When Nine Fingers heard Xu Mu's words, he immediately lowered his voice and said coldly:
"I guarantee I'll complete the task."
Then he pulled off the pinhole camera attached to his clothes, yanked out the wire, and tossed it to the ground.
A rich fool like Xu Mu was worth milking for every penny —
he could drain him dry, live comfortably for a while,
and kill him afterwards.
"Heheheh! Kid, I admire your boldness. I'll help you — for two hundred million."
He raised two fingers and flashed a mocking "V" sign.
"Fine. Save her first," Xu Mu said calmly, though he hadn't expected the man to be wearing a camera.
If he took out his Desert Eagle and shot the guy here, Lin Yan might still use the footage to stir up trouble.
He needed a place without surveillance.
"You're in no position to bargain. Pay first," Nine Fingers said coldly.
"Pay your damn mother!"
Xu Mu spun around and ran — he had already spotted a safe spot.
To his left was a narrow gap between two factory buildings, barely two meters wide,
and blocked off at one end — a perfect dead end.
They definitely wouldn't have installed cameras there.
Nine Fingers chased him, but when he saw Xu Mu dart into the dead end,
his pace slowed.
"Idiot! How can anyone in the world be this stupid?"
He raised his hand — a dark throwing weapon appeared between his fingers.
"If you won't pay, I'll just send you off to hell…"
But before he could finish, the eyes behind his Ultraman mask went wide.
Xu Mu was already pointing a Desert Eagle at his head.
"So, who's the idiot now?"
"Heheheh…"
Instead of panicking, Nine Fingers chuckled.
He straightened up arrogantly.
"Boy, ever heard of ancient martial artists?"
As soon as he spoke, he spun and smashed a fist into the nearby wall.
BOOM!
The concrete exploded under the force — his Hidden Force punched a hole straight through it.
Standing with his hands behind his back, Nine Fingers sneered:
"All martial arts in the world are unbreakable, save for speed.
Beyond seven steps, the gun is faster —
but you, my friend, are within seven steps…"
Before he could finish, his body dipped low, half-squatting to throw his weapon—
BANG! BANG!
He never got the chance. Two bullets punched clean through his head, blood spraying the wall.
"Guess what — this thing's even faster."
Nine Fingers collapsed with a heavy thud, dead on the spot.
"Seven steps? Within seven steps, this gun's fast and accurate."
Xu Mu holstered the Desert Eagle, about to leave —
but then noticed something odd.
The angle of Nine Fingers' half-crouch wasn't random —
it had been facing toward the hole he'd smashed in the wall.
In his plan, he'd dodge sideways, throw the weapon,
and roll through the hole to avoid any wild retaliatory gunfire.
His combat instinct was impressive —
but unfortunately for him, Xu Mu was also a martial artist,
with enhanced dynamic vision,
and, on top of that —
a Sharpshooter title.
"Phew…"
Xu Mu let out a long breath.
There's a first time for everything.
Looking at the corpse, he still felt uneasy — but forced himself to stay composed.
Suddenly, his senses flared — someone was approaching.
The silhouette that appeared made him relax.
Meng Wanyue darted past the alley's entrance,
eyes scanning sharply.
When she saw Xu Mu standing steady and unharmed,
she finally exhaled in relief.
"President Xu, are you alright?" she called, hurrying over.
"Do I look like something happened to me?"
Xu Mu smiled with his hands in his pockets.
Meng Wanyue crouched beside the corpse,
removed the Ultraman mask — and frowned the moment she saw the face.
She immediately checked the man's hand.
Xu Mu noticed her expression.
"You know him? Don't tell me he's one of yours."
"No," she said firmly. "He's Nine Fingers, ranked eighteenth on the Death List.
A deceitful, vicious killer who's done countless evils.
Unlike most assassins, he has no code — he's even killed his own employers."
Meng Wanyue herself had once been a killer too,
but she followed a creed: take money, solve problems — nothing personal.
Nine Fingers, however, had no such restraint.
"So he really was from the Death List," Xu Mu muttered.
He remembered this part of the plot — the Dragon Nation truly did have such a ranking.
But those in the lower positions were mostly side characters;
the real threats were in the top ranks.
Still, for Lin Yan to hire a Death List assassin against him…
that meant he was taking this very seriously.
"President Xu, you…"
Meng Wanyue had noticed the bullet holes in Nine Fingers' head and looked up.
Xu Mu didn't hide it.
He opened his storage space behind his back and casually drew out the Desert Eagle.
He twirled it lightly and grinned.
"Bought it for a fortune."
Her eyes widened in realization — and disbelief.
Even with a gun, it wasn't easy to kill someone like Nine Fingers.
Xu Mu tucked the weapon away again and began checking the corpse.
He found only a phone, a hotel key card, and a small pouch full of throwing weapons.
Using the corpse's fingerprint, he unlocked the phone —
it was brand-new, not even customized; the wallpaper was still default.
Opening the contacts, Xu Mu saw a long list of numbers —
and one of them belonged to Lin Yan.
He quickly took out his own phone and photographed every entry —
those connections might be useful later.
Opening the text messages, the top one was from Lin Yan.
It contained a photo —
of Feng Yue, tied to an iron rack.
And a message below:
"Interested? Then give me a call."
He checked the call history —
Lin Yan and Nine Fingers had spoken several times over the past few days.
"Weird… no apps, but the phone says it's out of storage?"
He opened the gallery —
it was full of videos.
He clicked one — and immediately heard a woman's unmistakable voice.
"Disgusting!"
Meng Wanyue cursed under her breath when she saw the content.
Xu Mu said nothing — his own phone wasn't exactly innocent either.
Using the system to check, he found that besides the gallery,
the browser alone contained nearly 100 GB of similar files.
"Old pervert still had plenty of stamina, huh."
He pocketed the hotel key card and looked at Meng Wanyue.
"What about the body? Should we bury it or something?"
"No need," she replied softly. "Nine Fingers was a wanted man.
Once someone finds the body, they'll call the police.
After confirming his identity, the Cleaners will handle it."
Xu Mu nodded.
"There should be cameras around."
"Let me check."
Meng Wanyue pulled a small device from her backpack and began scanning.
Two signals popped up —
one outside the main gate, and one just inside.
"President Xu, let me see his phone."
"Here."
She took it, logged in, and confirmed:
"As expected — both cameras were linked to this phone."
She deleted all the stored footage and disabled the connections.
A quick rescan showed the two blinking signals had vanished.
Clean.