Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yao refused Luo De’s plan to join the fighting, but Fehr arrived on behalf of Andal Harbor’s Bounty Hunters’ Branch to ask them to help fight the Ironblood Brotherhood. The chapter ended as Fehr asked Luo De to show him the wanted notices.

• Luo De gave up trying to persuade Zhang Yao and complained about the ten gold coins he had spent, until Zhang Yao threw ten coins at him to make him stop.
• Luo De returned with Fehr, who introduced himself as a representative of the Bounty Hunters’ Branch at Andal Harbor.
• Fehr asked Zhang Yao and Luo De to help deal with the bandits, whom Zhang Yao recognized as members of the Ironblood Brotherhood.
• Zhang Yao and Luo De worried about the consequences of refusing Fehr, while Zhang Yao briefly revealed his killing intent.
• Luo De offered Fehr tea and asked what help he wanted, and Fehr requested the wanted notices Luo De had collected.

Zhang Yao accepted Fehr’s assignment to assassinate ten Ironblood Brotherhood members after a B-rank quest appeared with tempting rewards and a severe failure penalty. Fehr’s tokens and show of force provoked Zhang Yao and Luo De, who prepared to begin the killings that night.

• Fehr offered Zhang Yao and Luo De ten thousand gold coins to eliminate ten people from a selection of Ironblood Brotherhood wanted posters, and a B-rank quest appeared in Zhang Yao’s mind.
• Zhang Yao weighed the quest’s rewards against its dangers and agreed to take the assignment.
• Fehr gave them three tokens that supposedly protected them and the young woman in the bedroom within his territory, then left with a slight show of force.
• Luo De returned furious after seeing Public Security Force men and soldiers surround Fehr’s carriage, and he urged Zhang Yao to abandon the assignment.
• Zhang Yao told Luo De to stay calm, vowed to make Fehr regret threatening them, and asked him to choose the ten weakest targets so he could start that night.

Zhang Yao realized Fehr had set him up to trigger a conflict by commissioning assassinations of the Ironblood Brotherhood, but he chose to stay and pursue the job while Luo De hid with Amelia. At dusk in Andal Harbor, Zhang Yao began the killings by stabbing a dock foreman who had mistreated the workers, then vanished into the crowd.

• Zhang Yao warned Luo De that Fehr would hire multiple assassins and use their failures to provoke the Ironblood Brotherhood and avoid paying the promised reward.
• Luo De urged Zhang Yao to abandon the quest and flee with him and Amelia, but Zhang Yao refused because quitting would cost him experience.
• Zhang Yao asked Luo De to sort through wanted posters while he rested, and Luo De agreed.
• At sunset, the foreman cut the dockworkers’ wages and insulted them when they complained.
• Zhang Yao stabbed the foreman in the throat amid the workers’ panic and disappeared into the shadows.

Zhang Yao used his new equipment to continue hunting Ironblood Brotherhood leaders before word of the killings spread. After killing Johnny, he discovered that two more wanted leaders were gambling with him, and the chapter left them still inside the warehouse as an underling went to look for Johnny.

• Zhang Yao spent his remaining gold and Gems at Shopkeeper Sun's Spacetime Shop, buying equipment that improved his defense, movement speed, and survival chances.
• Zhang Yao chose Johnny, a leader who collected protection money around the docks and warehouses, and followed Luo De's information to a rundown warehouse.
• Zhang Yao realized that two of the men gambling with Johnny were also on his wanted posters and decided to kill all three targets.
• Johnny left the warehouse to relieve himself, and Zhang Yao killed him in a nearby alley, earning 1,000 experience and 100 gold coins.
• When Johnny failed to return, one of the remaining leaders ordered an underling to go outside and check on him.

Zhang Yao killed two more Ironblood Brotherhood leaders and moved on to target Will, a ruthless leader staying at his mistress’s house. As Zhang Yao watched Will’s guarded building, an unknown driver killed the guards and went to the door, apparently preparing to attack Will before him.

• One Ironblood Brotherhood leader discovered his companion dead, but Zhang Yao caught and killed him before he could escape.
• Zhang Yao concealed the bodies, checked his experience, and chose Will as his next target.
• Zhang Yao watched Will’s mistress’s house and identified two guards at the entrance, with more bodyguards likely inside.
• A carriage driver shot the two guards with crossbow bolts, hid their bodies in the carriage, and drove away.
• The driver returned to Will’s house and knocked, claiming his carriage had broken down, while Zhang Yao watched and realized someone else had arrived to kill Will.

A disguised assassin killed Will’s bodyguards while Zhang Yao watched, believing the killer had been hired by Fehr. Zhang Yao knocked the assassin unconscious and bound him, then entered Will’s bedroom while Will was distracted.

• The coachman lured a bodyguard outside, killed him with a crossbow bolt, and carried his body away in the carriage.
• The coachman returned to Will’s building, killed the two remaining guards, and searched the room downstairs.
• Zhang Yao surprised the coachman, knocked him unconscious, tied him up, and gagged him.
• Zhang Yao heard Will and a woman in the bedroom and slipped inside without alerting them.

Zhang Yao killed Ironblood Brotherhood leader Will, reached level 8, and captured the assassin Tred. Tred revealed that he was an Alchemist seeking revenge on the Brotherhood for killing his family, and Zhang Yao asked for his weapons and potions.

• Zhang Yao killed Will during his encounter with Will's mistress, knocked the mistress unconscious, and gained enough experience to reach level 8.
• Zhang Yao carried the bound, unconscious assassin away and searched him, finding two Arm Crossbows and several potions.
• Zhang Yao woke the assassin, who identified himself as Tred and accused Zhang Yao of serving the Ironblood Brotherhood.
• Zhang Yao told Tred that he had stopped the assassination because he wanted to kill Will himself, then questioned Tred about his motives and equipment.
• Tred said the Ironblood Brotherhood had destroyed his home and killed his family, and revealed that he was an Alchemist who had made the weapons and potions.
• Zhang Yao asked Tred to give him the items he had found.

Zhang Yao took Tred's alchemical weapons and imprisoned him, then continued assassinating Fehr's men with his new crossbow. He approached his ninth target, Toka, a cruel Ironblood Brotherhood leader who abused prostitutes.

• Tred handed over his possessions and chose Zhang Yao's offer of imprisonment over death, so Zhang Yao knocked him unconscious and hid him in the inn room.
• Zhang Yao resumed his assassination mission and eliminated his sixth, seventh, and eighth targets using Tred's arm crossbow and poisons.
• Zhang Yao stored the rare poison weapons and equipped the Repeating Arm Crossbow, using it and his dagger to kill several more targets.
• Zhang Yao watched Toka, a fat minor leader of the Ironblood Brotherhood known for brutalizing prostitutes, approach and prepared to attack him.

Zhang Yao watched the Ironblood Brotherhood’s ambush around Toka, then killed Toka after the guards left and learned the gang was only somewhat on alert. After checking his experience and preparing to pursue his final target, Zhang Yao realized he had been surrounded.

• Zhang Yao hid nearby and waited to see how seriously the Ironblood Brotherhood protected Toka.
• The bodyguards gave up waiting for the assassin and left Toka alone on the empty street.
• Zhang Yao followed Toka, confirmed no guards remained, and killed him with the Sharp Dagger.
• Zhang Yao gained 1,000 experience and 300 gold coins, bringing him to 5,000/7,000 experience at Level 8.
• Zhang Yao set out to find his final target, then noticed that he had been surrounded.

Zhang Yao realized the Ironblood Brotherhood had lured him into a trap and fought through their armed blockade using his True Qi, Mutant Battle Aura, and Phantom Cloak. Just as he neared escape, a figure dropped from above and blocked his path.

• Zhang Yao saw the Ironblood Brotherhood surround him from both ends of the street and realized Toka had been used as bait.
• Zhang Yao rejected the rooftops as a likely trap and chose to charge the larger group ahead rather than face the four skilled men behind him.
• Zhang Yao circulated his True Qi and Mutant Battle Aura, then plunged into the Brotherhood's ranks with his dagger.
• The Brotherhood's attacks repeatedly missed Zhang Yao, and he drew a second dagger and cut through the crowd.
• As Zhang Yao neared a break in the encirclement, a figure descended from above and blocked his way.