"Mr. Cheng, we meet again."
Cheng Shanshui, anxiously waiting for news, looked up when he heard someone greeting him. Standing before him was a man, a killer who had once rejected his contract. His code name was Larsen, a formal Scorpion-class killer.
"Ah, it's you. What can I do for you?"
Larsen said casually, "I have some free time recently. I can take your contract."
Cheng Shanshui's eyes lit up, then dimmed again. He smiled bitterly. "Sorry, but my contract has already been taken."
Once a contract was established, it could not be changed. That was the rule of the Blood Covenant Association.
Larsen was somewhat disappointed when he heard this.
He was from Red Maple, visiting friends in Hai Xia and travelling on the side. He hadn't planned to take any jobs. When Cheng Shanshui had approached him, Larsen had rejected him outright because the reward was too low.
But after a few days of idleness, Larsen felt like taking on a simple contract nearby. He immediately thought of Cheng Shanshui, whom he had turned down, and came looking for him. He didn't expect that in just one day, someone else had beaten him to it.
Though frustrated, Larsen knew he couldn't break the rules. He had no choice but to walk away and order a drink at the bar.
He had only taken a couple of sips when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID. It was a regular client who had hired him before, Yue Youzhu.
"Hello, Larsen." A man's voice came through the line.
"Speaking. What can I do for you, Mr. Yue?" Larsen said casually.
"I have a job I'd like to give you."
Larsen's eyes lit up. "Tell me about it."
"I want you to take care of someone for me."
"Who?"
"I've sent you the details."
This was a private job, not subject to confidentiality rules.
Larsen pulled out his tablet. His head snapped up, and he looked toward Cheng Shanshui not far away. That was the target!
"What do you think?" Yue Youzhu asked. The sound of people coming down a flight of stairs came through the phone.
"I'll take it," Larsen said calmly.
"Good. I'll have someone send the advance payment to—"
*Bang!*
Suddenly, a thud came through the phone, followed by a faint gunshot. Larsen's body went rigid. He recognised the sound of a sniper rifle. Then came panicked shouts and screams. Yue Youzhu never spoke again. Larsen immediately understood that Yue Youzhu had just been killed.
"Only one shot to take down a target with over a dozen bodyguards. A very skilled sniper." Larsen's expression grew serious. He quickly pieced it together. Cheng Shanshui's contract was likely to assassinate Yue Youzhu. The two were enemies.
"Cheng Shanshui is waiting for someone. I'll soon find out who this killer is." A gleam flashed in Larsen's eyes.
---
Using the intelligence provided by Cheng Shanshui, Xiao Han had positioned himself in a tall building several hundred metres away from Yue Youzhu's base of operations. He took aim from an elevated position. He had originally planned to snipe Yue Youzhu through a window, but the target had stepped out of the main entrance, making things even easier.
Yue Youzhu was surrounded by a dozen or so bodyguards, forming a tight protective circle around him. But to Xiao Han, that protection was meaningless.
The [Torpedo Armour-Piercing Rounds] he had recently crafted had exceptional penetration against non-metallic targets. The bullet pierced through one bodyguard and, with its remaining force, struck Yue Youzhu precisely in the heart.
One shot. One kill.
Assassinating an ordinary person was far too simple for him. There was no complication at all. Almost disappointing.
The commotion would inevitably draw the police. Xiao Han had already used his mimic mask to alter his appearance, allowing him to slip away easily. There was no way to trace it back to him. It was the perfect escape tool.
---
Back on the twenty-third floor of the Vittoria Hotel, Cheng Shanshui, who had been pacing anxiously, immediately shot to his feet.
"It's done."
Cheng Shanshui's entire body relaxed. He instinctively checked his watch. From the moment Xiao Han had left to now, only forty-five minutes had passed. Excluding travel time, the actual killing had taken less than ten minutes.
So fast.
"Please pay."
"Ah, yes, yes." Cheng Shanshui looked at Xiao Han with newfound respect. He pulled out a briefcase containing one hundred thousand in cash and handed it over.
[[Assassination Contract (Cheng Shanshui)]Completed. You have earned 25,000 experience.]
Cheng Shanshui left, his steps light, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Xiao Han pressed the table bell to summon the waiter. He was about to accept the Rose Arms bounty when he sensed something. He turned his head.
"Someone is watching me?"
Near the bar, a man was looking at him with a scrutinising gaze. Xiao Han did not know who this man was, but there was a hint of challenge in his eyes.
Xiao Han narrowed his eyes. He had no reason to hold back now and didn't intend to let someone stare at him with hostility. He abruptly sharpened his presence and shot back a cold glare that conveyed a simple, universal message:
—What are you looking at!
Larsen stiffened, sensing a terrifying killing intent locking onto him. A wave of acute danger crashed through his mind. He quickly averted his gaze, and only then did the feeling of threat vanish.
In just a few seconds, cold sweat had formed on Larsen's forehead.
"What a dangerous aura. This guy is not to be messed with!"
Larsen promptly abandoned any petty thoughts, paid his bill in a hurry, and left, unwilling to stay a moment longer.
…
"We meet again."
Xiao Han gave the waiter a light chuckle.
The waiter was used to seeing newcomers, but this was the first time he'd seen one become a full member so quickly. Impressed, he said, "You are now officially a Scorpion-class killer. Higher-tier benefits are now available to you. You can enjoy junior VIP treatment at any Vittoria Hotel in other cities."
Xiao Han suddenly asked, "Where do I rank on the Dark Web's killer leaderboard?"
The waiter replied helplessly, "Only the highest-ranked killers appear near the top. Your current ranking is at least outside the top thousand."
He opened a handheld computer, pulled up the killer leaderboard, and showed it to Xiao Han.
Xiao Han glanced at it and nodded to himself. At present, the top ten killers averaged around level forty—not exactly top-tier. Only the top three were truly formidable, their levels approaching the 1.0 version cap. The leaderboard was based on mission records and achievements. For players, that meant completing missions was the way to climb. The mercenary leaderboard worked the same way.
Blue Planet's power level wasn't high. In the early stages of open beta, it was rare for players to encounter enemies above level forty. Those at level fifty or sixty were the planet's apex fighters—mostly leaders of major factions, hidden trump cards, reclusive masters, or notorious super-criminals. They rarely appeared before the public (or players) and formed their own closed circle of power.
Only by completing certain missions or becoming strong enough would one have a chance to encounter them…
These thoughts flashed through Xiao Han's mind as he opened the bounty list and pointed to one entry. "I want to take the Rose Arms bounty."
"Very well. The request is being processed. Please wait a moment."
The waiter wrote down the details on a piece of paper, tore off the page, rolled it up, and placed it into a special metal cylinder. He went behind the counter and inserted the cylinder into a circular metal tube, the opening fitting perfectly.
With a *puff*, the cylinder was sucked into the tube.
It travelled at high speed through a network of pipes, crossing countless intersections and occasionally passing other cylinders. Soon it reached its destination.
The arrival point was a spacious room laid out like a call centre, filled with rows of desks. Several computers sat on each desk, and office workers in black sat processing documents. Beside each desk was a tube.
One worker extracted the rolled paper from the cylinder, tapped on a keyboard, and quickly entered the contents into the system.
"Bounty target: Rose Arms (armed organisation)"
"Requirement: total elimination"
"Client: the Cheswold family"
"Location: Somar Desert"
"Date posted: 17 November 685"
"Bounty amount: 3,000,000 Blue Planet coins"
"Difficulty assessment: hard"
"Mission record:
27 November 685 – Codename: Hall (Assassin) [Deceased]
11 December 685 – Codename: Bloodhand (Assassin) [Deceased]
10 March 686 – Codename: Demon Flower (Assassin), Freeman (Assassin) [Deceased]"
…
"Mission intelligence update: Current Rose Arms membership between 80 and 120, four superpowers. Leader: Luo Qing (psychic type). Instructor: Dorothy (martial artist). Instructor: Ghost Fox (martial artist). One unknown (suspected Mechanic). Area of activity: Somar Desert."
"Authorising… Authorisation complete."
"Mission record updated."
"1 April 688 – Codename: Mr. Black (Scorpion) [Result pending]."
…
Meanwhile, Xiao Han's interface showed a new prompt.
[You have triggered C-rank mission [Bounty Hunter (Rose Arms)]!]
[Mission hint: The Somar Desert is home to many factions—wanderer settlements, armed mercenary gangs… Why does this barren region attract so many groups? Perhaps it is connected to certain events in the past. You may wish to investigate.]
[Mission objective: Wipe out Rose Arms. Time limit: fifteen days.]
[Mission reward: 150,000 experience.]
[Bonus reward: 250,000 experience, unknown reward.]