Cyberpunk, but urban

Soon, after arranging the next itinerary, Black Cat returned to Room 4503. The waiter who came back with the food cart following the abnormality asked Ye Lan and the others to finish their conversation.

"Then, let's talk about the rest of the things tomorrow morning. Let's go back and prepare first." Ye Lan took the initiative to say goodbye and took Luna back to their own room.

However, although they said they needed to make some preparations, in reality, apart from packing up the luggage in the hotel bedroom, Ye Lan and Luna didn't have much else to do.

"Ye Lan, Ye Lan, please buy me some usable equipment next time~" Little Luna said to Ye Lan while packing her luggage.

"Why do you suddenly want to fight?" Ye Lan asked.

"I've been following you but can't help you at all. I always feel useless..." Luna stuffed the last piece of clothing into the box and said to Ye Lan with a pout, "I'm afraid that if I continue like this, you will abandon me."

"Silly." Ye Lan came closer and tapped Luna on the forehead. "You are really stupid. I have never thought of asking you to do anything for me. Luna, I didn't adopt you to get something in return from you."

"But... I don't want to be just a daughter who is raised. I also want to be useful."

"Then wait until this commission is over, and I'll take you to choose some workshop weapons to practice with first."

The two talked for a while, then went back to their bedrooms and fell asleep.

The next morning, they got on the car that Black Cat had booked in advance and drove towards K's Nest along the road that Ye Lan had taken with the people from Moses Office.

At the entrance to L Nest, the Black Cloud Society members who collected tolls from passers-by were nowhere to be seen. Ye Lan was not sure whether it was because they lost their territory here after their vice-president was killed by Vespa, or because they continued to go deeper into L Nest and gave up their business here.

But it was a good thing that no one was setting up a checkpoint on the road. The driver hired by Black Cat easily drove the car through the checkpoint that was no longer managed and continued to drive towards Nest K. When leaving, Ye Lan seemed to see a figure wearing a bamboo hat in the woods beside the road.

"Could it be that Jin Li escaped with the Sword Contract Group?"

Ye Lan guessed in his heart, but even if he wanted to contact them, he would have to wait until he returned from Nest D. But at least, before leaving Nest K, their journey should be relatively peaceful. Even if Miss Zoe's family had a high status in Nest D, it would be difficult for them to cause trouble in the nests controlled by other wings.

Chapter 93. Silver Phoenix Fried Chicken Bar

The car passed through the former checkpoint of the Black Cloud Society and was driving on the road. The surrounding scenery quickly receded and finally what appeared in Ye Lan's eyes were only the shadows of the trees that kept passing by.

These trees, which existed as green areas, had been surviving without anyone managing them for who knows how long, and more than half of them had died for various reasons. These leafless trees stood on both sides of the road, with their dry branches reaching toward the sky like the hands of a person struggling to survive, leaving a scene in Ye Lan and Luna's sight that was almost indistinguishable from a horror movie.

The remaining small number of trees that were still alive looked half-dead, with shriveled leaves drooping and turning yellow, just like the starving people that Ye Lan had seen in the stories in his previous life.

"Mr. Driver, how long will it take us to get there?"

Feeling really depressed by the surrounding environment, Luna asked the driver in the driving seat.

"Hmm...it will probably take more than an hour to drive. But if we go another three or five kilometers at most, the surrounding scenery will be different from what it is now!"

The driver looked at the map on the navigation and said to Luna without turning his head.

Just as he said, after the car continued driving along the road for a while, the surrounding scenery became much more normal, and the greenery on both sides of the road also showed obvious signs of maintenance.

"If you go further, you will reach Alley 11. Someone will take care of these public facilities." The driver said enthusiastically, as if he regarded Ye Lan and his group as residents who were preparing to move out of Alley 11.

"So noisy... Meowth, can't you find a quieter place next time?"

"We will have to change trains once we get into the back alley, so just bear with it for a while."

Miss Zoe held the cat in boots in her arms and quietly commented on the driver. The black cat-like entity patted her on the body and yawned to calm her down.

The fact was just as Black Cat said. Not long after, they got off the car at the security area of ​​Alley 11. The chief of Section 4 of the Southern Section of the Second Association personally opened the door for Miss Zoe. A team of all-female bodyguards surrounded Zoe, waiting for the next instruction from the Miss.

The section chief was wearing the uniform of the Second Association, with a few protective gear faintly visible under the coat of the uniform. He was tall, Ye Lan estimated that he was more than 1.9 meters tall, and his face could not tell his specific age, but he was definitely no less than 30 years old.

Letting the 4th Section's finisher go first, the Section Chief took out a cigarette from his cigarette box and said without even looking up, "What's your name, finisher?"

"Ye Lan."

The lighter lit up with a snap, lighting the cigarette that the section chief had picked up. Then he handed the cigarette box to Ye Lan and asked him, "Nice name. I'm Andreas, section chief of the 4th section of the southern part of the Zwei Association. You can just call me Andrea. Would you like one?"

"I don't smoke."

"Boring." After making a dull comment, Andreas asked him the next question: "What level of finisher are you? Why did you accept such a commission?"

"Level 9. Accepting this commission was just a coincidence."

"Ninth level?" Andreas looked at Ye Lan, then shook his head and said to him, "Either you are kidding me, or you were not a closer before."

"How to say?"

"You know, I almost drew my knife when I first saw you getting out of the car. You are such a threatening person."

Andreas took a deep breath, and the cigarette in his mouth burned down to a cigarette butt in an instant. The section chief said as he slowly exhaled the smoke.

Ye Lan smiled and said, "You really think highly of me, but you are right, I have only recently become the closer."

"Section Chief! How long are you going to talk?!"

Just when Andreas was about to ask Ye Lan what he did for a living before, his deputy section chief shouted to him on the street.

The two of them looked in her direction and realized that the finishing staff of the Second Association's Southern Section 4 who were hired to perform the security work had already reached the middle of the street.

Ye Lan looked around again. There were many people on the street, and it seemed no different from usual. But he was sure that among the people around him, there must be plainclothes tailmen from the Second Association hiding among them and watching.

Guards in uniform on the surface and secret sentries in plain clothes hiding in the crowd work together. This is the classic tactic used by the Second Association when protecting VIP personnel.

Andreas swallowed his question, threw the cigarette butt into the trash can beside him, and said to Ye Lan: "Okay, let's catch up quickly."

It wasn't long before the two caught up with the team protecting Zoe.

Luna was walking with Miss Zoe at this time, and they were protected by the finishing people. The two people and the cat were talking about something, but Ye Lan couldn't hear clearly from his current position.

"Brother Ye Lan, please listen to our next route." Andreas approached Ye Lan and showed him the screen on the tablet in his hand.

"We will enter K Nest from Checkpoint 7 and have dinner in the nest. After dinner, we will go directly through K Nest and enter Alley 4 along one of these two routes."

As he spoke, he drew two routes on the map. Although these two routes were said to go directly through K Nest, they would actually bypass K Company's base, and were much farther than Andreas had said.

"Silver Phoenix Fried Chicken Bar? Why is this store specifically marked?" Ye Lan asked.

"Ha, our young lady wants to eat some fried food, so let's pick a fried chicken shop with high taste and style."

Andreas smiled and continued, "So I chose this restaurant. Although the name has the word 'bar' in it, it's actually a family restaurant. I've been there quite a few times. Their fried chicken is the best in K-Nest. Even the products of the Buddha Chicken chain can't compare to it."

"...So it's just you who wants to go eat." Ye Lan looked at Andreas with empty eyes, and then ignored this section chief who used his position to eat at his favorite restaurant.

The deputy section chief who was not far from the two of them also came over with a helpless expression. This young finisher who looked to be in his twenties apologized to Ye Lan and said to him, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. Although our Section 4 chief is a little off in these aspects, please rest assured that he will definitely not make any mistakes when protecting important people."

Chapter 94. Attack

"Brother Andre, your deputy section chief said you are out of tune."

"Don't listen to her."

Ye Lan joked, and then asked the deputy section chief: "I haven't asked you yet, what is your name?"

The deputy chief of the 4th section of the Southern Region of the Second Association said to Ye Lan, "Just call me Hannah."

And just as she reached out her hand to Ye Lan, a gunshot rang out from the top of a building on one side of the street, waking up everyone nearby.

A special bullet from a bullet workshop under Thumb was fired by a shooter hidden on the top of the building, and a line of fire rushed straight towards Hannah's head.

"Under attack!"

Andreas took a step forward and stood in front of Hannah. The bullet that was shooting at Hannah with a trail of fire was blocked by him with his special coat, splashing sparks.

The next moment, he simultaneously received reports in his earphones that all the hidden sentries were attacked.

"Something's not right... Hannah, hurry up and get the VIP through the checkpoint." Andreas immediately spoke to his deputy section chief, listening to the report that was almost being suppressed in his headphones.

"understand!"

The next moment, the team that was openly protecting Miss Zoe sped up their actions. A navy blue team of cleaners surrounded Zoe and Luna in the center and ran quickly on the street.

"Brother Ye Lan, it looks like we won't have a chance to rest before entering K Nest."

"That's not necessarily true. We might not even have a chance to rest in the nest."

Ye Lan replied, and dodged a bullet that was shot at him. The bullet hit the wall on one side and formed a piece of ice.

"Things that look like thumbs." Andreas muttered to himself as he looked at the bullets falling everywhere. The bullets shot by the gunman from the surrounding buildings caused various effects on the landing points, but although the sound and light effects were very strong, the actual threat to the finishing people of the Second Association was not great.

"But it shouldn't be someone with the thumb," Andreas made a judgment. He said to Ye Lan, "Their guns and bullets are matched. When there are only bullets, although they can still be fired through other weapons, the power will be greatly reduced, just like the current situation."

Ye Lan dodged the flying bullets leisurely and said to Andreas: "It seems that Thumb has lost a lot of things recently."

"Chief...something's not right..."

Hannah's voice suddenly came from Andreas's headphones, but she only said half of her words, and only a rustling noise was left in the headphones.

"Let's go." Andreas shouted and immediately ran towards the checkpoint.

Ye Lan followed behind him slowly, the ring in his hand flickering with a faint light, ready to burst out with brilliant starlight at any time, summoning ego equipment that could solve the problem.

The two continued running forward for a distance, and Andreas suddenly took off the headphones hanging on his ears, then threw them on the ground without any hesitation, leaving them alone.

"What's going on?" Ye Lan asked.

"The secret sentries on the periphery are either all dead or their communications are jammed. They are useless anyway. I might as well just throw them away." Andreas replied.

Ye Lan and the other person crossed the street very quickly. In a flash, they passed through the line of fire from the building and rushed into the checkpoint.

At this moment, the checkpoint has been completely controlled by K Company's security personnel, and all the people waiting to pass have been dispersed except Miss Zoe.

Through the gaps in the human wall, Ye Lan could see Zoe sitting alone in the middle of the crowd, holding a cat. There was a considerable space around her where no one was present.

Luna came over from the medical station nearby. Her face was a little pale, as if she was frightened by something.

"What's going on?" Ye Lan asked.

"Hannah sister told me that a fourth association's finisher tried to assassinate Zoe here. Hannah sister blocked it for her and is now receiving treatment with HP ammunition at the medical station."

Luna's words revealed a lot of information, but the most important information at this moment was that Zoe's family commissioned the four associations' finishers to assassinate her.

The Four Associations are professional assassination associations in the city. As long as you are willing to pay enough money, even if the target is hiding in the company facilities of World Wings, the Four Associations' finishers can find the opportunity to assassinate the target you require.

The killers among them who have mastered the skill called the Eye of Death can even cut the target in half from head to toe with a single knife from behind a metal wall several dozen centimeters thick.

Andreas smacked his lips and said unhappily, "Damn the Four Associations. One of the things I hate most is running into these people when I'm tasked with protecting important people."

"Ye Lan, it seems that you are right this time. Even if we enter the nest today, it will be difficult for us to have time to rest."

"That may not be the case." Ye Lan smiled confidently, and the ring on his hand lit up with bright starlight. Andreas looked at Ye Lan in amazement as he was engulfed by the black flames, and then put on a coat whose original material could not be seen and walked out of the gradually fading fire.

The ego equipment on Ye Lan at this time was the [Magic Bullet] that everyone liked very much.

Putting the familiar pipe in his mouth, the black flame that appeared out of nowhere lit it. Ye Lan took the shotgun from his back and aimed at the empty air.

Andreas looked at Ye Lan in confusion and said to him, "Brother Ye Lan, firing blanks won't scare away the killers from the Fourth Association."

"Hush—my bullet will find his heart."

Ye Lan pushed the bullet wrapped in flames into the gun barrel, and then activated it. A magic circle that no one could understand appeared at the muzzle, and the magic bullet flew out, dragging azure light.

Just as Andreas was about to sigh at Ye Lan's waste of eyes, the bullet that turned into a ray of light visible to the naked eye turned in mid-air, drawing a sharp angle in the air and piercing through a security officer of K Company who formed the human wall.

In an instant, all the employees of K Company looked at Ye Lan with hostility. If he did not explain this attack, they would attack Ye Lan next.

"Hmph, you didn't even know that your employees were replaced by the finishing touches of the Four Associations?" Ye Lan stepped forward under the hostile gazes of K Company's employees and pulled up the security officer who was pierced by the magic bullet.

After taking off the helmet and armor, everyone could clearly see the Four Associations uniform worn under the K Company's standard armor.

"Whoever has HP ammunition, please shoot him. Don't let him die like this." Ye Lan said to the K company employees around him.

Chapter 95. Changing Face

A round of HP bullet was shot into the body of the fourth association's finisher, and Andreas walked forward to confirm his identity. In the medical station on the side, Deputy Section Chief Hannah, who had also used HP bullets to heal her injuries, came out and said to Ye Lan: "Mr. Ye Lan, judging from the current situation, our commission may need to be changed."

"Oh? Tell me how you want to modify it."

"That's right. In our initial commission, there was no clause about being attacked by the assassination associations or agencies such as the Four Associations. I think we should renegotiate and draft relevant terms, and the compensation should also be increased."

"After all, the price of protecting an important target from a thug attack is different from the price of protecting a target from a killer finisher's assassination."

Deputy Section Chief Hannah spoke righteously, and Ye Lan did not hear any indication of asking for an exorbitant price in her words.

"Although I want to agree to your request directly, unfortunately, this commission was submitted by the young lady sitting over there. If you want to modify the commission, you should go talk to Miss Zoe."

"Is that so... I understand."

Deputy Section Chief Hannah saluted Ye Lan, then turned and walked towards Miss Zoe, who was still blocked by the wall of people. Ye Lan looked at her back, and an inexplicable sense of weirdness came to his heart.

Ye Lan shouted to Andreas, who was walking towards him while rubbing his chin, "Andrea, what shoes is your deputy section chief wearing today?"

"Huh? They must be the boots for the association uniforms. What's wrong?"

Andreas was a little confused by Ye Lan's question, and then he saw Ye Lan pointing the rifle in his hand at his deputy section chief Hannah.

"Hey...wait, those shoes..."

Obviously, anyone who was familiar with the two associations would be able to see through the flaws of "Deputy Section Chief Hannah" in an instant.

The shoes she was wearing at this moment were different from the boots that were part of the Second Association's uniform set. Perhaps Vice President Hannah had temporarily destroyed her boots, or perhaps the finishers had not done sufficient preparation and did not notice this.