Puzzle Madness

Chapter 29 Invisible
It's not even a simple change in the surface - the opponent can even eliminate the shape of clothes and weapons: this level of advantage is too dangerous for someone like Richard who has not received blind combat training.

Don't worry. Don't worry—think. Think!

Richard unloaded the magazine, confirmed that it was loaded, and slammed it back with the heel of his palm; he shrank his body and pointed his pistol at the door connecting the living room and the bedroom.

He knew something was wrong—but Richard hadn't had time to report the yellow raincoat monster or call for backup:

Who ambushed and attacked him?

What's going on? So sudden? Are they starting another corporate war? But why are they calling me in? Are they going to check every Asia-Europe Post office in Mong Cai?

If that were the case, then I would have been too clever for my own good: I should have just gone to the safe house I rented under my own name.
No, that's impossible.

Other companies wouldn't just deploy a single assassin: even if it was just a small-time operative like him, planting a trigger-activated bomb was more effective and more cost-effective.

Was he being monitored? Or was it somewhere earlier?
Because of the package? Because of the client? Some internal struggle I'm not aware of?

He pressed his pistol against his forehead, using the cold metal to cool himself down: he had fought in skirmishes before, but being ambushed was the first time Richard had encountered such a situation.
"hey-hey!"

"Stop imagining it, Chuck."

A sudden voice came from outside the door. The other party spoke slowly and softly, as if just awakened from a hazy dream:

"Chuck, we're all old buddies; that's why we're so eager to do this job. You know we're quick, but if it were any other guy, you don't know how much pain he'd have to endure."

"I'm not advising you to surrender; no one is that stupid--"

"But if I really want to kill you, wouldn't it be better to set off a bomb and pretend it was a gas leak?"

I don’t know if it’s because of the speed of the speech, but the man’s voice has a strange sense of expansion in the safe house - it is even difficult for Richard to judge the other party’s location based on the source of the voice.

But Richard remembered the tone and voice; it was vague, but he had some impression.

He didn't bother to answer, but instead searched his memory carefully.

He had indeed heard this voice at the wine table at a field social gathering, where the braised food platter mixed the flavors of white wine, vodka, rum, whiskey, rice wine and beer: but he could not connect this voice with the dozens of faces he saw at that time.

[It's another field team. But which team is it?]

Richard also couldn't remember who liked to call himself "brother" at that time.

Field agents do not share their ecstasy abilities with each other - although most two-person field agents use a monitor and a patient or criminal.
Only the Chief of the Special Package Handling Section and senior handlers in the support group have access to all field ecstasy abilities.

And Richard was very sure: even after drinking, no one revealed their specific ecstatic abilities and naturally no one asked; this was the most basic professional quality and could also lead to the complete destruction of a field officer.

[Maybe it's not a madness. Could it be experimental equipment?]

But as soon as this idea popped into his mind, he overturned it immediately:

【No, that's impossible.】

When Richard rolled over just now, he did not see any distorted edges of the air or light - he knew that the Asia-Europe Postal Research Department and many large laboratories stockpiled many interesting things, but this was not like the rumored wearable optical camouflage.

Not to mention, if the completion rate is so high, it should not be wasted on myself or any field staff.

Richard scanned the safe house's interior; the mirror allowed him to roughly observe the living room. Aside from the furniture, the mirror was empty, making it impossible to discern the location of the invisible field officer.

If it's a fielding duo, then where's his partner? Why isn't he attacking together?

"Are you wondering where my partner is?"

As if hearing Richard's inner voice, the thin and slow voice sounded again, and the speed of speech was still slow:
"She's very ruthless, and I don't want her to torture you."

"But since I missed the target with my last shot, maybe you really shouldn't die today."

"What do you think?"
-
"Since one shot missed? Didn't he fire three shots in total?"

It was even beyond his own expectations: facing the threat of life and death, Richard was not as nervous as he had imagined.
Perhaps it was because he had just experienced such a terrifying life-or-death situation in Tianhu Community not long ago; this kind of experience can often change a person permanently.

In fact, after the initial shock, he felt his heart was as cold as ice, and the only thing that could exist in the cold was thinking:
Physical transparency, visual deviation, optical changes, environmental camouflage, and even hypnotic cognitive influence and hallucination; any one of them can cause the other person's figure to disappear from Richard's sight.

[And the dust in the safe house hasn't been disturbed. The arrangement of the doors and windows is fine, but what's with the dust? Forget it, I can't worry about that right now!]

Richard had no way of judging the specific manifestations of the madness that the field officer outside the room might have.
But what he was sure of was that the other party's frenzy could not be too intense.

This ability, so highly advantageous for infiltration and intelligence operations, coupled with sufficient infiltration training, suggests a level of potential and practicality that cannot be left unused for a contractual field mission. Therefore, this former colleague, now an enemy, must possess some fatal flaws that could significantly impact his entire career development. Perhaps the ritualistic behavior required to incite his obsession was too complex; but more likely...
Why is he talking so much? Why doesn't he just come in and shoot me?

Richard didn't believe at all what the field officer said, "You are not destined to die today."

The field operatives had received the same CQB training—although Richard had excelled in the subject—but a slight visual difference could mean the difference between life and death in this situation: Richard didn't think his intuition could save him again like it had just done.

He can't move while invisible? No—he changed his firing position when I counterattacked. Does he have to hold his breath to become invisible? Or is there a time limit for being invisible? No. Whether he holds his breath or not, the time is completely sufficient. If he can conceal his gun, he can even shoot directly on the street!

Even if they had to do it in a safe house to minimize the impact, why didn't they just shoot me the moment I walked in?

[One shot. This guy just said, "I missed the target with one shot."]

He couldn't tell if the last two shots actually hit me? Interesting. Could it be...?

So - thinking of this, Richard had an idea of ​​how to confirm his guess.

Richard suddenly stood up straight, still pointing his gun at the open door, and cursed at the top of his lungs:

"Hey! You're an idiot."

There was no answer at the door, only the beeping of car horns outside the window.

He changed the sentence to something funnier and more incomprehensible:
"So I'm an idiot?"

Still silent. The hot wind outside blew against the glass.

"If you don't say you're an idiot, your whole family will die."

A few seconds passed in silence before a completely incoherent response came from the other side:
"I don't know the answers to your questions; the higher-ups haven't given us much information."

"I'm in a difficult situation, too. This is the order given by Corey."

"But since I didn't walk in and shoot you right now, that means we can talk—right? We received the same close-quarters indoor combat training. I heard you scored very high in this subject."

"But if you can't see me, you definitely can't beat me. You should agree with that."

"How about you come out first? Let's go back to the department and report together, how about that? If it's okay, you can come out in ten seconds."

"ten"

【ha. 】

Now, Richard could roughly determine what the fatal flaw of that field officer was.
[When that guy is invisible, he can't see or hear anything at all! ]

[Also, his ritualistic behavior is very complex, and he cannot turn his ecstasy on and off multiple times in a short period of time.]

"Nine"

[As for his sense of touch, it should still be there: he was able to tell that the shot missed, and even felt my counterattack. I guess he felt the airflow from the bullet—]

The reason we say "one shot missed" is because we have no way of knowing whether the second or third shot hit. The only thing we know for sure is the first shot; mentioning the others risks revealing the truth.

"Eight"

No wonder! No wonder they didn't shoot me the moment I entered the room—but waited until I reached the preset target position: my psychological safety zone.

But I can't rush into the living room right now. He can aim at the door and shoot based on the vibrations of the floor. But I can't immediately identify him through visual detection; this disadvantage is too great.

[No——Even so, maybe it’s still possible.]

Richard's mind raced with lightning:

People who have ecstasy tend to use their ecstasy to solve problems.
Richard wanted to travel back in time and praise himself for listening carefully during the induction training.

The sense of accomplishment was fleeting. The more he thought about it, the more he felt a chill run down his spine:

[But he actually had the support of Corey. He had my psychological analysis report! So he knew so much about my safe house habits, and he even managed to pretend to talk to me at the beginning—]

[It even fooled me! ]

I also performed poorly on the stress test I took when I first started working: no wonder they used a countdown system to pressure me. Regardless of my cooperation or not, as long as I entered the living room, it would be more advantageous for the invisible party.

(End of this chapter)