Two days ago, DarkStar had coincidentally seen through Peggy’s lies. Because of that, they had changed the strategy. They did not have to look for a needle in a haystack anymore. Since the Secret Message Bead was on Floating Dragon Island, they only needed to lock onto the organizations involved in the scrimmage at the dock to find out who picked up the bead. The search range became countless times smaller.

The mercenaries had been the main cause of the scrimmage at the dock, so they were the main focus. Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold had all been captured; only Han Xiao’s Black Star Mercenary Group was free to move around. Ember was not stupid enough to attack the prison; hence, Han Xiao became the most suitable target.

And so, they laid this ambush.

Seize Black star, take control of the captain of this small mercenary group, make him obey orders obediently, then use his identity to move in and out of prison to asked whether the Secret Message Bead had been picked up by any other mercenary.

After all, the first line of ‘DarkStar Task Force Action Manual’ was ‘In order to reduce the risk of exposure during field missions, avoid using violence as much as possible if the target can be bribed with money—most of the money spent can be snatched back.’

But from what DarkStar knew, the mysterious forces that plotted for the Secret Message Bead were hidden on Floating Dragon Island. That force had come to know the truth before them and was very likely to have contacted the mercenaries before them. After what happened with Peggy, Ember did not want to be toyed once again. So, he decided to do things the simple way, by using force.

As a member of a large, violent terrorist organization, they always felt a sense of superiority when facing mercenaries. They were like a god of death hiding in the dark, cool and stylish. Whereas mercenaries were like labor workers, without belief and would do anything for money, not even matching up to bounty hunters, who were dedicated to catching wanted criminals.

Saying ‘I am from DarkStar’ and ‘I am a mercenary’ felt completely different.

The name of DarkStar was feared by countless races. In contrast, although the mercenary industry was extremely large, it was scattered. It was like the difference between a stone and a sand castle. DarkStar would only pay attention if it were large armies like Sky Ring and Blades. In the case of a small mercenary group with around fifty members and their strongest member being only trade B, it was a piece of cake.

“Who are you people?” Han Xiao asked deliberately while narrowing his eyes.

“A word of advice for you, if you want to live a little longer, put away your curiosity and don’t ask about our identity. Don’t get caught up in trouble,” Ember said coldly.

He thought that Han Xiao would definitely be surprised by their identity.

What he did not know was that Han Xiao was the witness the night they took the slaves away. Thinking that this was their first encounter with Black Star, they maintained their mysterious identity to put pressure on Black Star, not knowing that Han Xiao knew exactly who they were.

Han Xiao looked around. The walls Ember built formed a colosseum-like cage. There was a total of eight DarkStar warriors surrounding him in the middle. In addition to Ember, the other seven were not some nobodies—they were all grade B Supers.

Seven opponents with the same grade, plus Ember who was grade B+. The increase in difficulty when facing multiple opponents was not as simple as addition. With a variety of abilities working collaboratively, Han Xiao was unsure of how long he could last against them. Furthermore, he had the burden of Aroshia, so it was a tricky situation.

Han Xiao tried to use the communication channel, only to hear the sound of electric currents.

“Don’t waste your time. Strong signal disruption devices have been planted nearby, so no messages can be sent out. You can’t call for help,” Ember said indifferently.

“It seems that you think you’ve got me in the palm of your hands.” Han Xiao kept calm and said, “Since I have no way to escape, tell me what is it that you want me to do, and maybe we can agree to some terms. I don’t want to fight a meaningless battle.”

“We want you to ask the mercenaries about the whereabouts of a black bead,” Ember said.

Hearing this, Han Xiao analyzed quickly in his mind without changing his expression.

It seemed that DarkStar was able to pry out the truth from the mouth of Peggy. They most likely also knew that there is an impostor using their name who is also competing for the Secret Message Bead. But they don’t know that the impostor is me. I’ve been attacked this time not because I’m exposed but because I happen to be one of the targets. This is very crucial. They don’t know I have the bead. If I pretend to cooperate, I might be able to get myself out of this.

He was more concerned about how much DarkStar knew. At this point, it seemed that he just happened to be a typical mercenary—him imposing as a DarkStar agent had not been exposed.

Compromising with DarkStar was not out of the question. If giving up the Secret Message Bead could be exchanged for an opportunity of joining DarkStar, thus infiltrating the enemy, it could be considered a chance as well. Yet, the risk of that was unknown and hard to measure.

Han Xiao squinted and behaved like he did not seem to know what the bead was. “This is just a small matter. I can help, so there’s no need to use force.”

Ember took out a small transparent box containing a large number of nanotechnology insects the size of sand that were used to control the brain and heart. They would be able to take one’s life anytime once injected into the body. “After you inject this, then we can talk about our cooperation.”

“Looks like I don’t have a choice.” Han Xiao shook his head. The mechanical suit covered his body in an instant.

Injecting the nanotechnology insects meant that his life would be in someone else’s hands, and he would never agree to that. Therefore, there was only one choice.

Fight!

Electromagnetic firearms bounced out of the mechanical suit one after another. Energy flew out like electric currents, covered in lightning in the size of filaments. Han Xiao was not only holding firearms in both his hands, but he also controlled the rest of the firearms with his energy, firing in all directions.

Tu tu tu tu!

In an instant, bullets covered in blue lightning blossomed outward from Han Xiao in the center like a dark blue rose!

A battle suddenly erupted!

[Moving Snipe], [Field Controlling Vision], [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow], [Surging Mechanical Force], and [Overload]—a variety of abilities were activated by Han Xiao instantly. The explosive power of these abilities shocked the DarkStar soldiers as they dodged and blocked the abilities in their own ways.

“A waste of time.”

Ember controlled the dust and turned it into a shield, blocking the bullets. His face was calm. To him, no matter what the enemy’s fighting method was, as long as their grade was lower than his, it would all be meaningless. He could defeat then in a blink of an eye unless they were immune to his power.

Hum!

Ember activated his power and extended his senses. His vision changed, and Ember could ‘see’ Han Xiao’s body’s atomic structure clearly. The carbon element was marked with light, covering his body like a river. Ember controlled these carbon elements with ease—he had done this countless times.

However, it was like Han Xiao’s body suddenly became a mountain. The Esper power that had worked countless times did not work this time. Ember could not control any carbon atoms in his body; its structure was unshakeable.

The calmness on the face of the Ember was suddenly broken and replaced by dismay.

“It’s you!”

Ember stared suspiciously at Han Xiao.

It turned out that the witness on that night who caused the mission to fail was this mercenary group captain, Black Star!