"It can't be them."

Ryan searches the trunk of his car and finally puts his hands on his secret weapon: his reel gun and a bag of flour. "What do you know about Leo Hargraves' Mardi Gras, my cat friend?"

"They are wandering heroes, battling marauders, warlords, dangerous genomes, and psychopaths." The atomic cat replied with his back against the car. "They help the community for nothing and then leave. They are modern-day Ranger Knights, not Assassins. ”

"That's right," Ryan admitted. That's part of the reason he respects their group as a group, even after they've caused him trouble. "But they're also pragmatic knights. When they fight, they never show mercy. They attack quickly and violently, and unlike most genomes, they actually use small unit tactics. ”

"You speak as if you fought with them."

"I did." They gave him a fair share reset, especially in his early cycle. "I was there four years ago when they killed the bloodstream, and I was trapped in the crossfire. Normally, I like to be in the middle of interesting things, but that day I lost something that was dear to me. ”

"What, or who?"

Sharp cats.

That day Ryan drank his elixir, and he drank it to survive the disaster. He couldn't fully control his save point at the time and ended up in the sub-optimal route.

Separated him from Ryan.

As the thought crossed his mind, Ryan glanced at the Mediterranean, the rising light refracted on the water. As it turned out, the Assassins had established their base in a ship graveyard between Rust Town and the Old Port. The supertanker he saw on the coast was just the first in an army.

The metal shells of oil tankers, boats, and even airplanes are corroded by seawater and line the sand. Barnacles make their home on the bellies of ships and airbuses, and there are alleys between each steel corpse. The IP signal came from an isolated garage nearby, a metal hangar partially built inside the cruise ship. It could be something to dismantle a car factory, clean up the shell, sell parts.

Rainy poisonous clouds appear in the north, but strangely enough, they move against the wind towards the port. It's Dy

amis put the contamination from Rust Tow

Blown away by the credit?

The atomic cat crossed its arms and remembered something. "Dad used to tell me that a few years ago, before he and Mom adopted Nassinia, he had a conflict with their original lineup. At that time, Augustus was still building his own power base. He killed half of the people at the carnival and drove the rest away. ”

Well, they're back on mission. It's better to do it late than not to do it well.

"But I've never heard anything about glass manipulation."

"They have a high turnover rate, so this could be a newcomer," Ryan replied. Taking into account their stealth nature, as well as the fact that they often kill people by bombs or ordinary means, such a genome can reliably fly under radar. Especially if all the witnesses died. "I can't move the car closer, I can't move anything with a screen. I'm pretty sure they can detect and control glass over a large range. ”

"How huge?"

"I don't know," Ryan replied, tossing his phone in the back seat, along with all the electronics. He left only nuclear bombs and rabbit stuffed animals. "They might even know we're already here."

"Okay, then I'll stay next to the car, and if you don't send me a signal within half an hour, I'll call the Wyvern to help." Atomic Cat decided. "And what about the goggles of your mask?"

"Fools, they're not made of glass!" Ryan said. "They're alien stuff!"

"Yes, then...... Is that flour?" Atomic Cat frowned at Ryan's toy. "Do you want to bake a cake for them?"

"They'll never see it coming."

Atomic Cat smiled slightly. "I know you won't listen, but please don't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry, I have more lives than your nine." Ryan replied, packing up his things as he walked towards the garage.

However, if it weren't for the fact that this situation upset him, he might be lying. The members of Carnival are all powerful genomes, and that assassin has already killed him twice. One wrong move could lead to another reset, and their previous history made him nervous.

As he walks to the locked doorway, Ryan realizes that now is the perfect time to carry out a secret mission. But he was pretty sure it was useless, he never had patience.

Instead, he shot the lock with his coil gun, and the electromagnetic projectile went straight through the steel. "The old man has no country!" He shouted, walked into the garage, and raised his weapon.

Unlike in the movie, no one greeted him from the door with a shotgun. In fact, the garage doesn't have any car, engine, or ship parts.

Instead, it houses several computer servers.

In total, there were dozens, apparently temporarily installed, connected to an automatic generator. Two air conditioners cooled them down while wires ran through a hole in the ground, possibly connecting the system to Dy

AMIS's underground cables are connected. A huge table with a chair in the middle and a screen around it.

In addition, Ryan noticed that he could easily see the ship's graveyard through the window, but he didn't see the servers from the outside. It's definitely an optical trick.

Yes, this is not recent. It must have taken them weeks, if not months, to build this safe house.

Ryan approaches the computer and is currently displaying a boring screensaver on five different screens. It seems that he sabotaged the operation as the mysterious assassin fled.

Or maybe they want him to think so.

Without warning, the courier froze the time, opened the flour bag, and spun it on its own. He sprayed white powder in all directions, on screens, windows, servers, corners.

A humanoid torso appeared behind him, standing in a corner, raising a looming sword.

Here you go.

The flour hits some kind of invisible armor, so Ryan takes the time to draw "Kill me, I'm a pervert" on his chest. As time passed, the figure froze as they found themselves being pointed at the head with a coil gun. "Got you, Invisible Boy!" Ryan couldn't help but gloat and said, "Or is it the Invisible Girl?" I'll never know. ”

"I'll be faster than your finger pulling the trigger." The Invisible Boy replied, a strange suit muffling his voice.

"Are we going to play Lucky Luke?" I draw faster than my shadow...... Even faster than time!"

"I don't think you really stopped time, Cesare Sabino, you just gave it an illusion," he replied, with absolute calm. "Or is it Ryan Romano now?"

"Ryan," the courier replied. He tried to make out the voice, but the suit muffled it. "I don't think we've met, Mr. Carnival."

The figure sighed in frustration at being recognized. "We did. Although at that time you didn't know I existed. ”

"Ah, I wonder if you're new or invisible," Ryan said thoughtfully. This explains why Carnival has secret agents like him and his organization is successful. "And what shall I call you?"

He realizes that there will be no war unless he provokes it first, and the mysterious genome is fully revealed. He was covered from head to toe in a layer of bright blue glass; This substance made Ryan unable to see anything. The armor was completely shapeless, and the face resembled a featureless doll. This makes the vigilante look rather weird.

Ryan realized that the man mimicked invisibility by bending the light around the armor in some way, perhaps using the same process as the lens technique. The courier could barely comprehend what kind of control was needed to complete the task, although this trick did not protect him from smoke or rain.

Here are some powerful orange genomes.

"You can call me the Shroud." The glass man tilted his head to the side. "If you hadn't shot me in your 'freeze time,' I guess you'd say—"

Ryan threw the flour bag in his face.

The Invisible Boy stood silently as the paper bag fell from his helmet to the ground. His face now looks like a powdered clown.

"It's very immature," the Assassin said, dusting off the flour from his helmet.

He killed Ryan twice; The messenger won the right to be stingy. "Don't blame me if I've been holding a weapon." The Time Manipulator said, because his current master's sword was always threatening. "You've assassinated a lot of people lately, and it's still possible to kill you."

"You and the 'millionaire' need not be afraid of us," the man replied with his arms crossed. "Our current targets are Augustus and Meta."

"Oh, then I guess you must have hacked Dy

AMIS system. ”

"Just to eradicate infiltrators within your company," Genome scoffed. "To be honest, I'm surprised you found me. I was very careful not to leave any traces. ”

Ryan wasn't in the mood to enlighten him, especially after he killed the courier twice. "Why did you kill Zambato and his accomplices on the docks?"

"Is there anger in your voice?" I am amazed by your concern. The glass genome walked towards the screen, ignoring the gun pointed at his head, and sat down in his chair. As far as I know, the two of you haven't even interacted. ”

"Maybe. Maybe so far, I haven't found any reason to kill him. Hell, as far as I can tell, he's pretty low in rank. ”

The man folded his hands, a gesture that reminded Ryan of Enrique Manada. "Do you know what they're shipping at the docks?"

"Candy?"

"These chemicals were destined to be sent to Augustus's fortress laboratory on the island of Ischia, where their bliss would be generated." "The drugs are then transported by boat and submarine to local dealers in Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, Libya, etc...... The drug is incredibly addictive, and Augustus used it to wreak havoc on communities, even as they struggled to recover from the war. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Regardless of their friendly neighborhood hooligan propaganda, Augustus did more harm than good," Genome declared. "Even if he didn't kill people personally, by protecting the shipment, Zambatoar indirectly supported an organization that kills nearly 20,000 people a year, 3,000 in New Rome alone."

"If I'm not mistaken," Ryan coughed, "you're trying to reduce violence by creating more violence?"

In a way, the vigilante seemed to be aware of the hypocrisy, as he leaned back in his chair, thoughtful. Ryan couldn't make out his body language in armor, but he seemed ambivalent.

"I don't like it," he admitted. "I really, really don't know. I'd rather speak it out, or put the criminals in jail. No matter what others say, you're never used to killing. Even my teammates at the carnival didn't approve of my approach. ”

Ryan wondered if the entire carnival had infiltrated the city, or if the shroud was just a vanguard, preparing the grounds for his teammates. Genomics suspects that he is not the only agent in New Rome; He could not have done so much harm alone. "I smell the smell of but."

"But the situation has deteriorated to the point where it will only get worse if we do nothing. The police of Augustus could murder a man in broad daylight and come out unharmed. Without the government keeping them in prison, Dimenes was too afraid of Augustus to really act. ”

He has a point, but there is a glaring flaw in his argument. "Well, good luck, want to kill that invincible person. Not everyone has tried for years without any progress. ”

Augustus may have called himself a god, but he was still just a man, and an old man. He could not sell drugs on the street, nor could he ask for tribute alone. He needs infrastructure, soldiers, and money to exert influence; Excluding his subjects, the king is nothing more than a man who wears a crown. We may not be able to defeat Augustus, but we can destroy Augustus. ”

"Why now?" Ryan asked, his instincts telling him what was missing. "The situation has been relatively calm, Augustus has sat still. Why take action now?"

The glass man was silent for a few seconds, apparently considering whether to divulge any information. Eventually, he did. "You must have seen it." "A war is brewing between factions in the city. If left unchecked, this catastrophe could trigger a new round of genomic warfare and further destruction. ”

"Ah, so you're also chasing your perfect run?"

"A perfect run?" To Ryan's delight, the Shroud seemed to understand what he meant. "You could say that, but there's no perfect ending, Quicksave. Only the best for a specific demographic. ”

How is it possible that the only person who understands video game slang is the one who killed him? There is no justice in this world. "What if there was a way to bring down Augustus without killing people?"

"Do you have one?" The Shroud asked, sounding a little hopeful. "Because my mind goes blank."

"Not this time," Ryan replied. "But I'll find it, I promise."

The Shroud watched him silently for a few seconds. To his credit, he seems to be open to the idea. "Well, in case you really find a way to disrupt Augustus' operations without causing any casualties, then...... Okay, I'll just take it. ”

Good. At least he's not some punisher immune to diplomacy. Ryan has seen the best way to find Ryan and how to defuse the situation.

"Otherwise, I would ask you not to reveal the existence of this place, nor my presence in New Rome," the vigilante explained. "We have no problem with you and the 'millionaire'; In fact, I'd be happy to work together to make New Rome a better place, as long as your team clears the vandals. However, if you switch to Augustus or the superpowers, we will fight. Your genome is too powerful to be wiped out sooner. ”

Ryan was silent for a moment, and everything became clear. "I don't know if I'm honored or angry."

"Have you considered joining them?" Genome sounded just curious, but there was an undercurrent of tension in his tone.

“Naaaaah !” Ryan lied. He'll never join the superpowers, but still. "But I wonder why you can fight Augustus and not Dy

amis。 ”

"Despite their shortcomings, Dy

amis is really trying to rebuild a somewhat functional society," Sh

OUD reluctantly admitted. As Rust Tow is

As it turned out, the company had systemic corruption problems, but it was a stabilizing force in Europe, once Hecto

Ma

ADA retires, it can be reformed. I can't say the same about Augustus, let's not talk about Meta. ”

The vigilante watched Ryan closely. "By the way, thank you."

"For what, for your whiteness?"

Genome seemed amused by the poke, but remained focused on the matter at hand. "Thank you for saving the orphanage. I was told only after the attack was over, and I couldn't have arrived in time. I didn't expect you to put your abilities to good use for positive things, but I'm glad you did. Frankly, I'm afraid you'll follow in the footsteps of the bloodstream or hunt us down for revenge. ”

"He's sick and his death is merciful," Ryan replied. "It separated me from Lenn and I'll never forget."

The glass man didn't say anything, and there was a nervous silence between them.

Ryan put his gun to the man's helmet. "You know where she is."

"I did." To their credit, Genome sounded unusually calm and confident to a man with a weapon pointed at them. "Before the operation began, I mapped each faction in the city. Although in her case, the problem is not to know where she is, but to get there. ”

"Where is she?"

Genome didn't answer directly, pondering his words. "She hasn't contacted you in all these years."

"She can't," Ryan replied. "She didn't know I survived, all because of you."

"Your stunts are never cunning, and you're not shy about revealing your real name. I don't believe at all that she hasn't heard of you in four years. ”

The messenger's fingers twitched, and he almost pulled the trigger. "What are you hinting at?"

"It's obvious. She didn't contact you because she didn't want to contact you. I think, deep down, you understand that this is the only logical explanation. ”

Ryan glared angrily from behind the mask. "You don't know anything."

He thought about what to do with the news. Carnival was apparently the fourth faction in New Rome; They are hidden routes. However, his focus is on finding Lunn, who has seen a path to her. The Assassin was the biggest obstacle to finding her, and now, he knew the best way to defuse the situation.

He could already see it. Perfect run to Le

。

"You're being followed."

Ryan winked at the Shroud, awakened from his fantasies. “Plait-il ?”

"You're being followed." The Shroud glanced at the window, and a pouring rain outside hit it. The disgusting yellow-green water corrodes the glass and even the metal walls on contact.

No. There is no water.

Sour.

No way, he was always careful when driving or using his phone. Unless...

"DNA tracker," Ryan realized.

He knew he should take a look at the fine print!

An explosion is heard outside, telling Ryan that the Atomic Cat is wrestling with the Grim Reaper. The Shroud vanished without a word, and all the flour from his armor fell to the edge of the table. He must have changed the glass layer to get rid of it.

Ryan raised his weapon and was about to rush through the door when he heard a loud bang coming from upstairs. There was something on the roof, crawling towards his place.

Without warning, a tentacle of wire burst through the ceiling of the garage and aimed at Ryan's head.