Darryl’s son had the highest chance of becoming the next leader after Darryl died, but Han Xiao had killed him, and now the successor’s position had become vacant. All the factions were ambitious and planned to seize power. Thus, a heavy storm was about to arrive.
Everyone seemed like they were focused on the truth of Darryl’s death, but they were secretly more concerned about the election of the next leader.
However, before the killer was discovered, the election would not take place.
Han Xiao was one of the main parties in this, but he was also an excluded outsider. However, he did not mind it at all. He stayed in the room and gathered information about Alumera through Dark Net’s intelligence network and the Bamboo Rain Guild.
A few days after, Xiao Jin came knocking on his door. He told Han Xiao that he had found an important clue.
“Through checking the guards’ verbal information and comparing it with the recording from the surveillance cameras, I have found some traces. On the night of the assassination, an assistant of one of the Northern Faction’s high ranked officials left his house and disappeared for 27 minutes.
“This high ranked official of the Northern Faction is called Su Dinghua—45 years of age, a Northern Continent local, always kept a low profile. Actually, I have been paying attention to him for a very long time. A spy I sent into the Northern Faction discovered that Su Dinghua has secret connections with Raylen, and his assistant only changed a few years ago, the same year that he started to contact Raylen.”
Many high ranked officials contacted other organizations discreetly, but all for their own benefits. However, Raylen had obviously turned Su Dinghua into a traitor.
Xiao Jin brought along quite a number of documents, which all clearly lead to Su Dinghua.
Han Xiao gave it careful thought. Alumera was Theseus’s partner, and weakening Alumera meant weakening Theseus. To create a strong opponent for Alumera and spark internal conflict, Raylen would benefit from it as a third party, which was indeed a logical motive for Raylen.
The Northern Faction was the most inconspicuous, so they would be the most suitable party for any conspiracy.
“Were the other factions able to get this information, too?” Han Xiao raised the documents in his hands.
“Not sure.” Xiao Jin shook his head. “I acquired the information of Su Dinghua secretly working with Raylen by accident, so the other factions probably don’t know about it.”
“Then why did you come to me?” Han Xiao asked.
“Raylen might have planted quite few strong people around Su Dinghua. I was hoping you could help us capture Su Dinghua and his co-conspirators, and this is a good opportunity for you to get rid of the suspicion as well. I was thinking you would want to do it yourself,” Xiao Jin said with a sincere tone. “Rewards will not be a problem if you want them.”
Han Xiao stared at Xiao Jin for quite some time and smiled suddenly. “I will help you this time, at market rate.”
“Okay.” Xiao Jin nodded.
…
At night, Han Xiao started to act. Since he already exposed Viper, he wore it this time as well, but without the Heavy Mechanical Arm—a stealth operation did not require such a rough weapon.
Su Dinghua’s mansion was located in a rural area. Han Xiao took out his laptop and hacked into the local network to freeze the surveillance cameras. Then he avoided the guards and jumped over the wall into the mansion.
Su Dinghua was a high ranked official who had a rather low position compared to others. His guarding power in the mansion was weak, and with Han Xiao’s level and strength, sneaking in was a piece of cake.
When he quietly entered the study, the light was on. Han Xiao stood against the wall and scanned the room with magnetic scanning; there was no one in the room.
Han Xiao entered the room without making a sound. He looked through the room and realized that the building was made of normal brick and wood—it did not have any special metal that could prevent any detection device, and the structure of the room was clear and simple.
“There’s a hidden safe behind the painting on the wall beside the table.” Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. Just as he was going to flip open the painting to open the safe, he realized something and stopped.
He carefully looked around the room, then left the safe alone and came to the table instead. He tried opening the drawers, but they were all locked. However, that was not a problem for him. As a Mechanic who could build firearms and robots, it would be a shame if he could not even open a lock.
Furthermore, Han Xiao was already experienced in lock picking.
The drawers were filled with paper documents, mostly Alumera’s internal information. There were some reports too. He dug through for a while and realized that they were all irrelevant documents. However, he found a slip of paper with a string of numbers written on it, which seemed like the passcode for the safe, and a small metal key that also looked like it was for the safe.
“Way too obvious.” Han Xiao shook his head. He closed the drawer and did not use the key to open the safe.
Hiding a safe behind a painting was too common. The key and passcode left in the drawer felt like it was done purposely; it looked like a trap.
There was a very high chance that the safe was either bait or a trap, which would trigger some sort of alarm, as one would usually remember the passcode to the safe instead of writing it down.
It could have been an incorrect assumption, but Han Xiao was just there to capture Su Dinghua—the safe could be opened any time after he captured him.
Han Xiao walked toward the living room. He heard a few guards that were chatting with each other, and after a strategic scan and a vital sign comparison, he noticed that these people were all around LV 20, which meant that they were not normal guards. They could be superhumans, and if they were not, it meant that they were normal people but very elite.
Seems like it was right. Han Xiao nodded. Su Dinghua’s guards hid their true strength, so there was definitely something suspicious going on.
Han Xiao turned and went upstairs to the bedroom. Su Dinghua was resting, so Han Xiao went in straightaway and shot a paralyzing bullet at Su Dinghua, making him unconscious before he could scream, then tied him up with the blanket.
There were eight guards in the mansion along with Su Dinghua’s assistant; Han Xiao was not planning to let any of them escape.
Returning to the living room, Han Xiao did not hide anymore—he broke through the door and entered.
“Who?” The guards pulled out their guns immediately.
However, with the mechanical suit, these four unprepared guards were defeated within seconds.
The commotion attracted attention. The radar detected other guards were coming quickly. Han Xiao broke through the wall with a loud bang and knocked out those guards one after another.
Su Dinghua’s assistant was hiding the most; he was at around LV 40. However, he still could not last for more than ten seconds before Han Xiao broke his arms and legs and knocked him onto the ground. The difference in strength was too vast, an easy victory for Han Xiao.
Han Xiao’s destruction power was like a demolition—the whole mansion turned into ruins, and the loud noise could be heard from very far away.
Xiao Jin was on standby right outside the mansion. He broke in as soon as he saw that Han Xiao had succeeded. Su Dinghua and his guards were all in the yard, and no one escaped.
Han Xiao stayed and stood to the side.
Xiao Jin did not avoid Han Xiao and started the interrogation in the yard. He poured water on Su Dinghua and the others to wake them up.
Su Dinghua knew that he had been exposed when he woke up.
“How did you know?” Su Dinghua was shocked and confused.
“I’ve known you were in contact Raylen for a very long time,” Xiao Jin said coldly. “You have changed your guards over the last few years—they are all strangers and sent by Raylen. You thought this was an opportunity when Black Phantom
visited out of the blue and carried out the assassination, thinking that you did it very discreetly and destroyed many traces. Still, some clues were left behind.”
Chapter 211 - The Real Killer (6)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“You bribed Miri to bring Black Phantom to the scene as soon as the assassination was discovered, wanting to spark a conflict so that the scrimmage would bury more clues. You also arranged people to kill Miri during the battle.”
Xiao Jin listed many pieces of evidence. Su Dinghua closed his eyes in pain and softly spoke to himself. “I knew this day would come. Being found out means death.”
Then, Su Dinghua looked at his assistant and said, “I did kill our leader, but I’m not the mastermind—he is. Raylen gave me many benefits and promised me even more, so I did things for them. He’s a spy sent by Raylen to monitor and control me—this plan was also suggested by him!”
The assistant looked at Su Dinghua in anger and said, “You’ve lost your mind…”
“You think there’s a way to get away alive?” Su Dinghua stopped him and said, “I did things for you people because of the benefits you gave, which won’t be of use to me anymore. Now that I’m exposed, Raylen won’t have an easy time either.”
The assistant’s eyes suddenly turned white. His lips became purple, and white foam came out of his mouth. He died while twitching. When Su Dinghua was talking, he knew that he would definitely die, so he crunched down on the poisonous capsule between his teeth and committed suicide. The guards all followed his lead.
The people of Raylen were known for being cold-blooded and loyal, so no one was surprised.
Han Xiao stood aside and watched with no intent to stop them. Very soon, Su Dinghua was the only one left alive.
Xiao Hai sneered and said, “It’s too late to save yourself.”
“I’m not planning to. I know that death is my only option.” Su Dinghua shook his head.
Xiao Jin cut in and said, “Su Dinghua, you have been a member of Alumera for a very long time. The leader treated you well, so why did you do it?”
“Hahahahaha!” Su Dinghua suddenly laughed so loudly that even tears came out of his eyes. He said with a mocking tone, “Xiao the second chair, this doesn’t seem like something you would say. Your blood is much colder than mine.”
Xiao Jin remained expressionless and was not affected by it, but Xiao Hai slapped Su Dinghua and said, “Seems like you want a slow death.”
The people from other factions have arrived for quite some time. They watched this scene in shock and confusion.
Su Dinghua laughed for a while, then suddenly said with sorrow, “I will apologize to the leader myself.”
Xiao Hai took out a whole set of torture devices and said coldly, “Then you have a lot of time to think about what to say.”
“Enough, he has already confessed. Bring him back then interrogate him,” one of the chieftains of the Northern Faction said. Su Dinghua was a high ranked official of the Northern Faction, so interrogating and torturing him in public would bring a lot of shame to the Northern Faction.
Su Dinghua was a traitor who did not represent the Northern Faction’s position, but it did bring them shame.
Xiao Jin looked at Han Xiao with inquiry in his eyes. The others looked over as well.
Black Phantom was the one that had been framed, so his opinion was very important.
“The real killer has been found. Anything other than that has nothing to do with me,” Han Xiao said. He then turned away and left.
…
The real killer that assassinated Darryl had been found. The whole plan had been Raylen’s, and Han Xiao was cleared of suspicion.
Su Dinghua died in the interrogation. He spat out quite an amount of intelligence before he died. He was a very important chess piece to Raylen, and the assassination was to spark conflict between Alumera and Dark Net, but the plan had gone south. Han Xiao’s strength was far beyond their expectations. They had thought that Black Phantom would be captured or even killed, so the hatred between Alumera and Dark Net could not be resolved easily, but to their surprise, Han Xiao had the upper hand.
The assassination only went so well because of Su Dinghua’s years of planning. Raylen suffered a huge loss when he died.
Xiao Jin was a huge contributor to finding the real killer. He gained a large about of prestige, and the Home Faction had to thank him even if they did not want to.
Everything was settled. However, Black Phantom, who had cleared his suspicion, decided to stay. No one knew what motives he had. The factions did not have time to care about him since they were all busy with the election of a successor.
In the room, Han Xiao looked at the mission [The Real Killer] on his interface. Su Dinghua had been caught, but he did not turn in the mission.
This thing has yet to end.
A flash of coldness appeared in Han Xiao’s eyes; one thought had become clearer in his mind.
…
Three days after capturing Su Dinghua, Xiao Jin brought Xiao Hai along and came to visit.
“Why are you looking for me?” Han Xiao asked.
“I should be the one asking. What’s your goal in staying here?” Xiao Jin asked back.
“I was framed out of nowhere, and your people wanted to kill me. I need compensation.”
Xiao Hai was shocked and angry. “This whole thing was planned by Raylen, and you even killed our people. How dare you ask for compensation‽”
“Raylen is too far away, so I’m getting money from you guys first.”
“You’re robbing us!” Xiao Hai was filled with anger.
“That’s correct.” Han Xiao nodded calmly. He looked at Xiao Hai mockingly and said, “What can you do about that?”
Xiao Jin pulled the furious Xiao Hai back, then wrote a number on a piece of paper and said, “I will compensate you personally. Is this amount enough?”
Han Xiao gave it a quick look and said, “Barely acceptable.”
Xiao Hai was frustrated. He did not understand why Xiao Jin was willing to pay; there was absolutely no need to in his eyes.
“There’s another reason for you to have come to find me, right?” Han Xiao crossed his legs.
“Indeed, I have something to ask your help for. Darryl is dead, and the leader position is now vacant. Alumera is a large family, so there needs to be a leader. In two days’ time, an internal election will be carried out in a vote from the high ranked officials. Todd from the Home Faction, Se Qi from the Red Island Faction, and Angleton from the Northern Faction are all strong competitors. When I was focused on investigating Darryl’s death, they were already approaching the high ranked officials and drawing votes. I’m now at a disadvantage, so I hope you can help me,” Xiao Jin said in seriousness.
“Why should I help you?”
“For the sake of me helping you clear your suspicion, please help me.”
“I need a reward,” Han Xiao said coldly.
“How ungrateful. If it wasn’t for Father, you would still be the biggest suspect. Don’t push your luck!” Xiao Hai could not take it and yelled in anger.
Han Xiao looked at him and said calmly, “You should be grateful for me not killing you, or you would all be corpses.”
Xiao Hai’s expression turned twisted and furious. He trembled in anger because of Han Xiao’s attitude. He could only look at Xiao Jin, hoping that his father would do him justice. However, he was bound to be disappointed. Xiao Jin had remained calm all along.
“How much do you want?”
Han Xiao touched his chin, pointed at the piece of paper, and said, “Three times this.”
“Maniac…” Xiao Hai was stunned. This request was outrageous.
However, Xiao Jin accepted the terms without hesitation and said, “No problem.”
“Father!” Xiao Hai yelled in disbelief. He could not understand why Xiao Jin kept listening to Han Xiao. “It’s no use getting help from him. Outsiders cannot interfere w
ith internal elections. He has no position in the internal meeting no matter how strong he is!” Xiao Hai said hastily.
“I have a way,” Xiao Jin replied coldly. “Mr. Black Phantom, are you willing to join us Xiao Faction?”
Join the Xiao Faction? What does that mean?
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, “What do you mean?”
“Join my family with the same seniority in the family as me. My children will be your stepchildren.”
The atmosphere suddenly turned weird.
Xiao Hai almost staggered and fell. He was completely shocked. Xiao Jin had never discussed this with him, and now suddenly he’s going to have a stepfather?
“Damn, you can do that?” Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. Xiao Jin’s level of shameless exceeded his expectations. “Would such a childish method work?”
“Politics has always been childish,” Xiao Jin replied coldly. “As long as you join the Xiao Faction, you can attend internal meetings. Your strength will signify your power, and as long as you appear, it will represent a threat. However, you will be a part of the Xiao Faction by then, which means you’re not an exterior threat. The other factions will give up automatically in fear.”
The meaning of a family member and an outsider showcasing strength was different. One was an exterior threat and would only attract displeasure, but if it was a family member, it would mean that Xiao Jin’s power had grown tremendously and that he had earned a strong ally for Alumera in the big picture. It would mean a huge contribution for the family. Given the power that Xiao Jin had gathered through the years and the recent prestige that he earned by finding the real killer that assassinated Darryl, the other factions would wisely give up.
Up till now, Han Xiao had already gotten a basic guess of the entire situation. He smiled and said, “I see no benefits in joining the Xiao Faction, why should I do it?”
“You join the Xiao Faction, and when I become the leader of the family, Alumera will become your ally.”
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 119
