"Let's head a bit further inside!"

Chadley suggested, "I checked the area before coming here. Compared to this outer part, the space inside is larger and cleaner."

"There are also those yellow-painted railings, which are quite suitable for some action shots."

"Sure."

Xiao He readily agreed.

Liu Rulan and the others immediately followed their lead.

Seeing the group prepare to head deeper into the alley, the vagrants who had been lurking across the street finally seemed to have found the right opportunity and stood up from the ground. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Following his lead, several more sleazy-looking individuals emerged from the narrow entrance of the opposite alley.

Watching the backs of the photography team as they moved forward, sneering smiles appeared on their faces.

Although that Photographer had indeed been wandering around their neighborhood before, Chadley had only been carrying a single DSLR camera back then and was dressed plainly. He didn't look like a wealthy person and, being white, seemed like a lot of trouble, so they hadn't bothered with such a street Photographer at all.

But this time was different.

These foreign faces looked like fat sheep ready for the slaughter!

They were exactly the type these thugs liked to target!

And for some reason, their boss, Moses, had been getting more and more irritable lately, hitting people at the slightest provocation. Even the two brothers who used to be Moses's most trusted subordinates had been brutally dealt with by him a few days ago, and no one knew where Moses had dumped them.

Looking at Moses, whose head was wrapped like a mummy, no one dared to ask about the brothers' whereabouts or what had happened between them. They could only keep their heads down and act low-key.

Now that another group had arrived for Boss Moses to vent his anger on, his recent frustration would likely be swept away.

So, this brainless rabble, their heads clouded by drugs, began to stumble across the road toward Xiao He's team.

However, before they could take more than a few steps across the road, several burly, bald men in black suits suddenly stepped out of a van parked on the side of the street.

Their figures stood like a wall at the alley entrance, their faces behind sunglasses staring coldly at the group of thugs.

The thugs:?

What?!

They actually hired so many bodyguards?!

The scrawny thugs even had to look up at these bodyguards. The bodyguards stood with their arms crossed in silence, looking down with disdain, clearly warning them.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong seemed to be etched into their genes.

Their previously clouded eyes instantly cleared up.

"Uh, what are you doing? We're just passing through, we're going this way too—"

One of the thugs said, his voice strained and dry.

However, the bodyguards in black didn't pay them any mind, simply standing coldly at the alley entrance, resolutely blocking any "unrelated personnel."

"Let's just forget it..."

Another thug whispered, "They look like trouble."

But these people were indeed a bit strange. With enough wealth to hire so many ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) bodyguards at once for protection, they ended up coming to this run-down little neighborhood just to take photos... Were these rich people out of their minds?

"Yeah, that's true..."

But some were still indignant.

"But we've already informed Boss Moses about this. If he comes over and sees this situation, won't he just take his anger out on us?"

"Forget it, forget it. At worst, we'll just hang out somewhere else for a while! We'll come back once Boss Moses cools down!"

"Hey, that makes sense..."

And so, their bravado deflated like a punctured balloon.

Deep in the alley, Liu Rulan looked back at the thugs intimidated by the bodyguard team and sneered with her arms crossed, "Hmph, as if we'd give them another chance!"

Lao Qi also looked at the reliable bodyguard team and couldn't help but sigh.

You could say these thugs chose a really bad time to show up.

Ever since they were robbed while driving last time, Liu Rulan had decisively hired a small security team of ten to accompany them on their travels at all times.

Especially when they were on the road, the team would follow behind in their own cars to ensure the clients' safety.

Even though Xiao He and the others were heading straight to the airport to fly back to China after finishing this trip this afternoon, the bodyguard team had been diligently following them.

To be honest, this was an unprecedentedly grand display for Xiao He.

However, considering that the primary purpose of these people was actually to protect Sister Liu and Xiao Chen, Xiao He didn't say anything and accepted it.

Unexpectedly, on this final day, the bodyguard team actually came in handy.

It was truly a case of "enemies meeting on a narrow path." Who would have thought that the ones crossing paths with Xiao He's group again would be the same gang.

Oh, of course, Moses might no longer consider those two brothers as human, nor would he acknowledge the fools calling him into this trap as his own. Unfortunately, completely unaware of the situation, he was still rushing over.

—

In the next scene, there happened to be a baseball bat abandoned by the roadside.

Xiao He casually shouldered the bat and vaulted over the yellow railing with one hand. In the Photographer's lens, this became a highly dynamic character shot.

The shutter door background in this area happened to be mostly blue, which, combined with the yellow railing and his overall gray-toned clothing, created a strong color contrast.

Chadley had a great eye for detail and quick reflexes. Xiao He didn't even need to repeat a movement; Chadley could perfectly capture the most attractive frame of a sequence.

Thus, in less than half an hour, their shoot was already finished.

Such efficiency even amazed Liu Rulan.

Xiao Chen was also on the side, looking at the raw photos in the camera, marveling at the extremely precise colors and composition.

There really was a huge gap between people.

Even though Chadley mostly shot landscapes and street life rather than being a studio Photographer specialized in models, it didn't mean he couldn't do it, nor did it mean he wasn't good at it.

Xiao Chen could guarantee that the technical quality of what Chadley shot in these thirty minutes was far higher than that of any Photographer Brother Xiao had encountered before!

It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say that this set of photos was the most dynamic and highest-quality one Xiao He had taken since entering the industry.

Chadley truly lived up to his reputation as a world-renowned Photographer.

Even Liu Rulan couldn't help but nod repeatedly after looking through all the photos.

And the most amazing part was that, to be honest, the background here looked like a derelict alley at first glance—not only were the walls peeling, but even the shutter doors were rusty. However, with the combined effort of the model and the Photographer, it had a cyberpunk, abandoned city feel.

Yet, no matter how arrogant and carefree the young man in the frame appeared, the place he was in had already become a completely abandoned lower-class district, destined to rot away along with everything else there.

—When an era develops too quickly, the people and things here lose their value as a result.

The great ship of the era has already struck a reef.

No one can be spared.