Chapter 1 Bennett

Bennett rubbed his cheek where he'd been punched, and said helplessly, "Hey, no hitting the face."

You should be grateful…

Han Xiao glanced at Bennett's lower body in silence.

Bennett suddenly felt as if a cold wind had blown between his legs, and he shivered, wondering inwardly, "An illusion?"

Most of Bennett's data was unknown, but Han Xiao knew that Bennett had more than fifteen specialties, several of which were template specialties! The most terrifying specialties weren't those that increased stats, attack, or health, but [Aura of Luck]. The description of its effects was ambiguous, but changing the name would immediately reveal how terrifying this thing was.

Protagonist Aura!

The Star Field was incredibly vast, and heroes and epics would inevitably be born in one out of every ten million or a hundred million planets and civilizations. Having an Aura of Luck was definitely standard equipment for a protagonist template.

For example, if Bennett used [Burning Will], every boost would be at the highest multiplier; that was the power of the Aura of Luck.

"But he's actually in a state of hidden injury right now; he should recover in the future." Han Xiao remembered that when Bennett first appeared before the players, he was full of energy, simply a humanoid Tyrannosaurus rex.

Bennett's tier at his peak was C-grade, but now it was D+ grade.

The energy standard for C-grade was 2000, and D+ meant that his combat energy was at least above 1600, still extremely strong.

Han Xiao's combat energy was currently stuck at around 800, the standard for D-grade. With the bonuses from his equipment, he had officially reached D-grade. Tier couldn't fully represent combat strength; after all, different abilities had advantages and disadvantages in various environments, but high energy meant that one was at least very proficient in some aspect.

Saying goodbye to Bennett, Han Xiao returned to his sniper post. He suddenly sensed something and turned his head. A female sniper next to him was staring at him intently. Han Xiao remembered this woman; her name seemed to be Jin Huli, and she was a newcomer who had arrived the day before yesterday.

Han Xiao touched his face to confirm that he was wearing a simulation mask, and was puzzled. "There's no reason; could it be that even through the mask, she's attracted to my handsomeness?"

Jin Huli leaned closer, a charming smile with a hint of flattery on her face. She giggled and asked, "Mr. Hei, I was wondering if you'd be free to guide me in sniper techniques."

As she spoke, Jin Huli intentionally or unintentionally squeezed her outer breasts with the inside of her arm, creating a deep arc.

Is she trying to seduce me? Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. Regardless of Jin Huli's intentions, he wouldn't fall for it. He raised a hand in front of him, his face serious. "Madam, please conduct yourself with more respect!"

A glint flashed in Jin Huli's eyes. Realizing that Mr. Hei had a high resistance to temptation, she immediately changed her approach. She put away her charm and adopted a pitiful, pathetic expression, faster than a Sichuan opera face change. She crossed her hands in front of her chest and said weakly, "I… I just wanted to ask for your guidance. There's no other meaning."

Han Xiao squinted. "Little girl, don't bother. I don't like women."

Jin Huli's face froze. She looked at Han Xiao in astonishment and stammered, "C-Could it be that you…"

"No, I don't like men either." Han Xiao stroked his chin and tsked. "Actually, I'm not very interested in humans either. Hmm… I'm not interested in living things."

Jin Huli looked terrified and hastily lowered her head. "S-Sorry for disturbing you."

Then she turned and ran without hesitation.

Han Xiao chuckled to himself. "Still trying to use a beauty trap on me? Too naive. Back then, I was also a remarkable youth. Red skeletons are nothing but fleeting smoke."

After laughing to himself twice, Han Xiao suddenly stopped and sighed deeply. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and started puffing on it.

At this moment, a car approached the manor. Han Xiao glanced outside and was immediately shocked.

The car was entirely black, with an emblem sprayed on the door: a dragon coiled around three stars.

It was a vehicle of the Thirteenth Bureau!

"Why are the people from the Thirteenth Bureau here?"

…

The mercenaries guarding the gate received Wang Yuan's instructions and opened the gate, allowing the Thirteenth Bureau to drive into the manor.

Slender legs encased in a tight-fitting combat uniform stepped out of the car, petite yet beautifully curved, attracting the attention of many mercenaries. Combat boots landed on the ground. The first to get out of the car was actually Han Xiao's acquaintance, Di Su Su.

At this time, Di Su Su had a indifferent expression, exuding an aura that kept strangers away. Her teammates followed behind her.

A group of crude mercenaries around her whistled and unscrupulously sized up Di Su Su's figure.

A middle-aged man with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes got out of the car, his aura calm and steady. Di Su Su and the other agents clearly took him as their leader, and they followed the old man toward the villa.

Di Su Su suddenly had a feeling of being pricked by needles on her back. A chill surged from her heart, knowing that she was being targeted by an extremely dangerous figure. She suddenly turned her head and saw a black-clothed middle-aged man holding a sniper rifle leaning against the wall, staring intently at her. Although his eyes were very calm, they made her involuntarily tense up, and a chill arose in her heart, making her feel very dangerous.

"Who is this person?" Di Su Su was secretly vigilant, suddenly feeling a trace of familiarity for no reason. However, before she had time to think about it, she entered the villa, and the closed door blocked her sight.

By the wall, Han Xiao watched the backs of this group of Thirteenth Bureau agents, his eyes flickering.

…

The people from the Thirteenth Bureau went straight to the top floor of the villa, where Wang Yuan and Bennett were waiting.

"Wang Yuan, it's been a long time." The middle-aged man leading the Thirteenth Bureau spoke, his face expressionless, but his tone was like that of old friends reuniting after many years.

"Mo Ran." Wang Yuan nodded and said with emotion, "It's been at least a decade, right? You're one of the Thirteenth Bureau's aces, and I'm the leader of an underworld organization. If it weren't for this incident, we might not have had the opportunity to meet again."

"Indeed." Mo Ran nodded. Seeing Bennett on the side, although he remained expressionless, his tone became astonished, "You're actually here too?!"

Bennett said unhappily, "Do you still want to challenge me? I have no interest in winning against you again."

"Hmph, past events don't need to be mentioned again." Mo Ran directly blocked this topic.

"Bennett?!" Di Su Su and the others who were listening were shocked. Bennett's name was famous in all intelligence agencies, not only as a hero of the war era, but also due to his formidable personal strength, he had been ranked in the top three of the major threat target files for many years. The name of a person is like the shadow of a tree. Di Su Su couldn't help but feel nervous.

Mo Ran frowned and asked, "There have been battles here for ten consecutive days. Although it's outside the city, it has caused a bad impact. The sound of artillery fire is too obvious. What exactly are you doing?"

Wang Yuan shook his head. "We veterans of the dark web have always adhered to this neutral ideology, but power and influence are accompanied by greed. Some ambitious high-level executives regard our 'stubborn' leadership as obstacles in their way, coveting our positions and wanting to replace us to control this massive force. These attackers are hired by those traitors. Sena is tracking down this group of traitors through clues and has almost eliminated them. The traitors will launch their final counterattack in the next two days."

"Then come to Baiou City in two days, and we'll have a good reunion." Mo Ran said. With Bennett here, he wasn't worried about Wang Yuan's safety.

After finishing the business, Mo Ran turned and left, decisive and efficient. Di Su Su and the others followed behind him.

The agents of the Secret Operations Department were the high-end individual force of the Thirteenth Bureau, but they weren't the top. A small number of people were the country's secret weapons, basically all stationed in branches, presiding over the overall situation. They were rarely seen on normal days and were known as aces. Mo Ran was such a person. Every country had such individuals.

"These are truly troubled times." Di Su Su sighed inwardly.

It seemed that Xing Long had been drawn into a vortex three months ago. First, it eradicated the hidden Sprout bases within its borders, and then it launched an expedition to Dark Crow Valley. The source of the intelligence was very mysterious.

Moreover, the response from Sprout was also very peculiar. The spies seemed to be looking for someone. After the Dark Crow Valley operation, the Sprout spies became even more unscrupulous, as if they didn't care about being exposed, and frantically searched throughout Xing Long. The situation in Xidu was the most severe, and hundreds of Sprout's affiliated Typhoon Organization's intelligence spies had been arrested, all of whom were peripheral personnel, unable to be interrogated for any valuable intelligence.

Since Han Xiao disappeared, the Thirteenth Bureau had sent out a large number of agents to search for him all over the world, but to no avail. All surveillance footage, flight records, and entry-exit records had no clues. Even the agents sent to search the wilderness couldn't find any trace.

This result made the high-level officials of the Thirteenth Bureau find it unbelievable. Han Xiao seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

Where did he go?

Where could he go?

What was he going to do?

Di Su Su had spent some time with Han Xiao. In her eyes, Han Xiao was a mysterious person shrouded in fog, and she was also very curious about Han Xiao's whereabouts.

Walking out of the villa, Di Su Su subconsciously looked at the black-clothed man who made her feel dangerous, but found that he was already gone.

The people from the Thirteenth Bureau got into the car and left the manor.

Just after driving into the woods, Mo Ran told the driver to stop, then got out of the car alone and said to the people in the car, "Di Su Su, you take people to monitor the battle here and report the situation at any time."