Chapter 161: Reinforcements?
This night was thrilling but safe, and there were basically no major casualties, which was a blessing in disguise.
Next, Chen Ran began to receive these overflowing blood essence values. Streaks of bright red blood essence crystals began to converge into his body, replenishing his strength. Especially the eighth-tier masked assassin who had just died, it had directly provided him with a lot of pure blood essence. In a surge of bright magic power, Chen Ran successfully leveled up to level 30. With the continuous reception, Chen Ran’s experience reached level 30 and a half. After absorbing other scattered experience, he was only a quarter of the way from level 31.
Today’s harvest was not bad. The main thing was that this eighth-tier assassin who had been sent to him was a great gift. This guy had even tried to run away, which was simply overestimating himself. He really thought that the girl under Chen Ran’s command was a vegetarian.
Of course, Chen Ran did not dare to let Nicole hear this. Their relationship was not a master-servant one. This girl would still make a move when she should.
Just at this moment, a firework suddenly rose in the sky, shining over Diya City.
Chen Ran’s face suddenly changed.
This was a message from Johnson’s side. Something must have happened to Leif…
Chen Ran’s heart trembled. He thought that since the enemy dared to assassinate him, they might also set up an ambush for other big shots, causing a complete collapse of his own camp in one fell swoop. Even if one side failed, as long as there were problems on the other lines, his side would definitely be in chaos.
Without caring about receiving the spoils of war here, Chen Ran quickly said to everyone, “Follow me! Something has happened!”
The group of people who had just finished a battle had yet to brag about their previous achievements. Seeing their boss’s so-serious expression, the casual look on their faces disappeared, and they hurriedly followed Chen Ran’s footsteps.
In a certain meeting hall, Leif lay miserably in a pool of blood. His heart had been neatly pierced by a single blow. His eyes were filled with unwillingness after he died.
Beside Leif, there was a pile of fallen figures. Johnson was holding his shoulder, which was gushing with blood, dyeing his clothes red. Blood was continuously flowing from between his fingers.
“What happened?”
Seeing Johnson’s self-reproachful expression, Chen Ran couldn’t blame him. He had at least a dozen sword wounds on his body. Fortunately, his body was relatively tough, and he had not fallen.
“Boss, a black-clothed man who was much stronger than me ambushed us before. I estimate he has the strength of an eighth-tier fighting spirit assassin. There was also a group of ordinary assassins with him. Our men were dealt with by them in a few moves. Boss Leif was also pierced through the heart by that eighth-tier assassin in one blow. I didn’t have time to react at all…”
“Don’t blame yourself. You’ve done your best.” Chen Ran did not blame him. Not to mention Johnson, even he himself had almost been in trouble.
He cast a Heal on Johnson’s wound, restoring his body’s injuries.
He glanced at the miserable Leif. There was no breath in his nose, and his eyes were lifelessly staring ahead.
He had died just like that.
Human life was always so fragile. Perhaps just a turn, and a familiar face would be gone.
It was a pity that his level was not high enough. If he were at level 50 and had the resurrection spell “Angel’s Tear,” Leif could have been easily resurrected.
But reality was reality, and it did not give a single chance to turn back, just like the teammates who had died when he had first come to this other world.
And now, everything was in vain.
Nicole came up from behind, bent down, and said to Chen Ran, “What should we do next?”
“What else can we do?” Chen Ran shook his head helplessly. “What else can we do? If nothing unexpected happens, the few allies we were with have also encountered the same situation. I estimate that it’s a mess now.”
Chen Ran stood up and waved to a group of his men, signaling for them to clean up the scene.
In this way, it was necessary to delay Chen Ran’s progress and make new arrangements to stabilize the rear.
This night was destined to be busy.
The next day, Chen Ran received information from all sides.
As he had expected, all of Leif’s allied big shots had been assassinated. The only survivor was Mihawk from the seaport. It seemed that he himself had also been slightly injured.
For this, Chen Ran specially went to the seaport pier, to Mihawk’s manor.
At this time, Mihawk’s left arm was wrapped in a cast and bandage. It seemed that he had also suffered a not-so-light injury. He was lying on a recliner, resting, and his complexion was not bad.
When he saw Chen Ran coming, he extended his intact left hand and gave a greeting.
“I’m sure you must have been assassinated last night too, right?”
Chen Ran nodded. “My situation is not bad. I was almost hit, but I kept the person who assassinated me, which is a bit of a relief. But the others are not so well.” Chen Ran looked at Mihawk’s wound and said, “Are you okay?”
“I just suffered a minor injury. But that assassin didn’t have it so easy. He still managed to escape.” Mihawk smiled helplessly. “It’s just that a few of my brothers died. I’ll settle this score with them sooner or later.”
Chen Ran said, “Are those black-clothed men with skull masks also from the Dark Holy Court? If they have such strength, they could have made a move long ago.”
“That’s not it. They are the ‘Shadow Hunters,’ a killer organization that spans the continent. Their overall strength is not much weaker than the Dark Holy Court’s. They will do things for you as long as you pay.” Mihawk explained, “It’s useless to cause trouble for them. If you anger them, and they send the tenth-tier king of killers to deal with you, even a sword saint can’t be safe. We can only put this score on the guys from the Dark Holy Court here.”
Chen Ran said with concern, “Won’t they spend money to hire even stronger killers again, such as those above the ninth tier? If this goes on, none of us will be able to stand it.”
“They probably won’t. You can rest assured. In the few cities near Diya, three eighth-tier ‘Shadow Hunters’ are the limit. You killed one, and I seriously injured one. The side that has suffered heavy losses will definitely not make a move again. Do you really think that experts are as cheap as cabbage? Besides, the price to hire these guys who are obsessed with money is not simple. Next, we just have to deal with those guys from the Dark Holy Court with all our might.”
“But the current situation doesn’t seem so easy. My side is in a mess. The only good thing is that I’m the leader of the largest force in that area. It seems glamorous, but no one knows the pressure I’m under. I don’t know what other plans those guys from the Dark Temple have. If I don’t have the strength, I would have just rushed to their lair.”
Chen Ran walked over, and the Hand of Silver shone on Mihawk’s injured left arm, healing his injuries. Mihawk felt the recovered sensation, moved his hand, and found that there was not a trace of pain.
A surge of energy gathered in that left arm, and the cast on it directly shattered.
“There’s no need to hide anymore. My little ability has been seen through by others. If those guys knew I had the strength of the eighth tier, they definitely wouldn’t have sent a killer to deal with me.”
Mihawk stretched his long arm, which was much stronger than an ordinary person’s. Chen Ran found that this man, who was usually gentle and refined, actually had a body of bronze, knotted muscles. That vibrant and flamboyant feeling surpassed Johnson’s hardened muscles at a glance, and one could feel the strength.
Mihawk praised, “Is this the Holy Light Art of the Holy Church? A very strong recovery ability. It feels like I’ve never been injured at all. I think your identity is at least that of a grand high priest of the Holy Church, right? With your courage and ability, if you weren’t so young, I would have thought your identity was that of a bishop. No wonder the Holy Church would send you here on such a mission.”
He hadn’t expected even a shrewd person like Mihawk to misjudge. Chen Ran coughed awkwardly and said humbly, “Perhaps you’re overthinking things…”
“It’s probably not far off,” Mihawk said nonchalantly. He patted Chen Ran’s shoulder with his strong arm and said heroically, “Since this group of guys from the Dark Temple is so bullying, I naturally can’t stand it anymore. It’s fine if I’m injured, but they even killed a few of my trusted brothers. I have to settle this score. You don’t have to worry about not being able to defeat those guys from the Dark Temple here. Stabilize your side, and the reinforcements I’ve invited will arrive in a few days. I’ll come and call you then.”
“Reinforcements?” Chen Ran said in surprise. “We have reinforcements?”
“Well, you’ll see then.” Mihawk sat on the armchair with his fingers intertwined, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. At that time, it would be a quick battle!
And the topic here also ended.
Now, the Demon Capital, Diya, had fallen into a very subtle situation.
The big shots who had been in power here for decades had suddenly disappeared, which made many people stunned. It was only when many people discovered new opportunities that a group of small leaders who had been in the second and third tiers began to stir.
But before those small forces could rise, they had not expected the Diya City Guard to forcefully intervene in the city’s forces, taking over or purchasing all the empty forces, not giving anyone a chance at all.
And on Chen Ran’s side, because of Leif’s death, as the closest person to the big boss, Chen Ran naturally became the new leader of a group of people without any dispute. Although some people had some disputes, Chen Ran had ways to make those guys shut up.
After the meeting was over, the situation on Chen Ran’s side finally stabilized. As for the situation elsewhere, the Diya guards were now taking action in the city, controlling some of the vacant territories. It was not clear what their plans were, but at least, the situation in Diya City did not fall into any chaos, which was also an invisible help to Chen Ran.
When Chen Ran and Nicole were alone, Chen Ran threw a bright silver storage ring he had carefully made to Nicole.
“For you.”
Nicole took the beautiful ring, looked up, squinted her eyes, and looked at Chen Ran. “To be so attentive for no reason, there must be a conspiracy!”
“Damn it, is it so hard for me to be a good person? I spent a lot of money to make this for you, so that you don’t have to carry so many things with you in the future. You actually don’t trust me like this.” Chen Ran extended his hand and said, “If you don’t want it, give it back!”
“Stingy. How can I give back something I’ve already gotten?” Nicole snorted and directly put the ring on her finger. She couldn’t help but show it off. She was very fond of it. She felt the space inside. It was about four cubic meters, a little larger than an ordinary storage space. Of course, it was far from comparable to the “Endless Void” in Chen Ran’s hand, which was at least the size of a football field, plus it had the function of permanent preservation…
Because it was made by Chen Ran’s own hand, the appearance of this storage ring was very suitable for Nicole, and it was much more fashionable than ordinary storage items.
Just at this moment, Chen Ran interrupted, “By the way, I have something to entrust to you…”
“I knew it!”
