[BREAKING NEWS!]

It was already night but it was inevitable, there was no way of completely suppressing news of such magnitude as it spread across the city like a plague.

The fact that the Inspector General of Police of Neo Solace did not hesitate to declare a State of Emergency in the outer ring didn’t help matters either.

The news spread like a plague and the reactions were different and myriad.

...

At the inner ring of the city, at the top floor of an extremely luxurious hotel, with naked women lying around his bed, exhausted, Kai Curry received the news and his eyes immediately widened in shock.

Unlike regular citizens of the Federation City, as the eldest son of the victim, he got even more details; details like images and videos of the scene as the police stormed the building and images of his father’s corpse.

He saw the gruesome mutilated corpse of his father and he felt a chill crawl down his spine.

Suddenly, he didn’t feel safe in this hotel room anymore!

"Sh*t!"

Seeing his father’s extremely beautiful mistress, and seeing his penis still standing even after death, on one hand he felt second-hand embarrassment.

But on the other hand, he thought. ’What a man’.

Despite his vain thoughts though, the image of his father who once seemed endlessly valiant and impossible to kill in a pool of his own blood sobered him up and made him remember a memory with his father.

Then, he was still a teenager and his father told him: ’Kai, the greatest pleasure of Geneforms is the penis...’

’And guess what? The greatest weakness of Geneforms is also the penis’.

’The penis...’ He thought.

And then he looked at the 3 different women that were lying on his bed, he looked down at his own penis and then he shuddered.

When he finally gathered his courage, he stood up and the first thing he did was not to make calls to make sure that his father’s assassins were brought to justice. That was not what his father taught him.

Instead, he made calls to seize what was his.

His father taught him to seize and take advantage of opportunities, his father taught him to strike while the iron was hot.

And right now, the entire wealth and heritage of his father was up for grabs!

Afterall, with his father dead without writing a will for his wealth, it was up for grabs now and as the eldest son, he would have the leverage to inherit a lot of things and properties if he succeeded.

He didn’t hesitate.

Ring... Ring...

That night, the entire Joe household was plunged into a struggle for the inheritance of their father.

It was not a peaceful struggle either...

It was a bloody one!

...

.....

27th August, Year 714 A.G.

That was the day that after years of hiding away from history, his no. 1 archenemy finally made his reappearance to society.

General Sylvari Charr had waited 131 years for that day, slowly drowning in his sorrow and hatred, wondering if he would never get the opportunity for revenge to salvage his bruised ego and pride.

But on the 27th of August, things changed.

That day, General Sylvari Charr sat with his fingers interlocked on his desk just like he was sitting again at this very moment as after getting the information and footages, he took his time to browse through them and digest them.

One look at the face in the pictures and he was certain. ’It’s him...’

This was the face that had been haunting his sleep for over 100 years, the face that gave him the most humiliating experience of his life, the face that he vowed over a century ago to kill by all means and at all costs.

The Sylvari of 131 years ago would have not cared about the consequences or even his chances and would have arrogantly barged into Freegrid territory to kill Leon in cold blood and get his revenge.

Him of 131 years ago would not have cared about Ren Nora at all.

But after that experience 131 years ago, he learned. He was humbled and he became sober. This was why these days, he was more pragmatic and calculated with his actions.

This is because he knew that even a C Rank Ascended’s life could be threatened, 131 years ago proved it.

And this is why instead of putting himself in the open and taking action personally against his archenemy, he consulted his leader first, Director-Prime Epsilon and just like expected his superior deduced a plan.

Director-Prime Epsilon told him to stay patient, but at the same time to be alert and prepared that sooner or later after making his reappearance back in history that Leon is going to come to Neo Solace.

Epsilon didn’t make a prophecy, it was only an intelligent prediction.

His prediction was based on the confluence of facts that Leon was now a D Rank Ascended, the fact that his Class Specialization is the Warmachine Specialist, the fact that he’d want to align himself with his Class to grow, and the fact that he had a past history with Joe Curry.

From the information that General Sylvari Charr already gathered about Leon, he knew everything about him, including how his friend Rex died.

With all these, Epsilon was able to predict his next actions.

Leon’s Class Specialization meant that he was likely going to look for high-profile D Rank powerhouses to fight and kill to grow, and his unhinged murder of Dhruv Laden in the West proved this.

Due to the Director-Prime, General Sylvari knew that Dhruv Laden’s murder was just the first. Leon was not going to stop till he reached the peak of D Rank.

Till he reached the peak, he was going to keep on hunting high-profile D Rank powerhouses all over the world. And Joe Curry was another high-profile D Rank powerhouse in Leon’s rather.

The other fact that Epsilon used to predict Leon’s move is Ren Nora’s personality. Knowing the freedom fighter’s personality, Epsilon knew that he’d never advise Leon to hunt and kill D Rank Ascended indiscriminately.

He was definitely going to tell him to go after those who have committed crimes and were actively committing crimes, and there’s a target that fit all these criteria in Neo Solace... Joe Curry!

As the Sovereign of the Omnicore Federation, Director-Prime Epsilon knew everything about Joe’s underground trafficking empire.

This was why he was able to predict Leon’s next target seamlessly. Even if Joe was not his immediate next target, he was definitely among his list of targets.

The final clue that sealed his prediction was the past tie between Leon and Joe Curry, the string of fate tying both of them with Rex’s death as the nexus.

Individually, these clues and facts may not be enough for a confident prediction, but when combined they gave too much credibility to Epsilon’s prediction.

And this is why General Sylvari Charr went all in.

The reason why there are extremely few C Rank events in the world is because the C Rank Ascended in the world always keep tabs on each other.

But just because of his obsession, General Sylvari Charr spent a lot of money to find a substitute to replace him at the headquarters of the Omnicore Federation. He put a stand-in there for himself.

And with his substitute secured, he finally embarked on his mission.

For weeks, General Sylvari Charr have been secretly holed up in Neo Solace, watching Joe Curry 24/7. This was why though he wasn’t 100% sure, he learned clues that something significant was happening around the Earl.

Throughout, he didn’t make a single commotion nor did he reveal his presence to even the leaders of the city. He was extra careful.

During this time, just for the mission, he hired an extremely rare S-tiered Assassin that was groomed by the Federation Army.

And then he waited for news regarding Earl Joe.

Tonight, the moment General Sylvari Charr got the news...

[BREAKING NEWS!]

...he dialed a number.

Click!

"General".

The general’s deep mechanical voice rumbled. "The target is either still within Neo Solace or within the vicinity".

The assassin stayed silent for about 2 seconds, then he answered. "Got it".

The General could have gone out of his way to go after Leon immediately, but advised against this by the Director-Prime, he didn’t do it.

He waited for traces... he waited for Ren Nora to show himself.

He was the reason why the Inspector General of Police of Neo Solace moved so fast and went as far as declaring a state of emergency.

The Federation Army in Neo Solace was mobilized!

...

[Special Appreciation to ImperialJadeDragon, Tsuyoi16, Chris_White_6861, ctan63, Humorousme89, Yametekudastop, Darks4int, and ForgottenSign for the Golden Tickets!]