Top Secret, So Top Secret

Zhang Yang held his breath, his muzzle tracking the stairwell.

Sure enough, a moment later, a young man appeared in Zhang Yang's crosshairs.

"Die."

The M14 in Zhang Yang's hands erupted with a rapid-fire string of shots like popping beans.

"Who is... Ah!!!"

The piercing gunfire rang in his ears, causing the man to shudder violently before the barrage of impacts forced him into an unstoppable retreat.

Then, his strength drained away in an instant.

Enemy attack!

The man realized this, but there was nothing left for him to do.

"Defeated [Tang Chuan]"

The soul master's body vanished, transforming into a crate.

"...Whew." Zhang Yang let out a long sigh, clenching his left fist.

"Gotcha!"

"Searching: Tang Chuan"

Zhang Yang ran to the crate and reached out.

The crate opened, and the search interface popped up.

First line, Martial Soul: "Clear Sky Hammer", "None".

"Clear Sky Hammer? Another solo-assault brother from the Clear Sky Sect, Tang San style." Zhang Yang curled his lip.

Zhang Yang had played thousands of matches in Confidential Mode; he had memorized every type of enemy that could spawn on the maps.

In low-pressure matches, squads usually had ordinary Martial Souls, and their team compositions weren't particularly logical—sometimes you'd see three assault types, other times three agility types.

In high-pressure matches, you'd find solo "Tang San" types with top-tier Martial Souls, such as disciples from the Clear Sky Sect or the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family.

Additionally, Zhang Yang had encountered combinations of White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat.

As for squads, they were guaranteed to bring an auxiliary-type soul master, such as one assault, one control, and one auxiliary, or perhaps two assaults and one auxiliary.

Furthermore, Zhang Yang had encountered escort teams. Of course, "escort team" here specifically refers to two assault soul masters protecting an auxiliary soul master whose Martial Soul is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

After all, in the entire Douluo Continent, no soul master is better suited to be a "boss" than a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Among them, the solo-assault "Tang San" brothers from the Clear Sky Sect were Zhang Yang's favorite type to kill.

First, they had no teammates, so killing them guaranteed temporary safety in the area.

Second, they were easy to kill. Since Zhang Yang held the Lord M14 and fired first, the solo-assault brother basically couldn't fight back before turning into a crate.

Third, the Clear Sky Hammer is a tool-type Martial Soul, meaning the soul master has lower health; it takes one less bullet to kill them compared to a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul master of the same level.

The Lord M14 in Zhang Yang's hands only held 10 rounds when fully loaded, so every single shot was vital.

Of course, it was precisely because Zhang Yang had mastered this pattern that he had completed Season Mission [Letter of Allegiance] 1, 2, and 3 quite early.

After [Letter of Allegiance] was finished, the subsequent missions were much simpler.

"[Action Plan 6: Alternative Resources]"

"Mission Briefing: Soul beast resources are limited. Martial Soul Hall has always advocated that soul masters should kill fewer soul beasts and be cautious when doing so. But in order to obtain powerful strength, some things must be done."

"※ In any map type, accumulate 999 Ten-Year Soul Rings. (0/999)"

"※ In any map type, accumulate 99 Hundred-Year Soul Rings. (0/99)"

"Action Reward: Current Level 3*3 Secure Container Trial Card *1"

"[Action Plan 7: Regional Overlord]"

"Mission Briefing: The influence of Martial Soul Hall lies not only in the number of Titled Douluo but also in the control over territory. How can one allow others to snore beside one's bed?"

"※ In any city-type map, accumulate 9 kills of map bosses. (0/9)"

"Action Reward: Current Level 3*3 Secure Container Trial Card *1"

Zhang Yang had already completed both of these missions.

He clicked on the Clear Sky Hammer, and the detailed menu appeared.

"[Clear Sky Hammer]"

"[Image]"

"Soul Ring Configuration: [Yellow] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty] [Empty]"

Zhang Yang casually dragged the yellow soul ring from the first slot into his backpack.

Instantly, his warehouse inventory increased by [Hundred-Year Soul Ring]*3 and [Ten-Year Soul Ring]*1.

This was something Zhang Yang had discovered by accident a while ago.

The system seemed to treat Martial Souls as melee weapons and identified soul rings as attachments for firearms.

So, spirit rings can be eaten, but martial spirits cannot.

It's a real pity; if he could, Zhang Yang would really like to test the feel of the Clear Sky Hammer.

However, Zhang Yang later dismissed this idea.

If an enemy's martial spirit could also be disarmed and used, then the Season Mission would definitely include some hellish tasks like "Kill 99 people using XX martial spirit."

He continued his search.

Fourth row, chest rig: None.

Fifth row, pockets, five slots in total, all of them stocked.

They were: "Purple, Gold Soul Coin, value 10,000" * 12;

"Green, Silver Soul Coin, value 100" * 18;

"White, Copper Soul Coin, value 1" * 12;

"Gold, Jade Bracelet, value 54,620";

And then, the heavy hitter, and also Zhang Yang's most important gain of this match.

"Gold, Hotel VIP Room, value 1,251,490"

"Holy crap!!!"

Zhang Yang immediately closed the search interface and jumped up, bouncing and leaping on the spot, reveling in his excitement.

This is why Zhang Yang loves entering Confidential Mode with high-tier gear; these people are just too loaded.

After these thoughts, Zhang Yang reopened the box and tucked the Hotel VIP Room keycard into his secure container.

Fifth row, the backpack.

The backpack had a total of 12 slots, a 3x4 layout packed full of all sorts of miscellaneous items, both blue and purple.

After looting the box clean, Zhang Yang searched the rooms on the first floor he hadn't checked yet and picked up another two-slot small purple item.

Confirming the entire building had been cleared, Zhang Yang didn't linger and headed straight for the next major resource point on Hotel Street.

While traveling, the corners of Zhang Yang's mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

He had only searched one major resource point on Hotel Street, and he was already this rich.

If he were to search the entire map, he'd practically be crafting the Heart of Africa himself.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang couldn't help but exclaim, "Confidential is great, Confidential is the way to go."

By the time Zhang Yang finished looting the major resource points on Hotel Street and decided to leave, 15 minutes had already passed.

And Zhang Yang's total gains had reached 2.4 million.

Seeing that there was still time, Zhang Yang decided to take a stroll through the Administration Building of the academy.

Even if he ran into a boss, Zhang Yang wouldn't be afraid; his secure container was already full anyway. If things went south, he'd just jump around and kite them—that would be the end of it.

Exiting Hotel Street, Zhang Yang arrived at the academy's east perimeter wall closest to the street, channeled his soul power, and vaulted over in a few swift movements.

After entering the academy through an unconventional route, Zhang Yang didn't stop, immediately rushing toward the academy cafeteria nearest to him.

Pushing open the door and stepping into the cafeteria he had visited countless times, a young man's voice rang out from inside.

"Who? Who's there!"

Zhang Yang focused his gaze and saw a middle-aged man not far away, clutching a wine bottle, his eyes unfocused and his gait unsteady.

"Heh."

Zhang Yang relaxed, raised his M14, and took out the grunt with a single shot.

This was the special effect of the Olivia Champagne—it puts AI in a drunken state.

Zhang Yang really liked this effect.

Just like now, a drunken AI is even easier to handle than a chicken.

Zhang Yang swiped his card to open the Academy Restaurant Storage Room, looted it inside and out for another 200k, and then hummed a little tune as he arrived in front of the AI's loot box.

The card room was looted, so the AI box shouldn't be wasted either.

Opening the AI box, as usual, there was no chest rig or backpack.

The five pocket slots: the first two were filled with Silver Soul Coin and Copper Soul Coin, which were already piling up in Zhang Yang's warehouse.

Zhang Yang took them all the same.

Although their in-game value wasn't high compared to the small blue and purple items worth thousands, this stuff was real money.

It could be materialized into the real world to spend, and even just stacking it in the warehouse made him feel good.

Then, the third slot: "White, Box of Nails, value 2,794."

As for the fourth slot, the magnifying glass spun three times without finding anything.

Realizing he had looted something good, Zhang Yang couldn't help but sing: "Show me, show me the money..."

Just as Zhang Yang was feeling smug, the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, and a wave of foreboding struck him.

Zhang Yang instinctively rolled to the side, a cold, gleaming blade grazing his skin before burying itself into the solid wood table beside him.

It was his sixth sense, honed from over a thousand trials in the Secret Field, that saved Zhang Yang just then.

Zhang Yang cast a glance and saw a youth in his twenties holding a long sword.

"I didn't expect that in this empty Heding City Academy, there would actually be a fish that slipped through the net."

The youth flourished his sword and stood there looking dashing, his expression one of contempt: "Running into me, it's just your bad luck, kid."

"The bull you're spouting is more impressive than the Pope living three lifetimes," Zhang Yang sneered.

"Kid, you dare speak to me like that? Do you know who I am?"

"Do you know who I am?" Before Zhang Yang's voice had even faded, the M14 in his hands had already turned violent.

"Seven Treasures Famous, First: Power."

At the exact moment Zhang Yang opened fire, a beam of colorful light drifted from the stairs nearby into the body of the sword-wielding youth.

Then, the youth was riddled with holes like a hornet's nest.

Zhang Yang shifted his aim toward the stairwell, where a young man with a deathly pale face stood.

"Does he not know I know kung fu?"

"Is he usually this brave?"