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Compared to Luther's panic at this moment, Russell seemed calm.
Because Luther might be worried about being attacked by both the Unification Sect and the Spirit Begging Society at the same time—but he wouldn't be.
After all, Kai and his people had come to assassinate Simon under his orders.
Although it could no longer really be called an assassination.
But at the moment, apart from Leo Shaw, Russell's attention was more focused on the figures behind him.
They were demons.
And there were some familiar types of monsters.
Could it really be true that the bigger one came after the smaller one was beaten?
It was no wonder he thought so. After all, Leo Shaw had suffered so many losses in East-Haven yet was still unwilling to change locations. There must be something special about this place that attracted him.
In that case, since Russell had killed Lannid before, it was normal for the demon army in the north to continue sending people to support Leo Shaw—their partner.
I just don't know what they're after.
Russell didn't think the demon army would help for nothing. They must have other intentions toward Leo Shaw.
At this time, Kumoko also passed the identification information over in a timely manner.
[Name: Cliff]
[Title: First-Level Researcher of the Demon Army R&D Department]
[Rank: Gold]
[Droppable Materials: Knowledgeable Immortal Seed]
[Name: Dick]
[Title: Seven Seas · Weapon Master]
[Rank: Gold]
[Droppable Materials: Pirate Master Craftsman]
[Name: Menia]
[Title: Seven Seas · Crazy Desire]
[Rank: Gold]
[Droppable Materials: Feast of Pirates]
But after checking the information, Russell was stunned.
One of the demons was indeed as he'd thought—a member of the northern demon army, and his rank was higher than the previous Lannid.
Lannid was a second-level researcher. This Cliff was a first-level one.
However, the origins of the other two demons were a little beyond his expectations. They came from the same secret realm as Grath and the others before.
They've merged?
At this time, Russell remembered the information he'd obtained from the initial interrogation. It seemed there was indeed nothing wrong with what the minion had revealed.
Including the deceased Grath and the other two—there were exactly four kings.
But fortunately, there's no Emerald-rank.
Russell breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been afraid there might be more than one Emerald-rank demon named Will in the secret realm. Now it seemed there wasn't.
The main reason was that he wasn't sure under what circumstances Kumoko's trait [Gaze of the Superior] would be triggered. In addition, the Prison Blue hadn't generated an item like [Black Cloak] this time. If he met an Emerald-rank demon again, he'd have no choice but to run.
Just saying—Leo Shaw still has some connections with Eastmarch.
He didn't think Leo Shaw had just randomly found a few Gold-rank demons to cooperate with.
Just as Russell fell into deep thought, the two demons named Dick and Menia first looked at the wounded Zoro in confusion. The green-haired swordsman made them feel somewhat familiar.
Then they turned their gaze to Russell in the distance.
"He's the cardmaker you said killed Will?"
The two asked the middle-aged man beside them in a low voice, fear in their tone.
Hearing this, Leo Shaw nodded slightly, confirming their question.
Seeing this, the two demons' fear of Russell rose to a new level. After all, outsiders might not know it, but how could they not know Will's strength?
It could be said that among the four kings who came this time, Will alone could suppress the other three.
But such a powerful existence had died silently.
They didn't even know what methods the other side had used.
Dick backed off a bit. He glanced at the people around him and asked hesitantly. "Do we really want to fight?"
Just these few people and monsters—I'm afraid we're not enough to defeat that one person, right?
But who would have thought Leo Shaw just waved his hand and whispered. "I'm sure."
After observing secretly for so long, he was well aware of the current situation.
In fact, they'd already discovered the Society's plan to assassinate Simon not long after it started.
The reason they hadn't shown up at the beginning was that they'd been afraid the Association and the Society would stop because of their existence.
Just like now.
After the Society killed Simon, the situation on the field had become unbalanced. It was naturally time for their Unification Sect to appear.
Thinking of this, Leo Shaw called out loudly to Kai and the others. "How about this? Let's put aside the grudge between our two families and clear out the Association's lackeys together."
The middle-aged man in the red dragon robe was very sure the Society would agree. After all, if they joined forces, the remaining two Gold-rank cardmakers in the Association definitely wouldn't be their opponents.
By then, the entire East-Haven would be controlled by the two factions.
And in Leo Shaw's opinion, if Russell's so-called means of killing an Emerald-rank could be used at will, Simon wouldn't have been killed by the Society right in front of him.
Unfortunately, he didn't know about the feud between the President and Vice President of the East-Haven Cardmaker Association. Nor did he know that Russell was secretly the Sixth Master of the Spirit Begging Society.
Therefore, after hearing Leo Shaw's question, Kai was stunned for a moment—and then said seriously. "Your proposal is indeed very tempting."
"But."
"I refuse."
His loyalty to the Sixth Master is evident to all, so please don't try to disgust him.
The scene suddenly fell into silence, as if no one had heard what Kai said clearly.
Neither Luther nor Zayne seemed to have expected Kai would answer like this.
Leo Shaw's confident smile froze at this moment. Feeling the strange gazes of several demons, he suppressed his anger and asked Kai in a deep voice. "Why?"
"You should know this is the best choice, right?"
The middle-aged man could even agree to some excessive requests from the Society. Anyway, the plan was nearing completion. When it succeeded, what happened to East-Haven would have nothing to do with him.
Hearing this, Kai sneered. "We're not interested in working for your Unification Sect. We're here today just because Simon threw dirty water on us."
"What I hate most is people who wrongly accuse others."
"Also—the goal of our Spirit Begging Society is to promote love and peace, which is not the same as yours."
After he finished speaking, he left the place instantly without even looking at the reactions of the people present.
Seeing this, Zayne followed suit. But before leaving, he was still thinking about a question: Could it be that our Society really is a kind-hearted organization that maintains order?
But when he caught a glimpse of Simon's body in the distance, the expressionless middle-aged man decided to remain reserved.
For a while, the only two groups left at the scene were the Association and the Unification Sect.
Feeling the three cards that had returned to his mind, Russell said to the Unification Sect people in the distance with a cold expression. "Do you still want to continue, you stray dogs?"
"I'll stay with you until the end."
Hearing this, Leo Shaw glanced at Aizen and Mikoto Misaka—who were in good condition in front of Russell—with a gloomy face. He said unwillingly. "Let's go."
At this moment, Dick and Menia almost couldn't hold back their expressions. They both felt a little speechless about the middle-aged man next to them.
The harsh words he'd just said were loud and clear, but now he really ran away in disgrace like a dog that had lost its home—just as the young man opposite had said.
But Leo Shaw actually had his own difficulties. Besides the fact that he wasn't sure he could quickly take down Russell's two cards, another reason was that the Association's reinforcements were about to arrive.
It would've been fine if the Society had agreed to cooperate. The new Cliff sent by the demon army beside him had the ability to stop low-rank cardmakers, and the rest of them could easily wear down the opponents.
The problem was that the Society hadn't agreed. And looking at their reaction, Leo Shaw was afraid those crazy people would sneak attack him and do something cruel.
But just when the Unification Sect was about to run, Cliff stood up and said. "Lannid died in your hands, right?"
Seeing that Russell was looking at him silently, he continued. "You're very interesting. I really want to dissect you and see your body structure."
Just as Russell was about to say something, Cliff suddenly looked up to the east. "They're coming so fast!"
"I wanted to leave some gifts for you guys. What a shame."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Unification Sect members vanished, leaving only Russell and Luther standing on the ruins.
At this time, Luther realized his back was covered in cold sweat. "Vice President."
"President Simon—I'm afraid this matter needs to be reported quickly."
The death of someone at the level of a city's Cardmaker Association president was already a catastrophic event. It really needed to be reported to the Eastland Cardmaker Association as soon as possible.
Hearing this, Russell nodded slightly, then pinched his brow with a headache.
Although what happened tonight was a little beyond his expectations, it was a good thing overall.
The Unification Sect, which had been hiding like a turtle, was actually lured out by the assassination operation he'd directed and acted out himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known that the northern demon army had sent a new demon researcher.
And that the Unification Sect had merged with the demons in the secret realm on the sea.
Just as he was thinking about how to write the follow-up report, an unexpected person appeared before him.
It wasn't Zayne.
Zayne wouldn't show up tonight.
It would be more reasonable to show up tomorrow morning rather than right after the assassination.
By then, under Russell's cover, they could just find a reason to fool people.
The person who came was Victor Hale, Director of the Human Resources Management Department.
Seeing the newcomer, Luther was also stunned. "Victor? Why are you here?"
Victor rolled his eyes. "Couldn't find Zayne, so I have to come."
Then he saw Simon's body.
The middle-aged man—who had been in a state of seclusion since Russell came to East-Haven—first changed his expression from dissatisfaction to astonishment, and then to seriousness. "The Society did this?!"
He really hadn't expected Simon was actually dead.
Although the other party's character was indeed poor, his strength was undoubtedly ranked first in the East-Haven Association.
Ranked top two.
Victor glanced at Russell, who looked calm beside him, then turned to the Silver-rank cardmaker behind him and instructed. "Clean up the scene as soon as possible."
"Yes."
Seeing his cardmakers busying themselves, Russell—who had been silent for a long time—finally spoke up. "Let's go back to headquarters and think about how to report to the higher-ups."
Hearing this, Luther and Victor couldn't help but look at each other.
They were clearly aware of it.
East-Haven—the situation was about to change.