Fang Hong rushed to the window, pressing his gaze against the glass to look outside. The street was quiet, seemingly peaceful and harmonious. But he sensed something eerie in that silence.
He turned back.
Rotao immediately understood, walked to the door, and pushed the handle forcefully.
Swish, swish, silver torpedo-shaped flying machines slipped out one by one from under Fang Hong's coat. He raised his left hand, and they swarmed out from the opening door like a bee swarm.
The vision through the lens traversed the corridor, searching towards the window opened at the end of the hall.
In the corridor, the inn's servant was walking forward holding a laundry basin, next to see this odd group of constructs whizzing past him.
The poor man was almost scared to shock, standing in place with wide eyes and dropped the wooden basin with a thud.
The silver constructs flew out of the window at the end of the hall, immediately spreading out, from under the eaves, smoke vents, and window sills, infiltrating the surrounding streets and alleys, according to Fang Hong's prearranged route, avoiding the potential 'eyes'.
Fifteen seconds later, a silver construct hovering under the eaves captured the first Clockwork Fairy swooping above the narrow sky.
Two seconds later, Fang Hong caught another one.
He silently estimated the flight paths of these two Clockwork Fairies, and had his silver bee swarm alter its trajectory a bit, retracing the previous flight path in a counterclockwise direction.
This round yielded even more.
A total of twenty-four Clockwork Fairies appeared, estimating there were at least two Combat Artisans nearby, but possibly three.
Fang Hong calculated based on the flight paths and radii of those Clockwork Fairies to deduce the possible locations of the opponents, concluding that their Combat Artisans might be stationed right at the exits of several nearby streets.
He once more expanded the activity range of his Clockwork Fairies, soon noticing the guards blocking several street mouths, alongside members of the Artisan Association among the crowd.
Inside the quiet room, the only sound was the mechanical clatter from Fang Hong's Control Gloves, everyone indoor was watching this direction, the Wind Goggles covering half the youth's face.
After a moment, Fang Hong lifted the goggles, revealing a pair of pitch-black, calm eyes. He succinctly spoke to everyone: "We've been discovered, someone's coming this way."
"How do they know we're here?" Gita's eyes sparkled, somewhat incredulous.
"With a bit of attention, it's not hard to perceive," Fang Hong briskly walked to the table, answering as he went: "We left too many clues earlier, the premise of safety was based on Captain Bozuo not reporting us, but we forgot he had an assistant, investigating from the port side, we actually left traces along the way."
Gita felt a bit anxious, "What do we do now?"
Fang Hong pulled a roll of parchment from under his coat and spread it on the table, it was a map drawn overnight by Lady Papamo.
"Don't rush, they should have come following the clues step by step. Yet we have one advantage; currently, our appearance differs greatly from that on the Wanted Order, so they might not recognize us immediately," Fang Hong took out a red pen from his pocket, then looking at everyone, he said: "But relying on this to escape a disaster is impossible, a single check and we'll be exposed, so we need to leave before they arrive. Outside there are likely spies, a unified action target is too large, it's best we leave in batches."
He glanced at the others.
Besides Luo Hao and two others, Miss Atira, Parker, and Tianlan were also absent; remaining in this house were Pasha, Gita, Elisa, Big Cat People, Bosun, Luo Yu, Tang Xin, and the Hilveld master and servant pair.
Miss Scholar dressed in a bow tie, wearing a hat, with short hair and blue eyes, in a boy's outfit.
Under Fang Hong's gaze, she blushed slightly, shy like a doll with rosy cheeks.
Hilveld with silver hair, silver eyes, and long pointed ears resembling a Wilderness People of Rotao.
Bosun wearing a worker's outfit, Luo Yu masquerading as a scholar.
To match her lady, Xiesta, though not on the Wanted Order, also wore furry cat ears.
Fang Hong then spoke: "Hilveld, Tangtang, Gita, and Miss Xiesta together pretended to be tourists visiting here."
"Mr. Reed, you with Rotao and Pasha,"
"Elisa with Luo Yu and me."
"We'll split up and then regroup. After leaving the inn, follow the planned routes to shake off the spies."
He bent down and drew three routes on the map with the red pen.
Before they checked into this place from a previous inn, of course, they had anticipated the worst-case scenario occurring.
Rotao and Parker had explored the surrounding routes countless times. Behind the inn, two blocks over, there was an old abandoned river channel, which could serve as their escape route.
But the premise is, they must reach that place without anyone noticing.
He set down the red pen, "Tangtang you head out the main door, Mr. Rotao and his group exit from the laundry room, I'll guide you with the Clockwork Fairies."
"What do we do after exiting?" Luo Yu asked. Even if they left this spot, getting out of the city would be difficult, especially under citywide lockdown.
"We'll discuss after getting out," Fang Hong glanced around the room, "Move out, no need to pack anything, save time."