Although Bai Qi could now perfectly wield the power of the talismans through the Tiger Talisman, and possessed eight of the twelve talismans, more than half, under the absolute advantage of the righteous energy, Bai Qi did not have enough confidence to directly confront the protagonists.
One had to consider that, besides the antique shop, Section 13 was another stronghold of the protagonists, plus their old man, the Archmage, was there.
If Bai Qi were to charge in, he would likely lose all the talismans he currently possessed before even acquiring the remaining ones. Therefore, Bai Qi needed to find people he wouldn't mind losing if the mission failed.
The next day, four individuals in peculiar attire appeared before Bai Qi.
The person in the center wore a tight-fitting suit of orange and black, a mask on his head, and two ninja swords on his back. He was familiar to Bai Qi; it was Dead Drop.
Standing beside Dead Drop was a person in a deep purple stealth suit, with a black spider symbol printed on the mask. He looked like a spider-man with a different skin.
Though he bore some resemblance to Spider-Man, their styles were completely different. Spider-Man gained his abilities through mutation, while this person's abilities relied entirely on his high-tech suit. Spider-Man had a no-kill rule, but this person would resort to any means to complete a mission. This person was Black Spider, a well-known assassin on the dark web.
Beside Black Spider stood a fellow encased in a technologically advanced armor, with an appearance resembling a beetle. His name matched his appearance: Beetle, a mercenary who claimed to have never failed a mission.
The last one, and the one with the highest bid aside from Dead Drop, wore a white hooded battle suit, a skull mask on his face, a katana and round shield on his back, and a palm-sized rod at his waist. This person was known as The Mimic, proficient in various combat skills such as Japanese karate, modern combat, fencing, and traditional Chinese martial arts. He claimed to be able to imitate any target's moves just by watching.
"You hired us? A statue?"
Seeing that their employer was a statue hanging on the wall, Black Spider couldn't help but mock.
"I advise you to watch your words, or you'll have a very unpleasant death."
Dead Drop, having witnessed Bai Qi's power, kindly warned him.
The Mimic, hidden behind his mask, also looked extremely grave. Unlike Black Spider, The Mimic possessed acute senses. The moment he entered Black Hand Tower, he felt an oppressive aura, which intensified as he ascended, until he reached the source: the statue hanging on the wall before him.
Instead of appreciating Dead Drop's warning, Black Spider further mocked him, saying Dead Drop was a disgrace to the title of top mercenary for being intimidated by a statue.
Before Black Spider could finish speaking, a strange red light emanated from the shadows behind him, and a shadow ninja appeared behind him.
"Magic?"
Then, more shadow ninjas emerged. In a matter of seconds, over twenty shadow ninjas surrounded the four, interspersed with several troll ninjas.
A bulletproof glass slowly rose, separating Bai Qi from the four.
Before the four could comprehend what was happening, the ninjas launched their attack.
Faced with the sudden assault, the four did not panic. After all, they were seasoned veterans, accustomed to dealing with countless unforeseen circumstances.
Shadow ninjas were, at best, pawns. In terms of combat prowess, they couldn't even defeat an archaeologist.
Soon, the twenty-odd shadow ninjas were all eliminated by the four.
Although they won, not everyone appeared relaxed. Black Spider, for instance, though he didn't show it, was actually exhausted. Because of his earlier words, he became the primary target of the shadow ninjas. While others dealt with three to four ninjas, he had to face twice that number.
Dead Drop looked at the statue and asked, "Have we passed the test?"
Bai Qi dropped his mysterious pretense and replied, "You have."
Then, a line of shadow ninjas appeared beside Bai Qi, four of whom stepped forward to face the four individuals.
The four, assuming they were about to fight again, adopted fighting stances. To their surprise, the four ninjas opened the briefcases in their hands and presented them to the four.
"This is the deposit."
Upon seeing the green, moldy bills in the cases, the four's eyes lit up. A rough estimate showed at least two hundred thousand moldy bills in each briefcase.
Black Spider wasted no time and snatched a briefcase from a ninja, carrying it with one hand as if fearing it would be stolen. Beetle, after a moment's hesitation, also accepted a briefcase.
Dead Drop, understanding Bai Qi, did not immediately take the money. The Mimic beside him did the same, waving his hand for the ninjas to stand down.
Then, more ninjas opened suitcases and placed them on the table. In total, there were twenty such cases lined up.
Dead Drop glanced at the money on the table and said, "Holy, tell us, what do you want us to do?"
Bai Qi replied, "I want you to rescue someone from Section 13. Use whatever means necessary. As long as you can rescue them, the money is yours."
The ninjas distributed photos of Catlin to the four.
Beetle said in a synthesized electronic voice, "You want us to attack Section 13? That means going against the government."
Bai Qi smiled and said, "Going against the government? Haven't the four of you already gone against the government plenty?"
Indeed, any one of the four had long been on the US government's watchlist. The relevant authorities wished they could flay their skin, devour their flesh, and gnaw their bones. Now, they claimed they didn't want to go against the government; was that a joke?
Bai Qi continued, "There are four talismans in Section 13. For each one you retrieve, you will receive an additional box of money."
The four did not understand why a small stone could be worth two hundred thousand moldy bills. However, as mercenaries, they knew not to ask questions they shouldn't and to do the job for the money.
After Bai Qi finished explaining the mission, Dead Drop and The Mimic took the two hundred thousand moldy bills as a deposit from the ninjas, thus accepting the mission.
Bai Qi chose these four for a reason. For Dead Drop, there was no need to elaborate; his extremely high mission completion rate and professionalism, only caring about money and not people, made him the perfect candidate for a cautious individual like Bai Qi. The remaining Beetle, The Mimic, and Black Spider had all gone against the US government. It was precisely because of this that they had the courage to accept Bai Qi's mission; otherwise, a coward upon hearing about targeting Section 13 might have wet their pants before even taking off their trousers.
Furthermore, these four were all from the technology side. In this way, their old man's magic would be ineffective.
As for the defensive capabilities of Section 13, it wasn't Bai Qi bragging, but even the weakest of the four, Black Spider, could infiltrate Section 13 alone without the protagonists interfering.
The reason for deploying all four simultaneously was purely for insurance, to prevent the righteous energy from meddling and causing Bai Qi further trouble.