Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 468 – The Fuse

During the second patrol round in the afternoon, Lin Fan deliberately slowed her pace.

Carrying her black iron staff along the row of cages, she repeatedly measured the transitional zones between the West Sector and the adjacent sectors with her peripheral vision.

The four sectors were not completely separated by walls.

The cavern itself was a single natural karst cavity—the Dragon Clan had merely used the arrangement of iron cages and painted floor markings to roughly delineate each sector’s area of responsibility. Between sectors ran a main passageway about fifteen meters wide, completely unobstructed.

In other words—if the Mutated Beasts in the West Sector broke out of their cages, they could surge unimpeded along the passageways into the North or South Sectors.

Lin Fan stopped before the northernmost row of cages in the West Sector.

This row held roughly four hundred second-tier Wind-blade Wolves, pressed right against the North Sector boundary. Across the passageway, directly opposite, were the third-tier Iron-clad Rhinos of the North Sector.

Wind-blade Wolves and Iron-clad Rhinos were natural enemies in the wild.

One relied on speed and wind-blade slashes; the other relied on thick hide and raw endurance. Caged in proximity, even the cross-contamination of their scents alone would drive both sides into agitation.

Lin Fan then walked to the southernmost end of the West Sector.

Here were housed first-tier Earth-walking Lizards—a full five thousand of them, crammed into one oversized cluster cage. They were small in stature and weak in attack, but their numbers were absolutely terrifying.

Adjacent to this cluster cage in the South Sector were two fourth-tier peak Venom-Fang Pythons, each held in solitary confinement.

Python-type Mutated Beasts had extremely strong territorial instincts. Once a large number of small creatures flooded into their sensory range—threat or not—they would instinctively enter a state of frenzy, violently thrashing against their cages.

That reaction was written into their genes. It had nothing to do with mental control.

Lin Fan returned to her post and sat down, tapping her fingers rhythmically against the staff.

The plan had taken shape.

She didn’t need to directly control the Mutated Beasts in the other three sectors.

She only needed the beasts under her control in the West Sector to “break out”—and for those controlled beasts to attack no one, simply charging like mad toward the North and South Sectors.

Four hundred Wind-blade Wolves charging into the North Sector, facing off against the Iron-clad Rhino herd through the cage bars—the rhinos would inevitably riot.

Five thousand Earth-walking Lizards flooding into the South Sector, provoking the Venom-Fang Pythons to break free of their restraints—once the pythons lost control, the infrasound they emitted would trigger a chain-reaction cage explosion across the entire South Sector.

Two sectors in simultaneous chaos.

The guards in the North and South Sectors would rush over to suppress the riots at the first moment.

Long Cang, as team captain, would definitely prioritize rushing toward whichever direction was most dangerous.

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The two fixed guards at the center of the Teleportation Array couldn’t possibly remain indifferent in the face of a riot of this magnitude.

Even if they didn’t directly join the suppression, their attention would be completely diverted.

That was Zhou Ming’s window.

But there was one variable that needed handling—the East Sector.

The guard in the East Sector was that female Pureblood who had stared at her leather jacket for so long.

If the North and South Sectors both erupted while the East Sector remained quiet, that female guard might stay put.

As long as even one of the six underground guards remained near the central area, Zhou Ming’s operation would be at risk of exposure.

Lin Fan closed her eyes.

What was housed in the East Sector again?

Her Omniscient Domain had swept through it once during the morning patrol. The East Sector was primarily third-tier flying-type Mutated Beasts—Iron-Wing Bats, Storm Eagles, and the like.

Flying-type.

These creatures were confined in cages with sealed tops. When startled, their first instinct wasn’t to ram the cage walls, but to fly straight up. If several hundred large flying beasts simultaneously struck the ceiling net, the resulting vibration and noise would be far more terrifying than a stampede of ground beasts.

But the problem was how to startle them.

These flying beasts were over seven hundred meters from the nearest cage row in the western sector, with the entire central Teleportation Array zone in between. Mental Strength needles couldn’t reach that far.

Unless…

Lin Fan opened her eyes, her gaze settling on the black iron staff in her hand.

Siren’s Voice.

No singing required. She only needed to release an ultra-low-frequency sonic pulse at the right moment, pitched below the Dragon Clan’s auditory threshold—completely undetectable by human ears.

But flying-type Mutated Beasts had hearing twenty times more sensitive than the Dragon Clan’s.

A single low-frequency pulse would send every flying beast in the eastern sector exploding into the air.

Three sectors in simultaneous chaos.

All guards forced into full deployment.

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Using the pretext that “the western sector is also becoming unstable,” she’d approach the central zone, rendezvous with Zhou Ming, and tamper with the Teleportation Array coordinates.

The entire operation required zero exposure of even a trace of eighth-tier energy fluctuation.

All she needed was to release a few cage latches and send out one sonic pulse.

Clean, decisive, zero risk.

Lin Fan exhaled a stale breath.

Now came the final piece—notifying Zhou Ming.

She condensed her Mental Strength into an ultra-fine thread and extended it along the Faith Threads.

Zhou Ming’s light point was significantly closer than it had been that morning.

Less than fifty kilometers from the surface of White Bone Pass.

Lin Fan condensed her intent into short bursts of information and pushed them through.

First: Do not enter underground. There’s a mental shielding layer below. The Ghost Set’s effectiveness is unknown—can’t risk it.

Second: Find a surface position hidden from patrols and lie low, waiting for her signal.

Third: Once the signal is sent, perform a Spatial Leap directly from the surface to the marked coordinates—the center of the Teleportation Array. Jump in, alter the coordinates, jump out. Total time no more than three minutes.

Fourth: After the alteration, immediately withdraw outside the Pass.

Message sent.

Three seconds later, the Faith Threads carried back Zhou Ming’s response.

Not words. Not thoughts.

A pure surge of emotion—calm, resolute, with a hint of excitement buried deep beneath.

Received.

And this response was far clearer than the last. The closer the distance, the higher the transmission efficiency of the Faith Threads.

Lin Fan severed the connection and fished the last mint cigarette from her pocket, placing it between her lips.

The timing of the operation was equally critical.

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She couldn’t act at night. Long Cang shortened his patrol intervals after dark, and the underground was quiet—any abnormal sound would be amplified.

The best window was tomorrow morning.

After the morning assembly, Long Cang would begin his patrol from the southern sector as usual. By the time he reached the deepest part of the northern sector, there would be nearly forty minutes of vacuum in the western and eastern sectors.

Forty minutes.

Release the beasts, sonic pulse, chaos spreads, Long Cang and the other guards drawn away, Zhou Ming leaps in and alters the coordinates, leaps out.

More than enough.

“Ning Shuang.”

Long Cang’s voice came from the end of the corridor.

Lin Fan’s eyelids lifted slightly. The cigarette between her fingers vanished into the System Space in an instant. She rose, resuming that proper, unassuming expression of a Collateral Dragonkin.

Long Cang walked up to her, his expression somewhat off.

“Word just came down from above.” He glanced at her, his tone dropping half a notch.

“Second Elder’s schedule has been moved up.”

Lin Fan narrowed her eyes slightly. “Moved up by how much?”

“Originally scheduled to arrive the day after tomorrow.”

Long Cang’s golden vertical pupils flickered with a hint of gravity.

“It’s changed now. We need to reach White Bone Pass before sunrise tomorrow.”

Lin Fan was silent for a second.

Before sunrise tomorrow.

That meant the time window she had originally planned for causing a disturbance in the morning would directly collide with the moment Long Ye entered White Bone Pass.

A top-tier military strategist at the early eighth rank, plus Long Junshan who was already on the ground.

Two eighth-rank experts.

Long Cang was still saying something about forming ranks to receive them. Lin Fan wasn’t listening.

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She lowered her eyes, her fingertips silently rubbing against the shaft of her long staff.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t fight.

It was that she couldn’t fight before tampering with the Teleportation Array.

The time window had been compressed from forty minutes to how much?

The first thing Long Ye would do upon arrival would be to inspect the entire pass, including the underground beast pens. A strategist renowned for schemes would be ten times more meticulous than Long Junshan.

Everything had to be completed before Long Ye set foot underground.

Which meant—

Tonight.

It had to be tonight.

“Understood.” Lin Fan nodded, her tone as flat as if she were discussing what to have for dinner.

Long Cang glanced at her, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Lin Fan leaned back against the rock wall.

In her mind, the Faith Threads lit up once again.

She pushed out a new thought.

The plan is moved up.

Midnight tonight.

The point of light at the other end of the thread pulsed violently once, then quickly settled back into stillness.

Lin Fan lowered her eyelids.

Night had not yet fallen, but underground, it was always dark.

She picked up her long staff and continued toward the next row of iron cages. Her steps remained steady, her breathing even.

A beast hidden among the flock, patiently waiting for the final closing of its eyes.