Xu Mo naturally doesn't play by the rules.
That's the fundamental difference between him and the previous contestants on the show.
And it's also the reason why the investigation team hasn't been able to catch him yet.
When he took Xiao Zhang's car keys, it wasn't because he wanted to escape in Xiao Zhang's car.
In fact, Xu Mo never even considered that option.
Using a police officer's car to evade the authorities is just too far-fetched.
Who knows if there's a tracker installed by the police in that car?
In reality, taking Xiao Zhang's keys was just a diversionary tactic employed by Xu Mo.
He wanted to confuse both Xiao Zhang and Han Fei.
He wanted them to mistakenly believe that he would drive away in Xiao Zhang's car.
But once Han Fei starts investigating along the trail of Xiao Zhang's car, he should become confused.
Because he won't be able to figure out what Xu Mo is thinking at all.
After all, what kind of robber takes car keys but doesn't drive away with the car?
...
What Xu Mo took from Xiao Zhang.
It wasn't just the car keys; he also took identification documents and a gun.
The car keys were a red herring, while the remaining two items were what Xu Mo was after.
Let's rewind to this morning...
Xu Mo left the villa this morning, planning to take a walk and clear his mind, while grabbing some breakfast.
He wanted to eat first and then plan his next move.
But as he was about to leave the villa area, he ran into a man.
The man looked at Xu Mo in surprise, but in less than a second, his expression quickly returned to normal.
If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.
They might have even overlooked the fleeting look of surprise on the man's face.
But Xu Mo, with his heightened mental acuity, clearly caught the microexpression on the man's face.
Although Xu Mo didn't recognize this person, it was easy to guess that he was trouble.
Because Xu Mo didn't know anyone in Hang City.
Do strangers on the street show a look of surprise when they see you?
Clearly, they don't.
Based on this, Xu Mo speculated that the man in front of him was either a viewer of the livestream or a police officer.
The possibility of him being a viewer was close to zero.
Because if he were a viewer, he wouldn't have looked at Xu Mo in surprise and then quickly resumed a normal expression.
After all, there's no need to hide the fact that you recognize a challenger from the Eye of Heaven program.
There's a high probability that this person is a police officer!
To confirm his suspicion, Xu Mo walked up to the man.
"Hey, buddy, do you have a light? Mind lending me a light?"
When Xu Mo approached to strike up a conversation, the man's emotions immediately tensed up, and his mind went blank for a moment.
Almost instinctively, he nodded.
"Uh... yeah, I do."
As he said that, he took out a lighter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Mo.
While accepting the lighter, Xu Mo carefully observed the man's hand.
There were obvious calluses on the man's right index finger and the base of his thumb.
At the same time, Xu Mo also noticed something.
The man's waist seemed bulging, as if he had something strapped to it.
Now, Xu Mo was almost 90% certain that this man was a police officer.
Of course, Xu Mo still needed to confirm it.
After lighting a cigarette.
Xu Mo smiled and handed the lighter back, saying, "Thanks, buddy."
The man waved his hand. "You're welcome."
After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave, wanting to find a place to call Han Fei and report the situation.
"Hey, buddy, your shoulder patch is crooked," Xu Mo unexpectedly shouted from behind the man as he was about to leave.
Upon hearing this, the man instinctively turned his head to look at his shoulder.
The subconscious action he made was the most fatal.
By the time the man realized that this move might expose him, it was already too late.
Before he could draw his gun and turn around to shoot, Xu Mo had already approached him.
Naturally, the police officer was no match for Xu Mo, even after receiving rewards from the system.
Before he could react, he was knocked unconscious by Xu Mo's hand chop.
There weren't many people in this villa area, so no one would suspect Xu Mo dragging a unconscious man.
Therefore, Xu Mo didn't bother to disguise himself.
He carried the man back to the villa as if he were carrying a chick.
First, Xu Mo took out the gun, car keys, and the police officer's badge from his pockets.
Then, following the same routine, he found a marker pen and wrote the word 'death' on the man's forehead.
He also used tape to bind him up.
After finishing all this, Xu Mo called the four people who were still sleeping in the room one by one.
"What... what's going on?" Yang Jingxuan, with a bewildered expression, pointed at the man who was tied up by Xu Mo.
The other three were just as bewildered.
"Where did you get this guy?"
"A new hostage?"
"Are you planning to negotiate with the police using a hostage?"
"A hostage?" Xu Mo shook his head. "If I wanted a hostage, I wouldn't have chosen a man. They're too heavy to carry. This is a police officer."
Saying that, Xu Mo pointed to the coffee table where he had placed the gun, the police officer's badge, and the car keys that he had taken from the police officer.
"I was planning to go out for breakfast, but unexpectedly, right at the entrance of the villa area, I ran into a police officer. I didn't get to have breakfast, so I just caught a police officer on the way."
"How did the police officer find this place?" An Youyi asked.
Xu Mo shrugged. "We got exposed. Maybe they traced it back using your car's license plate number, or maybe they found it through the last house incident."
"Anyway... this place is not safe anymore. We can't stay here. Let's pack up and leave."
"It's okay, I have plenty of houses. We can just move to another one, and then Xu Mo can set up a security program."
An Youyi still seemed unconvinced.
Before Xu Mo could speak, Zhou Qiaoqiao retorted.
"I'm afraid that won't work. Since the police officer managed to find us here, it means your other houses are also not safe. And... did you notice? This police officer was wearing plainclothes."
"The security program Xu Mo set up can only recognize the four members of the investigation team and police officers in uniform. It doesn't cover plainclothes officers, so the security program won't be of any help."
"Moreover, if the police officer could find this house, it means your other houses have likely been exposed too. There are probably plainclothes officers nearby. We can't take the risk."
Upon hearing this, An Youyi looked at Xu Mo with her mouth slightly agape.
"Where should we live?"
"I'll figure something out. Let's leave first. This place is no longer safe. Quickly gather your belongings," Xu Mo said.
"Alright!" The four of them replied in unison.
...
After finishing packing up,
the group prepared to leave.
Just as Xu Mo was about to put the guns and police badges on the coffee table into his pocket and leave,
the police officer woke up.
Upon seeing this, Xu Mo pondered for a moment, then picked up the car keys in front of the police officer.
He wanted the police officer to mistakenly believe that he was taking the car keys to drive away.
Then, he swiftly struck the police officer with a knife-hand strike.
After knocking out the police officer, the group left the villa, ready to find a new place to rest.