CHAPTER 462: CHAPTER 277 ENDING_2

So she planned to lure the killer inside, catch him off guard, and subdue or even kill him!

After adjusting her mindset, Gaia, having received some special family training, proved to be much stronger than the average urban woman.

When there was no movement above her, Gaia, beginning to lose her composure, said urgently, "You had me wear the same makeup as the leading lady, recite the same lines, and don the same evening gown. Yet you refuse to come out and see me! There’s no food here, no water! I don’t even know where I am or what time it is, just sitting here, all alone! Is this the leading lady you wanted?"

The effects of the drugs had now worn off, and Gaia, retaining most of her strength, had her best chance to save herself.

Unfortunately, the killer was very cautious. A long silence ensued. No matter how Gaia tried to tempt or provoke him, he remained silent.

Just when Gaia thought this was the end for her...

CREAK...

An old, grating sound of friction came from the heavy wooden door behind Gaia.

Gaia’s body trembled. She feigned calm and looked toward the sound.

She saw a middle-aged man, slightly gray-haired but handsome, wearing a tailcoat and sporting a refined goatee. Enveloped by countless shadows, he stood outside the door, commanding all of Gaia’s attention.

The man looked at Gaia affectionately, his attractive mustache twitching as his lips moved. "Helen..."

Helen was the name of the film’s leading lady playing on the projector.

After a moment of shock, Gaia’s face regained its restrained and elegant smile. She tiptoed forward, approached the man, and, covering her mouth with a pale hand, said, "Laine, have you come to take me to the ball?"

The middle-aged man trembled inwardly, seeing Gaia instantly get into character.

What a perfect leading lady!

He instinctively bent down, intending to perform the hand-kissing gesture they had rehearsed countless times.

The next moment, the previously smiling Gaia’s eyes flashed with malice. Her other hand, gripping a ceramic shard, was raised high, and she slashed toward the side of the middle-aged man’s throat!

That was where the carotid artery was located. No matter how strong a man was, a cut there was devastating. In a fraction of a second, the blood coursing through the artery would spray out forcefully like water from a pressurized tap, sapping all strength from the man’s body!

The man, bending over, couldn’t see Gaia’s action. Perhaps, in that moment, he was wholly lost in the world he had created. Or perhaps his wariness had been dulled by five previous successes, leaving him completely unaware of the imminent danger.

Gaia felt a dull, piercing sensation in her hand.

The next moment, a warm liquid splashed upon her delicate face.

Gaia stood bewildered, holding the ceramic piece that had cut her finger from the recoil. She stared blankly as the man, equally bewildered, clutched his injured carotid artery and knelt to the ground.

"Mama~"

The man struggled, calling out for his mother, and seemed to want to escape the room, which resembled a movie set.

His cries, however, awakened Gaia.

Gaia, seeing the man still struggling, realized the ceramic shard wasn’t sharp enough and hadn’t delivered the fatal blow she’d intended. But the ruthless strike she had just unleashed had been driven by an intense will to survive.

Gaia couldn’t risk landing another blow. In a state of panic, she dropped the ceramic shard that had pierced her palm. She stepped over the man’s body and, dragging her cumbersome gown, ran towards the open door.

Escape! I must escape!

Beyond the set-like room was a long corridor. At the end of the corridor was a room radiating an orange glow.

There must be a door to the exit there!

Gaia, running on an adrenaline rush and pulling her long evening gown, dashed into the small room at an unprecedented speed...

The next moment, the scene that met her eyes was so shocking that Gaia, who had just injured someone, screamed in despair. Her voice echoed in the narrow corridor like the final wails of a dying beast...

At the end of the corridor, the figure that had been on the ground, clutching his neck, stood up again...

As it turned out, a woman who had never killed anyone would find it very difficult to efficiently finish off an adult man with just a ceramic shard.

Gaia’s fate seemed grim.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

At Louise’s urging, seven or eight police cars, sirens blaring, sped toward a suburban town.

Dean sat in one of the police cars, scrutinizing the map in his hands.

At his reminder, Louise discovered that the former mob boss behind the airport’s cold logistics company once had a starlet wife. This wife had been active in the 1950s. Her fame at the time nearly rivaled Marilyn Monroe’s, and she originally had the chance to leave her mark on the history of the United States film industry. But just as her career was peaking, the starlet was forced to retire due to pregnancy. By the time she wanted to make a comeback, there was no longer a place for her in the film industry. This became her lifelong regret.

Even worse, her husband, who had grown fickle, abandoned her. Afterward, she disappeared from public view.

The suspect they were searching for was the son the starlet and the mob boss had together. This man had been taken away and raised solely by his starlet mother when he was young. He only reappeared in Las Vegas a few years ago. Despite his good looks, he led a destitute life, eventually finding work as a refrigerated truck driver through connections his deceased father had left behind.

After uncovering this information, Louise immediately located the old-time gangster, and through threats and inducements, obtained the suspect’s residential address.

That was a decrepit town on the fringes of Las Vegas. Long ago, this town had its moment of glory due to movie shoots, and a small film studio had even been built there. However, as the main urban area of Las Vegas shifted, desertification became more severe. The place fell into desolation, becoming a retirement spot for some impoverished elderly people.

Las Vegas isn’t large. Just over forty minutes later, numerous police cars had an old house tightly surrounded. Outside the house, a dust-covered refrigerated truck was parked.

Louise was about to lead her team to storm the house.

But Dean held her back, his gaze shifting toward the crude film studio further away.

Louise quickly cautioned him, "Agent Dean, that area has been designated a dangerous building. Its old structures haven’t been maintained for a long time. People are usually forbidden from approaching it; even homeless individuals won’t risk being crushed to death to take shelter there."

"You go search the house, I’ll head over there!"

With that, Dean drew his gun and ran towards the makeshift film studio.

They call that a ’city’! In reality, it was just a collection of buildings in various styles. The most conspicuous among them was a collapsed opera house. Blackened, broken beams lay about, and the area was overgrown with weeds. Any rational person wouldn’t think someone could be inside.

Dean initially thought the same. But a trace left on the ground caught his eye!

What’s this?!

Dean crouched down, observing the soil under his feet. The climate in Las Vegas is dry. Most areas are dusty, and habitable places are typically green spaces. The soil is generally dry and sandy, making it difficult to retain moisture. But this soil was different. It appeared to have been treated with something like cement.

Dean scratched at it with his hand and found that just below a shallow layer of soil, there was a cement channel, only about two fingers wide. A wire was hidden inside it, leading straight to the collapsed opera house ahead.

Following the wire, Dean made his way through tangled wood and weeds. Finally, under a large wooden plank, he discovered a dark passageway!

I hope I’m not too late!

Dean shook his head and jumped down.

Ross was in a terrible state now.