Chapter 178: Chapter 168: Qin Ling in Danger

The rankings refreshed at midnight. Tang Mo usually never paid attention to them, but today, she had equipped herself with so many new things that she wanted to see if her rank had changed.

With an increase of nearly 600 attribute value points, her rank should have jumped significantly by all rights.

The seconds ticked by, and finally, it was midnight.

Tang Mo sat cross-legged on her bed in her pajamas and activated her ID Watch.

Her name was the easiest to find on the list. Among the hundred people on the ranking, only hers had a small, glittering gold icon next to it.

Rank 92.

Tang Mo spotted her name at a glance.

She had asked Xiao Tao about her rank earlier today, and it hadn’t changed.

A slow smile spread across Tang Mo’s face.

She wasn’t disappointed. On the contrary, she was pleasantly surprised.

’It looks like the ID Watches are constantly being improved. The attribute value boosts from equipped Acquired Treasures are no longer counted as part of my personal attributes.’

’Only the attribute values from consumed Innate Treasures, which truly become part of my own body’s strength, are included in the ranking calculations.’

Tang Mo touched her earring. ’If that’s the case, then this is perfect.’

Tang Mo genuinely didn’t see any advantage to being on the rankings. Saving a little on base fees?

Sorry, but she didn’t need that.

Exposing her true strength to the public only made her feel insecure.

It was all because she wasn’t strong enough yet.

The night deepened. Tang Mo didn’t lie down to sleep. Instead, she closed her eyes and began to cultivate her spiritual power.

She stayed up for almost the entire night. By the time Tang Mo got up the next day, it was already noon.

Wen Jianshu had left for the administration building early. At home, only Lin Yi, Yangyang, and Xiao Tao were at the table, eating lunch.

Jingjing was on the carpet, wrestling enthusiastically with Zhima.

As a fox, Jingjing was only half the size of Zhima, the Labrador, and was currently being pinned to the floor and "bullied."

Tang Mo paid them no mind, sitting down at the table to eat.

With Jingjing’s current power, if she wasn’t just playing with Zhima, the dog wouldn’t be able to withstand a single one of her swipes.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Lin Yi looked at her daughter with loving eyes. Her daughter had suffered so much out there alone, so whenever Tang Mo was home, Lin Yi would never wake her, no matter how late she slept in.

"Very well," Tang Mo replied, savoring the warm, peaceful moment.

Yangyang had finished eating and held out his arms, wanting his big sister to hold him.

Lin Yi stopped him, not wanting him to disturb Momo while she was eating.

The little guy pouted and continued to wave his arms unhappily.

’Qin Ling should have returned from his mission today, too.’

Tang Mo pondered as she ate. ’Knowing Qin Ling’s personality, he said he’d be back soon. The moment his mission was over, he would definitely have come to pester me about returning right away.’

’But now...’

Tang Mo glanced down at her messages again. The list was still blank.

After eating, Tang Mo took Xiao Tao to the training grounds to "spend some energy." But when the two returned, exhausted, and even after Tang Mo had finished her shower, her watch hadn’t made a single sound.

Tang Mo sent a message to Qin Ling: "Is the mission going well?"

She waited for a while, but there was no reply.

After another hour passed, Tang Mo couldn’t sit still any longer.

Even if he was still on the mission, after more than an hour, Qin Ling would have found a spare moment to reply.

’Something’s wrong. Something is very wrong.’

"Lao San, where are you? What’s the situation with Qin Ling?"

Tang Mo called Hu Laosan, who had stayed behind at the base.

"The boss... we’ve lost contact with him. Sister-in-law, is it convenient for you to come to Garden Villa Number 1?"

It was the first time Hu Laosan’s voice had sounded so grave and serious.

"Okay, I’m on my way."

Tang Mo’s heart sank. She threw on some clothes and rushed out, heading for the garden villas.

The garden villas were where only the wealthiest people in the base could live. The Qinling Team’s usual headquarters was here, not at the Qin Family estate.

When she arrived at the location Hu Laosan had sent, Tang Mo walked through the villa’s main gate and saw Lao San waiting there with an anxious expression.

"What happened?" Tang Mo asked, following Hu Laosan’s steps into the room.

She knew something must have happened to Qin Ling.

"This morning, the boss contacted us and said the mission was going smoothly and that he’d be back by noon. But at two in the afternoon, the helicopter suddenly lost contact mid-air. At the same time, we lost the location data from the watches of the boss and the brothers who went on the mission with him."

The plane lost contact mid-air...

The color drained from Tang Mo’s face.

’Impossible. Absolutely impossible.’

"Sister-in-law, do you think... do you think the helicopter crashed?"

Hu Laosan’s voice was tinged with tears. Although he was ranked third in the team, his strategic thinking and courage didn’t measure up to even a tenth of the second-in-command’s.

Faced with this situation, he was completely panicking.

The boss had taken twelve people on this mission. Among the dozen or so who remained, Hu Yong held the highest rank, so everyone was listening to him.

But Hu Yong was out of ideas. When he got the call from his sister-in-law, he had immediately asked her to come over, clutching at her like a lifeline.

Hu Yong’s words had been blunt. There was a high probability that Qin Ling’s group had been in a plane crash...

A plane crash. Throughout history, whenever a plane has gone down, the survival rate is practically zero.

Tang Mo’s legs went weak. She stumbled for a moment before grabbing a chair to support herself as she sat down.

’No, it can’t be. It just can’t be.’

Tang Mo dug her nails into her palms, forcing herself to calm down.

’Knowing Qin Ling’s caution and intelligence, even if the helicopter ran into trouble, it’s impossible that he was completely helpless.’

’He would have done everything possible to ensure his own safety.’

’Besides, even if—even if the plane really did crash, Qin Ling’s group has extremely high attribute values. They make up more than half of the people on the rankings! And with all their equipment, it’s not like they wouldn’t have some way to save themselves.’

Tang Mo began to analyze the situation with the rationality that came from her forced composure.

’If they had died in a crash, not everyone’s watches would lose their tracking function at the exact same time.’

’They must have landed somewhere with no signal, or where the signal is being jammed or blocked.’

’He must still be alive.’

Tang Mo had an inexplicable faith in Qin Ling. She refused to believe that anything had truly happened to him.

’I have to find him. Even if something did happen... whether he’s alive or dead, I need to see him with my own eyes!’

Tang Mo had a rough idea of how complicated the internal situation of the Qin Family was. With things so uncertain, she couldn’t possibly ask them for help.

The remaining members of the Qinling Team couldn’t make a move. If they did, people in the base would quickly realize something had happened to Qin Ling. It was hard to say what kind of chaos that would cause in the base, and she couldn’t take that risk.

Besides, they didn’t even know where the group was. Bringing more people would be useless.

Going to find Qin Ling by herself was the best—and only—option right now.

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