"Everyone, I now have a mission announcement."

Zhan Ning stood up and surveyed the surroundings.

As the Deputy Commander of the Sun Never Sets Knight Order, he commanded considerable respect among the knights.

Upon hearing him speak, everyone involuntarily put down their milk and bread.

"Yesterday, the maniacs from the Mechanical Sect, in alliance with the Anti-Xia Alliance, dropped a quantum bomb in a ceasefire zone recognized by the Five Great Forces."

"Their goal was to assassinate me and to destroy the Nightingale Inn and the surrounding streets."

"This is a targeted, well-planned conspiracy."

Some of the knights present had already heard about this through other channels, while others were still unaware.

Upon hearing Zhan Ning's words, a knight with a Tier Six spiritual power fluctuation stood up in rage, slamming his fists onto the dining table and smashing it to pieces.

"Those bastards! Damn them, we must damn them!" he shouted, his neck flushed with anger.

A Tier Six knight, once knighted, would be called a Justice Knight, and was a backbone knight of the Sun Never Sets Knight Order.

Han Zhan roughly estimated that there were no more than five such backbone knights present, countable on one hand.

"Calm, calm down, Di Long. This is not the place for you to vent your anger, restrain your desires!" Zhan Ning's mouth twitched slightly upon seeing who stood up.

His attention had been on the milk earlier, and he hadn't noticed Di Long was present.

A companion beside Di Long quickly stood up, pulling the furious Di Long back into his seat.

"Di Long is not entirely wrong, this mission is indeed a retaliatory act!"

"I will select three people to join me in retaliating against the Mechanical Sect, to show them that the Sun Never Sets Knight Order is not to be trifled with!"

Zhan Ning's gaze swept over the crowd.

This feeling was like a teacher picking students to answer questions in class.

Usually, those who muddled through were quick to shrink their heads when called upon.

Han Zhan lowered his voice to ask Andrew, who quickly ducked his head across from him, "Why aren't you eager to participate? Didn't you say there would be gold coin allowances for missions?"

"Shut up," Andrew replied in a low voice, "That's the Mechanical Sect, a group of lunatics who resort to self-destruction at the drop of a hat, why provoke them!"

The Mechanical Sect seemed quite daunting, enough to curb even Andrew's greed temporarily.

The restaurant fell completely silent, with no response, making Zhan Ning's expression a bit grim.

"Where is your courage? Your faith? Your knight's honor?" Zhan Ning scolded, exasperated by their lack of spirit.

Enough with the scolding, if there truly was honor and faith, who would be in the City of Extreme Evil? Han Zhan silently mocked in his heart. He knew it was time for him to step up.

As a newly recruited backbone knight, this was Han Zhan's first best chance to perform, a chance to earn trust and goodwill.

With this in mind, Han Zhan stood up under Zhan Ning's approving gaze and Andrew's astonished look.

"I'll go!" he said loudly.

Zhan Ning's mood improved significantly seeing Han Zhan stand up first.

"Great, who else?"

"I'll go too!" Di Long, who was just named, also stood up, shaking off his companions who tried to hold him back.

Zhan Ning nodded and looked around, seeing few others he could rely on, his gaze fell near Han Zhan.

"Andrew, you go with them."

Andrew's face turned green when Zhan Ning called his name.

He never imagined, out of the thirty or so knights present, he would be picked!

I should never have come for this breakfast!

"Lord Zhan Ning, I'm just a Tier Five knight, isn't it inappropriate?" Andrew tried to struggle.

"What's inappropriate? With two Tier Six backbone knights leading, plus you, a Tier Five Dawn Knight, it's more than enough. We're not heading to the Mechanical Sect's base, after all."

Once Zhan Ning finalized the personnel, the restaurant buzzed with life once more.

The knights not selected were glad for their close call, happily resuming their breakfast.

Han Zhan, Zhan Ning, Di Long, and Andrew sat together at a table.

"Where is our destination this time?"

Han Zhan asked this question.

Zhan Ning pulled out a simple map he carried and pointed to a location on it with his finger.

"A mine a hundred kilometers from here. The long-range missile attack last night was launched from there. It's a stronghold the Mechanical Sect uses to extract valuable mining materials, and it falls within a ceasefire zone of the Five Great Forces."

When Zhan Ning mentioned the long-range missile, he spoke with gritted teeth, his tone harsher.

The pain of his bandaged comrade still lingered, and despite the powerful recovery aura of a knight, it would take until tomorrow to heal.

Unable to use his weapon was tormenting for Zhan Ning.

"What's our mission allowance this time?"

Andrew asked this question.

Having already resigned to his fate, he followed his instincts and asked what he cared most about.

"One hundred gold coins each. Additional rewards will be based on task completion."

One hundred gold coins! Andrew's eyes lit up.

This was nearly three times the other dispatch missions, easing him slightly.

"When can we set off? I want to kill them! Kill those Mechanical Sect bastards!"

Without a doubt, only Di Long could say something like this.

Han Zhan thought he might be Huo Lie's twin brother, or perhaps his reincarnation.

Their personalities were quite similar indeed.

"As long as you want, you can leave right now if you wish."

Han Zhan keenly caught a nuanced undertone in Zhan Ning's words.

He said "you."

This "you" clearly did not include himself.

"Aren't you coming with us? Didn't you just say you'd select three people to accompany you in a retaliatory strike against the Mechanical Sect?"

Hearing Han Zhan's question, Di Long and Andrew also looked up, gazing at Zhan Ning.

If Zhan Ning wasn't joining them, then the success of this operation might really be uncertain.

No wonder he tripled the mission allowance in gold coins; so this was it?

Zhan Ning spread his hands, a smile very familiar to Han Zhan spread across his face. "I wasn't lying, was I? In this mission, you handle the first half, and I'll handle the second half. It's a division of labor."

First half? Second half?

Han Zhan's head buzzed as he repeated the name of the mission in his mind.

"We're in charge of... retaliation?"

"You're in charge of..."

Han Zhan: "?"

Andrew: "?"

Di Long: "What are you talking about?"

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