Locke hung up the phone decisively and drained his glass in one gulp.
Good grief.
You can't afford to mess with the Roman Brotherhood? Fine, I can understand that. But Locke Broughton is an outsider in this entire incident. Dragging him into it—that is where things go wrong.
What kind of ghost logic is this.
Locke narrowed his eyes, his thoughts turning rapidly. When he first met Victoria Knox, he was in the starting phase. Some equipment required buying on credit, and Victoria happened to appear at that time.
Out of trust, Locke had given Victoria some information as well.
Namely, Locke.
If Peerless breached their contract, she could go look for Locke. Locke was his "little friend"—a piece of ambiguous information like that.
Back then, at the start, Victoria wasn't some angel investor, and he didn't want to sell his body. But Victoria needed a guarantee. So, giving up some information was a certainty. Again, nothing is free.
If it is, there is definitely a massive trap involved.
Victoria...
You betrayed my trust.
So.
The Roman Brotherhood is going to come looking for me, planning to use me as a breakthrough to find the Peerless Assassin?
Just then.
[Ding!]
As soon as the thought arose, the system appeared directly to provide ample power to Locke's ideas, letting them race and surge.
[Mission Generating!]
[Prerequisite Mission: "Assassin's Creed"]
[Mission Completion Reward: "Achievement Points * 1000", "Potential Points * 1000"]
[Mission Description: "The assassins from Rome seek their lost Golden Apple. But for the player, what has reached the player's hands belongs to the player. How can others be allowed to overstep!"]
[Mission Remarks: "This mission can unlock a long-term mission chain. Naturally, the player can decide whether to choose short-term rewards or long-term rewards. The specific activation method is up to the player's own choice."]
[Mission Remarks: "Tell them the Brotherhood is no longer the Roman Orthodoxy. Now, the Roman Orthodoxy lies with Locke!"]
[Accept/Decline!]
"..."
Good grief.
Locke looked at the bolded and enlarged "Roman Orthodoxy lies with Locke" in the mission remarks, and his brow twitched.
This is another title, isn't it.
[Title: Destiny is Mine (Obtained in the Wanted Order mission): Wearing this title allows you to be called Destiny. A Destiny Player possesses peerless luck, but there is a probability of attracting the hatred and suppression of the Destiny of this location (Current probability: 100%!)]
Because of this, after obtaining that title, Locke had chosen to hide it immediately.
One hundred percent suppression?
Locke liked excitement, but he didn't like looking for trouble. If he could develop quietly and steadily, wouldn't that be better?
And now comes another title.
"Roman Orthodoxy lies with Locke." Locke didn't know what the effect of this title was yet, but he figured it certainly wasn't anything good.
He estimated that if he wore this title, the entirety of Europe would probably come looking for trouble with him.
After all...
After the fall of Rome, every single small European country claimed to be the Roman Orthodoxy.
Mhm.
It was similar to how after Lü Bu died, so many guys popped up saying "this boy's bravery is not inferior to the Marquis of Wen."
I don't want to be a superhero, but I didn't plan on becoming a supervillain either.
Locke always felt this damn system was leading him down the path of a supervillain.
Fortunately, he was clear-headed.
Not all players like to wear titles over their heads regardless of whether they are good or bad once they get them. Some whale players like nothing more than hiding all titles and walking around as a "White Name."
This isn't playing the pig to eat the tiger; it's just a preference for a quiet and peaceful game life.
Locke was that kind of player.
However...
Locke sighed and accepted the mission: "Others are already knocking on the door. To keep hiding wouldn't be called steady; it would be called being weak and easy to bully."
Then let them come.
Who's afraid of who!
"Perfect."
Locke took out the leaf-less Golden Apple, seemingly thinking of something: "It's quite timely. I can use this Golden Apple to make a move and completely cut the tie with the Peerless Assassin."
Although Locke had appeared on the same screen as the Peerless Assassin before, that was on surveillance footage.
While the NYPD might not necessarily suspect his identity, those guys in the dark world who follow a different set of game rules might let their imaginations run wild with suspicion.
This is a good opportunity.
Perfect.
He could use energy to manifest an energy clone. Over the past few days of playing with it, he had moved from being unskilled to being able to multitask. When the time comes, he would let the Peerless Assassin and Locke appear on the same screen together, completely destroying the notion that Locke is the Peerless Assassin.
"Can unlock a long-term mission?"
Locke noted the remark on the mission, feeling somewhat curious: "So, does this count as a main storyline mission?"
...
New York, S.H.I.E.L.D., Operations Command Center.
"What?"
Nick Fury looked at the video report from his deputy at the Prescott organization and said in a heavy voice: "How could you possibly let Victoria escape?"
Damn it. When he came to New York, he had arranged the highest-level detention cell for his former No. 1 Agent.
Even there, Victoria managed to run?
The deputy on the other end nodded and transmitted the surveillance footage over, then looked at Nick Fury and said: "Sir, there is a very high possibility that those who rescued Victoria are from the Roman Brotherhood."
"Reason?"
"The people who rescued Victoria did not trigger any alarms. By the time our people discovered it, Victoria was already gone. Except for those Brotherhood assassins who can practically turn invisible in plain sight, no one could have done this."
"..."
Nick Fury frowned incessantly, watching the transmitted surveillance: "What do those assassins, who have been dead for so many years and suddenly resurrected, want with Victoria?"
The surveillance footage showed internal base scenes with no apparent abnormalities.
But...
As one camera after another was disabled, not a single one could capture what was destroying them. By the time the surveillance came back online, the various base agents were seen collapsing to the floor with a thud.
"Are they all dead?"
"No."
The deputy at the base took out a gadget resembling a poison needle: "They were all anesthetized. It seems those assassins are quite clear that they aren't willing to form a deep grudge with us."
Nick Fury grunted: "Unwilling to form a deep grudge, yet they treat my ironclad base like their own backyard. That's not a deep grudge?"
The base deputy said nothing.
Nick Fury didn't bother to say anything more. The incident had already happened; pursuing the reasons now was too late: "Resume the search for Victoria Knox."
Motherfucker??
Are they playing leapfrog with me?
Finally caught Agent No. 1, and Agent No. 83 ran away.
Now that he finally found traces of Agent No. 83, Agent No. 1 ran away again?
***
Read 30 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666