"...That's all the intelligence I managed to overhear from the Cards' internal communications."

In an alley within a vagrant district of Federal Los Angeles, a tall man dressed in red, wearing a red hat and sunglasses, stood up from a bench with a mobile phone in hand. He responded in a low voice, "Thanks, Spade K."

"I haven't heard that name in days..." the person on the other end laughed. "Be very careful. This time, the Cards... are not just the Cards. To my knowledge, at least four national powers are also involved. Even in the history of the Cards, this is a rare, large-scale assassination operation. You should give up on this opportunity for now. After all, offending the Cards is a different concept from offending a few countries..."

"Isn't that even better?"

Stedley snorted coldly. "Opportunities to drag the Cards' reputation through the mud are scarce. If their assassination fails this time, will other countries still believe in the Cards' strength?"

"I have only two goals left in my life. One is to see the Cards utterly destroyed! I won't miss any opportunity!"

"...Alright, I have to get to work. May the Goddess of Fortune bless you."

"Work in broad daylight? Are those guys that audacious?"

"Bad guys who can perform tricks do tend to be bolder. By the way, what's your other life goal?"

"For the God of Cookery to bear me a son and a daughter, preferably with the son two years older than the daughter."

After hanging up, Stedley casually snapped his phone in half and tossed it into a trash can. He then picked up his briefcase and walked towards the edge of the district.

Wastewater flowed freely along the road, mixed with plenty of excrement. Syringes dripping with murky liquid littered the streets. This was an area even the Federal Police couldn't be bothered to manage. Both sides of the street were lined with disheveled homeless people sleeping on cardboard. Ordinary people wouldn't dare approach this place even during the day—getting robbed here would be considered getting off easy.

Several young men with messy hair appeared from around the corner. Their eyes lit up when they saw Stedley. They initially pretended nothing was wrong and continued walking, but when they were less than ten meters away from Stedley, they reached into their jackets and quickened their pace towards him, hideous smirks on their faces.

Stedley showed no reaction to their actions and continued to walk unhurriedly out of the district.

When the young men were only two or three steps away from Stedley, their faces suddenly turned cyanotic, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed onto the street, foaming at the mouth. The nearby homeless people didn't find it strange at all—this wasn't the first group of thugs who had tried to rob the man in red.

The previous times, however, the man in red hadn't planned on leaving, and the robbers had managed to escape with only minor injuries. This time, since the man in red intended to leave, the thugs who had run into him seemed completely unable to escape.

Stedley bent down slightly, took a phone from one of the thugs' hands, and used it to call a car. By the time he walked out of the district, the taxi had arrived.

"To Ontario International Airport."

The first three Pallbearers were relatively easy to deal with.

Although each of the three Pallbearers had their strengths—for example, Pallbearer Q possessed terrifying close-combat power, blowing a Rebel's head off with a single punch; Pallbearer W could attack from a distance, piercing a Rebel with a single arrow; Pallbearer E could even manipulate water, flushing a Rebel into a toilet with one blast of water.

But if you can't hit them, you just can't. Faced with the Rebel's Self-harm Quick Kill Style combined with 'Finger Lock' Armor Break attacks, all three Pallbearers were shamelessly knocked unconscious by the Rebel's despicable tactics.

As a result, the Rebel entered a near-death state three times in a row, but his maximum Determination Value had reached 170%. When the maximum Determination Value exceeded 150%, the game displayed a message:

'Born from Death: The Rebel, worn down by life and Destiny, has honed a tenacious resolve. During the game, the Rebel's determination will be extremely difficult to reduce below 100%.'

Good. Now Ren Suo was even more adept at controlling the Rebel.

After knocking out the Pallbearers, the Rebel dragged them into the bathroom to hide them and repeated his old trick, waiting for the next Pallbearer to take the bait.

However, after the Rebel defeated three of them, the fourth, Pallbearer R, seemed to sense something was amiss. He wasn't lured by the Phantom Girl bait. Instead, he walked slowly into the conference hall. After reaching a suitable distance, he began to channel a spell!

Ren Suo could clearly see a progress bar appear above Pallbearer R's head. After about ten seconds, the bar filled, and a black-and-white laser erupted from his body. It instantaneously penetrated all buildings and pedestrians in its path, pierced straight through the women's restroom, and killed the Phantom Girl hiding inside!

'Phantom Girl killed'

'Mission failed'

'Your defeat had some merit, but I'm still laughing uproariously.'

'Would you like to experience the joy before the pain again? (Requires 4 Merit Points)'

Ren Suo raised an eyebrow. Seriously? Did Pallbearer R just flip the table?

The Pallbearers' primary target definitely wasn't to kill Phantom Girl; otherwise, Pallbearer R would have appeared first and killed her directly.

Pallbearer R probably knew the other three had been dealt with and that there was a major unforeseen development, so he decisively used his ultimate ability. He preferred to kill Phantom Girl rather than give her any chance to escape!

It's so refreshing to see a villain who breaks the mold! Aren't bad guys supposed to let the protagonist have a grand, happy ending? It's like in a MOBA game: when a player kills four enemies in a row, the fifth enemy player should just feed them the kill to complete the pentakill!

No wonder she couldn't run away. Never mind the pursuit from the first three Pallbearers; Pallbearer R's long-range piercing spell alone, not to mention his ability to accurately locate Phantom Girl, meant escaping outside was tantamount to suicide.

He entered the game again, and the strategy tip refreshed:

"Strategy Tip: The paean of humanity is a paean to courage. (Actively blocking Pallbearer R's first wave of Extreme Flash can end Phantom Girl's 30-minute presence early.)"

Actively block it...?!

That attack can penetrate walls! Wouldn't the Rebel just be committing suicide if he tried to block it? And could he even withstand it?

Ren Suo found this strategy tip somewhat baffling. If the Rebel dies, the game is over, isn't it? Or is this one of those games where the protagonist is fated to die?

So, Ren Suo ignored the strategy tip and continued to try his own methods. For instance, after defeating three Pallbearers, he had the Rebel lead a large group of civilians to block the entrance, hoping a human wall would force Pallbearer R to abandon his attack.

However, Pallbearer R seemed to have made up his mind and no longer cared about a low-key approach; even with a line of people standing in front of him, he fired without hesitation.

Left with no other choice, Ren Suo had the Rebel use the Self-harm Quick Kill Style along with "Wax and Wane" inside the conference hall, attempting to kill Pallbearer R directly.

However, the conference hall was too large, nothing like the confined space of the bathroom. Pallbearer R easily evaded the Rebel's attacks. His combat power and reaction speed were far beyond those of the first three Pallbearers. The moment the Rebel paused, Pallbearer R would instantly counterattack—piercing through the Rebel's chest with his bare hands!

After dying eight or nine times, another all-nighter passed. Ren Suo still had no solution. It seemed the game's ending required the protagonist's death as a sacrifice.

But Pallbearer R wouldn't use Extreme Flash casually. In all those attempts, Pallbearer R had killed the Rebel using other methods, not Extreme Flash even once.

Stuck again, Ren Suo put down the controller and napped on the sofa for a while. He woke up around noon, naturally hungry, and began pondering one of life's three great philosophical questions: What to have for lunch?

"...Hmm?"

Ren Suo sat up and challenged the second level again. This time, after the Rebel defeated three Pallbearers, Ren Suo had him equip "Struggle Warrior (Damaged)." Then, the Rebel summoned a naked, face-painted Rebel Clone in the women's restroom.

As soon as the clone appeared, a dialogue box popped up above its head, "I understand. Please give me your windbreaker."

Ren Suo was startled for a moment. He watched as the clone put on the Rebel's Blood Wind Coat and waited at the entrance of the conference hall. When Pallbearer R appeared, the clone walked straight up to him.

The moment the clone and Pallbearer R passed each other, the clone spoke,

"Your Pallbearer blood has made my windbreaker stink."

Immediately after saying this, the clone activated "Mage's Death-Defying Feather" and shot out of the conference hall like a whirlwind!

The name above Pallbearer R's head blazed like a Fiery Flame. He immediately began a ten-second channel to launch the Black and White Extreme Flash at the clone, who was now off-screen!

Pallbearer R killed the Rebel (Struggle Warrior)!

"He killed someone!"

"He used Extraordinary Strength to kill someone! That person's entire body is gone!"

"Oh my God!"

The conference hall instantly erupted into chaos. Ren Suo clicked his tongue in amazement—the Rebel's clone was incredible, using the Rebel's own blood-soaked windbreaker to provoke Pallbearer R.

More importantly, it seemed the Rebel and the clone hadn't communicated at all, yet the clone knew exactly what to do. It was almost more useful than the Rebel himself.

But Ren Suo was very hungry now, so he paused the game and returned to the "Equipment Interface" to equip himself with the Cloning ability.

In the blink of an eye, a naked Ren Suo clone appeared in the living room. It conscientiously went to the bedroom, put on clothes, socks, and shoes, picked up Ren Suo's wallet and phone, then went to the kitchen to grab an insulated lunch box before leaving the house.

After all, Jian Ji was some distance from Heavenly Lotus Academy. Without an insulated lunch box, the beef brisket and minced pork sauce over yi mein noodles would get cold, and then they wouldn't taste as good.