John frowned and shook his head.

He tried to change the subject, asking Vito about his plans for the future.

"You don't seem ready to retire."

"Kind of, I have something I want to fight against too..."

The rise of the Black Gold Gang happened during the Eden City War of Independence.

Jingke Heavy Industry needed someone to quell the street conflicts, put an end to the gang rivalries constantly surfacing, and ensure the stable development of the West District.

That's how Vito Russell came to be the Speaker.

The times have changed now.

The situation in Eden City forced the company's plans to change.

Jingke Heavy Industry, pressured by the Eastern People, started supporting Bone Shards, hoping he would take over as Speaker, and begin and end the second gang war.

"Jingke Heavy Industry wants to turn the Black Gold Gang into another Owl Town, making the gang a subsidiary of the company, with all members being expendable tools outside the official organization, a group of self-replicating, easily replaceable cheap labor."

Vito glanced at the piles of "Chuan" stacked in the corner.

"I don't want to give the gang to those bastards."

"What weapons did you actually buy?"

"What, John, are you going to be the concerned citizen who stops me?"

Vito turned his head to look at John, the edges of his hair slightly gray, a smile playing at his lips.

"Ha."

John responded with a cold sneer.

"I don't give a damn, you can blow the city to the sky for all I care, what I'm after is the people who sold you the goods!"

Vito showed an expression of sudden understanding.

"Oh~ you want to ask about that...but unfortunately, the sellers are not to be trifled with."

The powerful figures all know there's weapon smuggling into Eden City.

But no one can find where the goods are hidden.

"Bullshit, Rift Party Old Du, and you, there's always a channel to communicate and trade!"

John's mood started to become agitated.

Vito shook his head.

"Each buyer is pre-selected by them."

After being marginalized by Jingke, Vito faced several secret assassination attempts, forced to disappear from the streets to find chances to resist.

This was the period Jilead couldn't contact him.

"No one had any news of me, but one day, I woke up from my safe house bed, and there they were, sitting beside me, smoking my cigars, handing me a drink."

John could feel the lingering fear on Mr. Vito's face.

"You know? John, that was a very secure house, the alarm system was working normally, and even through the walls, I could hear the bodyguards stepping on the floorboards, yet they appeared before me like ghosts."

"Who are they?"

"No one can find out, only a few fixed individuals have contacted me, there's a bigger group behind them."

"How to find them?"

"If you're eager to die, why not shoot yourself in the head, they're all tough characters, I can tell, the backstage resources and prosthetic configurations aren't something a Lone Wolf like you can provoke..."

Vito didn't finish his sentence because he read resolve in John's eyes.

"Hey."

He understood all too well the young who act recklessly.

"Alright, I don't know much."

His golden cyber eye flickered twice, his ringed hand moved slightly, and an investigative file arrived in John's inbox.

Inside, there were some missing persons' information.

John quickly browsed through it, immediately recognizing the mercenary who knocked him out during the Tiebang Logistics incident.

[Name: Chris E. Randall]

The photo showed a middle-aged man with short hair, thick brows, cold eyes, and features seemingly carrying a bit of Middle Eastern descent.

During Vito's dealings with the seller, he was responsible for on-site security.

Chris's early life was all military service experience, moving between the Old America and the New Government's forces.

He had a very high completion rate for special operations tasks, his military rank rose to lieutenant colonel, and he even had a briefly recorded secret assignment in Washington.

Information ended in January 2069.

At that time, New America launched the "Unified War," and internal documents of the Special Affairs Bureau indicated Lieutenant Colonel Chris was already "dead"!

But quite evidently, he's still alive, and his level of prosthetic enhancement has increased.

"Not just Chris, among 'them,' those I've seen and can find out at least currently should all be missing or deceased persons."

"The question is, who is he loyal to now?"

"Vacuum Tube."

Vito uttered a brief phrase.

He also tried his best to deploy resources, reaping little, mostly vague events and conjectures without evidence.

This investigation report might also have been deliberately released.

Tracing the missing information continuously, some action records could be found, without clear casualties, nor obvious beneficiaries.

But placing things together seemed to have some pattern.

Those very few survivors with firsthand experience only had limited core contacts, they could only use a semi-guessing tone to nickname the suspected existing organization.

Vacuum Tube.

A common electronic physics product, its interior is vacuum-sealed, facilitating the movement of free electrons, thus reducing the oxidation loss of filaments.

"What the hell kind of stupid name is this!?"

"The email contains all I know, kid, you can't expect me to give you an exact address or phone number to directly contact VT.

Vito shook his head with a bitter smile.

"The elites of Eden City are all doing this, it's quite obvious I've already got far ahead with this information compared to them, but I suspect VT intentionally let me see and leak it."

"F*ck!"

Bang—

John clenched his fist and slammed it into the alloy tabletop, leaving a dent.

"I damn well put in all this effort not to find a fictitious enemy, I need something more specific, damn it, this is absolutely inadequate, I'm running out of time!"

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