Earl Joe was dead, and Bourdillon Entertainment was oblivious to it partly because of the decision to cut camera access to VVIP rooms to give the nobles privacy, and partly because of Daren’s sabotage in the surveillance chamber.

This gave the team breathing space to boldly stay behind with the Earl’s dead body even after assassinating such a high-profile figure to facilitate the greatest heist of the last 100 years!

This was the final step of Operation Killing Joe.

And while it happened...

DING!

With his part done and with his only job now to wait till Talia and Tyla were done completing the digital heist, with Umar watching the door and the corridor outside, Leon finally focused on the thread of system notifications.

~----~

[Congratulations! You have killed a D Rank NetRunner of the Mindbreaker Specialization!]

[Congratulations! You have killed a high noble of Omnicore Society, an Earl!]

[Congratulations! You have killed a famous multi-billionaire!]

...

’Billionaire?’ Leon paused at that as he raised his eyebrows. ’I’m not surprised,’ he thought. ’Joe’s illegal money should be far more than the legal one in his legal bank accounts’.

The thread of notifications continued.

...

[Congratulations! You have killed the Kingpin of a major underground slave trafficking Empire!]

[Congratulations! You have killed the CEO of Big Joe Enterprises!]

[You have achieved the Title: Warmachine!]

[You have unlocked the Passive Ability: Warmachine!] 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

>Warmachine: Your ADE density and potency has increased by 30%.

[You have gained +957 Ascended Essence!]

[You have gained +3000 Data Points!]

...

[Ascended Counter: 2,237/4000]

...

Leon haven’t tested it yet, but he could instinctively feel the change in the depths of his ADE and how it transformed him.

But he didn’t pay attention to it.

"...!" His eyes bulged like saucers as he stared at the last few lines.

’900+ Ascended Essence???’

That was almost as much as what he’s gathered in total so far before now since becoming a D Rank Ascended!

Yet, the thread of system notifications didn’t stop yet.

...

[Congratulations! You have completed ChronoSystem Mission: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing!]

[Mission Summary:]

*You took on the daring mission of infiltrating Omnicore territory alongside your team.

*You and your team concocted an extremely intricate plan to assassinate a high-profile noble of Omnicore Society and it worked.

*For days, you and your team evaded the detection of the Omnicore Eye, a feat that not many in the world can boast of.

*You plotted, you planned, you executed, and you succeeded in outsmarting one of the most shrewd and ruthless self-made billionaires in Omnicore territory.

*You and your team succeeded in infiltrating and unearthing the deep connections of Earl Joe’s trafficking Empire.

*You killed Earl Joe; you have unmasked the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.

...

[Mission Completion Rating: S+]

[You have qualified for bonus rewards!]

[You have been rewarded with the bonus rewards: +5000 Data Points, +1 Mechanist Knowledge Scroll on Adaptive Robotics Engineering, and +500 Ascended Essence.]

[Ascended Counter: 2737/4000]

...

[You have received your main reward: Cannon Master Class Exclusive Blueprint- X-99 "Solaris" Photonic Disintegrator!]

~----~

"..."

Leon’s breath hitched as he stared at the last line in the thread of system notifications that were floating in front of his eyes.

He froze. ’A-a Class Exclusive Blueprint???’

If not because he was deep within enemy territory and the fact that they were still in danger, Leon would have shamelessly screamed and jumped for joy.

Since becoming a D Rank Mechanist, especially after testing just how strong he was in battle, one of his greatest goals had been finding a way to get all the other Class Exclusive Blueprints of the 2 other Mechanist Class Specializations.

After so long of searching and finding, he finally found 1!

And not just anyone.

Though Leon didn’t have the time to look at the blueprint in detail yet, he still remembered the vague details of each Class Exclusive Blueprint due to his special nature in the ethereal world of the Trial.

From what he remembered, the X-99 "Solaris" Photonic Disintegrator is an Energy Cannon. And judging from the description of the Cannon Master Class Specialization, Leon had a hunch that he just got the blueprint to his strongest offensive D Rank weapon ever!

He was thrilled but as if that was not enough, the ChronoSystem suddenly lit up with a brand new notification.

DING!

~----~

[Data Points Market Reset!]

[New Goods now available:]

...

Leon was surprised. ’Is this a coincidence?’

He focused on the new goods that were being displayed on the Data Points Market, and the very first good that he saw made him freeze.

...

[Available Goods:]

>Cannon Master Class Exclusive Blueprint: Titan-Class 001 Siege Core<

[Blueprint Rank: D]

[Price: 12,000 DP]

...

"..."

"..."

"....."

Leon didn’t know for how long he spaced out but he simply stood, staring numbly into space with an incredulous look on his face.

’W-w-what is this?’ He felt like he was going insane.

For what felt like forever since becoming a D Rank Mechanist, he’d been searching for a way to get a single additional Class Exclusive Blueprint to his Class Specialization’s base 3, and suddenly he was getting 2 at once?!

’Is this the goddess of luck smiling at me???’

’Is this because I just rid the world of an evil man like Joe?!’

Leon wanted to cackle in laughter like a maniac, he wanted to dance without shame, heck he wanted to fight someone!

He wanted to throw hands!

The reason why he was freaking out in his head was not just because he found a new Class Exclusive Blueprint, but it was because of the Class Exclusive Blueprint that he found.

Unlike the X-99 "Solaris" Photonic Disintegrator that still felt a bit vague in his head, the Titan-Class 001 Siege Core is something that Leon would never forget, not even in his dreams.

This is because this is the core blueprint of the Cannon Master Class Specialization, the strongest and most pivotal blueprint to the very essence of the offense-focused Class Specialization!

’Holy freaking f*ck!’

On any other day, Leon would have panicked simply by seeing the ridiculous figure that was displayed alongside the Class Exclusive Blueprint. Afterall, there was a time limit to how long available goods stayed at a time.

But not today.

This is because with the Data Points that he just gained, he now had over 18,000 DP, meaning he was more than buoyant enough to purchase it.

Leon didn’t hesitate.

He made his decision instantly, and then...

DING!

~----~

[12,000 DP has been deducted!]

[Congratulations! You have purchased the Cannon Master D Rank Class Exclusive Blueprint: Titan-Class 001 Siege Core!]

...

[Total Number of Blueprints: 42]

~----~

Leon had been so engrossed in the thread of ChronoSystem notifications that he lost track of time and his surroundings completely.

Only when a loud "BEEP" sound suddenly echoed did he snap out of it.

BEEP!

His head snapped towards Daren who was holding the box with the Earl’s heart, and then he saw a virtual notification pop up beside him.

["Account Block Initiated!"]

["Connection Lost..."]

["Trying to reconnect... please wait..."]

["Reconnection Unsuccessful!"]

Bzzz!

A virtual hologram showing Talia and Tyla’s face materialized just beside Daren; Talia looked at them and said.

"It’s him, Dante".

Leon’s face immediately turned grim.

She explained. "He’s actually a NetRunner too, E Rank. He noticed us hacking and immediately deployed measures to stop us. And by pooling the entire resources of Joe’s Empire at his disposal, he’s managed to do it".

Leon’s eyes immediately turned sharp. "That means he’ll be on us soon?" He asked, his black eyes gleaming with ruthless intensity.

"Yes". Talia nodded.

Leon immediately gestured at Daren to drop the box with the Earl’s heart even as he continued staring at Talia. "How much did we get?"

Tyla smirked. "Guess".

Leon stared at both of them flatly.

Then Talia grinned and said. "We got 837 million Neo Credits!"

"..."