Life Game In Other World
Chapter 329: Lead the Way (Big - , Please Bookmark, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 329: Chapter 329: Lead the Way (Big Chapter, Please Bookmark, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

At that moment, everyone in the cockpit turned their gaze toward He Ao.

After all, He Ao was a "Big Shot of Daybreak".

He Ao touched his chin, falling into brief contemplation.

Could it be that just as he was looking to contact someone from Daybreak to sniff out some clues, the other party had taken the initiative to come to him?

Was there such a good thing as prey jumping right into the trap?

But this area was the territory of the Coastline Defense Force, essentially an extension of the Research Institute’s power. Logically, it was unlikely for Daybreak to send people to stir up trouble nearby, the risk factor was too high.

In fact, after the attack on the Research Institute’s cruise ship, Daybreak should be in a state of contraction to guard against the Institute’s retaliation.

Overtly recruiting former members of the Free Marines seemed somewhat unreasonable.

He Ao turned to the old captain and said softly, "Head in the direction they indicated."

"Yes."

The old captain nodded. He didn’t have any doubts; this person was a Big Shot from Daybreak, and so were those on the other side—it might very well be a coordinated effort.

After all, his job was just to follow orders.

The supply ship changed course, began radio communication, and steered in the direction of the other party.

The fact that the other party could send a radio message of surrender meant that they had seen this ship; the distance between them wasn’t far.

He Ao left the cockpit and stood on the deck, gazing through his binoculars.

He quickly spotted a huge freighter in the distance, laden with speedboats, the classic pirate mother ship.

In about ten minutes or so, the two ships pulled alongside each other.

First, a few pirates armed with submachine guns climbed aboard the supply ship. Then, a man who was sharply dressed and out of place among the pirates, wearing sunglasses, climbed up the rope ladder.

The man had a pale complexion, unlike the other pirates tanned dark by the sun, his skin more delicate, his stance lacked firmness, clearly indicating he had never worked at sea or engaged in physical labor—a pampered young master.

"This is Mr. Zuo Nuo, the nephew of Boss Balan, and also our new leader of the Free Marines. He’s got the backing of a Big Shot from Daybreak. You know Daybreak, right? They are full of Nola’s emissaries, superhumans with great powers," the pirate who led the way arrogantly introduced him to He Ao.

Nola is the chief god worshipped by the Alano people, so Nola’s emissaries meant the emissaries of a god.

Daybreak’s positioning was interesting. If they were just cooperating with Balan, they didn’t need to craft an identity that fitted the mythological narrative of the Alano people.

This identity was meaningless for their operations. They didn’t even need to expose themselves to the Alano people, as supporting Balan was sufficient.

Unless they intended to dig in deeper in this place.

He Ao suddenly realized he might have touched upon a critical point.

His gaze settled on the haughty, finely dressed young man.

Balan’s nephew...

According to the intelligence extracted by the Speech Master, Balan’s mistresses were in the dozens, and his nephews came by the handfuls.

This status certainly wasn’t valuable.

If the nephew’s status wasn’t valuable, then it must be the identity of Daybreak that held worth.

"Central Earth man?"

The leading pirate, seeing that He Ao remained silent and that even He Ao’s crew behind him weren’t intimidated by the titles, aimed his gun at He Ao, "Are you a spy from the Coastline Defense Force?"

He Ao glanced at him, turned to the side, and walked toward the well-dressed young master.

"F**k, you spy."

The arrogant pirate saw He Ao ignoring him, lowered his gun, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and stabbed directly at He Ao’s chest.

The angle of his thrust was particularly tricky; had it been an ordinary person, they would undoubtedly be fatally wounded.

Clearly, the aggressor had killed more than a few people, his experience evident.

Although it seemed he was just being brash, he was actually quite astute. Noticing that neither Balan’s nephew nor the title of Daybreak could compel belief from those on the ship, he decided to establish his authority through murder.

And He Ao, with the face of an outlander, was naturally the best target for making a statement.

By branding He Ao a ’spy,’ he had already harbored a murderous intent.

As for why he chose a knife over a gun.

A blade creates a bloodier scene than a bullet, yielding a greater effect in asserting dominance.

The cold blade flashed.

Bright red blood sprayed out.

He Ao pulled the dagger out from the man’s chest, spun it in his palm into a flourish, and smoothly slid it back into his waistband.

The entire motion was fluid, without any hint of hesitation or pause; even his footsteps never stopped.

Life force flowed through the dagger into He Ao’s body, lending a rosier hue to his complexion.

The dagger was known as the Nightfall Dagger, capable of absorbing an enemy’s life force to enhance one’s own power.

By the time everyone recovered from the bloody scene, the man who attacked He Ao was already lying on the ground, lifeless.

And He Ao had already reached the fancifully dressed young master, Zuo Nuo,

"Who from Daybreak shelters you?"

Zuo Nuo, looking at He Ao’s cheek still spattered with bits of fresh blood, swallowed nervously, his legs giving in, and he collapsed to his knees.

"Mercy, my lord, mercy."

....

Forty minutes later, He Ao finally learned the specifics from Zuo Nuo.

This fellow was originally managing Balan’s business affairs in the city, hence his delicate appearance.

After Balan died, he immediately embezzled a sum of money and planned to flee. He hadn’t expected to encounter the pirate leader who had just died.

The other party was originally the boss of this pirate mother ship, a cruel man for whom killing and looting were common affairs.

In order to save his life, Zuo Nuo claimed to have the support of Daybreak and had come to reorganize the Free Marines.

Zuo Nuo, having managed businesses and been educated, had had extensive contact with Daybreak’s people.

The pirate leader recognized Zuo Nuo, and knowing that Zuo Nuo knew people from Daybreak, he put Zuo Nuo forward as the boss, claiming to be from Daybreak, and prepared to rally the original ships of the Free Marines under this pretense.

Zuo Nuo knew he was just a puppet, without a say in anything, but he dared not flee because doing so would surely lead to certain death.

And the money he had embezzled was also taken by the pirate leader under the name of ’reward.’

Of course, the pirate leader’s ’grand designs’ came to an end with the first ship, due to He Ao’s intervention.

During this, He Ao learned about Daybreak’s arrangements in Alano.

They were not only supporting Balan as a spokesperson but were also deeply involved in the management system of the Free Marines,

Any pirate leader within the Free Marines who was of slightly higher status was aware of their presence and also knew that they shared control over the Free Marines with Balan.

Balan proclaimed himself to be the embodiment of Nola, while they claimed to be Nola’s messengers.

That’s why the earlier pirate leader thought of having Zuo Nuo reassemble the remnants of the Free Marines under the banner of Daybreak.

Upon learning that He Ao was one of Daybreak’s people, Zuo Nuo was quick to submit, his mouth spilling flatteries one after another.

But He Ao paid him no mind; at the moment, he had received another piece of information.

It was a message from Yang De.

The interrogation of the Liu Family had yielded results.

After the event, the Research Institute immediately isolated the Liu Family’s crew for observation, making it extremely easy to find people and conduct inquiries swiftly.

Yang De initially planned to consider these individuals who had come into contact with Transcendent forces to see if they could be developed into members of the overseas department, but he hadn’t expected to make an unintended discovery.

These staff had no skills for resisting interrogation; the Research Institute faced almost no obstacles in uncovering the truth of the event.

Among the workers was someone who frequently gambled at underground casinos in Nuolar Port. In chaotic Alano, such underground industries flourished.

This worker had a gambling addiction and was long since mired in debt.

Once, while being pursued by debtors from the casino, a Mysterious Person found him, offering to pay off his debts and give him a large sum of money, but he needed to do something for the Mysterious Person in return.

Then he roped in two colleagues to undertake the task together.

Their initial move was to intentionally avoid refueling and, when the time came, contacted a specific supply ship as instructed by the Mysterious Person.

Next, during resupply, they received items from the supply ship and handed over them to the Tomb Guardian.

When Yang De traced to the Tomb Guardian, he stopped there because the Tomb Guardian had died in the ruins.

But he immediately realized the Tomb Guardian was a mole planted by others in the Research Institute, and it was highly likely that the people behind it were from Daybreak.

After all, the main location of the incident was Nuolar Port in Alano, and Daybreak’s cooperating Free Marines were strong in Alano.

When Yang De relayed the intelligence to He Ao, he had already contacted members of the Research Institute in Nuolar Port and was preparing to search en masse for Daybreak’s people.

However, he didn’t hold out high hope since Daybreak, after the attack on the Research Institute, would have likely anticipated this response, and their more important figures had probably already fled.

And He Ao held a similar view.

With members of the Research Institute now searching Nuolar Port, his presence there wouldn’t necessarily yield better results.

He looked at Zuo Nuo in front of him, all the pieces of information converging in his mind.

Zuo Nuo was slick talker, mixing truth with lies, saying some things while holding back others.

For instance, he said he managed Balan’s businesses but never mentioned where he managed them.

And if he was intercepted by the pirate leader near Nuolar Port, the only nearby prosperous place with businesses to manage was Nuolar Port itself.

In his narrative, he belittled himself, but since he was managing a place’s businesses and was directly appointed as the boss by the pirate leader—even as a puppet—it showed he had influence, and his original status in the Free Marines must have been high.

He Ao crouched down, smiling at Zuo Nuo who was kneeling on the ground.

Zuo Nuo, looking at He Ao’s cultured smile tinged with traces of madness, became apprehensive, and asked with a trembling voice, "Sir, is there anything you need me to do?"

"The work at the casino to settle those crew members, was that you? You did very well,"

He Ao looked at him calmly, "I’ve lost contact with the other members of the organization, can you still reach them?’

He Ao wasn’t actually certain if Zuo Nuo was involved with the casino affair, but if the other party managed the industries of the Free Marines in Nuolar Port, he likely had ties to these matters.

Zuo Nuo had also said before that due to his position, he had interactions with some of Daybreak’s members.

Bluffing had no drawback.

Upon hearing He Ao’s words, Zuo Nuo stiffened.

In truth, he had never met Hu Wen, nor was he clear if Hu Wen was actually from Daybreak.

But the casino operations were highly classified, and he had done a good job keeping them secret, only bigshots from Daybreak knew.

For He Ao to point it out directly, he had to be either a real bigshot from Daybreak or an enemy who had thoroughly investigated the cause, coming specially to frame him.

He could gamble on He Ao being fake, but he didn’t dare to.

The body of the pirate leader was still floating in the sea, and the blood on the supply ship hadn’t been cleaned yet.

From this ’Sir’s’ actions, it indeed seemed like Daybreak’s style.

He swallowed hard and said cautiously, "Sir, your praise is undue; serving Daybreak, of course, I’d do my best, but I don’t know the contact methods for Daybreak’s other higher-ups···"

"Hmm?"

He Ao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Scared, Zuo Nuo threw himself to the ground, trembling as he said, "But I know the address of the Daybreak higher-up I worked with before. I was actually on my way to seek refuge with him."

"Lead the way."

He Ao stood up.