"Where's your captain, Lin Feng?"
Several of Esdeath's lackeys arrived at the police station in District Thirteen. The man leading them gesticulated wildly as he addressed Seryu, who was sitting in the captain's office, with ill intent.
"Don't tell me he knew he was in trouble and went into hiding!"
"What are you talking about...? What did Lin Feng do?"
Seryu's cheerful expression quickly turned displeased.
"You still don't know? He took the Empire's higher-ups..."
"Boss, you can't talk about that!!!"
Seeing that his boss was about to let something slip, one of the lackeys nearly jumped up in alarm.
Seryu found the scene ridiculous.
"I won't let you say a single bad word about Lin Feng. Otherwise, I'll get physical."
"What did you say?"
"Boss! Let it go, let it go! General Esdeath told us not to start fights without permission!"
Esdeath had sent these lackeys over only to confirm Lin Feng's subsequent movements, not to kill him.
Having already sworn to make Lin Feng her slave, Esdeath now considered confirming his whereabouts more important than anything else.
"Damn it, let's go!"
Finding no sign of Lin Feng, the lackeys swaggered out the door.
It seemed Lin Feng had been certain this matter had nothing to do with Seryu, which was why he had dared to have her temporarily serve as captain of the Imperial Guard in his place.
After all, Seryu had once been an old acquaintance of Dr. Stylish.
Watching them leave, Seryu pulled a face, but a faint worry crept into her heart.
"Lin Feng... what are you doing right now?"
Inside The Godfather tavern in District Four.
"Seriously, why isn't Wave here yet? Didn't he say he'd be guarding us?"
"What, are you scared?"
"Of course not. I just think he's slacking off. Being fifteen minutes late every time shows contempt for Lady Esdeath."
"I feel the same way... but he's so strong that Lady Esdeath never dares to slight him either. It really makes you jealous..."
The diminutive Nyau and the muscular Daidara, two of the Three Beasts, chatted idly.
Behind them, Liver remained silent. His heart held nothing but boundless loyalty to Esdeath.
On Honest's orders, the Three Beasts were to go to District Four that afternoon to assassinate the last official who had slipped through the cracks on their list.
The man had been lucky enough to escape their previous assassination attempt, but while he could run, he couldn't hide forever. The owner of this bar happened to know where he was.
The three therefore decided to have a few drinks here, ask the owner for the man's location, then wait for Wave to arrive before carrying out their mission.
Outside the window, unnoticed by the three, three other men were also on the move.
Tatsumi, Wave, and Lin Feng.
Tatsumi headed west, Lin Feng went east, and Wave, being very familiar with the area, chose the narrow path to the north.
Lin Feng put on a hat with a deep brim to conceal his face.
"After working in the Imperial Guard for so long, I'm really not used to such covert work..."
Suddenly, a blue-haired man walked around the corner in front of Lin Feng. He was so distracted that he completely failed to notice Lin Feng off to the side.
"Is that... Wave? Why is he here...?"
Though puzzled, Lin Feng still had to keep his distance from Wave for now, since Wave was a member of the royal palace, so he took another detour.
On the western side, Tatsumi was also walking with considerable urgency.
About two hundred meters behind him were Bulat and Lubbock, who had come along on the mission.
Tatsumi was the only member of Night Raid who wasn't wanted by the Empire. The higher-ups didn't even know he existed.
Night Raid's strategy was therefore to send Tatsumi ahead to confirm the Three Beasts' positions inside the tavern, then join forces with Lubbock and Bulat to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
After walking quite a long way farther, he found The Godfather bar right ahead.
Tatsumi was just about to approach when he saw a blue-haired man hurry up to it.
The man looked exactly like the photograph the boss had shown him.
"That man is... Wave?!"
For a moment, Tatsumi, standing only a few steps away from the man, was completely unable to suppress his killing intent.
Wave carried no weapons. Unlike Lin Feng, he had no pistol at his waist, nor did he wear any rings or other accessories that looked like Teigu.
There was hardly anyone around. If he dealt with Wave here, almost no one would see.
Not only would that keep his identity hidden, it would also greatly improve their chances of completing the mission.
But once Wave entered the tavern, there was no telling what would happen...
There was no time left to react. Tatsumi had almost drawn the longsword on his back.
"Killing intent..."
Wave's experience as an assassin had given him keen instincts.
Without even looking, Wave knew how many enemies were behind him and where they were,
but all of this depended on his opponent having "killing intent."
"Grand Chariot!"
Tatsumi drew his longsword and swung with all his might, slashing at Wave with almost his full strength.
No normal person could possibly have dodged such a swift slash from behind, especially in a surprise attack.
Yet, unexpectedly, the blow missed.
"Huh?"
Tatsumi had no idea what had happened. He only felt a rush of wind, and by the time he came to his senses, a warrior encased entirely in refined steel armor had already darted behind him.
This was Wave's ability, Grand Chariot.
He needed no weapon. His weapon was this specially made suit of armor, which he could summon at any time.
Enhanced by the armor, Wave's attack power, defense, and even speed could increase dramatically. In hand-to-hand combat, he could even rival the Empire's great general, Esdeath.
With ghostlike speed, Wave struck the back of Tatsumi's skull,
and Tatsumi felt the world spin for an instant. The pain of being struck by something heavy swept through his entire body, then faded along with his consciousness.
This man... I've never seen his face before...
Wave thought to himself.
"This is a bar, after all. People getting drunk and acting wild are pretty common. I'll let him rest for a while."
"Still, I can't rule out the possibility that he's a member of an assassination squad... no... the wanted members are clearly identified, and this man isn't among them..."
A blue-green glow spiraled past, and Wave changed from his armored form back into an ordinary man.
"I don't want to deal with the Three Beasts again anyway. I might as well use this man to put off meeting them a little longer..."