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Chapter 86 - To Be Defeated

Colestart was lost in thoughts on his way back. The pressure of the Dragon was the last thing he needed right now. Why would Meng be impressed with Harker's action? Could it be that this dark tyrant would actually be impressed?

He checked online and viewed the news. As expected, his reputation continued to plummet. News of his accusations towards Harker's criminal connection hit the media. The media made him look like a bitter, desperate and deluded person who could only resort to crazy claims to defraud his enemy.

"Have you made contact?" Colestart answered the phone before it even rang. He has been waiting for this call for some time.

"Yes Boss, but he wouldn't say a thing. He's afraid, Boss."

"Afraid?" Colestart was shocked at the news.

"Half of his men are dead. They all died."

"What?! How?"

"They were attacked. He said two guys went in a rampage at their headquarters. Almost everyone on site was killed."

"Two guys? That man has an army!"

"More than half is dead."

Colestart felt his stomach clench.

"Was there any video feeds recorded of the attackers?"

"No. The enemy wiped off the data. There were a few survivors. But it looks like they were intentionally spared. The survivors claimed that the attackers were using glass swords."

"What were they after?"

"Nothing. The two burned all the drugs and stole some of the money. They took what they could carry and burned the rest."

"So it's not money or drugs... They were sending a message…" Colestart murmured.

"Gather whatever information you can about those two. We'll put out a bounty for them. Talk to Stanley, Brenton, and Grander after this! If Delton can't help us, then we should contact Harker's other rivals."

"Boss… About that… I already contacted them." The agent hesitated.

"Apparently, the same thing happened to all of them. When I met with Delton, Stanley was with him. He told me that seven other groups were attacked. Among those seven are those groups you just mentioned."

Colestart's worst fear came true. The enemy was a step ahead.

"Do they suspect that it's Harker?"

"Yes. Delton said that everyone knows that Harker did this as all who were attacked were his potential enemies and had evidence to charge him. So now… No one's courageous enough to openly accuse Harker or provide any information that could tie Harker to his secret organization and his illegal trades."

"Who attacked the other groups?"

"Another pair of killers trained with various weapons. They all attacked the main base and would leave a few survivors. For Stanley, since he was at that hideout when the raid began. The two killers killed everyone except him."

"Can he identify who attacked him?"

"He said they wore masks. One guy had some sort of an ax, while the tall guy carried a scythe."

"An ax and a scythe? Delton had an army and they were all killed with two swordsmen… Stanley was attacked with two people carrying an ax and a scythe?"

"Brenton's men were killed by two men carrying rapiers, and Grander's base was raided by two guys carrying a shield and sword, and a spear."

Colestart's mind went numb.

"What happened when the killers met Stanley?"

"Stanley said he was trying to play it cool. Since he knew he was dead, he wanted to die like one of those calm and composed gang leaders we see on T.V."

"That fits his profile... Did the attackers torture him?

"No. Quite the opposite actually... He wasn't harmed. And the two killers spent about an hour in his office."

"What? What did they talk about?"

Colestart was quiet. Stanley was actually admitting he wanted to act cool?

"When the two men finally arrived, the taller man informed the smaller one not to kill Stanley. It seemed like the smaller one was about to kill Stanley. The two then started looking for something to drink. They didn't want fancy wine. So the taller man asked for soft drinks while the smaller one drank beer. Cheap beer."

"What happened next?" Colestart ignored the strange occurrence.

"Stanley started to give his speech about how he built his career over the deaths of many and wasn't afraid to welcome his own demise..." The agent paused. He was unsure of how to tell the next part.

"And?"

"Well… the taller one wasn't paying attention as he noticed Stanley's collection of retro games. And he… started playing."

"Playing?" Colestart was tongue-tied.

"Yes, Boss. the taller man started asking Stanley about his collection of old consoles and retro games. The leader seemed excited about a certain retro game called Skyrim."

"And then they just left Stanley?"

"Well… the taller man left emptied a bag of money to take away Stanley's console and some of his games. So the leader left Stanley with some few millions of Sydians before leaving with a bag full of computer games."

"Was Stanley able to note certain... peculiarities about the assassins?"

"The smaller one seemed to be the subordinate of the taller man. The taller man had a peculiar expression. 'Nutterballs.'"

"Nutterballs?" Colestart repeated.

"That's all that he could tell me. The assassins were dressed in dark clothes. They had voice changing equipment and left no traces of prints behind."

"I see." Colestart didn't know how to react. He silently pondered the events that have just transpired.

He remained silent but did not hang up the phone.

"Boss? What happened? Who are these men?" The agent finally asked after a minute of silence.

Colestart started laughing.

"Boss?"

"It's over. My career is over. I, who was never corrupt, will be remembered in history as one of the stupid leaders of Pangea who opposed Harker. It's finished. Hahaha."

"Boss? What are you saying?"

"Meng. Those attackers where Graydon Meng's subordinates. Each had a particular weapon they specialized in. Using simple ancient weapons, they massacred hundreds. No one else in this world could do that!"

"The Black Dragon?!"

"Yes. I've just learned that the Black Dragon is helping Harker. It's all making sense now. It's not Harker. It's Meng. He's after this country. He might have wanted something in Australia's technology and is using Harker to get it. It's all making sense now!" Colestart laughed harder.

"You mean, those who killed their way through those gangster hideouts were Meng's assassins?"

"Yes! They were a mentor-mentee pair. The taller would be Meng's assassin, while the younger ought to be their son, daughter or disciple. They used the Underworld as a training session for their kids or disciple! Laughable right? No wonder these syndicates could only remain silent! Meng was sending them a message! Don't interfere, or I'll kill you!"

"So what do we do?"

"Do? There is no 'do!' Meng has the media controlled and now he paved the way for Harker to rise into prominence! And Harker's old enemies, who could've helped us are too afraid! If we continue to fight back, Meng might even send his own men to kill us! We have to surrender."

"That's it?!"

"Of course that's it! Funny right? I have never been corrupt and has even vowed to wipe all of the corruption in this country! But just because the Dragon wants something, I can only choose to surrender in order to live! And not only that, I will be known as someone wicked, corrupt, and cowardly! I thought I'd forever be undefeated in my political career! So this is what it's like to be defeated…"

Colestart continued laughing and soon started to sob uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, in a secret location in Hong Kong…

BANG!

Arthur finally managed to shoot a bullet in which Cliff was forced to block. Arthur continued his barrage.

Cliff immediately dodged the attacks and kept pushing forward.

Kristine dashed forward to block his rush but Lowengren intercepted.

Lynd and Meryl were constantly assaulting each other as they moved in speeds that exceeded human capacity.

Alean was busy dealing with Lander as they were shooting each other at extremely close range.

The couples could only look in horror and amazement at the fight that was happening.

"Isn't that the Hero of Hellion's tragedy?" Chris could not help but wonder.

But no one had the time to answer Chris's query as the battle grew fiercer.

The six pairs were experts in the field of armed and unarmed combat, but they couldn't hope to match that ongoing battle. Their eyes were zooming from one end of the battle to another. Every time they would hear a loud sound or gunfire they would immediately turn towards it.

Everyone was switching from one weapon to the other.

All that the couples could notice was that Cliff was eventually cornered. It looked like he was grasping the sword and using his strength to stop Arthur from piercing him.

Kristine and Lowengren's battle was also reaching its climax.

Meryl could no longer resist Lynd's changing battle tempo.

Meryl suddenly released a bright flashing light.

"Now!" All of a sudden, Lowengren screamed.

Arthur sneered as he heard Lowengren's shout and took out a small gun and shot on several locations despite the bright light that Meryl made.

As the bright lights faded, only Lynd was standing on Lowengren's group.

Lowengren, Lander, and Cliff were down.

Arthur's team immediately rushed to attack Lynd together.

But suddenly, Lynd took out a small device and pressed it.

Several small electric bursts exploded and shocked Arthur's team. The blast came from the weapons they carried.

Lynd's weapon stopped at Meryl's throat.

Lynd stood there smiling.

"You lost Meryl."

"That's cheating." Arthur snorted. He could only kneel as his entire body was numb.

"This wasn't part of the weapons we agreed upon!" Arthur angrily argued.

"And that is why you lost, Arthur." Lowengren laughed.

"We will be facing enemies with unknown technology. What are you going to say when you lose?!" Lowengren laughed.

"That's not the point! I did not take this into consideration! If you told me that you would use other weapons other than those we've discussed, then I wouldn't have lost!"

"And that is why you lost! You have such an outstanding Path, Chaos Order, but this is its weakness! It relies on what it knows! This supercharged weapon was outside of your calculation and so you didn't think about it! You didn't notice that when Cliff blocked your sword, he was actually sticking that small bomb at your handle! You were so into the calculation that you forgot basic observation! I knew that Meryl would use that burst of light to finish most of us of and that you would rely on Chaos Order to hinder Lynd from defeating Meryl!"

Lowengren laughed crazily. It was too satisfying. After several days of being tormented by Arthur, his revenge tasted so sweet.

"Your Lennox Humphrey's son! So the blood of a great mathematician flows in you! How do I defeat a calculating monster from finding what is the variable x? Simple, change the given data! Your own calculations defeated you! Face it, no matter what you say, you've lost, Arthur!" Lowengren laughed.

Arthur sat silently with a cold expression.

"It's coming." Meryl sighed.

"What's coming?" Lynd wondered.

"What does Lowengren always do, after he wins?" Meryl giggled.

"You suck Arthur! You suck! You suck! Hump this for free, Arthur Humphrey!" Lowengren turned around and revealed his recliner and pointed at it provocatively. He had clearly left his profound game-mode and went to another mode he was world-renowned for, the greatest trash-talking winner in the world.

"Let's just start the meeting." Arthur frowned and slowly stood up, as he clenched his teeth in pain. Beyond the physical pain, was the reality of defeat. So this was what it felt to be outsmarted?

"Let's assess everything we've learned in this mock battle."

"Well, I've learned that Arthur sucks!" Lynd laughed loudly.

"Lynd…" Alean sighed.

"Oh… So-sorry Arthur. I unconsciously imitated Lowengren."

Lowengren continued his tirade of insults as they walked towards the meeting room.

"I can't believe I lost to this bunch of kids." Lander could only sigh as he followed begrudgingly. Somehow, he was happy as he followed the group.

"Crap. I can't help but be happy..." Lander followed as he did his best to convince himself that he is not happy. But this proved useless as the implanted chip started to do its wonders.

"Don't worry." Alean laughed as she saw Lander's odd expression.

"Reach Ranked Hero.. You should be able to control your emotions by then."