Sky-cracking Rider

The villa's living room was riddled with bullet holes, a complete mess.

Fortunately, it was just a sniper attack; if a few Cloud Bombs had been lobbed into the villa, no matter which room they hit, Team 04 would have been decimated.

Without activating their abilities, especially the supernatural power users and spellcasters, often aren't much stronger than ordinary people, and getting hit by a bullet would likely kill them just the same.

A figure entered the living room, enveloped in the chilly wind, A-rank Metal Ability User Kiterley had returned, his armor gleaming with a razor-sharp silver light.

All eyes turned to him at once.

"Did you catch them?"

Adrian asked a redundant question.

Because there was no blood on Kiterley's armor.

"Damn, they ran like rabbits!"

Kiterley exhaled a plume of white breath and shook his head.

When he burst out of the villa, all he saw was a car speeding away from outside the courtyard. The cunning sniper was hiding in that car, seemingly opening fire on the villa as it passed by and then accelerating away without hesitation.

He chased for three streets but in the end, Kiterley's two legs couldn't keep up with four wheels, and he returned to the villa in frustration.

Joshua scratched his head and said, "It's a small fry, actually. Even if we caught them, they probably wouldn't know anything."

When the shooting happened, he hadn't gotten up yet, so the Constructed Puppet Warrior set up in the yard hadn't had the chance to be of any use.

Although a puppet has more agility and adaptability to complex scenarios than mechanical beings, they rely entirely on the Control Power of the Puppet Master.

Adrian said helplessly, "Pack up, we're preparing to transfer."

The first attack had already occurred, and if they stayed here, the second and third would soon follow...

The villa was no longer safe; in the end, the most reliable option was the Mobile Base Vehicle.

After a hasty packing, everyone boarded the Mobile Base Vehicle, taking even their breakfast with them.

"Liaison Officer Rossi!"

After boarding, Adrian immediately dialed the dedicated number of Team 04's Liaison Officer.

"I am Ros... Rossi!"

With so much time having passed, it seemed Liaison Officer Rossi's speech wasn't going to improve, not even with Habulav's adept Healing Spellcasters being any help.

At least the Pure Light Sparrow Xiao Jiu's Second Rank Light-based Spell "Light of Redemption" hadn't made much of a difference.

"The cooperation with Sovereignty is complete, but the target of the mission appears to be a decoy."

Adrian reported the results of their current speculation to Liaison Officer Rossi.

Even if it was a decoy, it still caused both the Sovereign Squad and Team 04 quite a bit of hassle, and they almost let him get away.
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"A de... coy? How could th... there be such a... thing?"

It seemed that even the Sovereignty hadn't disclosed anything to the Global United Defense Committee; Rossi heard about it for the first time from Team 04's report and had been clueless about it before.

"It's Chen Fei—the one who guessed that the killed Akim wasn't real. Although there are some doubts, this morning, a 'Summoner' from Sovereignty came by, so I guess it might be true."

Looking back, Adrian also found it hard to believe how Chen Fei's hunch, which caused doubt and ridicule due to his offhand speculation, could have been correct.

But early in the morning, the Summoner from Sovereign Squad had visited for no apparent reason. Although they didn't admit anything verbally, their every word and deed seemed to confirm that Chen Fei's wild guess was right on target.

"There sho... should be... no mistake!"

Despite Rossi being in a bad mood and stuttering, her intelligence was sharp. The people from Sovereignty would not visit for no reason; it was very likely for verification.

The sidelong information, however, strongly indicated a possibility: the Akim that was surrounded last night might have been a fake, and the real character might not have been in the Ancient Castle Manor.

With that, everything had to start over.

Rossi felt a headache coming on. Neither the Bear Hunting Special Operations Division nor the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee was particularly adept at intelligence work involving humans. They mainly relied on Sovereignty to share intelligence.

"Also, just now, we were attacked by a gunman, the villa's location is compromised, and everyone has transferred to the Mobile Base Vehicle, which is temporarily safe."

Adrian reported another piece of fresh intelligence.

"You need to... find a... safe place... I'll... contact you, wait for a... call."

Rossi spoke in fits and starts, then hung up proactively.

Where there's one attack, there will be countless others.

The Global United Defense Committee naturally wouldn't stand by idly. To ensure the safety of all members of Team 04, they would need to continue negotiating with the local Sovereignty for protection and support.

Driving the vehicle, Chen Fei asked without turning back, "Adrian, where should we go next?"

The Mobile Base Vehicle couldn't keep wandering aimlessly in the city area, or it would quickly become a target of attack. In the unfamiliar city of Yarsk, that was an obvious outcome.

The Little Bird was pecking at the grains in the food dish beside its nest.

Adrian realized this as well and made a decisive decision, "First, let's leave the city area and head somewhere uninhabited."

If they truly had nowhere else to go, returning to that abandoned farm they started with wouldn't be a bad choice.

"We must leave Tunguska. All the underworld forces in the Tunguska Region have ties with Akim."

After the morning's shooting, Tanya, who had a close call with the Grim Reaper, felt very insecure.

"No, we can't leave the Tunguska Region. Once we leave, all our previous work will have been in vain."

Adrian shook his head resolutely, the situation had become very ominous.

The Tunguska Region's police chief was discovered to be from the "Water Bear" organization's peripheral force "Sacred Advent." How many people in the local police could still be trusted was completely unknown.

The former Female Liaison Officer Tanya was now of no use; Team 04 was essentially completely without local support, reverting overnight to pre-liberation times, without police backup or intelligence sharing.

Mouri Misono, Susanna, Kiterley, and Apu all had grave expressions on their faces.

Without reliable intelligence support, and amidst killing intent from all sides, Team 04 couldn't even scurry about aimlessly like headless flies.

Holy Knight Walter Sam spread his hands, bracing himself against the table in front of him, and said, "We can't do anything now."

Falling into the current disadvantageous situation meant last night's operation was completely pointless, which in a sense was like startling the snake by hitting the grass.

It seemed that Sovereignty's intelligence had not detected that there were actually two police chiefs in the Tunguska Region, the fake one in the light and the real one in the dark.

"Tanya, is there anything else you can do? Like, do you have informants or something?"

Adrian looked at the prisoner, who was still not back to her senses.

"Are you joking? How could I possibly have those channels!"

Tanya forced out a faint smile, but it looked uglier than crying.

Informants and such were only known to those detectives and old criminal investigators. A police officer responsible for basic work like herself couldn't possibly touch such high-level work.

Chen Fei, who was in the driver's seat, said, "Alternatively, we could also go from overt to covert."

The treacherous and tactical art of dragon slaying had been taught from kindergarten, and there would never be a shortage of officials in human resources.

It's not known which big shot said it well, "Fighting with people is endless fun."

"What do you mean?"

The voices in the carriage unanimously chimed in unison.

Chen Fei did not hesitate to say, "The sixteen-character strategy: when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we pursue; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we attack."

Being ingrained with the art of dragon slaying, when it came to theory, he could articulate it effortlessly.

"What is all this about!"

Joshua shook his head outright. He hadn't learned this; it just sounded pretentious, probably a classic catchphrase meant to show off.

"I've heard of it, guerrilla warfare tactics!"

Mouri Misono excitedly raised her right hand and shouted.

"I've heard of it too!"

B-rank Ice Ability User Susanna also nodded, having read some related books before.

It was just that dragon slaying techniques were banned books in many Sovereignties. Only the children of ruling classes and social elites could access them. Ordinary folk could never have seen them, not even heard of them.

The tall and burly Apu was utterly bewildered.

Coming from a poor commoner's background, the education he received was, "Let the people use it, but not know it."

"We... divide and conquer!"

Neanderthal Chief Bassan had an epiphany.

As the leader of a tribe, he had the resources and channels to access those.

"Ah! That could work."

As if suddenly finding a breakthrough in his thoughts, Adrian's eyes lit up.

Team 04, along with this Mobile Base Vehicle, would be very conspicuous wherever they went.

Being a large target naturally made them easy to attack.

"Let's scatter!"

Mouri Misono hammered her fist into her palm.

The appropriate strategy was to emerge from the people and blend back into them, utilizing the power of the people's vast ocean to combat evil forces.

"No, not just that, let's change our perspective."

Holy Knight Walter Sam looked towards his mounted companion at the rear of the carriage, the Green Scale Colt Mini.

He continued, "The 'Water Bear's' mutant breeding bases, whether they are human or mutants, need to consume various supplies every day. Through data analysis, we can find abnormal consumption nodes. We might discover something. The simplest idea is food, a necessary supply."

Earth Mage Ruan Tiankai asked in confusion, "Erm, how do we go about it?"

Although a new idea had opened up, knowing it was one thing, how to do it was another.

"What Chieftain Bassan and Mouri Misono just said about dividing and conquering, we disperse to various jobs in society, to secretly observe and collect relevant data, then analyze the comparisons. We might find anomalies," the Holy Knight concluded. "To give the simplest example, if there's a daily high consumption of food, but the demand for salt is very low, why would that be?"

"Humans need salt, mutants may not," Adrian finally grasped the Holy Knight's idea.

The other party deduced a possibility from the different supply needs of the Green Scale Colt and the Knight.

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