Once he stood steady on the escalator, Gao Yi casually scrolled through his phone, but his peripheral vision, occasionally glancing up, had already captured the necessary information.
Four people, three men and one woman.
If he guessed correctly, they were all players, and experienced ones at that.
As Gao Yi got on the escalator, two of them headed towards the fire escape, and two slowly tracked him from behind.
They weren't in a hurry, maintaining a certain distance, seemingly not worried about losing him.
Maintaining distance was understandable; 'players' could sense each other, and those few clearly knew this.
But with this tracking distance, they didn't seem to be afraid of losing him at all... Did they have some kind of tracking method?
Gao Yi frowned slightly, but what caught his attention more than these four pursuers was the description in the special mission.
“Evade the pursuit of suspicious players and the Investigation Bureau, and ensure your true identity is not discovered.”
The suspicious players should be these four, so... what is the “Investigation Bureau”?
His mind raced, and Gao Yi suddenly recalled the words shouted by the two security guards running on the subway last night.
“The police and the Investigation Bureau will be here soon! Put down your weapons and surrender on the ground!”
Investigation Bureau?
Is it the same thing? He had never heard of such an organization before.
Combining it with the current situation, a guess instantly formed in his mind.
Is this so-called “Investigation Bureau” an official department established to deal with the sudden appearance of the “player” group?
The mission's phrasing meant that... not only were a few ill-intentioned players pursuing him, but also official personnel?!
No, calm down and think. He was currently in the transformed state of the Mist Mask; he wasn't “himself” at all, and there was no reason for him to be tracked.
If they were truly official personnel, then most likely they were pursuing those few players.
Just as Gao Yi's thoughts reached this point, several noticeably unusual people walked in from the main entrance of the mall downstairs and were currently looking around in the ground floor lobby.
Although they were in plain clothes, their posture and gait still betrayed the fact that they had received professional military training.
Even if they weren't former soldiers or armed police, they had received relevant training.
They tried to hide it, but under Gao Yi's Armchair Detective observation, it was still very obvious.
This meant that they had only just arrived at this “Hulong Mall” rather than being ambushed here beforehand.
That was good news; it meant that the entire mall was not yet completely surrounded.
Twisting his neck, Gao Yi looked down at the time.
8:29 PM.
The Mist Mask's duration was still half an hour, exactly the same as the special mission's countdown.
It seemed the system also believed he should escape before transforming back.
With a slight thought, Gao Yi changed his tag settings.
To enhance affinity and make transactions more approachable, the Enthusiastic Citizen tag was retained.
Its Super Combat Squad: Combat power will be enhanced when acting righteously might be useful.
And the Deadbeat tag was replaced by Gao Yi with the Actor tag.
Mainly for its enhancement of acting skills; he really needed that right now.
As for other combat power... The simultaneous use of the active effects of the Stunt Belt and Armchair Detective should give him about two minutes of burst time.
But that would also cause Gao Yi himself to fall into a period of “weakness,” so it could only be used at the most critical and final moments.
Among the system's items, he still had half a bottle of Super Anti-Wolf Spray and an Empowering Nail Clipper whose effect was unknown.
It was a pity that the previous Inflatable Giant Hammer was already scrapped; otherwise, it would have been a usable weapon.
Gao Yi intentionally slowed his pace, stopping and starting as he walked through the mall.
Behind him, the four tracking players dispersed again, maintaining a distance of about fifty meters.
Below, the number of Investigation Bureau personnel was still increasing; no fewer than twenty had already entered the mall.
By logical inference, there were probably even more people monitoring and surrounding the perimeter.
Even if only this Building A of “Hulong Mall” was counted, its internal space was very large.
Just on Gao Yi's side alone, there were at least four escalators, two direct elevators, and two fire escapes.
However, this level of transportation facilities was somewhat insufficient to handle dense crowds.
The entire mall was bustling with people, especially on the second floor where Gao Yi was currently, seemingly because many clothing stores were on sale, attracting many customers.
Gao Yi wasn't in a hurry; he would occasionally stop outside stores to watch.
In his peripheral vision, the four tracking players were still behind him; it seemed they were indeed eyeing his Stunt Belt.
Actually, Gao Yi had anticipated this; judging from the situation on the forums, blue-quality equipment was very rare and sought after.
Although Zhao Qian had mentioned that “the 'game' does not encourage players to kill each other, and various item abilities disappear when a player dies in reality.”
But what if you just made others “voluntarily” hand over their items?
Hit them with a blunt object, kick them a few times, say some harsh words, and gang up on them.
Roadside robbery is a human tradition that transcends regions and ethnicities, spanning thousands of years.
Needless to say, these few people thought the same.
This was also why they hadn't acted yet; they were probably waiting for Gao Yi to leave the mall and go to a less crowded place.
Their mission had no time limit; as long as they could snatch the equipment, it was a victory.
But then again, the seller of that belt actually had the money; wouldn't it be easier to just rob him?
Unfathomable.
Further back, the Investigation Bureau personnel had already woven a large net, subtly forming a siege around these four people.
This was called the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The only problem was that Gao Yi himself seemed to be the “cicada.”
The greatest essence of this three-way power struggle was the word “mix.”
Mix it up until the other two sides start fighting, then you can reap the benefits.
Not to mention, those Investigation Bureau personnel actually hadn't noticed him at all; they were there to catch those four people.
From this perspective, he just needed to keep shopping, and he could wait for those few to fall into the net of justice, while he himself left safely...
Of course, such simple luck never belonged to Gao Yi.
He tilted his head and looked downstairs again; at the exit door, the Graduate was being escorted out of the mall by two men.
It seemed his seller had already been caught.
Considering the “official arrests and interrogations of all players” he had seen on the “forum.”
To simultaneously expect the Graduate to be full of righteousness and not betray him, and for this group of Investigation Bureau personnel not to check surveillance cameras.
It was a bit unrealistic.
Perhaps the orders had changed; Gao Yi clearly felt the encirclement shrinking towards him.
It seemed he was also on the list to be apprehended.
The good news was that this face and its corresponding Investigator - Snake were just aliases.
As long as the Mist Mask's time ended, and he dealt with the corresponding phone number, he should still be safe.
The bad news was that there were two forces, dozens of people, in the mall staring at him, ready to act at any moment.
These two forces were on one side a unified, well-trained regular army; on the other side were “players” with supernatural abilities and vicious methods.
Sighing, Gao Yi once again cursed the goddess of luck in his heart.
He looked at the time; it was already 8:34 PM.
No matter what, he couldn't wait for those Investigation Bureau personnel to finish preparing and close the encirclement.
Gao Yi made a decision, turned around, and entered the “Children's Play Area” on the second floor of the mall.
Here, numerous parents with children looked exhausted, and the sounds of crying and screaming formed a complete children's symphony.
And Gao Yi was going to make the first move here.
....................
