Chapter 177 Evidence

Watching Lagos’ corpse, the Main Family Faction was furious, but they didn't dare provoke Han Xiao in his current state. A living example lay right in front of them, their faces a mix of emotions.

At that moment, Todd stepped forward and said in a deep voice, “This was all Lagos' own doing. He brought it upon himself. I can assure you that the Main Family Faction will not hold a grudge because of this.”

The Main Family Faction was surprised. They hadn't expected Todd to step forward at this time and even admit defeat.

Words can only be trusted to a degree. Han Xiao remained noncommittal and asked, “And you are?”

“Todd, Dello's younger brother, Lagos' uncle, and currently in charge of the Main Family Faction,” Todd said, trying to remain calm.

The Main Family Faction exchanged strange glances. They were amazed by Todd's ability to seize opportunities. Lagos had barely died, and he had already taken over as the leader. However, what Todd said was indeed what they were thinking, so they all remained silent, tacitly acknowledging Todd's position.

Their hired powerful reinforcements had been easily killed. Han Xiao's strength was overwhelming. Everyone knew that trying to start a conflict now would be pure suicide.

The other factions had different expressions, and the same thought arose in their minds.

* *Don't mess with Black Phantom!*

“Get me another room,” Han Xiao said, collecting his various machinery, glancing at the ruins.

“I'll arrange it for you,” Xiao Ming said quickly, after receiving a signal from Xiao Jin.

Once Han Xiao left, the higher-ups of the various factions exchanged glances.

“Black Phantom has overwhelming strength and doesn't care about being our enemy. Yet, he insists that he isn't the culprit. The assassination might not have been his doing,” Sergi said.

“But Lagos died at his hands. This is a new feud…” the leader of the Northern Faction said.

Todd interrupted him, saying, “This was Lagos' own fault. Our Main Family Faction will not hold a grudge or seek revenge because of this.”

Everyone cast disdainful glances at him, selectively forgetting that they were thinking the same thing.

“Then what about Black Phantom…” someone asked.

Having an invincible monster stay at headquarters was like a thorn in their side, making them feel very insecure.

Xiao Jin said calmly, “He just wants to clear his name. Once the truth is investigated, he will naturally leave. So, don't provoke him.”

…

Arriving at the new room, Han Xiao woke up the captured Invisibility Esper. He had implanted a locator in the Invisibility Esper's body, so he could determine his location even if he couldn't see him.

“What do you want to do?” the Invisibility Esper asked in terror.

Han Xiao took off the Viper-X and put the equipment back in his bag, saying with interest, “I heard that your invisibility ability comes from an accidental experiment, a mutation of your skin. If I were to peel off your skin, it would be very valuable.”

The Invisibility Esper broke out in a cold sweat. “D-don't mess around.”

“You are my prisoner now. Do you think you have the right to negotiate?”

The Invisibility Esper was speechless. Han Xiao stopped teasing him and knocked him unconscious. He injected a powerful sedative, tied him up, and threw him aside. Han Xiao didn't kill the Invisibility Esper for the time being because there was a bounty on the Invisibility Esper on the dark web. A living one could be exchanged for money. He planned to accept the mission and then hand the Invisibility Esper over, completing the mission immediately to maximize his profits.

This time, Han Xiao displayed overwhelming force. Overma couldn't afford to offend him at all. With the absolute advantage in power, his continued presence reduced the suspicion of many factions.

Moreover, Han Xiao was currently in an unsolvable state. Now, it was Overma who didn't want to start a conflict with him. This time, the attempt to frame him and provoke a conflict between him and Overma had almost failed, at least Overma didn't dare to openly turn against him.

But this wasn't enough. The one who framed him still hadn't been found. Han Xiao thought there would be two possible scenarios: the first was that the framer would give up the plan and continue to hide, and the second was to find a way to remedy the situation, or even attack him, although the latter was unlikely, as he had already proven that he was very difficult to deal with.

With Lagos' death, the Main Family Faction became very low-key. Todd hardly held any hatred. He valued immediate benefits more. Besides organizing people to investigate the clues of Dello's assassination, he was also secretly contacting various factions to garner support for the successor's selection.

With Dello's death, his son Lagos was originally the most likely to succeed as the boss, but Han Xiao had killed him. Now, the position of successor had completely become a mystery. The various factions had ulterior motives, coveting the boss's power. A storm was brewing.

Everyone was superficially focused on the truth of Dello's death, but in secret, they were more concerned with the successor's selection. It was a classic case of people scattering when the host died.

Of course, the selection would not begin until the assassin was found.

Han Xiao was the main person involved in this incident, but he was also an outsider who was being ostracized. He didn't care about this. These days, he had been holed up in his room, gathering information through the dark web intelligence network and the Bamboo Rain Guild, searching for information about Overma.

Not two days later, Xiao Jin came to his door, saying that he had discovered an important clue.

“By investigating the guards and surveillance cameras that night, comparing testimonies and videos, I found some clues. One of the Northern Faction's higher-ups' assistants left the house that night and disappeared for twenty-seven minutes.”

“This Northern Faction higher-up is called Su Dinghua, forty-five years old, a local from North Continent, and has always been very low-key. I have actually noticed him a long time ago. My planted spy in the Northern Faction discovered that Su Dinghua was secretly flirting with Raylen. His assistant was also changed a few years ago, which happened to be the same year that Su Dinghua started contacting Raylen.”

Many higher-ups secretly contacted other forces, but they were all for their own purposes, but Su Dinghua was obviously being turned by Raylen.

Xiao Jin brought a lot of information and evidence. Han Xiao looked through it, and the clues and evidence did point to Su Dinghua.

Han Xiao thought carefully. Overma was Tylius's partner, so weakening Overma was equivalent to weakening Tylius. By letting Overma attract strong enemies and creating internal strife, Raylen, as a third party, could benefit. He did have the motivation to do so.

The Northern Faction was the least noticeable, but if they were to do something nefarious, they would undoubtedly be the most secretive party.

“Didn't the other factions find these materials?” Han Xiao raised the documents in his hand.

“I don't know,” Xiao Jin shook his head. “I happened to get the information about Su Dinghua's secret collusion with Raylen by chance. The other factions probably don't know.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” Han Xiao asked.

“Raylen may have planted many experts around Su Dinghua to protect him. I hope you can help us capture Su Dinghua and his accomplices. Moreover, this is a good opportunity to clear your name. I think you should want to do it yourself,” Xiao Jin said sincerely. “If you need a reward, that's not a problem.”

Han Xiao stared at Xiao Jin for a long time, then suddenly smiled. “Give me money at the market price. I'll help this time.”

“Okay,” Xiao Jin nodded.

…

At night, Han Xiao began to take action. Since he had displayed the Viper-X, he wore it this time as well, but without the heavy mechanical arm. A stealth operation didn't need this kind of hard-hitting weapon.

Su Dinghua's residence was relatively remote. Han Xiao took out his computer to hack into the regional network, freezing the cameras in the area. Then, he bypassed the guards and climbed over the wall into the residence.

Su Dinghua was a relatively marginal higher-up, and the defense of the residence was weak. Han Xiao was at a high level and strong, so the infiltration was very easy and not difficult.

He quietly arrived at the study. The lights were on inside. Han Xiao leaned against the corner and used electromagnetic scanning. He found that there was no one in the study.

He quietly walked in. Han Xiao scanned the surroundings. The building materials were ordinary bricks and wood, without any special metal to isolate the detection. The layout and structure of the room were clear at a glance.

“Oh, there's a hidden safe behind the painting next to the desk.” Han Xiao's eyes flashed. Just as he was about to lift the painting and move the safe, he suddenly had a thought and stopped.

After carefully looking around, Han Xiao ignored the safe and instead went to the desk. He tried to open the drawers, but they were all locked. However, this was not difficult for him. As a mechanic who could even make firearms and robots, it would be too embarrassing if he couldn't even open a lock.

Moreover, Han Xiao was already very experienced in picking locks.

The drawers were full of paper documents, all of which were Overma's internal documents, as well as many reports of affairs. After searching for a while, most of them were unimportant documents, but he found a note with a series of numbers that seemed to be the password to the safe, and a small metal key, which also seemed to be used to open the safe.

“It's too obvious,” Han Xiao shook his head, closed the drawer, and didn't take the key to open the safe.

The safe hidden behind the painting was a very common method. Leaving a key and password on purpose had some deliberate traces, like deliberately creating bait.

There was a high probability that the safe was a bait or a trap that would trigger an alarm or something. After all, the password to a safe was usually memorized.

Of course, it was also possible that he was wrong, but Han Xiao was just here to arrest people. After arresting them, he could open the safe at will.

He came to the living room and heard voices. Several guards were chatting idly. He used tactical scanning to compare the strength of life with the database and found that the strength of these enemies was about level 20. They were not ordinary guards, but probably espers. If they were ordinary people, it meant they were very elite with a very high secondary class level.

“Looks like I'm right,” Han Xiao nodded. Su Dinghua's guards were hiding their strength, so something was definitely wrong.

He went upstairs and came to the bedroom. Su Dinghua was resting. Han Xiao directly barged in and knocked Su Dinghua, who didn't have time to scream, unconscious with a tranquilizer dart, then tied him up with a sheet.

There were eight guards in the residence, as well as Su Dinghua's assistant. Han Xiao didn't plan to let anyone go.

He returned to the living room. Han Xiao no longer hid and directly broke down the door.

“Who!” The guards quickly drew their guns.

However, with the powerful mechanical armor's performance, he knocked over the four unprepared guards in two or three seconds.

The commotion attracted attention. The radar detected other guards quickly approaching. Han Xiao directly smashed through the wall with a loud bang, knocking over the guards one after another.

Su Dinghua's assistant was the most hidden, at level 40, but he still couldn't last more than ten seconds. Han Xiao broke his arms and legs and knocked him unconscious on the ground. The strength gap was too great. It was not difficult for Han Xiao at all.

Han Xiao's destructive power was like demolition. The entire residence was in a mess, and the loud noise spread far away.

Xiao Jin had been waiting outside the residence for a long time. Seeing that Han Xiao had succeeded, he immediately led people in. He saw that Su Dinghua and his personal guards had been thrown into the yard, and no one had escaped.

Han Xiao stood aside, not planning to leave.

Xiao Jin didn't avoid Han Xiao and directly interrogated them in the yard, splashing water to wake up Su Dinghua and the others.

When Su Dinghua saw this scene, he knew that he had been exposed.

“…How did you find out?” Su Dinghua asked in shock and frustration.

Xiao Jin said coldly, “I have known about your contact with Raylen for a long time. Over the years, you have been replacing guards with unfamiliar faces, all of whom were planted by Raylen. This time, Black Phantom happened to visit, and you thought it was an opportunity, so you carried out the assassination. You thought you were doing it very secretly and eliminated many clues, but you still left clues.”