Chapter 466 3: New Talent, Barbarian

[#Hidden Streamer Killed by Celestial Hunter!]

[#Thirty Years Later, What Level Has Celestial Hunter's Strength Reached?]

[#Celestial Hunter Wanted by Rebels]

The communicator projected a magnetic light, hanging in mid-air within the room and forming a light screen. Various trending threads from the Dark Web were displayed on it.

"It caused quite a stir," Lu Chao muttered. He took a single glance before looking away, entirely unsurprised that the truth behind Hidden Streamer's death had been exposed.

After all, commission tasks revealed specific details, and the Alliance Country had intentionally publicized the matter. It was clearly meant as a warning to discourage any third party from stepping forward to assist the Rebels.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lu Chao logged into his Dark Web account.

[Alliance Coins: 20 Million]

[Points: 60,000]

The task reward for dealing with Hidden Streamer had already been credited to his account the day he left the Red Maple City Circle and the Southern Wilderness. The Dark Web acted swiftly, evidently taking special care of the Celestial Hunter identity.

Furthermore, due to a unique rule on the Dark Web—where assassins could challenge one another and usurp rankings regardless of point disparities—the name "Celestial Hunter" had once again entered the assassin rankings, directly taking over Hidden Streamer's thirty-first place.

Glancing at it, Lu Chao wasn't particularly interested. However, as he looked at the message box, he noticed notifications for several unread messages. Opening them, he found that they were all from the same nickname.

[Grey Feather: Have you left Red Maple?]

"Not again," Lu Chao muttered, slightly narrowing his eyes in guarded suspicion.

He rarely logged into the Dark Web, but almost every time he did, this person would discover him immediately and send an inquiry.

He wondered, "Could it be an executive of the Dark Web?"

It wasn't a baseless speculation. Only an insider with access to the Dark Web's backend could pull this off. With this in mind, Lu Chao pondered for a moment before deciding not to reply. He couldn't be sure if the other party knew the real Celestial Hunter. If they discovered he was an impostor, their attitude might turn malicious.

Thinking of this, Lu Chao closed the messages one by one and looked at the final one. It was a message from Robert.

It had arrived on the day the mission involving Hidden Streamer ended, but he hadn't had the chance to read it closely while traveling. He had logged into the Dark Web this time specifically for this matter.

BUZZ!

He immediately clicked to view the message. The corresponding information quickly surfaced, popping up in the center of the light screen.

***

At the same time, the moon hung high. The Red Maple City Circle was also cloaked in night, dotted with stars.

Screens across various blocks were broadcasting news of a phased victory in the war, alongside the latest announcements from the City Lord's Mansion. The Platinum Hotel, located in the center of a bustling district, was no exception.

Many guests had gathered in the first-floor lobby, looking at the floating light screen above the front desk while chatting and discussing the news. Some assassins hid among the crowd, sipping their drinks and lowering their heads to join the trending discussions on the Dark Web.

"M-Madam."

Meanwhile, in a hidden room on one of the hotel's underground floors, Hel, the manager in charge of this location, stood awkwardly by the side of a bar counter.

Looking in that direction, one could see a grey-haired woman in a suit sitting on the only leather stool in the room. She seemed to be playing with her communicator, having just sent a message.

"His last appearance was in Crow Valley?" she asked calmly.

Even though she exuded no intimidating aura, it still prompted Hel to nod respectfully and hurriedly explain. "Yes, Madam.

"Mr. Celestial Hunter personally killed Hidden Streamer and several Law Enforcement Officers of the Rebels at the time.

"Because of this, he confronted the Rebel leader, which led to him being wanted by the Rebels..."

Hel honestly relayed all the information he had gathered, not daring to hide a single detail. The grey-haired woman fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, stopping her fiddling with the communicator.

"Putting a bounty on someone from our Dark Web... These Rebels are certainly getting too big for their boots," she said coldly.

The air in the room suddenly stiffened. Even as an Exploration Level expert, Hel felt a mental pressure that left him somewhat breathless.

Eventually, the grey-haired woman spoke up abruptly. "I recall that quite a few mission commissions concerning the Rebels were recently withdrawn, weren't they?"

Hel was briefly stunned, but his expression soon shifted slightly as he realized her intent.

"Madam, the council specifically instructed us to avoid getting involved in this war as much as possible. You see..."

"Are you saying that those old fogeys' words carry more weight than mine?" The grey-haired woman tilted her head and glanced at him, her expression placid.

Under the invisible pressure, Hel's heart trembled, and he felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

"I wouldn't dare."

"I thought as much." Her tone flat, the grey-haired woman retracted her gaze and picked up a glass of red wine in front of her. "From now on, all commissions will proceed as usual."

Downing the wine in one gulp, she set the glass down with unquestionable authority. "Let me see how long these Rebels can hold out."

***

[Two A-rank missions. It seems your strength is at least at the Exploration Level.]

The pop-up message hovered in the center of the light screen. Lu Chao scrolled through Robert's message, feeling a hint of surprise. If he didn't know that Robert had already left Earth Star, he would have suspected the man was monitoring him.

[Hehe, you must be suspecting me.]

[However, the principle is very simple. I set up some conditions that would only trigger once you successfully assassinated an Exploration Level target.]

So that was it. Lu Chao finally understood and shook his head helplessly. He was gradually sensing Robert's little hobby of playing tricks on others.

[With less than a year between the two missions, your improvement speed must be quite fast. You are very talented in Life Energy development.]

[In that case, I only have one final request.]

Scrolling to the bottom of the information on the light screen, Lu Chao's gaze hardened as he read the final line.