Chapter 1 The Delivery Mission

"Boss, the Cross Society's convoy transporting the goods has entered the city. They should arrive at White Sails Warehouse in about ten minutes."

"Has the list of escorts been confirmed?"

"Confirmed. There are twelve people in total in three vehicles. All of them are Cross Society veterans on the list, no suspicious individuals. 'Blade' Kai is leading the team. The list also mentions a guy named Soren. His marksmanship is pretty good."

"Hmm, just a gunman. Even if he's strong, he's only Tier 1, not a threat. Proceed according to plan. Once we confirm the item is in the cargo, eliminate everyone in the convoy."

"Yes!"

"Oh, right. Contact that kid named Kai. Give him an outer circle position to test him out. If he has potential, recruit him."

"Yes."

...

The Cross Society's convoy slowly entered the inner city through Gate Five.

After entering the city walls, it was like entering a steel forest. This was a very three-dimensional city. Many super-high buildings of three to five hundred meters resembled towering trees, forming the main body of the city. Relying on these super-high buildings as a framework, various steel frame overpasses, suspended intercity railway tracks, high-altitude pedestrian streets, and suspended steel frame layers were densely constructed... like a mille-feuille.

These overhead structures connected the buildings into one piece and roughly divided the entire city into three layers: upper, middle, and lower.

The architectural style that met the eye had a clear sense of layering.

The shorter buildings looked very slender, with exposed brick walls, large stones, Gothic-style spires, pointed arches, and large windows with stained glass. It looked like an architectural style from a thousand years ago. The middle layer had steel frame structures, crude pipes, and steam boilers, with a strong steampunk industrial style. The higher up, the more it became a cyberpunk future technology style, with aerial gardens...

The city's designers had increased the number of residents the inner city could accommodate several times over in a limited space.

Soren vaguely remembered some impressions from the memories he had gleaned, and he also knew that the people in the inner city were divided into different classes.

The higher you lived, the more esteemed your status.

The bottom layer was also the civilian area of the inner city.

The Cross Society's convoy traveled on the ground, while intercity trains roared overhead like light rails. Along the street, there were flowerbeds with brightly colored small flowers, and people of all ages wore well-fitting and colorful clothes.

"Wow... so many cars! Are these guys in the inner city so rich? It seems like everyone can afford a high-end car..."

Kai had never been to the inner city before. He looked at the scene, which was completely different from the outer city, and kept exclaiming.

Each of these cars had a shiny paint job and sleek lines, which were incomparable to the old goods pieced together from scrap parts in the outer city.

Seeing the cars on the road, Kai suddenly felt that the "cool modified motorcycles" in the gang looked like naughty children covered in mud in front of these cars.

Soren rested his chin in his hand, leaned against the car window, and looked at the bustling street, but his eyes were a little unfocused.

Now that the goods had been transported to the inner city, they shouldn't encounter any more robbers. Yet he still felt something was wrong.

...

The destination for transporting the goods was White Sails Warehouse, an inconspicuous warehouse on the riverside in the lower level of Sector 5, with a glass roof like a white sail.

The space was large, and the trucks drove directly into the warehouse.

Kai called Soren to get out of the car, "Hey, brother, we're here. Once we deliver the goods, the mission is complete."

Soren nodded, but didn't rush to get out of the car.

He deliberately sized up the people receiving the goods in the warehouse. There were seven people in total, all employees of Mrs. Fino's affiliated商会 (shanghui, merchant guild), and they didn't seem to be a problem.

Then he looked at the layout of the warehouse. It was very spacious, the size of a football field. But apart from a few cars, there was nowhere to hide. Only a few thick painted iron pillars supported the glass roof above.

In that instant, Soren had instinctively thought of a feasible escape route in case of danger.

Kai had already walked down and greeted the people taking over.

Then he went to the back of the truck, opened the combination lock door, and the gang members began to unload the goods one by one according to the list.

Soren observed this and didn't find anything unusual, so he got out of the car.

"Butler Jackson, this is the list of goods. We checked it once before departure, there should be no problem."

"Sorry, the procedure still needs to be followed."

"Oh, checking the items is a very time-consuming task. It'll be hard work for you."

"No. That is precisely what Mrs. Fino hired us for."

"..."

When Soren got out of the car, he saw the Cross Society members starting to move the items one by one from the truck, while the old butler named Jackson was in charge of counting them.

Those inner city guys were very indifferent and didn't seem to want to have much interaction with the Cross Society members from the outer city, even Kai, the transportation team leader.

Kai seemed very bored.

Seeing Soren come down, he walked over, "Soren, after we hand over the goods, shall we take a stroll around the city?"

Seeing that he was in a good mood, Soren nodded, "Yeah."

But just then, a bearded man in a suit suddenly walked in from outside the warehouse and asked the group, "Who's Kai?"

Hearing the arrogant tone, Kai frowned. He didn't want to pay attention to him, but after thinking about something, he still said, "I am."

The man didn't waste any words and said coldly, "Follow me. Someone wants to see you."

With that, he turned and left in the direction he came from.

When Kai heard this, not only was he not suspicious, but his face was filled with excitement. He winked at Soren, "Brother, I'll be away for a while, watch over things for me."

"Okay."

Soren nodded and didn't say anything.

He knew that this bearded man was probably the person that Smoker had arranged for him to meet.

He didn't have much to say.

After all, Smoker was Kai's old captain and the one who promoted him in the gang. Soren often heard Kai talk about his admiration for Smoker Sambu, like a child admiring his father.

But...

What Soren found strange was that the bearded man came directly to the warehouse to ask for him?

This was Mrs. Fino's 商会 (shanghui, merchant guild)'s warehouse. If the benefactor Smoker introduced to Kai was a acquaintance of Mrs. Fino, why was it so mysterious?

Also, that faint observation gaze from a distance at the warehouse entrance—was it a sentry or something else?

...

Many items had already been moved off the truck. The large sculptures, metal utensils, and other antiques were piled up on the ground.

Then there were some smaller items such as ancient books, scrolls, and cursed materials.

Soren had doubts in his mind, so he quietly watched from the side. Gradually, he discovered a problem: the old butler with the walrus mustache seemed to be looking at those典籍 (dianji, classic books) very carefully.

Even though the list only stated "one hundred volumes of ancient典籍 (dianji, classic books)" without detailed names.

There were hundreds or even thousands of volumes in that pile. It would take a lot of time to read them all one by one.

But the butler meticulously flipped through them one by one, as if he was looking for something.

It was this unusual behavior that suddenly alerted Soren.

What was this old man looking for?

He wasn't so careful with the other antiques. Did he seem to be looking for a specific典籍 (dianji, classic book)?

In that instant, several keywords flashed through Soren's mind: goods,典籍 (dianji, classic books)... gang warehouse?

That's not right!

There's a problem!

Suddenly, through the keywords, he searched his memory and found a related memory.

That was the headquarters warehouse attack he participated in on his first day joining the Cross Society!

At that time, Chidori also captured an intruder alive, but he was killed halfway by a Cross Society mole.

Soren connected these clues and suddenly frowned, guessing a possibility that made his back instantly cold: "This guy is looking for *Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript*!"

...

The moment this thought popped into his head, a huge sense of crisis that made Soren's scalp tingle instantly struck his heart.

He had originally thought it was a simple escort and handover mission, but he didn't expect it to be fraught with hidden dangers!

Soren had previously learned through various channels that the Cross Society had lost a copy of *Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript*.

He originally thought that it was gone, and that such a precious thing had nothing to do with him, a small gang member.

But now, he didn't expect to be accidentally involved.

He instantly thought: "Captain Miller, who sniped the prisoner, was definitely not the mole, at least... not the mastermind. Which means that there is still a 'key figure' from the original robbery who hasn't been discovered within the Cross Society. When President Chuck and the cadres suddenly returned to headquarters, there was no way for the mole to safely take the manuscript, so hiding it would be the safest..."

Moreover, this was not just a guess, but it had solid evidence!

Soren immediately recalled that he had also extracted the soul of the Tier 2 attacker at the time, obtaining a key piece of information: "They would never have thought that the manuscript would be hidden there."

"So that's what happened..."

Soren connected all the clues in his mind, and a far-reaching conspiracy instantly surfaced.

Since the manuscript couldn't be taken away under those circumstances,

Where would hiding the manuscript be least expected?

Naturally, the Cross Society's warehouse!

"The manuscript never left Hassen Building, it just moved from the Cross Society's vault to an ordinary warehouse outside!"

With various clues connecting, Soren immediately came to a conclusion: "That mole also knew very well that even if he was a cadre, going to the warehouse again would definitely arouse suspicion. But with this method, he doesn't even have to risk taking the manuscript himself, because every once in a while, the Cross Society will automatically pack the things in the ordinary warehouse and transport them to the inner city... All he has to do is intercept the transport team to find the manuscript hidden in those典籍 (dianji, classic books)!"