"Don't look at me like that, as if I'm some kind of deranged terrorist."

Oulos and John stood on an iron staircase.

The view here was excellent, just enough to see the smashed warehouse and the figures on the main roads on both sides.

"Aren't you?"

John also leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance, looking no different from the people gathered on the surrounding buildings.

"That's a downtown area. When a massive hovercar crashes down, how is it different from throwing a bomb into a crowd?"

"Did I want to throw it? Even if I did, I wouldn't feel guilty. John, intermediaries have no conscience; words of provocation mean nothing to me."

She calmly took out a cigarette.

"I also want to know what the hell happened on that damned hovercar, so I brought you here, went to the trouble, spent the money, took the time, cleaned up after the mercenaries, and dealt with the scum who lurk here!"

Oulos furrowed her brows.

John sighed but wasn't too concerned, casually knocking off a piece of rusted iron, continuing the conversation.

"I trust you, so you're the middleman. The mercenaries are missing, so who is the employer?"

"Myself."

Oulos took a deep breath.

White smoke rolled between her glossy lips.

For the first time since the incident, Oulos described the specific course of events to someone else, speaking to John and also doing a self-review, trying to mend any gaps.

It all started with a piece of black market intel.

The Raqi Group had a secret research transaction — involved the next level of prosthetic body improvements, which would be very helpful for heavily modified units.

Oulos came to Eden City to treat Behemoth and was very interested in this news, so she sent someone to investigate.

So it was a "corporate theft" mission.

It had nothing to do with terrorism at all.

She chose a team of mercenaries from her prepared "database," professional enough and largely unconnected to her.

The mission proceeded very smoothly.

Secret infiltration, line setup, reaching the transaction site, everyone was doing their part.

The intel and insiders didn't betray.

But an accident occurred when acquiring the project's specific content.

The mercenary team triggered an unexpected alarm.

Afterwards, they were besieged by the network security department.

The attack methods were formidable; two senior hackers of the mercenary team were burned to death in cyberspace, then communications collapsed, and all contact was lost…

Oulos immediately ordered an emergency evacuation.

But fifteen minutes after the order was sent out…

"That damned hovercar, the Raft Qi, just fell from the sky!"

Oulos exhaled a puff of white smoke.

She licked her lips, staring at every vehicle approaching the explosion site at the warehouse dock.

"There's definitely something wrong with this job, and it's not on me."

She muttered to herself.

"Do you know how tight the security measures on the Raft Qi are?"

The Raft Qi has a dedicated backup server.

It can't be directly hacked through the city's LAN; to manipulate its internal network, you'd have to go skyward.

The hovercar is equipped with two main and auxiliary power systems, set on both sides of the elliptical body, running independently.

Unless you can blow up both engine rooms at the same time, it won't have power failure, much less crash directly.

And to blow up those security measures while also disabling all thirty-two different vector engines and the glide system, causing attitude calibrator malfunction…

How much explosive charge would it take?

The answer is a miniature nuclear bomb.

Or two SS-20 ballistic missiles!

"This is corporate infiltration; my mercenaries didn't bring those things up unless the Raft Qi itself was stockpiling weapons. Why would it have a suicide button?"

The issue still lies in the lost fifteen minutes.

Those fifteen minutes were when the mercenary team was in contact with the intel.

What exactly was the Raqi Group's secret project?

What did the mercenaries see that turned a commercial theft into a semi-district lockdown terror event?

Oulos's prosthetic eye focused on the passing crowd.

When she no longer uses a mocking tone to crack dirty jokes, it means things are really getting out of hand.

John nodded.

This was obviously a troublesome matter.

"So what are you up to with this role-playing trick?"

"You're the famed street legend of the West District. Having these intermediaries focus on you, I can quietly gather intelligence."

The hovercar crash is not just an accident.

"The information has already leaked; aside from me, whoever else seeks those mercenaries is the problem..."

Oulos's speech slowed down.

She squinted, straightening up from her railing position, let out a cold chuckle, and softly whistled.

"Look, something's come to light."

John looked back toward the dock, following her gaze.

Two flat-headed loaf transport vehicles parked by the roadside.

A group of employees wearing Raqi Group uniforms suddenly appeared, dispersing as some headed straight to the mercenaries' warehouse. After discovering it was blown open, they started making calls to report the situation.

It only took a few seconds.

Buzz—

Two military-grade drones swept over Palmer.

[Device: Langsheng Falcon Recon Drone]

[Manufacturer: Raftaki Industry]

[Description: A benchmark product for the Raqi Group's venture into the urban transport market, it quickly became a bestseller due to users unexpectedly discovering the high modification limits of the Langsheng Falcon, with strong weapon module and accessory compatibility.]

Oulos is the mission's intermediary.

It's normal for her to track the mercenaries' whereabouts, and now, the Raqi Group also realized there were survivors from the hovercar incident and had already come looking.

"Those Eastern People definitely have issues; I'm just the victim dragged into this mess. Damned thing, I need to find out what they're hiding!"

Oulos smiled, but the glow in the depths of her prosthetic eye carried a cold and profound edge.

She patted the railing and disappeared into the crowd of onlookers.

Oulos found her familiar rhythm again.

Her previous anger and silence were because the enemy was hidden in the city's neon crevices.

And now…

The other players at the table revealed their identities, and she instantly knew how to extort, pull, and negotiate with them.

"What should we do now?"

"Find people, we must ensure the person's alive, or at least get the intel she holds; the Raqi Group won't let her go easily."

Oulos led John through the streets and alleys, stopping before a metal-topped roof.

[Shop—Raven International Distribution Center]

The dock was covered by an endless roof, open on all sides for equipment access, with containers and palletized goods placed in partitioned areas, countless metal shelves.

This distribution center mainly focused on cold chain transport.

The ground was sprinkled with puddles.

Damp, with a fishy smell.

Palmer was a former industrial port, abandoned by urban planning once the official port opened.

But its logistics functions weren't entirely discarded.

Some small-item shipments and intercity cold chain transport are handled here, so aside from those notorious illegal activities, the port trade is Palmer's legitimate economic source.

It's backed by an international shipping company.

With corporate operations behind the scenes, it could establish its footing and survive in Eden City.

But of course.

Such a place is undoubtedly profitable and inevitably occupied by some force, and correspondingly, there would be one or two recognizable intermediaries.

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