The First Order

Ren Xiaosu was stunned when he saw the mission to kill the Pyro Company’s Midnight squad. The organization behind the cell phone must really have a grudge against the Pyro Company. Why else would they offer such a high bounty for them?

He had fought Midnight before, so Ren Xiaosu roughly knew how strong they were.

These people might seem like supernatural beings, but they were only genetically modified and possessed a stronger physique than normal people. Although they were far more powerful than normal people, they still couldn’t hold a candle to supernatural beings.

After all, the current level of power that supernatural beings had was far more explosive and stranger.

Yang Xiaojin once said the Pyro Company had even more powerful fighting forces within their ranks, but Ren Xiaosu could not really judge as he had not encountered them before.

The reward this time was secondary. More importantly, the hitmen could earn a one-time right to seek refuge with the Anjing House.

Who had not faced a dangerous situation in their lives? Even Ren Xiaosu had encountered such situations many times.

For example, after getting injured, anyone would require an extremely safe place to recuperate. At such times, deaths were the most likely to occur because even supernatural beings could get killed by normal people.

Therefore, having a secret safe house and trusted protection would definitely be everyone’s first choice.

Was the Anjing House trustworthy? At the very least, they had an extremely reliable reputation among all hitmen. Why else would everyone want to join them?

Therefore, the Anjing House’s offer of protection for those who completed this mission would definitely tempt many people.

It was rare for a hitman to meet a good end, and this was something every hitman knew.

Ren Xiaosu frowned when he saw the text. The mission happened to be posted at Stronghold 63, which was right next to him. However, it was an A-rank mission, so he couldn’t accept it even if he wanted to.

He would have liked to take on the Pyro Company too. After all, Yang Xiaojin seemed to have a grudge against them.

However, he was only D-rank right now. Including the mission just now, he would be considered as having completed two missions at Stronghold 63. Even though he should be able to get promoted to C-rank, he was still far from getting to A-rank.

Therefore, this mission did not seem like it had anything to do with him…

Wait. Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that even though he could not accept the mission, he could still go and watch how the A-rank experts conducted their mission since the address was made known to him.

When he got there, he could just hide in the shadows and watch those hitmen take on the Pyro Company. The fiercer the fight, the better!

At this moment, one of the greatest characteristics of human beings was vividly reflected in Ren Xiaosu—he just wanted to watch chaos ensue. The more chaotic it was, the merrier.

…

Just as Ren Xiaosu made up his mind to sneak into Stronghold 63, a person in a house somewhere muttered, “That 1583850 has completed yet another mission. According to the timeframe, he’s already completed five missions within 60 days. Should we promote him to C-rank?”

The man next to him said, “Didn’t you notice that ever since he went to Stronghold 63, those D-rank missions in the vicinity have also been delayed for more than 20 hours before they were completed? Moreover, it seems the six account holders who accepted the mission initially have all disappeared as well….”

“Mhm…”

The person next to him said, “I definitely won’t believe it if you say it had nothing to do with him. He must be the one who stole the other hitmen’s cell phones at Stronghold 61.”

The Anjing House was not stupid. These suspicious missions were all completed by the account holder 1583850, so even a fool would know there was something wrong with this guy!

After what happened at Stronghold 61 a while ago, they had begun investigating the case. Even though their boss had personally made a trip there, she was still unable to catch the culprit.

“We better consult with the boss to see how we should handle this.”

When they sent a text to their boss, she replied, “Don’t alert him. Promote him to C-rank and then observe what he gets up to. Don’t group send him any more details of D-rank missions either in case he tries to harm the other D-rank hitmen.”

The two people in the house asked again, “What if he kills the other hitmen?”

Their boss replied, “He won’t.”

Anjing House had encountered many hitmen with different personalities. For example, some of them had unique fetishes or could get extremely unruly. But as long as they could complete their missions, the Anjing House would not be too bothered.

It was just that the candidate they encountered this time was a bit too much.

The two members of the Anjing House in the building were responsible for assigning missions and allocating resources, and this residence was their safe house.

Since their boss did not give any clear indication, they would just have to go with their boss’s instructions.

When Ren Xiaosu received the text saying he had been promoted to C-rank, he had already quietly sneaked into Stronghold 63. He wanted to observe what would be taking place here.

When Ren Xiaosu sneaked into a stronghold this time, he did not have to hide under a vehicle. He could just leap over the walls and into the stronghold now.

The Wang Consortium’s stronghold looked even more prosperous than the other strongholds. At 10 PM, colorful neon lights were still flashing in the streets and illuminating the night in the stronghold, making it seem like day.

However, the difference between this Wang Consortium stronghold and the other places was that there was a surveillance camera installed on the streets every 100 meters.

Furthermore, Ren Xiaosu heard that if people stayed in a hotel or ate in a restaurant in the Wang Consortium’s strongholds, they would need to swipe their ID cards. All the people in the stronghold city were like a dataset being supervised by an artificial intelligence.

Regarding the Wang Consortium, Ren Xiaosu had heard much about them. For example, every young man here who was of suitable age would be required to serve in the military.

If they chose to default on their service, their entire family would be implicated and get expelled from the stronghold.

In addition, if anyone encountered a thief on the streets, whoever was nearby would be obligated to catch them once the artificial intelligence issued a warning. If an adult man saw a thief but pretended not to see them, he would get punished as well.

If an elderly person fell down on the road, the person next to them had to offer their help. If the elderly person turned around and accused that person instead, then it would be the elderly person who would be sentenced.

All of this was judged by the pervasive artificial intelligence.

There were thousands of laws like these all across the Wang Consortium’s territories, and everyone had to memorize them and take a test on them during their school years.

The storyteller said this was based on the Legalism school of thought that originated from the State of Qin from before The Cataclysm. The governance of the organization was based on the rule of law.

They did not believe in human nature and only trusted rationality and law.

Ren Xiaosu was at a loss of words regarding this system. Of course, it was a good thing that everyone should stand up for others. However, he would be unwilling to live in a stronghold like this.

It was not that a system like this was bad. In fact, it was actually quite good since the stronghold residents could lead a very safe life at the minimum.

However, Ren Xiaosu would not be able to get used to it. He had no intention of judging the good and bad sides of a governing system for the various consortiums. He only felt that there would not be enough freedom if his every action fell under the supervision of others.

Ren Xiaosu could not walk around freely in a stronghold like this. That was because the legendary artificial intelligence’s database did not have his profile. Once the surveillance cameras detected his presence, it would sound the alarm.

Moreover, if a hitman could not carry out a mission perfectly and avoid all the surveillance cameras in a stronghold like this, they would definitely end up being wanted by the entire Wang Consortium. The artificial intelligence would also be able to help analyze where the hitman was hiding.

Ren Xiaosu was curious to know how the A-rank hitmen would assassinate someone in a stronghold like this.