495: Chapter 495: Ambush?
(Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Pass) 495: Chapter 495: Ambush?
(Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Pass) Alano
Deep into the night, He Ao stepped out of the pirate ship and stood on the deck, gazing at the bright moon above the sea.
His assistant from Daybreak, Noding, had looked for him once in the afternoon, but at that ti he was in the Copy World, so he didn’t reply, and Noding was stopped outside by the pirates on guard.
Although He Ao is nominally Daybreak’s temporary person in charge in the Alano area, in reality, all information from Daybreak hardly ever passes through him but is handled by his assistant ‘Noding’ instead.
This assistant Noding is ‘Boss’s’ man, and He Ao is now basically in a semi-empty status.
But he wasn’t in a hurry.
He knew that ‘Boss’ didn’t trust him at the mont, and it would be a cause for alarm if he were suddenly given real power.
Of course, Noding didn’t dare to offend He Ao, so for more important matters, he would still ‘consult’ with He Ao.
And He Ao would generally go through the motions to indicate his agreent with Noding’s views.
The two maintained this kind of ‘mutual courtesy’ understanding.
For general matters, Noding wouldn’t go and visit He Ao in person; he would mostly ask directly over the phone.
This visit most likely involved sothing important.
He Ao picked up his phone and dialed Noding’s number.
The call connected quickly, and Noding’s cautious voice ca through, “Mr.
Hu Wen, have you rested well?”
When entering the Copy World and losing contact, He Ao would usually excuse himself by saying he was sleeping and lock himself away.
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
He Ao quickly replied.
“It’s like this,” Noding spoke slowly, seemingly choosing his words, “‘Boss’ has ordered the three C-levels near the Tia Empire to head to the Western Lands, he has a secret mission to assign.”
“Does that not include ?”
He Ao asked calmly.
By now, he had roughly understood, aside from the ‘Psychologist’ and ‘Secret Art Mage’ who had already died, Boss had about three C-level subordinates left in the Tia Empire and its surrounding regions.
The number was already quite terrifying, considering that before He Ao joined, the entire Research Institute’s overseas departnts had only three C-levels.
Of course, this was also because Central Earth had vast territories that required many C-levels to be distributed, and previously, the Research Institute’s main focus was not overseas.
And these three C-levels selected by the overseas departnt were all exceptionally combat capable.
In the entire main world, the number of Transcendents was extrely scarce.
Here, since Noding ntioned that Boss had moved three C-levels, he naturally didn’t include the newly joined He Ao in this count.
“Don’t be angry,” Noding, realizing sothing was off in He Ao’s tone, hurriedly said, “Boss doesn’t want you to leave because there’s an even more important task to entrust to you.
After these three C-levels leave, you might need to look after the areas they’re responsible for, of course, your compensation will not be diminished.”
Oh, promoted again.
It’s only been a few days.
Of course, He Ao also knew that ‘Boss’ wasn’t really handing over these areas of influence to him.
He was rely ‘acting in charge’ in na, and most likely, most affairs were expected to be dealt with by Noding still.
Once those C-levels returned, he would have to hand back those areas to them.
Of course, if those C-levels never ca back, that would be a different script altogether.
These ‘C-levels’ going were ‘Boss’s’ confidants.
However, as a law-abiding good person, He Ao still hoped they would return alive.
“Has sothing happened in the Western Lands?”
He Ao asked softly.
“That,” Noding hesitated sowhat, “I don’t know either, the thoughts of the Boss are not sothing soone like can guess.”
It’s not that he didn’t know; it’s that he couldn’t say.
In fact, even without him saying, He Ao could roughly guess what Boss was up to.
He Ao paused briefly, seemingly in thought, then asked calmly,
“Has a new relic appeared in Xidu?”
“This,” Noding said with difficulty, “You know I can’t tell you that.”
Not that he couldn’t tell, but rather that there were none.
This was essentially a confirmation of He Ao’s guess.
Normally, if He Ao’s question was not true, Noding would have plainly denied it; not denying it was in itself an answer.
He Ao reached out, the air was moist, and the bright moon in the sky gradually beca obscured by clouds.
—-
If a relic had indeed appeared, what choice would ‘Hao Yi’ make?
On the long-haul flight, He Ao idly flipped through a magazine in his hand, his mind flickering with thoughts.
He was trying to think from the ‘Boss’s’ perspective.
For the ‘Boss,’ the most important enemy at the mont should be ‘Hao Yi.’
‘Hao Yi’ not only took away the Velora that he was determined to have but also revealed his deepest secret at the last mont, “the thing taken from the tower.”
After those words were spoken, ‘Hao Yi’s’ threat must have ranked first in the Boss’s mind.
From the information the ‘Boss’ now knew, ‘Hao Yi’ was a mysterious Transcendent who could control C-level power, very clever, and had so intricate connection with the relics, especially the ‘tower’ within them.
From this information, it was easy to reach a conclusion.
That was that Hao Yi would be interested in ‘relics.’
This ti the relic was opened, ‘Hao Yi’ would likely go to the Rodan Republic.
Reasoning this far, the ‘Boss’ would probably believe that he had partly grasped ‘Hao Yi’s’ movent.
A Transcendent controlling a C-level train, capable of traversing space at any ti, elusive to capture.
But if this Transcendent was bound to appear at a certain fixed location, then a targeted trap could be set up.
The whole situation shifted from passive to active.
He Ao put down the magazine in his hand.
And this ti, it was also the best opportunity for him to ‘find’ the Boss.
That was why he agreed to Yang De’s suggestion and set off for the Rodan Republic.
Yang De had booked him a first-class ticket on a Xidu airline; it was his first ti flying in the first-class section of a plane under normal circumstances.
Though he hadn’t flown many tis in total.
This ti his trip was secretive; besides the Research Institute’s intelligence head in the Rodan Republic, no one knew he was going to the Rodan Republic.
And that intelligence head also only knew that he was a deputy minister but did not know his specific information.
Because there were very few living people who had seen him and knew of his Research Institute identity, Yang De’s arrangent for him was to lurk in the shadows as much as possible, to pick the peaches if he could, but to pull out quickly if not.
“Good afternoon, sir.
Here is our nu for today.”
The flight attendant handed over a nu with a gold-trimd cover.
The first-class seat on Xidu airlines was a brown leather sofa that could unfold for lying down, with a half-circle of silver barriers next to the sofa, leaving a space the size of a door.
Opposite the sofa, a display of over twenty inches was fixed to the barrier.
At the mont, the flight attendant was at the door, half-kneeling and handing the nu to He Ao.
“Thank you.”
He Ao briefly looked over the nu, casually ordered a steak, and so appetizers.
He glanced out the window at the sky; his flight was a little after one in the afternoon, and it would take nearly ten hours to fly to the Yika Republic in Xidu, then transfer from the Yika Republic to the Rodan Republic.
The entire journey takes about eighteen hours, with Central Earth having an eight-hour ti difference.
So he will probably arrive at around eleven o’clock in the evening local ti.
Weary from the travel, take a rest after dinner.
——
The Rodan Republic is a small country on the outskirts of the Western Lands; the entire nation only has an international airport in the suburbs of the capital, Eren.
In the first-floor waiting lounge, a young man wearing sowhat wrinkled blue work clothes, with a trace of fatigue between his brows, was sitting in the waiting area, occasionally glancing at his watch.
He seed to have just co off his work shift and was in a hurry to pick soone up.
His cheeks were lean, with short eyebrows, and his profile bore stubble that had not been completely shaved off.
Despite possessing the exotic look of soone from Central Earth, amidst the predominantly brown-haired and blue-eyed crowd, he was as inconspicuous as a droplet tossed into the sea.
Even the people passing by would not give him a second glance.
It was nearing midnight now, the stars shining brightly, and the airport lights were blazing.
Eren Airport was built during the reign of the last King of Rodan, consuming a great deal of manpower and resources.
When it was first constructed, designers from various countries were invited to adorn it with gold and gems, making it incredibly luxurious.
This airport originally belonged to the royal family.
After the monarchy fell and the King was killed, the successors removed all the gold and gems and then sold them to a private enterprise of the Tia Empire.
The airport only undergoes so basic maintenance each year, and over the years, it has gradually beco run-down.
But through the dilapidated walls and structures, one can still glimpse the airport’s forr splendor and grandeur.
The airport was not very busy with people.
As a small border country, the Rodan Republic was not very lively.
Most of the people flying into Eren Airport were Rodan Republic nationals returning from abroad, with only a very few foreigners coming to make a living.
However, if one were observant, they would notice that the number of ‘foreigners’ arriving at the airport was increasing.
As a new flight from the Yika Republic arrived, the sparse exit gate began to fill with a dense crowd.
The man sitting in the chair also quickly stood up and made his way toward the arrival gate.
Among the flood of brown-haired, blue-eyed people, the man soon spotted the person he was waiting for.
The young man looked to be eighteen or nineteen, wearing dark jeans, a black hoodie, and a thin black coat, with a thick black backpack on his back.
His eyes roved around curiously.
He appeared as an innocent and naive international student, stepping out on a journey far from ho for the first ti.
Just as the man was starting to doubt if he had got the wrong person, the young man’s gaze swept over all those who ca to pick up travelers, almost instantly locking onto the man.
Then he walked straight toward him.
In that instant, the man felt he saw in the young man’s eyes the soaring eagle in the vast sky.
Sharp gaze, cutting through his soul like a blade.
He trembled and hastened to greet him.
“Minister, sir?”
He leaned in next to the young man, cautiously asking.
“Grey Rat?”
He Ao looked at the man before him; he had seen this man’s information.
Li Le, C-level, codena ‘Grey Rat’.
This probably wasn’t his Talent Sequences’ na, but the codena suited his ability characteristics.
He was extrely adept at concealing himself, seeking clues, sharp and careful.
The two confird each other’s nas, added each other as friends on the Research Institute’s software, quickly verified each other’s identities, and swiftly headed towards the airport exit.
“My na is Li Le,” Li Le said with a smile, introducing himself, “You can call Little…”
He glanced at He Ao’s youthful face, pausing for a mont.
“I’ll call you Brother Le,” He Ao smiled.
He didn’t care for formalities, “Just call He Ao.”
“This…”
Li Le felt a bit tangled.
After all, the status of this deputy minister was much higher than his own, and he also didn’t know if the man truly looked as young as he appeared, or if he was an old monster skilled in maintaining his youth.
After all, in a world filled with supernatural powers, anything could happen.
“It’s fine.
The identity Minister Yang arranged for this ti is your distant young nephew.
If you act too conspicuously, that might actually lead to problems.”
He Ao shook his head with a smile as the two had already walked out of the airport.
Outside the Eren airport, there was a barren space, with vehicles parked everywhere,
“That makes sense,” Li Le also nodded with a smile, “Then I’ll be impudent.”
He also realized that the person beside him truly didn’t mind these things.
This man’s origins were mysterious.
Although he was the deputy minister of overseas departnts, Li Le had almost never seen him in any docunts or formal gatherings.
If not for Minister Yang’s sudden news, he wouldn’t even have known that there was a third deputy minister in the overseas departnt besides Wu Lan and Ji Po.
He seed like so sort of hidden trump card.
Li Le led He Ao to his car, which was old-fashioned and looked like it should have been decommissioned a decade ago.
“This is how things are around here,”
Li Le said with an awkward smile.
“Mhm.”
He Ao glanced around the parking lot, opened the door to Li Le’s car, and got in the back.
Watching He Ao’s movent, Li Le’s smile did not change.
He opened the driver’s side door, sat in the driver’s seat, and buckled the seatbelt.
At that mont, his smile faded, “Minister He, did you notice anything?”
His hands did not stop as he routinely started the car.
“Are we taking a more secluded route on the way back?”
He Ao asked softly.
“We’ll go through a short stretch of mountain road.
The population here isn’t dense, and to enter the city, there are only a few roads to choose from, most of which pass through more remote areas,”
Li Le answered slowly.
At that point, he had started the car, and with a slight shake, the old vehicle stumbled out of the parking spot.
“Just follow the original plan,”
He Ao said evenly, taking out his phone to send a ssage to Yang De, informing him of his safe arrival.
“Minister He, will it be troubleso?”
Li Le gripped the steering wheel with one hand and touched beneath his seat cushion with the other, “Should we call for backup?”
“It’s not too troubleso,”
He Ao yawned, rummaging through his backpack for an eye mask, which he then placed over his head, “I’ll take a nap.
Just wake up when we get to a remote area.”
Li Le glanced at He Ao through the rearview mirror, who was leaning against the car door and seed to have really dozed off.
This Minister He really was inscrutable.
But since he said it wasn’t too much trouble, it was probably just so D-level and E-level henchn.
Though Li Le didn’t know how he was exposed, as long as there were no C-levels involved, he and Minister He should be able to escape with ease.
The dilapidated sedan slowly drove out of the parking lot.
anwhile, several other vehicles that had been randomly parked in the lot started up as well.
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