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Yun Xiao was actually surprised herself, as she rarely used her special ability to fight others.

When they confronted Sack just now, she merely had to have faith, instinctively resisting him.

Unexpectedly, she managed to interrupt Sack’s magic and successfully got everyone out of danger.

Suddenly, Yun Xiao felt uplifted, feeling that she finally had some use.

*

On the other hand, Sack was internally crumbling.

What bad luck to encounter people from Liuli Country thrice, all tough nuts to crack.

Gu Xiaoxi had fiercely slapped their faces at the banquet!

Jing Haoran played them like a fiddle!

Even Yun Xiao, who always seemed easy to bully, froze him into an icicle and hung him on a branch.

If word got out, it would be utterly humiliating. Not just Southern State Country’s reputation would be shot, but his standing as a Sixth Order Magician too.

...

Gu Xiaoxi led her team swiftly on the road, reaching the blue marked spot at five in the afternoon.

It was a well-hidden forest, with a dilapidated cabin by the water’s edge. All around the broken bridge and the cabin were soldiers armed to the teeth, at least thirty of them. The hostages were inside that cabin.

"There are too many of them. It’s not easy for us to make a move; they have weapons, and if we get caught, we’ll lose points," Baili Tao looked at Gu Xiaoxi and felt a headache coming on. A direct assault was out of the question.

Getting hit by a blank round could lead to elimination.

"Let’s all hide and observe for half an hour, find the enemy’s weak point, then plan a rescue," Gu Xiaoxi said with a deep gaze. There were only four of them, but thirty on the enemy’s side, and they were armed, unlike them.

The gap was indeed significant, and even she wouldn’t dare a direct assault.

*

At the same time, Jing Haoran and his team had located a drug manufacturing hideout.

It was a small processing factory on the outskirts by the coast, with around twenty people inside. Under the guise of processing table salt, they were secretly making drugs in a small room.

This had all been ascertained beforehand, so what they needed to do was to charge in and capture these drug traffickers and manufacturers.

Drugs are the world’s biggest hidden danger, ubiquitous regardless of the time and place — wherever there were people, these substances existed.

Criminals pursued the quick money it brought, breaking the law knowingly, and some had even become infamous because of it.

Yi Si was one of the world’s top four drug lords, with numerous hideouts under his command. He brought in top graduates from medical schools and trained them to become expert drug makers.

With various branches around the world, he maintained over a hundred drug production locations, and even if the police shut one down, others continued production.

His daily income exceeded a billion, and still, no one had been able to track how he laundered the money or concealed his identity.

After Yi Si came Dong Rui, a drug lord controlling half the world. He defied the military, police forces, and even the Anti-Terrorism Squad and International Alliance, remaining free to this day. Even with his photo available, he remained uncatchable.

Of course, there was also Mr. Heike, monopolizing a certain deadly drug. Creating K1, K2, K3, and other series, he marketed them worldwide, driving the original drug market.

Then there was the fourth among the drug lords, the Deathly Knight Eisen!

Captured three times, he escaped prison three times.

The last escape saw a policeman’s bullet enter his brain, yet he was still very much alive.

His organization was as formidable as Yi Si’s, with dangers lurking everywhere.

Known as the Deathly Knight for his narrow escapes from death.

These four individuals were known as the world’s most terrifying drug producers.

They were also classified as 4S level criminals by Xuan State and over a hundred other countries in the International Alliance. The global center offered a bounty of 2.6 billion on their heads.

However, years had passed, and though the Assassins’ Circle was tumultuous, none had managed to collect their heads.

Jing Haoran couldn’t afford to be careless; he had to ensure a precise strike to take them all down without alerting anyone.

His method was simple, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. As long as someone looked at him, he could quickly control them, turning the enemy into an asset, and eventually controlling everyone to seize the drugs and triumph in the mission.

His team just had to follow his lead.

As planned by Jing Haoran.

And it went incredibly smoothly!

He entered the factory, and as soon as the first person spotted and looked at him, he quickly took control of them; as he walked deeper inside, more people noticed him, and he controlled them too.

Before they could react, he already had them under his control.

Ten times in a row, he quickly took control of ten people and, aided by the reinforcements like Fu Xi who arrived soon after, swiftly subdued the remaining dozen or so people present.

Within just ten minutes, the military dog had found the refrigerator where they were stashing their drugs. All sorts of materials, finished products, and semi-finished drugs weighing in at several hundred kilograms were seized.

No sooner had he caught the criminals than the police followed up, taking over all the prisoners and drugs from him.

Even as those individuals were led to the police cars, they still hadn’t grasped how they had been caught.

Fu Xi once again felt a sense of fear towards Jing Haoran’s eyes. This guy was truly a defiance of nature. It’s a good thing he wasn’t a villain. If he were, the consequences would be too terrifying to imagine.

...

At the same time, Long Yi, along with Yun Xiao and others, had found the hostages. They also encountered the same problem as Gu Xiaoxi had.

Unexpectedly, they discovered that people from three different countries had arrived at the location together.

Since they had been the first to lie in wait, every single move made by people from the Three Countries was monitored by Long Yi.

Watching the three teams, which came to about twenty people in total, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but exclaim, "Their teams are so complete! An alliance of three teams seems intent on a full-on assault."

"Perfect, let them make the assault and we’ll swoop in to rescue the hostages," Ji Xinyu calculated silently. They just didn’t expect the others to be so fast in getting here.

"Is that okay? We’d be competing with them for the rescue!" Chen Wenshu looked to Ji Xinyu alongside Long Yi.

With a cold snort and a firm tone, Ji Xinyu said, "What’s wrong with that? It’s a melee now. Whoever rescues the hostages gets the medal. Do you really want to give this opportunity to them?"

"That’s impossible!" Yun Xiao retorted. Since the opponent wasn’t a true enemy, they couldn’t kill. Hence, her Special Ability, being too lethal, couldn’t be recklessly used. Otherwise, they would have taken the place by now.

Moreover, each extra Bronze Badge increased their chances of victory.

As they were talking, the rescue operation had already begun over there.

More than twenty people were up against the thirty-person military exercise.

Clearly, the military personnel weren’t pushovers. The well-trained soldiers swiftly took cover, with some seizing favorable positions to dominate the skirmish.

In just three minutes, twenty members of the Three-Country Alliance hadn’t even gotten close to the soldiers guarding the hostages before the majority were ’instantly killed’ on the spot.

"Damn! That was weak! Not a single soldier taken down, let alone rescuing any hostages. They’ve already lost half their people," Ji Xinyu grew unstable. It seemed that a long-range attack wasn’t the solution!

Long Yi wiped the sweat from his brow; the marksmanship of those guarding the hostages was too accurate to be dodged. With flat open terrain all around them, their approach was instantly detected, making them live targets.

Hit by a blank round, you’re out!

"What do we do, Captain?" Chen Wenshu looked towards Long Yi.

Long Yi turned his head to Yun Xiao, "What’s your idea?"

Yun Xiao shifted her gaze solemnly, "The key thing is, they have weapons. We have nothing. We can’t get near like this. Instead of wasting time or risking elimination by attacking, it’s better to leave and head to the nearest drug lord’s stronghold to take it down."

"Are you saying we should give up this point? How can we do that! Without a challenge, it isn’t a competition! We still have to take first place," Long Yi replied, obviously still trying to find a solution despite acknowledging Yun Xiao’s thorough analysis.

"Who said we’re giving up! When it gets dark and visibility drops, that’s our time to move. By then, we’d have busted the drug lord’s hideout and can circle back. It’ll just be tougher along the way," Yun Xiao proposed with a smile.

After hearing Yun Xiao’s idea, a chill sparked in Long Yi’s eyes; it indeed was a good plan.

Though it would be harder, it was certainly better than staying put and enduring a stalemate with the competition!

Hence, Long Yi led his team, heeding Yun Xiao’s suggestion, to the next drug lord’s hideout.

...

Meanwhile, Gu Xiaoxi had come up with a way to approach and rescue the hostages. They infiltrated via the waterway, then stealthily ambushed from behind, knocking out all the soldiers before quietly rescuing the hostages.

Gu Xiaoxi’s approach was truly heavy-handed; the soldiers remained unconscious even after she had rescued the hostages and received a Bronze Badge from them.

The hostage, rendered speechless by her overzealous efforts, said, "Take this and get out quick! If they find out you hit so hard, they’ll probably try to catch you and take you hostage."

Gu Xiaoxi was startled. She had already obtained the medal, yet she might still be taken captive?

Without a second thought, she took off running with her team.

By the time she reached the next drug lord’s hideout, she discovered that the place had already been raided, and the criminals had been taken away by the police vehicles.

They were too late!