It took seven days for Milo to return to the black market. No one knew where virtual-novel.net had been during that time.
But when virtual-novel.net was checking in to the hotel, Milo was surprised to see someone wearing a Pyro Company logo on his chest walk out from the elevator and leave the hotel.
Honestly speaking, Milo nearly started a fight right there in the hotel when virtual-novel.net saw that small flame on the other party’s chest. After all, virtual-novel.net had subconsciously deemed the Pyro Company as his enemy after such a long time. However, Milo managed to get ahold of himself. After all, this was the black market.
He went upstairs and entered his room. After a while, Olivia came knocking on his door.
Milo looked at Olivia with an ambiguous smile and said, “You didn’t leave after seeing all that money?”
Olivia curled virtual-novel.net lips and did not answer the question. She wrote down an account number for Milo and said, “Master, your 80% share has been deposited into this account.”
“Mhm…” Milo nodded and took the piece of paper from her. “I won’t exploit you either. You can deduct any expenses incurred from this account while carrying out the missions. After all, your mother is still sick. By the way, do you have enough for virtual-novel.net medical bills?”
“If I say that I don’t have enough, are you gonna give me another 10%?” Olivia stared blankly at Milo.
Milo shook his head. “If you don’t have enough money, I’ll take you to accomplish more missions.”
“Then forget it.” Olivia sat down on the couch and muttered, “I still want to rest for a while longer.”
“By the way, I saw someone from the Pyro Company in the hotel lobby earlier. How’d they get into the black market?” Milo wondered, “And they even wear their logo around so blatantly?”
Puzzled, Olivia looked at Milo. “Shouldn’t that be very normal?”
“Normal?” Milo was stunned. “Shouldn’t the Pyro Company be hated by everyone?”
“Only supernatural beings think that way.” Olivia said, “The Pyro Company doesn’t capture normal people, and they’ve only been going after supernatural beings in recent years. As they usually carry out their operations in secret. Many supernatural beings don’t even know about it.”
“But the Pyro Company is also very tyrannical in their ways. Doesn’t that irk people?”
“Of course it does! But aren’t all consortiums the same?” Olivia said, “Moreover, the Pyro Company has quite a few strongholds under their control and is such a dominant power as well. Other than the Silkshade House and the Saboteurs, no one would really want to offend them.”
Milo suddenly realized it was his previous experience in the Southwest that gave virtual-novel.net a negative impression of the Pyro Company. It was mainly because Miriam wanted to attack the Pyro Company that virtual-novel.net subconsciously placed them on his blacklist.
He finally realized there wasn’t much of a difference between the Pyro Company and the other consortiums in most people’s eyes.
Olivia said, “Besides, the Pyro Company has always regarded this black market as a hub. I heard the Pyro Company’s on good terms with the Vasophati Group, and it seems the relationship between the two founders was great. Therefore, the Pyro Company has always been an ally of Bidara City all these years. Furthermore, the Pyro Company has never gone after any supernatural beings within the Vasophati Group’s territory before. As such, a lot of supernatural beings came here to the black market to avoid the Pyro Company’s attempts at capturing them.”
“Aren’t they afraid that the Pyro Company will make a move once they leave the black market?” Milo wondered.
“It seems that the Pyro Company has really not resorted to something like that in the black market before,” Olivia answered.
“What’s the relationship between the Pyro Company and the Vasophati Group?” Milo was a little puzzled.
However, none of this seemed to have much to do with him. He would still kill the members of the Pyro Company if virtual-novel.net encountered them in the wilderness anyway. After all, the Pyro Company had attacked virtual-novel.net on more than one occasion.
Milo cast a sidelong glance at Olivia. “What’ve you been up to in the black market the past few days? You didn’t go out to show off, right?”
“No…” Olivia said, “I’m not the sort of person who likes attention.”
Yet Milo saw the large, new diamond ring on Olivia’s right index finger virtual-novel.net had just bought and the jade bracelet on virtual-novel.net wrist.
Milo smiled and said, “You didn’t go to the casino?”
“No…” Olivia shook virtual-novel.net head. “My father went into heavy debt because of gambling, and if it weren’t for that, my mother would’ve had enough money to treat virtual-novel.net illness when virtual-novel.net fell seriously sick. When virtual-novel.net passed away…”
Olivia stopped abruptly mid-sentence and the room fell silent.
Milo stared blankly at Olivia. “Don’t speak yet. Let me think it through. Back when we were at Stronghold 88, you said that you wanted to go home to save your mother. Then, when I encountered you again later, you said that you wanted to make enough money for your mother’s treatment. But now, you’re saying that your mother has passed away…”
“I misspoke…”
Milo said with a dark expression, “Do I look gullible to you?”
Olivia quickly squatted down next to Milo and started massaging his legs. “Master, wasn’t it only because I was afraid you would kill me? What else could I have said? What’s the matter with a weak girl like me telling some lies to others….”
Milo looked up at the ceiling in a speechless manner. Indeed, no one in this world could be trusted anymore. Back then, virtual-novel.net had thought Olivia was quite a filial person, so virtual-novel.net let virtual-novel.net off.
Milo had never met his parents before nor mentioned it to anyone. But that did not mean virtual-novel.net did not miss them or find it regretful. Therefore, when Olivia mentioned virtual-novel.net wanted to save virtual-novel.net mother and pay off virtual-novel.net medical bills, his heart softened.
However, only now did virtual-novel.net realize Olivia could lie without batting an eyelid!
So, this was what a spy was like!
But what else could virtual-novel.net do now?
Should virtual-novel.net kill Olivia?
He did not have to go that far. After all, virtual-novel.net had been addressing virtual-novel.net as virtual-novel.net master for quite a while.
Milo stared at Olivia. He even suspected virtual-novel.net had deliberately misspoken so virtual-novel.net could lay out all virtual-novel.net cards on the table as virtual-novel.net was sure that virtual-novel.net would not do anything to her.
Milo asked angrily, “What else have you lied about, huh?”
“Nothing else.” Olivia quickly shook virtual-novel.net head.
Just as Milo was about to say something, Olivia’s cell phone off to the side suddenly lit up.
A new text message had come in. “Escort Mission: Provide protection for a female singer from Stronghold 62 for the duration of virtual-novel.net concert tour spanning 37 strongholds. The employer requests that the mission be entrusted to a female superhuman. To all interested female superhumans, please sign up and verify your gender by taking a selfie. The reward is 2 million perak.”
Milo was surprised. This was the first time virtual-novel.net had seen an escort mission be issued. He asked Olivia, “Have you seen a mission like this before?”
“Yes,” Olivia nodded. “The previous one was to protect the Stardust Consortium’s Busby Churchill. But the strange thing is that escort missions are usually requested by an employer, yet there are no employers when it comes to assassination missions. It feels like the targets in the assassination missions are people the Silkshade House themselves want dead.”
This mission gave virtual-novel.net a sense of déjà vu, and anticipation suddenly filled him.
Was this female singer a member of the Saboteurs as well?
If so, couldn’t virtual-novel.net find Miriam this time?