It was gloomy and raining in the Western Continent. After a few days of taking the shaky civilian train, Han Xiao finally arrived in the capital of Maple, the City of Maple Leaf.

Maple’s population density was low despite having a large area of land. Houses were cheap, and the average house size was rather big; even those in the middle-income bracket were able to afford a villa. The civilians in the capital had a pretty high income. Every year, the government of Maple would chase the beggars and the poor to other cities, which resulted in Maple Leaf’s environment being optimal, peaceful, and comfortable with sufficient greenery.

Han Xiao was smuggled in as usual. Following the map, he found a villa at the edge of Maple Leaf. It was a safe house that Dark Net had bought with a fake account and identity. The contact would be waiting inside.

The villa had three floors. The door was made from gray glazed wood and had exquisite carvings. Han Xiao grabbed the door knocker and thumped to the rhythm of their secret code. The door opened with a squeak, and an old female butler who had more wrinkles than an expired orange invited him in with a plain face.

After entering the house, the old woman, whose true identity was a long-term resident contact, closed the door and said, “Both guests are waiting in the basement.”

Han Xiao nodded. He opened the hidden door in the cabinet beside the staircase and walked down to the basement. It was not as dark as he had imagined it to be; it was bright and surrounded by metal walls. Many pieces of equipment and firearms lay around. There was also a specially designed lathe and a material case at the corner.

The two contacts were waiting at the meeting table in the middle. They both looked toward Han Xian. His face was changed back to Black Phantom, so he was recognized.

Of the two contacts, one was Golden Fox, and the other was a young man.

Golden Fox hesitated and said, “Black Phantom?”

Han Xiao’s eyes brightened. He laughed and said, “Oh, it’s you. I’ve seen you before. You seem to have become prettier.”

Golden Fox was frightened. She touched her face and said in her head, Please don’t be interested in me, I beg you!

The other contact was a young man in his twenties. His code name in the Blood Pact Society was ‘Ghost Blade’. He was a scorpion—lowest rank—and a new member who had only joined recently. He was staring at Han Xiao with judgement and slight doubt.

Ghost Blade had been trained as an agent in Raylen, but he had escaped before graduation. Having been trained in an agent training organization, he naturally always felt a sense of superiority toward these underground killers. He had joined the Blood Pact Society around the same time Han Xiao did, but Han Xiao was already a legend in the organization while he was still struggling in the scorpion grade. So, he had always been unconvinced.

In terms of experience, Han Xiao actually did not have much of it, but he became the ace of Blood Pact Society with his strength and Bennett backing him up. There were a small group of proud contract killers who were unconvinced—most of them had other successful experiences before they turned to become a killer. Despite the results of these battles were written clearly, there would still be people who were in doubt unless they saw it themselves.

“I heard about your battles. They say you’re a legend, but it seems like there’s nothing special,” Ghost Blade said with a plain face.

Han Xiao glanced at Ghost Blade but could not be bothered with him.

Golden Fox cut in hurriedly and started talking about the main topic. “Ahem! There are five targets: Harry Reymen, Sennin Miller, Billy Angus, Dick Van Vancity, Dorasi Farami. They are all government officials who opposed the plan. There are guards around them when they’re out and where they live.”

With a glance to Ghost Blade, he snorted, took out a map, and laid it out on the meeting table. “This is the terrain map of the target’s villa. The guarding power and the patrolling routes of police nearby are also marked out.”

The data was very detailed. Ghost Blade’s ability to collect intelligence was the textbook example that strictly followed the training booklet of Raylen. He had collected almost every detail there was in this mission. With the secret knowledge he had as an agent, Golden Fox did not need to help at all when he was gathering the data. It made him feel superior to these killers. After all, he was a pro, and amateurs were on a different level.

Ghost Blade peeked at Han Xiao. He was confident that such detailed intelligence would surprise the Black Phantom, but Han Xiao kept a straight face as if it was a common occurrence to him.

With a frown, Ghost Blade said in a deep voice, “I have designed an action plan for you. You see these red lines and marks? These are the action routes I have planned out. As long as you keep to my plan and don’t make any mistakes, you will definitely succeed. I’m assuming you understand what I wrote here. These are special symbols used by agents. If you don’t understand them, I can explain for you.

“No need, I will look at it myself.” Han Xiao knocked the table while reading through the intelligence carefully. He then asked, “What is the exact mission?”

“To place these documents into the targets’ homes, somewhere obvious that ensures the target sees them. Inside, there are some pieces of evidence that have the ability to cause them harm. As long as they realize that we can put these in their house without anyone noticing, they will know they are not safe. This will act as a threat but not cross the line,” Golden Fox said.

“I will be infiltrating. What will you guys do?”

“I am only responsible for providing intelligence. Carrying out the mission is your mission as an ace, so don’t think about seeking my help,” Ghost Blade snorted.

Golden Fox gave Ghost Blade a stare, before saying in a pleasing tone to Han Xiao, “If you need me to back you up, I can do it.”

“Never mind, there’s no need for that.” Han Xiao waved his hands. “It’s a pretty easy mission. I can do it alone.”

“It is indeed easy when you follow my plan.” Ghost Blade nodded lightly. He had actually left out some intelligence in the data. It would not affect the mission, but it would give the person carrying out the mission some slight challenges. He wanted to test out Black Phantom. Although the latter was an ace of the organization, unless he could pass the test, Ghost Blade would still maintain a cold attitude toward Black Phantom.

However, Han Xiao looked at the plan and shook his head. “The plan is too complicated. I will do it my way.”

Ghost Blade was unhappy. “This plan was made from my careful and precise research of all the intelligence we have, and you came up with a better one within a few minutes of looking at it?”

“This mission is not challenging at all for me,” Han Xiao said.

Quit messing around! Ghost Blade snorted with anger and walked away. He was very discontent that Black Phantom did not follow his plan. He was a professional, and his plan was perfect; Black Phantom had no idea of what he was looking at.

There will definitely be accidents if he doesn’t follow my plan, Ghost Blade thought. He had some dark thoughts, and he even wanted to gloat at Black Phantom’s failure. To him, not following his plan was basically screwing around. Black Phantom had better have meant what he said. If he ends up using my plan, I will only look down on him.

Han Xiao looked at his watch. “I will act tonight. You guys just have to wait.”

The two contacts were not involved in the field action, and Han Xiao did not need a supporting intelligence crew. Since it was just Han Xiao acting alone, there was no need for a headset.

“He’s only just arrived, and he is already going to act. How impulsive.” Ghost Blade shook his head. He felt this mission was most likely going to fail.

Not listening to suggestions from professionals would almost always result in failure.

…

Night arrived in no time, but clouds covered the moon. Han Xiao had changed into a black outfit. He hid whatever he was not going to need in the safehouse. Then he made sure the circuits were working and reset the password to prevent anyone from opening it. He brought along the necessary equipment and left.

At night, the streets of Maple were quite. The night wind blew past the trees and made a calming sound as fragrance from the gardens at the side of the street filled the air. There were few pedestrians on the street. In fact, those pedestrians were mostly patrolling police, which hinted at the high-pressure policies within the country and the security not being as peaceful as it looked.

Han Xiao walked past quiet streets one after another and arrived at the political area of the city. Patrols on the street became more frequent, so he hid in the shadow of an alley, observed the situation, and waited patiently.

About ten minutes later, a patrolling police officer walked toward him.

‘This is B3248. We are clear,” he said into the walkie talkie and walked toward the alley entrance. Then, he unconsciously looked into the dark alley.

A pair of arms reached out suddenly and dragged him into darkness. His yelling only lasted a mere second before it stopped.

One minute later, Han Xiao changed into the police uniform with the walkie talkie at the side of his waist. His face had changed completely—the skin mask had scanned the policeman’s face and imitated it perfectly.