Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

Rum ignored her pleasantries, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room before finally settling on the area behind the bookshelf—where, where there should have been a wall, now revealed a dark hole extending downwards, its edges bearing fresh signs of wear, clearly having been recently opened.

"No wonder he's an internationally renowned thief."

Rum stepped forward, carefully examining the edge of the cave entrance and the faintly visible steps inside, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. "Amazing efficiency."

“Thank you for the compliment~” Fujiko Mine tilted her head, her smile sweet. “Then, the generous reward…”

"Don't worry, the promised Vespanian ore, and the US dollars that should be paid, will be doubled after the matter is settled."

Rum interrupted her.

At this moment, his mind was completely drawn to the entrance of the secret passage. He could almost smell the lingering scent of decay and power left by that old man, Karasuma Renya.

He waved his hand behind him, and two men armed with submachine guns and wearing night vision goggles immediately stepped forward and cautiously entered the secret passage to investigate.

A moment later, a deep but reassuring report came through the communicator: "Safe. The passage leads downwards. Initial assessment indicates no one is inside. You may enter."

Without further hesitation, Rum glanced at Fujiko Mine, who was still smiling charmingly, and left with the words, "Wait here." Then, he led his remaining men, one by one, into the bottomless dark entrance.

Fujiko Mine watched their figures disappear into the cave entrance, his smile unchanged.

"Will you offer double?"

"It seems that this organization has quite a lot of Vespania ore reserves."

Lupin suddenly poked his head out from the ceiling of the room—he had been helping the Vespanian royal family recover Vespanian ore, also for the sake of the deceased Sakura Queen.

"Are you going to steal all their ore, Lupin?" Fujiko Mine chuckled.

"You've already made quite a bit of money on this deal, haven't you?" Lupin glanced at her sideways. "You even stole the payment that Vespania paid me. You can't try to have your cake and eat it too, Fujiko-chan."

"No, it's not just two, hehehe~"

Fujiko Mine covered her mouth and laughed.

While the two were talking, Rum, who had already entered the secret passage, quickly confirmed that he had not gone in the wrong direction.

The downward-reaching stairs seemed to lead to the throat of hell.

He turned on the powerful headlight on his helmet, the beam piercing the darkness, and his heart pounded with excitement, not from fear, but from the anticipation of seizing his target.

(Karasuma Renya...you can't escape now.)

He led his men and quickly rushed into the depths of darkness.

The secret passage was much longer and more winding than he had anticipated.

The moss and water seepage marks on the stone walls indicate that this place has existed for a long time. The air is filled with the unique cold and damp smell of the underground, mixed with a faint musty smell.

Every so often, dim emergency lights with protective netting embedded in the walls provide a barely visible light, casting long shadows.

The passage wasn't straight; soon they encountered their first fork—two almost identical passages extended to the left and right, disappearing into the dim light.

More importantly, each fork in the road is preceded by a heavy, old-looking reinforced iron gate with complex mechanical locks.

"Tsk, they really are connected."

Rum stopped and carefully shone his flashlight on the iron gate and the surrounding walls.

There are traces of frequent use of oil on the door hinges and keyholes, and the joints between the door frame and the stone wall are perfectly sealed.

"It's cleverly designed. It's locked normally and opened when needed, allowing you to move freely between the basements of the three mansions... What a cowardly old fox."

He gestured for his men to check.

Soon, a member skilled in lock picking discovered extremely small, fresh metal fragments in the keyhole of the left-hand iron door.

"This keyhole was recently opened, and the marks are still fresh. The other keyhole has a lot of dust."

Rum did not make a decision immediately.

He crouched down, his gaze sweeping across the ground... There did seem to be other fresh footprints besides theirs.

"Chase!"

Without hesitation, Rum chose the left lane.

His men quickly pried open the door.

The group then quickly gave chase.

As he continued his long journey, Rum's heart gradually quickened, not from exhaustion, but from the premonition that his prey was getting closer.

He could even feel the air beginning to fill with the warmth and tension of a living person.

Finally, after passing through a relatively straight passage with brighter light shining through at the end, the view ahead suddenly opened up—it was a space similar to a small transfer station, much wider than the passage, with more lights fixed on the walls, and the light was enough to see the entire area clearly.

There were some sealed supply boxes piled up in the corner, and there was even a drainage ditch in the center of the ground.

His gaze fell on a figure kneeling on the ground fifty meters away, seemingly inspecting something.

The figure was dressed in dark, easy-to-move clothing, with his back to them, and a specially made carrying frame beside him, on which a square box was fixed.

Mezzo!

Rum's single eye suddenly flashed with a terrifying light.

Although he had never seen this "disappearing cadre" before, he immediately recognized her identity. If that was the case, then the box next to her...

(Found it!!)

Ecstasy surged through Rum's veins like venom.

found it!

Finally found!

Half a century of ambition, the key to power, the secret to immortality... are right before our eyes!

Almost at the same instant Rum locked his gaze on the figure, the kneeling figure at the end of the passage—Mezzo—also made a move.

Instead of turning around immediately, she shoved the carrying frame and box next to her into a recessed corner of the stone wall behind her with astonishing speed. At the same time, she sprang up and turned around like a cheetah poised to pounce!

The moment she turned around, the submachine gun in her hand was already raised, the muzzle pointing at the way she came!

Da da da da da!!

Bullets rained down in a frenzy.

Rum and the others immediately scattered, the splattering bullets kicking up a lot of dust on the ground and walls.

At the same time, Rum's men reacted just as quickly, immediately retaliating with Mezo's sweeping fire and launching a strong attack.

Da da da da!

The flash of light from the gun barrel illuminated the entire passage.

Rum hid behind his men. One of his men in front of him was shot several times, but he didn't care and quickly found cover behind a supply crate.

During the firefight, Mezo was also somewhat disheveled.

She was grazed by several stray bullets and quickly dodged to the side. Just then, she heard Rum's voice echo in the silent corridor, with a teasing tone like a cat playing with a mouse: "You're really dedicated, aren't you? Even at this point, you still won't give up?"

Mezzo did not respond.

She simply observed the situation outside the bunker, as well as the number and weaponry of the enemy.

"Put down your gun, Mezzo."

“Your loyalty to that gentleman is admirable. But times have changed, and his rule should come to an end.”

"Hand over that box to me, and I might give you a quick death, or even... spare your life. It would be a shame to lose someone as talented as you."

-

I think I caught something; I've had a headache and fever for two days, and today I had an IV drip. My eyes still feel hot.

Chapter 121: Death Match

Rum's attempts to persuade Rum to surrender were like throwing a stone into the sea; apart from the lingering echoes of gunfire in the tunnel and the increasingly tense atmosphere of killing intent, there was no response.

Mezzo's figure was hidden behind cover, blending into the shadows of the stone wall, only his cold gaze seemed to pierce through the barrier and strike Rum.

"Ungrateful."

Rum's patience wore thin, and only a cruel glint remained in his one eye. "Kill her! Take the box!"

In this final operation, he was accompanied by a group of skilled fighters.

Two subordinates immediately leaped out of their cover from both sides, forming a pincer movement to flank Mezo's position, their guns spitting fire.

However, Mezzo's reaction seemed unusually quick.

She seemed to have anticipated the enemy's actions. The moment the first enemy showed his face, she swiftly raised her submachine gun, and the bullet accurately struck the enemy's arm holding the gun. The man screamed and dropped his weapon.

Almost simultaneously, Mezzo leaned back to avoid a bullet coming from the other side, and with lightning speed, pulled a large-caliber pistol from his leg holster with his left hand. Without even looking, he pulled the trigger in the general direction!

boom!

The deafening gunshots echoed through the corridor. The enemy who had attempted a flanking attack exploded in a spray of blood from his chest, staring wide-eyed in disbelief as he fell backward.

"Watch out! She's a sharpshooter!" The other men were alarmed, and their attack faltered.

Mezzo seized this fleeting opportunity, and instead of continuing to shoot, he suddenly raised his gun and fired several shots at several fixed lights diagonally above his head.

boom!

boom!

boom!

The sound of shattering glass rang out one after another, and several of the dim emergency lights went out instantly, plunging the passageway into darkness and casting shadows over large areas. Only a few lights in the distance stubbornly remained lit, dividing the battle zone into an eerie scene of interwoven light and shadow.

Thermal imaging!

Rum growled.

The men immediately activated the thermal imaging function on their firearms, and in the green field of vision, the outline of Mezo's heat source was clearly visible. However, before they could lock on, Mezo's figure had already moved like a ghost.

Instead of fleeing in a straight line, she instantly darted into a dark corner where all the lights were off. Then, her heat signature began to move with incredible speed and an eerie trajectory—sometimes hugging the cold stone wall to reduce heat radiation, sometimes quickly sliding from one cover to another, leaving elusive afterimages in the green field of view of the thermal imaging!

Where is she?!

"Three o'clock! No... it's moved again!"

Rum's men were momentarily flustered. Their movements were struggling to keep up with the opponent's high-speed movement, which made full use of the environment to cool down.

"Don't panic! Maintain formation and cover that area with fire!" Rum calmly ordered, while he himself quietly moved toward the box that Mezo had pushed into the corner.

Da da da da!

Assault rifle bullets swept across the dark area where Mezo had last appeared like a deluge, sparks flying as they hit the stone walls and boxes.

However, the expected screams or gunshots did not come.

Suddenly, Rum keenly caught an extremely faint "click" sound amidst the gunfire. His heart skipped a beat; he suddenly realized that the other man had been caught up to here, and it might have been intentional—

"Watch out for traps!" he warned sternly.

But it was too late!

Suddenly, without warning, several stone slabs on the seemingly flat stone wall on one side of the passage sprang open, revealing dark holes behind them.

The next moment, accompanied by the muffled sound of the mechanism, several incredibly powerful steel crossbow bolts shot out fiercely, covering the area where Rum's men were most concentrated!

"Ugh—!"

One of his men reacted a little too slowly and was struck in the thigh by a crossbow bolt, falling to the ground screaming in agony.

The other man dodged in time, but the crossbow bolt grazed his tactical vest, leaving a trail of sparks and a deep scratch.

Another crossbow bolt made a vicious thud, embedding itself deeply into a supply crate, its fletching still trembling.

This sudden mechanical attack disrupted Rum's team's formation and gave Mezo a golden opportunity.

Just as the crossbow bolts were fired and everyone instinctively dodged or sought cover, Mezo, like a cheetah that had been lying in wait, suddenly pounced out of the shadows from another direction!

Her goal was clear—not to kill, but to target the enemy who had been wounded and fallen by a crossbow bolt.

She was so fast that she left only a blurry afterimage in the air, and in the blink of an eye she was close to the wounded man.

Before the other man could even turn his gun around, Mezo delivered a swift chop to the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious without a sound. Mezo grabbed the fallen assault rifle and, without even glancing at it, fired a burst of bullets in Rum's general direction to suppress him, while simultaneously retreating rapidly and disappearing back into the darkness.

Her entire movement was fluid and graceful.

From exploiting the darkness and the visual delay of thermal imaging, to triggering the unique mechanism to create chaos, to the precise raid to seize weapons and retreat, it all took only a dozen seconds.