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

"Five seconds, I guess."

Lin Mo spoke these words in a steady tone.

On the other side of the screen, Lu Linglong sat up straight, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Lin Mo, don't do anything rash. Something's obviously wrong with you there." She said halfway through, then, as if afraid of being too hasty, she added abruptly, "I'm worried that you won't be able to get up tomorrow, and there will be no one to protect me at work."

"Miss Lu, you should say that to the other side." Lin Mo looked at the churning black and gray miasma ahead, held the phone to his ear, and said with a gentle smile, "This trouble will last five seconds."

"Before you hang up, at least tell me if you're in danger."

Lin Mo glanced at the masked man emerging from the underpass and answered honestly, "I don't think so."

Lu Linglong was taken aback: "What do you mean you shouldn't have it? Where is the other party?"

"The other party might have it."

Lin Mo slightly turned his body and lightly slid his foot to avoid a wisp of black energy that was crawling along the ground.

His voice remained calm: "Ms. Lu, go to sleep first. I'll message you after the alarm is lifted."

Lu Linglong wanted to say something, but the screen went black first.

Lin Mo stuffed his phone into the shockproof pouch of his tactical vest and casually turned on the recording function of his spare phone on his chest.

The red dot lit up, and the recording began. Lin Mo felt relieved. He could work himself to the bone, but he couldn't be left without proof of payment.

Across the passage, the face of the Quanxing leader, hidden behind a pale Peking Opera mask, was completely distorted.

He has dominated the world of supernatural beings for over a decade, playing with poisons, controlling corpses, and setting up formations; wherever he goes, people avoid him like the plague.

Today, things have taken a turn for the worse. He painstakingly set up a trap, but all his field agents were killed in it. And now, this guy in black, who appeared out of nowhere, is killing his men while video chatting with a girl.

"Someone barged in, started fighting and chatting at the same time, and crippled all my men."

The masked man's voice was hoarse, his gray robes billowing without wind, and blackish-gray miasma swirling up from beneath his feet. "You think you're funny?"

Lin Mo stroked his chin and corrected, "Most people are currently safe and sound, with all four limbs intact and their meridians unbroken. Also, I wasn't flirting; we were just discussing work."

The masked man laughed in anger.

He clasped his hands together abruptly, and the black and red runes on his chest lit up. Immediately, a dull thud of chains being dragged came from the ground.

"Today I'll turn you into a living corpse and hang you at the entrance so everyone at the 'All-Access' can see you clearly!"

From three underground levels, three corpses with bluish-black skin and covered in yellow talismans lunged out.

They spewed blackish-green poisonous mist from their mouths, and their joints made a creaking sound when they twisted; they didn't look like living creatures at all.

At the same time, countless black centipedes crawled out from the bodies of several wounded Quanxing henchmen on the ground. The insects spread out like a tide, heading straight for Lin Mo's feet.

"Corpse control, poisonous insects, and array suppression."

Lin Mo glanced down at his shoes. They were already covered in black grime, and now he had to step on bugs.

His gaze turned cold as he raised his hand and activated his earpiece.

"Mr. Xu."

Xu Xiang's voice immediately came through the earpiece: "Brother Lin! What's going on your end? The signal dropped again!"

"The opponent is very powerful, with corpse control, poisonous insects, and formations. The risk is quite high." As Lin Mo spoke, the "Divine Speed ​​Transformation" technique under his feet was suddenly activated.

The first corpse, poisoned by the medicine, lunged at him, only to be stomped into the ground. The second corpse, which had just crashed into him from the side, was struck in the chest by a dark blue-green iron palm, sending it sliding seven or eight meters along the ground before shattering into pieces.

The third body tried to circle around, but Lin Mo didn't even turn his head. He put two fingers together and used his pure internal energy to press down on the back of the neck.

With a "click," the talisman nail popped out, and the medicine corpse froze on the spot.

"Just to confirm, are the medicine corpses considered mission objectives? Are they paid per item?" Lin Mo asked.

Xu Xiang, listening from inside the command vehicle, was utterly speechless.

Even at a time like this, this kid is still thinking about billing?

But he dared not hesitate, and could only grit his teeth and say, "Fine! If we can keep a sample, we will. Five thousand per body!"

"receive."

Lin Mo lightly touched the ground with his toes, his figure flashing past the swarm of poisonous insects. The centipedes didn't even touch the edge of his shoes before being overturned by the released true qi.

"I'll keep all three samples for you." Lin Mo looked at the masked man. "Mr. Xu, is the reward for keeping the main suspect alive still due?"

Xu Xiang's lips twitched: "Fine! As long as the objective is achieved, there's an extra 30,000!"

Lin Mo's eyes lit up immediately.

"The boss is generous."

He took out his main phone, opened the newly effective outsourcing contract, and shoved the screen right in front of the masked man.

The note on the screen is very clear.

[Seventh Additional Clause: Bonus for capturing the suspect alive. An additional 30,000 will be awarded if the objective is completed intact.]

Lin Mo said naturally, "You see, the client has requirements."

The masked man stared at the words, first stunned, then his voice gradually deepened: "You're trading me for a bonus?"

"Otherwise what?" Lin Mo asked frankly. "I'm not familiar with you."

These words were like a slap in the face to the masked man.

The coldness in his eyes finally ignited into a raging fire.

"Fine, fine, fine." The masked man's chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot. "You want a full-grown victim, huh? I won't give you one!"

He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of black blood onto his hands.

His clothes were ripped open, revealing a dense array of black and red runes on his chest, with fleshy growths bulging between them.

The next second, the poisonous energy within his body began to surge in reverse, and his meridians swelled wildly as if they were on fire. His bones cracked and popped, and his whole body felt like it was about to explode.

Xu Xiang yelled into his earpiece, "Brother Lin, retreat! He's self-destructing! We don't need any survivors!"

"That won't do!"

Lin Mo's eyes widened instantly, and his voice rose.

"The contract states 30,000!"

If this bastard blows himself up, where will he collect his 30,000 yuan performance bonus? What's the difference between this and a client jumping off a building right before signing a contract?

A sudden gust of wind arose.

Lin Mo pushed the "Divine Speed ​​and Ever-Changing" technique to its limit.

Before the masked man could even finish his hand seals, everything went black.

Lin Mo had already moved close to him.

"Stop right there!"

Lin Mo pressed his left hand against the masked man's chest and gripped his shoulder with his right.

The powerful true qi pressed down with a bang, like an invisible net spread out, forcefully suppressing the poisonous qi in his body that was about to explode.

Just as the poisonous energy was about to surge into his heart, Lin Mo pointed a finger at the center of his chest.

The masked man tried to shatter his shoulder bone, but Lin Mo quickly fixed the bone seam. The poisonous insects under the skin, which were about to bite through the meridians, were also caught by the internal force and stunned one by one, without even breaking the skin.

The masked man stood frozen in place, completely dumbfounded.

He felt the vast yet gentle internal energy within his body, his mind blank. In a life-or-death battle, instead of killing him, his opponent was using vast true energy to protect his entire meridian system?

Is this an enemy or his own father?

"What...what are you doing?" The masked man spat out a mouthful of poisonous blood, his voice distorted.

Lin Mo reached out and grabbed the ball of poisonous blood, enveloping it in his true qi and tossing it into a nearby waste bin.

"Preserve the evidence."

He then glared angrily at the masked man: "What did I do? You almost burned through 30,000 yuan! If you really die here, all I'll get for my nighttime outsourcing work tonight is my base salary. You want to die? Did you even ask me?"

The masked man felt a chill run down his spine.

Does this guy think of me as just a walking pile of cash?

"We, the disciples of Quanxing, would rather die than submit!"

The masked man's eyes were bloodshot, and he clenched his teeth as if to bite his tongue.

"Don't even think about it."

Lin Mo's left hand transformed from a palm into a claw, a flash of bluish-black light passing by.

"Snap!"

He grabbed the masked man's chin. The chin dislocated instantly, forcing the man's mouth open wide, saliva mixed with blood dripping down, making it impossible for him to pronounce a single word clearly.

"You only have value if you are alive."

Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief, patted the masked man's face, and then used the spare wire to tie him up tightly.

"Thank you for your cooperation. You have made an outstanding contribution to my home-buying fund in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. I am also a working person, so let's all be understanding."

"You...you...you...you..."

The fierceness in the masked man's eyes gradually faded, leaving only unspeakable humiliation.

The next second, his blood rushed to his head, and he fainted.

Lin Mo took out his phone and glanced at the time.

From taking action to taking control of the target, it took just over five seconds.

He opened the communication app: "Mr. Xu, the mastermind has been apprehended and is in good condition. The chin was removed as part of the suicide prevention measures; will that affect the capture bonus?"

There was a full five seconds of silence on the other end of the headset before Xu Xiang finally managed to say, "It doesn't matter. You're really talented. Where's the fieldwork?"

"I'm about to go look for it."

Lin Mo grabbed the masked man by the back of his collar with one hand, turned around, and walked deeper into the third underground level.

The dark room was covered with moss, and there were still some undried black and gray talisman lines left in the corners of the walls.

Two of the NATO field agents were entangled in wires to a pillar, their faces turning blue and their lips purple, and they had fallen into a deep coma.

Fortunately, he is still breathing.

"Found it, moderate corpse miasma."

Lin Mo crouched down, unleashed a palm strike that snapped the steel wire, and then tapped the two men's chests several times to temporarily suppress the spread of the poison. "They're still alive, but they can't walk on their own."

Xu Xiang immediately said, "I'll have the chemical defense team go down to receive them right away!"

"No need." Lin Mo glanced at the increasingly dense miasma surrounding them. "The pollution here is still rising, and you outer personnel are prone to secondary poisoning if you come down. I'll take you up with me."

Xu Xiang had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard another sentence coming through his earphones.

"However, the original contract didn't specify stretcher transport, medical escort services, or safe evacuation from high-risk areas. Considering we're a long-time client, I'll offer 10,000 yuan per person. If you agree, I'll set off."

You little brat! You're trying to kill me!

Xu Xiang gritted his teeth: "...Agreed!"

"The boss is so generous!"

Lin Mo decisively ended the communication.

With his left hand he held the masked man who was tied up like a pretzel, and with his right arm bent, he firmly held the two unconscious field agents in place, one in front and one behind.

"Divine Speed ​​and Ever-Changing Skills" is activated again.

The ground surface, outside an abandoned commercial parking lot.

More than a dozen NaDuTong command vehicles, disguised as bread trucks, were parked behind the cordon. Xu Xiang stared intently at the dark underground entrance, while the field team beside him had already donned gas masks, ready to rush in at any moment.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the passage.

The next second, a dark figure sprang out from underground and landed steadily in front of Xu Xiang like a human crane.

Lin Mo, wearing a black mask, placed the two field workers on the ground and tossed the masked man aside.

"Mr. Xu, please inspect it."

The scene fell silent immediately.

All the employees of NaDuTong stared wide-eyed.

There were three living people lying on the ground, and Lin Mo, who was clean and tidy, was standing next to them.

His black tracksuit wasn't wrinkled at all, except for some black dust on the toes of his shoes. He looked like he had just left the office building and made a quick trip.

Xu Xiang looked at the masked man on the ground, whose jaw was dislocated and whose eyes were numb, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Is this the high-risk leader of the Quanxing Sect?"

Lin Mo nodded, took out his notebook, and held it up to Xu Xiang.

"Mr. Xu, the goods have been inspected, we can now reconcile the accounts."

He spoke quickly and clearly: "Nighttime basic response and environmental hazard allowance, 55,000, settled before coming."

"Six henchmen under me, paid by the piece, 20,000."

"Three corpses were found, and samples were preserved intact. Each corpse was worth 5,000, for a total of 15,000."

"A prize of 30,000 for the person in question being alive and intact."

"Medical escort service, two people, 20,000."

"Overtime fee after midnight: 5,000."

"Equipment cleaning fee, shoe stains, 3,000."

Lin Mo paused, then added, "Also, the on-site investigation has been upgraded from a Level B screening to a Level B assassination attempt, with an additional 35,000 yuan for the risk escalation. That's a total increase of 128,000 yuan. Mr. Xu, WeChat or Alipay?"

Xu Xiang stared at the densely packed entries, his temples throbbing.

"This isn't making it easier for the finance department to process the accounts; it's torturing them."

Despite his complaints, he still took out his phone.

"Get my emergency funds first. Make sure you get all the video footage, evidence, and mission reports. Otherwise, the finance department will really tear me apart."

"no problem."

"Ding—WeChat payment received: 128,000 yuan."

Upon hearing the sound of the tent flapping, Lin Mo's smile instantly became genuine.

"Payment settled, pleasant cooperation."

Seeing that he was completely unharmed, Xu Xiang couldn't help but ask, "Brother Lin, be honest, how much of your strength did you use just now?"

Lin Mo thought about it seriously.

"I focused most of my energy on how not to hurt him."

Xu Xiang was so speechless by those words that he felt like his liver was about to burst.

What kind of skill does one need to navigate such a deadly situation with such ease that they're worried about harming the enemy?

He took a deep breath: "We need to interrogate them tonight. Would you like to stay and listen in?"

"That's fine then."

Lin Mo decisively raised his hand and glanced at his watch.

"It's 2:30 AM, Mr. Xu. This is deep private sleep time. Sharing any information without payment is an unauthorized drain on your employees' energy."

He took a step back, his tone serious: "I should go back to sleep; I have to clock in tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mo's feet swayed, and he disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.

Only a group of field agents from Nadu Tong were left standing there, bewildered in the wind.

Xu Xiang scratched his increasingly thinning hair, his expression filled with emotion.

Such a master can actually be hired just by paying money.

so good.

……

At three in the morning, the Lu family manor was quiet.

Lin Mo, like a weightless night cat, climbed over the second-floor wall into the guest room, landing without even the curtains swaying.

He took off his sportswear and inspected it, finding no damage, before hanging it up with satisfaction.

After washing up and lying in bed, he first opened the notes app on his phone.

The balance has surged, and the progress of the housing fund is encouraging.

For ordinary people, this is staying up all night. For Lin Mo, who has over a hundred years of internal energy cultivation, one cycle of meditation is equivalent to spending half an hour less scrolling through his phone.

Then, he opened Lu Linglong's WeChat chat window.

The message that was sent more than ten minutes ago is lying on it.

[Ms. Lu: Are you there?]

[Miss Lu: Did he die outside?]

[Ms. Lu: I was asking if the mission is over. Please reply when you see it.]

Lin Mo's lips twitched, and he typed a few lines of text.

[Lin Mo: All alert lifted. World peace.]

[Lin Mo: I have returned safely. Goodnight, Miss Lu.]

The message was sent out and received a reply almost instantly.

[Ms. Lu: Who's waiting for your message! Go to sleep! If you're late for 9 AM tomorrow, I'll dock your pay!]

On the third floor of the same villa, Lu Linglong sat on the bed, hugging a pillow, looking at the "world peace" on the screen, and muttered something under her breath.

"Who cares if you report that you're safe?"

She tossed her phone aside, and her shoulders, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed.

In less than a minute, the room was filled with even breathing sounds.

……

The next morning, at 8:59.

The entrance to the main restaurant of the Lu family building.

Lin Mo was dressed in a neat black suit, holding two large meat buns specially provided by the cafeteria ladies in one hand. He looked refreshed and didn't have any dark circles under his eyes.

He stood at the door, staring at his watch, waiting for the seconds to tick by.

In the restaurant, Lu Linglong watched him while biting her straw.

"Lin Mo, are you really that short of a few seconds?"

"Of course, as a professional worker, I absolutely cannot be late, not even by a second." Lin Mo's expression carried a hint of pride.

Fifty-eight.

Fifty-nine.

Nine o'clock sharp.

Lin Mo stepped into the restaurant.

In my mind, the familiar mechanical voice rang out precisely on time.

[Ding! Host detected that they have entered work mode on time. Work attendance successfully completed.]

[The host was found to have completed intensive paid outsourcing work yesterday, without any unpaid overtime. Professional ethics assessment: Excellent!]

[Special Reward Announcement: A special martial arts manual will be awarded to those who clock out promptly at 5 PM today!]

Lin Mo paused slightly as he took a bite of the steamed bun, and his eyes lit up instantly.

The secret manual has been released.

Iron Palm Technique is indeed useful as a basic attack, but the new divine skill is the real productivity tool to improve work efficiency.

In high spirits, he swallowed the bun in a few bites and strode into the restaurant to sit down.

Looking up, I saw Lu Jin and Lu Lin already waiting at the dining table.

In front of Lu Lin was the black bank card that represented the "100,000 yuan clearance order".

Lin Mo's smile was as bright as if he had met the God of Wealth.

Good morning, bosses.

……