dangerous situation.

Moreover, Uzuki Saori was not wrong.

If she, as an Agent, were to turn on Karina and the others on the spot, even if Karina could quickly injure Uzuki Saori with the firepower of five people, the outcome of them, as ordinary people, fighting an Agent in such a small underground space was also obvious.

In fact, right now, Karina and her group were the weaker party.

“Calm down.”

The tall man holding a gun beside her spoke up.

“We are here to cooperate, not to fight. I believe that after what happened before, Miss Uzuki should have enough reason to believe in our sincerity, right?”

“No, I don’t feel it.”

Uzuki Saori was not polite.

The man had been watching from the sidelines just now, obviously to gauge Uzuki Saori’s attitude.

He only came to stir the pot after sparks flew between Karina and Uzuki Saori.

His intentions were clear.

…