Chapter 416 - 361: Jin Xueli: Deadly Predicament and Rebirth (Part 2)

As he spoke, Knight reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of small, colorful spheres. He flicked his hand, and the pellets scattered across the ground, rolling every which way until they covered the floor all around Jin Xueli.

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel that these colorful little spheres were all the same type of Illusion.

Jin Xueli didn't know their specific purpose, but she hoped she would never have to find out.

"S-So you really are partners with Chaisi?"

She forced herself to refocus on Knight. "I'm working with Chaisi, too. For some reason, I suddenly lost contact with him recently. Scott needed Original Liquid, so I just helped out… Since we're all partners, why are you so insistent on killing me? I didn't even take Scott's money this time. Couldn't you just go on supplying the Original Liquid yourselves from now on?"

"You're right on the cusp of the truth, Miss Jin Xueli."

Knight said slowly, "If you'd ever had to fight for your own interests, you'd naturally think more deeply… But I can see you've probably lived a simple life, so it didn't occur to you. You think we're merely partners? No. In this transaction, the relationship between Chaisi and the Knight family is one where each is constantly looking for an opportunity to squeeze the other out."

Jin Xueli gasped sharply. 'Seriously, how did I only just now figure that out?'

It was as if the other shoe had finally dropped, only far too late.

Ever since the day she'd called her lawyer, a question had been nagging at the back of Jin Xueli's mind.

Why would helping Chaisi out a few times earn her shares worth at least nine million?

Even as a reward for saving his life, a sum of money should have been enough. One or two million would have far exceeded Jin Xueli's expectations. There was no need for him to cough up such valuable shares and get her involved in the business.

Chaisi had brought her on board, and while part of it was to thank her, the more important reason was, naturally, that she was useful.

Whatever she had to do was worth nine million in shares.

Jin Xueli had no objection to that—she'd much rather have a long-term stake than take a small sum and walk away.

However, if Chaisi hadn't suddenly disappeared, she certainly wouldn't have waited until this moment to finally see her place in the grand scheme of things—after all, keeping her in the dark benefited no one.

'In that case, could Chaisi really be dead?'

"The Kai Family is just an intermediary. You only maintain this situation because you're wary of their power," Jin Xueli murmured. "But the moment you get a chance, you'll push Chaisi out and take his clients directly. And Chaisi wanted to push you out and find the source of the Original Liquid…"

The man named Knight snapped his fingers. In his other hand, the gun remained steady.

"As long as our partnership exists, the Kai Family Hunters can't enter the Nests to search for the Original Liquid themselves. At least, not openly."

Knight smiled. "And that's where you came in, isn't it? We really didn't expect you to find the Original Liquid so quickly. You see, all the information about the Original Liquid we indirectly leaked to Chaisi was just false leads to mislead him. So, I'm very curious. How exactly did you find it?"

'…No wonder he's so determined to kill me.'

'Knight wants to kill me because my existence could sever the Knight Family's entire revenue stream.'

'But what good does it do to understand the whole story?'

Jin Xueli still had no idea how to escape this desperate situation.

"I get it. I'll tell you everything," she sighed, venturing tentatively, "My method was a one-shot deal. There's no way to do it a second time. You don't have to worry about me replacing you at all…"

'He just said that Scott was only "one" of the people who use the Original Liquid, right?'

'Could there be others in Blackmoor City who are also constantly using the Original Liquid?'

Jin Xueli was full of questions, but now was not the time to ask them.

She started her story from the stock transfer, recounting everything slowly and in meticulous detail. As she spoke, she desperately tried to think of a way to escape.

They had already been talking for ten minutes. Her time was running out. Once her story was over, Knight would have no reason to keep her alive. 'What should I do?'

'These colorful little spheres around my feet… I absolutely can't touch them, can I?'

But they were packed tightly together, pellet to pellet, blanketing the ground. Jin Xueli couldn't even lift her foot to step over them. Worse, she had Knight across from her, watching her every move.

While she was telling her story, Knight's black pupil was glued to her eyes, like a solar eclipse expanding to fill her vision.

"I'm really not lying," she said, swallowing her pride. "I don't know how to buy the Original Liquid, and my method would be very difficult to use a second time."

The black pupil continued to probe her eyes and her mind. She couldn't even see Knight on the other side of it.

"What you're saying… it does seem to be the truth…" Knight murmured. "Heard the bounty on the radio, huh…"

She had intentionally revealed the existence of the radio.

Jin Xueli had already made up her mind. If Knight was interested in the radio, that would be perfect. She could offer to lead him to it and use the opportunity to escape into the Nest. As for what came after, she'd figure it out once she was safe.

But Knight didn't ask any follow-up questions, as if a "radio" was the most natural thing in the world that everyone had. He just nodded, and the black pupil immediately floated up and receded.

"Interesting. A one-shot deal… Not necessarily," Knight chuckled.

Jin Xueli's heart sank.

"I—"

She didn't get to finish. In the next half-minute, everything happened so fast that she could only piece the sequence of events together in hindsight:

The black pupil paused halfway through its retreat. At the same time, from beneath the distant, dark clouds, a low, deep drone grew steadily closer.

A sudden, violent gust of wind howled and rushed between the high-rises, whipping her hair across her face until her vision was nothing but a blurry shadow of strands.

The black pupil stopped in mid-air and, as if being inflated, rapidly expanded until it was the size of a shield, yet it still retained the quality of an eyeball.

When Jin Xueli involuntarily looked into the black pupil, she saw that at its center, reflected alongside herself, the buildings, and the sky… was a helicopter, gradually growing larger.

"Get down!"

By the time the roar echoed from the sky, Jin Xueli's legs had already obeyed before her mind could catch up—

The sound of gunfire, carried on the wind, shot straight toward the man named Knight. In that instant, it was as if even the somber storm clouds could no longer bear the shock; torn apart by the heavy barrage, they began to shed huge, splattering raindrops.

'What about that man? Is he on the ground?'

Jin Xueli's ears were ringing. For a moment, she couldn't hear or see anything clearly. She crouched between the columns of rain, buffeted by a gale-force wind that threatened to shove her into the colorful Illusion pellets, and squinted as she forced herself to look up at the helicopter in the sky.

"Jin Xueli,"

From the helicopter, Morando, holding a gun in one hand, threw down a rope ladder with the other and yelled, "Get up here, now!"