SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

In the evening, at Poison Lord's mansion, there was an angry look on Vistal's face as he listened to the report of Becket.

"Sir, Alex cannot be found on the island. He was with those women from Europe when our men last saw them," said Becket with a sweat on his face.

There was a sudden rush of knocks from the door, causing the anger in Vistal to rise.

Vistal was trying hard to calm his anger."Come in."

A man named Emet came in while looking flustered."Sir, there is urgent news from the mainland. Our men from our two branches were attacked. There are many casualties, and both branch leaders are slain."

"What?!"Vistal stood up with a look of shock on his face. He grabbed Emet's clothes."Are you sure?!"

"Y-Yes, sir. The bodies of our men in a restricted area were found, and our men sent pictures of the branch leader that got assassinated in the city."

BANG! The door suddenly opened, and Karan went in with a fierce look on his face. "I heard what happened. Whoever is behind this, I will make sure to make them pay a hundred fold!"

"The first that entered my mind who is behind this attack is the government," said Vistal.

"What?! How dare they! We should slaughter their bases in restricted areas as payback!" Shouted Karan.

Vistal shook his head."It was what entered my mind first, but there is a problem in that. Agusto and Viel are not dumb. They should be aware of the severe consequences if they were to do that. We were forming a tacit understanding. As long as our branch members do not cross the line, then they will not be targeted by them.

If the government crosses the line, then we will retaliate and make sure that they will feel the pain. Just one high-level hyperbeing can cause a massacre and huge problems on the mainland. There are many high levels in our guild. They could cause a massacre while hiding their identity. Death Guild will have our back if a war were to happen between our guild and the government because we are on the moral side. The government should have thought of this, so they are not uprooting our guild and are just making new rules that we can tolerate."

"Then who is targeting our guild?"

Rancel was chuckling as he entered the room."There is a rumor circulating in the black market. Maverick, the silver rapier assassin, was hired to kill the branch leaders of the Poison Guild."

"Silver Rapier?"Emet seemed to have remembered something"Sir, someone saw a hyperbeing holding a rapier not too far from where the bodies of our men were discovered in a restricted area."

"This doesn't feel right."The frown on Vistal became deeper as he thought,"I'll contact our connections on the mainland. Those cunning old guys will not completely sever their relationship with us because we could be one of their rabbit holes. We need investigation, and those old guys could use their connections. We must make sure that the information is right to decrease the anger of our boss when he returns."

***

Inside a police station, Roel was reading information in a folder when another officer knocked on the door and came in.

"Sir, Jackson seemed to be trying to get information from my men about the incident on the subdivision, but he failed. He is one of the dogs of those guys. Someone might contact you soon. Those guys haven't learned their lesson. Do they think that they can still make us follow according to their will?" said the officer named Carson.

Roel smiled."Although they are not as powerful as before, they can still make us follow if they pay the right price. Politics is a compromise. If they want to ask for a favor, then they have to pay, but not to us."He pointed his finger to the ceiling."They have to pay or owe a favor to someone that can order the person above me."

"Then are you still going to block their request, sir?"

"Block? Why block?"asked Roel with a smile. His personal phone was ringing."How can I help you, sir?"

"Hahahaha, Chief Roel, I just have a small request regarding the recent incident in a subdivision,"said Congressman Barter on the other end of the phone.

There was a smile on Roel's face, but there was a tinge of hesitation in his voice."Sir, our men have already sent the information to PHA. The investigation is now in their hands."

"Hahahaha, Chief Roel, they only want to make sure that there won't be an omission in information. You know the guys in PHA. They hate that guild to the bone. They are unreliable."Barter smiled when there was a long silence in Roel."Chief Roel, I heard that you refused cooperation many times with my colleagues. You know, I could still get what I want if I have to pay a price, but we are talking about Poison Guild here. I don't know what those crazy guys will do at this time to an uncooperative man."

"Sir, it is against the law to leak information to an unauthorized person, but you are right, sir. We don't know what those crazy guys will do to get the information. They might want to steal it."

Barter turned silent as he tried to analyze the meaning of Roel, then he laughed."Chief Roel, I thought your chief had run out of men he could trust to groom, so he promoted someone like you who is young, but it seems I was mistaken. You are too careful. Don't worry, I am not digging you a hell pit. I understand what you mean. Then I will wait for your good news."

Carson looked surprised as he looked at Roel."Sir, are you really going to cooperate with them?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, sir! If not for you, I will still be a small police officer, and I know you're not a scumbag."

Roel laughed."Give the information to Jackson. Remember, you did not see me smiling."

Carson chuckled."Sir, you are cooking something."

Roel smiled."You will know it later."

Two hours later, Carson was wearing civilian clothes and met Jackson in a car. His face looked serious as he gave him the USB.

Jackson laughed as he held the USB."What's with the serious face?"

"You know, you are hugging the wrong leg. Your bosses are not as powerful as before."

Jackson chuckled."Do you think I will have a chance to go up if I hug Roel's leg? Don't be ridiculous. Roel knows me, so he won't give me a chance. It was just too bad. I could have risen like a rocket if there was no change in the power structure of the government."He patted Carson's shoulder."You should learn how to play both sides. No one knows what will happen in the future. If the head falls, everyone in the bottom will follow. If Roel sinks, so will you, but if you work with me, I could be your life-saving jacket. Think about it."

Carson sneered as he looked at the back of Jackson, who was walking away.

Vistal got the information from the investigation, including the incident in a restricted area.

In the morning, Poison Lord was wearing sunglasses as he laughed and said goodbye to Mason in the airport. His Hawaiian shirt and white shorts were waving because of the strong winds. He walked to his private jet and was about to climb the stairs when his phone suddenly rang.

"Boss, there is a problem."

Green gas was floating out of Poison Lord's body as he listened to Vistal.

"Hmm?"Mason was about to enter his car when he noticed the fluctuation of mana. He looked behind him and saw the green gas floating out of Poison Lord, causing him to chuckle. "Interesting."

Mason entered his car and looked at Gerrit, who was in the driver's seat."Ask our men in that country. Something interesting might have happened to Poison Guild. It will be fun if we can muddy the water there."

A big grin appeared on Gerrit's face.

The private jet was flying. The anger on Poison Lord's face did not disappear. The nice view of clouds and the sun did not make him calm. After a few hours of flying, the plane arrived at the Puerto Princesa airport, which was made in 2028. The high-level members of Poison Guild were waiting for him at the airport.

"Welcome back, boss!"

They went into the mansion and watched the video of the assassination.

The branch leader was driving a red sports car within a subdivision. The assassin suddenly moved out of the dark. There was lightning on the assassin's body and rapier.

BOOM! A huge, sharp lightning spike hit the side of the car and instantly killed the branch leader.

"Maverick made an official announcement in the black market. The man does have some justice. He said that he also wanted to kill Poison Guild members, but he said he was not the one that did it. Someone might be using his name. Why pretend to be Maverick? Because he is the only one that has similarities with his martial art and magic, Alex Dalton. The time of death of our men reported on the autopsy matched our estimated time if Alex used a boat and flight magic to travel,"said Vistal.

Flore frowned."Why did he do it?"

Poison Lord chuckled."I will ask that question to him."

"Are we going to capture him, boss?"

"We have more than one branch on the mainland, boss. Are we going to spread our men?"

"The attack on our branches could be a diversion. He could have planned to attack our headquarters when high-level members of our guild went to the mainland, but he might no longer do that since I arrived. So we will pretend to leave and give him the chance to attack."

Karan laughed."I'd like to see the surprise on his face."

A frown appeared on Vistal."Boss, if you openly killed Alex, you might have a problem with David later."

"If the government is behind the assassin, then we'll have our bloody revenge. But if it's Alex, he just gave us a perfect excuse. He is wearing a mask. Who could blame us if we instantly killed him due to our extreme anger and were not able to give him a chance to reveal his true self?"said Poison Lord with a grin, causing the others to smile as well."Karan and Vistal will join me in trapping the assassin. The others will return to their station. If it's Alex, I could kill him alone, but David might have given something to save his life, so Vistal and Karan will join me to keep that nuisance on this island forever. If not for his closeness with David, he could have died a long time ago."

In the evening, Edgar was standing on top of a tall building as he looked at the mansion of Poison Lord. He had a silver mask, and he was holding a rapier."Is everything ready?"

"Yes, boss."

"Good, let's bring down Poison Guild."