The high ranked officials agreed in silence, Black Phantom was even stronger than the rumors said he was, he defeated the strongest people in the headquarters without even using his sniping style which he was known for. These people were not weak, but they paled in comparison to Black Phantom, they were not on the same level.
The backup finally arrived at this time, Xiao Jin immediately ordered the soldiers to keep their weapons, showing sincerity on their side.
Seeing so, Han Xiao kept his weapons too and walked towards where he resided in, the nervous crowd split up and opened a path.
Xiao Jin gave Lagos a faint look, then turned his head and ordered, “clean the scene up.”
Lagos was filled with fury, one of the high ranked officials from the Home Faction helped him to get up but was pushed away instantly.
“He could’ve killed us, but he insisted he’s not the killer, should be trustworthy.” Se Qi whispered.
“Naive!” Lagos said coldly, “if he kills us, all of Alumera will become enemy with the Dark Net till the very end, he’s doing this so we won’t suspect him!”
…
Having returned to Han Xiao’s residence, the interface showed a notification.
[You have triggered an urgent mission[The Real Killer]]
[Mission Introduction: You are framed and dragged into a conspiracy, becoming a chess piece used by the people behind this.]
[Mission Requirement/s: Confirm the real killer and accomplish the mission, you have only one chance.]
Reward/s: Random ability or talent x 1]
Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled, “it’s a puzzle type mission, with only one chance.”
There were many types of missions, the puzzle type was rather common, some required the players to collect clues like a detective, sometimes the clue would be provided, but it was all rather vague, the final decision was to be made by the players.
There was no notification after quite a long wait, Han Xiao guessed this mission belonged to the latter type of puzzle mission, with Alumera’s suspicion towards him, he probably would not be able to find out any clue.
“It’s best to wait and see.” Han Xiao thought.
At the same time, Bamboo Rain Guild triggered a different mission.
“[A Shocking Change in Alumera]: The leader of Alumera was murdered, Black Phantom who came to visit out of nowhere became the biggest suspect, but he claimed to not be the killer and suppressed objections with his raw strength. Alumera might seem to have submitted, but some factions still strongly believed Black Phantom is the killer, what information is hidden within?”
“There are five stands you can take on: Black Phantom, Home Faction, Xiao Faction, Red Island Faction and the Northern Faction, changes cannot be made after choosing.”
“Reward/s: Rewards will be given based on different stands and contribution, the basic reward is 50,000 experience points!”
Bamboo Rain Fly exclaimed in shock. “at least 50 thousand experience points!”
50 thousand experience points were an extremely large amount for them, there really always were benefits wherever Black Phantom went.
“What position will you guys be choosing?”
“Black Phantom for me.”
“Me too.”
Everyone agreed, they didn’t know Alumera very well, and Han Xiao just defeated all of Alumera’s military power, it was obvious following Han Xiao would be the most reliable.
Players of Bamboo Rain Guild approached Han Xiao and expressed their willingness to help.
Han Xiao was surprised, he thought about it and guessed that these players probably received different missions, with a different identity, the mission requirements that were triggered would be different as well. Usually, in an area where something happened, missions would be triggered.
“Follow me then.”
…
In a corner somewhere, two people were talking to each other.”
“The conflict did not happen, our man died for nothing.”
“The intelligence said Black Phantom was a serial murderer, but he held back this time, what a misstep.”
“Luckily the clues have been destroyed, as long as the truth cannot be found, Black Phantom would still be the biggest suspect.”
…
Next day, the Home Faction hosted a simple funeral for Delo, the atmosphere within Alumera became more and tenser in the next few days. Everyone seemed busy, when they looked at each other, their eyes were filled with unknown emotions.
However, Han Xiao had become almost invisible, it was like all the factions forgot he was even here, no one approached him except for the full 24 hours of surveillance.
After chasing the players of Bamboo Rain Guild away to seek information, Han Xiao stayed in the room with a calm mind, he had expected this to happen.
He was an outsider, and the biggest suspect, but Alumera didn’t have the confidence to deal with him so they could only leave him alone. Even if Han Xiao wanted to look for clues, none of the faction would give him any, all he could do was wait.
But the wait was not meaningless, the factions had started their own investigation and plans.
Han Xiao was thinking, Delo died very coincidentally, what good would it do to frame him for killing Delo? Firstly, creating hatred between Alumera and Dark Net would only benefit the third party.
Secondly, there were other motives for killing Delo, and he was just used as a very good excuse since with his strength and identity, it was easy to frame. If the real killer framed him to hide, then his identity would most likely be a party that would benefit from this — which has the highest possibility to be other factions other than the Home Faction.
Han Xiao remembered that the internal conflict within Alumera was very serious, killing Delo could very likely be an act to seize power within the family, then framing him to be the biggest suspect.
But going back to the first possibility, the real killer would still be the third party, which also made sense in the second possibility — creating conflict between the Home Faction and other factions, leading to Alumera collapsing internally.
“Sigh, I don’t want to think anymore.” Han Xiao rubbed his eyebrows.
Anyway, it didn’t matter who the real killer was, he stood undefeatable, as long as he doesn’t make any move, only the real killer would become more and more stressed. There was no way this mission would be a long term one, the impact of Delo dying would surface in a very short time, and by then, there would definitely be someone who would unintentionally leave some clues.
…
In one mansion, the high ranked officials of the Home Faction gathered, the atmosphere was intense.
“Leader has died, who is going to be in charge now?” A tall and muscular man said, he is Delo’s younger brother, Todd.
“Me,” Lagos said coldly.
Todd forced a fake smile and said, “Lagos, I don’t think that is suitable.”
“What do you mean?” Lagos frowned and said.
“You should call me uncle.” Todd said in a more serious tone, “the lead—my older brother passed away, we are all family here, I should be the one in charge according to precedence.”
“Humph, only a few days since father has died, and you’re already seizing power, aren’t you too impatient?”
Lagos said in a mocking tone, “don’t blame me for not warning you but, without father’s suppression, Xiao Jin, Se Qi and others are all making their plans, the position of the leader is now vacant, who knows what they will do. They may look like they were filled with sadness and regret during the funeral, but they were probably laughing uncontrollably in their hearts.”
Todd laughed sneered and said, “don’t say it like that, I was worried you’d make mistakes because you’re inexperienced, but since you think you can do it, uncle shall not compete with you. Now tell us, what do you plan to do next?”
Lagos grunted and ignored Todd’s tone, “our top priority now is to find out who killed father,” h
e said.
Todd frowned, he felt the priority should be suppressing the ambitions of other factions and regain control of Alumera, but it was inappropriate to express such feelings in front of the high ranked officials of Home Faction, therefore he followed with the topic and asked, “any clues?”
Lagos said coldly, “Black Phantom is the most suspicious, nothing he says can be trusted, I have already informed some people to contact the strongest killers and mercenaries, once they arrive, we won’t have to be afraid anymore, we will just capture Black Phantom and interrogate him. I have spent a large sum this time, the people who are coming are all famously strong!”
“Maybe it really wasn’t Black Phantom.” Someone whispered.
Lagos stared over and said coldly, “then it has to be Xiao Jin, that asshole is very ambitious, he has been under father for so many years and he’s definitely not satisfied with it. Right, I heard Black Phantom stayed in Xiao Jin’s mansion the night the assassination happened, maybe Xiao Jin hired Black Phantom with a huge sum to assassinate father, then put on a show together to fool the others.”
Everyone was shocked.
Chapter 208 - The Real Killer (Three)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“If Xiao Jin really worked together with Black Phantom, then the situation is very bad. It would mean he controls a very strong force, he could even seize power with raw strength.” Someone said.
Todd shook his head and said, “they won’t dare to, if something happens in the headquarters and high ranked officials of all the factions are slaughtered, our men in other places would revenge the enemy till their death, Xiao Jin is not stupid. Also Black Phantom is an outsider, and according to the rules, an outsider cannot interfere with our internal changes.
Lagos sneered and said, “foolish, how would you know Xiao Jin didn’t find a better place to go? Is there no organization behind him? His heart might not even belong to Alumera anymore!”
…
With his eyes closed, Xiao Jin asked, “what’s happening in the Home Faction?”
“Lagos is in charge of everything now, they are currently investigating Delo’s death but has yet to make any progress. By the way, Delo’s mansion was destroyed by Black Phantom during the battle, and so were the clues.”
Xiao Jin paused what he was doing and asked, “who ordered to bring Black Phantom to the scene?”
“The team leader that went to keep Black Phantom in control is called Miri, he was killed by stray bullets during the scrimmage on the day.”
“Stray bullets…” Xiao Jin shook his head, “what is Black Phantom doing?” He asked.
“He did not act.”
“Intelligent choice.” Xiao Jin nodded and said, “before the truth about Delo’s assassination is unveiled, no faction is willing to approach him, anyone that does will become a mutual target of the rest.”
Xiao Hai said, “the inhumans are working for him, I still do not know why he can easily order the inhumans.”
“Leave him alone, he can’t be the real killer.”
After a pause, Xiao Jin asked, “What is the Red Island Faction and Northern Faction doing?”
“They are working with the Home Faction to investigate for clues.”
Xiao Jin rubbed his temple and let out a sigh, 'sigh, dogs that bite surely don’t bark…”
…
Se Qi sat in the office, he pulled down all the curtains and made a call and said in a very quiet voice.
“Major General, what should we do now?”
“What are your thoughts?”
“Delo is dead, the leader’s position became vacant, there must be a vote for a successor, I will be entering as a candidate, hope you can give me support.”
“Sure, I will use my relationship network to help you gain votes of the high ranked officials, when you control Alumera, remember how you got there, don’t forget our promise.”
“Definitely.”
Se Qi let out a sigh of relief as he hung up the phone, a vicious and hideous smile appeared on his face, the skin lines of a Sharnuk wrinkled together.
…
Han Xiao was patient, he stayed in the room every day while the players from Bamboo Rain Guild helped him to gather intelligence, it wasn’t much, but at least he was not totally uninformed.
As rewards, Han Xiao was not petty in giving missions to the players in Bamboo Rain Guild — then earning their experience points by opening his ability shop, he was making a fortune one way or another.
As mentioned before, as long as Han Xiao’s ability level is higher than the player, learning the ability again would increase its level. The Great Technician Han’s abilities were all at max level, it was more than enough for this requirement. Players in Bamboo Rain Guild continuously spent experience points in his ability shop, they were willing to pay the price and Han Xiao was willing to let them.
“My Basic Combat is at max level.” Bamboo Rain Fly triumphed in happiness, the other guild members all came to check out its attributes.
Bamboo Rain Xuan said in sadness, “mine is only at level seven.”
Bamboo Rain Fragrance smiled and said, “that’s because you sleep for so long every day, and are online for too short.”
These players did not restrict themselves in what they were saying, and Han Xiao heard everything. He had noticed something magical, when the players are talking to each other, the system would usually censor any content that had anything to do with it being a game, but he could hear it, it was definitely because of the interface.
Ta, ta, ta ——
A steady footstep closed in.
Peng, the door was pushed open, dozens of soldiers stood outside, Lagos stood in the crowd with his hands behind his back and said coldly, “Black Phantom, we suspect that you worked together with Xiao Jin to kill my father, now get up and come with us!”
“Where did you get the confidence from?| Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, Lagos kept a low profile for so many days, now that he suddenly engages, he must have found help.”
As expected, Lagos sneered and stepped back, two people stepped out of the crowd, one man and one woman.
‘I see.” Han Xiao patted his pants and stood up, 'seems like you spent quite a lot of money,” he said calmly.
The man and woman were a married couple, Luann and Vanessa, legends of the mercenary society, with a position similar to Han Xiao’s in the killer society. Their strength was also at the peak of the third tier in Planet Aquamarine, they lived all the way till version 2.0.
Lagos had people contact them secretly, many rejected as soon as they heard they had to fight Black Phantom, they didn’t dare to become enemies with Han Xiao. Those who came had absolute confidence, he had investigated thoroughly this time, he knew these two people were on the same level as Han Xiao, and it would be most safe to hire both of them together. Black Phantom definitely could not defeat them head-on.
Lagos sneered and said, “when I capture you, I will make sure you spit out everything you know.”
Han Xiao shook his head and said, “isn’t it good to be alive?”
“Humph, quite arrogant I see.” Luann was a muscular black man, he rubbed his fists and said in disdain. “I heard you are very good at sniping, but now I’m only three meters away, I won’t give you a chance to even fire one shot, and how many of my punches can you endure? Be good and disarm yourself, or I will brush the floor with your brain juice.”
A third voice appeared from an empty area, “It’s been long since we met, Mister Black.”
This voice sounded familiar.
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, “Invisible Demon? You’re here too.”
Invisible Demon did not reply, murderous intent filled the air.
It was not two strong opponents but three. Han Xiao smiled as he shook his head, no wonder Lagos was so confident, he really spent a huge some to deal with him.
Feeling the hostility from the three strong opponents, Han Xiao smiled, the change
he was waiting for has finally arrived, it was an opportunity for him to showcase his absolute superiority in his strength.
The players of Bamboo Rain Guild didn’t know what to do, they couldn’t mess with any of these “Extremely Dangerous” NPCs.
Huuu——
A stream of piercing wind passed by Han Xiao, Han Xiao made it in time to activate his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor, Invisible Demon’s nails scratched on its surface and created fire sparkles. In a few months’ time, Invisible Demon increased two levels and became slightly stronger.
Back then Han Xiao could not win Invisible Demon, it resulted in a tie.
But now, they were on completely different levels!
Han Xiao raised his hands, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades formed a cyclone slashing through the air, numerous damage numbers appeared in the air, wounds opened and blood dripped down, and then disappeared in the next instant. Invisible Demon could retract his skin to hide his wounds.
Invisible Demon was shocked by the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and backed off hurriedly.
Before Han Xiao could make the chase, a wave of air pressure shot towards him, Vanessa pounced forward with her fists raining down hard. Han Xiao raised his hands to parry but they became numb, his STR was inferior to Vanessa, both Vanessa and Luann were Pugilists near level 60, their STR, DEX and END were all much higher than Han Xiao who was a Mechanic.
Suddenly, Luann caught up quickly, his two fists combined into one and turned into a black meteor covered in flames, hitting Han Xiao’s chest armor plate.
With pain felt on his chest, Han Xiao’s interface showed a high amount of damage, this was an advanced tier ability of Pugilist, it is a vibration hit that ignores part of the physical armor, players in his previous life called it “Hitting the cattle across the mountain.”
Pugilist who learned advanced tier abilities were difficult to deal with, it had given Han Xiao some amount of pressure. Without a change of expression, Han Xiao backed up holding guns in both hands, high caliber bullets shot out rapidly, the power of his firearms increased furthermore as his shooting abilities reached max level.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 117