699: Chapter 699: Night Falls, No Regrets on the Move (Extra Large Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) 699: Chapter 699: Night Falls, No Regrets on the Move (Extra Large Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) Dusk had fallen, and brilliant lights stretched along the spacious streets to the very end of the starry sky.
lodious music wafted through the glass curtain walls of the bars, threading through the evening and the streets, weaving amidst the traffic and the crowds.
This was Dawn City, the largest city of the Federation, where tens of millions of people thrived.
Around this city, a dozen smaller cities joined in a trade network led by Dawn City.
Most of the Federation revolved around this city, and every move it made swept across the Federation like a storm.
The man in the silver suit stood in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window, holding a tablet as he watched the glittering city.
“What’s wrong?”
A silver-haired man with a ponytail approached, stopping beside the window for a glance to his side.
The man in the silver suit beside him was Christos, the current Mayor of Dawn City, and one of the most powerful individuals in the entire Federation.
“Serle, take a look at this.”
Christos passed the tablet to the silver-haired man.
“This is,”
As Serle took the tablet and lowered his head to the screen, he said, “K?”
The first thing that caught his eye was a figure draped in a cloak with a black and white mask.
It was a short preview video, which he quickly watched through before looking up at Christos, “Is this the sa individual as the original?
If soone else took their place, it might not be as persuasive when detected.”
“I’ve had soone check using technical thods; it’s the sa person, not a video synthesized by artificial intelligence.”
Christos watched the city outside the window as he continued.
“Which ans, the original one…”
Serle paused, montarily lost in thought.
He had actually seen the first wearer of the mask.
He was nearby when Christos conversed with the individual.
It was also their first proper encounter with the person who claid to be ‘K’.
But ever since the first video from ‘K’ was released, they hadn’t been able to contact them again.
They understood what that implied.
Yet, the truth didn’t seem to be as grim.
“Yes, he’s still alive.”
Christos turned to look at the Deputy Mayor beside him with a smile.
Serle calmly observed his ‘dear friend’ in front of him.
It had been a long ti since he’d seen such a smile on Christos’s face.
The corners of Christos’s mouth weren’t raised high, but Serle could feel a relaxed and heartfelt joy in that slight curl.
Serle glanced at his friend, pocketed the tablet, and turned to look out at the bustling city again.
The convergence of the constant flow of traffic and lights extended to where the sky t the stars.
A smile slowly erged on his face, “How wonderful.”
After all the ships have sailed past, when you look back, your old friends are still there.
—
Saint Joen City
As the moon set and the sun rose, casting the morning glow into the broad hotel room, the people who should have been resting were already up early.
They donned their neat rcenary uniforms, sitting on their beds, watching the television mounted on the wall.
At this mont, the huge hotel television broadcast a projected image where a dignified elderly man was calmly looking into the cara,
“…
“Ladies and gentleman, we now find ourselves in such tis, an era of chaos, turbulence, and unfettered restraints.
“Rioters are everywhere on the streets, the holess are found in every corner, and each winter takes away countless lives.
“The furnaces of the crematorium never cease, and the screens of the corpse-collection trucks never go dark.
“Different fates befall different people in this world, but no one should be inherently bound to just one fate from birth.
“You all co from holess wanderers, from Wilderness Hunters, from the chaotic and turbulent streets; you have experienced the pangs of hunger and witnessed the cruel and terrifying demon of starvation.
“Now, you have gathered here, under the banner of the Kajet rcenary Corps.
“I will not promise you bread, riches, or status; I know you are well aware of the difference between possessing these things montarily and owning them forever.
“Grasp your rifles, ready your daggers, today is the ti for a change of fate.
“The pages of history are in your hands, turn them and you beco the writers of a new history.
“A future without hunger lies beneath our feet.
“Destiny will favor us.”
As the Elderly’s last words fell, the rcenary who had been sitting on the bed imdiately stood up, and the television screen went off at once.
On the other side, in a grand hall, a military-uniford man shut down the cara in front of him.
“Is everything arranged?”
The Elderly standing in front of the cara slowly rose.
“It is,”
The military-uniford man nodded quickly, looking at the Elderly,
“By noon today, all the combat squads will have arrived at their designated locations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s people will all be tied up by the Pollution Cleaning Departnt and the Evolution Acolytes.
“Darn’s banquet is set for noon, and I’ve selected so beauties for him, among them is ‘Talent Sequences 129: Whisperer’; he will definitely like her.”
“The Whisperer is good at seduction, catalyzing desire, and can give him the ultimate experience, which very much suits his taste,”
The Elderly adjusted his collar and looked at the military-uniford man, “Is she from the Witch Church?”
“No,”
The military-uniford man shook his head quickly, “I recruited her from the black market, a wild Transcendent.”
The Elderly looked down at the chessboard beside him, “What about the Mayor?”
“The Mayor has a street show today; he will visit the orphanage to see the orphans, and he will randomly interact with the citizens on the street,”
The military-uniford man said quietly, “He has no Transcendent abilities, but he has an ‘Honor Knight’ by his side, a confidant he has recruited, who never leaves his side.”
Having said that, he paused before continuing, “The Evolution Acolytes and the Pollution Cleaning Departnt have seven remaining C-level fused monsters, which I have positioned at those three key points.”
He looked up at the Elderly, “But the distribution of seven people across three points isn’t even, sir, is there any point more important than the others?
One of them is emotionally unstable and showing signs of madness; we could use him as a at shield nearby.”
After finishing this sentence, he imdiately realized his mistake and hastened to add, “I do not an to pry into the core location of the final ritual.”
“It’s fine,”
The Elderly spoke slowly, “I trust you, but there’s no need to increase manpower for a single location; these three key points are not close to each other, and reaching one ans you cannot quickly get to the others.
They are a red herring in themselves.
The ‘out of city’ matter with YiXiya is still being arranged by the interdiary, right?
Assign the extra person there then.”
“Sir, do you suspect that Cito might have other plans?”
The military-uniford man stopped.
“Better safe than sorry,”
The Elderly shook his head, looking out at the silent cityscape, “By tonight, we will know everything.”
“Destiny will favor us.”
The military-uniford man also looked out at the cityscape.
“Hopefully so.”
The Elderly nodded slightly.
——
The fiery sun gradually sank to the city’s edge, the gorgeous sunset seeming to forewarn that tomorrow would still bring a clear sky.
In the corners of the streets, wanderers curled up on the sidewalks, lying on jumbled blankets tossed haphazardly on the ground, gazing through gaps between factory buildings at a slice of the sunset.
Expensive low-profile sports cars drove past, stirring up clouds of dust.
The wanderers seed to have grown accustod to it, not minding the dust that settled on their dirty faces.
They just wanted to lie there, admiring the rare and beautiful scene through the gaps.
And on the other side of the street, YiXiya watched all this through a glass wall, stirring the coffee in her cup.
This was the boundary between South City and East City.
Ti slipped away like the whirlpool in the cup of coffee, almost imperceptible, and two days had passed just like that.
Today is the last day that Kajet rcenary Corps are ‘legally staying’ in Saint Joen City, and theoretically, the last day of their holiday.
If the Elderly’s judgnt is right, tonight will be the final mont.
In YiXiya’s mind, there was no room for thoughts of anything else, and even sitting by the window, her muscles remained slightly tense.
The most terrifying thing about this situation was that until the person behind the curtain made their final move, everything seed legal and compliant.
Moreover, YiXiya couldn’t report this to anyone or any organization; before the event, the Kajet Group could make any of her ‘complaints’ disappear without a trace.
And if she were to raise the alarm prematurely, the other side might abandon their operation imdiately and wait for the next opportunity.
Then she would indeed beco a ‘slanderer.’
And if they did take action, she didn’t know how to stop them in this city filled with the influence of Kajet Group.
YiXiya was fully aware that with her strength, she couldn’t think of any way to break the ga; in fact, she couldn’t even leave the city now.
She gazed out the window, watching the massive factories.
For so reason, she suddenly felt sothing.
This vast city, it was like a huge chessboard, with two Chess Masters hiding in the shadows, making their moves and clashing on this grand board.
All of those on this chessboard, perhaps including the Chess Masters themselves, were nothing but pieces in the ga.
The outco of this chess match would determine the fate of the city.
YiXiya’s gaze lingered outside the window.
The evening breeze blew through the streets, picking up wisps of dust, mingling them with the crowd moving forward.
The café’s television was broadcasting Mayor Kroter’s speech about improving orphanage welfare.
YiXiya lowered her head, watching the whirlpool in her cup.
According to Kroter’s schedule, by now he should be visiting the orphanage just two streets away from this café, mingling with the citizens at the roadside.
YiXiya was there for the sole purpose of waiting for Kroter.
This was the last chance.
Kroter would make his final choice this evening.
If, after his publicity stunt, Kroter ca, their partnership would be sealed, but if he went straight back to the Mayor’s residence, it would be the sa as refusing the deal.
YiXiya raised her wrist, checking the ti.
6:10 PM.
The evening sky was already fading, and according to the original plan, Kroter’s ‘itinerary’ should have ended twenty minutes ago.
It seed that guy had ultimately chosen the Kajet Group after all.
YiXiya sighed softly, slowly standing up.
Next, she would need to move quickly.
Bang—
In that instant, the café’s door was abruptly slamd open.
A burly man with a blood-stained outfit and a bleeding wound on his shoulder appeared in the café.
He swept a glance over the empty establishnt, imdiately locking his eyes on YiXiya in the corner.
He then strode rapidly toward YiXiya, slamming a bloodied black key card onto the table with a snap.
Before YiXiya could speak, he said almost without pause,
“The Mayor’s been assassinated.”
“What?”
YiXiya’s eyes widened.
—
As night deepened, the streetlights flickered on.
With each dim light that sprang to life, a small van made its way along the shadowy streets.
“Miss YiXiya,”
A man wearing a gray vest tattooed with patterns glanced at the beautiful woman beside him as he drove.
The woman’s face matched the one in the photograph, but perhaps it was because of the dim streetlights, he felt there was sothing eerie about ‘Miss YiXiya’.
He had no ti for such thoughts now, speaking in a steady tone, “Tonight, we’re leaving as part of a cargo truck convoy.
When we get to the convoy, there might be a check…”
He glanced at the vehicle’s screen, which currently showed what looked like coffins inside the cargo compartnt of the truck, “We’ll need to check your ‘coffin’ to ensure there’s no living person inside, is that okay?”
“Hmm.”
The beautiful woman sitting in the passenger seat nodded.
She reached out, holding a cute little girl tightly in her arms.
The young man felt both were unusually silent, but he didn’t care to inquire further—completing his task was all that mattered to him.
The truck took several turns and finally stopped at a deserted plaza.
This plaza, lifeless except for an outdoor screen jutting out from a nearby building still playing advertisents, appeared to have been abandoned for a long ti.
Several large trucks were parked on the plaza at that mont.
A young man, looking rather youthful and not at all like a gang mber, stepped out from a vehicle and tapped the small truck’s door.
The driving gang mber imdiately got out, glancing at the beautiful woman seated next to him, “Miss YiXiya, shall we inspect the cargo together?”
“No need.”
The beautiful woman shook her head slowly, “Go ahead with your checks, but be careful not to disturb it.”
The gang mber looked at YiXiya, “Well, if we damage anything, don’t bla us.”
Then he pushed open the door and got out of the truck.
And the woman in the car, upon seeing him get off, took out a bracelet and a data cable from her bosom and connected them to the car’s system.
At this ti, two young n had walked to the rear of the truck, exchanged a glance, opened the cargo door, and climbed on.
The two of them didn’t hesitate to lift the lid of a long box in the cargo area, revealing the corpse of a person wearing an iron mask, covered in blood.
“Fuck, it’s really a corpse.”
The gang mber spat and turned his head away.
The other youth who had been waiting here the whole ti reacted completely differently.
He was taken aback at first, instinctively stepped back, as if he had seen sothing that shouldn’t be there.
But he quickly realized it was just a corpse.
Emboldened, he reached out his hand and lifted the iron mask.
An elderly face, pale and wrinkled, ca into view.
His movents suddenly beca frantic.
He quickly lifted his life detector to check the corpse’s vital signs and, after confirming it was indeed a dead body, he raised his bracelet and sent a ssage,
“It’s Cito’s body, he’s wearing Night Hawk’s iron mask, trying to mislead us.”
As he spoke, he lifted the bracelet and took several photos of the corpse to send.
Then he sent another ssage to a ‘new friend.’
Soon, a figure slowly erged from between the trucks in the corner and approached the small truck step by step.
Tentacles that writhed separated from his back.
“Buddy, I’ve done the job for you, we’ll deal with it in a mont…”
It was at this mont that the gang mber inside the truck squatted down, took a glance at the body in the box, then turned to look at the young man.
“We interrupt with a breaking news update,”
The young man who was taking photos was just about to reply when he was interrupted by the screen in the square,
“Around 6 PM this evening, Mayor Kroter was communicating with citizens on the street when he was assassinated; a bullet hit his brain.
Despite the hospital’s best efforts to save him, he ultimately died from excessive blood loss.
It’s a severe terror attack.
“The deputy mayor has taken temporary control over the managent of Saint Joen City.”
Subsequently, a sowhat gaunt middle-aged man with brown hair appeared on the screen, the deputy mayor of Saint Joen City,
“Citizens of Saint Joen City, today we have experienced the most abhorrent assassination since the founding of our city.
Our beloved Mayor Kroter has fallen in the attack.
“And that dangerous criminal is still lurking among us.
“Now, I declare that the four city gates are to be closed imdiately, blocking all passages in and out of the city as we conduct a comprehensive citywide manhunt.
“Here, we would like to extend our special thanks to Mr.
Vellent from the Kajet Group, who was very angry and indignant when he heard about this incident, and has offered to temporarily muster all the rcenaries in the city to assist us in the search.
“If you see any of the ard rcenaries on the streets, please do not panic; they are our allies.
“I ask all citizens to cooperate as much as possible with the search.
For your safety, please avoid going to any discount locations, try to go ho, and wait until the search is over.
All activities will resu then.”
“What?”
The gang mber was confused for a mont.
He stood up and looked outside, “The mayor is dead?”
At that instant, the other youth who had taken photos realized sothing.
He grabbed the gang mber and dashed down from the truck, hurrying towards the front of the vehicle, “There’s no chance to make a move near the West Gate now, we must kill these two imdiately.”
anwhile, that figure had already reached near the front of the truck, as terrifying tentacles directly grabbed at the passenger-side door.
Boom—
Just then, the truck suddenly started and sped off at full speed, ripping off the already unstable door.
The small truck took a loop, rushing out along the road it ca in on.
“Chase, you idiot, you can’t even handle this small task well.
No wonder everyone rejects you, the director disdains you, the captain disdains you.
They sent you here to steal my credit,”
The youth who had just jumped off the truck looked at the figure which had transford into a monster, then at the departing truck, and couldn’t help but curse, “If you can’t complete the task, I’ll go tell the captain…”
Sizzle—
Before he could finish, he was impaled through the body by a sharp tentacle.
“You…
how dare… you…”
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“Monster killing people…”
Seeing that things weren’t right, the gang youth imdiately turned and ran.
The next second, his body was also pierced through.
The monster quickly gathered both bodies in front, cracking and swallowing them, then without hesitation, it surged towards the fleeing small truck.
In the dim night sky, it seed as if twisted purple lines were flickering.
Night had fallen.
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