Chapter 35: Ten of Diamonds

Jianquan Road is located in a suburban villa district.

Recently, major cities have begun to build city walls, mimicking the style of Bianjing. After a period of decline, the construction and civil engineering industry has once again become a hot sector.

As the vehicle moved along the highway, Felix roughly bandaged his wounds, enduring the pain as he drove. Being targeted by the Card Club was hardly a stroke of luck. The Ten of Clubs had wiped out an entire team of bodyguards single-handedly, and theoretically, there were fifty-three more such assassins out there.

As they neared their destination, Felix’s phone rang. He answered it, his expression turning strange, and then he handed the phone to the person in the backseat.

Jiang He took the call. A young man’s voice came from the other end.

"I am Dong Bing, a team leader from the Order Bureau."

"Mm."

Dong Bing: "..."

What the hell kind of "mm" is that?

"I'm not reporting for duty. My superiors have assigned me to keep an eye on your actions. The Order Bureau has always maintained a mild attitude toward neutral players. You only need to abide by three rules, and you can ignore us and continue completing your game objectives. However, one thing is worth stating first: any seemingly clever disguise is merely self-deception. Everything ultimately depends on whether it is worth investing the resources."

"The supernatural is an exception."

"Correct, but this is a collision between the old era and the new."

Dong Bing’s voice sounded again: "First, it is forbidden to harm innocent civilians. Second, the existence of the supernatural must be kept hidden. Third, it is forbidden to publicly use heavy weaponry or incite malicious supernatural evolution. As a friendly tip, the assassin who fired the shots, codenamed Ten of Spades, committed suicide a few minutes ago. In fact, a stable order is equally beneficial to you and me, and even to the entire player community..."

"We'll talk later."

Dong Bing: "..."

Brother, do you really think you're the one in charge?

Jiang He hung up the phone dismissively, his attention entirely on the villa in the distance. He recalled intelligence gathered at the Xuanbin Hotel: Rodliev had chosen to leave his homeland because of his unfulfilled ambitions, transitioning from a professor to an arms broker. The New Bay Group was his first deal; theoretically, he shouldn't have been living in a villa district, even if it was just the suburbs.

The call from Dong Bing of the Order Bureau only increased the likelihood of a confrontation ahead.

"Pull over to the side of the road."

Felix turned the steering wheel upon hearing this, suspicious. "You aren't planning to dump me here, are you? The Card Club still wants my life."

"I can only wish you luck."

Jiang He tossed him a handgun and proceeded on foot toward Rodliev’s villa.

"Damn it," Felix lamented, stumbling along behind him.

...

Rodliev’s villa.

The three-story underground space resembled a large library, with the ceilings completely opened up.

The blond youth who had attended the banquet sat in the main seat, frowning at the mission report.

"The Ten of Spades was hunted down by the Order Bureau; his death is understandable. But why did the Ten of Clubs also run into trouble? Is it my turn next, as the Ten of Hearts? Do you idiots think this is poker? You can't just play cards one by one!"

A dozen peripheral members trembled. Every time the Poker Assassins acted, observers were assigned. However, because the Ten of Spades had been surrounded by the Order Bureau’s drones at the factory stronghold, the Ten of Clubs had lost trust in their intelligence system.

At the same time, the monitors covering the villa went black. Some of these cameras were military-grade recordings from the secret sentries; the anomaly indicated that the stronghold was under a security threat.

The blond youth became alert immediately, pulling an assault rifle from an equipment case.

"Follow me. We have a situation."

...

Half an hour after leaving the car, in the villa garden.

A sentry hiding a gun at his waist fell backward, blood spurting from his throat. After a violent struggle, he slipped into hemorrhagic shock; due to blood blocking his trachea, he was about to suffocate to death.

Jiang He put away the tactical knife he had scavenged from the utility room, his camouflage blending perfectly into the night.

Two minutes later, the blond youth arrived with his team. The dozen peripheral members were well-trained, aiming their guns at curtains, rooftops, doorways, and bushes, establishing a fire perimeter.

A peripheral member, who also served as a combat medic, stepped forward to check the wounded man. His expression changed slightly. He shoved his finger into the wound to stop the bleeding, used a hemostat from the medical kit to ligate the vessel, and after clearing the airway with a suction tube, he turned and said:

"He can be saved, but we need to prepare for surgery immediately."

The blond youth fired a shot, blowing out the wounded man’s forehead.

"Don't waste time. Find the person who did this!"

The medic stood at a loss, his expression looking as uncomfortable and twisted as if he had swallowed filth.

As the team shifted their aim, the blond youth felt a sudden, intense sense of crisis. Instinctively, he dove behind his subordinates.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunflashes lit up the night. Jiang He, positioned at the base of the wall, held a gun in each hand. Bullets poured toward the blond youth, first shredding the subordinate used as a human shield, then turning the target behind him into a honeycomb. After emptying his clips, he released them, and as he gripped again, two new handguns appeared.

The counterattack had begun the moment the shooting started.

A dozen men pulled their triggers, a violent barrage of bullets raining down on their target. The invisible defense provided by the Dragon-Scale Armor from his equipment slot held for less than five seconds before collapsing. The Cyan Armor took its place.

Jiang He engaged in a firefight with the enemies. In those five seconds, his high agility gave him enough leeway to aim. After killing six people at close range, the counterattack fell apart, and the peripheral members retreated, seeking cover.

By the time Felix arrived, stumbling, the battle was over.

Jiang He drank a small healing potion. As the damage stopped, his invisible defense slowly recovered. He felt his stamina gauge draining; the intense shooting alone, through vibration and impact, had left him with severe internal injuries. The Dragon-Scale Armor did not possess significant energy-absorption properties.

He skillfully retrieved the playing card. The blond youth’s codename was the Ten of Hearts. With this, the Spades, Hearts, and Clubs had all been brought to light.

"Only the Ten of Diamonds is left, or perhaps... I am the Ten of Diamonds. Rodliev and the blond youth were both members of the Card Club, as was Ryan Augustus."

Jiang He walked into the villa to search and took a briefcase from his inventory. Its surface bore a red diamond pattern with a cross in the center—the same item he had found on the park bench when he arrived.

"The Card Club, at the employer's request, attempted to murder Felix. The ones executing the mission were Ryan and Rodliev. The two planned to use the weapon schematics to get close to the target under the guise of the Xuanbin banquet. This style fits the organization's approach, rather than shooting in broad daylight."

"But Ryan disappeared for unknown reasons; in reality, he became a death-row inmate. The documents were lost, Rodliev couldn't produce the bargaining chip, and even his identity had cracks. So the blond youth, the Ten of Hearts, replaced him as the new 'Ryan.' They continued as partners, which explains the photo with the same background but different roles—it was all a manufactured illusion, including the information on the school's official website."

"At the banquet, I reappeared. Rodliev refused to acknowledge me because the new Ryan had already appeared, but he didn't resist the attack, because I was an assassin of the same rank as the Ten of Clubs, who had the ability to wipe out a team of bodyguards."

"Missing for a month means losing the organization's trust, but the assassin's first shot wasn't aimed at me, because I might have been holding those weapon documents."

"But why kill Rodliev first, even at the cost of the mission? Logically, my appearance was the reason he was abandoned by the organization; otherwise, he wouldn't have attended the banquet."

"Simplifying the result: the priority of killing the traitor Rodliev was higher than the mission target. As for the reason..."

Jiang He found the passage leading to the underground library, and the answer was already in his mind: a traitor.

"Dealing with a traitor takes precedence over the mission. Ryan went missing, and his partner Rodliev was the primary person responsible. During the disappearance, they must have launched a search for organization members. Yet, before I summarized the four elements of surveillance, I appeared openly on the streets of the magic city."

"Unfortunately, reasoning without a complete chain of evidence is meaningless, but it led to one conclusion: I am here to kill Felix."

Jiang He found the personal safe of the organization member. It showed signs of having been opened recently. The input panel displayed eight digits. The note he had found earlier hadn't recorded a birthday, but a password.

1999.07.25

"Clang!"

The safe opened, revealing gold bars, U.S. dollars, handguns, ammunition, and other essentials, as well as a file folder containing mission reports. The records mentioned that Ryan had unauthorizedly changed the organization's planned strategy before he went missing, claiming he had absolute certainty.

Felix walked down, holding onto the stair railing.

Jiang He turned, symbolically drawing his Glock 17. Although he had more modern handguns in his inventory, he had grown accustomed to this one.

"A letter. Hand it over."

Felix did not panic. He raised his hands and replied, "I swear I don't know anything about this. Since I arrived in the magic city, I've received hundreds of letters and invitations. My assistants handle all of this. Give me the time it takes to make a phone call, and before dawn, the letter you want will be delivered to the specified location—provided it actually exists. Besides, I don't suggest we stay here any longer."

Jiang He nodded. There were ten bundles of U.S. dollars in the safe, each containing one thousand bills of twenty dollars, totaling two hundred thousand—clearly for emergency use. Now, he took it all. His inventory was cluttered with a large number of firearms and ammunition, making him look like a mobile armory.