Chapter 129: Broken Parts

"What do we do? Do we get away while we still can or stay to watch her match?"

At this point, both Shae and Nie Yiyi had already realized who the woman was, and they were deliberating about how to proceed.

As for Adam, seeing as they had already been completely exposed, he became remarkably calm.

"She hasn't attacked us right away, so that means that she has no plans to touch us for now. There's no way that an F tier match is enough to stall her, so there have to be other reasons for this."

Adam was very curious about what Oni no Miko and the others had endured. Meanwhile, the match had already begun.

After entering the psychic world, Oni no Miko still had the same appearance, dressed in a witch robe with a mask on her face. However, what was different from the last time that Adam had seen her was that there was something on her back.

It was a chaotic, inky-black object that resembled a twisted dark cloud with lightning flashing within it.

What is that thing? It follows her everywhere she goes like a curse. She didn't have that thing on her last time, how did it get there?

While Adam was pondering these questions, Oni no Miko sprang into action, quickly tracking down her opponent before taking care of him in the blink of an eye.

Her opponent's psychic body was only the most standard muscular man that was completely befitting of the F tier. Pitted against one of the top assassins in the world, it was no surprise that the match had concluded in such a brief and anticlimactic fashion.

However, the speed at which Oni no Miko had ended the match had left a lasting impact on all of the spectators, and even the non-professional personnel present could tell that she was extremely powerful.

In contrast with everyone else, Adam's attention was focused on that twisted dark cloud on Oni no Miko's back. He theorized that the significant change in her personality was very much related to that cloud on her back.

"Hailey, you mentioned that there was another really powerful combatant participating in F tier matches, right? Did they also have a cloud like that on their back?"

"He did. His one looks exactly the same as hers."

"Do you know what that thing is?"

"Isn't that one of their abilities?" Hailey was rather perplexed. "I thought it was something that came with belonging to a certain faction."

"I see..."

Hailey clearly had no idea what these clouds were, so Adam didn't ask any further questions.

At this point, the match had already concluded, and Oni no Miko soon opened her eyes.

However, to Adam's surprise, after her awakening, she promptly left the ring and departed with her companion. During that time, she only took a single glance at Adam's group, and she didn't say or do anything aside from that.

"What's going on with them?"

"I don't know. This is definitely not their style." historical

Adam had come into contact with the Oni Organization more than Shae and Nie Yiyi had, and he could still clearly recall his first encounter with Oni no Hanzou. At the time, Oni no Hanzou hadn't even uttered a single word before invading Adam's psychic world to try and put an end to his life. Direct and unapologetic brutality had always been the Oni Organization's signature style.

"I feel like they've been restricted somehow."

"By who?"

"Who else could possibly restrict them in this city?"

"Do you know those two?"

Hailey was very curious about Adam's past, but she didn't dare to pry too much into his private affairs. However, she simply couldn't help herself now.

It was incredible to her that these two ultra-powerful combatants, the likes of which hadn't been seen in years, were acquaintances of the mysterious Mr. Hitman.

"Yes. They are our enemies."

Adam replied with a very obvious statement, then briefly inspected the crowd in the venue before departing.

"What do we do now?" After arriving on a clearing outside the stadium, Adam convinced Hailey to leave after a great deal of persuasion, then turned to Shae and Nie Yiyi. "Not only have those two arrived in this city, they're participating in these psychic combat matches as well. I don't think I need to tell you just how suspicious that is. They've most likely learned the footage has ended up in this city, so we..."

.

"Not necessarily. At the very least, I don't think they can be sure," Nie Yiyi interjected. "To be honest, even we aren't sure whether the footage is in this city or not. The only evidence that we have to support this notion is your personal opinion and some circumstantial evidence from the surveillance footage in Sandrise City. If they knew for sure that the footage was here, then they would've definitely sent more people. The footage is a pivotal weapon that can have a decisive impact on the tug of war between the northern and southern congresses, so there's no way that they would've sent so few people after it."

"I agree," Shae chimed in with a nod. Her short temper had slowly begun to give way to a calmer demeanor of late. "The loss of the footage was already very suspicious to begin with. If they really knew exactly where the footage is at all times, then they wouldn't have lost it in the first place. Perhaps they also developed the same theory as us after seeing the surveillance footage. On top of that, the fact that they're fighting in these matches indicates that they have no idea where the footage is. They're most likely trying to secure the assistance of the director by winning the battle royale to help them track down the footage."

"Exactly. There's no other reason why hitmen from the Oni Organization would participate in these matches."

"You're both correct." After taking a moment to contemplate what Nie Yiyi and Shae had just said, Adam decided that their analysis was very logically sound. "In any case, what do we do now? I don't think we'll be able to beat them in the battle royale."

"We can try and target them through some alternative means," Nie Yiyi said as a devious gleam appeared in her eyes.

"You mean..."

"Why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine and assassinate them?"

....

Of course, Nie Yiyi wasn't referring to a psychic assassination. They were simply far outmatched by the Oni Organization's hitmen in the psychic world.

Instead, she was referring to an old-fashioned physical assassination.

During the past few days, Adam had found out that the Green Gang had deep-rooted forces and influence in this city. Even though they mainly specialized in running convenience stores and trading intelligence, that certainly didn't mean that they were a completely toothless organization that posed no threat to anyone.

In order to survive in Shadow City, an organization had to have some special tricks up its sleeve.

The only concern that everyone had was that they didn't know how effective a physical assassination was going to be on top-tier adapters.

"All of them will undoubtedly possess exceptional telegnosis, but we still have to give it a try!"

They couldn't afford to back down here. If they couldn't find the footage, then they were going to have to spend the rest of their lives as sewer rats in this godforsaken city.

Of course, the chances of a physical assassination succeeding were quite low, so Adam had other plans prepared.

First and foremost, the most important thing was to continue to become more powerful. Recently, his luck had been quite terrible. He had identified many potential targets, but none of them had been useful to him. For this purpose, Adam had already asked Nie Yiyi to recruit the help of the Green Gang.

Secondly, they had to find more help.

If their assassination plan failed, then they would have to face the Oni Organization's hitmen in the battle royale, and their best chances of success would be to recruit powerful allies of their own.

Both the northern congress and the pawn shop had extremely powerful adapters among their ranks, but after returning to Baldie Lin's shop, Adam and the others had sought out assistance from many sides to no avail.

The pawn shop's decision was understandable. It was a legitimate business, and the people calling the shots had already taken a huge risk asking Baldie Lin to bring a group of highly wanted fugitives to Shadow City.

However, the northern congress had also directly refused to provide them with assistance, much to Adam's chagrin and befuddlement.

"This is the key to turning the tables, so why are they refusing to send people to help us?"

Adam was very perplexed after receiving this response. In his mind, he was certain that the resistance army would've been willing to send strong reinforcements.

"Politicians value stability above all else, and that often requires severing ties with all sources of instability and unpredictability." Baldie Lin was helping Adam and his group contact the outside world, and he set down his communicator as a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "The northern congress is like a massive machine. If a single part negatively impacts the operation of the entire machine, then the best solution would be to take off that part. At the very least, that would effectively minimize losses. When building large-scale machines, risk has to be avoided at all costs. You say you know where the footage is, but how likely is it that you're right? And even if you are, what are the chances that your plan will succeed? All you can provide is a set of circumstantial evidence."

"The footage could be lost, or perhaps it's not lost at all. Even if it is lost, it could've ended up somewhere entirely different. Even by my most generous estimates, the probability that the footage has ended up in Shadow City is only 30%, and even if the footage has ended up here at some point, who's to say it hasn't been transferred away?

“This is the most dangerous and unpredictable place in all of Sandrise City, why would the footage be kept here by whoever's taken it? There are far too many unanswered questions. Who was controlling that mechanical bee? What is their objective for taking the footage? Could this be a trap that was intentionally set by the southern congress?

"Even if it isn't a trap, we're dealing with someone that was able to steal something so important from right under the Oni Organization's nose. What powers are this person affiliated with? Is it someone we can afford to mess with? Alternatively, what will we need to give them in exchange for the footage?

“All in all, I'd say the probability that the footage is still here is less than 10%, and the chances of finding it are less than 5%. If the northern congress goes all-in and sends reinforcements, their opposition will also get involved. Rather than rely on what could well be nothing more than false hope, it would be much better to simply remove the broken part."

Baldie Lin was spinning political maneuvers into a mechanical analogy, and his analysis was extremely sound. "Shi Feng has already publicly cut all ties with you, and when necessary, the northern congress will also cut ties with him. Right now, you're like pieces of stinky trash that no one wants to touch. On top of that, the southern congress must be keeping a close eye on you right now, so if the northern congress is caught contacting you, the consequences will be catastrophic."

"I see. Right now, the only ones we can rely on are ourselves!"

After seeing through these political factors, Adam immediately gave up any unrealistic hopes of receiving external assistance.