Chapter 124 Framed

Soldiers surrounded him, layer upon layer. The high-ranking officers had different expressions. The Home Faction was furious, their killing intent palpable, while Xiao Jin and others frowned, appearing puzzled. Serqi's Crimson Isle Faction and the Northern Faction looked shocked, in disbelief.

"Capture him!" Lagos's face was contorted.

Xiao Jin frowned and interrupted, "This matter is suspicious. Black Phantom visited us openly; he has no reason to do such a thing."

"What if he's deliberately trying to mislead us with that kind of thinking!" said a Northern Faction leader.

"Then why would he visit us? A silent assassination would be more discreet!" Xiao Jin said.

"Our defenses are tight. He did it to enter our ranks smoothly!" someone said.

"He's the murderer, and you're still making excuses for him?!" Lagos said, his emotions agitated as he drew a gun and aimed it at Han Xiao. Serqi quickly grabbed him.

"Calm down, Black Phantom has no motive to do this…"

"Motive?!" Lagos said, his expression twisted as he stared at Xiao Jin, gritting his teeth. "Doesn't he?"

Xiao Jin frowned. "You're overthinking it."

The people of the Northern Faction were aligned with the Home Faction; their general idea was to first control Black Phantom, the most suspicious person, and then investigate the clues. Serqi thought Black Phantom was too dangerous and suggested questioning Han Xiao on the spot, but Lagos immediately interrupted, believing that Black Phantom's words were not to be trusted, and opinions were difficult to unify.

A large number of soldiers surrounded Han Xiao, and several powerful auras secretly locked onto him. While the Overmaera executives were arguing, their attention remained on Han Xiao. They would immediately take action if he made any unusual movements.

Han Xiao secretly pondered, "Framing me would trigger a conflict between Overmaera and the Dark Net organization. Only a third party can benefit from this. Could this be the goal of the mastermind? If I go on a killing spree, I'll fall into his trap. This is to put me in a troublesome situation."

Han Xiao could break through the encirclement at any time. He didn't care about angering Overmaera, but that would play right into the mastermind's hands. Escaping would be the same as admitting guilt, while killing would create enmity. Surrendering was even more impossible. It seemed the mastermind had succeeded in his plan.

"I've only been here for a day, and they can fake an assassination method similar to mine. There must be a Super who is skilled in assassination lurking here. My arrival gave them an opportunity."

Unless the real culprit was found, even if there were many reasons why he wouldn't do it, without conclusive evidence, he would still be the most suspicious person. After all, people's hearts were hidden, and without omniscience and complete understanding of the other party, logical judgment could not be used as an absolute basis.

"Wait, evidence…" Han Xiao had a flash of inspiration. It hadn't been long since Derol's assassination was discovered, and Overmaera hadn't thoroughly investigated the scene. The killer might have left clues at the scene.

At this moment, the high-level argument also had a result. Lagos roared, "Black Phantom, lay down your arms and surrender!"

Xiao Jin added, "If you didn't do it, we will investigate."

Han Xiao smiled. "You know that's impossible. Why don't you lay down your arms?"

Neither side could trust the other, and they couldn't risk disarming. It was an unsolvable deadlock, but Han Xiao had an idea and said, "There's no point in a stalemate. I can stay temporarily. You can send people to monitor me twenty-four hours a day. I'll wait for you to investigate the truth."

Han Xiao was curious about who was framing him and found it amusing.

"This is not a bad idea," Serqi said quickly. He didn't want a conflict to break out.

Before Lagos could speak, someone in the crowd suddenly fired a shot. Han Xiao reacted quickly, and the Magnetic Control Armor suddenly materialized, deflecting the bullet.

However, this caused the highly tense soldiers to lose control, and they all opened fire.

"Fire!"

The conflict suddenly erupted!

"Someone fired a cold shot!" Han Xiao's eyes narrowed. The scene was chaotic, but he saw who it was—an ordinary soldier.

A barrage of bullets came from all directions. Han Xiao could only deal with the barrage first. The enhanced Magnetic Control Armor had excellent defensive performance. Sparks flew everywhere, but it couldn't be penetrated.

Qi flowed within his body, pouring into a circular piece of metal on his glove, activating the Magnetic Chain Split Blades. Seven sharp blades flew out of his pocket, sweeping out like a whirlwind. Silver light flashed wildly, and the barrels of many soldiers' guns were cut off, scaring them into retreating and colliding with their comrades surrounding the outer layer.

As the enemy's firepower weakened, Han Xiao was about to rush toward the soldier who fired the cold shot when the Supers hidden in the dark attacked.

Boom—

Suddenly, flames erupted in the crowd. Not just one, but four—three Martial Artists and an Esper who could turn into a Fire Man, all rushing up.

Fists wrapped in flames slammed down.

Bang—

Cracks spread rapidly across the ground where he had been standing, and the walls also cracked. Han Xiao dodged in time and jumped into the air. Suddenly, a heatwave struck. The Fire Man stretched out his hands, and a long, snake-like pillar of fire licked out.

Being in mid-air should have meant there was no way to avoid it, but not for him. Han Xiao twisted the switch on his 【Small-Scale Mobile Jet Device】 on his belt. Several small boxes on the edge of the belt made a turbine-like sound, spraying airflow. A great force came from the belt, as if an invisible hand pulled Han Xiao to the side.

The fire snake grazed his back and hit the wall, burning a large, charred hole.

"Forty-six, forty-eight, forty-nine, three Martial Artists, and a level 45 Esper. All of them are Grade D Supers. These should be the high-end combat power left behind by Overmaera."

In the past, he would have found it tricky, but now his skills were maxed out, and his combat power was stronger. He didn't need to wear armor to feel much pressure. Han Xiao was more concerned about the soldier who fired the cold shot, but he found that the previous barrage had hit many of his comrades. The young soldier who fired the cold shot was shot dead.

Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat. He didn't believe it was an accident.

"The person who framed me seems to have infiltrated Overmaera deeply. Seeing me back down, he deliberately attacked me to detonate the conflict."

With a flash of thought, Han Xiao got a new clue, suppressed it in his heart, and focused on dealing with the four Supers and the soldiers. He spun his hands, and the blades surrounded him like a protective storm, cutting nearly ten times per second, instantly causing the three close-range Martial Artists to bleed. The weapons of the soldiers he passed were dismembered. He had used this weapon in his previous life and didn't need much practice to become an expert. He deliberately held back, not killing anyone.

The Magnetic Control Armor, Electromagnetic Skates, and other portable equipment had all been 【Precisely Enhanced and Modified】, making their attributes even stronger. Han Xiao's own combat power had also reached its peak due to his maxed-out skills. To deal with these four Supers who were lower level than him, Han Xiao didn't even need the Viper · Modification. He could defeat them with the Magnetic Chain Split Blades as his main melee weapon.

Han Xiao's health had now reached 3,800, almost the same as a Martial Artist of the same level, plus the protection of the Magnetic Control Armor, he was very durable.

On the other side, the Bamboo Rain Guild witnessed Han Xiao taking down a group of soldiers and four Supers. Bamboo Rain Xuanxuan recorded it and was very excited.

"This kind of material will be explosive."

Bamboo Rain Xiaofei said in surprise, "I thought Black Phantom was their guest. Listening to them, it sounds like Black Phantom killed their leader. I just scouted them. The four NPCs fighting him are all of 【Extremely Fatal】 danger level. What the forum said is right. Black Phantom is also one of the top NPCs."

Bamboo Rain Chenfeng rolled his eyes and said, "Nonsense, how can an NPC who can issue main quests not be strong?"

"Shh—" Bamboo Rain Piaoxiang made a gesture to be quiet, staring intently at the scene. "Watch the plot quietly."

…

The destructive power of Supers far exceeded that of ordinary people. The entire mansion collapsed in the fierce battle. The high-level officers had already run out, in shock, anger, and tension. More Supers were on their way and would surely be able to exhaust Black Phantom, provided that the four guards could hold him back.

The blade cut through the flames, and iron fists collided with the armor. Han Xiao moved around, agile as a mink, with terrifying mobility. The four Supers worked themselves to the bone to barely hit him once. He sold a flaw, luring a Martial Artist to be aggressive. The Electrothermal Cutting Glove counterattacked, first knocking down one person, and then the blade was like a vortex, cutting the fire-controlling Esper all over. His Magnetic Control Armor had good heat insulation, and the flames did limited damage to him.

The remaining two quickly fell into a disadvantage.

Chi—

The blade pierced through the Martial Artist's flesh and shot out of his body, carrying spurting blood. In the end, the Martial Artist convulsed all over, heavily injured and unable to move.

"Crap!" Lagos was shocked. Black Phantom's speed in dealing with the four guards exceeded his expectations. The reinforcements had not arrived yet. At this time, the ground was a mess, with broken bricks and tiles. No one could stop Black Phantom.

If he went on a killing spree, the cadre layer would suffer heavy losses and be severely weakened.

Swish! A blade hovered in front of Lagos, scaring him into retreating quickly. However, the blade was like a shadow, following him until Lagos fell to the ground, his face filled with shock, anger, and fear.

Just then, Han Xiao suddenly retracted the blade, wiped the blood splattered on his face, and said lightly, "I can kill you, but that would fall into someone else's trap. Our agreement remains unchanged. I can stay and wait for you to investigate the truth. If you insist on arresting me, I don't mind sending you a few cuts."

As he spoke, he hooked his finger, and the blade danced in the air, expressing a strong sense of threat.

ps: (Sorry, sorry, I posted it a bit late. I just finished writing it and posted it without time to polish it. If there are any bugs, please leave a message and point them out so I can correct them)