Returning to the Mysterious Era

"A greeting gift?" A middle-aged man with neatly combed hair sitting on the sofa turned his head. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His attire was reminiscent of a schoolteacher, giving him a scholarly, refined appearance.

"Is this the newly appointed Jack of Diamonds, Wind Elephant?" A young man, holding a wine glass in his right hand, also looked over. He wore a fitted, floral-patterned suit and burgundy leather shoes. Coupled with the four flashy rings adorning his long fingers, he looked like a playboy.

Along with the girl wearing a lace hat, these three people were from the antiques department. Appearances could be deceiving; the youngest girl was actually the second-in-command, the scholarly middle-aged man was the third, and the playboy youth was fourth in rank.

"This person is…?" White Bird stood up from beside the wooden table, squatted down, and nudged the sunglasses-wearing man whose face was squashed against the floor. After quickly examining his body, his gaze settled on the back of the man's right hand. Previously partially hidden, the hourglass symbol was now fully revealed, showing its complete design. Beneath the triangle-shaped gap, a clear tattooed black number was exposed: "15."

"Duststorm, Number Fifteen." White Bird turned and exchanged looks with Sir, who was watching from across the room. Both of them could see the surprise reflected in the other's eyes.

"What does this mean?" the girl in the purple dress asked curiously, her beautiful eyes shifting between the man in sunglasses and Cassius.

White Bird glanced at the girl and explained, cadence slow. "Miss Purple, you may not know since you're acting in the place of your father for now. This number represents a ranking within the Duststorm organization. Although it's not an absolute measure of strength, it's still an excellent indication of it. This man is ranked fifteenth in Duststorm, which means he's already very close to their top ten."

"Is that supposed to be impressive?" the girl, code-named Purple, asked.

"If we're talking about combat personnel, Number Fifteen is certainly not one to be underestimated," Red Fang chimed in from the side.

Hearing the conversation at the table, the two people who had been lounging casually on the sofa also came over. After finding their spots, they stared down at the man in sunglasses.

Cassius turned around to close the door. Judging by White Bird's look, he wanted him to explain things more thoroughly. After glancing around the room, Cassius said, "I was attacked by Duststorm at Green Light Park."

"What?!" The youth dressed like a playboy reacted strongly. The joint meeting between the assassination department and the antiques department had been kept strictly under wraps. How did Duststorm know?

Not all antiques department leaders were combatants; in fact, the youth and the girl in the purple dress were both just ordinary people. If they were attacked by Duststorm, even with armed bodyguards, their chances of survival would be much lower than others.

"Could someone on the inside have leaked information?" White Bird pondered, though he didn't seem particularly anxious.

"I don't think it had anything to do with this meeting. They were after me. Remember when I saved Connan Company's Matthew? I accidentally thwarted Duststorm's plan in the process. They must be holding a grudge, so they sent a few nearby experts to get revenge," Cassius said as he walked toward his seat. "Apart from Number Fifteen here, there was also a Number Twenty-Six and a Number Thirty-Two. Plus, a bunch of small fries. Altogether, there were about ten of them." He interlaced his fingers.

Red Fang couldn't help but ask, "What about the others then?"

"Number Thirty-Two is dead, and I broke Number Twenty-Six's right foot—she's outside right now. As for the other Duststorm assassins, I didn't see any value in keeping them alive, so I killed them all." Cassius glanced around. "Oh, and I dragged the bodies into a small forested area. It's about fifty meters straight ahead, on the right-hand side, from the first roundabout inside Green Light Park. I've got someone watching over it, but, White Bird, maybe you should send a few people to help with the clean-up?"

"Yes, we'll do that." White Bird nodded with a smile.

Inviting Cassius to join the assassination department was undoubtedly the right decision; Wind Elephant had proven his combat prowess once again. Last time, he had faced a storm of bullets, survived, and killed Duststorm's assassins. This time, he had taken down three of their top lieutenants. Wind Elephant was much, much stronger than the previous Jack of Diamonds.

Two minutes later, White Bird returned from the outside, evidently having sent a few subordinates to handle the situation.

Cassius sat near the bookshelf, close to the door. He could feel the sneaky glances the others were surreptitiously shooting at him in the room, especially the three high-ranking members from the antiques department. Clearly, his earlier show of force had left a significant mark on them.

Unless there were special circumstances, it was best to demonstrate your strength in an organization whenever possible. There'd be less trouble and more benefits to reap in the future. For instance, the youth in the floral suit, who had initially looked nonchalant, was now regarding Cassius with a hint of respect.

Additionally, Cassius's words would be taken much more seriously, and his influence in discussions would grow. Other people would seriously consider any suggestions he made.

"White Bird, have you seen anyone in Duststorm who can instantly explode with power by swelling up their bodies and having black veins covering it?" Cassius asked as soon as White Bird sat down again.

"Yes, the intelligence department received news about it a week ago. Some of Duststorm's experts have developed a powerful explosive technique, and the characteristics match exactly what you just described…" White Bird's thoughts raced, and he quickly deduced, "So that Duststorm's Number Fifteen had this ability?"

Cassius nodded. "I tested it just now. When they're in their explosive state, strength, speed, defense, and reaction time are at least doubled. It's not as simple as multiplication—it's a qualitative transformation. Before, three or four gunmen could've maybe taken down Number Fifteen, but in his explosive state, thirty…even forty well-trained gunmen wouldn't stand a chance."

White Bird's expression grew serious. It was likely necessary to thoroughly interrogate the two captured Duststorm leaders. Perhaps they could extract some important intelligence. After all, in all their years of conflict with Duststorm, the Ace of Spades had never captured anyone ranked in the top twenty.

After some discussion, the meeting moved forward and took on a more formal tone. As usual, six playing cards were laid out on the wooden table. The members of the assassination department needed no further introduction. The rest were the three representatives from the antiques department.

The girl in the dress was the Queen of Hearts, Purple. The middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses was the Queen of Clubs, Scholar. The youth dressed as a playboy was Queen of Diamonds, Wealthy Heir. While the card position for each high-ranking member was fixed, nicknames were not with new members naturally taking on new titles.

"Ahem." White Bird cleared his throat. He was hosting the meeting once again. "Let's get straight to the point. At our last meeting, I mentioned that the intelligence department was working on locating Duststorm's antique transport warehouse. We have the details on that now. It's still somewhere in the northern part of Beiliu County's Black Sand City, but not within the city itself. It's in a long-abandoned village called Mensa Village.

"There's also an old Mensa Church there for worship, but it's been abandoned as well. The village is located about eight or nine kilometers north of the suburbs of Black Sand City, not far from the Mim River, and close to the Lonatak Forest."

With that, White Bird passed out maps to everyone. It was a simple hand-drawn sketch showing Mensa Village's exact location: it was positioned at an upward angle from Black Sand City, nestled in the corner between the Mim River and Lonatak Forest.

"As you can all see, this is the ideal location for a secret antique transport warehouse. It's isolated, with a desolate forest nearby, and the Mim River offers waterway transport spanning three counties. It's perfect for Duststorm's operations." After White Bird gave a brief analysis, he handed out more documents, this time showing a transport route map centered around Mensa Village, the extent of which covered two counties.

The key advantage was the river. The Mim River was well-connected, and although some sections weren't navigable, the rest was convenient enough. It was far more effective than relying solely on road transport.

"The intelligence team did a thorough job investigating Mensa Village and the surrounding villages. Here: the detailed reports." White Bird pulled out another stack of white files, placing several pages in front of each person.