“You…” Lagos said with a resentful expression, gnashing his teeth.

Before he could speak, Xiao Jin immediately interjected, “We accept your conditions. Personally, I believe the assassination has nothing to do with you. This is a conspiracy to provoke conflict between our sides.”

The upper echelons acquiesced. The situation was stronger than anyone. Black Phantom was even stronger than the rumors suggested. He didn't even use his famous sniping skills and easily took down the headquarters' experts. These people were not weak, but they were on a completely different level from Black Phantom.

At this moment, reinforcements finally arrived. Xiao Jin immediately ordered the soldiers to put away their weapons, spreading his hands to show their sincerity.

Seeing this, Han Xiao also put away his weapons and walked towards his residence. The crowd parted to create a path, extremely nervous.

Xiao Jin glanced at Lagos faintly, then turned his head and ordered, "Clean up the scene!"

Lagos' eyes nearly spat fire. The upper echelons from his own faction reached out to support him, but he shook them off.

"He could have killed us, but he insisted that he wasn't the murderer. He should be reliable," Sergi whispered.

"Naive!" Lagos said coldly, "If he killed us, all of Overmaira's forces would fight to the death with the Dark Net organization. He's putting on an act to clear his name!"

…

Back at his residence, a notification appeared on the interface.

[You have triggered the emergency mission [True Culprit]]

[Mission Introduction: You have been caught in a conspiracy, framed as the culprit, and become a pawn to be used.]

[Mission Requirement: Identify the true culprit and complete the mission. Only one chance.]

[Reward: Random skill or talent x1]

Han Xiao's eyes flashed. "It's a puzzle-solving type of mission, with only one chance to complete it."

There were many types of missions, and puzzle-solving was a common one. Some required players to be detectives and collect clues, while others would automatically provide clues, but they were very vague, leaving the final decision to the player.

After waiting for a long time, the mission didn't give any new instructions. Han Xiao guessed that this mission belonged to the latter type. Considering Overmaira's vigilance against him, he probably wouldn't be able to get any clues.

"It's best to wait and see," Han Xiao thought.

At the same time, the Bamboo Rain Guild triggered a different mission.

"[Overmaira's Upheaval]: The head of Overmaira was tragically murdered. Black Phantom, who visited abruptly, has become the prime suspect. However, he claims he is not the murderer and suppressed the dissenting voices with force. Although Overmaira is outwardly obedient, some factions still firmly believe that Black Phantom is the killer. What hidden secrets are there?"

"There are five factions to choose from: Black Phantom, the Main Family Faction, the Xiao Faction, the Chi Yu Faction, and the Northern Faction. Once a faction is selected, it cannot be changed."

"Reward: Based on your contribution to the chosen faction and the final result, you will receive a certain reward. The basic reward is 50,000 experience!"

Bamboo Rain Little Fly exclaimed, "At least 50,000 experience!"

50,000 experience was a huge number for them. Sure enough, there were benefits wherever Black Phantom was.

"Which faction are you choosing?"

"Black Phantom, probably."

"Me too."

Everyone echoed. They didn't know anything about Overmaira, and Han Xiao had just blown up Overmaira's armed forces. It was obvious that following Han Xiao was the most reliable option.

The players from the Bamboo Rain Guild approached Han Xiao and expressed their intention to help.

Han Xiao was a little surprised. After thinking about it, he guessed that these players had received different missions. With different identities, the triggered mission requirements were also different. Generally, missions would be triggered within the area where an event occurred.

"Then follow me for now."

…

In a certain corner, two people were talking.

"We didn't provoke a direct conflict. The buried nail died in vain."

"The intelligence said that Black Phantom was bloodthirsty, but this time he showed mercy. A miscalculation."

"Fortunately, all the clues have been destroyed. As long as the truth can't be found out, Black Phantom will always be the biggest suspect in this matter."

…

The next day, the Main Family Faction held a hasty funeral for Deluo. In the following days, the atmosphere within Overmaira became increasingly tense. Undercurrents surged, and everyone seemed very busy, walking quickly. The occasional glances they gave each other were filled with unclear meanings.

On the contrary, Han Xiao had become transparent. It was as if all the factions had forgotten that he was here. Apart from being monitored 24 hours a day, no one came into contact with him.

After sending the Bamboo Rain Guild players to inquire about the situation, Han Xiao stayed in his room, his mood calm. He had expected this.

He was an outsider, and the prime suspect. Overmaira didn't have the confidence to deal with him for the time being, so they could only treat him coldly. Even if Han Xiao wanted to look for clues, no faction would reveal anything. All he could do was wait.

But waiting was not meaningless. Those factions were carrying out their own investigations and calculations.

Han Xiao thought. Deluo's death was very coincidental and suspicious. What was the point of framing him for killing Deluo? First, to provoke hatred between Overmaira and the Dark Net organization. The beneficiary was likely a third party.

Second, maybe killing Deluo had another purpose, and he might just be used as a good excuse. With his identity and strength, he was indeed an easy reason to frame and shift the blame to. If the true culprit framed him to hide themselves, then the true culprit's identity was likely to be someone who would easily be considered a beneficiary… Thinking like this, it seemed that only the factions other than Overmaira's Main Family Faction were most likely.

Han Xiao remembered that the internal divisions of Overmaira were very serious. Killing Deluo was likely for the purpose of seizing power and shifting the suspicion to him.

But if he returned to the first possibility, if the true culprit was still a third party, it seemed that he could also explain the second possibility – provoking infighting between the Main Family Faction and other factions, causing Overmaira to disintegrate internally.

"Sigh, I don't want to think about it anymore," Han Xiao rubbed his forehead.

In any case, no matter who the true culprit was, he was in an invincible position. As long as he stood still, the one who would be anxious would be the true culprit. This mission couldn't be long-term. The impact of Deluo's death would appear in a short period of time. When that time came, someone would always reveal their true colors.

…

In a mansion, the upper echelons of the Main Family Faction gathered together, the atmosphere was very serious.

"The head is dead, who will be in charge now?" A burly man said. He was Deluo's younger brother, Todd.

"Me," Lagos said coldly.

Todd smiled insincerely. "Lagos, that's not appropriate, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Lagos frowned.

"You should call me uncle," Todd emphasized. "The head… my brother died unexpectedly. We are all family. According to seniority, I should be temporarily in charge."

"Hmph, father has only been dead for a few days, and you already want to seize power? Aren't you too impatient?"

Lagos said sarcastically, "Don't blame me for not reminding you, without father's suppression, Xiao Jin, Sergi, and the others harbor ulterior motives. The position of head is vacant. To fight for the right to be in charge, who knows what they will do. Don't look at how they lamented father's death at the funeral, they are probably laughing in their hearts."

Todd chuckled. "Don't say such unpleasant things. I'm afraid that you are inexperienced and will make mistakes. Since you think you can handle it, then you should be in charge. Uncle, I won't fight with you. Tell me, what are you going to do next?"

Lagos snorted, too lazy to pursue Todd's tone, and said, "The top priority is to investigate the murderer who killed father."

Todd frowned. He felt that the most important thing was to suppress the ambitions of other factions and regain control of Overmaira, but it was not appropriate to express this idea in front of the upper echelons of the Main Family Faction, so he could only follow the conversation and ask, "Do you have any clues?"

Lagos' face was cold. "Black Phantom is the most suspicious. Not a single word that comes out of his mouth can be trusted. I have already notified some people to contact the strongest killers and mercenaries. When they arrive, we won't need to pretend anymore. We will directly capture Black Phantom and interrogate him. This time, I spent a lot of money. The person I invited is a strong person who has been famous for a long time!"

"Maybe it wasn't Black Phantom who did it," someone whispered.

Lagos glared over, and said coldly, "Then it must be Xiao Jin. That bastard is ambitious. He has been under father for so many years, he must be unwilling. By the way, I heard that Black Phantom stayed at Xiao Jin's residence for an hour on the night of the incident. Maybe Xiao Jin hired Black Phantom with a lot of money, asked Black Phantom to assassinate father, and then colluded to act together."

Everyone was shocked.