Han Xiao did not intend to engage in a shoot-out. He did not bring sniper for this mission, only two Berserk Eagles and some small machines. Thus, he chose close range combat by using Hover-boots to close their difference in swiftness and then suppress the opponent with his Strength. The Dexterity of Vernina was high, but Han Xiao had an advantage in Strength.
Also, flighting Vernina at a close range would make the sniper cautious and hesitant to shoot.
Chapter 188 - Enemies everywhere
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The interface shows that Hannes was LV 60, too. Han Xiao realized that things were more complicated than he had initially thought. Two people at the maximum level in version 1.0 appearing at the same time definitely meant something significant—it might trigger a hidden storyline. Furthermore, these two people’s names sounded familiar, but Han Xiao could not remember at the time.
Han Xiao just wanted to focus on the mission from Bennett and make sure to complete it without any interference, but he was dragged into this matter, and being hit without fighting back was not his style.
Han Xiao dragged the battle to a close-range fight. Although Vernina was a Cannon Master, the level of her [Agent] sub class was very high, which meant she was not completely vulnerable in close combat. They exchanged blows again and again. Han Xiao was at an advantage because of his Strength. He would never hold back because of the opponent’s identity, gender, or age, so Vernina was at quite a disadvantage.
Both of their physical abilities exceeded normal people, a swing of their hands was more than enough to break apart bricks and penetrate through iron plates. The environment around them was destroyed, and the ground became full of pits. There was even an overturned car that Han Xiao had kicked away toward the tree—it was a mess. Dorasi stood by the side, not daring to escape because of the sniper.
Dorasi felt stupid. He had no idea there was such a strong superhuman hiding in his guards. Was this a secret arrangement of the secret services? But such a strong person would have been more than enough to even protect the highest ranked officials. Since when had he been treated even better than them‽
For now, Dorasi could only hope that this strong hidden person would be able to defeat the attackers, so he was extremely nervous.
Han Xiao was like gangrene. Vernina could not distance herself away at all, and she became more anxious as time passed.
“This agent is way too strong. Their backup will arrive soon. I’m stalled, Hannes, quickly help me!”
“He is too close to you, and you’re moving at a very high speed. There’s a fifty percent chance I will hit you instead,” Hannes said.
Vernina felt troubled. It was originally an easy mission, but with Han Xiao appearing, all the plans were ruined. The intelligence clearly showed Dorasi’s guards to be normal people. Where did this guy jump out of?
Hannes quickly came to a decision. “Retreat!”
It was at this time that the police sirens sounded. Police vehicles and the special operations unit closed in at high speed, and the sound of rotors appeared in the sky—two helicopters were circling above. The place was surrounded from every direction, and they had locked onto the two people that were fighting each other.
The emergency backup team had arrived. It had only been three to four minutes since Dorasi was attacked; they surely lived up to their team name.
Vernina clenched her teeth and used her back to take two punches from Han Xiao, moved with the force from the punches, and dashed into the encirclement while enduring piercing pain in her organs. The people of Maple fired continuously.
She was very agile, so she avoided the attacks by repeatedly sidestepping and found a safe route within the concentrated barrage. Even when she was hit, it only caused her single digit damage. The damage from normal people using normal firearms posed next to no threat to her.
As Han Xiao saw Vernina was about to escape the encirclement, he snatched a heavy sniper from one of the special operation soldiers, activated [Flaming Will], and hit Vernina’s shoulder.
Blood splashed.
Her footsteps stumbled, then she sped up again and disappeared in the darkness, leaving blood stains on the ground.
The majority of the team chased in their vehicles.
Han Xiao threw the gun away, feeling much better. There was no benefit in chasing. Injuring the opponent was enough, and he could not kill her anyway.
I’m on their side in Maple’s people’s eyes for now, but if I escape now, they might chase me too. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He decided to stay in place and find the opportunity to escape when the police officers were not paying attention.
More troops arrived, and they started cleaning up the place. Dorasi was surrounded and taken care of by a doctor.
From the conversation between the police, Han Xiao knew that both Vernina and Hannes had escaped, which was expected.
As he was leaning on a car, resting, a high-ranked officer walked in front of him and said in a low voice, “I’m Colonel Danny. You have done a good job, protecting Dorasi’s safety and not letting the kidnappers get their way.”
Han Xiao continued putting up a show. He acted calm and said, “It’s my job to do so.”
Danny looked at the street that was filled with pits, and slight shock appeared on his face. “Anguston, joined the army eleven years ago, trained as a special unit soldier for three years, took part in two military missions, kicked out of the special unit due to disciplinary issues, and joined the secret services to protect government officials. Your history is very common—never showed the strength of a superhuman,” he said.
Han Xiao shrugged and said, “People are constantly changing.”
Colonel Danny frowned. This was a very serious issue. This Anguston had been hiding his real strength. His motive was very suspicious and had to be checked thoroughly, but right now was not a good time.
Then, Dorasi came forward. “Good job, you saved me. I will let your superiors know about this and reward you for it.”
Dorasi knew that he had to keep a humble attitude after seeing Han Xiao’s strength. Such a strong superhuman was not like any other normal soldier he could just command around.
Han Xiao secretly observed Dorasi, thinking, What secret does this old government official have that interest two people that are LV 60?
After Dorasi showed his appreciation, he looked at Colonel Danny with a straight face and said, “What was the identity of the attackers?”
“We are still checking… Oh, they have found it.” Colonel Danny took the laptop from his assistant, but he was stunned with only one look.
“Vernina, former Raylen agent, currently decommissioned. She was once very active in the battlefields of the old era, was one of the shining legends of that era. She carried out more than one hundred highly dangerous missions, including assassinations, protection details, infiltrations, subverting governments, and so on. Today was her first appearance in decades, and her threat level is determined to be the highest.”
If it had something to do with legendary characters of the old era, then it would more or less have some connection to Bennett.
Oh, I remember now. Han Xiao had a flash of light in his mind. He now remembered where Vernina and Hannes had appeared.
It was in the middle of version 1.0 when players came into contact with these two names. They appeared in a form of something more like an easter egg.
In the biggest refugee camp created by Bennett in Han Xiao’s previous life, there was a small hill that had three graves on it. Two of them belonged to these two people. When players came into contact with them, they were already dead,
Bennett would sometimes stop in front of the three graves, and if someone were to ask him about it, he would sigh and say he had buried his friends and comrades—all respectable people.
Players only knew these three people were old friends of Bennett from what he said and nothing else; some players had tried triggering a mission, but it
did not result in anything. Apparently, it was just an easter egg.
But now, the two people in the grave were still alive. Han Xiao was certain there must be a hidden storyline.
Two of the strongest people at LV 60 from the same era of Bennett… why were they against a Maple government official?
In the original storyline, how and what did they die for? Who killed them?
Colonel Danny looked up at Han Xiao with suspicion.
This person that he had never heard before had chased away a legend of an era. He was stronger than he had thought!
There was such a scary guy hidden in secret service, and the military had not noticed!
We’ll have to investigate thoroughly, Colonel Danny thought.
With such thoughts in his mind, Colonel Danny commanded the people to clean the battlefield, and within a short moment, Han Xiao disappeared from under his nose.
Han Xiao activated [Night Stalker]’s abilities as the attention of the people around him was diverted by cleaning up the battlefield. He walked to the corner and immediately changed his face and escaped. His level was much higher than everyone there, so as soon as he activated stealth mode, he was undetectable unless he lingered right in front of someone for a very long time.
As soon as Colonel Danny had realized this, he quickly asked the people around him, but nobody saw Anguston leaving. He stood still in shock. With just a slight dip in attention, the person had disappeared!
He commanded his people to search the nearby areas, which of course lead to no result.
Not long after Colonel Danny was confused, someone found the real Anguston lying in the garden of Dorasi’s mansion. He then realized that this ‘Anguston’ was a fake, and it was the same thing that the mystery person who infiltrated other mansions of the officials had done!
The attacker’s identity is confirmed, but who is the infiltrator? Colonel Danny thought with a heavy mind. The infiltrator was as strong as Vernina, so which organization did he belong to, and why did an ‘ace’ level power appear in the capital?
Dorasi was horrified and covered in cold sweat when he knew the truth.
After all, it turned out the person that was protecting him was also an enemy that had been stalking him all along.
Two enemies actually fought with each other. It was like he walked past the edges of hell and ended up unhurt!
“How am I alive?” Dorasi was still panicking.
Chapter 189 - Fearsome Assassination
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
As the people of Maple were still investigating, Han Xiao had already returned to Dorasi’s mansion. He placed the last document in the study and left, swaggering.
_____________________
[Deterrence and Threaten] is completed.
You have gained 120,000 experience.
+500 Relationship with Blood Pact Society
Current relationship: Respect (4450/6000)
_____________________
There was an affiliation between organizations. The Blood Pact Society was a subordinate organization of Dark Net, so the relationship with it would also influence the relationship with the Dark Net, just like how his relationship with Division 13 also affected the attitude that Stardragon had toward him. In order to unlock relationship with the higher-tier organization, Dark Net, Han Xiao guessed he needed an opportunity, like a mission or something. As the relationship with the subordinate organization became higher, it would start to affect the relationship with the superior organization.
This was not a difficult mission. It probably also has some hidden benefits, like increasing my relationship points with Bennett. Han Xiao nodded, when he returned to the Southern Continent, he would become a partner of the refugee storyline. He was looking forward to it.
…
After being busy for more than half of the night, Dorasi finally returned home, exhausted and protected by new guards.
As he passed by the study, he realized that the desk lamp was on. He walked toward the study table and wanted to turn the lamp off, but then he saw a document on the table that he had never seen before.
Dorasi’s expression changed. He hesitated for a few seconds and started reading the document slowly.
Inside the document were pieces of evidence of his corrupt profits and his unpleasant history, and it was shockingly inscribed by Dark Net.
“Dark Net sends our warmest regards. We wish you a healthy body.”
Dorasi’s face turned green. He immediately understood why the Dark Net did this—it could only be regarding the appropriation of supplies. He did not expect the Dark Net to even find out that he was one of the people who opposed the appropriation.
He threw the documents on the floor angrily, gnashing his teeth, and said, “How arrogant. This is blackmailing, a bunch of robbers!”
They could sneak into his house and place something, which meant they could take away his life. The infiltrator belonged to the Dark Net! Everything tonight had been planned by the Dark Net!
But he did not dare plan revenge. If the document fell into the hands of his political opposition, his political life would be over; he would undoubtedly be abandoned by the people he depended on. Without protection from his political party, he would definitely be erased. As a government official, he was most clear with Maple’s ways of doing things.
Dorasi burned the document and lay down on the chair like he had lost his bones. He watched the document as it turned into ash in the fireplace, and he remained silent for quite some time.
I can’t let people know about this. I was not the only one that opposed the appropriation. The others wouldn’t be stupid enough to spread it. Dorasi’s eyes twinkled. If no one talked about it, no one would know, and it would remain a secret. As long as they agreed with the appropriation, Dark Net would not take further action.
However, things never turned out according to plan. One of the government officials whose house had been infiltrated was found dead, with his dead body hidden in the cabinet! This had immediately raised the importance level much higher. Secret service agents locked down the official’s mansion and investigated the entire house carefully. Han Xiao saw that the target died at the time. Therefore, he did plant the document. Of course, the intelligence team did not manage to find anything.
They did, however, have a rough guess. Five victims, but only one died—why were the other four unharmed? What was the motive of the infiltrator? The intelligence unit asked the rest of the four victims, including Dorasi, if there were any abnormalities—all four of them denied it. However, the Intelligence team had found a link between the five parties, which was their opposition to providing aid for the Dark Net not long ago.
The Dark Net was the most suspicious!
The infiltrator had battled with the legend of the old era then disappeared into thin air. Maple Intelligence Institution immediately narrowed it down to the most suspicious person, Dark Net’s Black Phantom!
Which meant that the four officials were lying, but why did the dead government official get killed?
The doctor checked the cause of death. They did not find any injury outside or inside; the cause of death was a myocardial infarction and overflow of adrenaline. In short, he was scared to death!
What did he see before he died to scare him to death!
Did he see a ghost?
What did Black Phantom do?
The more they thought, the scarier it was for the intelligence agents of Maple.
“Such a fearsome way of assassination. Natural, no trace, godly disguise, unbelievable!”
The Intelligence agents recorded it hastily.
The toughness of Black Phantom was known by everyone in the underworld—it was almost impossible to find him. The intelligence institution of Maple could only do all they could, and they were already expecting their efforts to go to waste.
…
Vernina sat bare top on the chair with her front facing the back of the chair. Her hands gr
abbed the chair back and placed her chin on the back of her hands. Hannes was behind her, dealing with the wounds on her shoulder. To the side were cotton balls drenched with blood.
Ding-Dong
Hannes finally took out the bullet that was stuck in the muscles and threw it into the metal plate.
The pain made Vernina frown a little. She sighed and said, “Such a shame. Can’t believe I failed such an easy mission.”
Hannes continued sewing the wounds without facing up and said, “Garian’s information had errors—it’s all his fault.”
Garian threw the laptop on the table as he heard what Hannes said. The screen showed the files on the secret service agents around Dorasi. “Bullshit, this is intelligence I got from the database of Maple through very difficult and tiresome hacking. That strong opponent is called Anguston. Look clearly at his history. He is a totally normal person. Who would have thought he was hiding so deeply?”
Vernina put on a white cardigan and tied her golden hair up. “With this failure, it won’t be so easy to kidnap the target next time. That Anguston is not easy to deal with.”
Garian looked at the laptop. He suddenly turned happy and said, “Wait, I have new information. The person we fought was a fake. He did not belong to Maple at all.”
“Who was it?” Hannes was surprised.
“Seems like it’s from the Dark Net,” Garian said as he typed on the keyboard and hacked for intelligence.
“Dark Net? Only Bennett and two other old guys are that strong, but it wasn’t them. There’s new blood in Dark Net? It has been quite some time since I paid attention to the data from the underground.” Vernina was slightly shocked. She touched her shoulder and said, “He also left a bullet hole in me. He is really not easily messed with.”
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