Faced with his comrade's unexpected retreat, the bomber's expression twisted instantly. Even his voice quivered with disbelief.
"Y-You… what the hell are you doing?! Didn't they say you were some hotshot?! Take him out already!"
The Rat Thiren woman didn't bother responding to his outburst with words. She simply cast a dark, murderous glare in his direction.
That look alone made it clear: she hadn't expected the plan to cause mass casualties. She'd assumed it was just a distraction—a minor explosion, at worst. But now dozens were dead.
Had she not been worried about blood on her weapon drawing suspicion, she might've acted herself.
Zhong Yan, seeing this unfold, didn't hesitate. While still wary of the Rat Thiren, he focused only on incapacitating the bomber. Instead of a full-on attack, he extended his Chidori, letting lightning lance outward from his hand.
The bomber instinctively tried to bolt, but he'd barely turned when Zhong Yan's Chidori coiled around him like a cage of lightning. With a crackling zap, he collapsed—instantly unconscious.
Zhong Yan retracted the cage, dragging the limp body over to his feet.
The entire time, he kept an eye on the Rat Thiren, ready to strike at any hint of hostility.
But she didn't attack. Instead, her expression grew heavier as she spoke.
"He might be useful for the investigation. Hand him to the New Eridu Public Security Bureau… unless you'd rather just kill him. I won't stop you."
With that, she sheathed her dagger and turned to leave without another word.
"Wait!" Zhong Yan called after her. "You need to tell me who you are. Otherwise, I can't tell if this whole thing was a performance."
He never trusted strangers easily—especially not those who clearly weren't ordinary.
She paused, then glanced back.
Maybe the earlier carnage had left a mark on her too—her forced smile looked stiff, almost pained.
"You're sharp… I was playing a role. But not for your benefit. There are things better left unknown. Knowing too much won't do you any good."
Leaving that cryptic warning behind, she turned and vanished into the alley before he could stop her.
Zhong Yan stood in place, thinking for a moment, then formed a seal and summoned a Shadow Clone.
"Things might get out of hand from here. Go wait in the Kamui space. I'll call you if I need backup."
Once his clone was dispatched, Zhong Yan activated his Sharingan and dove into the unconscious bomber's memories.
"'Mountain Lion Gang'… a criminal syndicate similar to the Red Fang Gang? And that woman—her name is... Jane Doe? A new recruit, joined only days ago. No wonder she didn't seem ordinary."
He pieced the information together quickly.
The Mountain Lion Gang had planned an assassination on a high-ranking official. Today, that target had brought his family to the amusement park—coincidentally riding the very roller coaster that exploded.
Everything had been premeditated. But who leaked the intel? That part was unclear. The Mountain Lion Gang, like the Red Fang Gang, had airtight discipline.
Jane Doe had no knowledge of the full plan—only that she was assigned to assist the bomber on site. She didn't even know the full team; another group was waiting in a different alley nearby. A contingency to avoid being wiped out all at once.
"Of course, they'd pull the split-team trick…" Zhong Yan's brow twitched in annoyance.
Unlike the Red Fang Gang, the Mountain Lion Gang operated directly out of a Hollow—and they had multiple bases. The guy he just captured only knew one location, and not even the exact spot.
Each base had a dedicated Mountain Lion Gang contact who handled all entries and exits. Without their carrot-code credentials, no one could get in or out.
They were, in short, even more of a pain than the Red Fang Gang.
"Looks like I've got my hands full again." Zhong Yan sighed and dragged the unconscious Mountain Lion Gang member back to the scene of the attack.
To his surprise, New Eridu Public Security officers were already on site—along with medical teams working at full speed. The response was blazingly fast.
The only logical explanation? They'd known something might happen here ahead of time—and had prepared in advance.
If that was true, then Jane Doe was very likely an undercover agent embedded within the Mountain Lion Gang. That would explain everything she'd done.
Still, what kind of excuse she'd give once she returned to the group… wasn't something Zhong Yan needed to worry about.
Because Zhu Yuan and Qing Yi were already striding over to him.
Funny, really. They barely had any official contact, yet this was their fourth encounter in recent weeks.
The first was during an investigation at Zhong Yan's home.
The second, at the Red Fang Gang's takedown in Lumina Square.
The third, during the Hollow disaster on Fourteenth Street.
And now, this—number four.
Seeing him, Qing Yi couldn't help but joke, "We meet again, Mr. Bestselling Author."
"H-Hi, long time no see, Mr. Zhong Yan," Zhu Yuan added stiffly. Her tone was clearly awkward—likely because she now knew he was a Hollow Raider.
But given all the good he'd done; she didn't want to arrest him.
Qing Yi knew as well, but took it in stride better than her partner.
"He was behind the bombing," Zhong Yan said, gesturing to the unconscious man he'd dragged along. "Didn't get much info out of him. I'll leave the rest to you."
He dropped the man at their feet.
Two nearby Security officers quickly came forward and hauled the suspect toward a waiting patrol car.
"Another big assist from you," Qing Yi said. "Mind walking us through what happened? We might be able to find something useful in the details."
Zhong Yan nodded and recounted everything—the date with Anby, the explosion, the chase, the arrest.
All of it… except for one key omission:
The name Jane Doe.