The new "Audiana" gestured for the forr to leave and asked Su Mo, "So, tell , what brings you here at this late hour?"
Now it was Su Mo’s turn to feel puzzled, "Um... no offense. It was that old gentleman who brought in, that should have been your order, right?"
Audiana calmly said, "Yes, I had McCarthy bring you in. But deep down, you wanted to et , didn’t you?"
"You just registered at the public commission center and rushed to take on a C-level bounty from the Public Security Bureau, eagerly heading to the frontier the sa day. Even though you know Haywood, you didn’t ask him for support, and after completing the commission, you imdiately went to wait outside Anmi New District..."
"Youngster, you’re too impatient. You’re just one step away from writing ’Hey everyone, look at how strong I am’, ’I want to be famous’, and ’Interdiaries, notice ’ on your face."
Su Mo appeared very candid, "What’s wrong with wanting to be famous? In a place like New Moon City, you either remain a nobody or make a na for yourself. You don’t like those lazy rcenaries with no ambition either, do you?"
His straightforwardness and lack of affectation made Audiana even more interested, "So, you want to establish a connection with ?"
Su Mo tily flattered, "Lady Countess, your na is known among all the rcenaries in New Moon City, which rcenary wouldn’t want to work for you?"
Audiana let out a soft laugh, speaking aningfully, "Have you ever thought about whether I would be willing to cooperate with you?"
"To be honest, you’re quite a mystery. I’ve never heard of you in New Moon City before, and then suddenly, there you are. Who knows what your background is?"
Su Mo returned her gaze with a smile, "Background isn’t important, what’s important is the quality of work, and trust is built gradually. If you really had no interest in , you wouldn’t have brought here today."
Audiana’s eyes grew profound, "Youngster, I’ve seen many just like you—high-profile and confident. Without exception, they all fell after a brief mont in the spotlight."
"The water in New Moon City is deep. Being bold is good, but if you charge ahead recklessly, you might drown. Take my words to heart; they’ll benefit you."
Su Mo nodded slightly, signaling that he took her advice seriously.
Audiana shifted the conversation, "Let’s get to the point. Since you’re intent on cooperating and have waited so long on the road, I owe you an opportunity."
"I happen to have sothing that needs to be done. Consider it my personal commission—help steal sothing."
Su Mo felt a bit puzzled.
Steal sothing?
He thought it would be so kind of intense mission but didn’t expect it would just be stealing sothing.
Audiana tapped on the operations screen by the railing, and a holographic projection appeared in the center of the hall, forming a 3D projection of a briefcase, with nurous annotations floating beside it.
Audiana slowly introduced, "What you need to steal is this silver suitcase, total weight 5.32 kilograms. Don’t ask what’s inside."
"According to my informants, this suitcase is with the fringe violent group, the ’Eagle Claw Association’."
The Eagle Claw Association...
Su Mo searched his mory for the na.
He found that in his "Dawn Encyclopedia," he hadn’t heard of it.
A group with no na even in the ’Dawn’ ga could only be those sorts of nobodies you’d find running around on the streets, where killing one gave you only 5 experience points.
Audiana glanced at her watch and continued, "It’s now 8 PM. Your task is to obtain that suitcase within 6 hours—by 2 AM— and bring it back to ."
Su Mo asked for a detail, "Is the ti limit based on obtaining the suitcase, or bringing the suitcase back here?"
Audiana, "The ti limit is based on you obtaining the suitcase, but the condition for completing the commission is to bring it back to this hall."
Su Mo, "Alright, please continue."
Audiana’s tone beca serious, "Take note, I have additional requirents for this commission—the entire process must be stealthy."
"I’ll have operatives watching you the whole ti, they’re the most elite intelligence officers under , observing your every move."
"If they notice your theft has drawn the Eagle Claw Association’s attention, or if you leave any traceable evidence on-site... I’ll deem the commission a failure, and the sa goes for exceeding the ti limit."
"At that ti, youngster, I’ll put you on the blacklist. You will never—I an never—see again."
Su Mo couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
He didn’t understand the significance of this commission.
Was that silver suitcase so important to Audiana?
If it was, why didn’t she send soone she trusted to steal it, and instead assigned the task to him, soone she just t?
If it wasn’t important, then why have operatives monitoring the whole ti?
And saying the failure leads to imdiate blacklisting... that’s quite a severe punishnt in the rcenary community.
Moreover, why steal?
With Audiana’s power, a group like the Eagle Claw Association that isn’t even worthy of being in the plot could be easily wiped out, so why take a roundabout way to steal?
What is the aning of the mission being stealthy?
Why impose a 6-hour ti limit?
Was this a test? But is Audiana the sort of person who entertains herself with such things...
It’s now August, and he transmigrated a month before the "ga’s start"
This encounter with Audiana wasn’t part of the ga storyline, so Su Mo couldn’t deduce her intentions based on strategy guides.
Seeing Su Mo lost in hesitation, Audiana chuckled softly, "Hesitating? No worries. If you’re not confident, don’t take it. After you finish your late-night snack, McCarthy will see you out, and we’ll pretend we never t."
The opportunity to establish a connection with a famous interdiary was right in front of him; backing down wasn’t an option for Su Mo; he had to at least give it a try.
At worst, if he were blacklisted, he could look for another interdiary, it’s not like he’d lose anything.
Su Mo, "I’ll take it."
Audiana slowly exhaled smoke rings, her tone calm and steady, "The key information is on the holographic display, there’s no backup for you, so morize it yourself."
Su Mo, "I’ve morized it already."
In Audiana’s pupils reflected the cigarette’s starry ember, appearing unfathomably deep, "You may leave now; McCarthy will escort you out of the district."
"Farewell, Lady Countess," Su Mo turned and walked away.
McCarthy followed Su Mo, disappearing with him into the night.
The hall was silent, except for the faint sound of tobacco burning.
"Squeak..." The door on the second floor opened.
"Audiana’s" expression turned respectful, stepping aside, bowing nearly at a humble ninety degrees.
"Tap, tap, tap..." as the clear and cold footsteps resounded, a graceful figure draped in a long dress erged from the doorway.
This woman’s appearance was identical to "Audiana," but upon closer inspection, one would notice a naturally majestic aura about her, making even a shattered blade seem humble and insignificant before her.
This was the true self, the real "Count Audiana."
Audiana signaled her stand-in to leave, silently smoking a cigarette as she gazed in the direction Su Mo had departed.
The broken blade cautioned in a deep voice, "Lady Countess, are we really getting involved? A Razor squadron is already on its way, arriving at the border within 6 hours. If things are exposed..."
Audiana’s tone was calm and steady, "We’ll deal with exposure if it happens."
Broken Blade licked his dry lips, "I just want to remind you, if this matter isn’t handled well, Hegemony Company will surely trouble us... getting involved entails great risk."
Audiana knocked the cigarette holder on the ashtray, dispersing the ash within, speaking softly, "I don’t actually want to get involved either. But this afternoon, I received a handwritten letter."
"That young lady said she t a new friend who is a good person, having saved her life, and is now a rcenary in New Moon City."
"She also ntioned that since she has recovered from her illness and plans to retire, she hopes, in light of our longstanding friendship, that I could lend a hand to that new friend if he ever finds himself in big trouble."
By this point, Audiana reached into her pocket and took out sothing.
It was a pale, patternless white mask, completely white.
Audiana stared deeply at this mask, as if peering into its forr owner: "She helped with so many things over the years, I do owe her at least this much."
Audiana glanced sideways at the pitch-black night beyond the manor, her voice laden with a sense of mystery, "I’ve provided all the help within my capacity; the rest is up to Su Mo’s own fate."
"If he can’t seize this opportunity, then I’m afraid I can’t help him further."
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