Chapter 2668: Wrong Target

"I am really fine. Look. The injury is already gone," Yuan said, proving it by banging on the spot where the bullet had struck with his hands like a gorilla.

"If you say so..." Huang Zi Han muttered.

"Anyway, I should go back now. I don’t want to involve you in any more accidents."

"Alright." Yuan nodded.

Normally, he would have offered to accompany her until he was certain she was safe, but there was no need in their current situation. Huang Zi Han wasn’t the target, and staying with her would only put her in further danger.

"See you later," he said as she started walking away.

"We’ll see about that..." Huang Zi Han replied without looking back.

Once Huang Zi Han disappeared, Yuan continued wandering the city while pondering the situation.

’I can only think of one reason why there’s a target on my back...’

The images of Colonel Gu and Major Gu immediately surfaced in his mind. After all, they were the only ones who could have known his identity, since they knew he would be wandering the city and could have easily seen him leave in his new disguise.

Although he had also removed his mask while eating at the restaurants, he couldn’t think of any reason why that alone would have made him a target.

While he was the subject of the upcoming assembly, nobody knew he was in the city. And even if someone did, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack him unprovoked with so many innocent people nearby.

Therefore, Yuan concluded that the Gu Family was most likely responsible for the assassination attempt.

’How bold and reckless of them to attack me here...’ he shook his head inwardly.

He was expecting an attack, but he wasn’t expecting it to happen on the first day of their arrival.

’They’re getting impatient...’

Yuan began pondering how he should deal with the situation. Even if he was convinced that it was the Gu Family who tried to kill him, he had no evidence, and the attackers had vanished after the assassination attempt.

’They probably think I’m already dead and won’t make another move until they realize I survived. I should return to the base first and let the Gu Family see that I’m still alive...’

He glanced down at his damaged outfit.

’I need a change of clothes, anyway.’

With that, Yuan made his way back to the Central District.

Back at the base, Yuan approached the same maid who helped him out earlier and said, "Sorry, but can I get a new outfit?"

"Good lord! What happened?! Are you okay?!" The maid gasped in shock when she saw the gaping hole in his outfit.

"Yes, there was an accident, but as you can see, I am fine." Yuan calmly dismissed it.

After snapping out of her daze, the maid nodded and said, "Once you change your outfit, please hand me your old ones."

"Alright."

The maid brought Yuan back to the building with the closet-like rooms.

After changing into a new outfit, Yuan handed his old ones to the maid.

"Thanks."

Instead of returning to wandering the city, Yuan made his way to the building occupied by the Gu Family and knocked on the door.

A few moments later, Major Gu opened the door.

"Who is—?!?!?!"

Major Gu’s eyes widened in shock, disbelief spreading across his face as though he were staring at a ghost.

"What’s wrong? You look like you’re seeing a ghost," Yuan remarked, snapping Major Gu out of his daze.

"W-What the hell do you want?" he stuttered.

"I know General Gu doesn’t like me, but I just realized we’ve never even spoken face-to-face. I want you to send him a message for me," Yuan said. "Tell him we can sit down and talk this out like adults, or he can keep playing these games and eventually pay the price."

"You dare to threaten a General?" Major Gu remarked with narrowed eyes.

Yuan shrugged. "I am merely reminding him that there’s something called karma. That’s all."

After saying such words, Yuan turned around and walked away.

Major Gu stared at Yuan in silence, remaining by the door until he completely vanished.

Then, Major Gu shut the door and called Colonel Gu.

"That bastard is still alive!"

"What?" Colonel Gu raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.

"Sergeant Yuan! That cockroach is still alive!"

"That’s impossible! Those guys said that they’d killed him!"

"Either those bastards are lying, or Sergeant Yuan just knocked on the door and had a conversation with me as a corpse—a perfectly healthy-looking corpse!" Major Gu shouted.

"Those bastards! How dare they try to scam us?!"

Colonel Gu immediately picked up his communication device and called a certain number.

"Yes—"

"YOU FUCKERS!" Colonel Gu screamed the moment the call connected.

"W-What?" the person on the other end muttered, sounding dumbfounded.

"Don’t you ’what’ me, you scamming bastards! Just minutes ago, you called us and claimed that you’d completed the mission and killed the target!"

"But we did kill him! The strike connected, and we all saw a giant hole in his chest where his heart is located!" The man exclaimed.

"Bull-fucking-shit! You’re either lying out of your ass, or you killed the wrong guy! Because the target you’re supposed to kill just knocked on our door—alive and healthy!" Colonel Gu cursed without reserve.

"What?! That can’t be! The target was exactly as you described! He wore..." The man proceeded to describe what Yuan wore perfectly.

"Wait! Sergeant Yuan wasn’t wearing those clothes when I spoke with him just now!" Major Gu revealed after hearing it.

"He must have changed his clothes! This explains everything!"

The man then spoke, "In that case, you cannot fault us for killing the wrong target, as we were given false information. If you wish for us to continue this mission, you’ll need to pay extra for your mistake and for the inconvenience."

"How much?"

"Three hundred million."

"What?! That’s damn near the price of what we already paid!"

"Do you want us to continue the mission or not?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Colonel Gu replied, "We’ll send you the payment shortly. Just make sure you actually killed him this time."

"Of course. Our gang has never failed a mission before. Now then... what does he look like now?"

Major Gu swiftly recalled Yuan’s new appearance to the assassins.

Meanwhile, Yuan returned to the city and wandered the place as he waited for the assassins to strike again, visiting every restaurant that piqued his interest.

After several hours of eating, Yuan stopped moving when a little boy with teary eyes approached him and said, "Big brother, can you help me?"

"What’s up?"

"My mother was taken by some people, and they said if I wanted her back, I needed to tell you to follow me..."

"..."

Yuan fell silent.

"Please follow me, big brother. I want my mother back..." the boy spoke again, looking like he was on the verge of bawling his eyes out.

"Alright, take me to them..." Yuan nodded a moment later.

Afterward, Yuan followed the boy for several blocks before they entered a narrow alleyway that ended in a dead end.

"So, where are these strangers and your mother?" Yuan asked without even bothering to look around.

However, the boy didn’t respond. Instead, he reached beneath his clothes, pulled out a dagger, and stabbed Yuan in the leg.

"..."

However, due to Yuan’s physique, the boy lacked the strength to pierce his skin, much less injure him.

"?!"

The boy’s eyes widened in shock, and his body froze as his mind went blank, completely unsure of what to do next.

Yuan calmly turned his head to look at the boy and asked, "What are you doing?"

The boy dropped the knife and began walking back with a fearful expression on his face.

"Hey, where do you—"

Just as Yuan turned to follow him, a silhouette descended from above and landed behind him before thrusting a long blade made of Limitless into his back.

"This weapon has been infused with a poisonous Refined Crystal, so you’ll be dead within a minute," the attacker said. "However, if you answer my questions, I’ll give you an antidote."

Yuan turned to face him, and the attacker was taken aback by how calm he looked.

"What question?" Yuan inquired.

"Are you Sergeant Yuan?"

"Indeed, I am."

"Thanks. You can die now." The attacker chuckled.

"What about the antidote?"

"Did you really think I’d let you live?"

"No, not really."

The next moment, Yuan collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Shortly afterward, the attacker rolled him onto his back and removed his mask before retrieving a device to take a picture of his face.

"And... sent," the attacker muttered after sending the evidence. "It’s been a while since we’ve had such an easy mission with such a high payout."

"I’d like to hear more about that."

A familiar voice suddenly resounded.

"?!?!"

Startled, the attacker dropped the device and turned toward Yuan, who was slowly rising from the ground.

"I-Impossible! How are you still alive?!" he exclaimed.

"Did you really think you could kill me with such weak poison?" Yuan responded with a cold smile.

"Weak?! That wasn’t just some ordinary poison! It was one of the strongest poisons in the world!" the attacker revealed.

"If that’s the case, then the poisons in this world are quite lacking," Yuan replied calmly. "That said, I’m not surprised. I don’t see much need for poison in an environment like this."

"W-Who the hell are you...?"

"Hm? Weren’t you paying attention just now? I already told you that I am Sergeant Yuan."