Chapter 150: Disguise
"Oh? They're out again?"
One half of the screen displayed footage from the city's surveillance system: two young women driving, the one behind the wheel chatting animatedly, the other quieter, but not so silent as to leave her companion talking to herself.
The other half showed a 2D map of the city, marking every surveillance camera, with red dots highlighting the cameras Anna and Yuno had passed. As time went on, a clear route formed, giving Lin Wei a precise understanding of their movements.
"Tsk, looks like they're planning to leave the city again," he muttered, noting their trajectory leading away from the urban center.
Once they left the city's extensive surveillance network, he'd have to follow them in person to avoid losing track and risking unforeseen incidents. The thought of tailing them again gave him a headache. It was both troublesome and risky; he'd almost been spotted by Anna on the beach the other day.
"Always going out together, away from the Valkyrie base, and always heading to remote areas…" He recalled the frequent news reports about crackdowns on criminal organizations, a thought forming in his mind, "It looks like they're deliberately creating opportunities for someone."
If that were the case, increased surveillance was even more crucial. If this was a fishing expedition, Anna was one of the baits!
"Sakura, help me get ready. We're heading out soon!" Having made his decision, he called for Yae Sakura's assistance. Such detailed work was best left to a woman's touch for a more natural look.
Yae Sakura appeared beside him. "Open your mouth," she instructed, opening a drawer and taking out a custom-made prosthetic jaw. She carefully positioned it under his chin, adjusted it, then stepped back to observe. Handing him a small mirror, she said, "Take a look."
Lin Wei examined his reflection. The prosthetic had altered his bone structure, making his chin appear shorter and broader. He smiled, satisfied, then closed his eyes, signaling her to continue.
Yae Sakura then inserted two more prosthetics into his cheeks, making his cheekbones more prominent and changing his face shape. Next, she gently pulled down his lower eyelids, inserting tiny pads to create bags under his eyes. A thicker pad was placed on his upper palate.
"Is this uncomfortable?" she asked softly.
"It's alright. Just a bit of a sting in my eyes, I'll get used to it…" He chuckled, "My voice has changed too."
"Yes, it alters your oral structure, constricting muscles, slightly changing your vocal frequency – something like that, anyway." Yae Sakura blushed slightly. She was just following instructions; she didn't fully understand the technicalities.
Lin Wei smiled again, encouraging her to continue.
Yae Sakura styled his hair with gel and reshaped his eyebrows with a trimmer. After a final check, she carefully placed a pair of glasses on his nose. The cool touch of her fingers made his face itch.
As she finished, Yae Sakura faded away. Simultaneously, the Stigmata on Lin Wei's back glowed faintly, intensifying the itching. He touched his face, feeling stubble growing rapidly amidst the itch.
"Alright~" he sighed, enduring it patiently.
When the itching subsided, he opened his eyes and looked at his "new self" in the mirror – a slightly scruffy, somewhat world-weary businessman in his early thirties.
He laughed, thoroughly pleased. He didn't need makeup; that would only draw unwanted attention, defeating the purpose of concealing his identity. But some disguise was necessary, as both Anna and Otto were familiar with his face.
Disguise and a change of clothes were the best options. Anna knew him too well, her intuition too sharp. As for Otto, he'd seen his file, at least his picture. While Otto might have forgotten such a minor detail, Lin Wei couldn't risk it. His cautious nature made him unwilling to take any chances.
Otto might recognize his face, but knew nothing else about him. Changing his appearance was enough to fool him. These precautions were just in case; he hoped there wouldn't be any "in case" scenarios.
Time was running out. He glanced at the surveillance footage and the map; Anna and Yuno had traveled a considerable distance.
"Let's go," he said to himself, preparing for his "mission."
"Remember to change your clothes; your current outfit doesn't fit the look," Yae Sakura reminded him. "And wrap a bandage around your knee; change your gait slightly. That might even fool Anna."
Lin Wei sighed. He'd found those disguise techniques online and taught them to Yae Sakura, who was now using them to tease him. He chuckled, heading out to find a clothing store. His current clothes weren't suitable for his "new identity."
......
At the Snow Lotus Squad base, the atmosphere was lively after Anna's departure, or perhaps because of her departure.
"Captain, Vice-Captain she…" Jell was distributing pastries Anna had baked that morning when a Valkyrie spoke hesitantly, "Is this… appropriate?"
In recent days, since Yuno's arrival, Anna had felt she'd been neglecting her teammates, so she'd started baking pastries every morning as a gesture of apology.
No one blamed her; in fact, they felt a bit guilty themselves.
"You know it's not appropriate?" Jell chuckled, stuffing a pastry into the Valkyrie's mouth, causing her to blush. "If you weren't all so scared of our guest from HQ, would Anna have to entertain her alone every day? Wouldn't it be more lively if we all spent time together?"
"Who's scared?!" The Valkyrie managed to extract half the pastry, swallowing the other half with difficulty. "I know, we're in the wrong… Does Vice-Captain think we're isolating her?"
The Valkyrie felt uneasy.
"Of course not! After all this time, don't you know Anna?" Jell reassured her teammate. "Isn't it a good thing for Yuno to have a strong companion?"
"We know, but… she's really scary!" the Valkyrie wailed. As a member of an elite Valkyrie squad, she was a seasoned veteran, yet Yuno's aura was terrifying, more so than any Honkai beast she'd encountered. The thought of eating and sleeping alongside such a person was nerve-wracking. Is she really a Valkyrie?
Jell smiled wryly, sharing the sentiment. She instinctively knew she was no match for Yuno. Maybe only Durandal could handle her, she thought, and naive fools like Anna…
......
"Achoo!" Anna sneezed, dropping her paddle and rubbing her nose. "Strange… a cold? But this is the tropics…"
"Maybe you caught a chill? We are on the river," Yuno said, holding her own paddle and gesturing to Anna's damp clothes as evidence.
"Nonsense! I'm a Valkyrie! I don't catch colds that easily!" Anna protested.
"Keep your voice down…" Yuno had intended to remind Anna to be less conspicuous, but looking around, they were the only boat navigating the rapids in this section of the river.
They were in a mountain valley nearly a hundred kilometers from Manila, a sizeable river cascading down from the peaks, forming rapids and calmer stretches as it wound through the gorge.
The rafting experience should have been thrilling, but for Valkyries… it was rather underwhelming.
"Ugh… if I'd known rafting was so boring, I wouldn't have brought you," Anna said dejectedly.
"…It's alright, I'm enjoying it," Yuno replied, giving her paddle a few pointless splashes in the rushing water as a gesture of comfort. She deftly ducked a low-hanging branch.
Anna remained glum. She'd specifically searched online for fun activities, and rafting had topped the list. She'd come full of anticipation, only to be disappointed.
"Yuno, has Immortal Blades called you back yet?" Bored, she started making small talk.
"No," Yuno shook her head.
Anna pondered where to take her next. As a tourist, Manila seemed to offer little else. She also wondered if HQ had simply dumped Yuno on the Snow Lotus Squad.
"Woohoo!" Suddenly, another raft overtook them. Seeing the other tourists soaked and cheering excitedly, Anna and Yuno, equally soaked but looking dejected, exchanged glances and laughed.
"Maybe it is fun after all!" Yuno agreed.
"How are they so much faster?" Yuno shrugged.
"Want to catch up?" Yuno nodded.
They paddled furiously, but to little avail. The other raft quickly rounded a bend and disappeared from sight, their cheers fading.
"Argh! This game is too hard!" Anna slapped the water with her paddle, frustrated.
Yuno nodded in agreement.
They continued drifting, laughing and chatting.
"Two more bends and we should be at the end," Anna estimated, figuring they'd covered most of the ten-kilometer gorge. She turned to Yuno, her spirits lifting. "Once we reach the end, we'll change into dry clothes and find somewhere good to eat, how about that?"
Yuno nodded. She was rarely picky.
Just then, the comfortable mountain breeze shifted subtly. Anna, a trained warrior, was sensitive to such changes. As she was about to comment on the fickle mountain winds, she noticed movement in the riverside bushes, something hiding within.
"What could it be?" she wondered, peering curiously.
Suddenly, a red flash erupted from the bushes, followed by an explosion-like shockwave. The surrounding vegetation shook violently, startled birds taking flight.
"What was that?" Before Anna could react, the bushes exploded outwards, a huge beast emerging – grotesquely large compared to the small thicket.
It resembled a tiger, but with purplish-red claws and white armor plating its head, limbs, and chest. Its crimson eyes locked onto Anna, pouncing like a predator.
"A Honkai beast?!" Anna exclaimed, shoving Yuno, who had her back to the creature, out of the way. "Look out!"
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