No Hero

“Ri Xiang Ye and Dark Sun. “The truth is, you have always been both of them, have you not? There is no difference between Ah Ye or Dark Sun. It has always been you!”

Highest master has issued a command: kill Charles Endelis.

“You took all the behavior that falls outside of your brother’s expectations, all the ideals that are unacceptable to society, and any characteristics that could be deemed ‘evil,’ and pushed them onto Dark Sun. This ‘Dark Sun’ persona is just a refuge for you to seek solace in!”

Highest master has issued a command: kill Charles Endelis!

“I have served you personally. No one is able to see this more clearly than me. When the criminals used hostages to threaten the heroes, you decided on killing to end the killing. When Josh’s ability became a threat, you decided to simply eliminate him to prevent any further trouble. When you made these and many other cold, calculated decisions, it was not as Dark Sun.”

Charles Endelis. Level of significance: 91.5%.

Highest master. Level of significance: 95%.

Following highest master’s command to kill Charles Endelis!

“Your coldness and innocence intertwine into an indivisible individual. How could you possibly separate them into two? They had never been two different people in the first place!”

Microchip, perform analysis: If the elimination target’s level of significance surpasses the highest master’s, what action should be adopted?

Unable to analyze.

Possibility of highest master changing?

Unable to analyze.

“Young Master, you are the one who does not want Dark Sun to vanish, because Dark Sun is your excuse for being unable to adapt to this world!”

If the elimination target’s level of significance surpasses the highest master, can the highest master’s command to kill be disobeyed?

…YES.

If Charles Endelis is more important than the highest master, could he do the reverse and command me to kill Gē—No! Cancel that inquiry! I won’t ask!

Do not answer!

“Charles Endelis! You must die!”

No one can be more important than Gēge—not even you, Charles!

***

“I need you and Dr. Ni Cai to help me infiltrate the Church’s Sin Elimination Committee.”

I earnestly looked at the single person sitting across from me. He appeared to be somewhat weaker in terms of individual strength, but no one present would see him as weak.

Lieder possessed the power to control others with speech. At least, that was his ability at the moment. Thinking about it, the reason he had never changed it was likely because this power was too useful, or because he had not yet encountered another person with a special ability.

“It’s to help the Elysees infiltrate the Sin Elimination Committee!”

Lieder glanced at Curtis, the person speaking next to me. By Curtis’s side was Dong Fang Lei, and next to him was an entire row of soldiers dressed in combat gear. According to Dong Fang Lei’s introduction, these were the Extraordinaries troops of the red bowties.

They did not seem to be as formidable and mighty as the soldiers on the battlefield, but each and every one of them was rather unique. I was uncertain if it was instinct or my imagination, but I felt that these people were indeed quite dangerous.

In addition, the lackey that had previously brought me to find blood bags was also in the group. He stood by Dong Fang Lei with a proud air. Among the Extraordinaries, his posture was the most rigid, and he appeared to be the youngest. He was likely a novice, and he gave off a strong sense of vitality.

Lieder replied, “The Church has already raised their guard, so it is extremely difficult. Ni Cai cannot provide any guarantees.”

The doctor was not here, nor was he willing to show himself. However, I could understand this; if Ni Cai was here as well, they might not have any room to decide against helping.

After a moment’s consideration, I smiled and said, “Then how much money is required for him to provide us with guarantee?”

Lieder smiled as well.

“Money can motivate me, since I have too many plans that require money as operation funds. However, money won’t budge Ni Cai… Hm, but I can’t say that there isn’t a way to move him. Let me put it this way: for a computer expert of his level, getting money is a very simple matter. That’s why money alone will not motivate him.”

I pondered this. If money is useless, then exactly what conditions would stir Dr. Ni Cai? The next move requires both Lieder and Ni Cai with neither of them missing. Or rather, without Ni Cai’s support, I am afraid Lieder would not dare to accept the task either. After all, his power is so useful that it would not be at all strange if a powerful force captured him and locked him away forever.

At this moment, I suddenly thought of Dr. An Te Qi, who was also a doctor. Moreover, they were both doctors with particular actions and thoughts. Could their interests be the same?

“I drank the same medicine as you. Since then, I have been unable to sleep. In addition, the last time I swallowed a bunch of candies in one go, my strength was boosted to the extent where I could even defeat Ri Xiang Ye. Afterwards, I had to consume a large amount of blood that far surpassed what I could process…”

The more I spoke, the more fascinated Lieder grew. He even unconsciously leaned forward, as though that would allow him to hear more.

I smiled and asked, “Do you think Dr. Ni Cai would be interested in my condition?”

“Of course.” Lieder immediately nodded and replied, “He’s even more fanatical about such matters than I am.”

As expected, all unusual doctors in this world are the same.

“I can let him research—”

“Family Head!” Curtis stood in a rage, glaring furiously at me without any sign of respect.

I calmly raised my head to look at him with absolutely no intention of retracting my words.

Curtis held my gaze for a while, then twisted his head to shout at Dong Fang Lei, “Go bring the research materials for the Extraordinaries!”

My expression changed, and I stood as well to reprimand, “That is the family’s hidden strength. You cannot do that. I will not allow it!”

Curtis looked at me with emotions of both grief and indignation. The sight of it floored me, as I could not comprehend why he would show such an expression. Is it really that serious?

I hurriedly explained, “Naturally, I would not let him conduct any research that could cause me harm—”

He interrupted me and growled, “You are our family head. No one can ‘research’ you, no matter what kind of research it is! This is a vicious slap to our family’s face, completely obliterating the Elysees family’s reputation. Don’t tell me you want to allow such a thing to occur?”

The family’s reputation… I finally realized the situation. I was no longer the Elysees family head that no one knew. The Sun Emperor, Church, and even others all knew at this point that Curtis was merely the steward. The true Elysees family head was someone else.

I was no longer hiding behind Sadina, but rather had stridden up to take the stage.

Even if Curtis was the main one handling matters at the moment, all the powers clearly understood my status now. In the last battle, the Elysees family had openly taken action against the Church, which evidently showed that they undoubtedly cared about me, their family head. If I continued to call myself a family head in name only, I would merely be deceiving myself.

I am the Elysees family head.

“Go retrieve it.”

Curtis opened his mouth, as though still wanting to justify himself. However, when he suddenly understood my words, his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Do not bring too much.” I eyed Lieder as I smirked and added, “Those two do not have that much worth.”

Lieder shuddered as he stared at me in wonder, as if not daring to believe there was such a side to my personality.

Curtis respectfully bowed and replied, “Understood, Family Head.”

He nodded at Dong Fang Lei. Upon receiving the order, the other did not leave either, but instead directed a subordinate to fetch it. He remained next to Curtis as a guard, unwilling to relax in the slightest. This was a good thing, as Curtis’s safety was indeed more important than anything else.

I reminded Lieder, “Contact Dr. Ni Cai and tell him of the conditions. There will be no need to wait for the materials to be brought over; I am sure you would not be able to comprehend much of the research data for the Extraordinaries anyways.”

Lieder chuckled. “You really understand me well. That’s right, I can never understand why the numbers and data are more interesting than actual people. In any case, I will just agree on behalf of Ni Cai first.”

“You do not need to ask him?” I was slightly curious. That doctor did not appear to be a character that would allow others to make decisions on his behalf.

Lieder shrugged. “I know that guy’s personality. Ni Cai is more interested in the Extraordinaries than you. Extraordinaries are natural human mutations. I can only use the word fanatical to describe his attitude toward those things. If I called him, I’m afraid he’d immediately charge over, and then the both of us would be in your hands…”

I instantly moved to stand right in front of Lieder. It took him an entire beat to jump up from his seat in alarm.

“Never—Never refer to them as ‘those things’.”

I warned in an extremely stern tone.

Lieder could only stare dumbly at me.

Dong Fang Lei stepped forward and smiled as he said, “Family Head, he isn’t enough for you to personally do anything. Please allow me to take your place. How would you like to discipline him for his rudeness?”

Lieder blurted, “I apologize.” Then, he sighed in admiration. “Charles, have I ever told you that you are truly incredibly fast?”

“Many times.”

Lieder shook his head. “Even saying it another hundred times would not be enough. It seems as though the aftereffects of drinking the medicine aren’t just being unable to lose consciousness, but may also include an increase in strength as well? That doesn’t seem quite right either; those two abilities are too unrelated to each other. There’s no explanation.”

I did not believe that was the case. The reason my speed increased further was likely due to the results of practicing it with my life on the line. The medicine’s effects increased the amount of blood a vampire could absorb to make up for the energy required due to sleep deprivation, excess activity, and bodily injuries.

Despite obtaining research on the Extraordinaries, Lieder did not want to give up on the effects of my medicine consumption either.

I would have to be more cautious from now on. I could no longer act as I had before, believing I had nothing others could use to conspire against me. Thus, I could not be careless about various matters. I was connected with too many important people now: the young master, the Elysees family, X…There were honestly too many people that others could utilize against me!

Seeing that I remained silent, Lieder did not show any particular emotion either. Instead, he straightforwardly began discussing the conditions. “Ni Cai wants those materials, and I want money. In addition, you must use the position of the Elysees family head to make a contract with me: In the future, the Elysees family will not come looking for trouble with Ni Cai and me.”

“As long as you and Ni Cai do not provoke the Elysees first, we will naturally not start anything with you two.”

“Then, there really won’t be an issue. If it was the Sun Emperor or the Church, I wouldn’t guarantee that I would not provoke them. But not provoking the Elysees?” Lieder spread out his hands and said, “That is truly not hard. Who would want to strike smiling butlers for no reason?”

Indeed. If it were not because of me, the Elysees family would have continued staying low-profile. There was no one that would have tried to provoke the support-natured family of butlers.

Lieder continued, “Under these conditions, I can only help you enter the Sin Elimination Committee. I am not responsible for fighting.”

Curtis emphasized, “The most important part is ‘exiting,’ not ‘entering’!”

I followed-up, “You must personally bring me in, then back out.”

Lieder did not mind this. “Of course. My ability isn’t one like Ni Cai’s that can operate from a distance. Besides, if I don’t bring you out, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to survive for long either.”

He paused for a moment and then flashed a smile that did not reach his eyes. “The matter of a certain person being captured was so big that it nearly caused a world war. A lowly person like me cannot afford to incite that kind of thing. Speaking of which, if you have those Extraordinaries under your command, you might as well send one of those experts to come with me instead of coming along yourself. That way, I’ll be under a bit less pressure. I fear that if the Elysees family head merely loses a patch of skin, someone would want to skin me entirely.”

Curtis immediately turned his head toward me at this, his eyes full of agreement.

I coolly replied, “No. X would not go with you. The moment he is free from confinement, he would immediately leave everyone behind, regardless of whether or not he actually has a means to escape the Sin Elimination Committee. I am the only one he would follow.”

Lieder indifferently said, “Well, you know my ability.”

“X would not go with you. You cannot even completely control the young master, yet you foolishly assume you can stir the consciousness of a millennium-old vampire?”

“A millennium-old vampire! Heavens, that really does sound intriguing.” Lieder clutched his heart exaggeratedly and excitedly asked, “Charles, let me chat with him! An hour…no, half an hour is enough. You don’t need to pay me any money, and I’ll even help you fight. What do you think?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Trust my words, paying you money is far simpler. X has absolutely no patience toward strangers. He would not want to chat with anyone. In fact, if you say just a few words to him, he will either disappear from your side, or you will disappear from this world entirely.”

“What a pity!” Lieder dejectedly leaned back on the sofa and sighed, “He’s a living historical figure. Can you imagine how many historical truths we could learn from his mouth?”

“Zero. You don’t think X would care about human history, do you? It even took him many years of being chased by Sin to finally realize that they had already been replaced multiple times.”

Lieder somewhat resentfully huffed, “He’s so different from you. It would be great if he was more similar. Who knows how much insider information about history I’d be able to get from you?”

I expressionlessly asked, “Are you certain I will not become like him after I have lived for over a thousand years?”

Lieder furrowed his brows and replied, “For some reason, I feel like even if everyone else changes, you are the only person who would never change.”

“You overestimate me.”

“No, no, that is precisely why the famed E.X., a vampire that refuses to have any dealings with the rest of the world, maintains contact with you. You can make him feel as though there is finally something unchanging in this world.”

I was taken aback, and I stared at him in confusion. Is this a conjecture, or does he have some type of concrete evidence? It is impossible that X would say such a thing.

Lieder smiled and explained, “The Church has full analyses on you and X. When Ni Cai broke into their computers, he helped me steal some of it. It was really a brilliant and outstanding analysis. Those research materials were my greatest reward from going to the Church, worthy of my participation!”

Curtis bellowed, “That damned Church! Dong Fang!”

“Here!” Dong Fang Lei immediately responded.

“Summon the family’s hackers. Once this matter is resolved, I want all of the Church’s computers to crash if they even try typing Family Head’s name!”

I nearly laughed at this. Curtis truly refused to let even the smallest things go, though this was not a bad thing. The nature of the Elysees family was destined to be unaggressive. If the one in charge was weak, the family might not stay standing.

Just then, a cell phone suddenly rang. I could tell it was not Curtis’s ringtone and I saw Lieder pull out his phone to glance at it. Then he gestured and stated, “It’s Ni Cai.”

I gestured back to indicate he was free to answer.

Lieder did not stand. He simply stayed in his seat as he answered the call. After quietly listening for a while, he voiced the condition of receiving the Extraordinaries’ research materials.

“I know you are determined to get those materials, don’t worry. I already responded. Prepare to break into the Sin Elimination Committee again.”

Lieder cut the call and went straight to the point. “It’s best if we take action as soon as possible. Ni Cai just informed them that Sin won over the researchers. They will kill E.X. at first light tomorrow, so we do not have any more time.”

“Then, let us go immediately.” I was burning with impatience, terrified of being too late and reduced to only hearing the news of X’s death before I could even see him.

Lieder nodded and said, “At least prepare weapons.”

“We cannot be so rash. Weapons are not the only things we have to prepare!” Curtis hurriedly urged, “Family Head, you must bring the Extraordinaries troop…”

“No.” The moment I rejected it, Curtis showed an unrelenting, steadfast expression. I explained, “With my speed, being unable to escape would mean that the situation is impossible to escape from. Moreover, if there is a way to escape but there are members of the family present, do you think I would be able to abandon them and leave alone?”

Curtis’s face fell.

“Give me an unsurpassable dagger. You must trust me for everything else!”

Curtis stared at me with no sign of confidence in my words.

I met his gaze and solemnly vowed, “I swear that I absolutely do not want to die. There are too many people tied to me now. The consequences of dying are too grave for me to possibly bear! Furthermore…”

I looked straight at this child who regarded me as his father.

“There is no way I could believe your past words. If I died, would you really not lead the family to seek revenge? I do not think so; therefore, I cannot die!”

Curtis was dumbstruck for a moment. Then the corners of his lips curved upwards slightly, and he asked with slight discontent in his tone, “Only a dagger? What about a gun?”

I nodded and replied, “I am going to rescue someone, not to start a massacre. If I have the time to kill, I may as well use my speed to escape them.”

This time, Curtis nodded in agreement. However, he stressed, “If you do not return, Dong Fang Lei will lead the Elysees forces over, just like last time.”

I knit my brows together, but I knew that trying to dissuade them would be of no use. As a result, I could only agree. This operation had to succeed. Even if it failed, I would not be able to compensate with just myself. Hopefully if that time comes, I can… make a choice.

It was in times like these when I could not help but feel somewhat at a loss. Was the young master’s scoring of people a good thing or not? Who was more important between X and the Elysees? I truly did not know, and I would likely never know.

Curtis sternly reminded, “Family Head, please remember that you are much more important than E.X.”

I truly was not certain about that.

Curtis coldly said, “At least he has already lived for over a millennium. Please forgive me for saying this, but he has already lived long enough!”

I was silent for a moment before saying, “He has lived long enough for a while now. There has never been a moment when he has not wanted to die, but there must be a specific reason for him to have never chosen to die. Only something more terrifying than death could stop him from seeking it.”

However, I had to admit that I was honestly somewhat apprehensive of learning the truth behind the reason terrifying enough to force X to live more than a thousand years.

Lieder nodded and said, “That is reasonable. But what is more frightening than death?”

“Many things.”

For example, being trapped between pain and thirst, unable to even maintain rational thought. It could not count as being alive at all. In that moment, death was not the least bit frightening; rather, it was a kind of relief.

Another example was when I had been captured by Countess Avexila with Sadina and Curtis by my side. Death had not made me feel fear; what would become of those two was what had truly terrified me.

X, what kind of reason is the one you have to live more than a thousand years for?

At this moment, there was another ring. This was Curtis’s phone, so I did not pay it any mind. There were too many people that would look for Curtis. However, Curtis unexpectedly furrowed his brows when he saw the number. After picking up, he passed the phone to me instead.

“Family Head, it is for you.”

I doubtfully accepted the phone. Who would have called Curtis to find me?

“Charles-gē.”

“Aren?” I was slightly astonished, though after some thought, this did not seem strange. With how complicated the situation previously was, it was normal for him to find a way to confirm the circumstances.

“Er, Charles-gē, you told us not to go looking for Ah Ye, but he came looking for us.”

When I heard this, I asked in concern, “Did he injure you?”

“No, Ah Ye said he already knows where you are, so there was no need to interrogate us.”

“That is good then.” I sighed in relief.

“Um, actually, Ah Ye said not to tell you about this, but it felt like a bit of a bad sign, so I figured it was still better to let you know.”

“Please go ahead and speak. I am also very concerned about your status. If anything is wrong, you can call this number immediately.” While this was not my phone, I would likely be unable to answer the phone from now on.

“Ok!” He took a deep breath and said in a single breath, “Ah Ye’s older brother commanded him to stay in place, but Ah Ye disobeyed and ran away. He said that as long as it did not violate the meaning of his existence, he had ways to go against his brother’s words.”

Indeed, the young master was never a particularly obedient child. However, during my service to the young master, I had also never witnessed the Sun Emperor truly “command” the young master.

Aren hesitantly said in a quiet voice, “Charles-gē, Ah Ye ran away to go rescue your brother.”

“I know.”

“…That idiot Ah Ye said you didn’t know. Recently, nothing he’s said has been right!”

“Could I trouble you to please tell the young master something?”

Aren gritted his teeth and said, “I just said this call was a secret, but you still want me to pass on a message?”

“Please tell the young master that he is more important than X, and that he should not go rescue X.”

“…Fine, I’ll go tell him. Wait for me. Don’t hang up the phone!”

“Understood.”

I did not have to wait long before Aren returned.

“Ah Ye said that you are also more important than X. Could you not go rescue him?”

I chuckled and regretfully replied, “I cannot.”

“Ah Ye said that he can’t either in that case—by the way, can’t you two just directly talk to each other? Why am I stuck in the middle relaying messages? Are you two elementary students passing notes to each other? Ah Ye, just take my phone and talk!”

I waited. This time, the wait was even longer than when Aren had been notifying the young master.

“Charles…” This was all the young master uttered before falling silent again.

“I am here, Young Master. May I please request for you to not go rescue X?”

The young master was quiet for a while before replying, “Melody told me that it’s my brother who traced X and discovered that he was in Daystar City. He also leaked this information to the Church.”

My grip on the phone tightened, and it took a great amount of effort not to break it in my hand.

“You should not have told me this. If I bear resentment toward the Sun Emperor, would that not increase my danger level?”

“Mhm, but Curtis would know, so it would be the same even if I didn’t tell you.” He uneasily said, “Me saying it is still a little better than you finding out on your own, isn’t it?”

I truly could not say if it was any better or not, nor was I willing to voice a false opinion, so I merely remained silent.

“Charles, are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“Turn on the speaker function. I have something to discuss with Curtis.”

Despite having some misgivings, I complied with the request.

“Curtis, I plan on using a great amount of firepower to break through the front door by force. It should occur around one in the morning. Have Charles use this chance to infiltrate the Sin Elimination Committee and secretly save X. Don’t forget to dispatch your family’s strongest hackers to go and help open the doors for him. Since the Sin Elimination Committee has already been invaded once, their defenses are definitely very strong now. It’s best if you have the hackers attack from the outside and support from the inside. The success rate is higher that way.”

Lieder interjected, “Don’t worry, my Ni Cai is very strong.”

“Lieder?” The young master was taken by surprise. “That’s great then. Your ability is very useful, and Ni Cai’s hacking is formidable too. With you two, the success rate for saving X is significantly higher!”

As expected of the young master. While I was merely thinking about dissuading him from going, he was instead thinking how the two parties could cooperate and how high the chances of a successful rescue were. There were admittedly many times when the young master’s rationality was undoubtedly incredibly useful.

“Charles, remember: no matter what, you must not appear in front of me. I-I can’t guarantee I won’t attack you.”

“Understood.”

“Also, don’t die.”

“Very well.” I will try my best.

The young master hesitated for a beat before asking, “Charles, if X still dies, what will you do?”

I did not want to respond to this question. However, the young master’s questions had to be answered. He required concrete answers not for emotional reasons, but to reliably decide what the next step should be. If I did not reply, perhaps the situation would become as disastrous as it had this time.

X was trapped in the Church’s hands, while the young master was likewise on the verge of being dragged in.

Without the Sun Emperor’s assistance, the young master could at most only bring Melody and Bramble’s group. Despite this, he said he would break through by force. The level of danger was possibly significantly higher than it was for my side. There was nothing more terrifying than both X and the young master simultaneously being in mortal danger.

“At that time, would you take revenge?” The young master’s voice sounded extremely worried. Perhaps he believes that my target of revenge would include the Sun Emperor?

“No, I will think of a way to rescue X. But if he is already dead…” I glanced at Curtis and firmly declared, “I will not continue to seek further compensate with lives.”

“Oh!” The young master’s tone seemed relieved. “If that time comes, I won’t help avenge X then, either.”

I let out a relieved breath as well.

“But if Charles dies, I will definitely avenge you!”

“Count me in as well!” Curtis immediately echoed aloud.

“Sure!” The young master responded in high spirits.

…Death truly was not frightening. What was frightening was the world war that would be triggered after death. If vampires were religious, then the aftermath caused by dying would definitely send me to Hell or force me to suffer through great pain for my sins.

“Young Master, please do not die as well.” I could not help but be concerned. If something happens to the young master, what would the Sun Emperor do?

The young master smiled. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to take lives to avenge me. My brother would already have done it. However, if that time comes, it’s best if you hide with the Elysees and don’t come out. While the killer would be the Church, my brother might take his anger out on you. Er, or rather, I should say that he would take his anger out on many people. You should just hide in an underground bunker or something with Curtis and X.”

“Heavens…” Lieder covered his face and wailed, “I’ve already started wishing that you guys wouldn’t go to save E.X. The consequences of you two dying are much graver than if he dies.”

“That seems to be true. But I’ll still go save him!” The young master paused and then said, “Charles, I think I understand a bit now.”

“Understand what?”

“Even if I am more important than X, and you are more important than X, we are ultimately still going to risk putting our lives in danger to rescue X. If you think about it that way, it doesn’t seem like comparing significance is important anymore!”

I smiled. Then I teasingly said, “Young Master, it is the exact reverse of what you said. It is not that it is not significant, but rather the opposite—in actuality, everyone is very significant.”

The young master was quiet for a long while, before resolutely giving a determined hum in agreement.

***

Earlier, I would have paid a great price for the sake of escaping from the Sin Elimination Committee. However, now I was instead paying a great price for the sake of infiltrating the Sin Elimination Committee. One could only describe this as the unpredictability of life.

A person sticking closely by my side asked in a low voice, “Are your legs all right? Your complexion is pale as paper. Why don’t we have someone else take your place?”

I swept a glance over at the other person, who was currently sporting a sour expression. I had truly not anticipated cooperating with this person so many times.

“I am a vampire. Don’t tell me you expect my face to have the complexion of peach blossoms?”

Lieder nearly sputtered in laughter, but he held it back until his face was contorted. Then he sincerely replied, “I will look forward to the day your face is like a peach blossom.”

I smiled and stated, “If you had not tied the injured young master to a cross, perhaps we could truly have become friends.”

“…I thought we were about to head into a life-or-death situation together.”

“We are.”

“Yet we aren’t friends?”

I shook my head. “We are not.”

Lieder slapped his forehead and let out a loud sigh. “Heavens, you really make me feel a bit of regret. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have tied him to a cross. I could have just properly placed your young master on a bed, and everything would’ve worked out.”

I flatly stared at Lieder, not believing that he truly thought this was the main factor.

He spread his palms and said, “I had no choice. If I didn’t open the way with your young master, how could I have rattled Ri Xiang Yan? The people I released from P29 were all very intriguing, yet were locked up. Some were confined for their entire life because of a minor crime, while there were more people like Josh, who had been locked up since a young age without ever even having the chance to commit a crime.”

“They were extremely dangerous.” I calmly stated, “The people that were released have indeed caused trouble.”

“Being dangerous cannot be a reason to imprison them. Every person with a gun is dangerous. Don’t tell me you can lock them all up as a result?” Lieder angrily said, “If we’re talking about dangerous, there are very few of those people that are more dangerous than you, Charles Endelis. If you were willing to receive training, you could easily become the world’s most dangerous hitman!”

I looked at him and seriously asked, “You do not believe that I am already the world’s most dangerous hitman?”

Lieder seemed to be caught off guard by this being the point on my mind. After staring blankly for a moment, he smiled and explained, “There are many places in this world that cannot be entered without good skills.” He paused and then continued, “If you joined hands with Ni Cai though, you would not have any issues.”

“Then there should not be any issues now.”

I was indeed currently joining hands with Dr. Ni Cai. However, I inwardly resolved to learn more technological skills in the future. The most powerful assassin, the most powerful doctor, the most powerful smith, the most powerful technology skills… Ever since I had started following the young master, there had been many things to learn. If I was not a vampire—and now I had even become a vampire that did not require sleep—perhaps I would truly be unable to handle it all.

Lieder suddenly sighed and commented, “So, you were just afraid you were not strong enough to complete the upcoming task. And here I thought you really wanted to become the number one hitman. Please, don’t go stealing the hitmen’s jobs . In this day and age, anyone with a gun can kill people themselves. Being a hitman is seriously a hard job.”

I did not believe these words at all.

“You don’t believe it? The high difficulty ones like your economic groups mostly foster their own group of hitmen and don’t need to externally invite contractors who they have no background information on. For the low difficulty ones, most people would rather use the money for hiring a hitman on buying a powerful firearm instead. A single shot can resolve everything.”

I still did not believe him.

Lieder rubbed his nose. “All right, the killing profession has indeed been in demand since ancient times up until now—By the way, is it all right for us to be chatting without restraint right now?”

I did not respond. I had unconsciously just…it seemed that I truly was not suited to be a killer.

We were currently hiding in the dark forest, not far from the abandoned nuclear plant-like Sin Elimination Committee. Just then, Dr. Ni Cai sent us a location; we had to follow the route he provided us with in order to advance without the notice of the Church.

“Unless you two speak louder than 140 decibels, and the Church’s patrol unit just happens to be nearby, you will not be discovered. If your luck really is that poor, you might as well take the opportunity to die now. That’ll save me quite a bit of effort later on.”

A cold voice suddenly rang out from the earpiece—Dr. Ni Cai. Despite calling him “doctor,” until now, the skills I had seen him display least often were medical techniques. I had witnessed him using physical force and hacking skills quite a bit though. Should I say that he has a wide range of abilities, or that he is ignoring his actual occupation?

Regardless, I will just directly call him Ni Cai. It will not be too late to add the “Dr.” honorific later if I ever witness his medical skills.

I politely reminded, “I am grateful for the hiding location you selected. However, if misfortune befalls me, I am afraid that you would not only fail to receive the materials regarding the Extraordinaries, but you may also be hunted to death by my child. While I hope he does not take his anger out on those who do not deserve it, I fear he is not that obedient of a child.”

The person on the other end of the earpiece was silent for a while. “In three minutes, you two must advance five hundred meters to the left within one-and-a-half to two minutes. A door will be there. The route map has already been transferred to your visors. You cannot be early or late, or else you will run into the patrol unit.”

Despite the Church raising their guard, Dr. Ni Cai had stolen quite a large amount of data last time that was truly useful in multiple regards. Ni Cai had said that he would first send a mild shock to the Sin Elimination Committee’s main server, though he would not be able to control it completely as he previously had. He could only guess which data were still usable and find invasion routes. There was a possibility that he could secretly help us open a few doors as well.

“Your child?” Lieder leaned toward me and quietly asked, “The person you’re talking about isn’t that Curtis fellow, right?”

I smiled. “It is precisely that Curtis.”

Lieder raised a brow, seemingly wanting to comment on something. However, he realized something and said, “Forget it. With your personality, you must have been taken care of by your father and lectured by your children, so it’s not strange.”

“…”

“There are thirty seconds left. Prepare for countdown.”

Upon hearing Ni Cai’s words, the two of us stopped speaking and silently pulled down the visor plate. The semi-transparent bulletproof lens covered about half the face.

Curtis had been unwilling to prepare only an energy dagger for me. Thus, while we were on our way over, he had ordered equipment to be sent over from a different place. There were all types of armor, but putting them on would make my movements so vastly incompatible for infiltration that I might as well break through from the front with the young master.

Curtis had also thought it impractical after re-evaluating it, but he had striven to recommend a first-ranked armor—that was merely a few centimeters less thick.

In the end, after my persistence and Lieder’s eyerolls, I wore only a sturdy, light and skin-tight partial body armor. This armor was like a vest that only protected the front and back of the chest as well as the abdomen. However, this was not a complication for me. The other areas could be made up for using blood ability. This way, I had both defense and mobility. The amount of blood ability I would expend would be negligible as well. It truly could not be any better.

“Go!”

Following Ni Cai’s final word, the two of us immediately headed out. This time, I did not use x-speed; the restriction of being unable to arrive early was more perplexing than being unable to arrive late. I could only advance according to the display on my visor. Wherever it moved, I would go with it. It honestly made one feel extremely hesitant to take a single step.

Furthermore, the visor contained multiple information, maps, and the locations of surveillance cameras and patrol units. There were even various danger values… I was dumbstruck for a moment as the values made me think of the young master. Is the current display on the visor similar to the world that the young master sees?

This chain of thoughts immediately made me feel conflicted. With the scene in front of me, I felt as though I barely knew how to walk. What does it feel like to be forced to see these numbers and paths for years on end?

There was a sudden tug on my arm. I turned my head to see Lieder fiercely glaring at me, and I immediately shot an apologetic look back. I had let my mind wander while in the middle of infiltrating the Church on a rescue mission; while it had been merely for a few brief seconds, it was quite unacceptable.

I hurriedly focused back on proper business. Under Lieder’s guide, we arrived before the door on time. This metal door appeared to be in complete shambles, hanging slanted on its hinges. It seemed like a gentle touch would cause the entire door to fall down. However, in reality, even a vampire’s strength was unable to pull it open.

Ten seconds later, the door abruptly opened by actually retracting inwards, revealing the pure white corridor behind.

“If you forcibly break the lock, you would only see a rundown hallway with piles of trash that cannot be walked through.” Lieder chuckled and said, “The Church goes to pretty difficult lengths to conceal the location of the Sin Elimination Committee.”

The Sin Elimination Committee was basically the most painful existence to all non-humans. If it were not concealed as well, perhaps non-humans would finally unite to form an army and attack this place. How could the Church not go through such difficult lengths?

However, despite concealing it in such a way, Curtis had still discovered it and commanded an army to attack. I suddenly felt the pride of a father, and even a faint regret from not having taken part in my child’s past.

Under Ni Cai’s directions, we smoothly snuck in and hid in a closet-like room. Then he said, “Wait for orders,” and stopped giving out instructions.

I stared at Lieder in confusion, and he explained, “The rest will depend on your young master. Ni Cai no longer has a means to control the main server. Did you think the Sin Elimination Committee was really so easy to infiltrate? This place is merely the area surrounding Sin Elimination Committee. Most of what resides here are supplies and cleaning staff. They must frequently come in and out, so it is not controlled as tightly as the central area. But where do you think E.X. would be locked up?”

I did not reply. It had to be the center of the center.

“We must wait for Dark Sun to draw the Church’s attention away. Then we can sneak in.”

At this moment, Ni Cai’s cool voice rang out once more. “If Dark Sun doesn’t stir up a large enough commotion, then the two of you don’t need to go in; you definitely wouldn’t be able to come back out.”

“Have you told this to the young master?” I was somewhat worried. This Ni Cai person was honestly too cold and taciturn that he might not have pointed this out to the young master at all.

Ni Cai grunted in affirmation and said, “He only asked exactly how large of a disturbance he had to make, and had me explain with an example. I told him that destroying a quarter of the Sin Elimination Committee was probably enough.”

“…” I was completely speechless. When I glanced at Lieder, I discovered that his eyes were also wide.

Lieder bitterly chuckled. “Looks like even without the Sun Emperor and the Elysees as enemies, we’ll still be hunted down by the Church. And they’ll be pursuing us with no small amount of power.”

I actually now started to sympathize with Lieder’s situation. However, this sympathy was far overshadowed by another emotion.

I worriedly asked, “Would you be able to project the young master’s situation onto my visor?”

Ni Cai did not respond. Right as I was about to ask again, the scene before my eyes suddenly changed. It was of a large rusted door covered in danger warning signs.

“Charles can watch, Lieder is responsible for standing guard.”

“I want to watch too.” Lieder stubbornly said, “You can give me just a tiny display in the corner, right?”

Ni Cai instantly rejected, “No, you’ll get distracted.”

Lieder sighed. “Then remember to keep a video for me as usual. I want to watch after I get back!”

Ni Cai hummed in agreement, then said, “If you can get back alive.”

“…Being friends with you is really not easy.”

“Did the young master say when he would act?” I could not keep myself from feeling impatient. While Ni Cai had heard that they would execute X at the first light of dawn, who knew if Sin would suddenly decide to bring everything to an end early?

However, aside from impatience, I was also concerned about the young master’s need to destroy a quarter of the Sin Elimination Committee. How will he do it, and how much blood will he be stained with as a result? Even though he may not mind, it still…

“I’ve arrived.”

Caught off guard by the voice, I blurted out, “Young Master?”

“It’s me.” The young master asked, “Charles, have you gone in?”

“Yes, but we are only in the surrounding area. I am afraid we need to wait for you to act before we can venture deeper.” f𝓇𝘦𝒆𝘄𝑒𝗯𝑛𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝘰𝓶

“Mn, be careful. I feel like the Church definitely knew you would come, so things will not be that simple. If you are caught, just use the Elysees family to warn them. As long as it doesn’t involve X, they shouldn’t have any absolute reason to kill you.”

Absolute reason…what about a reason like destroying a quarter of the Sin Elimination Committee?

I worriedly inquired, “Young Master, how do you plan to do it? You are not really going to destroy a quarter of the Sin Elimination Committee, are you?”

“No, there are quite a few people here. Doing so would kill many of them. By that point, you might replace X as the target for the Sin Elimination Committee to pursue for millennia.”

I felt relief wash over me. Fortunately, the young master’s thinking was more farsighted than Ni Cai’s.

“Then, what do you plan to do?” Ni Cai suddenly cut in. “A method of attack like what the Elysees used last time is no longer effective. The Church knows they need to guard against people sneaking in. If you don’t cause a scene of utter chaos, I won’t be able to find an opportunity for them to infiltrate.”

The young master replied, “Don’t worry. Before Charles could move, I had them hide around the Sin Elimination Committee. I originally wanted to try seeing if they could save X, but now is the perfect time to use them.”

Them?

Before I could ask, the young master stated emotionlessly, “An incident has occurred. The door has opened for a vehicle fleet departure. Unable to determine if the fleet contains the rescue target. It is determined that the fleet cannot be allowed to leave; action must be taken immediately. Complete upheaval is estimated to last ten to twenty minutes. Allies should operate according to the circumstances.”

“Received.” Ni Cai immediately responded, “Charles, Lieder, be prepared.”

When the display in front of me suddenly vanished, I hurriedly said, “Do not remove the screen. Please keep it in a corner for me.”

Ni Cai was unresponsive for a long while, and the image did not appear.

“I will not be distracted,” I promised.

Lieder immediately rolled his eyes at me, as though he had heard a criminal with repeat offenses swearing to never commit a crime again.

I could only plead, “I must know the young master’s situation.”

Still silence.

“Let him see,” the young master commanded.

A translucent image appeared in the top left corner of the visor. It was like the reflection from a glass window, but if one focused on it, it was possible to see the entire situation. It was basically the young master’s point of view, likely from a camera on his visor.

There really was a fleet outside the door. However, as the inspection was incredibly rigorous, including examination of both the people and the vehicles, they were progressing extremely slowly.

“Charles,” the young master called out.

“Yes?”

“You need to understand that if this fails, X will definitely die.”

I froze.

“In addition, I’ve calculated the chances of failure to be nearly 70%.”

It’s that high? I guess if I think about it, that is correct; if the Church sees something wrong, they might immediately act to kill X. Rescuing him was going to be difficult from the start. If the young master makes a rational decision, I am afraid he would only have the choice of “abandoning rescue.”

I quietly stated, “If you have a chance to see X yet are unable to save him, please ask him if he is willing to die. If the answer is affirmative, then I will have to trouble you to rescue him.”

Regardless of what X’s reason for not dying was, he would perhaps rather die if he falls into the Church’s hands.

There was a long moment of silence before the young master responded.

“O.K.”