Café inside Kest Airport

"The target hasn’t arrived yet?" The man with a rugged beard and a fierce look gazed at the airport exit ahead, taking a sip of coffee.

"The target is very cautious," a sharp-cheeked, harsh-looking figure beside him rasped, "He bought over a dozen tickets to different cities, using his underlings’ identities to buy more tickets. This ticket was bought by forging his subordinate’s identity, and he bribed connections to board the plane as his underling."

"Quite the trickster," the bearded man sneered, "But still, his whereabouts are under watch from above."

"Just a guy thinking too highly of himself, I heard it was his trusted underling who sold him out for a good price," the sharp man shook his head, "He made a huge deal, kept ninety percent of the money for himself, and gave ten percent to split among all his underlings; he still thinks his underlings are trustworthy."

"This guy is treating people like idiots," the bearded man shook his head, "His greed knows no bounds, and selling him is just what they should do."

"I’m not sure of the reason anyway, it’s said to be that way," the sharp man shook his head, "If it wasn’t for the chaos in Ains, it’d be inconvenient to eliminate him, otherwise, he wouldn’t even get out of Ains."

"If it weren’t for the chaos in Ains, we wouldn’t be doing this job." The bearded man chuckled sipping his coffee, "Did they say how much money the target is carrying?"

"They didn’t say," the sharp man shook his head, taking the coffee before him, "But they must have an idea; the guy’s pay for this operation is reportedly in the millions, most of which he’s hoarded."

He glanced at the bearded man, sipping coffee, "With such a large sum, a discrepancy of tens of thousands should be no problem. If he ’spends’ more, losing hundreds of thousands is quite normal."

At this point, the two exchanged a smile.

"Does he really think taking money from the Intelligence Agency is that easy." The bearded man took a sip of coffee, sneering.

"You can’t expect these lifelong sewer-dwellers to understand the upper-class rules." The sharp man chuckled lowly, his gaze falling on the airport exit ahead, quickly standing up, "The target has arrived."

The bearded man also stood, looking toward the direction of the airport exit.

Amidst the crowd rushing out of the airport, a man in casual wear, carrying a handbag, wearing a black baseball cap and large frame sunglasses, was blending in with the crowd, swiftly heading outside the airport.

The two in the café watched the sunglasses man without hesitation, slowly stood up, and followed.

In the corner of the café, an elderly man with white curly hair put down his coffee and watched the direction they left.

The elderly bowed his head, glanced at his chest.

The scar that ran through his chest had completely faded, leaving only slightly wrinkled skin.

The damage directly caused by the Angel Tier power had finally been fully repaired.

Seems like the system’s free ’treatment’ at the start is limited.

Gathering his thoughts, He Ao stood slowly, took out a ten federal coin bill from his pocket, pressed it under the coffee, and walked out of the café.

——

Airport car rental area

"Hello," the man with the baseball cap approached the counter, looking at the pretty blonde receptionist, raising his bracelet, "I’d like to rent a car, a regular commuter one will do."

"Alright, please wait a moment." The receptionist lowered her head, inputting something on the computer before her, quickly saying, "We have a Vidal brand commuter car available, daily rental is 50 federal coins, if you rent for seven days, you can enjoy a 20% discount, which would be..."

She looked up at the baseball cap man, "Forty federal coins a day, the price does not include insurance, requiring an additional payment of at least 12 federal coins per day for insurance. Should I place an order for you?"

"Damn, 52 federal coins a day, your prices are almost catching up with Ains, why not just rob," the baseball cap man lowered his head, contemplating for a moment, "Do you have ’Nord’ luxury cars, how much per day?"

"Nord luxury cars are currently the most popular high-end luxury cars in the market, we certainly have them," the receptionist’s eyes lit up, quickly checking the computer, rapidly said, "We have the latest Nord S900, currently on promotion, renting at 280 federal coins a day, including insurance,"

She looked at the baseball cap man, smiling, "It’s quite a bargain, how many days would you like to rent?"

Hearing this price, the baseball cap man paused slightly, seemingly intrigued but quickly shook his head, "Give me a Vidal car, rent it for seven days first."

The receptionist’s gaze instantly fell, the smile on her face quickly vanished, she quickly operated the computer, casually said, "Alright."

"Miss, I need a Nord luxury car," at this moment, a hand placed onto the counter, "Quick, I’m in a hurry."

"Alright, sir, I’ll get it for you immediately," the receptionist eagerly lifted her head, starting to operate quickly, "How many days do you wish to rent?"

"I came first." The baseball cap man looked at the receptionist, coldly saying, "I’m in a hurry, too."

"I know you’re in a hurry, sir, but please wait a moment," the receptionist didn’t even glance over, looking at the sharp man who had reached the counter, took out a scanner, smiling, "Sir, you can scan your bracelet, log into your member account, and enjoy member benefits."

"I don’t have a member account," the sharp man softly said, "Can I register?"

"Of course!" The receptionist’s eyes lit up again, she quickly operated a bit, handed over the scanner, "You can directly scan the chip, input your email to begin registration."

"Hey friend, I came first." The baseball cap man’s face grew cold, turning to the sharp man.

"Friend, don’t rush." The sharp man waved his hand, but his gaze locked onto the blonde receptionist, "I’ll be finished in a moment, there’s plenty of cheap cars, it won’t run out."

"You!" The baseball cap man’s face turned cold, reaching toward his chest.

Just then, he lowered his head, saw the sharp man’s bulging clothes, seemingly containing a gun inside.

In that instant, he suddenly realized something, turned around, and immediately dashed out of the store.

"Ah, you’re quite smart." The sharp man turned around, looking at the baseball cap man.

Meanwhile, the blonde receptionist had raised the scanner in her hand, "Sir—"

A ray of light suddenly swept in front of her, then she felt a great force hit her neck, her body stiffened, instantly losing consciousness, falling backward.

By then, the baseball cap man had already reached the door.

The next instant, a ray of light shone at the rental shop’s entrance, forming an invisible barrier, blocking the baseball cap man’s way.

The baseball cap man immediately turned around, crashing into the wall nearby.

At that moment, another ray of light flared up, covering the wall.

A man with a full beard emerged from the void, quietly gazing at the baseball cap man, smiling, "No more running, friend."

"You’re Intelligence Agency operatives?" The baseball cap man lowered his head, observing the two approaching, rasping.

"Who we are doesn’t matter," the sharp man also approached from behind, smiling as he gazed at the baseball cap man, "What matters is whose the money in your pocket rightfully belongs to."

The baseball cap man’s face darkened, "Who tipped off my whereabouts? Which bastard sold me out? These ungrateful idiots, I’m so good to them!"

With that, he threw the handbag aside, then leaped forward toward the blonde receptionist.

The sharp man and the bearded man simultaneously lunged toward the handbag.

Just then, the baseball cap man pulled out a remote from his pocket.

The sharp man and the bearded man paused in unison.

Boom—

The violent explosion erupted in this narrow shop, igniting a surging blaze.

The nearest thin man and the bearded man were simultaneously engulfed by the flames.

At this time, the man with the baseball cap had already rushed to the wall at the back and rammed it open, breaking a large hole.

His body rolled onto the smooth ground.

The clothes on his back had already been torn by the scorching flames, revealing a charred back.

But he quickly got up, fished out a thumb-sized hardware wallet from his pocket.

Seeing the hardware wallet unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, struggled to climb up, glanced back at the shop swallowed by flames, and sneered, "Two fools, trying to catch me?"

After speaking, he stuffed the hardware wallet back into his pocket and slowly walked forward.

Just then, he heard some slight noises behind him.

Two figures, wrapped in flames, emerged from the burning fire behind him.

"Can’t even die from this explosion? Two C-levels? So willing to catch me?" The man with the baseball cap suddenly paused, then ran forward without hesitation.

At this moment, the two figures enveloped in flames had already charged over, bringing forth the scorching fire.

One of the figures vanished in an instant of emerging.

The man with the baseball cap hadn’t run far before he felt an impediment to his body; he immediately raised his hand to shield himself.

A sharp blade emerged from the void.

As a result, his movements briefly stalled.

The next moment, a great force suddenly rushed out from behind, pressing down from above onto his back.

His body jolted, kneeling forward with a thud, shattering the hard floor beneath his knees.

As he attempted to struggle, a wave of intense panic surged in his heart, leaving him speechless.

At this point, the tremendous force behind him pressed down fiercely, pinning his body to the ground.

The figure in front of him revealed itself at that moment, producing a sharp blade aiming for his neck.

"Cough—"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, bellowing, "You two fools, don’t you realize something’s not right?"

His words seemed to momentarily confuse the two blackened figures.

The thin figure raised its head and looked around at the crowd.

The violent explosion, the collapsing building, the raging flames, even their brief and fierce skirmish at this bustling airport, seemed to draw no attention from the people passing by.

Yet these people instinctively navigated around the flames and their battlefield, as if some invisible force was steering their souls around this blank space, like naturally avoiding a wall.

"What is this?" The thin man gazed at the scene, bewildered.

"You thought I was the prey?" The baseball cap man mocked from the ground, "Looks like you are the prey!"

Bam—

At that instant, a soft sound came from their side, the sound of a figure landing on the ground.

It was a blonde woman laid on the ground, the receptionist who had just fainted.

Her clothes were clean, as if the recent flames hadn’t touched her at all.

"How could this be?" The first to express surprise was the man with the baseball cap.

He distinctly remembered that as he made his escape, the receptionist was still fainted there, the explosion’s glow nearly consuming her silhouette.

How could she be untouched by the flames like this?

Meanwhile, the thin man and the bearded man had turned their attention to the side of the receptionist.

The figure that had just carried the receptionist became apparent under their gaze.

It was an elderly man with white curls and brown-gold eyes.

The Elderly stood beside them, so close, yet it was as if they were noticing him for the first time.

Upon seeing the Elderly, the bearded man appeared puzzled, but the thin man’s gaze froze.

He blurted, "Hawke?"

"Seems like you do know me," He Ao quietly gazed at the thin man, smiling, "I can give you a chance, help me with one thing, and you can leave."

The thin man hesitated slightly upon hearing this.

At that moment, the bearded man also realized something, turning to face the thin man, "Is he really Hawke?"

"What do you want us to do?" the thin man asked in a low voice.

"Just make public what you know," He Ao calmly moved forward, speaking slowly.

But as soon as he finished speaking, both the thin man and the bearded man froze in their expressions.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The bearded man stepped forward, charging at He Ao, "Others might not know your situation, but we know it well. Thinking you can scare me with tricks?"

His body erupted with terrifying force, invisible fear spreading around.

His Talent Sequence is ’warrior’, one of the strongest combat C-level Talent Sequences; even if facing B-level, he wasn’t without the power to fight, not to mention a B-level who almost died from severe injuries last night.

At that moment, He Ao raised his hand.

The bearded man collided accurately with He Ao’s palm; fierce flames spread from that hand, enveloping the bearded man’s body.

Along with the dissipating flames, a wisp of smoke descended, leaving a bone ring exuding a faint red glow.

He Ao slowly squatted down, picked up the bone ring, and tucked it into his pocket.

The cold atmosphere was like Hell’s call, echoing in the silent space.

The thin man and the man with the baseball cap quieted simultaneously.

The baseball cap man had just intended to use the eerie atmosphere to frighten his pursuers, hoping to find an opportunity to flee.

But now, he suddenly realized that something truly terrifying had appeared.