Chapter 649 (1/2)

It was supposed to be so easy, Naffur Suite reflected. He was shaking.

In order to pay off his debts, he had taken a job for the Haveheights to help rob the Manhattan Building. During the monthly Lottery, where a lucky few would get the chance to audition before the elites of the Orchard, he would slip away from the action and cause a distraction for the guards. The Haveheights, who were waiting outside, would use that time to attack the bank and steal enough money that Naffur wouldn’t need to worry about his gambling problem.

Everything had been going fine. Then Naffur had gone downstairs and found a man dead and a temporary portal already set up. He had punched a woman, and from the reverberations through his fist, probably broke her jaw. A man had fired a plasma weapon at him-

Ding.

The elevator reached the upper floors and the doors slid open. A few of the people who were gathered for the Lottery gave Naffur a casual glance, and then generally looked at him again with sharper eyes.

‘Ah, I’m still wearing the mask.’ Naffur thought. Just as he brought his trembling hands up to remove the mask, the floor in front of him erupted in a plume of plasma. Four figures leaped up from the floor below to the penthouse, each with a plasma rifle and a power suit.

Screams cut through the previously peaceful penthouse ballroom and the few spars that were occurring froze as they gazed wide-eyed at the new arrivals.

“Everyone stay still and there will be no problems.” The tallest of the four arrivals said. He was standing with a green visor, obscuring most of his face. “Bring us Senator Firefly and the rest of you can go free. He needs to pay for his crimes.”

Before the leader even started to speak, Naffur felt his instincts kick into overdrive once more. He scrambled back towards the elevator, but there was a burst of plasma there too. A wave of force exploded outward from the elevator shaft and knocked Naffur off his feet. He crashed to the ground as his body twisted in an agonizing position. With a cold snort, the man that had been with the woman Naffur had punched pulled himself out of the elevator and scanned around.

Seeing Naffur, he sneered and then ignored him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Feign Injury is now Level 51!

Once more, the reminder of the type of Skills that Naffur possessed filled him with a sense of helpless frustration. He wasn’t a coward. He was…

“If you don’t cooperate, we aren’t afraid to resort to force,” The leader said, giving a meaningful look to the hopeful poor populace of the Orchard. The plasma rifle in his hand was heavy and smoking. The powerarmor he was wearing was clearly top of the line.

But Naffur…

His hands trembled as he quietly got to his feet.

Congratulations! Your Skill Skulking is now Level 45!

Naffur might not be a hero. But right now, he wasn’t himself. All that he had to do was channel the Ghosthound on the cheap mask he was wearing. The eye flashed emerald as he closed the distance to the man who sneered and walked past him. With his Skulking Skill, Naffur didn’t make a sound as he approached. He was still some distance from his fellows and was beginning to walk around the hole that they had made to leap up to this floor.

Naffur used Intrepid Hammer and smashed his fist directly into the critical machinery for the power armor on the small of the man’s back.

Congratulations! Your Skill Intrepid Hammer is now Level 3!

Congratulations! Your Skill Intrepid Hammer is now Level 4!

Congratulations! Your Skill Intrepid Hammer is now Level 5!

Congratulations! Your Skill Ambush is now Level 36!

Congratulations! Your Skill Cheap Shot is now Level 41!

The man squawked awkwardly as he was taken by an almost overwhelming force in the small of his back. Naffur’s hand immediately throbbed painfully, as he effectively had punched steel as hard as he could. But he had cracked the machinery and sent the man flying forward.