Hooked

2024-08-18

Chapter 415 Taking the Hook

The Yuan Cultivation Society was efficient; it didn't take long for Captain Cheng to receive a reply. Thanks to his special privileges, Xiao Zhang not only obtained the passenger list for that flight but also attached photos to it.

Captain Cheng immediately handed the phone to Xing Yang. After looking at it, Xing Yang's eyes lit up, and she zoomed in on one of the photos.

"That's him!"

Upon closer inspection, Xingyang pointed out a scruffy, thin, blond man. According to the information, his name was Verosi Rebott, and he was from the state of Montenegro in the United States.

"The name and identity must be fake," Michelle said, looking at the photo. "At least I've never heard of him with that name."

"Having photos makes things much easier!" Captain Cheng immediately sent the clues he had obtained back to the branch. Next, relying on the Yuan Cultivation Society's capabilities, as long as they accessed the surveillance equipment throughout Ningdong, they would surely be able to find any trace of this man.

In addition to surveillance, the branch will also issue bounty notices on the forum, Cultivators in Ningdong to search for the attackers' whereabouts.

"Thank you both so much for the clues!" The investigation had made significant progress, and Captain Cheng was very excited. "I will report this to the organization and commend you both for your cooperation."

"A commendation is fine," Michelle said, "But I have a favor to ask."

"Miss Michelle, please go ahead." Captain Cheng was in high spirits.

"Could you mention in the forum post that I provided the crucial clue?"

"Huh?" This suggestion was unexpected by Captain Cheng. Generally speaking, for such a vicious wanted criminal, the person who provides the clues would not want to reveal their identity in order to avoid retaliation.

"Miss Michelle, this might put you in danger," Captain Cheng said.

Michelle shook her head. "Don't worry, I have my reasons for doing this. I just hope Captain Cheng can help me with this."

"That's no problem..." Captain Cheng frowned. "However, for your safety, we hope you can come to our branch... Of course, we will also invite Mr. Charles and the others back to reality..."

"No need..." Michelle waved her hand and said, "I'll just stay in my room. If it's convenient, it would be best to have the guests on the upper floors of the hotel leave. We don't need the Yuan Cultivation Society's protection... Our Hell Creek Family has its own way of handling things."

There's no problem with that. In fact, since the attack this morning, to prevent the attackers from returning and causing more casualties, the floors above the Twentieth Floor of the New Lake Hotel have been emptied. Only the rooms of Xing Yang and his daughter, as well as the Hell Creek Family, are still occupied. As for the floors below the Twentieth Floor, many more Yuan Cultivation Society security guards have been added to keep watch.

After everything was settled, Michelle left Xing Yang's room and returned to her own Room 2212.

After locking the door, the Red Hair Woman sat on the bed with her legs spread apart, her posture casual, completely lacking the reserved and ladylike demeanor she had shown before.

"Pretending to be a woman is really tiring... I'm always afraid of being found out..."

Michelle sighed, touched her face, and ultimately didn't tear it off.

That's right, Michelle, who had already lost her equipment, couldn't possibly be brought back to life. The Red Hair Woman in the picture is actually Luo Jun in disguise.

Based on what Captain Cheng just said, it can be basically confirmed that the attacker was arranged by the Hell Creek Family.

Luo Jun originally thought that even if the Hell Creek Family investigated, they would first have to deal with the Yuan Cultivation Society through official channels. Even if they used some tricks, it would take some time before they actually investigated him, at least several months later.

But to my surprise, this Lineage across the ocean was incredibly efficient; they actually sent an assassin the very next day—and he was a lunatic who attacked anyone he saw without a word...

Putting aside the fact that this guy was after him, even from the perspective of protecting his hometown, Luo Jun didn't want to let such a foreign madman run rampant in Ningdong.

He initially deduced that, given his demonstrated strength in eliminating Charles and the others without leaving a trace, the person the Hell Creek Family had arranged this time was definitely not weak. After communicating with Xing Yang and Captain Cheng, he could basically confirm that this was a Peak!

What a grand gesture! Sending a Peak expert right off the bat? Forget Ningdong, how many Peak Expert does the entire Zhendan even have?

Our Master is still in [Utopia], and there should still be two Peak in Ningdong: Dean Su and the president of the Ningdong Branch!

That's right. Old Yuan's position in the Ningdong Branch was that of a leader, in charge of public security. In terms of rank, he was the Vice President of the branch. There was also a branch president in Ningdong.

However, according to Luo Jun's understanding, this current president is actually far less senior than Old Yuan in the association, and his time at the Peak was not long. It's just that Elder Old Yuan found being the president troublesome, so he gave up the position. In fact, whether in terms of strength or prestige, this current president is no match for Old Yuan.

Dean Su's status is special, and he cannot easily leave the academy. This president is said to be rather weak, so it would be difficult to expect the Yuan Cultivation Society subdue this attacker. There might even be a lot of casualties.

After much deliberation, Luo Jun decided to use himself as bait to lure the madman out.

He took out his phone and browsed the forum. Before long, he saw the official bounty notice for the attacker.

The bounty notice emphasized that this person was suspected of possessing Peak strength, and warned Cultivators not to act rashly, but to claim the reward for providing any clues.

Most importantly, the reward notice concluded with a special thank you to "Miss Michelle" for providing the clues.

Very good... Luo Jun nodded. All he had to do now was wait.

Since Captain Cheng mentioned that the attacker had entered this room, it's highly likely that he used the Dust of Replication to examine the scene.

The other party was there specifically to investigate the cause of death of Charles and the others. The Hell Creek Family was powerful and wealthy, and Luo Jun didn't think they would be stingy with a powerful investigative tool like the Dust of Replication. Charles's room had Soundproof Barrier that interfered with his work, but Michelle's room didn't... Fortunately, Luo Jun was cautious enough. When he killed Michelle, he used Ailongtan, who was wearing the Anderson mask, to open the door. He then followed her in while invisible. When he finally made his move, Luo Jun was still wearing the Midnight Mask, so his true identity was unknown.

Of course, the Midnight Mask feature will still remind people of the Night's identity... However, judging from the attacker's choice to attack Xing Yang, it seems they chose the wrong direction.

He believed that Night's true form might be Xing Yang? That's unlikely. His choice of Xing Yang as a target suggests he had some understanding of her. Considering her abilities and the timing of her appearance, Xing Yang and Night couldn't possibly be the same person... So the only explanation is that, as a foreigner, the attacker simply didn't recognize Night and mistook her for Xing Yang in a mask?

This is good news for Luo Jun. Even with his identity as Ye, it would be very troublesome if he were targeted by a behemoth like the Hell Creek Family.

Regardless of the circumstances, the attackers must have witnessed Ailongtan replicating Michelle's face. Now, if they know Michelle has returned from the dead and provided clues for her capture, they will undoubtedly believe that this Michelle is the murderer who killed Charles in disguise!

Given this guy's crazy nature, he'll definitely come to check the situation, and Luo Jun just needs to wait here for him to come to him.

Of course, he wasn't just sitting there waiting idly.

Luo Jun first took out the Soundproof Barrier Emitter, activated it, and placed it on the ground. Then he snapped his fingers, and the figure of Ailongtan appeared in front of him.

That's right, the High Priest had actually been hiding behind him the whole time. Of course, his Invisibility Technique wasn't as effective as the Assassin's Cloak, and to avoid being spotted by experts like Xing Yang and Captain Cheng, he didn't dare follow him into the room. That's why Luo Jun himself was the one impersonating Michelle to extract information this time.

"Master, what are your orders?" The High Priest bowed respectfully as soon as he appeared.

"Just sit on the bed and wait." With that, Luo Jun took out Assassin's Cloak, put it on, and activated invisibility. The two of them seemed to be passing the baton, one appearing and the other disappearing.

At this point, it appeared that only Ailongtan remained in the room, waiting for orders.

Time ticked by, and after about three hours, a figure suddenly appeared in the room. Tall, with a thin face, blond hair, and a stubble beard... it was the attacker!

The moment he saw this person, Ailongtan became alert and immediately channeled his energy to attack. However, Nikolai was faster. He rushed forward, grabbed Elontan by the neck, and slammed him onto the bed. The force was so great that the bed collapsed. With a crack, Ailongtan was completely buried in the sheets.

"It really was you... Tell me, where's the masked guy who was with you? Did you kill Charles?"

This guy speaks standard Federation language, but others can immediately understand his meaning, so he must have a Noble Phantasm that can translate.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about... Who are you?" Ailongtan, whose neck was being choked, could barely breathe and asked with difficulty.

"Charles is my brother, and I'm here to avenge him!" Nikolai tightened his grip. "Tell me, where is your companion?"

"Here!" Before he could finish speaking, Nikolai was suddenly struck hard in the side. To his surprise, a woman appeared, with red hair and freckles on her face—it was Michelle! At that moment, she held a rusty dagger in her hand, which was plunged into his side!

"This is... Richard's knife?" Nikolai recognized the Kai Ren Qi that had attacked him, and was also surprised by the opponent's strength. It had actually broken through his protective aura and protective magic weapon, penetrating so deeply that it had even damaged his internal organs!

Sensing the threat of death, Nikolai's body suddenly began to Transformed Form, and he quickly retreated to the side, smashing through the room's window with a crash and leaping out.

At the same time, a notification sounded in Luo Jun's mind, "Failed to kill the attacker. Gained 1 Experience Points point."

Although it was a sneak attack, killing a Peak was not easy. Luo Jun had already thrown a failed attack before making his move, but in order to achieve the greatest result, he still chose the Kai Ren Qi as his weapon!

That last strike, combined with the random bleeding effect from the Kai Ren Qi and the poison effect from the Assassin's Cloak's Breakthrough Strike, applied two layers of debuffs to the attacker!

But this attacker was not easy to deal with. As it flew out, it had already transformed into a pterosaur. However, there was still a clear wound on the giant beast's abdomen that was bleeding, and bluish-black traces of poisoning could be seen around the wound! Under the influence of the double negative effects, the pterosaur was not very good at flapping its wings, and coupled with the fact that it was flying rather hastily, it swayed a few times in the air.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Luo Jun rushed out and crashed into the pterosaur in mid-air, grabbing its neck with both hands and trying to break it!

Seeing that things were going badly, the attacker dove towards the ground, changing his shape in mid-air as he did so. His body expanded and transformed into a giant carnivorous dinosaur. The neck that Luo Jun had been holding onto turned into the tip of a tail, which he swung violently, sending the attacker flying.

With a loud crash, the giant dinosaur crashed onto the green space in front of the New Lake Hotel, creating a large crater. Grass and shrubs scattered everywhere, frightening passersby who scattered in all directions. Several cars on the road swerved to avoid the chain reaction collision, and the vehicles behind them changed lanes and honked their horns, plunging the road into chaos.

"What fell down?"

"It looks like a dinosaur?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Dinosaurs went extinct a long time ago, I think it's a monster!"

"What monster? Probably some kind of promotional statue for the hotel..."

Pedestrians gathered around, and even the people involved in the accident forgot about dealing with the situation and rushed over to watch the spectacle. To their astonishment, a giant dinosaur crawled out of the crater. It was thirty meters long, with a huge head and thick hind legs, looking like a Tyrannosaurus Rex magnified several times. It opened its blood-red maw and roared at the crowd, blowing its foul-smelling saliva all over the faces of the onlookers!

Only then did everyone realize that what they were seeing was a real monster, and they all fled in terror. But just then, a figure flew through the air and kicked the giant dinosaur in the head!

Thump!

With a deafening roar, the massive head exploded from the kick, sending the entire body flying through the air. It rolled several times on the grass before coming to a stop, uprooting a large patch of turf.

Looking at the figure again, it turned out to be a young foreign girl with red hair!

"Superwoman?"

"What Superwoman? She doesn't even have a cape, this is clearly Wonder Woman!"

"Wonder Woman should have black hair, and Scarlet Witch should have red hair!"

As onlookers saw the dinosaur being kicked away, they fled for their lives while simultaneously turning back to take photos and videos with their phones.

As for Luo Jun, he had no time to care about these reckless onlookers. He stared intently at the giant dinosaur in the distance. Just now, he felt its aura rise another level, and its body began to wriggle. Clearly, it was about to transform into an even stronger form!

(End of this chapter)