After Beating the Game, I Became the Villain BOSS-Chapter 160 - 139: Sharpening Blade Catgirl

(A 6000-word chapter in a trio)

... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The loaded drone flew to the safe zone and landed.

After Su Mo landed, he waved at the drone camera, "I'm all good here."

Future's voice came from the drone speakers, "Boss, you're really pushing it, talking about pulling out the bomb fuse, and you just pull it..."

"Explosives?" Su Mo laughed and removed the fake dynamite strapped to his body, throwing it into the river beside him, "Fake, it's all filled with laundry detergent. Living well, why would I blow myself up with them? Am I stupid?"

Future: "Uh... what if you didn't fool them?"

Su Mo: "If I didn't fool them, then I'll just jump out the window early and escape. Those mercenaries and Haywood would have to fend for themselves, I've done my best."

"Alright, no more talking, retrieve your drone, I'll head home myself later."

After the drone flew away, Su Mo found his motorcycle and returned to the Inner City.

The flickering lights ahead danced, looking at the lights and glamour of the big city, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.

In this world, lone wolves find it hard to survive.

Unless you become the strongest, strong enough to crush anyone.

Su Mo wants to step onto the Peak of Dawn and becoming the strongest is certainly his goal, but this goal is still too distant.

The hardships encountered midway, some can be solved by force, some cannot.

Those issues that cannot be solved by force often rely heavily on backing and connections.

Just like Ou Chenyu, if he hadn't clung onto Lucio, today he would've had a hard time at Dragon Gate Restaurant.

But because he held onto his father-in-law's support, with the backing of local forces, he could face Simon with ease.

Su Mo has been a mercenary for less than two months, and although he's acquainted with two renowned middlemen, Audiana and Dress, he has a better future than 99% of rookie mercenaries, but his backing is still not strong enough.

First, his relationship with the two middlemen is only collaborative, and the direct benefit of their networking resources is limited.

Second, middlemen, after all, are just middlemen, there's still a big difference compared to Lucio's kind of local councilor.

Now as his influence grows, the enemies he encounters are also getting stronger.

While ensuring he becomes stronger, he also needs a powerful backing to settle those troubles he currently finds difficult to handle.

Otherwise, similar situations to Dragon Gate Restaurant will keep recurring...

...

The next morning, Su Mo was having breakfast, tuning in on time to the "New Moon Morning" program.

The host teased, "Good morning! New Moon City! The sun has just risen, and we're greeting some sensational news!"

"From last night till early this morning, our communications agency received a large number of video sources, multiple mercenaries issued statements in these videos, declaring they will no longer accept any commissions related to the Border District."

"What exactly prompted many mercenaries to issue such a statement simultaneously? Martin, what do you think?"

The host's side, a fat bearded guest said, "In my opinion, it's an assault on the Inner City mercenary forces by the border group, and the mastermind behind the scenes is very likely the King of the Borderlands, Wangya Nest."

"We all know, as the Mercenary City, New Moon City has extremely frequent mercenary activities, even more so in the Border District. And Wangya Nest, as the de facto ruler of the borders, would certainly find the mercenaries' excessive involvement intolerable."

Host: "So you believe it's Wangya Nest who used some means to coerce these mercenaries to issue video statements, is that it?"

Martin: "Yes, that's my view. There's no way mercenaries would voluntarily put out statements of this kind, it's a career-destroying act."

Host: "What's your comment on this then?"

"I want to tell those mercenaries who issued the statements—" Martin stood up, raising both middle fingers to the screen, "Go eat shit! Cowardly wimps! The mercenary realm doesn't need you softies!"

The screen timely inserted a series of videos, all without a blur, showing those mercenaries making statements openly to the audience.

These mercenaries were all unfamiliar faces, not the same batch as those Su Mo encountered at Dragon Gate Restaurant yesterday.

Clearly, Wangya Nest didn't just send Simon but dispatched many people, broadly intimidating those mercenaries who stretched their reach too far.

No matter their past experience, releasing this kind of statement essentially meant social death.

The mercenary realm is very ruthless.

If reputation is a middleman's solid asset, then a mercenary's hard asset is strength.

Recording such a video is undoubtedly a covert way of telling everyone—I've been threatened by the border group, I can't handle them, I'm useless.

Middlemen won't issue commissions to a useless person.

The mercenary realm doesn't need useless people either.

These mercenaries' fates have only two choices left.

Either spend a lifetime accepting leftover junk commissions, doing dirty work even dogs wouldn't do.

Or simply retire and change careers.

Dongdong was also having breakfast, frowning at the television, "These mercenaries are really useless, what's so scary about Wangya Nest? I even beat up people from Wangya Nest before."

Su Mo was stunned, "Ah? Who did you beat?"

Dongdong: "An outside lackey, saw I was young, tried to touch me, so I knocked out seven or eight of his teeth with a stick. His big brother felt ashamed and didn't bother me anymore."

Su Mo laughed, he thought for a moment and asked, "Dongdong, let me ask you, if Wangya Nest's people threatened you to record such a video, what would you do?"

Dongdong replied without hesitation, "Fight them! How can I tolerate this?"

Su Mo: "What if they're stronger than you, and you can't beat them?"

Dongdong's prosthetic tail, which can sense human reactions, puffed its fur upright, fiercely cute she said, "Then I'll strap a bomb and go down with them! If I can't have peace, then nobody else will!"