Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 221 - 141: The Operator

Chapter 221: Chapter 141: The Operator

"Earth Wolf Twelve, the survivor from Hot Sand Star, held the position of Commander of the Ranger Corps before the planet ’Cocoon’ transformation, leading the Corps in being dispatched by the company to seven planets for missions like sweeping and support. Within less than a decade of joining the company, he had earned the status of Cosmic Level reserve."

The holographic projection in the VIP compartment displayed a man whose entire body had been mechanized, only his face seemed to be the original.

The man wore a cowboy hat and had a cigar clenched in his mouth, facing the camera with a wild and unruly demeanor.

This appeared to be a photo taken on a battlefield on some planet, where members of the Ranger Corps could still be seen within the camera frame, and on the ground were the incomplete remnants of mutated bodies. These mutants could vaguely be made out to have human outlines, but their skin had long since mutated into bone spurs and tumors.

He Ya said, "This was Earth Wolf Twelve’s last extermination war. If nothing had gone wrong, he would have returned to the company headquarters and become an official member of the Long Branch Committee."

"But the operation went awry."

Mingyuan had to stress again the dangers of jinxing, proving that whether you are an ordinary person or an officer of the Interstellar Legion, especially those missions tagged with ’the last time’ were often death traps.

Viewing it this way, he had even more respect for the members of Long Branch.

They were truly warriors of Cosmic Level, each one had gone through a ’last time’ mission before becoming official.

"It was the company’s intelligence department that screwed up. They only detected the life signs of the mutants on the surface and neglected the dangers coming from beneath. But I suspect it’s a set-up from within the company, considering how quickly Earth Wolf Twelve and his Ranger Corps had climbed up the ranks without being adept at networking, blocking many other people’s paths."

He Ya shrugged, speaking from experience, "To fight on a ’Cocoon’ planet means being prepared to be enemies with the entire planet. Although the strength of ’Cocoons’ varies greatly, even the weakest isn’t easily destroyed. Anyway, Earth Wolf Twelve lost that battle badly, his entire Ranger Corps was decimated, and to top it off, there was a problem with the distress signal. His subordinates fought to the death to cover his escape pod as it left the planet."

Although Earth Wolf Twelve survived, he was left completely alone.

And even though he wasn’t good at socializing, he realized someone had sabotaged him from behind.

"After returning to the company headquarters, Earth Wolf Twelve refused an invitation from the Long Branch Committee and submitted a leave application to his superiors. Unexpectedly, three days later, he showed up at the intelligence department’s space station, slaughtering the department that had provided intelligence to the Ranger Corps. His subsequent attempt to assassinate the director of the strategic command failed, and he would have become space junk had the Shanqi Commerce Association not rescued him during his escape."

"The wretched struggle for power."

Mingyuan commented.

As He Ya introduced the background of Earth Wolf Twelve, she subtly smeared the Universe Company again.

However, after a few encounters with the company, he felt this seemed to be the norm for the company. It appeared as a single entity, but different departments wished for the others’ demise, and the four major consortia were also engaged in open and covert battles.

Earth Wolf Twelve and his Ranger Corps had unfortunately become victims of internal strife and nearly followed the script of the Blade Queen.

"Earth Wolf Twelve’s body was severely damaged from years of warfare; his current body is custom-designed by the company called ’High-Order Arsenal,’ This armor allows him to configure thousands of weapons according to different combat environments on the fly... So, how about it? An experienced cosmic mercenary, who almost became a member of the Long Branch Guard, would you place your bets on him?"

If this were a public bet, most people would unreservedly place their bets on Earth Wolf Twelve.

Because on Blue Star, there simply isn’t anyone who could stand up to the Long Branch Guard.

But Mingyuan was not part of the majority.

Seeing that Mingyuan had not made a choice, He Ya curled her lips and switched the screen.

"Eli, wanted for hijacking company cargo and killing the chief of the market trade department of Siyang City three years ago. A native of Blue Star, before becoming a cosmic fugitive, he worked in the market trade department, using his position to access specific information about the cargo. The interesting part is about the hijacked cargo. What kind of cargo would make a promising young man risk becoming a cosmic fugitive, murder his boss, and turn against the entire company?"

"Could it be... the Darkness Fruit?"

He Ya’s expression visibly stiffened, as if the all-controlling tone was caught in her throat.

Her mouth twitched several times, and her eyelids throbbed violently.

He Ya, the Shan Clan’s goddess of trade, was left speechless by Duan Mingyuan’s blunt response.

How could the seemingly serious Duan Mingyuan give off the impression of a hidden comedian?

"No, it’s not the Darkness Fruit."

"That is truly a pity."

If what Eli had robbed was the Darkness Fruit, Duan Mingyuan felt he should place a bet on him.

"There’s nothing to regret."

He Ya said with a straight face, "It is a drug developed by the company based on Life Energy; this drug can stimulate the hidden potential within Blue Star People, allowing their control over Life Energy and Ability to be twice as effective. After Eli colluded with Wangxu to steal the drugs, he disappeared for many years, and Wangxu has rapidly grown with the stolen goods, gradually becoming a formidable local force that gives the company headaches."

To the company, Wangxu has always been like a mosquito.

If they ignored it, Wangxu would buzz around, even occasionally biting them, but if they tried to deal with it, they would find it deeply hidden; without turning Blue Star upside down, it would be impossible to find their hiding spot.

Duan Mingyuan was not unfamiliar with this type of drug.

Long before he was attacked on his way to Yunhai Academy, he had accessed the memory of the assassin and learned that the Yin Die assassins have been taking a drug since childhood that enhances the perception of Life Energy.

"Are you implying that Eli has been transformed by the drugs over the years and has grown a lot?"

"Perhaps he has indeed grown, but you should be clearer than anyone that there are no ’humans’ on this planet capable of opposing the Long Branch Guard. Once a fight starts, he will inevitably lose, possibly even be instantaneously killed without a chance."

There is a decisive gap between them in both Energy Level and combat experience.

"So you’re manipulating the betting game?"

By revealing to him in advance the undeniable outcome of Eli’s loss, thus enticing him to bet on Earth Wolf Twelve.

"But there’s another possibility."

He Ya continued, "If you want him to win, he can win."

And this is the true meaning behind the betting game.

Duan Mingyuan’s wager would directly influence the outcome of this performance.

Winning or losing was not important; He Ya had handed the choice over to Duan Mingyuan from the beginning.

"The Chamber of Commerce’s victory, or Wangxu’s victory, will become a decision of far-reaching consequence, corresponding to two radically different futures for Blue Star. The processes are different, therefore, the ’Cocooning’ methods will naturally vary."

The wanted portraits of Earth Wolf Twelve and Eli simultaneously appeared before Duan Mingyuan, "And this, all depends on you."