Immortal Palace

The last time Ren Suo controlled the Killer to steal a gun, the young man in the brown suit must have seen him, becoming directly suspicious and causing the Killer to be taken hostage.

Thinking back on it now, the Killer had appeared alone behind a suspicious person to steal a gun. His target had been a little too obvious.

This time, he found a suspicious person standing amid the crowd and used the same "I'll just rub against you, then run after I'm done" trick. He had someone else's wine splash all over the suspicious person, then had the Killer approach through the crowd and secretly give the suspicious person's butt a shot.

"You have obtained the 'Beretta 92.' Ammo: 15 rounds. Equipped with a pistol suppressor."

Having successfully stolen the pistol, Ren Suo had the Killer slip away at once, then continue wandering around the Banquet Hall while waiting for 8:00 PM. During that time, he discovered several more suspicious people through bodily contact.

When the time came, gunfire erupted from the inner hall on the other side of the Banquet Hall. Without waiting for a game prompt, Ren Suo controlled the Killer to shoot dead the assassin hiding behind a pillar, take over his position behind a pillar with an excellent view, activate Bullet Time, and gun down three assassins in rapid succession!

The Banquet Hall descended into chaos, while the Killer used the opportunity to hide behind the pillar and recover his Instinct Value. Ren Suo had calculated it all: hiding in this safe zone would let him maintain a rhythm of five seconds shooting and five seconds resting. Even if the assassins found cover, he could use Bullet Time to catch them the moment they poked their heads out and blow apart their big noses with a single shot...

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

At that moment, the men in black who rushed into the Banquet Hall, intending to fight back with guns, were riddled full of holes by two assault rifles!

"Holy crap, wasn't this supposed to be a pistol fight? Why are there assault rifles too? Where did those come from?" Ren Suo discovered that two assassins were standing near the table holding the pyramid of wine glasses, wildly firing their rifles. Once they emptied a magazine, they crouched down and pulled fresh magazines from beneath the table!

They had hidden the assault rifles under the table!?

Before Ren Suo could even finish being shocked, the assassins began splitting up. Some rushed out to guard the elevators and emergency exits. One assassin carrying an assault rifle led five others toward the inner hall, while the other assault rifle-wielding assassin fired at the Killer's hiding place!

The rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat of gunfire instantly stripped the carvings and plaster from the pillar in front of the Killer!

The screen suddenly flashed red, showing that the Killer was injured but not dead. Ren Suo knew he could not keep this up, so while the man was changing magazines, he leaned out and activated Bullet Time—

Whoosh. Another assassin watching the pillar fired his pistol. To avoid the bullet, the Killer had no choice but to duck back, wasting precious time. The other assassins quickly raised their guns as well, sealing off the Killer's space!

Once Bullet Time ended, the assault rifle-wielding assassin had also finished changing magazines and resumed blasting the pillar apart with rat-tat-tat fire!

You died.

After loading the save and starting over, Ren Suo had suffered another failure, but his face was full of excitement!

This time, upon entering the Banquet Hall, the Killer not only instantly discovered fifteen suspicious people, but also—

"Gun Mastery activated. You discovered the assault rifle 'Steyr AUG.'"

The assault rifle was located beneath the table holding the pyramid of wine glasses!

This time, Ren Suo did not steal a pistol. Instead, he kept lingering near the wine-glass pyramid table. The instant 8:00 PM arrived, he had the Killer immediately pull out the assault rifle, activate Bullet Time, and precisely pick off the red-glowing assassins!

The assassins trying to approach the table to grab the guns were instantly taken out by Ren Suo. He also cleared out quite a few other assassins who had failed to find cover. By the time the guests screamed and hid, the remaining assassins had found positions and begun firing at the Killer.

Naturally, Ren Suo had the Killer use the wine table as decent cover to block bullets and change magazines. Then he activated Bullet Time and switched to full auto, spraying regardless of whether the assassins showed themselves or not!

An assault rifle's destructive power far surpassed that of a pistol. Pistols could not do much damage to the Killer hiding behind the wine table, but assault rifle rounds relentlessly punched through the assassins' cover, forcing them out of hiding to be shot down!

Although there were more than twenty assassins, they were no match for a Killer equipped with Bullet Time, Gun Mastery, and the strongest firepower at the banquet. Moreover, the assassins could no longer go out and suppress the elevators and emergency exits, allowing the men in black outside to come in and save the day.

Several armed gentlemen also emerged from the inner hall. Under attacks from all sides, the assassins were swiftly wiped out!

"Did I finally clear it...?"

Before Ren Suo could breathe a sigh of relief, those men in black surrounded him and pointed their guns at him!

At that moment, a rather elderly British gentleman pointed a gun at him and said, "Drop your weapon! Who are you? I don't remember any Asians being invited to this banquet?!"

Three options appeared, and there were still only ten seconds to choose:

① "Me? I'm just an admirer of Miss Karen. I accidentally learned that these Cards Assassins intended to harm Miss Karen, so I came to deal with them."

② "I was entrusted with a mission and came solely to protect Kallen Lamperouge."

③ "Why should I explain my actions to you?" (Xuan Writing)

The first two answers did not seem problematic, while the third looked like it was picking a fight. So Ren Suo chose option ②.

To his surprise, the British gentleman frowned. "Hmph. Who knows whether you're an assassin who infiltrated under false pretenses... Tie him up and throw him in the restroom. Don't let him follow us!"

"What, what, what?" Ren Suo froze as he watched the Killer get tied up and taken to the restroom. Then one of the men in black chopped the Killer on the back of the neck with his hand...

"You have fallen unconscious. Kallen Lamperouge was killed during this time. Mission failed."

He loaded the save again. This time, after smoothly wiping out the assassins, Ren Suo chose option ①.

Even through the screen, Ren Suo could see the men in black's expressions change in an extremely strange way. The looks in their eyes shifted instantly. The British gentleman frowned. "...Really?"

Killer: "Really, really. I'm willing to give my life for Miss Karen."

"Then good. Go with the Blackwater Unit and clear the way ahead. Miss Karen must remain safely in the rear." The British gentleman said, "The Cards Assassins rushed in from outside and shot the security personnel. The first floor is full of their people, and they're coming up through the emergency exits."

"We must leave the Ninth Floor. They may very well have planted bombs here!" The British gentleman looked around the Banquet Hall, then hurriedly called to the surviving guests. "Miss Chris, Sir Morris... Come with us!"

Quite a few armed men in black emerged from the inner hall one after another. Ren Suo wanted to see what Kallen Lamperouge, the person he had to protect, looked like, but she seemed to be surrounded in the middle by the men in black, completely out of sight. The only thing visible on the screen was a golden inverted-pyramid icon floating behind them.

"That should be the protected target's location..."

Then the Killer took the assault rifle and led the way ahead, fighting his way down through the emergency exits. When they reached the seventh floor, a violent explosion rang out from the banquet hall on the ninth floor, making the entire building tremble.

The assassins had set up a defensive line on the second floor, but how could that possibly stop a cheat-enabled Killer? However, after the Killer used Bullet Time to blast through them by force, an assassin actually threw a grenade up at him.

Boom—

"You died."

Load again!

This time, when the Killer reached that spot, he directly vaulted over the stair railing and jumped into the middle of the assassins. Using five seconds of Bullet Time, he beat them into a panicked rout. When that assassin pulled out a grenade, the Killer instantly shot it and detonated it.

"You have obtained Fragmentation Grenade ×1."

The Killer's clean, decisive, unstoppable display left the men in black behind him thrilled again and again. The British gentleman walked over and praised him. "A terrifying Asian... Are you an ancient ninja from the Country of Flourishing Cherry Blossoms? An ancient warrior? No normal person could possibly be as formidable as you. Could you be one of those inhuman beings?"

Time suddenly froze, and a box appeared on the screen with a line of text inside: "I am a Killer from Ren Nesser."

Other than "I am from" and "Killer," the faction name in the middle could be edited freely. Ren Suo exclaimed, "Oh, I can even edit dialogue myself..."

"Wait? Ren Nesser? Isn't that my game ID? Why is it the Killer's origin by default?"

Ren Suo scratched his head, but did not think much of it. Following his preferences, he edited the line into: "I am a Killer from the Immortal Palace."

The British gentleman was clearly stunned for a moment. In strange Xuan Writing, he said, "Immortal Palace? You're from the Xuan Kingdom?"

Another box popped up, with a game prompt: "Please explain 'Immortal Palace.'"

"Holy crap, it can even have real-time conversations? Don't tell me there's a GM chatting with me?" Ren Suo laughed and made something up as he edited the reply. "The Immortal Palace is a secret organization in the Xuan Kingdom. I am merely an ordinary Killer within it."

The British gentleman gave an acknowledging sound and nodded, his tone becoming much more polite. "Please lend us more of your strength from here on. The Lamperouge Family will certainly not be stingy with its gratitude afterward."

Then the Killer rushed into the first-floor lobby, activated Bullet Time, and threw the fragmentation grenade into the densest part of the crowd. After it exploded with a boom and killed several people, the Killer hid in the emergency exit to wait for Bullet Time to cool down, then blasted several assassins every five seconds, blasted several assassins every five seconds...

As the Killer pushed forward, after more than ten assassins on the first floor had died, people behind them screamed, "A super sharpshooter!" "The police are here!" "Helicopters—it's the SAS!"

As though they had received orders, the assassins unwillingly fired a few shots in the Killer's direction, then the main force quickly fled in vehicles, leaving only a small number behind to cover the retreat.

Police sirens blared outside, while massive rotor noise circled through the sky. The police surrounded the building, and special forces soldiers carrying rifles smashed through its windows to enter, swiftly suppressing the remaining assassins.

"This has to be a clear, right?" Ren Suo wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up, only to discover that night had already fallen outside.

"It's after six already? I actually spent more than six hours playing this game?" Even Ren Suo was startled. He felt like he had only loaded a few saves and had not spent that much time.

But on second thought, the enemy AI in this game was far too strong, and the Killer would instantly die if he was shot in a vital area. Even with Bullet Time, Ren Suo had to proceed carefully, waiting until the enemy's firepower briefly paused before safely returning fire. Then he had to slowly wait for his skill to cool down again. Back and forth, across several runs, it really could take that much time!

Just as Ren Suo was about to order takeout, two options suddenly appeared in the game, again with a ten-second time limit:

① Ask for a cigarette, light it, take a slow drag, blow out a smoke ring, and smile. "Goodbye, everyone."

② "Give Kallen Lamperouge my regards. I look forward to our next meeting."

This option did not seem particularly important, so Ren Suo directly chose the first one. Then he watched the Killer ask the British gentleman for a cigarette, light it, blow out a perfectly round smoke ring, and wave at the men in black. "Goodbye, everyone."

The next second, the screen froze in black and white.

"Mission complete."

"Mission rating: 66.5 points (barely passed). Highest mission rating: 66.5 points (barely passed)."

"Would you like to upload this result as the final result? After a successful upload, you may obtain Merit Points matching your rating."

"After the rating is uploaded, this chapter will be permanently closed."