Chapter 177
The four stood frozen in their respective places, still rational but emotionally charged.
Many plans that had been discussed and talked about on the way here flashed through my mind again and again, but I froze when I tried to do them.
Even He Muzhi, who was supposed to be in a dominant position in the Assassination before they arrived, did not make a sound in the communication connection that the four of them had temporarily established.
The four of them looked at Qin Su with complicated expressions, their breathing becoming soft.
1 second.
2s.
Time passed slowly, and apart from a brief sentence when he first told them his location, Qin Su n't give them a single glance until the suffocating silence reached its fifth second.
They didn't make any move, just indifferently playing with the Lighter, seemingly unconcerned about their presence.
Doesn't this mean they felt no threat from their arrival and didn't take them seriously at all?
Realizing this fact, the four felt a sense of frustration even before they began.
Moreover, compared to Qin Su, who was dressed in a crisp and clean military uniform, they had crawled and rolled through various traps and were now covered in all sorts of messy things, giving off an unpleasant smell. They were in a sorry state and unable to maintain their image in front of Qin Su, which added a touch of embarrassment to their already dejected state.
Seeing that his voice had successfully attracted the attention of the four people, Qin Su glanced at the mirror on the wall and saw them looking at him. He was very satisfied that the scene he had specially chosen had not been wasted.
Only...
Five full seconds have passed, why haven't they moved yet?
According to his prediction, the four men would be shocked when they first discovered they were Assassination targets, but the importance of completing the mission would outweigh the shock of his appearance.
After a brief moment of confusion, they will launch the first attack, and you will then be able to retaliate.
They engaged in a pleasant Assassination attempt that lasted approximately one hour.
The fact is that his judgment was wrong once again.
He was a little more important to them than he had imagined, so important that even though they knew it was just a drill, they extended the time they had to attack him to five... no, it's the seventh second now.
No one dislikes being valued, even by someone as despicable as him who secretly schemes against them.
Starting earlier will give them more time to practice and learn from each other.
Despite liking this moment, when the silence among the four reached its eighth second, Qin Su still chose to take the initiative and begin the Assassination.
"Everyone," Qin Su said, turning to face the direction of the kicked-open door, looking at the mist that had dissipated during their hesitation, while slowly lighting the candles on the candlesticks with a lighter in one hand. "What are you waiting for?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Su, who had been observing and skillfully controlling the distance between the candlesticks, had already lit all three candles.
There are lights here, and the candlesticks are merely decorative at the banquet. The candle section, which gradually tapers from bottom to top, consists of only a small piece, with the deep red, carved candle supported by the sharp, three-pronged tip of the candlestick.
As it burns, the wax flows down the conical, curved slope...
The four men's hearts tightened, and each instinctively gripped the most lethal weapon they could get their hands on.
The candlelight was brighter than the flickering light from the Lighter, making Qin Su's cold features beneath the brim of his military cap appear even more sharp.
Faced with this situation, the heavy, cold instruments in their hands could bring them some peace of mind.
But... from their respective perspectives, Qin Su's Lighter was gone, and facing the danger of Assassination, he showed no intention of touching any part of his body where he could carry a weapon. How could they... wait, why is Qin Su's hand moving...?
Whoosh--
Almost immediately after the four of them saw Qin Su's fingers suddenly move, a dark shadow shot towards He Muzhi at an extremely fast speed.
The candlelight went out the instant it slipped from Qin Su's grasp due to its excessive speed.
"Number 1!"
"Careful!"
Come here!
In the four-person Communication Channel, the urgent voices of the other three rang out.
In order to avoid revealing their names, the three of them had already agreed on temporary code names before they arrived: He Muzhi was number 1, Sophia was number 2, Sheng Shuang was number 3, and Jeffrey was number 4.
Although the attack didn't target the three of them, from where they were hiding, it was clear that the trident candlestick was thrown straight at He Muzhi's eyebrows and eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Qin Su could send someone flying in an arc a long distance with just a flick of his wrist. If Qin Su were serious, He Muzhi's head would be smashed by the three-pronged candlestick, which could even pass through He Muzhi's head and leave.
Although the three rationally believed that Qin Su would not actually use his full strength against them and would hold back, the sheer terror they felt upon witnessing this scene still caused them to emit sharp, explosive sounds.
After all, when they came in, He Muzhi had chosen a small, fan-shaped wooden door as cover to make the three of them safer. If it had been a thin wall or pillar like theirs, they wouldn't have been so terrified.
Unfortunately, Qin Su moved too quickly; almost as soon as they finished speaking, a muffled, penetrating sound rang out.
Bang!
Upon seeing Qin Su's movements, He Muzhi's pupils contracted, and his body instinctively shifted to the side, avoiding the position where the dark figure was attacking him.
Just as I sidestepped and pressed my body tightly against the inside, I saw the sharp trident candlestick pierce through the wooden obstruction and stop less than a grain of rice away from me, revealing its three sharp prongs.
As I watched the sharp object gleam coldly under the light, I simultaneously heard the faint sound of an unburnt candle flame falling onto the stall.
He Muzhi looked down and saw that on the other end of the wooden decoration, about one centimeter from the ground, were broken candle flowers.
Qin Su's battle record is verifiable. If he truly intended to kill, there's no doubt that the candlestick would pierce through not only the wooden obstruction in front of him, but even the wall behind him.
Now, the candlestick has only pierced through the wooden barrier, revealing three sharp tips that were originally intended to be aimed at his eyebrows and eyes. Anyone who knows Qin Su's true strength understands:
'Qin Su is deliberately showing him leniency.'
Qin Su's reason for doing this was obvious: although it was Assassination, it was just a drill, and he didn't actually want to take his life.
Isn't this a testament to Qin Su's near-abnormal control over his own power?
Bang bang bang...
Just as He Muzhi heard the sound of his heart almost leaping out of his chest, he heard Qin Su's familiar, cold voice again, coming from a distance.
Taking the initiative to end it, Qin Su watched as the candlestick completed its mission and disappeared into the wooden obstruction, then decisively lowered his voice to create the illusion of 'anger':
"If this continues, I can't guarantee it won't end up like this next time."
Despite his true skill level, Qin Su could only use strong, threatening language to coerce and entice the four people to attack him.
He needs four people around him to get things moving, and then he can handle things with ease. Isn't that a kind of strong "fearlessness in the face of danger"?
One second Sophia and the other two saw He Muzhi successfully avoid the candlestick, and the next second they thought of the same thing as He Muzhi. Then they heard Qin Su's warning, which was clearly cold.
'Qin Su is angry.'
"I understand. Qin Su must think they're not taking this exercise seriously, or even treating it like a game, which is why they're delaying their actions and displeasing him."
"!"
"..."
In a brief moment, the four of them had a jumble of similar but chaotic speculations.
[Holy crap, Qin Su is so cruel! He attacked A-Mu without warning, it scared me so much I almost had a heart attack!]
[Dead Hand? You can donate your brain if you don't need it. Anyone who knows the King Su knows that he has already suppressed his strength by billions of times.]
[There were clearly four people, so why did they target He Muzhi? He Muzhi is so pitiful.]
[Then let's have Jeffrey do it. If it weren't for valuing He Muzhi, why would we be finding time to train and assess him?]
[Jeffrey: Thanks for the invitation, but there's no need. I don't have such lofty ambitions.]
Qin Su: "..."
The reason for choosing He Muzhi was simply because he was the one who picked the best spot; among the four people's hiding places, only He Muzhi's cover was relatively "soft".
He wasn't using any technology yet, so his destructive power was naturally less than when he was using technology. How could he dare to try and pierce the wall with a candlestick without making contact?
He's just strong, not arrogant or unaware of his own limitations.
In this exercise, Qin Su was not worried about revealing his true strength. Based on his previous marketing experience, the exercise targets were He Muzhi and others from Class 6. In the eyes of others, these were the people he had high hopes for. It was an exercise, so even if his strength was greatly reduced at this moment, everyone would only think that he was deliberately controlling himself, concealing his true strength, and avoiding really hurting He Muzhi and others.
The scrolling comments confirmed his judgment.
Although the four of them couldn't see each other's eyes, they all heard Qin Su's warning words. He Muzhi quickly recovered from his chaotic emotions and focused all his energy on the battle.
Even without Qin Su getting serious, he almost had his head physically ripped off. He didn't want Qin Su to get serious, because even Spaceship couldn't withstand it, let alone them who weren't even wearing protective Combat Suits.
For their own sake, they still... tried their best to take immediate action, thus silently pleading with Qin Su to maintain the current level of pressure on them.
"Plan A, commence operations!"
The instant Qin Su's threatening words fell, He Muzhi seemed determined not to truly anger Qin Su and to maintain Qin Su's good mood. He quietly gave the order over the Communication Channel and led the way by throwing a black object toward Qin Su's location—a miniature bomb.
Under normal circumstances, anyone who encounters a bomb attack will subconsciously be drawn to the bomb being thrown at them, thus temporarily losing sight of their surroundings.
From the 2nd to the 4th, we took this opportunity to reach the planned station.
In other words, with the Assassination target at the center, the four of them surrounded Qin Su from all sides and launched long-range attacks on Qin Su from different directions using Firearms.
Having overcome numerous difficulties to reach this place, they had very few weapons left, making it impossible for them to simply and brutally suppress the enemy with firepower. They could only use them sparingly and prudently.
Based on the rank of the officer's uniform Qin Su was wearing, this Assassination simulation was clearly an Assassination against a high-ranking Federation officer. In such a setting, the fact that they, as the ones carrying out the Assassination mission, were allowed to bring weapons in was an unparalleled 'gift' compared to a real officers' banquet.
When he and his grandfather attended similar banquets, people like them, who were 'waiters', would be thoroughly searched from head to toe.
The knives, forks, and drinks at the banquet are most likely the weapons they use during their mission.
Qin Su's deployment of them, right up to the Assassination, involved demonstrating the importance of the plan by showcasing and sending out instructions from previous stages.
Throughout the journey, although they talked a lot before they came, they communicated their plans for Assassination targets Optical Brain.
Apart from the four who made it to the end, no one knew the details of each of their plans.
The three Sheng Shuang them silently agreed in their hearts. The moment He Muzhi threw the bomb, they each quickly slid past from different positions in their own way.
They all tried to minimize their presence, using the noise they made to attract Qin Su's attention...
Qin Su didn't even glance at them as they moved.
They did see the bomb being thrown at Qin Su the moment it was launched. He calmly watched the bomb being thrown at him, his right hand touching something on the table without even looking.
Immediately afterwards, with a swift and decisive flick of Qin Su's arm, something flashed through the air.
Clang--
The object Qin Su threw made a crisp sound when it collided with the contact explosive bomb in mid-air.
Boom!
Before the three reached their respective targets, they heard the bombs explode in mid-air due to collisions, before they could hit Qin Su or the ground.
In the instant the dazzling white light exploded, they finally saw clearly that Qin Su Qin Su had thrown out Lighter.
The explosion occurred prematurely. He watched as the Lighter was engulfed in white light. Qin Su did not look at the place where the explosion occurred in the air, but instead remained in his own position from beginning to end. He Muzhi's heart clenched. He met Qin Su's indifferent gaze through the exploding bomb and forced himself to calm down as quickly as possible. He rolled towards the spot where Sophia had just taken cover.
They did not touch the transparent strangulation line that Sophia and the other two had set up on the ground when they separated.
As he rolled around, He Muzhi thought Qin Su would calmly watch him jump around, but unexpectedly, Qin Su moved...
"?"
What is Qin Su going to do?
Despite repeatedly telling himself not to get distracted, He Muzhi, still in a state of turmoil, couldn't help but try to guess what Qin Su was doing.
The three men, who had already arrived at their respective positions and were anxiously awaiting He Muzhi's signal to launch an attack, were also completely bewildered.
Qin Su was exhausted to find that, although he used to secretly sow discord among the top performers of Class 6) when they were divided into groups, when it came to times when they needed to work together, they still subconsciously let He Muzhi be the leader.
A little emo didn't stop Qin Su from walking steadily towards the chosen spotlight, which was under the largest black and gold crystal Chandelier in the banquet hall.
Seeing that Qin Su had deliberately exposed himself to positions where he was more vulnerable to Assassination, He Muzhi: "..."
'As expected of Qin Su, so arrogant!'
It had only just begun, and he had already experienced two setbacks, completely unable to predict Qin Su's actions.
Clearly, based on the setup of the officers' banquet and judging by Qin Su's shoulder insignia, someone of his rank was permitted to carry weapons.
Qin Su clearly had no intention of using weapons; on the contrary, he was deliberately courting death, displaying provocation and arrogance.
In addition, Qin Su's earlier threat to take action made He Muzhi particularly concerned.
A thought involuntarily crossed his mind: 'If their Assassination attempt manages to force Qin Su to use the weapons he's carrying, could it at least somewhat alleviate Qin Su's disappointment in them?'
During the nearly four hours of 'peeping', not all the images were shown to Qin Su in detail.
Having successfully exposed himself to the chandelier during their actions, Qin Su calmly considered the information that the four people's movements could provide.
They only dropped a bomb to draw his attention. Normally, Sophia and the others would have been in position, providing fire support for He Muzhi. However, they didn't provide any fire support at all.
His stinginess is just like when he first came to the Comic World; it's obvious that it's due to a lack of weapons.
Having confirmed from the side that the four could not bring in many weapons, Qin Su secretly relaxed a little.
Qin Su couldn't help but wonder what kind of encirclement and annihilation they would launch against him, given their lack of weapons and the fact that they were surrounded on all sides.
The moment Qin Su finished thinking, He Muzhi arrived at Sophia's hiding place in less than a second. Without any delay, he emerged from behind the Roman column in a rolled-up position and launched an attack on Qin Su under the crystal Chandelier without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The micro- Particle Bullet from the barrel and flew straight towards Qin Su's head.
'Every strike should be aimed at a fatal point; this is their highest form of respect for Qin Su's teachings.'
He Muzhi acted immediately upon landing. Faced with mortal danger, Qin Su had no intention of approving of He Muzhi's actions.
Qin Su's ears twitched, and he heard the faint light from the fingerprint sensor that activated the weapon before firing. Having anticipated the attack direction, Qin Su stopped almost immediately beneath the crystal Chandelier. Without even glancing at He Muzhi, who was about to pull the trigger, he easily dodged to the side.
Sophia and the others finally received He Muzhi's 'instructions' and, without the slightest hesitation, immediately launched an attack on Qin Su's location at the same time.
As the Particle Bullet hurtled past him, Qin Su noticed something bright flashing briefly at its tail under the intense light.
"?"
Something's fishy.
Qin Su suppressed the urge to frown, maintaining his 'indifferent face' as he faced the attack launched from three sides by Sophia and the other two, whose approximate location he already knew. He pressed his right hand on the rectangular table.
Under the bright crystal chandelier, Qin Su used the force of pressing down on the table to easily flip over it, avoiding the three bullets that were about to hit his position.
While supporting himself on the table with one hand, Qin Su remembered what he had just seen. Knowing that the slightest carelessness could cost him his life, Qin Su dared not be careless. Without hesitation, he used the brief moment of evasion to remove his military cap with his other hand and toss it towards the spot where Sophia and the others' bullets had passed through and converged...
In the instant three bullets swept past, Qin Su saw out of the corner of his eye that his military cap had been cut into several pieces by something, and it fell as his feet landed.
Holy crap, that pose is so cool!
Am I the only one who finds the sight of the military cap being torn to pieces and falling to the ground with the Boss 1 incredibly exciting?
[His insight is incredible. I never expected that He Muzhi and his group, who seemed so honest and simple, were actually so cunning. I wouldn't have been able to see through them at all. If they really thought this was Assassination, it would have to be Qin Su; anyone else would probably have fallen for it.]
[Where did you get this? I haven't seen it before.]
[Jeffrey salvaged this from a weapon; it could easily slice through human flesh and flesh.]
Qin Su: "..."
That's ruthless.
If he hadn't been so observant, things would have really gone wrong later.
With that thought flashing through his mind, Qin Su landed without hesitation, grabbed a chair with one hand, and slammed it down heavily in Jeffrey's direction.
He Muzhi and his group could use bombs to distract him, and he could use the same commotion to divert Jeffrey's attention, thus thwarting their plans.
Sure enough, because the weapon was too precious, and out of instinct, the moment Jeffrey saw something flying towards him, he thought of Qin Su's strength and dodged to the side without any hesitation.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qin Su suddenly moved towards Jeffrey's location.
Bang bang--
During that time, several more bullets rang out behind him.
Qin Su carefully examined it.
From the sounds of the bullet leaving the barrel, the destructive force upon contact with the target, and the area of damage caused, he could roughly determine what weapons the four men were using.
When Jeffrey came to his senses, he looked up again and saw Qin Su standing beside him. Jeffrey was about to do something, but before he could do anything, his wrist, which was gripping his weapon, suddenly ached.
At internal banquets held between different Military Districts on various planets, over 90% of the attendees wear their respective uniforms, which are one of the symbols of their power.
In the blink of an eye, Jeffrey was stunned by Qin Su's cold, condescending demeanor, the black muzzle of his gun pointed at him. He deeply felt the chilling sensation that came from the intertwining of power and death that swept over his entire body.
Just as Jeffrey thought Qin Su was about to do something to him, he saw Qin Su's hand, which was holding the weapon, move. Jeffrey instinctively closed his eyes.
[Are you serious?]
[Oh no, no way! Are they serious? Qin Su isn't really going to hurt Jeffrey, is he? Help! I can't take it anymore, I'm too scared to watch! Waaaaah, I'm so scared I'm incoherent!]
[I was so nervous! Even though I thought it was fake, my heart was still pounding. I was really worried for Jeffrey.]
Clang, clang...
The expected gunshot did not come. Jeffrey opened his eyes and saw the magazine fall in front of him.