"Don’t look at like that, as if I’m so kind of deranged terrorist."
Oulos and John stood on an iron staircase.
The view here was excellent, just enough to see the smashed warehouse and the figures on the main roads on both sides.
"Aren’t you?"
John also leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance, looking no different from the people gathered on the surrounding buildings.
"That’s a downtown area. When a massive hovercar crashes down, how is it different from throwing a bomb into a crowd?"
"Did I want to throw it? Even if I did, I wouldn’t feel guilty. John, interdiaries have no conscience; words of provocation an nothing to ."
She calmly took out a cigarette.
"I also want to know what the hell happened on that damned hovercar, so I brought you here, went to the trouble, spent the money, took the ti, cleaned up after the rcenaries, and dealt with the scum who lurk here!"
Oulos furrowed her brows.
John sighed but wasn’t too concerned, casually knocking off a piece of rusted iron, continuing the conversation.
"I trust you, so you’re the middleman. The rcenaries are missing, so who is the employer?"
"Myself."
Oulos took a deep breath.
White smoke rolled between her glossy lips.
For the first ti since the incident, Oulos described the specific course of events to soone else, speaking to John and also doing a self-review, trying to nd any gaps.
It all started with a piece of black market intel.
The Raqi Group had a secret research transaction — involved the next level of prosthetic body improvents, which would be very helpful for heavily modified units.
Oulos ca to Eden City to treat Behemoth and was very interested in this news, so she sent soone to investigate.
So it was a "corporate theft" mission.
It had nothing to do with terrorism at all.
She chose a team of rcenaries from her prepared "database," professional enough and largely unconnected to her.
The mission proceeded very smoothly.
Secret infiltration, line setup, reaching the transaction site, everyone was doing their part.
The intel and insiders didn’t betray.
But an accident occurred when acquiring the project’s specific content.
The rcenary team triggered an unexpected alarm.
Afterwards, they were besieged by the network security departnt.
The attack thods were formidable; two senior hackers of the rcenary team were burned to death in cyberspace, then communications collapsed, and all contact was lost...
Oulos imdiately ordered an ergency evacuation.
But fifteen minutes after the order was sent out...
"That damned hovercar, the Raft Qi, just fell from the sky!"
Oulos exhaled a puff of white smoke.
She licked her lips, staring at every vehicle approaching the explosion site at the warehouse dock.
"There’s definitely sothing wrong with this job, and it’s not on ."
She muttered to herself.
"Do you know how tight the security asures on the Raft Qi are?"
The Raft Qi has a dedicated backup server.
It can’t be directly hacked through the city’s LAN; to manipulate its internal network, you’d have to go skyward.
The hovercar is equipped with two main and auxiliary power systems, set on both sides of the elliptical body, running independently.
Unless you can blow up both engine rooms at the sa ti, it won’t have power failure, much less crash directly.
And to blow up those security asures while also disabling all thirty-two different vector engines and the glide system, causing attitude calibrator malfunction...
How much explosive charge would it take?
The answer is a miniature nuclear bomb.
Or two SS-20 ballistic missiles!
"This is corporate infiltration; my rcenaries didn’t bring those things up unless the Raft Qi itself was stockpiling weapons. Why would it have a suicide button?"
The issue still lies in the lost fifteen minutes.
Those fifteen minutes were when the rcenary team was in contact with the intel.
What exactly was the Raqi Group’s secret project?
What did the rcenaries see that turned a comrcial theft into a semi-district lockdown terror event?
Oulos’s prosthetic eye focused on the passing crowd.
When she no longer uses a mocking tone to crack dirty jokes, it ans things are really getting out of hand.
John nodded.
This was obviously a troubleso matter.
"So what are you up to with this role-playing trick?"
"You’re the fad street legend of the West District. Having these interdiaries focus on you, I can quietly gather intelligence."
The hovercar crash is not just an accident.
"The information has already leaked; aside from , whoever else seeks those rcenaries is the problem..."
Oulos’s speech slowed down.
She squinted, straightening up from her railing position, let out a cold chuckle, and softly whistled.
"Look, sothing’s co to light."
John looked back toward the dock, following her gaze.
Two flat-headed loaf transport vehicles parked by the roadside.
A group of employees wearing Raqi Group uniforms suddenly appeared, dispersing as so headed straight to the rcenaries’ warehouse. After discovering it was blown open, they started making calls to report the situation.
It only took a few seconds.
Buzz—
Two military-grade drones swept over Palr.
[Device: Langsheng Falcon Recon Drone]
[Manufacturer: Raftaki Industry]
[Description: A benchmark product for the Raqi Group’s venture into the urban transport market, it quickly beca a bestseller due to users unexpectedly discovering the high modification limits of the Langsheng Falcon, with strong weapon module and accessory compatibility.]
Oulos is the mission’s interdiary.
It’s normal for her to track the rcenaries’ whereabouts, and now, the Raqi Group also realized there were survivors from the hovercar incident and had already co looking.
"Those Eastern People definitely have issues; I’m just the victim dragged into this ss. Damned thing, I need to find out what they’re hiding!"
Oulos smiled, but the glow in the depths of her prosthetic eye carried a cold and profound edge.
She patted the railing and disappeared into the crowd of onlookers.
Oulos found her familiar rhythm again.
Her previous anger and silence were because the enemy was hidden in the city’s neon crevices.
And now...
The other players at the table revealed their identities, and she instantly knew how to extort, pull, and negotiate with them.
"What should we do now?"
"Find people, we must ensure the person’s alive, or at least get the intel she holds; the Raqi Group won’t let her go easily."
Oulos led John through the streets and alleys, stopping before a tal-topped roof.
[Shop—Raven International Distribution Center]
The dock was covered by an endless roof, open on all sides for equipnt access, with containers and palletized goods placed in partitioned areas, countless tal shelves.
This distribution center mainly focused on cold chain transport.
The ground was sprinkled with puddles.
Damp, with a fishy sll.
Palr was a forr industrial port, abandoned by urban planning once the official port opened.
But its logistics functions weren’t entirely discarded.
So small-item shipnts and intercity cold chain transport are handled here, so aside from those notorious illegal activities, the port trade is Palr’s legitimate economic source.
It’s backed by an international shipping company.
With corporate operations behind the scenes, it could establish its footing and survive in Eden City.
But of course.
Such a place is undoubtedly profitable and inevitably occupied by so force, and correspondingly, there would be one or two recognizable interdiaries.
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