Chapter 179: A Bunch of Amateurs?

Xiao Yu had to admit, assassins were deadly—some even terrifying. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t be complete amateurs in other fields, right?

For example…

Would a painter know how to do carpentry? Does a carpenter automatically understand computers? And even if they do, are they hackers? And could a hacker become a killer? Why couldn’t assassins be clueless in certain areas?

Xiao Yu recalled a genius from his past life—Wei Shen. 

This guy had scored two perfect gold medals in the International Math Olympiad. But just looking at him, you’d think he was a total klutz, almost like a fool in everyday life. Put him in his own field, though, and you’d quickly realize who the real idiot was. Outside of that realm, however, Wei Shen was just an ordinary person.

That kind of logic applies to almost everyone. Just because someone excelled in one area didn’t mean they weren’t totally lost in another.

Hearing Xiao Yu’s question, Xia Xingchen hesitated for a moment, then replied, “We used an internal encrypted communication app. Oh, that app was actually made by me at Little Joker’s request… Uh…”

At that moment, Xia Xingchen froze, his face going pale with realization.

Xiao Yu could only shake his head, half-laughing. 

Could you believe it? A bunch of assassins relying on this kind of communication method?

Yes, some internal communication software was indeed highly secure. Many companies and enterprises used private tools like that—fully encrypted, with tight restrictions. Outsiders couldn’t even access or detect it easily.

But there was one undeniable fact. People created these tools. And the person who built them understood them inside and out. 

So, wouldn’t anyone using this software be at least a little concerned that their secrets might get exposed? 

Even if they stopped using the app from that moment forward, it was too late.

That was why Xia Xingchen had to die.

That was why assassins were willing to take the huge risk of infiltrating a police station—to silence him.

“So that’s how it is,” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. “They really are just a bunch of clueless amateurs after all.”

***

“Here’s your last chance.”

Xiao Yu placed a laptop in front of Xia Xingchen. “You can either cooperate with us or destroy this communication tool completely. The choice is yours. Of course, you can also gamble on whether those killers will kindly spare your family in the future.”

Would an assassin show mercy? 

Was there anyone who understood the inner workings of this assassin organization better than Xia Xingchen, who had been part of it? 

Without hesitation, Xia Xingchen placed his hands on the keyboard, using various tools to develop a piece of software. Half an hour later, a special communication tool was ready, connected to an overseas rented server. 

This server served as the backbone for the communication tool, allowing connections to networks worldwide and facilitating real-time chat. 

Take platforms like QQ and WeChat as examples.

It seemed like you were talking directly to others, but in reality, everything went through a server. All your chat history, shared files, and activities left traces on the server. Even if you deleted them, the server had backups.

Quickly, Xia Xingchen retrieved all the past communication records of the assassin group from this secret server.

After going through the contents, Xiao Yu, Wang Dong, and the security personnel were all shocked.

Let’s set aside the international operations for now and just focus on the domestic ones.

Judging from the backup data, this assassin group had completed two to three missions per year on average. 

They had already killed over 20 people domestically.

If we included their international kills, that number skyrocketed to over 80.

What kind of concept was this?

In an era where every human life was considered precious… Before we even get to the fact that none of the people killed were ordinary individuals, just knowing that anyone was murdered is horrifying enough.

And then there was the matter of their fees. The starting rate for this assassin group? 

A minimum of one million, with some jobs going up to over a billion. 

Could you even begin to imagine the fortune they’ve amassed? Just based on the records found on their communication tool, they’ve made close to 1.6 billion. Even if it were just 160 million or 16 million, that was still an unimaginable amount for most people.

But none of that really mattered. The most crucial piece of information was that in the final conversation on the communication tool, Little Joker sent a message recalling all the assassins from abroad. From 3 to A. All of them were coming back home.

“It’s just like you said. They’re based in the country.” 

Wang Dong’s face was dark, so much so that it looked like it could rain.

Xiao Yu stayed silent. The communication had completely cut off right after he captured Xia Xingchen. 

What did that mean? 

It confirmed what he had suspected. The assassin group had stopped using their internal communication tool. And to prevent any leaks from past conversations, they sent assassins to silence Xia Xingchen.

“Are Xia Xingchen’s family safe?” Xiao Yu shifted his gaze to Wang Dong.

“No problem.” Wang Dong nodded, though his expression remained grim. “But we’ll need to request backup.”

He had seen the footage of the fight between the female assassin and Xiao Yu. It was terrifying to watch. 

From that, it was easy to deduce that the female assassin had to be 3.

As for Xia Xingchen, the so-called 2, he barely even counted as part of the assassin group. If that female assassin was the weakest member of the group, and even she felt terrifying, then how strong could the top-tier assassins be?

Wang Dong’s second unit had almost no chance of taking down the entire assassin group on their own.

“Do what you think is best, Brother Wang.” 

Xiao Yu didn’t care much. If it came down to close combat, no tricks, and no scheming, with his abilities, he wasn’t afraid of however many assassins might come his way. But the real problem was, while he wasn’t afraid, others couldn’t hold their own.

“It looks like you’ll need to take full control of this case,” Wang Dong said, staring at his little bro. “We’ll back you up.”

‘Wait, what? So you’re just handing this whole mess over to me?’ 

Xiao Yu rolled his eyes. “Don’t you care about keeping up appearances?”

He wanted to say: Aren’t you the big boss? Don’t you care about losing face?*

“Appearances? What’s that worth?” Wang Dong grinned. “My mission is to protect the country and eliminate any security threats.”

“Save the noble talk.” Xiao Yu shot him another eye-roll. 

That was just how Wang Dong was. All about serving the nation, straight as an arrow, careful and cautious. He was smart, sure, but he loved using brute force to solve problems.

Was that a bad thing? Not really. 

Once the state machinery gets rolling, it crushes everything in its path. Not using it would be foolish. That’s the perk of having powerful backing.

“This isn’t about numbers anymore,” Xiao Yu shook his head. “The real issue is how we find them.”

“And how do we do that?” Wang Dong sighed, frustrated. “We’ve lost all the leads.”

“Who said the leads are gone?” Xiao Yu’s eyes turned cold. “We’ve still got the female assassin.”

“Uh, she’s dead, you know?” Wang Dong blinked in surprise.

Xiao Yu gave a faint smile but didn’t respond. 

Dead people… don’t lie.