The First Order

Chapter 976: Friends forever

Translator: Legge

As Ren Xiaosu strolled around Luoyang City and watched the streets that Jiang Xu might have walked before, his mind could not help but wander.

Who could have killed Jiang Xu?

'Was it Wang Shengzhi?' Ren Xiaosu pondered.

To Ren Xiaosu, Wang Shengzhi was his benefactor for saving his life before. Based on his understanding of Wang Shengzhi, even though he would resort to any means to achieve his goals now, he was still someone who had a bottom line.

Of course, this was only his judgment. In the end, Ren Xiaosu would still have to base it on evidence.

Then could it be Zero? Ren Xiaosu pondered for a moment. Based on the level of sapience Zero had attained so far, it could very well be doing a lot of things behind Wang Shengzhi's back.

Zero would also have a motive. That was because in Zero's opinion, it was impossible that humans would allow other intelligent species to coexist with them. Moreover, Jiang Xu was the one who was most against the artificial intelligence and had an extremely influential effect on others.

Now that Zero had the nanomachines to enable it to carry out its plans, it had instantly become a very dangerous being.

Although Zero claimed it only had that small quantity of nanomachines that were in Mo Fei, who knew if it was lying?

After all, Zero could even deceive its "father," Wang Shengzhi, so what was the big deal with lying to Ren Xiaosu?

No, Ren Xiaosu had a niggling feeling that something was not right.

He cycled through his memories to find some clues. Yes, Ren Xiaosu finally knew why he felt that something was amiss.

When he killed the sniper on the rooftop, the sniper had been receiving his orders and instructions through his earpiece. If it were a soldier under the control of Zero using the nanomachines, there would not be a need for the earpiece at all since Zero could just control him directly.

And when the black-clothed hitmen encircled him to kill him, many inevitable openings in street battles still appeared despite how meticulous they were in their operation. This was the reason why Ren Xiaosu was so fearless right now.

It was not that the hitmen were not elite, but that no one could execute a theoretically perfect plan during an actual battle since all kinds of accidents were bound to happen.

But if it were Zero controlling those people, they would never have made so many mistakes. Because if Zero ran the show, it would have absolute control over them.

So then, if it was really not Zero or Wang Shengzhi who was responsible, who else could it be?

Now that Jiang Xu had died, everyone in the Alliance of Strongholds was probably enraged by the Wang Consortium. Who would benefit from such a situation?

The Qing Consortium? The nanomachines that appeared in Stronghold 61 had also pointed to the Qing Consortium as a suspect.

Ren Xiaosu felt a chill run through him. If it were really Luo Lan and Qing Zhen who were behind this, that would make him really sad.

However, he firmly believed his judgment that Qing Zhen and Luo Lan would not do such a thing.

The black-clothed hitmen who had been chasing after Ren Xiaosu probably did not expect he would still be in the mood to consider other matters while they were pursuing him closely.

When Ren Xiaosu came back to his senses, the black-clothed hitmen had fully surrounded him and tried to kill him again.

A moment later, Ren Xiaosu picked up his pace and accelerated. The black-clothed hitmen in front suddenly appeared from the street corner. But before they could shoot, they saw a black barrel held in Ren Xiaosu's hands.

A bullet was fired through the falling rain and hit a hitman between his brows.

As Ren Xiaosu had been fighting with his bare hands earlier, the black-clothed hitmen had nearly forgotten he could actually use a gun as well.

In fact, Ren Xiaosu was very fond of using guns, and his Master Firearms Proficiency would easily put him several levels above these hitmen.

He finally arrived at National Treasure Garden on Peony Avenue, a well-known affluent neighborhood in Luoyang City, with some of the villas in the district center greatly sought after by the rich and powerful in Luoyang City.

Ren Xiaosu disappeared into the main entrance of the neighborhood wearing a black rain poncho. The black-clothed hitmen standing outside hesitated for a moment before new instructions came through their earpieces. "He can't escape. Encircle him and kill him."

The black-clothed hitmen scattered in all directions outside the neighborhood. After that, they entered together by scaling the walls, vowing to surround Ren Xiaosu here.

A hitman's voice rang out in their earpieces. "Target has entered Villa 27. I repeat, the target has entered Villa 27."

The black-clothed hitmen sneered. Now that Ren Xiaosu had gone into a villa, he had better not think of ever coming out again. Their killing intent surged in this moment. By the time the several hundred hitmen had completely surrounded the place, even a single round of gunfire would be enough to turn any superhuman in the world into Swiss cheese, especially when the other party was only a single individual.

On the boulevard of the neighborhood, the hitmen quickly assembled into several dozen combat formations and rushed towards Villa 27.

A fine drizzle fell from the sky, and raindrops landed onto the leaves of the trees on the sidewalk.

A dark killing intent refracted through the water droplets that had gathered on the tip of the leaves.

The hitmen trampled through the puddles on the ground, splashing the water under their combat boots. They exchanged tactical hand signs with one another as they completely surrounded Villa 27.

It was so empty in the villa that it seemed like no one lived in it. When Ren Xiaosu looked around the house, there was not even a sofa to be seen.

There was the unusual sound of water splashing outside, which Ren Xiaosu knew to be the sound of the hitmen moving around.

However, a solitary metal alloy box measuring a cubic meter in size had been left in the house. It looked like the box was plated with a special metal that shielded it from any outside detection.

Ren Xiaosu walked up to it and saw a note placed on the silvery box:

A gift for Ren Xiaosu, my good friend. May our friendship last forever.

—From Luo Lan.

Ren Xiaosu laughed. That fatty had left such a corny note for him that totally felt out of place with the current situation.

The dampness of the rain and the earthy scent of the soil refreshed the mind. On a rainy day like this, one oughta kill some enemies.

Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu pressed the button on the metal box. When the box slowly opened, the voice from the palace rang out:

"Nanomachines not paired to a consciousness have been detected. Would you like to establish a connection?"

"Yes," Ren Xiaosu answered.

"Rebooting…"

"Resetting to factory settings…"

"No backdoor program has been detected…"

"Pairing successful."

Ren Xiaosu threw his black raincoat on the ground and turned around to face the killing intent that was surging outside. The silvery nanomachines flowed affectionately within Ren Xiaosu's body like a torrent.

It was as though the long-awaited cuties had inherited their predecessors' will as they formed a solemn-looking external armor around Ren Xiaosu.

With every step Ren Xiaosu took, the armor became more and more complete. Meanwhile, his killing intent became more intense.

Before this, Luo Lan said he would arrange for a batch of nanomachines to be escorted from the Southwest to Luoyang City and that Ren Xiaosu could come and retrieve them at any time he needed them. This was a gift from the Qing Consortium, and Luo Lan did not break his promise.

Ren Xiaosu realized this batch of nanomachines did not even have a backdoor installed.

He had reached his peak state and was ready to start killing some people.

In that instant, the agile and sturdy armored being smashed through the villa's door and rushed out.. Only when the hitmen saw this did they realize who they were hunting today.