Ever since Li Ban arrived in this world, his struggles had almost always been against other people.
He fought with other slaves, outmaneuvered the prison guards, and tangled with people from various factions.
But he had never faced such a powerful beast head-on. Before he could even make out its species or appearance, three men from his team had already vanished.
This had nothing to do with profit; it was purely about survival. The absolute law of the jungle.
Furthermore, compared to the crisis of death, this threat came much more savagely and directly, leaving the flesh twitching beneath his skin.
Li Ban had only just climbed to become a 2nd Tier Spirit Practitioner. Because he had fused with so many elements, his volume of spiritual rhinoceros was off the charts, and his actual strength ceiling far exceeded that of a normal 2nd Tier Spirit Practitioner.
Otherwise, he never could have seized that fleeting window of opportunity to kill Zhou Jinhai.
But he had never expected the mountains, which looked so harmless during the day, to become so mysterious and dangerous at night.
What unsettled Li Ban the most was that he still had no idea who the enemy was or exactly how strong it truly was.
This was the Wizard World, a place where the highest identity reached the 10th Tier. As a mere 2nd Tier Spirit Practitioner, he had absolutely no right to let his guard down.
Early the next morning, Death Prison dispatched Huo Jiang to escort Liu Mu, Li Ban, and two handymen back.
Furthermore, in the aftermath, Li Ban never asked a single question about the missing Zhou Jinhai.
A month later, when Huo Jiang took Li Ban to deliver documents once more, they saw the newly appointed county deputy.
Although the man was only serving as the acting deputy, the Imperial Court rarely rejected such officials unless a major issue arose.
Thus, Zhou Jinhai's death was officially classified: strayed deep into the mountains while exterminating a fierce beast, resulting in a heroic sacrifice.
Li Ban's first assassination mission had been smoothly completed.
He visited the pawnshop and collected his mission reward.
He had to admit, the business of human lives was indeed lucrative.
After converting the silver into banknotes, Li Ban pondered how he could purchase Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruits.
Using waste elements to elevate his spiritual rhinoceros was absolutely abnormal.
Otherwise, Zhou Gu wouldn't have ordered Li Ban to take the waste elements outside to dispose of them back then.
As for the waste elements that the people of the Wizard World couldn't utilize, Li Ban also had no idea if the other undercover agents from the Laboratory could absorb them.
Did this count as some sort of player privilege?
But because he remained wary of the Laboratory, Li Ban did not report his unique situation to the Director and Chen Dong.
In both of his reports, he only spoke about mission-related matters and things regarding other people.
He kept his lips completely sealed regarding his own cultivation methods and progress.
The Director clearly did not care either, having never once asked about it.
Since that was the case, Li Ban was more than happy to keep it hidden.
And judging from Cat Girl's reaction when she saw his Blazing Flame Art, this ability of his might share some similarities with the Wizards of this world.
The Wizard, according to Uncle Qin, was the only 10th Tier identity in the Wizard World.
Unfortunately, that single piece of information was all Uncle Qin knew.
And afraid of drawing suspicion, Li Ban never chatted about these matters with anyone else.
This resulted in Li Ban still not knowing whether this ability was a standard skill for the Laboratory's undercover agents, or if it was some sort of personal cheat code.
Of course, Li Ban held higher hopes that this was a cheat code exclusive to his transmigration, his own unique trump card.
Unfortunately, the fact that all these special abilities had to rely on the mission assistance system made it clear to Li Ban that things wouldn't be as simple as he imagined.
Ultimately, no free lunch had dropped from the heavens for him. It only dropped a heavy yoke that made his every step a struggle.
Thinking about this, Li Ban let out a long sigh.
“You just got your money, and you're sighing?”
It was a familiar voice.
Li Ban looked toward the source of the sound.
Between the narrow alleys of bluestone rubble, he saw a slender, snow-white hand crooking a finger at him.
Li Ban scanned his left and right, and seeing nothing unusual, quickly walked into the alley.
In the gloomy alley, Cat Girl, wearing a veiled bamboo hat, was waiting for him.
“Why are you here?”
“To report the completion of my mission, of course. Shen Kong's death looked perfectly natural, didn't it?”
Li Ban couldn't help but reveal a slight smile. “How did you manage that?”
“That is top secret. Everyone who knows has paid a massive price for it!”
Cat Girl took a step forward, approaching Li Ban, and suddenly lowered her voice. “Your mission is finished too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That's good. I just learned that the first mission issued to you was actually a test.”
Li Ban's eye twitched. “A test using human lives?”
“No, the assassination was real. But if you couldn't complete it and failed to kill the target, you would forever remain a fringe member of Assassin Hall.”
This time, Li Ban didn't immediately ask why, but frowned and pondered for a moment.
“Because my assassination target this time was an official?”
“I don't know the details of the assassination, but if you say that, it makes perfect sense. You're from Death Prison, so you are ultimately an official yourself. Only if you can kill another official without any hesitation will they dare to use you for more important assassinations in the future.”
“So it's a blood oath.” Li Ban surprisingly didn't feel much shock.
It was a blood oath, and also a piece of leverage.
He was originally an assassin who joined halfway through, so there was no trust to speak of.
Because Cat Girl had recommended him, Assassin Hall had merely conducted a simple ability test and background check before giving him a wooden token.
Under such circumstances, he would definitely have to undergo numerous tests before truly entering the inner circle of Assassin Hall.
However, this kind of test meant nothing to Li Ban.
He was already an undercover agent for Death Prison anyway, not to mention that the one who made him enter Assassin Hall wasn't a Death Prison official, but Zhai Liu, a prisoner inside Death Prison.
Li Ban didn't know who Zhai Liu was, but Zhai Liu and his group clearly didn't care about the life or death of a county deputy.
Even if Li Ban had failed during this operation to exterminate the ring-tailed black panther, they could still clean up his mess.
“It seems this matter won't bring you any trouble?”
“Or rather, the thing they want me to do is even more important,” Li Ban said, shaking his head.
Cat Girl believed Li Ban was a Wizard and hadn't told Zhai Liu's group, which gave Li Ban more of a mind to discuss things with her.
“Do you think they had me enter Assassin Hall and rise to a Copper Badge as quickly as possible just to have me participate in some assassination operation?”
Cat Girl crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess they had you enter Assassin Hall either for human lives or for information.”
“In short, before you meet their requirements, in order to prevent leaks, they won't tell you any inside information regarding their ultimate goal.”
Cat Girl paused. “If they knew your situation, they might just consider you even more important than their ultimate goal.”
Li Ban immediately asked, “Why would you think that?”
“Heh. Although I'm just a lowly grunt with a 5th Tier identity, I've had the fortune of seeing what the real world looks like once.”
Li Ban's mind reeled, and he barely managed to maintain the calm expression on his face.
What did she mean by the real world?
Could she know about the existence of the Laboratory?
“You—” Li Ban hesitated to speak.
Cat Girl patted him. “Relax. No matter why you came down from above or why you're hiding among the slaves, as long as you want to keep it hidden, I won't tell anyone.”
“What is your goal?”
Cat Girl suddenly reached out with both hands and grasped Li Ban's hand.
Her grip was very forceful.
It betrayed her seemingly calm tone.
“If there comes a day when you are going back up there... please take me with you.”