Chapter 34: You Have a New “Have You Killed Them Yet?” Order—Please Handle It Promptly

Prince Haoge looked puzzled.

Koen briefly recounted to him and the others his plan involving Isabella, the daughter of the Golden Wing.

A sharp gleam appeared in Prince Haoge’s eyes as he murmured, “In that case, this really is a splendid opportunity! I never imagined you had such a connection with the Pale Wings. No wonder they’ve been so protective of you these past few days.”

As they spoke, the unfortunate Silver 207 regained consciousness. When he realized his predicament, his face turned ashen and despondent.

There was only one possible outcome for an assassin who failed and was captured. Every killer understood that when they entered this line of work.

Koen asked coldly, “Who is your superior?”

Silver 207 replied indifferently, “Kill me.”

Toying with the communication crystal, Koen said calmly, “Efein is a duchy. In theory, it should have three Gold-ranked assassins.

“However, given the circumstances of the past few years, the volume of business in Efein is likely to rise sharply. There should be other Gold-ranked killers stationed here as well.

“Come on, tell me. Who’s your boss? Shield? Mage? Rider?”

Unlike Silver-ranked assassins and those below them, who used numerical designations, Gold-ranked assassins used single-character codenames.

Koen gazed at the assassin’s incredulous expression and continued, “And don’t even think about taking me down with you. I’ve already destroyed your self-destruct scroll. A Silver-ranked assassin should be entitled to claim high-level magic scrolls, shouldn’t he?”

Despair finally spread across Silver 207’s face. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “How do you know so much? Are you one of us?”

Koen sneered. “You took a contract to kill me, yet you don’t even know who I am?”

Silver 207 jolted. Only then did he realize that the other man was wearing a strange mask, and that his figure was oddly familiar. He was the very target of this mission—the much-discussed Shadow Lord.

Silver 207 gave a bitter smile. “If I’d known you had such powerful guards, I never would have accepted this contract.”

He could rack his brains forever and still never understand why assassinating an ordinary First Ranker had brought a Legendary-level protector into the picture.

Koen snapped his fingers. “It seems we’ve been having a pleasant conversation. If you’re willing to cooperate, I can spare your life.”

Silver 207 hesitated. “I actually know very little. Since you understand us so well, you should also know how our organization is structured.

“As a Silver-ranked assassin, the only people who contact me are the Agent, one Gold-ranked superior, and the few Bronze-ranked killers I recruited myself. There’s very little information I can provide. For someone like you, with a Legendary-level guard, it would be difficult for anything I know to have much value.”

Koen shook his head. “Whether it has value is for me to decide. All you need to do is tell me everything you know.”

Silver 207 sighed. “My superior is the Gold-ranked Rider. He recruited me a year ago.

“I heard that one of his Silver-ranked subordinates failed, so he urgently recruited me as a replacement.

“Since then, I’ve recruited five Bronze-ranked killers of my own. They’re all mercenaries or members of third-rate gangs. Other than that, there’s nothing else I can tell you.”

Koen raised an eyebrow. “Only a year? Does Gold-ranked Rider know your true identity?”

Silver 207 nodded uncertainly. “He should. When he recruited me, he came directly to my home. He must have investigated me beforehand.”

“Then you…”

“Of course I don’t know his identity. Since you understand the Black Tomb so well, you should also know that subordinates are absolutely forbidden from investigating anything about their superiors.”

“Then you at least know his profession and combat traits. I refuse to believe you’ve never gone on a mission together.”

Silver 207 hesitated for a moment before saying, “He’s a Dragonlance Knight. His mount is a Golden-ranked Storm Griffin.”

Koen exchanged a glance with Haoge. The latter committed the characteristics of Gold-ranked Rider firmly to memory.

“You’ve cooperated well. Now, one last question. Unlock your communication crystal for me.”

Silver 207 extended a hand, indicating that Koen should give him the crystal.

Koen chuckled. “You’re still trying to play tricks at a time like this? You think I don’t know there’s a concealed alarm mechanism in the crystal? Just tell me the password!”

Silver 207 fell into complete despair and obediently recited a string of numbers.

Koen unlocked the communication crystal, and a simple interface appeared.

Several menu options were displayed across the top: Contacts, Orders, Account Balance, Completion Rate, Approval Rating, and Feedback.

Koen opened the Contacts tab. There were only seven frequently used contacts.

They were the Agent, Gold-ranked Rider, Bronze 2071, Bronze 2072, Bronze 2073, Bronze 2074, and Bronze 2075.

Aside from the Agent, the other six were his Gold-ranked superior and the five Bronze-ranked subordinates he had recruited.

Koen opened the Orders tab, which was divided into Completed Orders, Pending Orders, and Voided Orders.

There was only one task under Pending Orders: assassinate the Shadow Lord, for a commission of five thousand gold coins.

Beside it was a brief description of the target’s appearance and strength.

Koen clicked his tongue softly. As far as he knew, an ordinary assassin usually received half of the client’s payment. In other words, the person who had placed this order had offered ten thousand gold coins for his assassination.

What an extravagant sum. It would be downright unreasonable not to meet a client that wealthy.

Beneath the Pending Orders section were two selectable options.

One was Abandon Mission. The other was Mission Completed.

According to Koen’s memories of his previous life, clicking Mission Completed would cause the communication crystal to create a temporary call window with the client under the Contacts tab.

The two parties would then use the conversation window to verify completion and transfer the commission.

Koen thought it over but did not select either option for the time being. He planned to wait until after tomorrow’s match before finding out exactly who was willing to spend ten thousand gold coins to have him killed.

He opened the Contacts tab and focused on the conversation history with Gold-ranked Rider.

Most of it consisted of discussions about missions and insights into cultivation.

It seemed that Gold-ranked Rider valued Silver 207 quite highly.

Suddenly, the communication crystal in Koen’s hand flashed. At the same time, a mechanical voice rang out:

“Your MurderMe account has received a new order. Please process it promptly!”

Koen’s gaze shifted. The Agent had sent him a message:

“Order Number: 063555803.

“Mission: Assassinate Donovan Weiss, leader of the Midnight Moon Gang.

“Strength: Third Rank, high Bronze.

“Time Limit: One month.

“Commission: One hundred gold coins.

“Do you accept?”

“The Midnight Moon Gang?” Nephthys spoke from nearby. “They’re a thieves’ gang from Florence, and they have a terrible reputation. It isn’t strange for someone to place a bounty on their leader. He probably offended someone.”

Koen nodded and selected Accept.

Soon, another task appeared under Pending Orders.

As long as a mission did not violate his principles, Koen had decided to accept as many as possible.

The Black Tomb also assessed its members according to performance indicators. The more missions one completed and the higher one’s approval rating, the faster one could rise through the ranks.

Those below Gold rank were merely grassroots employees of the Black Tomb. They had little autonomy and received very little information.

The Black Tomb’s recent encirclement of the Golden Wing’s daughter was a perfect example.

Koen had found no related clues or messages at all in this Silver-ranked assassin’s communication crystal.

Since he had decided to infiltrate the Black Tomb, he naturally had to be a diligent and ambitious employee.

After all, as the ruler of a nation, he inevitably had matters that could not bear the light of day. Having an identity within the Black Tomb would make dealing with such matters far more convenient.

Best of all, once the work was done, someone else would take the blame.

Moreover, aside from its assassins, the Black Tomb possessed formidable intelligence-gathering capabilities. That was even more important to Koen.

His brows drew together as his thoughts raced. A plan targeting the Black Tomb was rapidly taking shape in his mind.