One person: Lu family bodyguard, who shattered Longhu Mountain with a single palm strike.

"On the third underground level, two field staff members have lost contact; the signal is completely black."

Lin Mo stood by the second-floor window and repeated what Xu Xiang had just said.

He glanced at the time; it was past 11 p.m., which was already considered standard private time.

He said calmly, "Mr. Xu, this job sounds ominous. But given the high-risk environment, the hourly wage needs to be recalculated."

Xu Xiang, barely containing his anger, said on the other end of the video call: "That's why I contacted you. Go over there and check the situation first; money isn't an issue."

"Money is certainly not the issue." Lin Mo opened the memo app and typed rapidly. "The issue is the boundaries of responsibility."

[Tonight's outsourcing: Commercial parking lots in the south of the city are closed.]

Basic response fee: Received.

[Environmental Hazard Allowance: To be confirmed.]

[Corpse contamination: To be confirmed.]

Equipment damage: To be confirmed.

After typing, Lin Mo switched to video mode and turned on recording.

He tucked his spare phone into the lining of his tactical vest, leaving only a high-definition camera visible.

These are all evidence for subsequent settlement. Traps, poison gas, formations, equipment damage—words are not enough; videos are the real proof.

Experienced outsourced employees must learn to protect themselves.

After confirming the camera was stable, Lin Mo circulated the pure internal energy he had accumulated over 109 years. The "Divine Speed ​​Transformation" technique was suddenly activated, and he transformed into a blur, leaping directly out of the second-floor guest room window.

His feet lightly touched the walls and tree trunks, propelling him more than ten meters with each leap. Under the streetlights, his figure flashed by, his face barely visible.

What normally takes half an hour by car, he arrived at the underground commercial parking lot in the south of the city, which had been out of use for two years, in ten minutes. Most importantly, he saved on taxi fare and night service fee.

The wisdom of working people lies in every detail of cost control.

The entrance to the underground parking garage was narrow, and half of the light bulbs on both sides of the steps leading down were broken, leaving sections lit and others dark. Lin Mo landed steadily, and after taking two steps forward, he suddenly stopped.

He frowned.

The air quality is off.

It was pungent, cold, and had a putrid, fishy smell. It wasn't just the usual musty or gasoline odor; it was more like a polluted field formed by a mixture of corpse stench, putrefactive toxins, and chaotic energy.

An ordinary person might collapse after just a couple of breaths, and even a superhuman would have their Qi disturbed if they stayed inside for too long. Lin Mo's powerful true Qi circulated on its own, spreading a fine protective membrane on his body surface to keep those cold and filthy things out.

He glanced down at the tips of his shoes. Black and gray grime had already smudged onto them.

Lin Mo's expression immediately turned cold.

"The fight hasn't even started, and you're already soiling your shoes?"

He took out his phone and dialed Xu Xiang's number directly. The call was answered almost instantly.

"Brother Lin, have you gone in?" Xu Xiang's voice was tense.

"We didn't go in, we just got to the entrance." Lin Mo stood outside the entrance, his gaze sweeping across the dark passage. "President Xu, the situation has escalated. There's a corpse miasma inside, and two field agents are still out of contact. This is no longer a routine investigation."

Xu Xiang asked in a deep voice, "What level of danger do you assess it to?"

"Not low." Lin Mo said seriously, "I will find the person, but the bill needs to be settled first. Environmental hazard allowance, clothing allowance, and compensation for mental distress, a flat price of five thousand."

Xu Xiang paused for a second: "You haven't even gone in yet."

"Because we haven't gone inside yet, this is a friendly price." Lin Mo said seriously, "Once we're inside, the price will be different."

Xu Xiang took a deep breath.

He sought out Lin Mo not only because of Lin Mo's fighting prowess, but also because he wanted to recruit this untrained expert. He wasn't afraid Lin Mo would ask for money; he was afraid Lin Mo wouldn't ask for money.

Two seconds later, the phone notification sounded.

"Ding—WeChat payment received: 5,000 yuan."

The seriousness on Lin Mo's face vanished instantly, and his service attitude immediately became top-notch.

"Mr. Xu, you're very generous. With the money in place, I can recover. Even if this basement is a battlefield, I'll scout it out for you."

Xu Xiang gritted his teeth: "Find out the situation quickly and prioritize finding the right people."

"receive."

Lin Mo hung up the phone and was about to walk down when the asphalt and gravel under his feet suddenly bulged up.

"Bang!"

Three pale, swollen hands burst from the ground, their nails blackened and covered in foul-smelling mud, gripping his ankles tightly.

Several gray-black mud stains suddenly appeared on the black shoe surface.

Lin Mo looked down at the shoe.

New shoes, 129 yuan, only worn twice.

Of course, dirty shoes are a minor issue.

The key point is that these things attacked outsourced workers, contaminated personal equipment, and even tried to force them to work overtime without pay.

The nature of this is extremely serious.

The shadowy figure shifted underground, and three twisted figures emerged. Their faces were pale, their eye sockets were dark, and their bodies were shrouded in a layer of filthy energy.

"Someone actually dared to come in."

"It connects to every direction?"

"Who cares where he came from, drag him inside, and don't let anyone outside know."

Lin Mo's eyes instantly turned cold.

"You are fully responsible for soiling employees' personal belongings."

His right leg slammed down. A century's worth of pure internal energy surged down along the meridians of his leg.

"Snap!"

The claws that gripped his ankle exploded on the spot, flesh and bones mixed with black ash.

Lin Mo raised his right hand, activating his Iron Palm technique, and a bluish-black color instantly covered his palm. He took a step forward, his hand rising and falling, sweeping out horizontally.

"Bang!"

The second Quanxing demon's protective aura had just begun to glow when it was shattered by a single palm strike. He was sent flying, crashing heavily into the wall, not even having time to let out a proper scream.

The third person opened his mouth as if to spit out a talisman, but Lin Mo's "Swift Shadow" flashed beneath his feet, instantly closing in on their face.

"Snapped!"

A slap landed squarely on the face. The protective qi dissipated completely, the man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.

The entire process takes no more than three seconds.

Lin Mo looked at the shoes; they were still dirty. He sighed softly.

"unlucky."

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. Its signature ringtone echoed in the empty entrance to the underground parking garage.

Lin Mo took it out and saw a WeChat message from Lu Linglong pop up on the screen.

[Lu Linglong: Are you there?]

[Lu Linglong: Have you been taking on side jobs behind my back again?]

Immediately afterwards, a video call request popped up.

The note says: Boss, God of Wealth version.

Lin Mo was not surprised at all.

Ten minutes ago, Lu Linglong sent him a "Where are you?" emoji, but he was in a hurry and didn't reply. Now, it seems the user of the basic security package is starting to exercise their rights.

One can be greedy for money, but one cannot lack a sense of contract. If the contract states that a response must be given priority, then that is something that must be accepted.

Lin Mo suppressed his murderous aura and pressed the answer button.

The screen lit up. Lu Linglong, wearing pink pajamas, sat on the bed, her hair a little messy, staring at the camera suspiciously.

"Good evening, Ms. Lu." Lin Mo wore a warm, customer service smile, his voice steady, and his breathing perfectly normal. "The basic security package is now in effect."

"Don't give me that." Lu Linglong narrowed her eyes. "Lin Mo, where are you? It's pitch black, and you were two seconds slow to answer the video call. Are you taking on some side job for Xu Xiang?"

"I received a risk assessment from General Manager Xu."

Lin Mo walked forward holding his phone in one hand, the camera as steady as if it were on a gimbal. "We're still on the outskirts, it's a project that combines nighttime aerobic exercise with business due diligence."

Lu Linglong was momentarily speechless; she couldn't quite grasp the vocabulary.

"You make taking on freelance work sound pretty sophisticated."

As soon as she finished speaking, three dark figures silently pounced out from behind the left-side load-bearing pillar.

One gripped a poisoned dagger and lunged at the side of the neck; another flung out a steel wire to block the way; and yet another raised his hand and condensed a ball of black energy.

On the screen, Lin Mo's smile remained unchanged.

Off-screen, he activated the Divine Speed ​​and Shadow Strike technique, smoothly shifting his body half a meter to the right.

The poisoned dagger grazed the shoulder and missed, but his free left hand became a blur as his Iron Palm technique struck the man with the short sword directly in the chest.

"Bang!"

The violent internal force penetrated the body, causing a tightness in the chest, and the person was sent flying backward.

To muffle the sound of bones shattering, Lin Mo tapped the edge of his phone's microphone a few times with his right index finger.

"Da da, da da da".

Lu Linglong's ears twitched: "What's that sound over there?"

"There's construction nearby, someone's hammering steel pipes." Lin Mo said calmly, his left hand naturally hooking around the man's wrist and twisting it backward.

"Snap!"

The man on the wire went limp on one side.

Lu Linglong's suspicion deepened: "Construction in the middle of the night? Which construction site are you jogging at at night? Your hobby is certainly cost-effective."

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of fire suddenly erupted from the darkness ahead.

Hidden in the shadows, the Quanxing demon formed hand seals, and a fireball the size of a watermelon roared towards Lin Mo's face. Behind him, a black-clad man carrying a steel pipe charged forward, using the firelight as a springboard.

Lin Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

You can't catch a fireball head-on; it will easily burn your clothes. The clothing reimbursement process is very complicated.

His body bent backward at an angle that defied common sense. His right hand, holding the phone, remained as still as if it hadn't moved, using a wisp of true qi to lock the muscles.

People can move around, but the camera must not shake.

The fireball grazed past his nose and slammed into the concrete wall behind him.

"Boom!"

The sound of the explosion echoed in the underground parking garage, and a large cloud of dust fell.

Lu Linglong sat bolt upright: "Holy crap! Lin Mo, what's that sound? Are you really fighting?!"

Lin Mo straightened up and grabbed at the air with his left hand. His century-old true qi transformed into a powerful suction force, forcibly pulling the demon who had just released the fireball towards him.

"Bang!"

A knee strike landed squarely on the opponent's abdomen, instantly causing him to curl up like a shrimp.

At the same time, Lin Mo twisted his wrist, grabbed the wrist of the man holding the steel pipe, and twisted his arm behind his back like breaking chopsticks. Then he kicked him over and stepped on his neck.

He smiled at the screen: "There was no fight. To be precise, it was just that we dealt with a few dirty things while conducting outsourced risk assessment."

Lu Linglong stared at him, her tone clearly urgent: "Don't try to fool me, that was an explosion, wasn't it?"

After saying that, she seemed to realize she was too nervous and quickly added, "I'm worried you'll be late tomorrow and no one will be there to protect me at work!"

Lin Mo nodded earnestly: "Thank you for your concern, boss. Don't worry, it won't affect my clocking in at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Who cares about you!" Lu Linglong gritted her teeth. "Turn the camera around so I can see what's going on around me."

Lin Mo paused slightly.

Several Quanxing demons were lying haphazardly around them.

Not suitable.

After all, this is his own business, so why should he make others worry for no reason?

"Ms. Lu, my phone's night vision function is very poor. It's too dark around, so the photos I take are blurry. Also, turning the lens easily causes the image to shake, which will affect your sleep quality at night."

Lin Mo looked at her phone screen, her tone gentle yet professional: "How was your sleep tonight? Would you like me to provide a soothing voice message?"

Lu Linglong got goosebumps: "Who wants to listen to your voice pack!"

She paused, then snorted, "At least you have a sense of contract. You answered the video call pretty quickly."

Just then, a low clapping sound suddenly came from the depths of darkness ahead.

"Smack."

"Smack."

"Smack."

Lin Mo paused slightly.

Heavy footsteps echoed from deep within the underground passage.

A burly man slowly emerged from the shadows.

He was wearing a worn-out black robe with a gray trench coat draped over it.

He wore a pale white Peking Opera mask on his face, with half of his face exposed by a metal mask.

With each step he took, the black and gray runes on the ground would light up.

The half-broken light bulb above flickered wildly, and the miasma of corpses surged upwards from the third underground floor as if a valve had been turned on.

Lin Mo narrowed his eyes.

The main character has arrived.

The masked man's voice was hoarse, filled with undisguised malice: "So it was you who ruined my plan?"

He glanced at the beaten-up people on the ground, then stared at the phone in Lin Mo's hand.

"You came in alone and dared to start a fight while on video. You really don't take the Quanxing gang seriously."

Lu Linglong heard the voice in the video, and her expression changed immediately.

"Lin Mo, who is that?"

Lin Mo did not answer immediately.

He first removed his foot from the person's neck on the ground, and then adjusted the camera angle to ensure that Lu Linglong could only see half of her face and a blurry darkness behind her.

Then, he looked at the masked man and slowly smiled.

"Miss Lu."

"Um?"

"I might have to trouble you to wait for me for a moment."

"...How long will it take?"

"Five seconds, I guess."

……