Moth Chasing the Sun 24

"You're disobeying orders." Hei Ge's voice came through the earpiece, slightly distorted, landing bluntly in Bai Ge's ears.

A hint of indifference flickered in Bai Ge's eyes. "Is that so? I just didn't execute the order in time."

He gazed out the window, watching the traffic flow like stars, detached. "Besides, I'm already in the car now."

Hei Ge indulged his twin brother, unable to scold him. He had specifically arranged for Lightning to accompany Bai Ge to prevent this very situation.

Bai Ge knew that all too well. So he still defied orders, and it was hard not to think it was intentional.

*When will you grow up? What will you do if I'm not around?* Such thoughts lingered in Hei Ge's mind but never left his lips. Given his current half-dead state and his understanding of his brother, he knew those words would only add fuel to the fire.

Hei Ge let out a long, helpless sigh. "Don't do that next time."

The car drove back to the temporary safe house. Bai Ge opened the door and jumped out, his face sullen like a rebellious youth.

Considering his age, perhaps adolescence could explain the situation well enough.

Raspberry and Lightning followed behind, exchanging glances and shrugging. The latter made a gesture, pointing at the figure ahead.

Raspberry hastily shook her head. She wouldn't dare get involved in that.

While they were resting, new messages arrived. At the same time that Grey Rabbit, the base leader of Moon City, was leading his people in a fight with the Church, the latter had unexpectedly offered up a piece of intelligence.

It was Azbeto's whereabouts.

Such betrayal of allies was nothing new for the Church.

The soil of the Federation ensured that flowers of evil bloomed brilliantly here. Terrorist organizations sprouted like spring bamboo shoots, and the Church's survival owed not only to the support of wealthy magnates but also to its own shamelessness.

Anyone who had cooperated with the Church had been sold out at some point. Pushing partners forward to take the blame and using them to draw the attention of the Resistance was their specialty.

As the saying goes, better the friend die than the monk starve—they had mastered the art of deflecting trouble.

The Resistance had no choice but to willingly act as the blade, because these terrorist organizations were all bad news and had to be eliminated.

Both sides were satisfied, and no one was hurt except for the unfortunate partners.

Azbeto had to be dealt with; his hegemonic rule couldn't be allowed to succeed.

However, whether this coordinate was real or fake, the Resistance needed to investigate further. Based on past experience, there was an eighty percent chance it was real, and the chance of a trap was false.

But reality wasn't a game; percentages couldn't be considered—they had no meaning. They only had one chance.

Yet since they had the coordinates, it meant that the cooperation between the Church and Azbeto had already ended. Without the support of the Mutation Serum, only an open war remained, which depended on whether the Federation's military was strong enough on its own.

Still, after years of dealing with the Church, the Resistance had prepared its own countermeasures.

The one who delivered the news to Grey Rabbit was a Cardinal. His voice was distorted by a device, revealing neither gender; his face was masked, and his robe was wide, hiding his figure.

But to show goodwill, the Cardinal met with Grey Rabbit face to face. They were close enough that Grey Rabbit could play a little trick, sprinkling something on him.

A bit of fragrant powder, undetectable by the human nose, but one new member of the Resistance could smell it.

This was a poor soul Grey Rabbit had saved—a little girl, skin and bones, lying by the roadside, filthy all over. When Grey Rabbit found her, she was barely breathing, on the verge of starving to death.

He saved her, gave her some food, and sent her to an orphanage, but never expected to see her crouching at his doorstep the next day.

Grey Rabbit nearly shot her.

He thought she was a spy from some enemy organization, tracking him to his safe house.

But the girl looked at him without any wariness, visibly happy.

After a disjointed conversation, Grey Rabbit finally realized that she had awakened an esper power—an incredibly sensitive nose—and had followed the scent to find him.

The orphanage was nearly half the city away. To track him down, her ability level must be high. She looked only five or six years old, yet she had walked this far on foot—a display of remarkable determination.

Grey Rabbit weighed his options and decided to keep her.

The girl's name was Duo Duo.

After testing, her ability was rated A-level, with no other fancy powers. Only one: the ability to track scents. As long as she remembered a smell, she could always find it, and other odors wouldn't interfere.

In Duo Duo's own words, it was very obvious, like a meat bun.

The maximum range was 200 kilometers, and Moon City's north-south distance was only 190 kilometers.

The research department was stunned; they had never seen an ability with such an effective range. Was this the advantage of a single, focused power?

No one could explain it. Espers weren't scientific, and there was no pattern.

Duo Duo acknowledged Grey Rabbit as her godfather and obeyed him in everything. It was also because of her that the organization came up with this plan.

Being able to sprinkle fragrant powder on the Cardinal was an unexpected boon; they had originally planned to capture an ordinary member.

The Cardinal remained in place for now, only moving to a different stronghold, still in Moon City. The Resistance rented a house a block away, letting Grey Rabbit and Duo Duo stake out the location.

On the other side, they planned to send someone to check the coordinates of Azbeto's location they had been given.

Gaoshan City was a few days' drive from Moon City, requiring patience. The natural choice was, of course, Druid Ger. He was the most suitable and the most covert.

The Resistance had once had another esper who could hide himself in shadows, and those tasks were usually assigned to him, but he had already fallen.

He died in an explosion.

Since the Church had taken the initiative to show goodwill, they could cease the recent harassment.

If they continued, the Church would start to retaliate.

This kind of tacit understanding born from long-term opposition was utterly repulsive.

For the Church, low-level personnel were consumables. They recruited through brainwashing and never feared a shortage.

With faith as the carrot on the rod, there were always donkeys following behind.

The Resistance, however, was different. Every member was immensely important—an irreplaceable comrade. Sacrifice was avoided whenever possible.

Yan Xianchuan had been eagerly preparing to blow up a church with explosives, but received a last-minute notice to stand down. She pouted and immediately fell into sullenness.

Lu Mingqiu said, "I'll treat you to a banana split."

Yan Xianchuan raised a finger. "Add a serving of grilled lamb ribs."

Lu Mingqiu waved her hand generously. "No problem."