Chapter 157 The Unexpected

The patrolman had been injected with a sleeping draught and hidden in a trash can in the alley, unlikely to be found until the next morning.

This was a potent sleeping draught, not the common variety available on the market, but a unique formula concocted by Jin Fox herself. According to her description, it could put a three-meter-tall short-haired giant elephant to sleep within ten seconds. Han Xiao couldn't quite understand why Jin Fox had experimented on elephants…

Jin Fox's initiative in providing the sleeping draught was a gesture of goodwill, but Han Xiao always felt an odd atmosphere between them. When their eyes met, it was as if a spark ignited, and Jin Fox would reflexively recoil like a startled animal, quickly averting her gaze…

If he didn't remember the embarrassing first impression he had made on Jin Fox back then, he might have almost thought she had ulterior motives towards him, given her girlish demeanor. In reality, she was probably just afraid of him.

Han Xiao diluted the drug, making it less potent. An ordinary person would wake up after about ten hours of sleep. He personally tested it and found that Stamina above 45 points could provide immunity. Han Xiao's current Stamina was over eighty, nearing ninety.

The average level 55 Mechanic had about seventy Stamina. Han Xiao's Stamina only slightly exceeded the average, but his health was half again more than other Mechanics of the same level!

With the template perk [Low-Level Tenacious Life] bonus, plus the recently acquired [Extraordinary Physique], Han Xiao's health was around three thousand four hundred points. Combined with the magnetic-controlled armor and Viper-Modified mechanical armor, unique to the Mechanic class, he was already at the level of a boss of the same grade.

But this time, Han Xiao decided to honestly carry out a traditional infiltration. After all, this was the capital of Red Maple. If he got too carried away, he might get into trouble. He reluctantly abandoned the musou (unrivaled) path of Kang Shifu and Ai Shifu noodles, and became a bald-headed Agent 47 for once.

Wearing a police uniform, Han Xiao swaggered to the outside of his first target, Miller Senning's, villa. The roadside was lined with trees and flowerbeds. The shadows of the trees swayed, and the light from the street lamps was cut into fragmented light by the branches, creating a mottled effect.

Using the Black Night Lurker skill, Han Xiao entered [Stealth] mode and circled the villa, observing the street's security cameras.

"A total of three cameras, monitoring the villa from three directions. They automatically rotate at the same speed… Huh, it seems they create a blind spot. Hmm… a very short one."

Han Xiao found an opportunity that wasn't listed in the intelligence. He didn't know if Ghost Blade hadn't noticed it or had deliberately omitted it.

"To infiltrate, the first thing is to solve the camera problem." Every five minutes, the intersecting surveillance views would create a two-second blind spot. This made things much simpler, eliminating the need to dismantle the camera lines or hack into the surveillance network. If he was fast enough to jump into the villa, he could avoid being detected by the surveillance, or at least prolong the time before he was discovered.

Because the city's surveillance wasn't monitored by anyone around the clock, a "patrolman" suddenly disappearing from the monitor wouldn't be noticed immediately unless the monitor happened to be watching.

He wasn't seeking a perfect infiltration that left no clues. All he needed to do was survive tonight and successfully complete the mission.

Inside and outside the villa, special agents were stationed to protect the official. There were verification devices at the entrance and electrified fences on the walls. Other than that, it was no different from an ordinary residence. The special agents outside were easy to deal with; he just had to divert their attention. But there were also guards stationed inside the manor, and their positions couldn't be visually observed.

Han Xiao had a way. He took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. They looked like ordinary sunglasses, but they were actually a portable version utilizing electromagnetic scanning. Pressing the miniature switch on the temple, he could see through the walls and detect the biological signs inside the manor, seeing blurry human-shaped shadows, enough to determine their location.

It was just that wearing sunglasses at night was a bit strange, making him subconsciously think of the anal fissure song from the movie *Kung Fu Hustle*.

Red Maple officials had guards protecting them twenty-four hours a day, as if afraid of being attacked even walking down the street. One could imagine how unpopular they were. The other five nations didn't have such measures. The air in Red Maple was filled with pressure.

The national conditions of each country were different, and the phenomenon of Red Maple officials being protected wasn't always the case. It was the same opportunity as the government's policy of expelling the lower classes from the capital, stemming from a notorious, yet hushed-up, official attack—the "Ulyk Assault Case." It occurred in the eleventh year of the six-nation格局格局 new era, a piece of history Han Xiao had seen on the dark web's historical event timeline.

Every civilization in *Galaxy* had historical events that could be deeply explored. Whether in his previous life or now, Han Xiao hadn't deeply understood Red Maple. Since he was currently on a mission, these thoughts were just fleeting. He continued to consider how to infiltrate.

The special agents looked unapproachable, patrolling around the villa. Han Xiao dropped a spider detector, observing from a hidden corner. It wasn't convenient for him to pass by the villa multiple times, as it would only arouse their suspicion.

Soon, he found an opportunity. Taking advantage of the moment when the cameras and special agents' lines of sight had blind spots, he activated his electromagnetic skateboard shoes and silently glided over the wall. Aiming at a tree in the manor, he landed behind it, his movements smooth and fluid.

Although he tried to control his strength as much as possible, the leaves still swayed slightly. A special agent was leaning against the tree in disguise. Noticing the vibration, he became very alert and immediately looked up into the tree.

Han Xiao had an action plan when he jumped in, and he didn't hesitate. When the special agent squinted to observe carefully, Han Xiao's agility, exceeding 100 points, made him as swift as a ghost. He reached around from behind the tree, covered the agent's mouth, dragged him behind the tree, and injected him with a needle. Before he could even struggle, he was silenced.

The sound wasn't loud, but there was another special agent on guard not far away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his companion leave his post, but Han Xiao's ghostly speed prevented him from seeing clearly.

"Siri?" the special agent called out his companion's name in a low voice, walking over.

"Not good," Han Xiao thought to himself. Traditional infiltration relied on timing. It kept his nerves on edge. A thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately had a plan. He quickly scanned the face of the special agent he had knocked out, changed his own face using the Mimicry Mask, and peeked out from behind the tree, shaking his head to indicate that everything was fine.

"What are you doing behind the tree?" The special agent saw his companion's face, and his vigilance relaxed slightly. He continued to approach, wanting to go around the tree to see what was happening.

Without hesitation, Han Xiao flipped his hand, revealing a small pistol. He silently fired a needle, hitting the special agent in the neck. The man staggered, about to fall asleep. Han Xiao quickly flashed forward, grabbed him, and carefully dragged him behind the tree.

There were four sentries in the manor, all in contact with each other via walkie-talkies. In a matter of seconds, the others would discover that two of their companions were missing.

"I can only knock out all the guards." The special agents outside the manor were in different groups than those inside and would only communicate to confirm the situation every so often. Doing this would buy him half an hour to an hour, and he felt that was enough time to act.

Han Xiao moved quickly, sneaking like a cat. The remaining two sentries were quickly taken down by him. They were just well-trained ordinary elites and had no resistance against him.

After confirming that the eyes were removed, Han Xiao climbed into the villa through a window and activated his electromagnetic scanning glasses. The villa's structure was laid bare. The balding official was sleeping in the master bedroom with his young and beautiful wife, and a nanny was sleeping in another room. The huge house only had three people.

Han Xiao groped his way to the study, took out the evidence files he had collected from the dark web, and placed them conspicuously on the desk. This completed one of his objectives.

"Time is of the essence. Before Red Maple discovers someone has infiltrated, I still have some time. I need to speed up." Han Xiao timed it precisely and slipped out of the manor. The special agents guarding outside were still dutifully performing their duties, unaware of what was happening inside.

Next, Han Xiao ran to the residences of three other targets. The defensive environments were different in each location. His level 55 Perception, combined with the intelligence provided by Jin Fox and Ghost Blade, as well as the Mimicry Mask and skateboard shoes, made his actions thrilling but without danger.

During the third target, there was a small accident. When Han Xiao was placing the files in the study, the target, possibly due to his age, groggily got up to go to the bathroom and had to pass by the study. Han Xiao quickly hid behind the floor lamp in the corner.

Without careful examination, the floor lamp could easily be mistaken for a human figure in the corner of one's eye, and people would subconsciously ignore it. It was a bold hiding spot, and Han Xiao thought his quick thinking was excellent. Unfortunately, the ending was completely different from what he expected.

Can you imagine getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, walking through a dark corridor already feeling uneasy, passing by the study, and mistaking the floor lamp for a person in the corner of your eye, making you even more nervous? Just as you were about to take a closer look, reassuring yourself that you were just scaring yourself, you discover that, oh my god, there really is an uninvited guest standing behind the lamp!

This target was an elderly man, and he clutched his chest and fell straight down.

[You have killed Dak Van Vansetti (Lv5). You have gained 1 experience point.]

The target had actually been scared to death… scared to death… dead… death…

"What the heck! Is that even possible?!" Han Xiao was dumbfounded.

I didn't want to kill anyone! You're having a myocardial infarction! I'm innocent!

"Hey, hey, old man, cheer up! You still have a lot of life ahead of you. How can you just die like this?" Han Xiao grabbed the old man's shoulders and shook him violently, almost shaking his bones apart.

He had accidentally killed the mission target. What should he do now?

Han Xiao had a headache.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration. He had a new idea.

"Wait, the fundamental purpose of this mission is to reduce the number of officials who oppose funding. If they're all dead, then no one will oppose it, right?"

…

"Ah-choo!"

Far away in the Southern Continent, Bennett sneezed and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Am I catching a cold?"