Chapter 145 The Road to BOSS (1/2)
Li Yalin's eyes lit up. She was very certain that Black Phantom was Han Xiao. Curious about what happened to him after he left Division 13, she looked past her annoyance with Di Su Su and asked her eagerly, ”What was he doing when you met him?”
”At that time, his code name was still Mr. Black, a Scorpion-level assassin, who was involved in a defense mission in Seagull City with the leader of the Dark Net.”
Li Yalin pumped her intently for more information. ”Have you heard anything else?
Di Su Su raised her eyebrows. ”Why are you so concerned?”
”I'm curious about him,” Li Yalin explained. She felt that there must have been a deeper reason for Han Xiao becoming Black Phantom. He would not have exposed his identity easily.
Curious? Oh no, that would usually be the first step to the beginning of a love story. We must kill that possibility in its cradle. Di Su Su's eyes froze but her smile remained. She said slowly, ”Oh, I got some information about Black Phantom from a female assassin with codename Golden Fox…”
Five minutes later, the listening crowd was staring with glazed eyes, trying their best to process the huge amount of information.
Lin Yao trembled with fear. At some point in time, Lambert stopped wiping his blade.
Lin Yalin mumbled under her breath, ”No wonder he had no physical urge when he was touching me…”
Hou Yue swallowed dryly and told himself that he would hide away if Han Xiao ever returned to the team.
”When you meet him next time, be careful.” Di Su Su chuckled, got up, and sashayed away, leaving the group staring at one another.
Zhang Wei coughed. ”He is our teammate after all. Don't discriminate against him.”
Everyone nodded hesitantly in agreement.
Zhang Wei coughed again as he continued to write the report. However, the news was unsettling. He could not ease his mind to focus fully on his report but pushed on nonetheless. As soon as he was done, he got up to look for his Commanding Officer. After submitting his report, he requested to speak to the Secretary.
After a few minutes of waiting, his request was approved, and the video communication was put through. The bald head image of the Director of the Secret Service appeared on the screen. Zhang Wei went straight to the point and said, ”We saw Han Xiao.”
The Director of the Secret Service was surprised.
Since the last tip off, Han Xiao seemed to have vanished from the face of earth. He could not be contacted no matter how they tried. Although Division 13 had stopped their search for Han Xiao, they were still very curious about his whereabouts.
The Director of the Secret Service said in a serious tone, ”Go on”.
Zhang Wei phrased himself carefully and explained how they had discovered that Black Phantom was Han Xiao.
The Director of the Secret Service had initially thought that Zhang Wei had seen Han Xiao with his own eyes. Little did he know that it was only a speculation without hard evidence. He stared blankly for a moment before he muffled a chuckle and replied, ”You… must have confused the two people.”
How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? One was a super assassin in the Dark Net Organization with an extraordinary level of combat capability. Although Han Xiao had demonstrated his capability previously, he was far weaker than Black Phantom. This guess was just too far off the mark!
The Director of the Secret Service was really amused. He almost blurted out that Han Xiao was Zero, but he stopped himself. The bureau had tight confidentiality rules that prevented him from disclosing Zero's identity to others.
Even though Han Xiao's whereabouts were highly erratic and unpredictable and the Germinal Organization was greatly undermined, hence there was probably not much of a need to conceal Han Xiao's identity, rules were rules.
After all, Han Xiao had been known as a field agent all this while. Concealing his identity could reduce the risk and lessen the trouble. Even though the Germinal Organization knew that Zero was liaising with Stardragon, they had not been able to find Zero all this while. Thus, the Director thought there was no need to let Zhang Wei in on this information.
Zhang Wei had never seen Han Xiao's real appearance, so he could not have found out that Han Xiao's true identity was Zero.
”Um, regarding Han Xiao's real identity… He cannot be Black Phantom.”
Zhang Wei stared blankly. He thought, perhaps, that this was a hidden message from the Secretary, for him to stop being nosy about this issue. So… Han Xiao was most likely sent out by the higher-ups on a special mission, which would explain why he needed to conceal his identity.
”I understand,” Zhang Wei replied with a knowing nod.
The Secretary was puzzled.
What do you understand? Strange…
…
Stardragon's Division 13 sorted out all the reports and intelligence information and handed the final document to the Seven-Seat Committee. The Committee held a meeting to sort out all the important issues that needed to be discussed, and finally, there was only the issue regarding Black Phantom left on the table. All six knew Black Phantom's reputation on the Dark Net. The discussion was more focused on how they should treat Black Phantom.
”He offered a helping hand, but it could have been at the Dark Net's request or because of his own personal decision.”
An elder knocked on the table top and said slowly, ”The Dark Net came to us previously. They are going to start the shelter program, so they are requesting our aid. So, this should be a friendly gesture from them.”
The members nodded in agreement. The Dark Net had always remained a neutral party. If this was a sign that they are leaning toward the Six Nations, it would definitely be a good turn of events. The Seven-Member Committee quickly concluded that it would support the Dark Net's shelter program and approved their request for material aid. This was their opportunity to return the favor and win them over.
After the meeting was over, Gu Hui and Elder Gao pushed open the heavy door of the conference room and walked down the quiet empty corridor side by side, discussing a separate issue in a hushed voice.
”Have you gotten any other news about Han Xiao?”
”He has not been seen ever since he gave us some intelligence two months back.”
Gu Hui shook his head. Han Xiao was the person who provided the information. Division 13 was eager to get in contact with him again, but he was not picking up the calls nor answering any messages. As if he had vanished off the face of the earth, he was completely off the grid. No one was aware of his whereabouts or his plans.
Gu Hui's heart sank as he recalled Han's scrupulous nature.
Please don't be wreaking havoc again…
As for Zhang Wei's speculation, Gu Hui had only heard from the Director of the Secret Service who briefly mentioned it. Without any real evidence, he would not be too bothered. How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? His looks and combat capability were just not comparable.
Zhang Wei did not know Han Xiao's real identity, so he was blindly guessing, but Gu Hui was aware that Han Xiao was Zero. Their intel was asymmetric; that was probably why it caused a misunderstanding.
…
Information was updated on the Dark Net, and some of the information regarding the Battle of Tedramira River was circulated out. Most people were worried about the volatility of the situation, as if the dark clouds of war were looming on the horizon once again.
The information contained news of Black Phantom's involvement in the fight. Many forces were very concerned regarding the actions of this super assassin. It was apparent that Black Phantom was an extraordinarily powerful Mechanic. There were quite a number of powerful Espers and Pugilist, but Mechanics with high combat capability were rare. Black Phantom should be added to that short list of powerful Mechanics.