Chapter 287: Ch-287: Cipher

In the nick of time, the host waved her hand, and a large, thick vine appeared and intercepted the red beam.

The guests had nearly been startled out of their wits, but upon seeing the vine in front of them, their complexions returned to normal. They shot grateful looks toward the host as they warily looked at the place where the beam had come from.

"The ones hiding should come out now," the host shouted in a voice full of killing intent. Following her words, a few figures walked out without saying a word.

"Who are you people?" the host inquired with a frown upon seeing a few masked individuals arrive. "Immediately open the gates, or you will face the consequences."

They did not reply at first, their eyes sweeping across the crowd, before one of them said, "No can do. You are going to stay here for some time, at least until we deal with our objective."

"Heh, as if we are going to let you do whatever you want." The host snorted and signaled the guards to attack them. However, before the guards could take a step forward, the intruders flexed their auras.

VIP Box

"Who are they?" Olivia muttered as she shielded Rachel. She saw a few individuals wearing white robes and masks emerge from the darkness, engaging the staff and flexing their Tier 0 auras.

"Crazy bastards, they dare!" Andrew’s face darkened when he saw them shooting more red beams of light randomly across the venue under the panicked looks of the guests.

One of them even targeted the VIP Box, but Olivia calmly waved her hand, and a layer of ice blocked it.

"Olivia, Andrew... look," Rachel said. Both of them looked over at Rachel and saw her pale face as she pointed toward the place where another group had emerged.

Their pupils constricted when they saw new figures appearing. Recognizing the symbol on their robes, they said through gritted teeth, "Cipher."

"Should have expected it... They are so audacious," Andrew said in a grim tone.

Cipher was the largest criminal organization in the world, and even before the game was released, they had been active and had assassinated many important people. Even the top families had few of their members killed, and they would target anyone if the price was right. In fact, after the top families had their members assaulted, they would pay them tributes so that they would not be targeted. That’s how dangerous Cipher was.

"You bastards, what kind of sinister intentions do you have to attack this place?" the host said in anger, but more than anger, there was nervousness and fear in her voice. Not only her, but the entire crowd was looking at the members of Cipher with pale faces.

"Wait, why is Cipher here?"

"Damn, I shouldn’t have come here."

"Shit, shit, looks like I am going to die today."

"You don’t need to know about our plans. Just stay here while we complete our task and try to survive." As soon as one of the members of Cipher said this, every masked figure soared toward the auction hall, most of them heading toward the VVIP boxes.

VIP Box

"I did not expect Cipher of all people to be attacking this place... No, I should have expected it," Victor mumbled after he knocked Athena unconscious, and he looked at Amber’s confused face and Valerie’s pale face.

Victor saw a few heading toward his direction and immediately retrieved a dagger when he saw a blur.

Bang!

The two masked individuals were flung against the wall, producing two muffled impacts as Victor directly kicked them in the face. The individuals fell from the wall, groaning in pain as they knelt on the ground.

Crack!

A cracking sound echoed across the venue as their masks split in half.

Step. Step.

Suddenly, Victor’s eyes snapped toward the stage as he sensed a strong presence arrive.

A handsome middle-aged man with long black hair stepped onto the stage, and Amber’s eyes widened in shock.

"That’s a Tier 2 expert," Amber exclaimed in shock, and Valerie, who heard her words, immediately looked at Amber with bulging eyes as she said with disbelief, "Are you sure he is Tier 2? That means he is stronger than you, and why did I not see his name on the list?"

Victor looked at Valerie and replied, "He probably did not enter his name on the list."

"Huh, there was an option like that? I did not know," Valerie blinked, genuinely surprised, and then added, "But he must be stronger than you."

"Not necessarily," Victor replied calmly.

For example, Amber’s name was not on the list, as she was not a player to begin with, and when she came to his world, she got the option but declined. If she had accepted, her name would be above Faceless, but that does not mean she is stronger than him. The player ranking list is based mainly on level.

"Hey, who are you?" one of the Awakeners shouted.

"Oh, my bad. How rude of me not to introduce myself," the man said with a chuckle and then bowed as he replied, "I am Brandon, the humble leader of Cipher."

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was an eerie silence before everyone broke into an uproar.

"What? The leader of Cipher?"

"Holy shit, are you the first ones to know his name?"

"Damn, who cares about being the first one? I would rather be the last one than be in the same room as someone this dangerous."

"Brandon," Victor said in a whisper. He recognized him instantly, as he was ranked in the top 5 Leaderboards in the player ranking and was the greatest player killer. He had killed numerous high-ranking players and NPCs in his past life and had one of the deadliest elements as his Bloodline: poison and venom.

"Please be silent, everyone. I have an announcement to make. If you interrupt, I can’t guarantee you will remain alive. I will be quick," Brandon said with a smile, and everyone present shuddered and fell silent.

"I don’t know if any of you noticed, but I am already Tier 2," Brandon said, and everyone’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

VIP Box, Hayes Booth

"Impossible." Mathew gritted his pearly teeth and said, but he could not deny the aura on his body.

’Even Faceless is not that strong,’ Mathew thought as sweat trickled down his forehead, thinking about the consequences of someone having this kind of power.

The next words that left Brandon’s mouth not only had Mathew constricting his pupils to the size of needles, but even the other two heirs felt their hearts in their throats.

"I can also help others quickly level up, and one of the recent additions to Cipher is none other than Young Master Julian Walker."

VIP Box, Scarlet Booth

"No way..." Ellie’s jaw dropped to the floor upon seeing Julian walk up to the stage. He never imagined the heir to the Walkers would join a criminal organization.

"Something is wrong with him." Ruby frowned as her gaze narrowed on the thin layer of black mist on his body.

"Impossible. Young Master Julian, please tell me this is a joke." A man in a butler uniform, Julian’s butler, ran toward him and said with a pale face.

"No, it’s true, and if you want, you can join too," Julian said indifferently.

"What a great idea. The offer also extends to everyone else here. Anyone who joins Cipher right now, I will personally guarantee you reach Tier 1 within a week," Brandon said with a charming smile.

Even though many were tempted, no one moved, as they did not trust them and did not want to become criminals overnight.

"I see, it’s a shame," Brandon said, seeing no reaction, and then said with a malicious smile, "In that case, enjoy my gift."

Woosh!

Instantly, a thick purple mist of poison erupted from Brandon’s body as he was followed by Brandon toward the exit.

"Ugh." The moment the poisonous mist touched the butler, he choked on his sleeve and dropped dead, as he was the closest to the mist.

"Wait!" Valerie shouted and was about to attack.

In the next moment, when Valerie was about to attack him, she suddenly felt her head spinning, her vision becoming blurry, and her body losing strength.

Victor turned to look and saw that Amber beside him was also clutching her head, looking quite abnormal.

He looked at the others in the crowd and saw many unexpectedly sitting down on the ground. Likewise, they appeared to be acting strangely.

"How are you both feeling?" Victor asked Amber and Valerie.

"We have been poisoned," Amber said as she shook her head, struggling to stay conscious, her expression unusually serious.

"Damn it, I didn’t expect him to have this Vicious Bloodline. The space here has been sealed, and they might have released poison gas into the air," Valerie said. She was faring much better due to being farther away.