Chapter 259: Safe House

The four free mercenary captains treated their injuries with external medicine. The reason they couldn’t use the Gene Serum was because they’d used the Camouflage Serum. If they injected the Gene Serum for treatment, the Camouflage Serum would lose its effect.

Then they relayed the entire sequence of events. Under a roof, one has to be humble. All four finished giving their statements, and the fleet commander checked them over and handed them to the officer.

The officer looked at the name that appeared in the four statements. It made him pause but he said nothing.

Those who rise to the position of fleet commander are superhumans with intellect-based abilities. Asking more questions might draw unwanted attention.

“Let them leave. If it weren’t for them, who knows what I’d have faced.” After reading the statements, the officer set down the tablet and spoke to the fleet commander.

The fleet commander nodded, “Understood.”

The mercenary captain and the other three were sent away. Conveniently, March Planet’s skyport had a passenger-cargo ship heading out.

The four free mercenaries finally breathed a long sigh of relief once they boarded the passenger ship.

“Captain, where’s Number 9?” the three other members asked the mercenary captain.

“They have their own methods. Such strong individuals might even survive in the void.” The captain responded.

Number 8, confused, asked, “Is Number 9 one of the legendary ancient mercenaries?”

“It’s highly likely. There’s a group of mercenaries like that. They don’t care about money or the danger. They love adventure and taking on all sorts of missions. Ancient mercenaries often appear on such quests.”

“They’re real mercenaries. They hold many identities. Meeting them was an honor, and it was our fortune to encounter such an ancient mercenary.” The captain nodded.

“Exactly, and this time we earned several billion.”

“I never dreamed I’d have this much money!”

“Forget dreaming, even when I was drunk, I never imagined having this much. Once I go back, I’ll buy an estate and some slaves, and enjoy myself.”

“Don’t rush to spend your money. The Grey Ash Organization might come after us.”

“When we return, we should file a complaint with the Mercenary Guild. We’re in this to make money, not to be sent to die. We have ample evidence this time.”

“Plus, the Grey Ash Organization’s intelligence system has always been competitive with our guild’s mission system. This is the perfect excuse to provide the guild…!”

“If we don’t blow this up, the Grey Ash Organization will definitely cause trouble for us.” The captain, familiar with the guild’s inner workings, spoke up.

“Captain, we’ll listen to you.”

“Exactly. This was clearly a trap aimed at us mercenaries, sending us to die.” The remaining three members nodded in agreement, clutching their new fortune.

“I’ll submit the evidence immediately. You all assist me. We’re in the Alliance now. By the time we return home, it’ll all be over.”

“We might as well take this time to travel around the Alliance. The Grey Ash Organization has been almost wiped out in this region.” The captain had thought things through. This matter had to be handled properly.

“Captain, why don’t you form a mercenary group? We’ll all join.” Number 8 suggested.

“There’s no rush. A mercenary group needs a powerful leader. If I can contact Number 9, I might convince him to form one.” The captain shook his head.

On March Planet’s warship, the mastermind behind the attack, a Fatty, injected a Gene Serum for treatment, transforming into a middle-aged man. He was over sixty, having spent thirty years on March Planet. Almost killed in the attack, he confessed everything.

The military then began arresting people according to his confession…

The officer had returned to the planet, but the fleet commander arranged for four female soldiers to guard the officer’s home.

They also called in a satellite to monitor the officer’s residence 24/7, without interruption.

As for the Grey Ash Organization, their situation was grim. In the military, there’s no such thing as legal rights. Once caught, anyone is subjected to interrogation, with all sorts of injections used to extract confessions.

The government and judicial systems respect human rights, but the military does not. The military was furious and had already dispatched a medical team to check whether the female officer had any lasting effects. After all, the bomb used to knock out an A-rank intellect-based evolutionist was a special bomb.

The female officer returned to the planet but couldn’t refuse the added security.

She poured herself a glass of juice, soaking in the bath, lost in thought about the statements she’d seen today.

“Yang Bo appears everywhere.”

“I’m not sure if he got me into trouble, or I got him into it.” Of the survivors from Green Demon Planet living on March Planet, Yang Bo was the only one still staying in the city. So this time, the Grey Ash Organization had originally planned to capture Yang Bo but stumbled upon her instead, which was how the plan to hire the free mercenaries unfolded.

“Could Number 9 be Yang Bo?”

“Although nothing in the evidence or information connects them, my gut says the two are linked.”

“That guy is already mysterious enough, and there are rumors that the Trinity Corporation incident also involves the An Zhijie Corporation.” With her high intelligence, the female officer pieced everything together. On the surface, Yang Bo and Number 9, the mercenary, were unrelated, but something told her otherwise.

The key difference between human intuition and an intelligent system is that humans can often feel when things are connected, even without direct proof.

Although the information and evidence seemed unrelated, some individuals could immediately find the link.

This is why, despite technological and AI advancements, people still commanded warships.

Artificial systems make judgments based solely on known conditions.

However, on a battlefield, where conditions change rapidly and unpredictably, you can’t rely only on evidence. Human commanders prepare for what might happen before it’s apparent.

Plus, with warship weapons, laser speeds are incredibly fast. By the time the AI realizes a known condition has triggered, the opportunity might already be lost.

“It’s time to meet Yang Bo, and also Liu Zhijie.” With everything she’d learned, the female officer felt that Yang Bo and his company were either ridiculously unlucky, or absurdly lucky.

On Pado Planet, the two had earned huge compensation despite danger.

Then, during immigration, they again faced pirates, but in every form of peril, they escaped and got even more in settlements.

This time, evidence showed they’d made another big score from the Trinity Corporation incident, plus they had connections with the Bounty Hunter Guild.

Yang Bo strolled along the ocean floor, observing all kinds of strange creatures, as if on an underwater tour. But he had no other choice. The area was filled with drones on reconnaissance.

“Is this edible?” He looked at a string-like seaweed. There were spherical balls on it, which were also part of the seaweed, but they were hollow. The seaweed used the buoyancy created by the empty balls to grow thousands of meters under the sea and absorb more nutrients.

Yang Bo moved through this seaweed forest, observing various bizarre fish. Some were round like balls, others flat, and some elliptical. On the ocean floor were creatures that resembled ants, a cross between ants and crabs. The biggest ones were over ten centimeters, the smallest just a few.

There were also shrimp of various colors, and a whole patch of soft-bodied animals that looked like sea anemones.

In addition to these, some plants and animals emitted light.

Over an hour later, Yang Bo had drifted about fifty or sixty kilometers from where everything had happened. In his passive water-sensing state, he no longer detected any drones in the currents.

So, he began to swim. With the Swimming Grandmaster skill, his body became almost like a huge sensory organ, perceiving distant events through the smallest water vibrations.

After two hours, Yang Bo surfaced in a drainage system. It was a rainwater sewer, while the sewage pipes were sealed separately, only discharging after treatment.

The rainwater sewer also had various networks, including for water, energy, and communications.

Yang Bo found people searching within the rainwater sewer. After eavesdropping on their conversations while invisible, he chose a direction and quickly left.

He moved to an area the searchers hadn’t reached, laying down in the water to lower his heartbeat, blood flow, and brainwave activity to simulate an unconscious state.

About ten minutes later, a drone led the way, followed by two police officers. They soon found Yang Bo floating along the water, completely naked.

He had no choice. He killed someone and disguised himself using their clothes and armor. Then, when he jumped into the sea, he had to strip for invisibility.

At this point, wearing any clothes would seem odd, so he decided to remain as he was.

Yang Bo was soon taken to the hospital. When Fat Boss got the news, he rushed to the hospital, worried they’d take Yang Bo’s blood, since Yang Bo was now a superhuman.

“The public safety in this city is awful!”

“We haven’t even been here a year, and this happens.”

“My company building is destroyed, seriously impacting our regular operations.”

“And my employees suffered inhuman abuse. I’m going to file complaints and lawsuits against you all!” Yang Bo suddenly sat up as if waking from unconsciousness, though Fat Boss had already checked on him before storming off to argue with the police.

“Assistant Zhou?” Yang Bo asked in surprise when he saw Zhou Rui. He had already recognized her by sound. Yang Bo only needed to hear someone walk once to identify them again later.

Then the police questioned Yang Bo. He claimed someone knocked him out while climbing the stairs, saying he didn’t know anything else.

Fat Boss stood by, loudly demanding the victim be allowed to rest.

Half an hour later, Yang Bo left the hospital, returning with Fat Boss to the company.

“Yang Bo, are you okay? I took you out of the hospital to prevent any blood tests. The moment they take your blood and find out you’re a superhuman, you’ll be officially registered.” Fat Boss explained.

“Boss, I’m fine. But who were those attackers? And why was Assistant Zhou with you?” Yang Bo had already guessed, but asked anyway.

Zhou Rui explained, “You just got caught in the crossfire. Another terrorist organization was kidnapping someone else. They attacked your office to distract the police.”

Before Yang Bo could say anything, Fat Boss eagerly nodded in agreement: “Exactly! The government needs to compensate us. If they don’t, we’ll emigrate.”

Yang Bo hadn’t expected the two to lie, planning to ask them about the Grey Ash Organization, which the Bounty Hunter Guild undoubtedly had information on.

But since they chose to deceive him, he played along, angrily declaring, “All those extremists should die.”

Fat Boss felt uneasy. After all, how could someone stalk Yang Bo if they were just attacking the company? But seeing that Yang Bo hadn’t caught on, he sighed in relief. Due to the gravity of the situation, Zhou Rui discussed with Fat Boss the decision not to tell Yang Bo the truth, fearing it might scare him.

“Why not stay in one of the Mercenary Guild’s safe houses? It’s near the police station, very secure.” Zhou Rui suggested.

Fat Boss immediately objected, “What good are the police? Didn’t you see how all their drones got blown up? Even their warplanes were shot down!”

Fat Boss didn’t dare entrust Yang Bo to Zhou Rui. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Yang Bo, who hadn’t dealt with many people, might quickly fall for her.

“His house is on the outskirts, near the sea. Who knows if those thugs have more people? These extremists are terrifyingly twisted.” Zhou Rui retorted, irritated.

“Then I’ll move in too!” Fat Boss agreed it was reasonable. Yang Bo was too valuable to risk anything happening. The man was a genius, and if anything happened, Fat Boss’s heart might give out. His company dorms were even in ruins, and there would be no renovations until compensation claims were settled.

“There’s no need. I’ll stay at my own home.” Yang Bo knew the schemes of both. Zhou Rui bore a resemblance to Lin Qingxia, but her bald Camouflage left a deeper impression.

“Yang Bo, this is no joke. Those thugs have laser cannons.” Fat Boss insisted.

Yang Bo still shook his head. His Underground Bunker housed his pets. Besides, on his break, he planned to binge on his game.

“One of the people kidnapped with you was a political celebrity. Look at the video we filmed. Even the planetary fleet got involved.” Fat Boss decided to take extra precautions and showed Yang Bo the video.

The footage showed dozens of warplanes soaring across the sky. The entire city was under aerial lockdown.

“Alright then.” Yang Bo finally nodded, understanding Fat Boss’s reasons for the concern.

But he couldn’t tell them the situation had been resolved. As for his pets, he could go back in a few days to feed them. Gaming could wait.

“Our safe house will guarantee your safety. We’d known something was going to happen beforehand, but we didn’t expect it to involve you.”

“It won’t happen again. You’re a special talent with our guild, so we’ll take extra care of you. Next time, not only will you get a warning, but we’ll handle the situation for you.”

“Of course, you’ll need to contribute to the guild. The best way is to earn some points. Our guild is all about fair trade.” Zhou Rui explained.

Yang Bo nodded sincerely, but inwardly, he thought, ‘You do your thing, I’ll do mine.’

There’s no way he would work himself to the bone for the guild. Yang Bo had only planned to milk the guild’s resources.

So, Yang Bo prepared to pack up his things, move his game, and planned to follow up on the government compensation. That was Fat Boss’s job to handle.

Yang Bo drove home in his Flying Car, and Fat Boss insisted on following. Watching Fat Boss tag along, Yang Bo wanted to tell him, ‘You’re just a burden.’

On the way, they encountered several police drones conducting roadside inspections, demanding all drivers lower their windows and open their trunks.

“These people always show up too late.” Fat Boss muttered under his breath.

Yang Bo heard him clearly but didn’t respond. He figured Fat Boss knew the matter had already been resolved.

Yang Bo guessed the heavy drone presence was due to the hunt for other members of the Grey Ash Organization.

“The Grey Ash Organization is ruthless. Who knows how many of their own died in that explosion. Most of their operatives are probably dead men walking, right?” Yang Bo contemplated as he gazed out the window.

Yang Bo tidied up his home and gathered the passwords to transfer his game.

Then they moved into a villa beside the police station. The villa wasn’t big, covering about 700-800 square meters. The building itself was a little over 300 square meters, with the rest being a garden. However, a recent hurricane had killed all the plants in the garden with saltwater.

The house didn’t have intelligent systems, just mechanical facilities, with doors made of warship armor ten centimeters thick with hydraulic mechanisms, even more excessive than the security at Yang Bo’s place.

“Yang Bo, I’ve checked. There’s no eavesdropping or smart devices. Only the room with internet connection has signal.” Fat Boss said after a thorough inspection.

Yang Bo nodded. From the look of things, the situation outside was still tense. Who knew if the Grey Ash Organization would do something desperate? For now, staying here was fine. Doing anything suspicious would attract warplanes and drones instantly.

“Looks like I’ll have to delay using Third Master’s identity for a while.” After settling in, Yang Bo went to his suite’s internet-enabled room. Though the room wasn’t big, having an internet connection was enough.

“Yang Bo, be wary of Zhou Rui. I don’t think she’s up to any good.” Fat Boss entered the room too, looking out the window at the police drone hive behind the station. It was a circular building with compartments holding various police drones and two high-powered laser cannons on the roof.

Sorry for being late.