"I do know!" the middle-aged man nodded. "Therefore, at this very moment, the operation against the Blood Church has begun."
Glancing at his watch, he continued, "In another half hour at most, the organization known as the Blood Church will cease to exist."
Xiao scoffed, "Do you think you are God? Why would I believe such a thing?"
"You will believe it. The members of the Blood Church are indeed scattered, making it difficult to capture them all at once. However, the insignificant little Mantini Chapel, located next to St. Paul's Cathedral in Vatican City, will be eradicated. Your priest will undoubtedly be unable to escape!"
The middle-aged man said slowly.
Xiao's body trembled, and he looked at the middle-aged man in disbelief.
"You... How do you know these things? Who are you?"
"I thought you already knew – the dark night has arrived, and the light has faded!"
"Dark night?"
Xiao's expression changed drastically.
In the underground world, the name Dark Night represented both the Dark Night organization and its master, a legend.
He had recently heard that people from Dark Night had entered Great China, but he hadn't expected them to be his enemies.
"You... you're here for the Dragon Scale Compass?" Xiao said with a wry smile. "I haven't even made a move yet, and you're already eliminating threats?"
"You overestimate yourself. You will never obtain the Dragon Scale Compass," the middle-aged man said indifferently. "Because the Dragon Scale Compass is already in our King's possession."
Xiao was a bit slow to react. "Your King? Not the Master of Dark Night..."
But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized, "That Chen Fan, he's the Master of Dark Night?"
A few years ago, there were rumors in the underground world that the Master of Dark Night was a Great Chinese person.
But that was just a rumor, impossible to confirm, and as Dark Night became low-key and retreated, the rumor was long forgotten.
Now, everything made sense.
This whole thing was a trap set by Dark Night?
His face turned ashen. "Who are you in Dark Night?"
"I thought you'd guessed. I am the Prophet."
"Prophet!" Savouring the famous name, Xiao chuckled wryly. "I never thought I would die at the hands of the Prophet, so it's not entirely shameful. Why haven't you fired yet?"
"Does the Blood Church have any fragments of the Dragon Scale Compass?" the Prophet asked.
"Yes!"
Xiao replied affirmatively. "It's with the priest!"
The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly drew his gun.
But the Prophet was clearly not going to make such a mistake and pulled the trigger.
With a bang, a blood hole appeared in Xiao's forehead as he drew his gun, and he fell to the ground.
His eyes were wide open, unwilling to close.
After suffering continuous setbacks from the beginning, he had become cautious enough, yet he had still fallen in this mission that he thought would be a sure thing.
Releasing the safety, the Prophet turned and walked away.
A tall man, like a polar bear, walked over.
Dark Night's Titan, whose strength was like that of a giant. The thrown disc earlier had scared Xiao into fleeing, and then he was ambushed by the Prophet.
"He's telling the truth!"
The Prophet took out a satellite phone and dialed a number.
The call was quickly connected, and the sound of gunfire could be heard from the other end.
"The priest has a fragment the King wants. Get it!" the Prophet said.
"Got it!"
...
On the other side.
The Duke and Viper covered their mouths and noses with damp cloths and entered Villa Number One.
For some reason, they didn't smell anything unusual in the air.
But that didn't stop them from remaining cautious.
Since they were entering after others, they didn't have to worry about anything.
Upon entering, they found that others had already spread out to search.
Belonging to different forces and factions, they were all busy searching, surprisingly coexisting peacefully.
The two exchanged glances and, looking at the layout of the room, headed straight for the study.
Theoretically, the study was the most likely place to find a fragment of the Dragon Scale Compass.
And they were well-prepared. Although they hadn't been to Villa Number One before, they had visited other villas to inspect them.
The layout of Villa Number One was not entirely consistent with other villas, but they shared the same style.
Quickly reaching the study door, the two looked inside and saw three people already searching.
Without any hesitation, their bodies flashed, and they launched an attack.
The three reacted cautiously, but as soon as they moved, the Duke twisted his body strangely and got behind one person, grabbing his neck and applying pressure.
Viper's attack was even more ruthless. Like his name, he flicked his fingers, and two fine needles pierced the throats of the other two.
Those two clutched their throats, staggered, and fell to the ground.
The Duke made a gesture, asking Viper to guard the study door, while he snapped on the light to facilitate the search.
The light was a bit dazzling, and the two squinted.
But in that brief moment of squinting, their vision blurred, and a voice appeared outside the door.
"Duke!"
Viper let out a low growl and threw the poison needles in his hand.
Even in daylight, such an attack was hard to defend against, let alone at night – even with the lights on.
However, the moment he struck, his pupils shrank sharply.
He saw the person outside the door raise his hand, and a fierce wind surged.
An incredibly terrifying pressure rose, accompanied by a chilling aura that swept over them.
The poison needles thrown by Viper were actually blown back by the terrifying energy, narrowly missing Viper's body.
Viper's expression greatly changed. He raised a short knife in his hand and unleashed a straight chop.
The blade light swirled.
But he felt as if he were facing an endless storm. His knife was deflected by immense force, and his body staggered.
"Damn it!"
The Duke reacted, lunging forward, and punched out with one hand.
A strange power suddenly surged from his fist, spreading like a vortex.
This power was peculiar, like a miniature black hole, or a mysterious force beyond reality, constantly in motion.
It managed to block the storm.
"Oh?"
The person at the door also seemed a little surprised.
Then, he pressed his palm down, and even more powerful force swept out, shattering the vortex on the Duke's fist.
His palm then landed on the Duke's fist.
As if hit by a speeding heavy truck, the Duke's body flew backward like a sack, crashing into the desk in the study. Several bones were undoubtedly broken, and he groaned in pain.
Viper flicked his hand, and the knife in his hand struck as an opportunity.
But with a wave of that hand, he caught Viper's full-force chop.
Before he could even fire more poison needles, immense force surged, shaking relentlessly. Viper turned into a dead snake, falling to the ground motionless, blood gushing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
The Duke, who had rolled over, looked at the person striding in, his expression changing, and he exclaimed, "Chen... Chen Fan?"
"Surprised?"
The one who had attacked was indeed Chen Fan. He replied in international common language, opened the bookshelf, and inside was a safe.
Casually taking something out of the safe and showing it to the Duke, Chen Fan said, "Are you looking for this?"
It was a fragment of the Dragon Scale Compass.