Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 529 The Informant

Upon entering the inner city, the murky and oppressive air did not become fresher; it simply took on a different smell.

The outer city was a rotting despair, while the inner city was a tense order shrouded in oil and metal dust.

The streets were relatively wide, but still chaotic.

The crudely modified vehicles roared like wheezes, crowding the barely passable road. Pedestrians hurried along, their faces showing a busyness rarely seen in outsiders, mixed with a sense of superiority and wariness.

On the towering, relatively intact exterior walls of the building, rough neon signs and holographic warning slogans flashed, and the sound of the patrol's armored vehicles' tracks rolling over the ground echoed in the distance, carrying a heavy sense of oppression.

Tang Zijun had already briefly looked at the scenery here last night, so she didn't pay too much attention. Leisen, on the other hand, carefully observed the surrounding situation. Only Yedi looked around curiously—it was her first time in the inner city.

The three of them had just stopped at the entrance of a relatively quiet alleyway piled with scrap metal and oil drums when Leisen impatiently pulled down his hood. The cold air brushed against his scarred and stubble-covered face, and a predatory glint, almost restless, flashed in his single eye. He glanced at Tang Zijun and Yedi, who were still bundled up tightly, like two gray stone statues, and lowered his voice impatiently. "Listen, we don't have time to waste here. I heard things are getting tense in the city these past few days. If possible, we'd better leave today." He pointed with his rough finger to a darker, more complex area deeper into the inner city, hidden by taller buildings.

"Old Chimney's territory is over there, near the old sewer hub. Only he can get the 'ticket' to the southern wasteland, and it has to be fast. The patrol team's rotation window on the southern ring road is very short. If you miss this opportunity, you'll have to wait at least another half month."

The "ticket" he mentioned naturally refers to the route for smuggling out of the inner city and heading south to the wilderness.

"What do you mean by saying the city has been unsettled these past two days?" Tang Zijun asked.

Leisen frowned, seemingly reluctant, but still spoke up. "I heard it from a female... female boss, that the resistance has infiltrated the inner city and they're preparing to take action in the next couple of days."

The term "resistance army" is a collective term for all organizations that rebel against the gods of the Age and the Church of the Age.

It's no longer a secret that the City of Glory has Epoch Church backing; they just haven't openly supported the Epoch Gods, but those who frequent the city are mostly church members.

What Tang Zijun didn't expect was that there were also resistance fighters mixed in here.

"Actually, this kind of thing is very normal. Wherever there are people, there will be power struggles. The City of Glory has been infiltrated by the Church of the Epoch, so naturally some people want to take it back."

Leisen waved his hand and continued, "But that's none of our business. What we need to do now is find my informant and contact Old Chimney."

Leisen clearly didn't fully trust the smuggler known as "Old Chimney," his tone carrying a deep sense of apprehension and a barely perceptible hint of disgust. "That old bastard is more venomous than a radioactive scorpion. He's always demanding exorbitant prices and turning his back on people, but... right now, he's the only one with connections." His gaze swept over Tang Zijun and Yedi, lingering particularly on the petite Yedi, his brows furrowing even deeper. "Stay close to me, don't look around, don't make a sound. There are more informants than rats in the inner city. If the patrols or some other scum target us, we're finished." With that, Leisen roughly pulled his hood down again, obscuring most of his face.

He hunched over his massive body, but his steps carried a familiar, beast-like swiftness and alertness.

Instead of taking the relatively open main road, Leisen, like a seasoned hyena, plunged headlong into the narrower back alleys piled with garbage and waste.

The air here is even more polluted, filled with the smell of urine and the pungent odor of chemicals.

In the dim light, one could occasionally see homeless people huddled in corners, or malicious, peering eyes flashing quickly in the shadows. Although Tang Zijun was somewhat curious about the so-called "resistance army," he silently followed them, his wide robe barely rippling with his movements.

He was more like a moving shadow, precisely stepping where Leisen had stepped, avoiding the sewage and sharp metal fragments on the ground. His hood spun slightly, as if silently scanning the complex environment around him—the rusty pipes crisscrossing like a spider web above his head, the mottled graffiti and black holes left by broken surveillance cameras on the walls on both sides, the indistinct voices or mechanical noises coming from the fork in the road ahead... He silently took in any unusual movement.

Yedi was held tightly by Tang Zijun's little hand, and she had to jog to keep up with the two adults. Her loose robe made her move clumsily, and she almost tripped over protruding stones or discarded parts several times. She only managed to avoid falling because of Tang Zijun's steady and strong hand.

Her small face was hidden in the deep shadow of the hood, only her delicate chin was visible, her breathing rapid from running and tension. Strange noises occasionally coming from the depths of the alley would make her small hands suddenly clench the hem of Tang Zijun's robe, and her body would tremble slightly.

She diligently followed Rayson's warning, daring not to look around, but keeping her eyes fixed on Rayson's heavy, mud-caked leather boots as he moved quickly ahead. Rayson clearly knew the area intimately, and he led the two of them swiftly through the maze-like alleyways.

Sometimes it turns left and squeezes into the end of a dead-end alley piled with old tires, kicks open an inconspicuous wooden door, revealing a damp gap just big enough for one person to bend over and pass through, and sometimes it climbs up a rusty external metal staircase, crossing across a rickety platform to the edge of the roof of another group of buildings.

He avoided all main roads and routes with obvious patrol markings, moving with the agility of a raccoon, creating a strange contrast with his massive body.

Only occasionally, when he needed to overcome an obstacle, would his injured right leg show a slight, almost imperceptible sluggishness, which he would quickly mask with even greater strength.

About twenty minutes later, they stopped at the edge of an area that resembled a steel forest, consisting of huge, rusty industrial pipes and abandoned cooling towers.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur and rust. Lehsen leaned against a huge pipe, more than two meters in diameter, that was still radiating residual heat, and made a stop gesture.

He cautiously peeked out, his single eye sharply scanning the area ahead, enclosed by a metal fence, which appeared to be the entrance to an old equipment maintenance passage. The entrance was piled high with various discarded machine parts and oil drums, forming a natural barrier.

A heavy, riveted metal door was half-open, letting in a dim, flickering light and the smell of cheap tobacco mixed with engine oil.

Several men dressed in worn-out work clothes, with wandering eyes and faint traces of rudimentary alterations visible on their arms or necks, squatted or leaned near the door, seemingly doing nothing, but their eyes scanned every corner of the area like radar.

"That's it, 'Old Chimney's' lair." Rayson's voice was extremely low. "Martial law? There are two unfamiliar guard dogs at the gate..." Logically speaking, his informant should be waiting for him here.

He glanced back at Tang Zijun and Yedi, a hint of anxiety and seriousness flashing in his eyes. "You two stay in here, cover your mouths, and no matter what noise you hear, don't come out unless I call you."

He pointed to the deep shadow cast by the massive pipe behind him. "Wait for my signal."

After speaking, seeing that Tang Zijun and Yedi both nodded, Leisen took a deep breath and, like a moving wall, suddenly stepped out from behind the pipe. He no longer deliberately hunched over, but straightened his back, instantly releasing the oppressive aura of a wasteland powerhouse, tinged with the smell of blood, as he strode towards the half-open iron door that exuded an ominous aura.

The two men guarding the door immediately straightened up, their scrutinizing and wary gazes fixed on the uninvited guest. In the shadows, Tang Zijun tucked Yedi even deeper behind her.

His hood was slightly raised, and his wild senses spread silently, like an invisible spider web, covering the area in front of him.

He "watched" Leisen's burly figure walk towards the door, and also "saw" the heartbeats and breathing sounds hidden in the dim light deep in the maintenance passage.

"Tang Zijun, aren't we going to copy the data from those labs?" Suolin asked softly.

But Tang Zijun simply waved her hand, signaling her not to speak yet. After a pause, Tang Zijun finally spoke.

"Don't rush, I have a feeling we're not going to be able to leave today."