Chapter 499: Nested Undercover
Chapter 499: Nested Undercover
This woman had teased Fang Cheng repeatedly until he finally snapped.
He squeezed slightly harder, making Julia’s whole body go numb as she hung limply from his grasp.
“I’m pure as ice, yet you trashy women keep trying to grope me. Want me to smash your skull?”
Fang Cheng snorted and activated the System’s trading function: “Refuse, and I’ll execute you as a Gates of Heaven believer. The North American government won’t make trouble over this.”
The System’s deal required mutual consent.
Julia never expected Fang Cheng to demand her Read Thoughts ability. She nearly refused instinctively, but swallowed her words—his threat felt deadly serious.
After weighing her options, survival won. She reluctantly agreed.
Their secret deal concluded silently: Fang Cheng sacrificed one Life to obtain Read Thoughts, while Julia gained an extra Life.
Once done, Fang Cheng pressed his palm against Julia’s head to scan her thoughts.
Julia remained passive, having anticipated this.
Fang Cheng frowned. The ability only captured surface-level thoughts—useless if the target emptied their mind.
“You’re truly S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mole?”
Julia nodded. Her mind showed scenes of receiving orders and altering her appearance.
He questioned her about Gates of Heaven, but she knew little—her undercover timeline was brief. Answers matched her surface thoughts, yet the scant details felt wrong for a mole.
Then he noticed it: Julia’s calm face hid a glint of triumph in her gaze.
“Had training?”
“No!” Julia denied too quickly, her heartbeat spiking.
She’d been trained to bury critical intel, recalling it only through triggers.
“Think I’m helpless?” Fang Cheng sneered, boosting Read Thoughts to Lv3.
Life: -25
Remaining: 381
Read Thoughts Lv3
His hand clamped her head again. A flood of images erupted into his brain.
This was no longer just reading thoughts—it was digging into memories.
Fang Cheng saw every moment of Julia’s life, even the memories she’d buried. Suddenly, her mind sharpened painfully—every forgotten detail, every forced erasure, replaying like a broken record under his grip. Her face whitened as she shook, understanding too late.
When he let go, Julia crumpled to the floor, staring up at him. Devil? The word burned in her throat, unspoken. Now he knew it all—every childhood secret, every furtive touch to chase loneliness. Devil fit.
Her life unfolded in Fang Cheng’s mind like a bad spy flick. Police recruit turned Gates of Heaven mole. Then Gates of Heaven sent her back to Homeland Security. Hard work there got her into the secretive S.H.I.E.L.D., who shoved her back to the cult. Finally, the Gates planted her as the bald director’s assistant.
She’d spun so many lies even she forgot whose side she was on. Survival meant betting on the strongest—walking a knife’s edge till now.
The Gates of Heaven? Just rich men using a cult as cover. Cult leeching off their cash. Not religion—a business deal. North American government cracked down once, but barely scratched them.
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s latest orders? Find Doctor X—biology genius gone missing two years back, linked to artificial superpowers. Julia’s clues pointed to the cult. Those clones? Oli’s “Divine” serum? All Doctor X’s work.
Clones meant Life Fragments—sweet, ripe for taking. But the cult’s new base? Julia didn’t know. Post-raid, they’d vanished.
Fang Cheng now understood North America’s tangled webs. The Department of Homeland Security? Big bosses over anything supernatural.
Other law enforcement agencies were envious and eager to grab a share, trying every means to insert their people into the operation for both public and private gains.
The entire Department of Homeland Security had become as porous as a sieve – throw a brick into the crowd and nine out of ten would hit moles.
This was precisely why S.H.I.E.L.D. had been secretly established, though it too ended up harboring infiltrators.
Fang Cheng stopped pressuring the woman and turned to Victor’s group. “You entered the safety agency to investigate the bald man while searching for Doctor X’s whereabouts.”
Victor and Little Spider were startled at how Fang Cheng knew about their covert mission.
The magician answered plainly, “Not me. My main focus is investigating the Gates of Heaven’s tax evasion and money laundering.”
Many influential figures used cults as financial laundering tools, and the Gates of Heaven proved no exception.
The IRS naturally wouldn’t miss this chance to clean out national parasites… or rather, fulfill their duty of cracking down on financial crimes.
Fang Cheng asked no further questions, aware these agents likely knew less than Julia.
He gestured to Ye Yuqing. “We’re leaving.”
“Wait!”
Victor suddenly called out. “Are you tracking Will and Tony?”
“What if I am?”
“Take me along.”
Victor met Fang Cheng’s gaze intensely. “I can assist you.”
Fang Cheng refused instantly. “Unnecessary.”
He saw them all as deadweight that would only slow him down.
“Mr… Mr. Fang!”
Victor cautiously avoided using the familiar address. “Government support could smooth your path, but they’ll also restrict your free movement across North America.”
The statement held truth yet carried subtle menace.
Fang Cheng turned sharply. “Threatening me?”
Victor clenched his jaw. “Yes. If you refuse, I’ll have to report your identity to the FBI.”
Though indebted to Fang Cheng, this was his best chance to locate the Gates of Heaven’s new base.
Little Spider chimed in, “I agree! Teamwork’s better. I hate working alone anyway.”
Fang Cheng stepped closer. “Not afraid I’ll kill you?”
Confident in his judgment, Victor declared, “No. You’re not that kind of man. I trust you!”
CRACK!
Fang Cheng’s fist smashed into Victor’s face, sending him crashing against a distant wall. The agent collapsed unconscious.
“That punch teaches you not to trust strangers blindly.”
Fang Cheng eyed Little Spider. “Your thoughts?”
“How could you?!”
The young agent hopped angrily, pointing at Victor. “Threatening your savior? I disown you as a friend! We’re through!”
He turned to Fang Cheng, palms raised. “You know me – I hate work. Just want a long vacation and lazy mornings.”
Fang Cheng approved of Little Spider’s quick wit.
Minutes later, all four – Victor, Little Spider, the magician, and Julia – were sealed in blood-forged coffins with air holes. The restraints would hold for two days.
Unable to kill them yet unwilling deadweight, this was Fang Cheng’s compromise.
After breaching the villa’s roof with Ye Yuqing, they emerged into midnight darkness.
Ye Yuqing finally broke her aloof silence. “The bald one’s far gone by now. Can you track him?”
“Obviously. Why else would I cage those four?”
Fang Cheng’s blood still flowed in their target’s veins. His Blood Source ability now offered extended duration and expanded perception range.
The bald man’s position showed clearly in his mind, moving rapidly northeast. This enhanced tracking range was precisely why Fang Cheng had let him escape – to lead them to the cult’s base.
“Likely airborne. Moving fast.”
“Then hurry before he slips away.”
Blood swirled around Fang Cheng, coalescing into a sleek two-seat aircraft shell. No engine needed – he simply employed Vector Control to lift them skyward.
As they ascended, multiple thrust ports formed at the rear. Combining Blood Explosion propulsion with Pure demon flames’ energy through Vector Control, the makeshift jet screamed into the night.