799: Chapter 788: Is This Your Declaration of Allegiance?
799: Chapter 788: Is This Your Declaration of Allegiance?
The man known as Thousand Faces, with his heart shattered, no longer had the possibility to continue living.
His body convulsed on the ground for a few seconds before he completely lost his vitality.
The lifeless eyes of Thousand Faces were wide open, reflecting not Ning Fan, but Tulip—the woman who was originally meant to be his ally.
Because of Tulip’s last Bewitching Technique, Ning Fan had the opportunity for a fatal strike.
It was also because of this that Thousand Faces died with his eyes wide open, filled with regret and hatred till his last breath.
Seeing that Thousand Faces was truly dead, Ning Fan finally took the opportunity to look at Tulip with surprise; her actions were unexpected.
However, had it not been for Tulip’s sudden intervention, Thousand Faces might have managed to escape, and Ning Fan might have indeed found it difficult to stop him.
“Is this your pledge of allegiance?”
Ning Fan asked with a smile, his tone somewhat ironic.
Tulip’s sudden betrayal was too unexpected, to the point that even Ning Fan was unprepared for it.
He could swear to the heavens that Tulip’s action was never part of his original plan; her intervention had caught him completely off guard.
Being a master at the Peak of the Object-Manipulating Realm, she had honed her Bewitching Technique to the very marrow of her bones, catching Thousand Faces completely unawares when she suddenly struck.
Hearing the phrase “pledge of allegiance,” Tulip sneered at herself.
At this moment, she truly had no other choice.
Helping Ning Fan to kill Thousand Faces was a forced move, not intended to gain Ning Fan’s trust but simply because she wanted to survive.
Seeing that Tulip did not respond, Ning Fan did not mind.
Since this woman posed no threat to him at the moment and she had helped him, why not spare her life?
Though after this incident, she would definitely not be able to go anywhere but the Shadow Base, at least not until it was certain that she had completely turned against Umbrella, and it would still be necessary to keep her under house arrest.
Having dealt with the troublesome Thousand Faces, the next concern was how Umbrella would react to his death.
It was unclear what Tengyun Geshang’s response would be.
A master of Face-changing Technique who had met with such an unwilling death, his true appearance and real name remained unknown to anyone.
Ning Fan did not bother to remove his face-changing disguise.
He was only concerned with whether the man was dead, and as long as he was, there was no further threat to Ning Fan.
As for what Thousand Faces really looked like, Ning Fan was not curious.
Not long after the fight ended, the racetrack’s owner came out and respectfully stood before Ning Fan, greeting him with a “Ninth Master!”
“Make it look nice.”
“Yes, it will be done beautifully!”
What Ning Fan referred to was obviously cleaning up the site.
The racetrack’s owner was clearly accustomed to such matters—the death occurring on his premises would remain unrecognized and the racetrack would open as usual the next day.
After giving instructions about the cleanup to the racetrack’s owner, Ning Fan left the place.
After returning to the base with Tulip, Ning Fan rearranged a new room for her.
Although it was no longer a cell, it was not much different, and it was only because Tulip still had some value to be exploited, and since she had already presented her “pledge of allegiance,” that Ning Fan was willing to spare her life.
Otherwise, she might as well have gone to Hell alongside Thousand Faces.
Although her treatment was now slightly better than before, she was still under house arrest.
Ning Fan lost interest in her affairs and turned his attention back to Umbrella.
“Keep a close eye on this woman.
Even though she helped me out this time, still be cautious…”
Ning Fan reminded Ouyang Feifei, who nodded, harboring her own thoughts.
To Ouyang Feifei, Tulip was a Peak Object-Manipulating Realm master.
Now scared of Ning Fan and forced to betray Umbrella, Feifei thought it might be worth recruiting her, but it depended on whether Ning Fan would agree.
However, it was alright to start with psychological preparations for Tulip; if things looked promising later on, she could discuss it with Ning Fan.
Ning Fan was unaware that at this very moment, Ouyang Feifei had already set her sights on a new recruit—Tulip from Umbrella.
Knowing his complete lack of fondness for the woman, with her art of seduction and worldly aura and having nearly fallen prey to her before, even Tulip’s proactive strike against Thousand Faces as a self-preservation move, thereby offering a sign of loyalty, did not change Ning Fan’s reluctance to recruit her.
But Ouyang Feifei had obviously different thoughts, and on this occasion, their thoughts did not align.
…
Thousand Faces had died, but the news was suppressed.
Unable to contact Thousand Faces, Umbrella’s people had turned his hideout in Zhonghai upside down only to leave without results, ultimately destroying the place before departing.
Once Thousand Faces’ disappearance was confirmed, as the organization’s second-in-command had been in frequent contact with him lately, the matter soon landed on Tengyun Geshang’s desk.
“Thousand Faces has disappeared?”
Tengyun Geshang’s tone carried a hint of surprise; his gaze was unexpected, but one couldn’t sense any anger within.
Everyone, including Tengyun Geshang, knew what the worst outcome of a disappearance was.
It was very likely that Thousand Faces had been sacrificed.
Recalling his last contact with Thousand Faces, which had been about Tulip, Tengyun Geshang was almost certain that Thousand Faces’ sacrifice was a fact.
Tengyun Geshang reacted calmly to the loss of Thousand Faces, feeling at most a sense of pity.
After all, the man’s Face-changing Technique was exceptional.
To die in Zhonghai was somewhat unexpected.
But that was that.
Tengyun Geshang wouldn’t be affected by the life or death of an ant.
His thoughts were now more focused on Ning Fan.
Because, no matter how you looked at it, this incident was connected to Ning Fan.
With both Tulip and Thousand Faces falling to Ning Fan’s hands, two Peak Object-Manipulating Realm masters failed to prevail over him.
Despite the fact that they approached Ning Fan one after another, his strength was evident, and Tengyun Geshang began to pay more attention to him.
“That Asura is very likely the murderer!”
“I know.
Don’t continue following up on this.
I will assign someone else to handle it.”
Tengyun Geshang replied indifferently, then gestured for the person to leave with a wave of his hand.
Only Tengyun Geshang, deep in thought, remained in the office, his chin propped in his hand, eyes squinted, murmuring something to himself.