Artifact Report

Chapter 305 Fu Tai Lan - The Manor Ahead
The protagonists in movies often knock out their enemies with a single karate chop, which is indeed a dramatic exaggeration and something that would be difficult for ordinary people to do—but by any standard, Fu Tailan doesn't think she's an ordinary person.

Humility is certainly a good quality, but self-awareness is also essential.

When he was thirteen, a resident who loved to lecture him clenched his nine-fingered hand into a fist and pressed it against the back of Fu Tai Lan's head where his neck met, earnestly instructing him: "...If you want someone to faint, hit them here, understand? Understand? Do you really understand or not?"

No matter how many times he said "I really know, I really know," the residents remained very uneasy.

"I don't think you really know. How about this, I'll do it for you—"

When he woke up, the residents' hands were still gripping his throat.

"Awake? Now you know? This part of the body is one of the most vulnerable places. Have you learned it? Or have you really learned it, or are you just pretending?"

"Truly learned—"

"I don't think it looks right, let me demonstrate again."

Fu Tailan went back and forth, waking up and falling asleep countless times, and even experienced several other vulnerable and even fatal parts of her body with her own body—if she continued to "learn" like this, only a dead person could graduate.

He had barely escaped from that resident years ago; yet now he felt a strange sense of gratitude towards him.

Fu Tailan took out a blank card and squatted down next to the unconscious guard.

“Generate a driver’s license photo using this face,” he whispered, holding the card in one hand and pointing it at the unconscious guard’s face.

Small eyes peered at the scene from the dark gaps in the bushes.

The photo floating on the blank driver's license was indeed that of the guard—because Fu Tai Lan had to use his other hand to pry open his eyelids, the uniformed guard in the photo had his eyes wide open in anger, as if he only realized when the shutter was being pressed that it was his father's killer.

"Next... what's your name...?"

As Fu Tailan spoke, she rummaged through his clothes, pulling out his wallet and driver's license. "Marlowe?"

Blank cards allow users to create an identity out of thin air, or to "borrow" a real identity; when facing strangers, creating an identity is sufficient—for example, when renting a car or when facing the police.

However, a fabricated identity wouldn't work with acquaintances, so Fu Tailan had to borrow all of Ma Luo's real information to avoid arousing suspicion from the other police officer at the rear post.

After his identity was "stolen," even if Marlowe's biological mother came, she wouldn't recognize Marlowe lying on the ground—only when Fu Tailan throws the "driver's license" nine times again and clears it will the identity return to Marlowe's true self.

It was precisely because it could be used to borrow identities and facilitate infiltration into enemy territory that Fu Tailan chose it from the Morgan family's warehouse; such a useful item has not yet been sold, naturally because it has a huge shortcoming.

Once there is physical contact with someone, even if it's just a slight brush on the shoulder or a gentle touch of a hair, the identity effect will immediately disappear.

...When he took his driver's license from the policeman just now, you can imagine how delicately his fingers were curled.

Fu Tailan carried the guard back to the car, tied him up, gagged him, and stuffed him into the trunk. Although his mouth was gagged, he still felt he should do something, so he placed a pizza on the guard's chest.

"I'll treat you to a meal; consider it compensation."

After taking the gun from him, Fu Tailan slung her backpack over her shoulder, called out to Xiao Yan, and walked back to the guard post.

Another guard, sitting upright, completely forgot what he had just said—no, more accurately, he hadn't even realized it—and looked at him, asking, "What were you doing out there?"

An illusion is a truly remarkable thing.

"I went to have a smoke," Fu Tailan said, quietly placing his backpack outside the wall. He stood at the door and looked around the guard post.

Metal detector, walkie-talkie, telephone, several monitors... Marlowe's post is right here.

He works the night shift, and it's probably not time for him to get off work yet.

Even after work, these low-level security guards have no connection with the Wei family manor.

If I leave this post and venture into the manor on my own, I'm afraid that before I've gone ten steps, all the guard posts along the way and the guards inside the manor will have already gotten wind of it.
Although Secretary Green's voice also existed in the mouth puppet, it was too far away for him to reach. He couldn't use Green to give orders to call Marlowe over—there was a distance limit to using someone else's mouth to say what he wanted to say: it couldn't exceed one hundred meters.

How do I proceed from here?

Moreover, it's unknown whether the illusion in the manor can see through the "identity theft" card's effect... If it can also detect weapons, equipment, or hostility, it will be even more troublesome.

As expected of the obstacles set up by Vesilé, they are airtight and quite a headache.

Fu Tailan was so worried that she kept biting her lip; her small eyes peeked out from the shadows under the table, still staring at him, ignoring the other guard's thigh.

“What are you standing there for? Sit down,” another guard said.

The guard post is so narrow that if you go in and sit down, you're very likely to bump into the other person.

"Oh, I'm a little tired tonight. I'll stand for a while so I don't fall asleep."

It's hard to tell the truth, but there are countless lies.

Another guard stretched. "This shift is really tough."

“After Secretary Green, no one else should come, right?” Fu Tailan decided to take a gamble, checked the time, and said, “Since he came, how long has it been…?” “An hour and a half,” the guard replied without suspicion.

Good, Secretary Green did indeed arrive. If, unfortunately, one of those rare occurrences happens and discovers Secretary Green didn't come, then Fu Tailan will have no choice but to silence the guards with a gun.

Although his expression remained calm, a resident had already crawled into Fu Tailan's mind, shouting at him, "What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?!"

“Oh, right,” he suddenly sat up straight, “shouldn’t we report the pizza delivery?”

The guard turned his head and frowned.

"The address he gave is clearly this guard post. You didn't order takeout, and neither did I, but someone definitely did... Maybe someone wants to use that pizza delivery guy to check things out. I don't know their intentions, but just in case, it's better to report it, right?"

Fu Tailan felt like he was driving in a thick fog. The headlights could only illuminate a small section of the road ahead, and he couldn't see how to get to the end. He could only follow his intuition, like the headlights, and move forward little by little.

"Didn't he leave?" The guard was still a little hesitant.

“He must have left,” Fu Tailan said, tilting her head back as if recalling something. “Now that you mention it, it reminds me. He left right after me, and I went out for a smoke right after him, didn’t I? But I didn’t see him, and I didn’t see any cars nearby… It’s like he disappeared as soon as he went out.”

"Are you sure? That's strange." The guards that Vesilé used were indeed more vigilant than ordinary people. They picked up the phone and said, "It's always right to report it."

Fu Tailan watched him press a shortcut key to connect the call before saying softly, "Use speakerphone so I can add a few words."

"Security Center, this is Post Number One," the guard said into the phone. "We just had a situation to report."

“Please speak,” a male voice replied.

After the guard finished explaining that someone had delivered pizza, the security center immediately responded: "I will contact the nearby pizza shop to confirm."

Even a wrong delivery could make them so nervous—the tension at the Wei family manor is clearly running high.

It's so tight it's going to break tonight.

“Oh, there’s one more thing.” Fu Tailan had an idea and said, “The two of us can’t leave our posts and go too far. Plus, the area is so big, so we haven’t checked whether that kid left the pizza box nearby.”

Another guard glanced at him.

"You suspect there might be a bomb?" the security center asked immediately.

“I don’t know either,” Fu Tailan suggested, seizing the opportunity. “Why don’t you send a few people over to search? Two or three should be enough. I can help look for them too.”

The manor guards arrived quickly.

It takes forty minutes to travel between the No. 1 guard post and the manor, but less than half an hour later, Fu Tailan saw headlights on in the distance.

"I'll take you there to see,"

After the three guards got out of the car, Fu Tailan volunteered, "I saw him turn the corner, and less than a minute later, I came out too..."

He picked the least threatening-looking guard and followed him onto the public road, saying, "...Isn't it strange? When Secretary Green came before, he gave an order saying that tonight was crucial and someone might approach...Shouldn't we split up and search separately?"

When the guard parted the bushes and scanned the ground with his flashlight, he was practically showing the back of his head to Fu Tai Lan, waiting for him to make his move—at this moment, one can't help but thank the resident teacher for teaching him so well.

This time, he struck hard and ruthlessly.

If the guard could have been sensible enough to die gracefully, that would have been much easier, but unfortunately, he wasn't.

Changing identities has become second nature to Fu Tailan; as for the unconscious guard, Fu Tailan took off his gun and pushed him into the bushes—in the darkness, no one could tell that there was someone hiding there.

He won't wake up anytime soon.

Anyway, his identity is in his own hands. Even if he wakes up and runs to Post One, he will only be treated as a suspicious person and driven away. As for Marlowe's "disappearance" and the approach of a suspicious person, Post One will naturally report it again. But that doesn't matter.

Once Fu Tailan successfully infiltrates the manor, any more turmoil, shadows, and panic will actually be an opportunity for him to exploit.

Fifteen minutes later, he walked back inside the gate with two other manor guards.

This is the first time tonight that Fu Tailan has truly entered the manor.

"Marlow went for a smoke and asked me to let you know." He smiled at the guard in the booth, then casually opened the car door and got in.

Three people in one car, no one can bump into anyone else.

The other two were completely unaware that their passenger had changed. They chatted casually for a few moments, wondering what the pizza delivery boy was up to.

The car started.

The Wei family manor lay ahead, bathed in the night sky, awaiting Fu Tailan.

(End of this chapter)