Chapter 420: I Trust You
Before setting off to deliver a slap in the face, Su Tao urgently contacted Lei Xing, telling them to leave Shou’an City as soon as possible.
When Lei Xing received her call, he was initially surprised and happy, but his expression quickly turned serious.
They had accepted a mission in Shou’an, and according to the contract, terminating the mission midway would require paying ten times the commission as compensation.
Lei Xing quickly calculated in his mind—breaching the contract would cost 30 million federal credits and 1,500 crystal cores.
An astronomical price.
Although Leopard Path had accumulated a solid foundation over the years, paying such a hefty penalty would be a huge burden.
It would be like working for free for many years.
The reason their breach penalty was so high was to give employers peace of mind.
Without it, employers would worry that if their lives were in danger, Leopard Path might abandon the job for a higher-paying one elsewhere. With such high penalties, employers knew the team couldn’t afford to break their word.
Thanks to this policy and their perfect mission success rate, Leopard Path had risen to fame.
But now, Su Tao’s call was pushing them toward their first-ever breach of contract.
Lei Xing grew serious and asked, “Is there danger in Shou’an?”
Su Tao answered truthfully, “I suspect there are mutated zombies in Shou’an with sinister intentions. I’m worried the city will fall.”
After a pause, Lei Xing asked, “How sure are you?”
Su Tao considered her words carefully. “Eighty percent.”
Her sixth sense—and the occasional prophetic dreams—had always been reliable. But without a direct vision, she couldn’t guarantee 100% certainty.
Lei Xing’s breathing grew heavier on the other end of the line. After a long silence, he said, “Alright. I trust you.”
Su Tao had no idea how tough this decision was for him. She sighed in relief after hanging up.
She didn’t care about the lives of those in Shou’an, but Lei Xing couldn’t be caught in the disaster.
And she knew that once Lei Xing made a promise, he would keep it.
However, chaos broke out within Leopard Path.
When the team learned they had to break the contract, everyone exploded.
“Boss Lei, we can’t do this! Breaking a contract over a mere suspicion—this is too reckless!”
“Yeah, Boss! The penalty alone will drain our savings, and our reputation will be destroyed. Who will trust us to complete missions after this?”
Even Fire Snake remained silent and shook his head at Lei Xing.
To Fire Snake, their boss seemed obsessed.
When there were no conflicts, it was fine that he listened to Su Tao’s every word—some of the team even joked about pairing them up.
But under these circumstances, he found it hard to support such a rash decision.
Only Chen Yang, with his innocent face, stood firm:
“Brother Lei, I’ll go with you! I trust Sister Tao completely!”
He turned to the others and added with certainty, “Sister Tao never speaks without reason. If you don’t believe her, you’ll regret it later!”
Someone muttered under their breath, “At this point, why don’t we just rename ourselves ‘Peach (Tao) Path’ and follow her lead on everything?”
Lei Xing, no longer his usual playful self, cut through the noise with a fierce command:
“We’re leaving—no arguments. Pack your things and meet me in an hour. Anyone who doesn’t follow orders is out of Leopard Path.”
The moment Su Tao said she was 80% sure, he had made up his mind.
If there really were mutated zombies with sinister motives, staying meant death.
Those creatures were ruthless toward humans, and their favorite tactic was mass slaughter.
Money and reputation meant nothing if you were dead.
The team fell silent.
Some immediately turned to pack their things.
Others muttered curses under their breath but still did as they were told.
Lei Xing’s authority was absolute—without him, Leopard Path wouldn’t exist.
An hour later, the entire team successfully left Shou’an, heading toward Tao’yang.
They didn’t know that only three kilometers out, Shou’an’s city gates closed behind them—and a massacre began.
When Su Tao received news of their safe departure, her heart finally settled. She began preparing to leave for Shou’an herself.
Given the danger, she only brought Jiang Yu with her.
If things went south, she could teleport back to Tao’yang, while Jiang Yu could hide in the shadows undetected.
Zhuang Wan, pale with worry, clutched Su Tao’s hand tightly, trying to convince her to bring more people.
It reminded her of the time when Su Tao insisted on joining the Pioneer Army on their dangerous trip to Panliu Mountain. She hadn’t slept well for days back then.
Su Tao, serious, said, “Wan Wan, you’re my first partner. With you here, I trust Taoyang will be fine. And you must trust me—I will always protect myself and never make a reckless decision.”
Zhuang Wan’s nerves eased slightly, but she still held Su Tao’s hand tightly.
“We’ll wait for you to come back safe,” she said.
Su Tao nodded solemnly.
She hadn’t told many people about her departure. Just as she was about to leave the next morning, her phone rang—it was Gu Mingchi.
Her heart skipped a beat—did this cunning old fox already know about her plans?
She hesitated but eventually answered the call.
“Why did you take so long to answer?” Gu Mingchi’s voice was laced with displeasure.
It was always like this—either she didn’t answer at all or took her sweet time.
Su Tao lied without missing a beat: “I just woke up. What’s up?”
Gu Mingchi snorted. “Good news—the coastal convoy is back. They’ll reach Taoyang in an hour. Go meet them. There’s a spatial ability user in the group—he has all the crystal cores they earned.”
Su Tao’s spirits lifted. “That fast? How much did they earn?”
Gu Mingchi’s tone was calm. “Enough to buy out the entire East District.”
But in his mind, he was practically shouting: It’s way more than enough!
Su Tao’s heart pounded with excitement. This was beyond her expectations—at least five or six thousand crystal cores.
“Didn’t we estimate a maximum of five thousand?”
Gu Mingchi replied indifferently, “That was the fair price. This was the ‘heartless’ price.”
Su Tao: “…”
So, they had thoroughly fleeced the coastal survivors. This haul was definitely over six thousand cores.
