Volume 4, Chapter 48 – Assassin

“Swin was sniped on the ship. Are all of you pigs?”

On the monitor, an elderly man with an aged face pressed his right hand on a cane and struck the floor in fury.

This was Cyril Aldington, an elder of the Punishment Court from a branch of the Aldington family.

Qin Xin’an, who had previously been sent out on the mission, trembled all over and did not dare say a single extra word.

In the Aldington family, the most terrifying person was not the clan head, but an elder of the Punishment Court.

“Half an hour has already passed, and you still have no useful information at all. What are you coming to see me for? Are you in a rush to come to the Punishment Court to be punished?”

Cyril’s pupils were red. When he was angry, he looked even more unnerving.

The wrinkles trembling on his face were just like Qin Xin’an’s trembling heart.

Qin Xin’an said in fear and trepidation, “Elder, I tried contacting the butler on the ship just now, but no one answered the phone at all. The ship has not docked yet either. I’m worried…”

“What did you say?”

Cyril’s eyes suddenly went wide. He pressed his face close to the camera, and the cane he had been striking the floor with landed crookedly, revealing the unrest in his heart.

The head of the branch family had only contacted the people on the ship ten minutes ago, and the call had still gone smoothly then.

If something had really happened…

One was a diplomat from Morningstar, and the main family’s fifth young master was also on the ship.

If both of them met with misfortune, the branch family would be hit by a tremendous earthquake.

Qin Xin’an hurriedly repeated what he had said earlier.

Cyril schooled his shocked expression and said, “Come back yourself and receive your punishment. I won’t waste words on anything else.”

After hanging up the video call, Cyril hurried off to find the head of the branch family.

Although he felt the matter was almost certainly true, they still had to confirm it.

Also, who exactly had attacked the Aldington family?

Was it those competitors?

Filled with doubts, Cyril reported the matter to the branch family head.

“What did you say?”

The branch family head reacted almost exactly the same as Cyril. Having lost his third son, his reaction was even more intense.

He immediately had people make calls, and sure enough, they received no response.

“This is bad.”

The branch family head sat by the table, his face dark.

The main family’s fifth son might not have been someone who was particularly valued, but he was still a member of the main family.

Once they started assigning blame, this matter alone was more than he could bear.

That was not to mention delaying the Aldington family’s plan to leave No. 1886.

The ship was gone, and the diplomat from Morningstar was unlikely to have been spared.

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It might even anger the people of Morningstar. The branch family head felt as if his head had doubled in size.

If he had known this would happen…

“We should have sent more guards back then. Making a big show of it would have been better than hiding everything like this.”

Cyril stood there and said, “Someone leaked the information.”

The branch family head waved a hand. “Now isn’t the time to investigate who leaked the information. We must come up with an explanation as quickly as possible.”

He shot to his feet. “Have everyone near South Island rush over. It would be best if they can find some trace of the culprit. If they can’t… no, they definitely can!”

The branch family head’s brows and eyes opened wide, and a ruthless glint flashed across them.

Under Cyril’s gaze, he summoned the steward and assigned the matter to him.

After that, all they could do was quietly wait for the result.

This place was a few hours’ drive from South Island. Even if he wanted to go there personally, it would be too late.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, a clear gunshot rang out from outside the window.

The branch family head, who had just taken a sip of plain water, immediately stood up. “What’s going on?”

His anger surged, and he was extremely displeased.

“Family Head, Family Head, this is bad.” The steward ran in, panicked.

“What exactly happened?”

The branch family head was about to walk toward the window, but the steward quickly grabbed him. “It’s Morningstar. People from Morningstar are here.”

This…

The branch family head’s anger suddenly receded. Were they here to silence them?

The steward did not know the inside story of the deal, so the branch family head could only suppress his anger for the moment. “How many came?”

“Only eight people came, but all eight of them are extremely strong. Our guards can’t stop them at all.” The steward’s face was full of worry.

How had they ended up being targeted by Morningstar for no reason?

“Bastards!”

The branch family head slammed the table.

With his family’s strength, even though they were only a branch family, they would not fear three or five assassins. But Morningstar’s people had come too suddenly, too unexpectedly. As a result, the household guards had not gathered yet. Some were outside, and some were sniped before they could even raise their guard.

“Where is Lyle?”

“The eldest young master is still outside,” the steward replied.

This was the news the branch family head least wanted to hear right now.

If Morningstar’s people wanted to silence them, they would attack him, and naturally they would also attack the others who knew about the matter. The main family’s side was probably not having an easy time either.

The main family’s location was not far from one of Morningstar’s bases. They were probably in even worse straits.

“Bang, bang!”

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“Ah!”

“Boom!”

Gunshots kept ringing out. Immediately afterward, a violent tremor caused countless bits of debris to fall from the roof. The branch family head was so frightened that he quickly headed for the corridor.

“How did they break in so quickly?”

This place was no longer safe. He had to hurry and find somewhere to hide.

Thinking this, he was about to head to the basement, but just as he reached an intersection in the corridor, a shadow flashed past beside him. Then he discovered that he had been pinned against the wall.

“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”

The branch family head raised both hands high and shouted loudly.

The dignity of a family head, the bearing of a wealthy house, none of it mattered when his life was threatened.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re with Nine Songs.”

“Nine Songs?”

The branch family head’s shouting instantly stopped. Why would people from Nine Songs be here?

He was very puzzled, but the worry in his heart immediately eased.

“We’ve already dealt with the people outside. Don’t worry,” the person from Nine Songs said.

“Thank you.”

The branch family head lowered his raised hands, and his heart instantly settled.

But his arm was still pinned behind him. The branch family head forced an awkward smile and said, “If there is anything important, why don’t we go to the reception room to talk?”

“Sure, Family Head Aldington.” The person from Nine Songs had no intention of letting go at all.

Instead, he gestured to the people behind him.

“We’ve found him.”

Seven or eight people immediately appeared.

Only then did the branch family head realize something was wrong.

This group from Nine Songs was no kindhearted bunch either.

With a bitter expression, he was pushed and shoved by the crowd into the reception room.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Which force did you connect with through Morningstar?”

“…What are you talking about?” The branch family head’s face showed displeasure.

“Beep, beep.”

“Wait a moment.”

The person from Nine Songs answered the phone.

“&%#@%&”

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He suddenly smiled. “Your eldest son has already been protected by our people.”

“You…”

The branch family head’s expression changed drastically at once.

“Since when do you government people have to threaten other people’s families to get things done?” he shouted in a low voice.

The person from Nine Songs directly pulled out a gun and pressed it against the branch family head’s forehead. With a slight push, he forced the man to retreat.

In a mocking tone, he said, “Since when did you think we at Nine Songs had to reason with you when we do things?”

“…”

“Morningstar’s people came here to kill you. Do you think I wouldn’t dare kill you too? Colluding with Morningstar is already enough reason to kill you.”

“Evi…”

“Evidence? If we truly want to act, we don’t need evidence at all. Please be sure to recognize your own position.”

His index finger pressed lightly on the trigger. The branch family head, who had still been somewhat composed a moment ago, immediately stopped being stubborn.

He shouted again and again, “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

“That’s more like it.”

…

“We can’t stay in this place anymore. Let’s move first.”

After quietly returning to the small wooden house she had rented, Anran stuffed everything into the car. By the time she placed Aila in the front passenger seat, the back row had already been packed full by two robots.

Butler No. 1, and the Generation 1 Machine Gun Warrior that had previously slaughtered players.

The combat power inside this car could be said to be off the charts even across the entirety of No. 1886.

She was a little short on money.

Anran checked her savings. There was almost nothing left. Before the 100,000 Bilu from the dark web came in, she only had a little over 70,000 Bilu remaining.

Thinking back, when she had been at her richest, she had around 400,000 Bilu.

The Mechanic profession really burned through money.

She needed to sell some of the things she had made to recover her costs.

With that thought, Anran stepped on the accelerator, and the off-road vehicle headed toward the outskirts of South Island.

Not long after turning out from the intersection, Anran saw many cars lined up in two columns, driving toward the beach.

After driving a little farther, when she passed a sharp turn, an out-of-control truck suddenly came crashing over.

Anran’s driving skills had long since improved greatly. Even with both hands and feet working at once, it still took quite a bit of effort for her to narrowly dodge it.

But the highway guardrail had already been smashed down by the large truck, and the truck body lying across the road blocked the way completely.

“Damn it, why am I so unlucky?”

Previously in the game, Anran had really never seen any other NPC get into a car accident. Yet she herself had encountered several.

She shifted gears and was about to reverse, but the truck that abruptly appeared in the rearview mirror made Anran’s expression change slightly.

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This was not a car accident. Someone was targeting her!

Sure enough, that truck blocked the road behind her as well.

A cliff stood on the left, and the sea lay on the right. With vehicles blocking both the front and the back, was this the trap created by the assassin?

It seemed they had no understanding of her strength at all.

“You have suffered a mental attack. Stat check: Mental stat greater than 20. This attack is ineffective.”

The game prompt immediately made Anran think of Li Zhuying. She was also a psychic-type ability user.

But this assassin obviously could not be Li Zhuying.

No wonder the assassin dared to use such petty tricks. They were actually a psychic-type ability user. Unfortunately for them, Anran’s Mental stat was currently 27.

“Anran, Anran, there’s someone on the cliff.” Aila reached out and pointed.

“Mm.” Anran casually picked up Aila’s food, a Lig metal flatbread, and placed it by the window.

“Bang!”

The metal sheet shook violently, but even after taking a shot, it remained completely unharmed.

“Mm!” Aila immediately pouted. Anran was messing around with her food again.

“Activate automatic target acquisition mode.”

The two robots sitting quietly began moving the moment they heard Anran’s shout.

Right.

Anran quickly said to Aila, “Aila, record the action footage of these two robots.”

She would treat it as a free promotional video.

She handed her phone to Aila.

“Leave it to me, Anran!” Aila patted her chest.

As for Aila, Anran was naturally at ease.

The person on the cliff clearly had not expected all of his surprise attacks to fail.

He controlled two trucks to block the road, then launched a mental assault at Anran, and sniped from a distance.

This series of actions was extremely smooth, without the slightest pause. But he had miscalculated. Anran was a Mechanic, yet her mental strength was actually able to withstand his first surprise attack.

When he wanted to increase the strength of the psychic shockwave, the assassin had already been locked on to by the two robots at the same time.

“Bang.”

“Bang, bang, bang.”

The assassin fell.

“Hello?”

Anran picked up the phone and answered the call.