Chapter 81: Assassination
The coastal city of "Luoyash."
As night fell and the city lights began to shine, an airship cruised overhead, while the streets below were bustling with traffic.
This should have been the most prosperous central district, yet no vehicles were seen on the streets, only numerous pedestrians strolling along. It made sense, as the Tribunal stood here; naturally, vehicles were not allowed to approach, lest they disturb the important figures within.
Within the Vassal Alliance's territory, there were many ring cities and fortress cities, each with slightly different laws, fostering diverse cultures and urban styles.
The vehicle ban on the central street of "Luoyash" was nothing special; over at the Aurora Council, there was even an aristocracy and hereditary councilor system.
Every floor of the Tribunal was brightly lit. With the war erupting in the borderlands, the place was open 24 hours a day. Whenever a Vassal officer was sent here, the corresponding judicial process would begin, ensuring sufficient deterrence and preventing frontline officers from shirking duty or disobeying orders.
Located on the fourth underground floor of the Tribunal, the style was heavy and metallic. Each cell was a single room. Those imprisoned here were all Vassal officers. Even if guilty, they would not suffer the harsh treatment of common prisoners.
In the innermost single cell, Rear Admiral Rez sat on the single bed, holding a newspaper. The deeper he read, the deeper his frown became.
Counting the time, Rear Admiral Rez had been locked up here for two days. During these two days, he hadn't considered anything else but studying how to overcome the Sun Faction's "gang tactics."
After several summaries, Rear Admiral Rez figured out why the Sun Faction was so difficult to deal with and conceived a counter-strategy.
Unfortunately, it was meaningless. He was trapped in prison, uncertain if he would ever regain his freedom, let alone retain his position or launch a revenge campaign in the borderlands.
As Rear Admiral Rez pondered this, the cell door was opened by a law enforcement guard. Rear Admiral Rez looked up and saw, besides the two guards, three unfamiliar faces.
Rear Admiral Rez's heart skipped a beat. Seeing unknown strangers at a time like this likely meant trouble. Recalling the faces of the Alliance bureaucrats, a feeling of "so this is it" welled up in him, as if he had achieved great enlightenment.
"Rear Admiral, the Alliance needs you."
A Vassal in formal attire, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, spoke. Though his demeanor was scholarly, his gaze held an indescribable sharpness. Someone like this either worked in intelligence or held power in a secret unit.
"Hmm?"
Rear Admiral Rez was momentarily confused, then realized the war situation in the borderlands must be unfavorable, and they needed a scapegoat.
Rear Admiral Rez was inwardly alarmed but kept his expression unchanged. He said, "A defeated general like me has no right to return to the front lines. I can't command respect. If the army's morale collapses, it's a complete loss."
Rear Admiral Rez folded the newspaper in his hand and ignored the gold-rimmed glasses man standing outside the door.
Seeing this, the gold-rimmed glasses man smiled meaningfully. He raised his hand to dismiss the two Tribunal law enforcement guards, leaving only the two men he had brought.
"Rear Admiral, the Alliance needs you."
"I am no longer of any use."
Rear Admiral Rez sighed as he spoke. Though he desperately wanted to return to the war zone and execute the revenge battle he had planned, he would not go back to be a scapegoat.
If he took the blame, he would likely die mysteriously as soon as he arrived at the Steel Fortress. He understood Lieutenant General Wheatley well enough to know the man was capable of such a thing.
"Rear Admiral..."
"Don't say anymore. I... will not go back. I have already been defeated by Kukulin Bai Ye. I am not qualified to face him again."
Rear Admiral Rez's expression showed a hint of dejection. No matter what the visitor said today, he would not return to the front lines.
"Rear Admiral, please let me finish."
The gold-rimmed glasses man's tone carried a hint of impatience. He hated being interrupted. Confirming that Rear Admiral Rez would listen, he continued:
"Rear Admiral Rez, according to my investigation, you sold a batch of standard-issue weapons a few days ago to a merchant named Edgeworth."
"Just scrapped weapons. I had the approval before making the sale."
"Yes, on paper, your transaction was legal. But can you explain what this photo is about?"
The gold-rimmed glasses man handed a photo to Rear Admiral Rez. Rear Admiral Rez took it, glanced at it casually, and his face changed drastically.
The photo showed Su Xiao, Kaiser, and Rear Admiral Rez seemingly in conversation. In Su Xiao's hand was a brand-new standard-issue combat blade.
More critically, the background of the photo was inside the Hammer Unit's armory, filled with weapon racks.
Needless to say, this single photo could be used to pin over a dozen charges on Rear Admiral Rez, any one of which would be enough to cost him his life.
As Rear Admiral Rez's expression turned extremely ugly, the gold-rimmed glasses man spoke the same opening words he had used upon arrival. He said:
"Rear Admiral, the Alliance needs you."
"I will defend the Alliance to the death!"
Rear Admiral Rez's attitude had undergone a shocking change. As he spoke, he used a lighter to ignite the photo in his hand.
...
Borderlands, the battlefield was a muddy mess. It had rained last night, and in recent days, the battlefield had been bombarded by heavy artillery, churning the underlying gravel to the surface.
Inside the main command room, Su Xiao stood before the curved floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the battlefield. Visibility was poor at night, but he could still make out the general situation.
No one had expected the World War to reach this point. Originally, it was thought to be a chaotic melee between contractors. But as the fighting progressed, it turned into a massive battle involving hundreds of thousands of native inhabitants.
In Hao Mei's words, "This is f*cking like a dream." If not for the lack of a main quest, she would have thought she had entered a world of perpetual war, rather than participating in a World War for a contractor free-for-all.
The current situation was simple: if the Vassal faction won, it meant one of Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, or Watchful Paradise had won. If the Sun Faction won, it meant Reincarnation Paradise had won.
Can't win? Just run? Dream on. Yesterday at noon, the half [World Core] in Su Xiao's possession resonated with the enemy's [Dark Haze].
The enemy could use [Dark Haze] to sense the location of the World Core, and conversely, Su Xiao could use his half [World Core] to sense the location of [Dark Haze].
At this stage, the entire continent was a battlefield certified by the Void Tree. As long as they didn't leave this continent, they could fight however they wanted.
This was also a restriction, meaning they couldn't take [Dark Haze] or the half [World Core] and flee to the sea.
It was either win or die without a burial place. On Su Xiao's side, the rear was the territory of the Aberrant Beasts. On the side of Golden Count, Sacred Hymn, and Orlandi, the rear was human territory. Neither side had any retreat.
The Vassal's ultimate counterattack was imminent. The good news was that the synthesis of the five six-star titles was just a few seconds away from completion.
[Prompt: This random burning refinement has been completed.]
[You have obtained Chaos Dominator (★★★★★★★ Title).]
...
A new seven-star title was acquired. The burning refinement of unowned titles came in two types: 1. Burning refinement to produce [No-Characteristic Title], which cost about half the normal price. 2. Random burning refinement, which cost several times the normal price.
The former seemed cheaper, but in Su Xiao's view, a title's effectiveness was not only determined by its star rating but also by the special energy it contained.
The more of this special energy, the greater the boost to the main title when used as a secondary title for burning refinement. Naturally, the main title became stronger. For example, [War Lord] and [Crownless King] were both seven-star titles, yet they were worlds apart.
The existence of [War Lord] could be called a miracle among titles, as it had been upgraded four times.
A main title could be burned for refinement a maximum of three times, after which it could no longer be refined. However, [War Lord], after being upgraded from three stars to six stars, had reached its limit and could no longer be refined.
But the problem was that the fourth upgrade of War Lord was not achieved through the title disc's burning refinement. Instead, Su Xiao used the seven-star title [Dream Chaser] to upgrade it to seven stars.
[Dream Chaser·Seven-Star Title: Sacrifice (Active). Can select any existing six-star title. Activating this ability consumes the Dream Chaser title, promoting the selected six-star title to a seven-star title, greatly enhancing its ability (stronger than over 90% of seven-star titles).]
Thus, [War Lord] underwent its fourth upgrade. At that time, Su Xiao realized that War Lord's strength was abnormal. Compared to normal seven-star titles, War Lord's strength was ridiculously high.
Moreover, after being upgraded by [Dream Chaser], War Lord not only inherited the star rating of [Dream Chaser] but also something even more terrifying: the three burning refinement opportunities of Dream Chaser.
Theoretically, Su Xiao could upgrade War Lord to a ten-star title. But there was a problem: he didn't know if ten-star titles existed. He hadn't even seen a nine-star title.
Perhaps this was the origin of the name [Dream Chaser]. Because it was unknown if such a thing existed, this possibility was created to pursue that dream.
As the attributes of [Dream Chaser] indicated, it could upgrade a six-star title to seven stars, granting three subsequent burning refinement opportunities, just enough to aim for the dream of ten stars and see if that dream existed.
Time waited for no one. The Vassal could strike at any moment. He needed to get through the weak period without the War Lord's bonus as quickly as possible.
Opening the title burning refinement disc, Su Xiao first embedded [War Lord] into the main title slot.
With a crisp clang, War Lord was absorbed into the central groove of the disc. From this starting point, magma-like patterns gradually spread across the disc.
After a few more crisp sounds, four titles—[Crownless King], [World Invasion], [Battle Master], and [Chaos Dominator]—were embedded in the surrounding slots. Among them, [World Invasion] quickly melted, filling two secondary title slots, effectively covering for two.
[Yes/No to proceed with this title burning refinement? If proceeding, 5000 Soul Coins are required.]
[Prompt: The success rate for this burning refinement is 100%.]
...
The burning refinement cost was within an acceptable range, even 1000 Soul Coins cheaper than the random burning refinement of a six-star title. But to give War Lord a higher gold content, this expense was worth it.
A 100% success rate was somewhat reassuring. He chose to start the burning refinement.
[Prompt: This title burning refinement is estimated to take 12 hours and 45 minutes.]
Su Xiao hadn't rushed to upgrade War Lord earlier precisely because of this. Losing War Lord's bonus for nearly 13 hours, if this happened during a melee, his side might even fail to hold the line and be besieged at the Sun Fortress by the enemy.
Although the Wild Boar Warriors had gained decent combat power after the Evolution Nest's transformation, it wasn't enough against the world's dominant force, the Vassal Alliance. Su Xiao had already experienced how formidable the Vassal soldiers were.
Once the title burning refinement started, it couldn't be interrupted unless he wanted War Lord to be ruined.
Su Xiao wouldn't rely on luck to win. Since time was needed, he would have to buy it himself.
How to prevent the Vassal from deploying troops for 13 hours? Su Xiao already had a plan. All the previous arrangements could be put to use.
Su Xiao took out his communicator and first contacted the slave trader, Azba. As soon as the call connected, he said:
"Azba, you still owe me a life."
Su Xiao said this because when the slave trader Azba had escaped from Freedom City earlier, his eldest son hadn't managed to evacuate in time and was caught by the Watchtower Leader Ferdinand's men.
It was Su Xiao who, through Li Xiniwei's connections, pressured the Tribunal's network to demand that Azba's eldest son be sent to the Tribunal.
Along the way, Su Xiao had Baha and Steel Fang intercept the transport, thus rescuing the slave trader Azba's eldest son.
The slave trader Azba was genuinely satisfied with this eldest son. He had six sons, five of whom were dwarves like him, but not the eldest.
Azba had once taken his eldest son for blood type and other tests. In short, everything checkable was checked. This was 100% his biological offspring.
In fact, there was one thing Azba didn't know: his eldest son's capture had many reasons, the main one being Su Xiao's interference.
This was the way to cooperate with members of an evil faction, or rather, with a slave trader. Never expect loyalty, heartfelt devotion, or gratitude. If one harbored such naive thoughts, a backstab and subsequent betrayal would surely follow.
When cooperating with such people, make them owe a debt of gratitude that must be repaid and that they dare not default on.
Being feared is safer than being respected. Never let an evil faction collaborator see you when you are weak, and never let them know your true hand.
"Bai Ye, just this once."
The slave trader Azba's voice on the other end of the communicator was somewhat low. This slave trader knew very well how difficult it was to repay a life debt, especially since Su Xiao was the leader of the Sun Faction.
"Watchtower Leader Ferdinand, or Chief Justice Fowle. Choose one."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Azba on the other end of the communicator was stunned.
"You want me... to assassinate one of these two? Bai Ye, just kill me instead. I'll pay back the life I owe you with my own."
The slave trader Azba's attitude was exceptionally firm, because assassinating either Watchtower Leader Ferdinand or Chief Justice Fowle was a deed that would get his entire family exterminated.
"Azba, you are very wealthy."
"Yes."
"The humans have been able to hold out against the Vassal until today. There are no shortage of capable people."
"I understand. I'll use half... no, two-thirds of my assets to hire someone to assassinate Watchtower Leader Ferdinand."
Hearing this reply, Su Xiao hung up the communicator. He planned to delay the start of the war by assassinating major figures from the Watchtower, the Vassal Alliance, and the Aurora Council.
Under normal circumstances, if Watchtower Leader Ferdinand, Alliance Leader Toyn, Alliance Marshal He Condiwei, Chief Justice Fowle, and the Aurora Council members were assassinated, it would only enrage the Vassal soldiers and hasten the war.
But the current situation was different. The enemy had been attacking for three days with no progress, and had been repelled with heavy losses. The blow to morale was imaginable.
As the saying goes, "The first effort gives birth to courage, the second exhausts it, and the third depletes it."
Their first battle was a disastrous defeat. The second sortie was beaten black and blue. If, at this point, a few soul-level figures had problems, the Vassal soldiers would truly be at their third depletion.
By then, even if they wanted to fight, they would first need to stabilize morale, for example, by having one of the four major Vassal figures personally visit the Steel Fortress.
As long as the situation developed to this point, Su Xiao's plan to buy time would succeed.
How much wealth the slave trader Azba had amassed over the years was hard to calculate. Money could make the devil turn the millstone. Presumably, the human folk experts he mobilized this time would give Watchtower Leader Ferdinand a nice surprise.
Su Xiao dialed another frequency, this time contacting Li Xiniwei.
Li Xiniwei had gone from being Chief Justice Fowle's lackey to being Alliance Marshal He Condiwei's lackey.
What Su Xiao wanted him to do was poison Alliance Marshal He Condiwei.
After hanging up, Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then contacted a third person. A few seconds later, a slightly aged voice came from the communicator.
"What does this old man want?"
The person on the other end was the patriarch of the Xin Clan, Di Zong.
Su Xiao had met him once before in Freedom City. They were about to fight, but due to Freedom City being Watchtower territory, they tested each other with one move and stopped.
Su Xiao's feeling at the time was that this old fellow was quite strong. It felt as if a ferocious evil ghost was hidden beneath a human skin. Thinking of this, Su Xiao said:
"Help me kill someone."
"Time, place, target, payment."
"No payment. The target is Chief Justice Fowle."
"Too hard to kill. Not taking it."
Di Zong refused without hesitation.
"The Xin Clan never refuses a commission."
"That's just bullshit for outsiders. Chief Justice Fowle, as the controller of the Tribunal, holds no less power than Ferdinand, Toyn, or He Condiwei."
After Di Zong said this, both sides fell silent. This silence lasted nearly a minute before Di Zong broke it.
"They... are about to meet."
Di Zong suddenly said something puzzling. But Su Xiao understood what he meant.
"When they fight, don't interfere."
Di Zong's words became even more cryptic.
"Do you think that's possible? I've developed Boiling Red and Dark Sun for so long. When they clash, I will control Boiling Red."
"Don't interfere. As repayment, I will help you assassinate Chief Justice Fowle."
As Di Zong spoke, he seemed to let out a faint sigh.
"Oh? You care so much about your own clan members."
Su Xiao placed the communicator on the table and lit a cigarette.
"It's not about caring. They have their own destinies. For them to clash with you now is too early. They are not qualified yet. That's it. I'll set off for 'Luoyash' now."
"Deal."
Su Xiao hung up the communicator. Of the four representative figures of the Vassal side, assassinations had been arranged for three. The remaining one, Alliance Leader Toyn, Su Xiao would handle himself.
Su Xiao got up and walked out of the main command room. Bubu Wang wanted to follow, but it couldn't leave the fortress now. Baha and Beini would accompany him.
This time, Su Xiao was going to "Kewabo Ring City." It was both to have the tool Hao Mei empty the Vassal Alliance's armory and because Alliance Leader Toyn was in the inner city of "Kewabo Ring City."
What Su Xiao was about to use was a new move he had developed, based on the Blood Spear Grandmaster. He had used it once on the battlefield before. This time, he would use the complete version, which meant using it while wearing [Ancient Ring of Slaying].
PS: (One chapter today. Exercise before dinner. Staying alive is the priority.)