Astonishment

Jiang Xin had already executed everything he could think of and was capable of, yet that Ning still stood there.

Perhaps because it was his first real combat experience, Jiang Xin's body was covered in claw marks from the Ning. Although the power of recovery helped staunch the bleeding, the pain remained sharp and present.

Enduring the agony, Jiang Xin continued to face the Ning, which was ready to strike at any moment. He began to regret not taking the weapon Zeng had offered him earlier; it seemed that trying to take down a Ning with his bare fists was far too difficult for a beginner. He scanned his surroundings, but there appeared to be nothing he could utilize. With no other choice, Jiang Xin charged forward once more. The Ning's attack pattern was quite simple, and it prepared to unleash another claw strike as Jiang Xin rushed in. However, its strike missed; Jiang Xin dodged the blow with agility and landed a heavy punch squarely on the Ning's head.

"Thud." Driven by the power of combat, this punch sent the Ning flying into the wall, ending its life. Jiang Xin, meanwhile, collapsed onto the floor in a daze, feeling utterly exhausted.

With a fierce thrust of a spear, Zeng and Deng finished their own battle. They walked over to Jiang Xin, helped him up, and then called the government authorities to handle the aftermath.

After a while, Jiang Xin regained his composure. He looked at Deng and Zeng, not knowing what to say.

Deng smiled and said, "Doing this well on your first time is quite impressive. Your test is passed. Go to Okinawa tomorrow; someone will be there to meet you upon arrival."

Jiang Xin touched his own hands as if wanting to say something, but the words remained unspoken.

Glancing out the window, he saw that the Japanese personnel had arrived. Zeng signaled for the two of them to leave.

Okinawa was already one of Japan's most prosperous cities. Jiang Xin got off the car at the designated location to wait for his contact, but the person seemed quite unpunctual; Jiang Xin had been waiting at the station for over an hour.

After another hour passed and Jiang Xin was on the verge of losing his temper, the contact finally arrived—a young man in a suit walking slowly toward him.

Judging by the features, he was indeed the contact Zeng had described, but he was nearly three hours late. What kind of person was he?

Just as Jiang Xin was about to ask, the man spoke, "Mr. Jiang Xin, I am very pleased you passed this special test. That was entirely my own decision. Also, my name is Guangcheng Qiming, and I am the team leader of the Pitch Black city district action group. You have been assigned to my team. I hope this test didn't give you any other ideas."

Jiang Xin was still a bit confused, so he asked, "Why was I assigned to this group? And what is my codename?"

Qiming first signaled for Jiang Xin to follow him before answering, "The assignments were made by Miss Yaming. As for why, I'm not entirely sure myself, but we are much better off than the field action group, aren't we? Regarding the codename, let me make this clear: from now on, your original name is no longer needed. Whatever you do from here on out, use the name bestowed upon you by the organization. Of course, use a pseudonym when executing missions. As for your original name, either forget it or keep it in your heart as a memory. Your name is Guangcheng Heming. This name belongs to the fourth rank. The identification code is gc399. You only need to use the identification code when returning to headquarters; just keep it in mind."

Heming nodded slightly and asked nothing more.

Following Qiming the entire way, the two arrived at a black commercial building with a large sign hanging outside that read "Pitch Black."

It was Heming's first time seeing such a building, and he was naturally quite astonished. Qiming looked at Heming, smiled, and said, "You'll be terrified once you reach headquarters, heh. Hurry up and follow me; they've already assigned you a mission upstairs."

It was an eight-story commercial building, black both inside and out. If the lights weren't on, it would truly be pitch black.

Reaching the top-floor office, Qiming walked over to the boss's chair, sat down with a thud, and said to Heming, "You are now a researcher for the Pitch Black Japan branch, and I am your superior. Outside, call me Manager Li, and I will call you Little Liu. This mission is of a very low rank, perfect for you. It's just to catch a little bat that ran over from the United States. Of course, if you can't catch it, killing it is fine too. The target is in a small city not far from here. Here is the file and a credit card. Take them, prepare yourself, and head out. Oh, one more thing: try to strike at night. Don't let too many civilians know; it creates a bad impression. Now, off you go."

Heming took the file and the credit card, offered a greeting, and left. He walked to the office Qiming had mentioned, sat down, and began reading the file.

Name: Bilkwin Filani. Race: Bloodline. Danger Level: Low (Intelligence from two months ago).

Photo: ...

Has committed 29 crimes in Okinawa. Three people were drained in bars, and others in small alleys. Currently fleeing in a small city near Okinawa; exact location unknown. (This is a free mission, so we hope the team members taking this mission do not push themselves too hard...)

Heming shook his head and cursed inwardly, What kind of file is this...

Forget it, time to go.

After leaving the company, he took a taxi to the small city mentioned in the file. Although it was a small city, there had to be at least a few hundred bars, right? How was he supposed to find it? I guess I'll just have to ask one by one...

Heming looked at his clothes. These don't seem very suitable for a place like a bar, do they? Should I go change first? The "Bloodline" must be vampires, right? Vampires are active at night, so I should change my clothes, find a place to rest, and then go check out the bars.

After buying clothes, he found a hotel and checked into a room.

After a shower, Heming fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he had been asleep when the phone rang. At first, Heming thought it was a special service from the hotel, but after answering, he realized it was Qiming.

"Damn it, you're actually sleeping? Well, that's fine. Forget about that little bat; it was taken down by the Japanese side last night. Heh, it was a Jonin who did it. Get back here immediately! Something big happened in China; we need to return at once!"

Heming replied with an "en" and hung up the phone to get dressed. He thought to himself, The clothes I just bought are already useless...

After taking a taxi back to the company, he rushed straight to the top floor.

Four strangers were already there.

Seeing Heming arrive, Qiming said to the four, "This is the new team member, Heming. You four, introduce yourselves."

The four nodded.

Starting from left to right, they began their introductions.

The first was a rather cute girl. She smiled at Heming and said, "My name is Ming Ying. My name rank is four. My specialty is close-quarters assassination. Call me A-Mei at the company."

The second was an old man with a very kind appearance. He nodded slightly and spoke in a young man's voice, "My name is Ming Yin. My name rank is five. My specialty is disguise and mimicry. Call me Old Wang at the company."

The third was a red-haired young man who looked very much like a street hoodlum. He said loudly to Heming, "My name is Jiaming. My name rank is five. My specialty is long and short-range shooting. Call me Brother Qing at the company."

The fourth was a little boy who seemed very shy and quite cute. He said softly, "My name is Xi Ming. My name rank is six. My specialty is assassination and theft. Call me Wang Aiming at the company. I am Old Wang's grandson."

After hearing their introductions, Heming couldn't help but feel a bit strange, though he couldn't quite put it into words.

Qiming interrupted Heming's thoughts and said loudly, "Alright, that's enough introductions. The China headquarters has been compromised. We don't know who attacked, but three-quarters of the company's personnel were killed. Two rank-two members were dismembered while trying to protect the others. The Portugal headquarters has issued a message: all Pitch Black members are to gather at a certain hotel in China. The company has been left to the normal people. The gathering time is tomorrow. We will take a private jet with other Japanese branches later; there will be a good show to see then..."

Ming Ying interrupted Qiming, saying, "The China headquarters has two rank-ones, four rank-twos, over ten rank-threes, and many others. How could something like this happen?"

Qiming grunted twice and said, "The two rank-ones and two rank-twos went to complete a secret mission, and many others were sent out as well. It seems to have been a trap. Once we find out who did this, they will certainly be wiped out. Alright, alright, let's go!"

After gathering with the other branches at the Okinawa airport, they boarded the Pitch Black private jet. All of this was beyond anything Heming had expected.

On the plane, some acquaintances began to chat. He heard that the ones who had been dismembered were Guangchang Ziming and Jin Ming. They were apparently about to be promoted to rank-one names... There were also some agitated people saying, "Damn it, we must avenge them this time..."

Jiaming, sitting next to Heming, said to him, "Ziming and Jin Ming were sent directly by the Pitch Black headquarters to report to branches around the world. I only met them a few times, but they were wonderful people..." Jiaming seemed unwilling to say anything more.

Heming patted Jia Ming on the shoulder in comfort, then said nothing more.

Not long after, the plane arrived. While we were gathering after disembarking, Qiming was called over by an airport staff member to do something or other.

Fifteen minutes later, Qiming ran over to our group and said, "We know who did it. We're heading to Pitch Black Square to assemble now. Lady Yaming and several others of the special-grade surnames have arrived. Hurry, hurry!" With that, he was the first to rush toward the airport exit!

No one spoke; we followed Qiming with quick strides, and upon reaching the outside of the airport, the people from each company boarded their respective vehicles.

Inside the car, the six of us remained silent...

After the car arrived, the driver signaled for us to get out. Upon entering Pitch Black Square, several hundred people were already gathered there. At the entrance, Qiming said to the five of us, "Follow me to change clothes first. There's a regulation now: we must wear black. Jia Ming, your hair needs to be fixed too. We only have two minutes, everyone, hurry up!"

Two minutes later, all six of us had changed our clothes, and Jia Ming's hair had been dyed back to its original color...

Once inside the square, we were led by designated personnel to a specific area, separated by gender.

Twenty minutes later, someone walked onto the podium at Pitch Black Square and said, "Everyone, please stand according to the standard I am transmitting to you. Thank you for your cooperation." As he finished speaking, a method and standard for standing were transmitted directly into our minds.

Ten seconds later, everyone was standing according to the transmitted standard. If one were to describe it...

The person on the podium smiled and said, "Very good!" before stepping down.

Another twenty minutes of waiting followed, yet no one complained...

Five minutes later, seven people dressed in pitch-black clothes with gold trim walked onto the podium.

Three women and four men. The person walking at the very front was the goddess often seen in the Pitch Black Company's games, the one everyone called Yaming of the Square.

After reaching the center of the podium, Yaming spoke, "Thank you all for your hard work in traveling such a long distance. I presume everyone already knows about the incident at the China headquarters? Then, first, let us observe three minutes of silence." Her elegant and sweet voice was exactly the same as it was in the game.

After the silence, Yaming continued, "The ones who committed this act turn out to be our allies, and also the largest company in China at present, the Sea of Fire. Yes, they have arrived." Yaming did not continue.

A swarm of armed helicopters flew in from outside the square, and thousands of people rushed in from the exits to surround the area...

A powerful surge of energy rushed in from behind the helicopters, and a group of fellows stepping on clouds followed the helicopters, hovering in the air.

This is...