Chapter 105: The Operation (Part Two)

The Lido Ballroom closed at four in the morning; Li Wensheng was brought to the Iwai Residence by Zhang Lanhua at four fifty. By the time Li Wensheng left the conference room, it was past five.

It was now mid-June; the weather had begun to grow slightly hot, and dawn came early. At five o'clock, the sky was already faintly bright.

The security at the Iwai Residence was stringent, but only on the outside layer.

When Li Wensheng was brought in, he noticed guards stationed at the main gate, in the garden, and along the walls.

However, inside the buildings, the security was comparatively lax. From the moment he entered the building until he was led to Zhang Lanhua’s office, he saw only one person; on the way to the third-floor conference room, he saw none.

The path was deserted, and Li Wensheng quickly arrived at the doorway of this building.

Two guards stood at the entrance, and they were quite alert.

Although Li Wensheng wore the uniform of one of their own, when he stepped out alone, they found it strange. Why was it just one person, and a stranger at that, someone they had never seen before?

When Li Wensheng reached the stone courtyard about ten meters ahead and had his back turned to them, they called out.

“Wait, you—”

Before the man could finish, Li Wensheng spun around swiftly and charged forward, shoulder-checking the man violently.

Bang! The man was slammed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

This time, Li Wensheng had unleashed his full strength, unlike at the Qiaole Dance Hall where the cramped space limited his power.

He had taken a few running steps to build momentum, charging like a raging bull.

The man’s sternum was broken on impact; as he hit the ground, he coughed up blood and lost consciousness.

Before the second guard could recover from the shock, Li Wensheng turned sharply, taking two large strides forward and flashed his right hand to seize the man’s throat.

With a sharp crack, the windpipe was crushed. Then, with a twist and a snap, Li Wensheng broke the man’s neck.

As the man fell, Li Wensheng suddenly staggered slightly, clutching his left side with his right hand.

“Impulsive… the injury isn’t fully healed. I shouldn’t have acted so quickly just because I thought I could use Wang Feng to get into the Iwai Residence,” he chastised himself silently.

At this point, regret was useless; he still had to move forward.

After dealing with the unconscious man, Li Wensheng dragged both bodies into the flowerbed in front of the building.

Since Zhang Lanhua had brought him into the Iwai Residence, Li Wensheng had been secretly observing the layout of the buildings.

The Iwai Residence consisted of five buildings—two on each side and one in the center—forming an inverted U-shape, with a garden and open space in the middle.

The island nation's culture derived from Chinese traditions, so it was obvious that Eiichi Iwai’s office would be in the central building, along with the archives.

The residence was vast, and the building Zhang Lanhua had brought Li Wensheng into was the front left one, over a thousand meters away from the central building. Between them lay nothing but flowerbeds, lawns, and paved stone courtyards—no cover whatsoever.

After scanning the surroundings, Li Wensheng furrowed his brow.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he muttered, “Looks like I have no choice but to take a risk.”

He then searched within his system space and pulled out a sharp dagger. Following the wall, he moved to the edge of the building and turned to walk backward.

Each of the five buildings was spaced far apart—at least twenty meters between them. Li Wensheng had noticed this when he was brought in and thus hadn’t considered jumping between rooftops.

The security was all stationed outside the buildings. In the large open spaces between them, guards stood on duty every few meters.

Li Wensheng had taken only a couple of steps along the wall when the nearest guard spotted him.

“Which unit are you from? What are you doing here?” the guard asked as he approached.

By the time the man reached him, Li Wensheng had barely uttered a word when he suddenly struck.

In the pale light of dawn, a glint of steel flashed; instantly, a bloody gash appeared across the man’s throat.

“You—” the guard clutched his neck, shocked and terrified, whispering a single syllable before collapsing.

As the man fell, Li Wensheng had already taken several strides forward.

After his quick move, he dashed past the fallen man toward another guard five meters ahead.

This guard had been watching Li Wensheng for some time but, taken by surprise, hadn’t seen his attack clearly.

When Li Wensheng passed by, the guard sensed something was wrong and reached for his gun.

However, he was too slow. As he drew his weapon, Li Wensheng sprang into a run, flinging the dagger from his hand.

The blade struck true, piercing the guard’s throat.

The guard stared in disbelief as Li Wensheng approached.

Before he could fall, Li Wensheng withdrew the dagger, blood spraying from the wound, and continued swiftly toward another guard five meters away.

The guards’ vigilance was truly formidable. The commotion drew the attention of other guards stationed between the two buildings.

After killing two men, the remaining three immediately reacted, drawing their guns.

Bang!

Before they could fire, one guard suddenly had a dagger lodged in his throat.

But then—crack, crack—the other two fired.

Though Li Wensheng’s speed was incredible and the bullets missed him, the gunfire shattered the dawn’s silence, alerting everyone at the Iwai Residence.

“Damn!” Li Wensheng cursed, as two pistols appeared in his hands in an instant.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang out, killing the two guards instantly.

He spun around and sprinted back.

Fortunately, Li Wensheng was extremely fast. Sprinting at full speed, he was like a gust of wind.

The distance between the two buildings and the open space was considerable, as was the distance to the other guards.

By the time a team arrived at the open space between the buildings, Li Wensheng had already returned to the building he had come from.

Their leader glanced over the scene and immediately ordered one man, “Go inform Captain Hase!”

“No need to inform him—I’m here. Kase, what happened?”

A robust man in his thirties appeared with four others.

“Captain, I just arrived as well.”

Scanning the five bodies, the captain’s pupils contracted sharply.

“An expert—a very fast and skilled killer!”

With a grave expression, Captain Hase ordered Kase, “Report to Consul Iwai immediately. There’s an intruder with exceptional skills.”

“Yes, sir!”

Kase and his unit turned and left.

The Iwai Residence belonged to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which did not have good relations with the Army or Navy.

To prevent military personnel from infiltrating as spies, Eiichi Iwai had deliberately chosen not to recruit from the military when establishing the residence.

Aside from Hase and Zhang Lanhua, who were dispatched from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all other personnel were recruited locally within the island nation.

None had battlefield experience, and the residence had only been operational for a few months—their training equally brief.

Under the guidance of an elite like Hase, their guard duty was strict and orderly during calm times, and their vigilance high. But when trouble arose, they panicked.

At the sound of gunfire, multiple groups rushed over without considering that the killer might escape because of their departure.

Faced with the gathering crowd, Hase frowned and barked, “Return to your posts immediately!”

The group turned and dispersed.

Hase then instructed someone nearby, “Wake the daytime shift and have them search everywhere.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hase crouched to examine the bodies.

From his initial glance, he had already concluded the killer was an expert who had slain five people almost instantaneously.

Unfortunately, the killer had been just a fraction slow, allowing two guards to draw their guns.

The more he examined, the more astonished—and increasingly uneasy—Hase became.

The killer’s skill was terrifying: the first three victims died from single knife strikes, especially the third, who was killed by a thrown dagger from several meters away, half the blade lodged deep in the throat.

The speed, precision, and force were astounding.

The two guards shot dead had headshots, indicating the killer was also a sharpshooter.

Such inhuman skill combined with marksmanship made Hase think, “A killing machine.”