Tonight's attendees are all forces friendly with the West District.

Media personnel immediately began drafting their reports.

Raqi Haruto's high-profile consolidation of industries in Eden City, coupled with bribing the council at the press conference to secure seats for the Eastern people, clearly signals the intent for a full-scale war.

Mr. Vito put the war on the table, officially declaring combat readiness.

The weapon he touted as unbeatable seems to hint at something, which the well-informed big shots and the media are well aware of.

Bone Shards smiled, squinting his eyes without speaking.

The higher-ups of Jingke Heavy Industry all looked gravely serious.

They were on the phone, deploying soldiers around them, and the leading white man seemed very angry at Vito's "improvisation."

[Scan detected, no signs of hacking...]

The soldiers of Jingke Heavy Industry seemed to have noticed John.

To be precise, they identified Angelica and glanced at the mercenary standing beside her.

Oulos' voice sounded in the channel.

[Stay away from your little lover; she's holding a bomb now. Vito has disrupted Jingke Heavy Industry's plans, and the company will certainly come to capture her.]

"We need to go."

John placed a hand on Angelica's shoulder, half-pushing and half-guarding her as they left the periphery of the core area.

She did not resist, discarded her wine glass, and silently followed behind.

John inquired Oulos through the earpiece.

"Shouldn't they be targeting Mr. Vito?"

[F*ck, you'll eventually die on a woman's belly.]

Oulos' tone was laced with helplessness.

From the first mission with John, she knew this guy was prone to emotional outbursts at critical moments, putting himself in dangerous situations for things with no benefit.

John had already left the core area with Angelica.

They sprinted down the corridor on the second floor, dashing through the crowded banquet hall below in front of countless guests.

The security guards and some sharp-eyed clients also noticed them.

Oulos analyzed the current situation for John through the earpiece.

[There is internal competition within the corporation...]

Vito originally opposed gang warfare.

The Jingke board of directors no longer trusted Vito and instead supported Bone Shards; the connections and prestige he accumulated in the West District had to be redistributed.

The perfect script was either the retirement banquet went smoothly, or the Godfather was assassinated.

This was the ideal scenario for both the corporation and the gang.

There are different factions among the higher-ups of Jingke Heavy Industry, too.

The faction wanting Vito dead is just one branch.

The other side chose to observe and consent.

Now the situation has changed.

Vito acquired weapons of mass destruction.

He didn't keep it hidden and self-destruct with Jingke; instead, he placed it on the table, publicly declaring his intention to win the gang war and shook hands with Bone Shards, giving the board another option to support him.

[Since Vito can't be killed, Ariani becomes crucial—whoever gets her gains another way to restrain Vito.]

At the staircase entrance in the corner of the banquet hall.

John suddenly stopped, blocking Angelica beside him.

Bang!

A gunstock swung out in the darkness, caught by John's hands.

The alloy skeleton exploded with brute force, dragging the lurking soldier of Jingke Heavy Industry out.

John had several close-combat chips in his body, always creating an advantage in hand-to-hand combat; he disarmed the enemy's gun, closed in, and locked the brute's throat.

[They must have received orders to capture Ariani alive.]

Oulos was also aware of John's situation.

[You need to think carefully; if you completely fall out with them, you'll be offending Jingke Heavy Industry, and it won't be easy for you to survive in this territory of the West District.]

"He could sit down and negotiate with me. F*ck, now he's directly coming at me; I can't just stand and let him hit me, right?"

[Chip: Naked Strangle Assassination]

John twisted his arm, only rendering the target unconscious, not killing him, as he took Angelica and fled towards the exit amidst the approaching footsteps.

A sigh from Oulos came through the communication channel.

[Damn... OK, plan updated. Take your little lover, get the weapons back, and then find a way back to the venue.]

"We still have to go back!?"

[The Bolago Club is already sealed; you can't escape. Take her to meet Vito Russell for protection, and be quick about it. Raqi Group's assassins have infiltrated; they are determined to kill Vito, and you better not run into them...]

John quickly constructed an action route in his mind.

He first needed to return to the reception area outside the banquet hall, jump to the next level through the gap between floors, and retrieve his gear from the safe.

[Bolago Club – Rooftop Garden [Banquet Level]]

The smoke-filled black floor, holographic reliefs and torches, and surround sound playing pure music...

Everything looked as it did when they arrived.

However, all the Black Gold Gang guards remaining here were nowhere to be seen.

"Something doesn't feel right."

John slowed his pace with Angelica.

He activated the scan function of his cybernetic eyes, discovering large areas of fresh marks in the dim environment.

Abrasion, dragging, bloodstains.

John suddenly sensed something, quickly stepping forward, abruptly raising his head to look at the club building behind—there were dozens of black figures clinging to the towering glass curtain wall.

He instinctively tackled Angelica to the ground, hearing the sound of sharp weapons slicing through the air in the process of rolling.

Whoosh—

Slash—

Two metal shurikens landed nearby.

They pierced the synthetic stone floor as easily as slicing into a cake.

The shadows clinging to the high-rise facade continued advancing, with three figures breaking off, likely tasked with dealing with John and Angelica.

The sound of the night wind howled.

They fell straight from a height of dozens of meters.

Their legs only slightly bent before coming to a halt, with no apparent rebound and no deafening sound of landing.

The hum of high-grade smart cushioning devices was audible.

The smoke cleared to form a blank area.

[Identity: Codename·Chuan]

[Profile: Shadow Ninjas bred by Raqi Group, composed of Alpha Level or higher heavily modified individuals, equipped with experimental-grade weapons, executing secret destruction and assassination missions designated by the board.]

Those blackened metallic lumps slowly stood up.

The cloaks they wore reflected spots of light, likely a type of advanced tactical camouflage used for nighttime infiltration.

Slash—

The Shadow Ninja swung his arm.

A samurai sword with a dim glow appeared in his hand.

Buzz——

John activated Sianweistan, pulling Angelica back sharply, and his cybernetic eye saw the smoke hovering in the air being sliced open.

Bam!

Another sword followed closely.

John used his revolver to block.

The tail of the metal magazine was chopped off directly, the cut surface slightly dissolved, and the internal fixtures fell out. As his arm swung, smart bullets drifted in the air.

For the first time, John felt the pressure in a paused world.

The speed of these cyborg ninjas was incredible, and the Sianweistan level was high enough to almost match his time deceleration.

Fortunately, the duration was short on their side.

Pop!

A bullet floating in the air was sliced apart.

The last ninja pressed forward seamlessly, filling the gap, and a single-molecule blade was swung toward John's chest.

His tie knot was cut open.

John braced himself for his subdermal armor to be sliced open.

Suddenly!

Angelica appeared in the gap between the two.

Her eyes sparkled with a flowing light.

John had shared a bed with her for so long, yet failed to notice she had Sianweistan installed, likely with a hidden program and a model without the protruding spinal column.

The samurai sword was redirected.

A coordinated three-strike combo drained the time-stopping duration.

Angelica forcibly wedged in, like a dexterous snake coiling around the target's neck, flipping them over.

She also had a fighting chip installed, and at a rather high level.

The ninja reverse-rolled away, escaping before their joints locked.

The situation of a three-to-one attack remained unchanged.

Angelica demonstrated extremely formidable close-quarters combat skills.

She kicked off her heels, tore her skirt, and performed sidekicks with audible collisions unique to alloy skeletons, battling effortlessly between sharp blades relying on her flexibility and reaction speed.

Although surprised, John didn't remain idle.

He removed the leftover debris from the revolver, took out a new magazine, and loaded it. Before he could shoot, a close-quarter ninja knocked it from his grasp.

Angelica turned around and caught the falling revolver.

She vaulted over John, aiming it at another ninja's head.

Bang bang bang!

Orange mixed with azure, sparks flying.

The metal bulletproof face mask couldn't withstand the high-penetration point-blank shots.

The ninja struck heavily convulsed, with red data gibberish flashing inside the shattered mask, and their prosthetics collapsed one after another, likely due to a crucial control center being destroyed.

Crash.

Angelica tossed the gun back.

The remaining two assassins closed in.

She grabbed the arm of the paralyzed ninja, trying to snatch the weapon, only to find that the samurai sword was magnetically locked to their prosthetic arm.

Whish——

The two ninjas split John and Angelica apart from the middle.

She raised the opponent's arm to block, nearly losing balance from a slash, finding that she couldn't rely on strength, so she resorted to her agility once more.

In the process of evading.

She deliberately let the enemy cut off that ninja's arm.

The samurai sword, losing the magnetic connection, fell to the ground.

Angelica picked it up, engaging in combat with the Raqi Group's ninjas, using the figure in front of her as cover.

John was entangled with another ninja.

Whenever he tried to shoot, he'd either be blocked up close or had his angle and timing restricted.

The masks of these Shadow Ninjas kept flickering.

Programs seemed to be running in their heads, calculating real-time, analyzing his movement paths and habitual techniques.

As time went on...

John clearly felt it getting harder to dodge.

His suit had several gashes, and bloodstains soaked through the undershirt.

"Hiss——"

Angelica's arm also took a hit.

The subdermal armor's sensors failed, causing her nerves to throb with pain.

She realized these ninjas were adapting to her evasion rhythm, unable to outfight these professional killing machines.

"Switch."

John shouted, tossing the kinetic revolver.

Bam!

A ninja appeared, blocking with a horizontal blade, knocking it away.

Angelica, however, came up behind him, taking the opportunity to slash his back.

The digital camouflage cape glitched, sparks flying, but no blood flowed.

She slashed and ran, throwing the weapon to John while sprinting towards where the revolver fell.

John caught the samurai sword as he raised his hand.

He shielded Angelica, instinctively raising his arm. In a crisp sound of metal collision, he was pushed back by a tremendous force.

The two samurai swords pulled out long, slender arcs through the air.

John ended the standoff, delivering a side kick, toppling another ninja attempting to pursue Angelica.

The two assassins realigned, focusing their target on him.

It had been a long time since John last used a melee weapon. He took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the solid samurai sword in his hand, the palm pad detecting specific information.

[Weapon: Samurai Sword - Su]

[Attachments: Level III Sharpness, Cutting Enhancement, Hardness Optimization]

[Module: Magnetic Grip [Component Missing]]

This should be an upgraded model of Raqi Group's custom swords, specifically supplied to their internal secret units. The versions sold on the market lag far behind, merely consumer-grade weapons sold to recoup costs.

The ninjas' masks flashed with a streak of gold.

Their Sianweistan operated in a short-frequency, fast-paced mode, with a very high deceleration ratio and extremely short duration and cooldown, now ready to launch another attack.

Buzz——

The smoke floating in the paused world seemed frozen.

...

...

ps: Thanks to "Kind Canine," "The Righteous and Evil," and "Optimistic Fate" for the rewards. Perfect timing for a gratitude chicken treat on Thursday from the generous book friends.

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