“The engineering team consists of five people: three are subordinates of Black Mask, one is a skilled sniper, and there’s also an innocent citizen.”

“You need to take away the innocent one before they enter my office without arousing suspicion.”

“Now,” the Mayor said, “you can start thinking.”

You have half an hour.

No! Why me? Millie thought.

But she didn’t ask aloud nor did she refuse; she simply looked at the woman in front of her with incredulous and slightly aggrieved eyes, like a well-behaved and graceful Doberman.

Ms. Anna was so gentle yet so cold, and Millie had no right to refuse.

She had never had the right to refuse, from her father’s commands to her boss’s and now the Mayor’s. However, the former never had any expectations of her…

Think! No one will help you, think!

Nobody knew, when Millie stood in front of Peter and the others, uttering those words, that her mind was a blank slate.

“Sorry,” Millie raised an eyebrow, deliberately covered her lips with her hand, and gave a perfunctory smile to everyone except Peter, “You’re here to fix that wall, right? Follow me.”

Then, she stepped forward, striding past the stunned Peter, using the height advantage of her high heels and the stride that came with it, almost pulling him along in an intimate manner.

Peter was no fool; he quickly realized what the lady in front of him wanted to say. Although he felt very awkward, he made a quick decision and immediately followed her.

Watching the two’s retreating figures, the sniper lightly pressed his right hand on the seam of his trousers. After a moment, he slowly relaxed his hand, touched his earlobe, and took the opportunity to adjust the earpiece tucked behind his ear.

— Perhaps it would take a long time for Millie to realize that at this moment, she had made a correct decision that saved her own life.

The other three men shrugged, exchanged glances, and followed suit.

On the other side, on Vivi’s panel—

【You have received a side quest: Eavesdropping】

【Quest Description: Installing eavesdropping devices in the City Hall is too much, this is your territory after all】

【Be careful not to let the eavesdropper get the information he wants, and show him a lesson】

【You have received a side quest: More Eavesdropping?】

【Quest Description: When you find the first eavesdropper, it means you’ll find a bunch of them in the corners of the room】

【All eavesdropping device locations have been marked out, remove the devices, and investigate the mastermind behind this】

“These red-named guys are actually into eavesdropping? Just as I thought… All NPCs have high AI, I must treat them as real humans,” the half-day gaming experience taught her not to underestimate the intelligence of NPCs, they are not artificial imbeciles, “Well, it makes things more interesting.”

Where’s the sense of achievement in bullying artificial imbeciles?

The map showed a temporary worker with a large [megaphone] icon, and on the other side, above the killer, flashed an [ear] symbol, as obvious as it could be.

Should I send a direct message to the secretary to alert her?

Perhaps she could do that, but thinking of her own purpose, Vivi felt she had a better way.

She stuffed the empty bottle in her hand into her bag and left the restroom with brisk steps.

*

The atmosphere between Millie and Peter was extremely awkward; both knew they were not in that kind of relationship, but neither knew when to show they weren’t. Peter… Peter felt he needed to cooperate with her, while Millie was just frustrated.

As mentioned before, the Mayor’s office includes a bedroom on the left, a study on the right, and a personal bathroom for washing up in the bedroom. There are three ways to the office because right in front of the main door is a “T” shaped corridor, with the office door directly facing the corridor at the junction of the “T”, obviously, the honorable Mayor’s office is located in the center of the City Hall.

The offices of other departments are on both sides of the corridor, and at this time, all doors are tightly closed. Millie explained, “You know, there was a little problem with one of the walls, and everyone else is making too much of a fuss—”

So, this is about keeping the onlookers locked up in their offices?

The Mayor’s door was already in sight, including the ridiculous hole next to it. Glancing over, Peter felt a bit guilty — but, heavens, if it weren’t for the other side using a gun first last night, he wouldn’t have panicked — well, of course, if he hadn’t broken into the City Hall, he probably wouldn’t have encountered a gunfight, cough.

Millie’s pace gradually slowed down, and without turning her head, she naturally didn’t see the small actions of the people behind her.

The small leader of Black Mask’s subordinates hesitated about whether to make a move.

The door was wide open, and the Mayor was clearly not in the office. Right in front, including the “robust construction worker,” there were three possible hostages, but the most convenient ones were naturally the frail Peter and Millie; otherwise, how would they leave City Hall?

Of course, there was another way. It seemed no one realized they were gangsters. If they repaired the wall like real construction workers and then drove away, nothing would happen.

…But how could that be possible?

Just at this moment, Millie’s phone suddenly rang. She stopped in her tracks and answered the call, starting with, “Madam Mayor?”

The others halted as well, but Millie then turned towards them (the four men) and asked, “I believe it’s time to start work, gentlemen. Do I need to invite you?”

Underboss & Subordinates x2 & Deadshot: “……”

“You said you’re in the office… Oh, is that so…” Millie continued on the phone, “Sorry, the signal here is not very clear… I need to move to a different spot…”

While on the phone, Millie casually pulled Peter with her into the adjacent secretary’s office. Seeing her not far away, the four men left behind exchanged glances and chose to enter the Mayor’s office, which was closest and most likely to be their target.

Just then, Deadshot heard a clear voice coming from the other side of the eavesdropping device—

【“You’re in the office… Oh, I see…”】

Deadshot frowned and looked around.

【“The lock… the lock is broken? Please wait a moment, I will find out if there’s a spare key, and if those construction workers have arrived. Madam, I think unlocking it wouldn’t be difficult for them.” Then there was the sound of movement, drawers being opened in search of keys, and speaking to the boy, “You sit down first.”】

Locked up, Deadshot thought, according to the information he overheard, the Mayor was still in her office but locked in a sealed space, hence she was calling her secretary for help… It seemed like the perfect time for him to act.

For some reason, a strange impulse flashed in his mind, as if saying:

“Killing is your job, and now is the perfect time to do it, an opportunity like this won’t come again.”

“Go do it now, don’t hesitate, your target is right in front of you, don’t you feel… excited?”

He heard two “bangs”, signaling the other three had already started abandoning their disguise, directly beginning to search the room, although a bit recklessly, but seemingly just right.

“Hey, what are you doing—”

It seemed someone opened the door, coming out from another department’s office, shouting towards them in a strong voice.

It seemed their noise had alerted the clerks in the other department’s offices… The shooter hesitated no longer and quickly entered the Mayor’s adjacent restroom. He noticed the open window, confirming he could escape at any time if his action failed.

—This was his second mistake.

—Stepping on the woolen carpet, not lifting it to check the red pattern on the floor beneath, that was his first mistake.

Just as he entered the room, swiftly locked onto the bathroom, and began to smash the door, the other three also squeezed in. Even with their heads in bags, they should have realized by now that he was no ordinary construction worker, so they decided to start with the usual negotiation.

“We need to capture the Mayor—”

“I’m going to kill her,” said the Deadshot, “we’re not on the same side.”

The negotiation failed in seconds.

The moment the bathroom door was smashed open, they already saw a woman with scattered golden hair in the corner, and then, pushed by the people behind, they entered the bathroom— at that moment, the Deadshot, one of the world’s best assassins, an excellent sniper, his instincts started screaming alarm.

Something was wrong.

He looked at the woman lying in the bathroom, her nose still perched with glasses, her eyes tightly closed, as if she had fainted.

But—

He didn’t make a move.

She was already dead.

“Bang” “Bang” “Bang” “Bang”… the sounds of someone breaking in and rapidly approaching.

This is a damn trap! He pulled out his gun.

…The [rascals] were also unclear about what was happening.

The eleven red-named members in the security team did not know each other, as they were not planted at the same time. But on this day, they got to know each other. The Mayor had sent the original employees to the neighboring museum, emptied the office, and picked eleven people from the security team. Half of them were sent to catch a “snake that swam into the office and scared everyone,” while the other half went around to the Mayor’s restroom window to see if the snake had run into the bushes.

Then, they received a call from the secretary, asking them to bring “handy tools” as the lock of the Mayor’s office was broken, and they might as well fix it.

The Madam Mayor sure had a lot on her plate, but she is the Mayor, isn’t she?

They pushed open the door, climbed through windows, and were greeted by bullets—

【Your [Floor Pattern Spray Paint (Red) x100L] has been completely used up】

【Your bound [Mayor’s Glasses] has been returned】

Outside the Mayor’s office door, Vivi pushed her glasses with one hand and twisted the handle, “click”, she gently locked the door.