"...Fck." The line from the other side said after some deliberation.


    "Well then, I''m going to start packing my bags again, so I''ll talk to youter, Delmar." William said to Delmar with seriousness in his tone.


    Delmar, detecting the gravity in his voice, couldn''t help butugh heartily, as his joke had precisely the effect he intended it to have.


    "Yeah, yeah,ugh at the kid who''s going to be spending jail time next to you."


    "No, no, kid. That''s not why I''mughing. It''s just that you''re too gullible. Ahaha haha."


    On the other hand, William was initially confused by what Delmar said until he realized that Delmar was joking with him.


    "Ha ha, dude, don''t joke with kids like that with your serious demeanor, okay? It''s not funny at all." William said to him as he didn''t like the thought of being in jail with his new physic that would turn heads but for the wrong side.


    "From where I''m standing, it''s pretty f*cking hrious, kid."


    "Okay, but tell me the truth. Will the Royal Force really not find my location?"


    Delmar stoppedughing as he reassured William, "No. Kid, don''t worry about that. The line you just called is highly secure, and only my most esteemed clients have ess to it."


    "Alright, all jokes aside. What are you going to do now?" William waited and asked something close to what he really intended to inquire about when the time was right.


    Delmar sighed deeply and contemtively before responding, "Well… for a while, I''m gonna have to close shop until this mess blows over, and even then… let''s see what happens."


    "If you close your shop for a while, wouldn''t you lose most of your customers?"


    "Well, yeah, I would."


    "Now that just makes me feel more guilty, man. It''s like this is happening to you because of me."


    "Yeah, it happened because of you, but it was bound to happen sooner orter anyway. So why not now? It''ll give me some time for a vacation as well."


    "What are you going to do on vacation anyway, man? It''s not like you have someone waiting for you… do you?"


    Delmar could sense the sarcasm dripping from the other side of the phone before he retorted, "You''ve got guts talking to me like that. And as for your ''usation,'' I get plenty of girls, kid. And I''m quite certain one of them might even be your future wife."


    "''Whistle.'' For a moment there, I was actually worried about the poor soul who might be in love with you. And for your information, I''m not going to marry a two-dor wh*re from an alleyway, Delmar. I have far better taste than that."


    Delmar smiled as he heard the kid''s retort, then nced at hisputer to see the Royal Forces still advancing towards him. So he said to William on the phone,


    "Hey kid, hold on for a moment. I need to take care of some ''extra'' problems that are currently annoying me."


    "Alright, do what you need to do, but don''t hang up. I still need to discuss something important with you," William told him, this time with a tone of seriousness.


    "Alright, I won''t," Delmar said, cing the handset beside hisputer keyboard. He looked at the monitor, which showed several Royal Force armored vehicles approaching his location.


    Delmar typed on his keyboard for a while, then a screen appeared, prompting him to enter the target location. He input the coordinates and pressed ''Enter'' when prompted.


    [ Up on the surface ]


    In the scorched field where the bodies of many elite assassins of the Goldstein Great Housey in eternal rest, something peculiar was urring.


    The charred ground beside them slowly began to open up, despite the chaotic conditions. Eventually, the ground ruptured, revealing several small metallic pins.


    Those metallic pins were actually the heads of guided missiles poised tounch at the approaching armed units.


    As the missiles received their target coordinates and the preparations wereplete, they ignited andunched slowly, then elerated beyond the naked eye''s perception.


    The armored vehicles were still 2 miles away from the location, and the guided missiles had a range of over 5000 kilometers, making the vehicles well within their target range.


    The armored vehicles weren''t easily thwarted as they too had special weapons. So, when the missiles came within range, the vehicles began firingrge-caliber bullets from their mounted machine guns.


    A few bullets struck the guided missiles, destroying some before they could reach their targets. However, some missiles continued on their trajectory.


    But the armored vehicles didn''t continue firing at them because even if they could destroy the missiles with bullets, the resultant explosion and aftershock would be dangerously close and might severely harm some of them.


    So they deployed multiple res to disrupt the missiles'' navigation systems, and it worked. Some missiles collided, causing chain reactions.


    However, a few missiles, even with their guidance systemspromised, made it close to the armored vehicles and detonated just in front of them.


    The explosion and aftershock not only overturned the leading vehicles but also disrupted the following vehicles'' movement. They halted, attempting to rescue injured members caught in the explosion.


    Delmar observed this from hisputer and smiled as his n had seeded just as he envisioned. His initial n wasn''t topletely destroy the armored vehicles. No, it was to disrupt their movements long enough for him to escape safely.


    He picked up the handset beside theputer and spoke into it.


    "Okay, it''s done. What was it you wanted to say to me again?" Delmar tried to continue the conversation from where it was left off.


    "Before that… Are you fighting someone? Because the noise from the receiver seemed like there were multiple explosions happening nearby."


    "Yeah, I just fired some missiles at a few Royal Force armored vehicles that were approaching, but they won''t be a problem for a while now."


    "… I don''t know what I just heard or what you''re talking about, so I''ll just take your word for it."


    "Alright now let''s get to the real thing… tell me what are you really going to do after this?"


    Delmar was confused as he heard the kids serious tone and he said after some pondering "Don''t really know what I am going to do but why are you so concerned with that?"


    "Because I know of someone who can pay you a lot to work for them."


    "I already told you kid that I am going to close my shop for a while but I am going to open itter so you can tell that person to call meter as well."


    "I wasn''t talking about part time work but full time."


    "Nobody has that much money or even if they did they wouldn''t pay me that much every week for someputer surveince."


    "Believe me that person will absolutely want you to work for them, no matter the cost" William said as he put more emphasis on the matter.


    "And who is this generous person that you are talking about?" Even though skeptical of the thought that someone like that actually exists, Delmar still asked.


    "It''s me,"


    "I want you to work for me, Delmar."