Chapter 19 - 17: Assassination Target

Chapter 19: Chapter 17: Assassination Target

Third floor of the Guard Corps Building, public rest area — a designated recovery space for test subject soldiers. Most of them were under strict orders: no more than six hours of rest per day, with the remainder of their time spent on patrol and Fallen Species extermination missions.

Yin Zhen found a single room tucked away in the farthest corner. It was tiny — just a narrow metal cot and a sink, enough to cover the basics.

At least the door could be locked from the inside, and there were no security cameras. It offered a little more privacy than the rest quarters back at the company lab.

She locked the door, downed a thousand milliliters of blood plasma, and stretched out on the rock-hard bed, letting the warmth of the liquid spread through her body, seeping into every muscle and bone.

She closed her eyes and opened the forum.

[Invasion Game Forum · Ancient Abyss]

[Members: 7]

[Threads: 2]

Yin Zhen focused on the new post. It was from "Naming is Too Troublesome" again.

[Intelligence Digest · Night City Edition (Ongoing Updates)]

— by Naming is Too Troublesome

Hey everyone, I’m back.

This time I’ve compiled intel on the Night City side of things. Let me lead with the big one: the Eternal Council.

Based on everything I’ve been able to pull from public sources, plus some inside information through my own private channels, I have to be straight with you — unless you’re the protagonist with plot armor, I genuinely do not recommend going after the assassination target this round.

Those old bastards are not easy to kill.

The circles they move in are completely inaccessible to ordinary Blood Clan members — you’d need noble status just to get through the door.

On top of that, they’re all surrounded by heavily capable guards, and their vehicles are bulletproof. And if things go south, they can turn into bats and vanish in a heartbeat.

About seventy percent of the Eternal Council’s chief elders come from three families: the Dracula family, the Saint family, and the Cavendish family.

The Dracula family — hardcore war hawks, the ruling power of Blood City, and the real force behind the Guard Team. They have S-Class powerhouses on their side, and every single one of them lives for a fight.

The Saint family — tech reformists. Not a purely pureblood house, but they run Night City and founded the Saint Group. They don’t have any S-Class fighters, but they control the most cutting-edge technology and Weapons in existence — even the Dracula family gives them a wide berth. Because no matter how tough your body is, it won’t survive a direct hit from an Electromagnetic Cannon.

The Cavendish family — neutrals and conservatives, mostly settled in neighboring Moon City. They come across as perfectly pleasant, but they’re easily the most calculating bunch of the lot — the true core of the Eternal Council. Most of the family possesses Spiritual Control Extraordinary Power. The peace and stability within the Blood Clan has always been maintained by the Cavendish family.

Every last one of those political players is rotten to the core.

Setting aside the seventy percent who are genuine Pure Blood Nobles, the rest of the council’s miscellaneous members are scattered outside Night City, Moon City, and Blood City. I don’t have the channels to dig into them yet. All I’ve heard is that the cities beyond the three major ones are absolute wastelands — total chaos.

But!

That doesn’t mean there’s no opening. I’ve identified two people worth keeping an eye on.

First: Adeline Cavendish.

The only daughter of the current Cavendish family patriarch. She’s young — she fell into a coma after the Blood Plague outbreak twenty years ago and only woke up six months ago. Her abilities and experience are nowhere near the older generation’s.

She’s just been assigned to the Night City Guard Team as an Inspector General. Apparently, every council elder has served as an Inspector General for one of the three major cities’ Guard Teams before joining the council.

So Adeline is almost certainly a council elder in waiting.

Things to keep in mind: Adeline will definitely have guards around her at all times, the Cavendish family’s Spiritual Ability is a nightmare to deal with, her specific ability type is currently unknown, and killing her as a candidate elder might not even count as completing the mission.

Second: Lucia Dracula.

Commander of the Night City Guard Team’s Third Brigade, codename "Bloodthorn." A-level Extraordinary Ability — she can manipulate her own bones and reshape them into White Bone Thorns. Her combat power ranks in the top ten of the entire Guard Team.

Under normal circumstances, assassinating her would be pure fantasy.

But one week ago, she led the Third Brigade on a Deep Sea Mutant extermination operation along the West Coast and sustained severe injuries. She’s currently missing.

She’s probably receiving secret treatment somewhere, or lying dormant.

Six months ago, an elder noble of the Dracula family was taken out by the Rebel Army, and Lucia stepped in to take his seat on the council. If you can track down her location, she might just be the easiest target of all.

That’s everything I can offer.

Is there really nobody willing to meet up with me in person?

I look way better as a Blood Clan member!

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Current viewers: 6

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["Winter Night Fire" liked this post, "Want to Eat Mao Xuewang" liked this post, "Want to Kill Someone Today" liked this post, "Signal" liked this post]

After adding her own like, Yin Zhen suddenly realized that aside from "Naming is Too Troublesome" himself, the only one who hadn’t liked the post was "Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence."

Had they just not seen it yet?

She didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she stared at the name "Adeline Cavendish" in the post for a long, silent moment.

Meanwhile.

Inside the Guard Team Inspector General’s office.

Adeline was leaning back on the sofa, massaging her temple with two fingers. She let out a short laugh — the kind you couldn’t help when something was infuriating enough to be funny.

After a moment’s thought, she set down the stemmed glass of crimson liquid in her hand and sent a private message to Naming is Too Troublesome through the forum.

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: Hey there, Mr. Too Troublesome — want to meet up? I’d love to see just how good-looking you claim to be.

...

The next day.

Yin Zhen walked straight to Adeline’s office.

Adeline was lounging on the sofa, a stemmed glass in hand, the crimson liquid catching the light as it swayed gently. Outside the window, neon lights bled through the glass and scattered across her in shifting patterns of color and shadow.

"Made up your mind that fast?" She set down the glass and sat up straight. "Stick with me, and you will die."

"You die no matter who you follow." Yin Zhen held her gaze.

Following Adeline was dangerous, yes — but it came with real opportunities.

Adeline was a Pure Blood Noble. That meant access to higher-level information and more resources for getting stronger.

More importantly, she was the prime candidate for this round’s assassination target.

Even if day seven came and Adeline hadn’t formally been inducted as a council elder, as long as Yin Zhen could get her hands on Adeline’s blood — or any Pure Blood Noble’s blood — and achieve resonance with one of their offensive Extraordinary Powers, it would already be a massive gain.

Just using Transformation to turn into a cat wasn’t going to be enough to take down Sheng Yehan and settle that score.

She still needed a killing move.

Walking away from an opportunity this good just out of fear of dying — that was something she’d never be able to forgive herself for.

Everything else, she’d figure out as it came.

Adeline studied her for three full seconds.

"Test subjects aren’t supposed to have ambitions. They’re supposed to obey. But you’re different — I noticed that. The kick you used to save Alei wasn’t obedience. It was judgment. When we were fighting together in those ruins, there was something alive in your eyes. Not survival instinct. You wanted to win."

Yin Zhen’s pupils contracted slightly.

Adeline was very good at reading people.

"Ambition isn’t a bad thing." Adeline rose and moved to the window, gazing out at the neon lights that never went dark. "I’m an ambitious person too."

Yin Zhen said nothing.

Adeline turned around, a faint curve at the corner of her lips.

"Go pull the car around, bodyguard. We’re heading to the West Coast Pier — I want to see how the Deep Sea Mutant cleanup is going."