Chapter 203: I Speak With Reason, I Act With Rules~

Boom!

The tightly shut door shattered into pieces, and a powerful flashlight immediately shone inside. Following this, a humanoid machine, more than two meters tall and fully wrapped in steel, charged in, crushing the doorframe into fragments.

Thud, thud, thud.

The heavy footsteps made the floor tremble. This was no longer just an exoskeleton; it was heavy armor, equipped with a Honkai energy battery, and covered in weapons.

While regular wear could erode an ordinary person with Collapse corruption, there were no flaws in its firepower, mobility, or defense. Some models could even fly briefly.

Electromagnetic cannons on both shoulders searched left and right, and a grenade launcher loaded with cloudburst bombs aimed at every direction. With mechanical assistance, it tore the doorframe down.

It was like preparing for battle. The faces inside the round helmet were covered in sweat, heartbeats reaching the warning level. Even the people above and below were preparing to break in at any moment.

"Bathroom is secure."

"Living room is secure."

"Second bedroom scans show a human body."

Clink, clink.

Various rifles and short-barrel guns immediately aimed at the master bedroom. Under the electromagnetic scan, they could see inside through the wall. Five bodies were lying there.

"Major Coleman, please come over."

"Why hurry? I'm already here." The blonde youth stepped through the front door. Dressed in casual clothes, he stood out among the sea of metal shells.

He carried a cane and walked quickly to the master bedroom door, looking inside, leaning back with an exaggerated motion.

"Wow, this is impressive."

The agents sat in a circle around a few chairs, silent and with no blood, as though they were simply slacking off. But the life signs had already disappeared.

If you looked closely, you could see their heads drooping, holding smartphones.

"Have you found anything?"

"All of them died from asphyxiation, but there are no signs of external force, not even a scratch. We've also visited the neighbors, and aside from a broken glass sound, there was no other scream or noise during the whole process."

An extreme assassination—more professional than a poison cocoon. Even if the world's best detectives came, they wouldn't find a trace.

"It's like I left the brothel, but didn't leave any evidence I was there," Major Coleman mumbled, his bizarre analogy causing the group to exchange confused glances.

"Forget it, since you don't get it, next time I'll use a receipt analogy. Is he still here?"

"Yes, please follow me." A soldier spoke with a strange tone.

Coleman quickly moved to the window. Without using a telescope, he instantly spotted Ryan in the crowd of spectators across in the opposite building.

Like every other onlooker, he stood on the balcony, pointing at the soldiers. In the swirling snowflakes, their gazes met.

No threat, no killing intent—just a slight raise of the tea cup and a subtle movement of the lips.

"Hard work?" Coleman couldn't help but laugh. The resentment of being dragged out of bed by the JK girl had largely dissipated. In his espionage career, he had never met someone so arrogant.

A warning? Or a declaration of war?

He didn't overthink it, just snapped his fingers: "Fall back, this damn weather is freezing."

"Wait, are we just leaving like this?"

"Leaving and looking foolish here? Your eye saw that he did it, but Fire Moth's rules don't let us miss a bad guy or wrong an innocent one," Coleman waved his hand impatiently, urging them forward. "You want to talk about rules, and others are just along for the ride. Let's go, let's go—I'm paying by the night."

The soldiers stood frozen, not knowing which of Coleman's words were true or false. Only after he left the room did his casual grin suddenly disappear.

This doctor was tougher than he imagined. When someone who could transcend the rules spoke about rules, it was almost invincible.

...

Interesting, that Major.

Ryan sipped his coffee, watching the metal shells leave the opposite apartment building.

Not stupid at all. If they dared come after him, he would kill them all within a reasonable and legal scope—self-defense laws would fully justify it.

"You guys like talking about rules, don't you? You hope I'll be reckless and treat all of Fire Moth as my enemies?"

"Sorry, I'm not that stupid. I'm very rule-abiding," Ryan muttered, turning around to see Hua sitting on the sofa with boxing gloves on, sitting upright. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Relax, they won't do anything to me. Look, they're all retreating."

Hua, who had been on high alert, froze for a moment, quickly rushing to the balcony to look down. She saw a series of military vehicles leaving.

"But anyone with eyes knows it was you who did it. Aren't they going to come up and ask?"

"They know, but they don't have any evidence. Can't do anything to me. Think about why that is."

Hua really thought about it. She wasn't stupid and quickly made the connection to a familiar situation.

"It's like how the captain knew something was off, but couldn't do anything about it because there was no evidence. She couldn't act on her own judgment."

"Smart. This is called using their own methods against them," Ryan patted Hua gray-blue hair, laughing. "Those people see Himeko as a huge force that needs rules to protect them. To them, I'm the same—someone who can't just be dealt with on a whim."

Ryan wasn't being arrogant, just stating the facts. At least to Hua, it sounded like her senior brother wasn't a regular member of Fire Moth. He didn't have superiors or a department to report to, and therefore didn't take orders.

He was more like a partner.

It was unprecedented for someone to cooperate with Fire Moth, an entity so massive.

"What's next?"

"Do whatever we need to do. I'm not in a rush." Ryan yawned. He hadn't forgotten that he needed to go to Sundown Alley. Getting more attention in Neon was always a good thing.

"By the way, do you want me to help you draw a card?"

Hua blinked, still processing the situation, then pouted her lips. "Absolutely not!"

"Don't mind it. I won't make fun of you."

"Don't talk nonsense. You were laughing the whole time last night and didn't stop."

"That was an accident, I didn't mean to." Ryan teased her until Hua had to go shower and sleep, at which point he settled down.

Sitting on the couch, munching on some senbei, he watched TV and could still hear the faint sounds of a phone call from the bathroom.

The commotion from tonight wouldn't escape Himeko and the others. They would surely call to check in. But unlike Ryan, their phones weren't specially modified, so they wouldn't say too much for fear of being eavesdropped.

The TV was showing a prank show. Ryan silently watched, but his mind was still on the questions from a few hours ago.

The lieutenant didn't know much, or rather, the most crucial parts had been deliberately erased.

"Who could he be?"

Ryan crossed his legs, his mind diving into the case. His gray eyes deepened with thought.

This person's identity was the key. He suspected that some sort of mental ability had been used to erase this memory. Even though Ryan had used mental abilities as well, there was no answer.

First, he was an ally of the Takeuchi brothers, which would explain why they could mobilize Intelligence Department resources.

Second, was he helping these brothers with their work, or was everyone involved a member of the Faith faction?

Wind Herrscher, Herrscher of Sentience, Himeko, the seventh Herrscher...

His fingers tapped his thigh as he surveyed the situation, his gray eyes becoming deeper.

They were afraid of me, afraid I would uncover certain facts, going so far as to set up a trap to push me to the opposite side of Fire Moth, making it look like I intentionally killed those agents.

Ryan noticed something else that didn't sit right. For example, the lieutenant—he hadn't killed anyone at that time, yet his reaction seemed too exaggerated. As a member of the Intelligence Department, he shouldn't be naive enough to think that a lower-tier fusion warrior could kill a Herrscher-level fighter with one strike.

Overly brave—was this some kind of mental suggestion?

He listened to the hum of a song coming from the bathroom, pulled out his phone, and dialed Mei's number.

"You seem to have gone a bit too far, don't you think?" The girl's voice was cool, tinged with mild displeasure.

Mei had always avoided making the conflict public. It wasn't about loyalty, just because she wasn't ready to receive Fire Moth's full attention.

"You knew so quickly?"

"Someone went to visit Mobius just now. That woman mocked them and kicked them out of the lab." Mei glanced at Mobius, who was frowning at her, as though her image had been tarnished.

"They were looking for my fusion surgery records, right?"

"Yes, maybe they wanted to learn more about what abilities you have."

"Normal. Let Mobius make something up for them, just emphasize the lightning effect. As for the video recording, you handle it."

Mei frowned slightly. Forging evidence wasn't difficult for her. Fire Moth's data center was like her backyard, and its firewall was like a sieve.

"Ryan, don't rush it. If Fire Moth collapses, the world will become like Neon, with independent kingdoms forming everywhere."

She spoke seriously. There were very few people she couldn't control in the world, and Ryan was one of them.

To put it bluntly, if Ryan really went mad, she wouldn't be able to stop him.

Ryan laughed, clearly enjoying himself. "I'm preparing to flip the table. Not thinking about the big picture. Right now, you're not underground talking to me. You should be in the commander's office, trying your best to clean up the mess."

His words were a bit abrupt, but Mei glanced at the door where Sakura was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, her knife never leaving her side. She also saw Mobius playing with a strand of her hair, as though waiting for something.

If the two of them made a move, could Kevin stop them? Could Kevin even stop them?

"I see. I want to thank you on behalf of the commander for sparing my life."

"He should thank himself. From underground to the surface, many people will die, and they are all talented. They shouldn't die at the hands of their own kind." Ryan voice was calm, almost inhuman.

"If I remember correctly, the Intelligence Department is under the commander's direct control, right? Try to find out who Lieutenant Whiteman has been in contact with."

"No problem. But what about the situation on the Neon side? We probably won't get any evidence. At most, we'll catch them slipping in their panic."

"Enough, Mei." Ryan suddenly interrupted, his legs resting on the table as he leaned back slightly.

"When did you get the illusion that I'll follow the rules?"