Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 112 - Only a Monster Can Defeat a Monster

Red Fang lay on the ground. He stared up at that grinning face, and felt like he had the breath punched out of him. Just a moment ago, Li Wei had been a domineering force, but an elegant aura had quickly taken its place. If he hadn't just been kicked away, Red Fang might have bought into Li Wei's bright smile and believed it had been a prank!

He hesitated, a bit conflicted. He didn't want to put his hand out.

Cassius leaned slightly forward. "What's wrong? Too embarrassed to take it?" His kind smile never wavered, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

A familiar sense of danger swept through Red Fang's heart again, and he swallowed hard. His right hand shot out, grabbed Cassius's palm and, with a swish, was pulled to his feet.

"How about it, Mr. Red Fang? Surely, my little joke just now didn't scare you, did it?" Cassius lightly patted Red Fang's chest, brushing off the large gray shoe prints with his hand.

"No... haa, no, just a little joke, I get it." Red Fang breathed heavily. That blow from Cassius, on the other hand, was no joke. While it didn't break any bones, it definitely left bruises; his chest still stung faintly. Somehow, it hurt more after Cassius patted him twice.

"I'm glad to hear that. Let's sit down." Cassius released his hand with a faint smile, glancing at the mahogany table beside him.

The two of them made their way over to the long table. Cassius sat on the right side of the table facing the entrance, in Red Fang's original seat, leaving him no choice but to gloomily sit in the high-backed chair prepared for Cassius.

After sitting down, Cassius looked up to exchange glances with White Bird opposite him. The two nodded at each other slightly.

White Bird cleared his throat and said loudly, "The two people outside: come in and carry the twin assassins on the ground to the side room."

"Yes, sir." Two people immediately entered, lifting the two on the ground, and quickly headed back out. Red Fang turned to watch. His mouth opened, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately stayed silent.

The wooden door closed again, and the sunlight streaming through the nearby window lit up the living room. The air carried a faint floral fragrance mixed with the hint of an earthy scent. At the other end of the living room, there were shadows on the floor. As the breeze stirred, the shadows followed the leaves' movement, casting dappled patterns.

"Everyone's here, so let's start the meeting." White Bird tapped the table with his gloved fingers.

"Hmm?" The old gentleman slumped in the head seat made a nasally sound. He opened his eyes drowsily and asked, "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, everyone's here, Sir," White Bird replied.

"Mm." The old man, code-named "Sir," nodded and placed his hands on the table. He wore a pair of white gloves where a Jack of Spades symbol was imprinted on the soft, delicate fabric. He was the assassination department's hidden boss.

Sir truly lived up to his reputation as someone who avoided getting himself involved since he seemed to have slept through the whole commotion caused by Cassius. Cassius certainly was under no illusion that the old Sir had actually been asleep. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Lastly, seated to Cassius's left was Red Fang, the third—Jack of Clubs.

"Alright, then the meeting will now officially begin." As White Bird spoke, he reached into his pocket. He took out a rectangular playing card. He didn't place it on the table, and instead waited for Sir to slowly put down his Jack of Spades card. White Bird then placed his Jack of Hearts down, followed by Red Fang's Jack of Clubs.

Cassius also reached into his chest pocket and took out a paper card, placing it face-up on the table: the Jack of Diamonds.

"This is the first time in a month that we have the assassination department fully assembled. The Jack of Diamonds position has been vacant for over a month. Fortunately, we now have a new member filling it." As White Bird spoke, he turned and said, "Let us welcome the new Jack of Diamonds, Wind Elephant."

White Bird immediately began to clap, followed by Sir who clapped slowly. Red Fang reluctantly moved his hands.

Clap, clap, clap, clap...

A moment later, White Bird tossed a black box to Cassius. Placing it on the table, Cassius opened it to reveal a pile of white gloves nestled on the left, all of which had the Jack of Diamonds logo on the soft fabric. On the right was a metal card with rounded edges, featuring an intricate border design and some indecipherable patterns. It was a gold-and-silver Jack of Diamonds playing card.

"That represents your identity, Wind Elephant," White Bird said.

Cassius shrugged and immediately took out a pair of gloves and put them on. He then closed the box and placed it gently by his leg.

"I've already explained Ace of Spades' operations and some details about the assassination department to you, so let's get to the situation at hand." White Bird shifted his gaze away from Cassius. "What I will be speaking to next mainly concerns Duststorm."

He coughed twice to clear his throat. "First is our plan of retaliation against Duststorm. Everyone has likely experienced it over the past few months. Those Duststorm people are as annoying as hyenas, constantly harassing our Ace of Spades operations. They've even cut off half of the antique department's transport routes!

"Our two leaders are infuriated and feel that Duststorm should pay an equivalent price so they've assigned this task to our assassination department and requested that other departments cooperate with us as we move out. Here is a draft of what we will do."

As White Bird spoke, he handed over three stacks of documents which Cassius accepted. He rifled through them. It was information on Duststorm, complete with images showing the areas in Beiliu County that their forces had either covered or infiltrated, getting several other counties involved as well. The document also listed out Duststorm's military departments, with notes on some key members written out beside them, as well as their antique transport routes, contraband transport routes, weapons transport routes, and various other aspects.

Ace of Spades was truly a seasoned powerhouse. Once they got serious about taking action, it was impossible for Duststorm to keep their secrets secret. As the saying goes, "Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you will emerge out of every battle victorious."

Extensive information was only half the success. Cassius raised his head and glanced at White Bird. "With such detailed intelligence, we should be able to deal some severe damage, maybe even destroy Duststorm, right?"

White Bird shook his head, looking somewhat helpless. "I've told you this before, but the biggest obstacle to the plan's success is Duststorm's bio-engineered experts."

"I don't know where Duststorm got this dark technology. It doesn't matter how much you shoot at them; you can empty out a whole case of bullets into their body and they still won't die!" Red Fang temporarily set aside his grievances to rant about Duststorm. Things hadn't been peaceful for him either, as many of his subordinates had clashed with Duststorm, resulting in significant casualties.

Those present had to attribute the bizarre phenomenon of Duststorm's ability to quickly regenerate powerful limbs to dark technology. At least for now. After all, in the era of rapid technological advancement, no one knew what strange things could come out of it.

Like the super soldier serum in Captain Hongli, a serum injection could turn a short, scrawny man into someone tall, strong, and handsome. Many people—rational adults like scientists and politicians, and not just comic-reading kids—in Cassius's era believed such technology existed in real life.

"Duststorm's rise to power has been nothing but swift in the past few months and in their efforts to recruit and expand, their numbers are now at over a thousand. Although the quality varies, they have scaled up to the level of a large organization. They are extremely active and aggressive in all six eastern counties. More than a dozen organizations and forces have suffered under them.

"But we might be able to use this to our advantage. We don't necessarily have to fight them one-on-one. Instead, we can unite with the other forces to fight against Duststorm. It's not like they have any allies..." White Bird interlaced his fingers, his eyelids drooping slightly.

"It's certainly a possibility. The Cyclops gang in Huaifeng County, the Sea Mountain society in East Sea County, and the Black Sword organization in Shuiyun County all seem to have personal grudges against Duststorm. They could potentially be an ally."

Red Fang pondered for a moment before saying, "But it's hard to say. After all, Duststorm is relatively far from them, and their grievances are minor. They might not necessarily join forces against Duststorm. On the contrary, they might even be delighted to see them drain all of Ace of Spades' strength because they developed so quickly into a major powerhouse. Otherwise, small-to-medium powerhouses like Haishan Society and the rest would have been happy to do Ace of Spades a favor."

"So we're back where we started: Duststorm's bio-engineered humans." White Bird tapped the table lightly, his frustration poorly concealed.

Cassius saw an opening. "I actually have some information on them," he said smoothly.

The three turned their attention to him. "Oh? Tell us more."

"Mercury. It can weaken their regeneration ability." Cassius recounted the information he had extracted from the Shadow Demon.

"Mercury?" White Bird gazed at Cassius, seemingly wanting him to elaborate and provide more information.

"Sorry, that's all I know. I don't have anything more specific. You can send someone to test that theory out first..." Cassius spread his hands. As the newly joined fourth high-ranking member of the assassination organization, he was equal in status with the other three.

Despite how the four high-ranking members might wield different powers, they were identical in terms of status. Only the King and Queen had higher positions than the other twelve high-ranking members. Therefore, if Cassius didn't want to divulge specific information, the other three couldn't force him.

"Alright. Anyway, thank you for your intel, Wind Elephant." White Bird paused slightly. "As you may have noticed, there's another matter. Not only do these documents contain information about Duststorm's power, it also details their antique transport routes, although we've only got a portion of it.

"We've already confirmed one of Duststorm's antique operation warehouse locations which is north of Black Sand City. The intelligence department is still working hard to pinpoint the exact address. Once we have it, our assassination department will likely have to coordinate with them to take down the warehouse and avenge our antiques department."

In recent months, the Ace of Spades' antique transport department had suffered some particularly heavy losses. Many routes had been harassed or cut off by Duststorm, leaving their warehouses empty since they could not replenish their antiques. Business was rumored to have been halved.

If they didn't strike now and put an end to Duststorm's arrogance, Ace of Spades' antique transport department wouldn't be able to recover any time soon.

White Bird's gaze slowly swept over the other three at the table. "Regardless of whatever conflicts we've had in the past, I hope we can work together when it comes time to face Duststorm."

Red Fang hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

"Wind Elephant, we'll probably need you to take down Duststorm's operation warehouse. I'll have Violet notify you immediately once we have the details." White Bird's gaze was serious as he looked over at him.

They had two monsters right now: Duststorm's bio-engineered humans who were virtually impervious to bullets and Cassius who could withstand bullets from a light machine gun with his bare body. Why not just sit back and let a stronger monster defeat a monster?

"I'm counting on you," said White Bird.

"Don't worry. This is nothing." Cassius shook his head, a glint seemingly flashing in his narrowed eyes. "I only have a small request. After we've taken down Duststorm's warehouse, I'd like to pick a few antiques to add to my collection. You know how much I like them."

"If that's all, then there's no problem." White Bird smiled. Cassius was indeed a valuable ally. Cassius also smiled, two rows of neat white teeth reflecting the sunlight. He was always up for helping others out.