Returning to the Mysterious Era

Half an hour later, Shulan drove Cassius home. It was still a model from the black cloud series but with a much more luxurious interior. In terms of comfort, it was far superior to the previous black cloud sedan.

When they arrived back at Cassius's standalone house, Shulan parked in the courtyard, and then drove away in the lower-end black cloud sedan, possibly on White Bird's orders.

From noon onward, without stopping, Cassius practiced the Entry-Level Heart Eye Secret Technique and Lion's Roar Breathing Technique. He was under no illusion that the Ace of Spades’ plan would go off without a hitch the next day; Duststorm still had the Dead Blood behind them. Even with his current strength, Cassius still feared these dark creatures.

The difference between the true Dead Blood and the elite members of the Duststorms using Power Explosive Technique was vast. Cassius had only been using his golden finger for just over a month, while, in comparison, he had spent several years in the time-travel era, gaining various fortuitous encounters. Each time he returned to reality, he saw a surge in power. This imbalance led to Cassius's considerable dominance in the real world where he often crushed any enemies he met.

It was akin to a player leveling up by fighting monsters that popped up in a novice village, where the monsters were slightly stronger or equal to the player. But this player had a cheat, allowing them to jump into another game to level up. Upon returning, they would level up multiple times. In this situation, how could the player not overpower the novice village?

But the situation had now somewhat changed.

Cassius needed to step out of his comfort zone and novice village and start taking a more proactive approach in understanding those mysterious and powerful Dead Blood. Because the next time he traveled back in time, it would be the third stage of the Wind Elephant Tusk Pendant, where Li Wei sought vengeance against the Dead Blood. He needed to prepare himself and gather information on them.

In the evening, Cassius resumed training the hardening Qigong. Training came in the form of two iron rods resembling spiked clubs wielded by the magician and catwoman, who were assisted by the newcomer Shockwave. Shockwave used his psychic abilities to imbue the iron rods with a vibrating force. Every strike they landed on Cassius had the Shockwave effect.

The effect ended up being quite good. The force was three times stronger than had they not used it, and he was able to train his skin and membranes more evenly.

After a hardening Qigong training session, the magician's psychic energy was nearly depleted. This was also a method to train one's psychic abilities, although it was so gruelling that few people would want to do it. However, Cassius was now forcing the two to do just that. They'll thank him later.

During dinner, Cassius suggested that the magician try using metal wires as weapons. It would suit someone like Bass, who was adept at precision and had a quick mind. The sharpness of sufficiently thin and durable special alloy wires could rival that of a blade. They were also extremely light; several meters of wire might not weigh more than a dart. One could wrap dozens of wires around their body before a fight; it would be easy to carry and highly concealable.

Compared to other projectiles that could only be thrown, the wires had much broader applications. These included, but were not limited to, strangling and penetrating, setting traps, dividing battlefields, blocking routes, and even offering self-protection by wrapping it around oneself. One could even coat the wires with poison or add barbs.

This, of course, was dependent on the user. If used well, they could give some serious trouble to an enemy. If used poorly, they would be completely ineffective. Cassius was curious if his conjecture about the magician being a good fit would be correct.

Cassius's words gave the magician something to think about. Shockwave was also inspired, and also wanted to try using metal wires; his vibrating psychic energy could make the wires tremble rapidly like cutting lines, potentially severing limbs in an instant. After dinner, the magician and Shockwave quietly talked among themselves.

The next day, Cassius went to the old man's antique shop again.

As expected, Yun was in the shop, and he was alone. The old man had gone out for something, and the little girl was attending school at the nearby elementary.

The two chatted for a while, both revealing some information that had not been disclosed the night before, seemingly wanting to gain each other's trust.

Cassius mentioned that he was part of an organization and wanted to establish some connections and channels with Yun. Since he had retained some of the treasures and antiques he found during his explorations, Cassius subtly suggested that, instead of selling the others on the black market as he was wont to do, Yun could sell them directly to the Ace of Spades.

Seeing that Yun did not immediately refuse, Cassius took the opportunity to express his interest in seeing some of the antiques Yun had collected from various places. However, this idea did not come to fruition.

Yun's antiques were with his friends in various locations. Half of them were stored while the other half were gifted. It would be quite difficult for Cassius to see them now as they weren't exactly that friendly yet, they were just somewhat familiar. So, after some conversation, Cassius left empty-handed.

Not long after Cassius left, Yun also left the antique shop and went to a nearby phone booth, where he dialed a friend's number. Soon, a pleasant female voice emitted out from the other end of the line.

"Yun, I was just about to call you. I think you might be in trouble."

"What's going on?" Yun furrowed his brows. He had called because he wanted to inquire about the sale of antiques on the black market. He was weighing whether to cooperate with Cassius.

"Someone's been tailing you since you were in the United States of Yana on the Southern Reef Continent. They followed you all the way to the Hongli Federation on the Northern Reef Continent. There have been traces of these people in several countries along the way, and they even tracked the ocean liner you were on. The timeline seems to match up to just over a month ago. And now, they’ve appeared in the Hongli Federation." The female voice on the other end sounded grave.

Could it be Cassius?

Yun immediately shook his head, dissuading this notion. The timeline did not match at all. A month ago, he had been in the United States of Yana; he hadn’t even met Cassius yet. Besides, that one-month point coincided exactly with the end of his last exploration. Yun had had a fantastic and perilous experience in an ancient, abandoned temple in the Yana Forest of the United States of Yana—one of his top three most dangerous adventures. There, he had acquired some items, the Night Bug being one of them…

A few minutes later, Yun hung up the phone. His expression was dark as he walked toward the antique shop.

***

"Shockwave, your injury hasn't healed yet. Stay here with Haisha to guard the place, and don't let any Shadow Demons escape. Bass will come with me this time."

At the entrance of his residence, Cassius instructed his two subordinates. Soon, a black sedan slowly pulled away and onto the road.

It was July 20, today. Cassius met up with Shulan and Sonia at the Baichuan City train station where they had been waiting. Including Violet and Bass, there were five of them in total, and they all boarded the train bound for Black Sand City.

They arrived at Black Sand City the next day. When they exited the train station, they spotted around four sleek black cars parked by the roadside. The driver's side window of the lead car rolled down, revealing a hand wearing a white glove resting on the window. The back of the hand bore a red heart "J" emblem.

White Bird turned to look over, a cigar in his mouth. "Want one?"

"No thanks, I don't really smoke."

Cassius promptly opened the back door and got in. Bass and the others quickly slipped into the other cars. As soon as everyone was in, the convoy of four cars began to move, gradually picking up speed on the city's main road. The streetlights passed by one by one.

"Here."

Sitting in the front passenger seat, White Bird handed over a black object. Cassius took a closer look and immediately asked, "Why are you giving me a gun?"

"The organization has uniformly equipped the assassination department's assassins. This one is yours. Take it; better to have it and not need it." White Bird pinched the cigar in his mouth with two fingers.

"Alright." Cassius reached out and took it. It was heavy, probably around two kilograms. Completely black, the gun barrel was quite long.

"Do you know how to use it?" White Bird asked.

"I do," Cassius replied. He had used guns before in the time-travel era.

"The Nikov pistol, weighs 1.75 kilograms, uses an 18-round magazine, and is capable of single or burst fire. It packs quite a punch," White Bird gave a brief introduction and then stopped talking.

He knew Cassius didn't place much importance on firearms; he was a master of close-quarters combat. Still, it was quite peculiar that the new top executive of the assassination department was someone who excelled in frontal combat. Would he charge directly at the target, in the midst of flying bullets, and kill them? This hardly fit the traditional image of an assassin.

The convoy quickly left the main roads of the city and arrived in a sparsely populated suburban area. The Ace of Spades branch was located in a remote manor in the suburbs, mainly to facilitate activities that were best kept out of the public eye.

Cassius sat in the back seat and rolled down the window to take in the scenery outside. It was early morning, with a faint mist lingering in the air. Grayish-white roads were flanked by weeds and trees, their leaves glistening with dew, while a cool breeze occasionally brushed past.

"What's wrong? Don't like the smell of smoke?" White Bird asked from the front passenger seat. "I can put it out if you don’t like it."

"No." Cassius shook his head.

Then, bang!

Cassius's newly acquired Nikov pistol had just been fired.

White Bird’s head whipped around. "Did it discharge by accident?!"

Cassius, sitting in the back seat, remained unfazed. He was holding the gun and pointing it outside the window toward a specific spot, seemingly behind a large tree.

"We're being followed. There are four more around us."

"What? Damn it!" White Bird cursed under his breath and immediately ducked down.

Not a moment too soon. A series of gunshots echoed in the air as bullets fired in retaliation.

Sparks flew as bullets from both sides of the woods hit the car body. One of the assassins from the Ace of Spades was caught off guard and got hit, their blood splattering everywhere.

"Damn it! Everyone, get out of the car and fight back!" White Bird shouted as he pushed open the side door and rolled out of the car. As soon as he steadied himself, he rolled again. Two bullets hit the spot where White Bird had just been standing, sending gravel flying.

Bang!

White Bird swiftly dodged and returned fire. He had pinpointed where one of the shooters was. Smoke wafted from the black gun barrel as a high-speed bullet shot right at the burly man next to the tree trunk. His aim was exceptionally precise, hitting the burly man right in the center of his forehead.

The man didn’t even have time to make a sound before he fell to the ground without suspense.

The other assassins from the Ace of Spades reacted quickly. Eight to nine people got out of the cars, while Shulan and Bass dashed into the woods on either side. Several gunshots rang out in quick succession, and after about a minute, the battle was over.

Shulan dragged a corpse out. Meanwhile, Magician Bass managed to capture one of the assassins alive. Another one had been wounded by concentrated fire from the other members of the Ace of Spades and was groaning in pain.

"Wind Elephant, your subordinate is no ordinary person, huh?"

White Bird retracted the burning gun barrel, glancing at the magician walking over. In comparison, it was clear that the magician's ability to capture enemies alive was more impressive than Shulan's.

"He has some skills," Cassius replied modestly.

Soon, the magician escorted a lean young man over. White Bird immediately noticed the hourglass emblem on the man's hand—an assassin from Duststorm. However, there was no number on him, so he was clearly just a low-level grunt.

White Bird's expression darkened. His suspicions were confirmed: Duststorm had learned of the Ace of Spades' plans in advance and had been monitoring their movements. Unfortunately, the Ace of Spades' actions had been exposed.

How unbelievably troublesome!

White Bird waved his hand. "Take them back for questioning."

Members of the Ace of Spades swiftly cleaned up the scene of the gunfight. The convoy arrived at the Black Vine Manor half an hour later. It looked somewhat eerie and old, with at least several decades of history as evidenced by the mottled black walls and the dense network of vines climbing up the building's surface. Everything else was in good order. The road, streetlights, and other facilities were quite well-maintained.

As soon as the convoy stopped in the clearing, White Bird received more bad news. They had lost contact with members of the intelligence department, specifically those tasked with gathering information from the Mensa Village. All five of them had gone silent as if they had vanished into thin air.

The assassination department members who discovered the situation reported no signs of a struggle and were unclear about what had happened. The five had disappeared last night, with all contact lost by the next morning.

"Damn it, maybe someone really did leak intel."

White Bird’s expression was extremely grim. The assassination department, part of the personnel from the other three departments, and only one representative from the antiques department had arrived in Black Sand City. The other two department heads were still on their way.

With an incomplete set-up, it was much more difficult to make any early moves.

He glanced at the captured Duststorm gunman who had been brought down from the car, then took off his gloves and stuffed them into his pocket.

"Take him to the interrogation room. I'll question him myself."

Immediately, a group of people headed toward the manor while Cassius had a fairly tasty breakfast in the dining room, dining alongside Purple, the second-in-command of the antiques department, who was standing in for her father's position.

The two didn’t say much. Cassius was reserved with strangers, and although Purple was quite interested in Cassius judging by her gaze frequently drifting toward him, as a young girl, she restrained herself and didn’t speak up.

Around 9 a.m., Cassius paused in his pummeling of a sandbag in the training room.

The door creaked open. White Bird, wearing a black-brimmed hat, walked in with a peculiar expression on his face.

"We have some good news. Duststorm probably hasn't caught onto our plan yet. These gunmen were just tracking Ace of Spades members, much like how Duststorm has been constantly harassing our antique transportation routes. So it was a false alarm." He added, "We drugged him into telling the truth."

Cassius wiped his sweat with a towel around his neck and asked, "And the bad news?"

White Bird shook his head. "Those members of the intelligence department did indeed disappear, but we don’t know why. Duststorm most likely discovered them." His voice was grim. "Red Fang wants to check on the situation to decide whether we should act against Duststorm in advance."

"Mensa Village, right?" Cassius asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, I'm coming too." Cassius tossed the towel back, hanging it on a pole.