章 25: The Situation

Lin Shen was stuck in a dilemma. How would he go about persuading his father? The first quest he had obtained had yet to be completed and from the looks of it, the rewards should be quite valuable. Even a tiny subquest like [Go jog outside, it's healthy.] had given him the blood of a mythical creature, the Phoenix.

However, the exams were a vital component in completing the quest. He understood the point his father was trying to get across, that it was dangerous being targeted by assassins.

Hell, he was lucky the assassin was so weak. The next time might not be so.

The mastermind behind the assassination had decided to send an assassin to a high school kid whom he hardly met. That spoke volumes of the guy's temperament.

There was a high chance that he would send stronger assassins after him.

Maybe he could take advantage of the 'traffic' during the exams? There would be many people going for their exams and he could just blend in with them, right?

No, assassins were the masters of disguise. For all he knew, one of the exam proctors could be the assassin.

Lin Shen truly couldn't think up of a reason other than revealing that he was a cultivator. Unless he did so, then he would have to wait one whole year to take the exam.

Honestly though, he was already in the Foundation Establishment realm and could take a bullet. Wait no, what if the next assassin brings a higher caliber gun, even a sniper from afar? He truly hated his intelligence at times. Reason tells him the odds of the situation and desire wants him to go nonetheless.

Father Lin was also thinking about the situation. He wanted his son to live a normal life, but was being a repeater a normal life? Not for his son, a genius. Also he had already come into contact with assassins and even survived a gunshot. THAT was not normal.

'Plus, that energy surrounding him…' Any semblance of a normal life was bound to disappear soon. Since that was the case, instead of giving him a normal life, it would be better to protect him. At any cost.

"Alright, I've thought it over. If you really want to take the exam, you can. Just be aware of your surroundings and protect yourself."

"Eh?"

Lin Shen didn't know what happened to change his father's mind so quickly, but it was a good thing.

At the moment, Father Lin got up and went towards the kitchen. There were sounds of rummaging before he returned, a tube of ointment in his hand.

"Sit still. I have to apply the ointment on your wounds so it might sting a bit." Lin Shen complied and as Father Lin applied the first touch of ointment, he immediately winced in pain. 'Such a strong ointment!'

'Hm?' Father Lin felt like he was just imagining it but he could've sworn the wounds were smaller than before. After applying all the wounds, he confirmed it.

'It really is healing fast…'

"Go to your room and prepare for the exam or something." Father Lin shooed off Lin Shen as the latter ran back to his room. He had his suspicions but he held it back.

He then grabbed his phone to arrange for the upcoming day.

~+++~

Secretary Wang sat in the lounge area of his office, leisurely drinking tea. He had ordered an assassination on Lin Shen using Wolf's Bane's application. He only hired the lowest rung of assassins since the guy seemed to only be a normal high schooler, save for his intellect.

"You know, for a secretary, you seem to hold a lot of power." A man sat across from Secretary Wang as he too sipped on tea.

"Who?!" Secretary Wang immediately sprang up in surprise at the unknown man. He had been all alone in his office and remembered being clear about not receiving any guests today.

"Securit-" A gust of wind rushed toward the secretary to silence the man.

The man gazed calmly at the heaving Secretary Wang as the cool air caressed his bald head. "Relax, I'm not here to kill you."

He gestured for Secretary Wang to sit down, before sliding his phone onto the table.

"You see, I just received a notice that a client had ordered an assassination on Lin Shen." Secretary Wang took a look at the phone only to see a big 'Mission Failed' label exactly on his offer.

He asked the bald man. "Who are you? That offer should've been kept a secret."

A smile sprang up on the bald man's face. "Obviously I'm the boss, otherwise how would I be privy to such private information?"

"The boss of Wolf's Bane? That would be Jin Da, also known as the 'Wolf Head'...I see. You're finally here." A confident smile formed on Secretary Wang's face, whereas the smile on Jin Da's face retracted, replaced by a frown.

"You summoned me here?"

"Of course. I've read Lin Shen's files. Says he has some sort of 'bad' history with you." Secretary Wang felt like the tables turned in his favor. "I offered an assassination to a newbie in your organization; someone who wouldn't know about your 'rules' yet. This would bring the matter to your attention, and you would come here."

"Although your method of entering is quite mysterious…" Secretary Wang whispered that part to himself.

"What do you want?" Jin Da wasn't happy knowing that someone knew so much about his organization.

"Since you have a bad history with the kid, I'm quite curious on why you haven't ended him yet."

Jin Da scoffed at the man's answer. "Don't waste your time, that matter was years ago. I don't know what he did to tick you off but don't meddle in my business."

"Besides that, I actually came here for a different matter." That caught the secretary's attention as his ears perked up.

"Do you know Godblood?"

Secretary Wang nodded."Of course, isn't that the equivalent of Wolf's Bane in City A? They're quite a terrifying group actually…"

'Tch, bastard.' Jin Da was a little pissed off with the secretary's attitude, but he endured. "Godblood is coming to City H."

"What?"

Secretary Wang's confident demeanor immediately shifted. He had heard many terrifying things about Godblood, and now such a group was coming to City H? F*ck, is one hell not enough? Now they want to make City H into a hell's den?

"A-are you sure about this? Where did you get this information?" He wanted to confirm the situation.

Jin Da took his phone back and tapped on it a few times before setting it back on the glass table. Secretary Wang curiously looked at the picture on the phone.

There was a white haired man sitting in the backseat of a black car, his outfit that of a black suit. The picture was taken at an angle where it seemed like the eyes of the man seemed to be looking at the camera. No, the man WAS staring at the camera.

"This?"

Jin Da nodded. "The Chief of Godblood's battalion, also one of the Four Gods. We found him approaching the south entrance of City H."

"Him being here...I'm afraid it isn't for a simple visit." He also added. "Godblood is a big gang, no, a big organization that has existed for 20 years. Such an organization coming to City H uninvited clearly indicates disrespect to the local power."

"Call me paranoid but I suspect Godblood is planning on expanding to City H."

Secretary Wang quietly listened as he took in the information. That comment about the 'local power' irked him a little since it wasn't specified which power, the political power or the underworld power, but he understood the situation. Such a power coming uninvited means they weren't here for a friendly 'gathering'.

If they wanted to target the local powers, the process wouldn't be peaceful. It could disrupt quite a lot of things. Even if they only targeted Wolf's Bane and succeeded, that would only mean City H had a new underworld power. Yu Conglomerate would be in a state of alert if that power wasn't friendly to them, and Secretary Wang wasn't the type of person who wanted to control an 'empty' organization.

Either way, these were all just assumptions on their part. They had to be cautious and rational, making sure not to provoke the enemy first, in case they really were just here on a visit.

"So, what, you want some kind of cooperation?"

"Of course. You want to take over Yu Conglomerate, and if Godblood wants Yu Conglomerate instead...you won't be able to retaliate." Jin Da stated his opinions. "Yu Conglomerate is just a big company in control of a bunch of smaller ones. Up against a bunch of gangster elites, they can really just infiltrate the headquarters, dig for 'dirty' information, and bam! Yu Conglomerate is on the news for scandalous activities!"

"You!"

"What? It's the truth, I've done my research." Jin Da held up his hands in slight mockery. "As fellow residents of City H, it's harrowing enough that two big powers are sharing one city. Now another one is about to appear.."