Chapter 57: Looming Danger
Some called it luck. Others called it good fortune. It was a mysterious element that could result in success or failure, apparently brought about by chance rather than through one's own actions.
At the moment, Tang Mu was quite lucky.
Had he utilized his original body's spiritual sense to sweep the hostel's surroundings, Elder Weeping Ghost's potent perception ability would have immediately caught onto his surveillance.
Fortunately, the worst had not occurred as he had unknowingly relied on the spiritual sense of his freak of a clone that possessed some stealth abilities to escape imminent misfortune. Lady Luck was on his side, and he now had the time to react appropriately to overcome the looming adversity.
What to do?
As usual, Tang Mu took a few seconds to organize his thoughts. His clone creased its brows as he started processing the information his spiritual sense was feeding him from the surrounding ten-kilometer radius.
Three groups, each comprising ten dubious individuals, had surrounded the hostel from three sides. Their cloaks and masks seemed to be runic artifacts that totally concealed their features and auras. They all seemed to blend in the darkness while remaining hidden within the three alleys around the hostel.
Tang Mu could not discern anything about them while relying on his clone's potent spiritual sense. And since humans could effortlessly conceal their psionic abilities, he couldn't even begin to determine or guess their combat power.
But even then, he could still guess a few things. He had a feeling that the dubious groups of individuals were from the Crimson Brotherhood, the same underworld organization whose members had murdered Gong Qing and almost kidnapped Ning'er. They were probably planning to overcome the two combat detectives guarding the hostel before attacking the place.
Tang Mu suppressed a shiver and continued relying on his clone's spiritual sense to sweep the hostel's surroundings.
The interiors of a few buildings in his ten-kilometer radius were blind spots that he couldn't perceive, meaning that the owners had utilized some mysterious methods to bar any perception abilities from intruding on their privacy. Tang Mu suspected that one of these hidden areas could also contain more unknown dangers waiting to pounce on him and his hostel mates.
I guess I can't handle this on my own.
Tang Mu immediately concluded.
The enemies likely had potent firepower since they were confident enough to attack a hostel guarded by rank two combat psionics. They possibly had a powerhouse at rank three or above within their groups since they planned to assault a residence within a usually secure neighborhood in the middle of Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district. They were obviously not adversaries that Tang Mu could take on alone.
Tang Mu's back broke out in more cold sweat after he made the realization. He took a deep breath and tapped a few times on the holographic projection of his smartwatch to dial Asia Metropolitan Region's emergency hotline.
"Thanks for calling 119," a professional and feminine voice sounded from the other end of the line after the call connected. "What's your emergency?"
"Please hurry and send help," Tang Mu replied, allowing his feelings of tension and fear to manifest in his voice. "Groups of suspicious individuals are approaching our hostel. I think they mean us harm..."
"Please, slow down and remain calm, sir," the call operator said, her tone soothing. "Help will soon be on the way. What is your address?"
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Tang Mu took another deep breath and gave her all the required information. After she heard that the incident was at the same hostel that had experienced an attack from the Crimson Brotherhood, she didn't ask much. She only cautioned him to remain in hiding before assuring him that more combat detectives were already on their way to reinforce the hostel.
Tang Mu sighed with relief and hung up the call. He then triggered his clone's spiritual sense and noticed that the three groups of mysterious individuals were still maintaining their positions in the darker alleys around the hostel. They had yet to move and were most likely waiting for a 'certain' factor to fall into place before commencing their assault.
I shouldn't expose the peak rank-one powers of my clone. I better face the events to come with my original body.
From the emergency call operator's assurances, Tang Mu could guess that psionics at rank three or above would soon be arriving to handle the incident. With that in mind, he allowed his original body to teleport out of the Star Orb storage space and appear within his dark room. He then stowed away his peak rank-one clone into the mysterious Star Orb dimension, hoping to avoid catching the attention of the police psionics that could arrive at any time.
And with that, he had finally taken all the measures he assumed would allow him to escape the looming danger. He had made choices, hoping to escape misfortune. But were they the correct ones? Would Lady Luck continue being on his side, and could he come out on top after what was about to happen?
Only time would tell whether he was about to become another unlucky soul in the long river of fate.
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Here was the same basement occupied by the three members of the Crimson Brotherhood, including the gorgeous Crimson Blaze, Bearded Demon, and Elder Weeping Ghost.
All three had settled on the almost empty basement's cold floor while waiting for the clock hands to point to the midnight mark. They stayed quiet, their eyes glinting with ferocious lights, as they prepared to commence a slaughter within the Yunfu Residential Zone of Asia Metropolitan's Region 4th District.
Just then, Crimson Blaze's smartwatch vibrated slightly, showing that she was receiving an incoming call. Her pretty face contorted into a frown, and she immediately glanced at its holographic projection before pressing the accept button.
"You should know that I'm quite busy at the moment," she said with annoyance. "What is it?"
"Your eminence!" A deep but seemingly suppressed voice sounded from the other end of the line. "Our department just received a call for help from one of the students residing in the hostel you plan to attack. Police combat detectives at rank three and above have been dispatched. You only have about ten minutes to make your escape."
"What?" Crimson Blaze's frown deepened. She turned to look at the silent Elder Weeping Ghost and asked, "Have you noticed any perception abilities sweeping our surroundings?"
Elder Weeping Ghost creased his brows and shook his head.
Crimson Blaze's eyes flashed with a mysterious light on seeing the elder's response. She returned her attention to the call and asked, "The person who called 119 might have a connection with the vigilante who took out Mystic Snake and Red Stalker. Do you have the person's information?"
"Yes, I do," the deep voice at the other end of the line replied. "I will send the info to you in a few seconds. But no matter what you plan to do, you must leave the hostel premises within the next eight minutes to avoid running into the dispatched combat detectives."
"Okay," Crimson Blaze said. "But before we leave, we'll first take out the rat who might or might not be connected with the vigilante who killed my men."
"Okay, I wish you happy hunting," the voice at the other end of the line said before terminating the call.
Crimson Blaze waited a few more seconds before finally receiving the message from her contact in the police department on her smartwatch. She opened it and started perusing all the information about the person who had just called 119, including his photograph, name, age, and room number in the hostel.
"So, this is the rat who has hindered my plans," she mumbled while expanding the holographic projection of Tang Mu's photograph. "I wonder how he managed to notice us! Anyways, that's for later. Elder Weeping Ghost! Can you quickly find him? We only have a few minutes before the other combat detectives arrive."
"Of course, I can," Elder Weeping Ghost replied confidently after glancing at the holographic projection of the photograph. "As long as he is within a five-kilometer radius, I will find him for you."
"Good," Crimson Blaze replied. "But don't allow him time to react when you find him. Just move quickly and capture him. If you fail, you can take him out, and then we'll be on our way long before the dispatched detectives arrive."
Elder Weeping Ghost nodded as his dreary eyes started flashing with mysterious symbols. Without wasting time, he started spreading his perception, expecting to find and take out Tang Mu before the police reinforcements could arrive.
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