Could this also be part of Boss Lin’s plan?!
Claude’s eureka moment wasn’t without basis.
Since they were to take action in front of the bookstore, they had naturally also taken into consideration Mr. Lin’s line of thinking and wishes—in fact, this could be counted as the most important detail.
Their current assessment had revealed that Boss Lin didn’t mind a cooperative or competitive relationship among his patrons.
One example was the episode where Secret Rite Tower had worked together with Vincent.
Another would be the rivalistic relationship between Ms. Ji from Rolle Resource Development and Deputy Branch Head Cherry from the Ash Chamber of Commerce.
But what if there was hostilities between bookstore patrons which concerned life and death?
Perhaps to Boss Lin, it might just be some other insignificant commotion unworthy of his time.
However, if a death resulted from his patrons pitting themselves against another, it might be a source of amusement lost to Boss Lin.
There were still many undetermined factors.
Because, from the beginning, the mysterious and powerful Boss Lin had only ever been neutral. He was always ever gracious to his patrons and never took sides between good and evil.
The recent accomplishment of their crusade against the Church of the Dome with advice from Boss Lin had subconsciously baited them into thinking that Boss Lin was friendly and on the side of justice!
Claude’s heart sank as he had this thought.
If everything that happened here was orchestrated by Boss Lin, then it would mean that Wilde was no longer of value nor interest to him. Otherwise, Secret Rite Tower would never get the opportunity to apprehend Wilde.
“It’s not like there's any precedent…”
Claude tightly kept his eyes on Wilde and his four new lackeys, or rather four new patrons, all of whom ran into Francis and his team outside the bookstore.
“Teacher previously asked for the whereabouts of Wilde in hopes of receiving some help from the bookstore owner. Sadly, he never received any response…
“On the contrary, according to the intelligence we got, Ackerman was directly introduced to work for Ji Zhixiu and would later on contribute greatly to ‘Spider’s’ growth.
“I’m afraid this just reveals the bookstore owner’s stance.
“He doesn't wish for his patrons to go for each other’s throats!”
Claude had a feeling he had accurately deduced Boss Lin’s intentions. At the same time, his heart sank to the very bottom.
There’s no reason for such a coincidence to occur now otherwise…
They had originally prepared to ambush Wilde and his lackeys when they weren’t prepared with a rapid wave of attack to achieve the optimal results to catch them off guard.
Wilde’s strength couldn't be underestimated, but Secret Rite Tower weren’t weaklings either.
Even Supreme-ranks could become a target of theirs’, much less a Destructive-rank.
Capturing Wilde with their current forces here might be a stretch, though if caught unawares, severely wounding him was still within the realm of possibility.
Moreover, they still had their main strength rushing to the scene—Joseph.
However, the rash decisions made by Francis and the others had startled Wilde, making this already powerful enemy be on the alert. Furthermore, he had those few Pandemonium-ranks and a Sky Wolf with him.
If standard precautions were in place, this mission carried out by Secret Rite Tower would have already been declared a failure…
“Do we proceed with the operation?” asked a member with his battle hammer raised, awaiting orders.
Claude restrained his emotions and muttered, “Of course. All units listen up; our primary objective has been changed to extracting those eight Official Knights.”
It didn’t matter whether the actions of Francis and his group went against protocol or if they were under someone’s orders.
At this point on the battlefield, they were still members of Secret Rite Tower; comrades even.
In the event where the original mission had been compromised, ensuring the safety of comrades still took precedence.
What happened after… would be dealt with internally after it was over.
“Yes!”
Answering in unison, the members of Secret Rite Tower in position carried out their orders and split up.
One group employed stealth to continue their ambush plan.
Another group dropped their disguises, revealing themselves to Wilde and immediately capturing the attention of Gall and the three others with him.
“Another ambush?!”
As a rogue magician with years of combat experience, Gall was able to react instantly and gauge the strength of his enemies. He was taken aback by what he discovered.Was this ambush prepared for a Destructive-rank? Isn’t this all a little too extreme?!
As someone used to being chased, he startled to panic, reckoning that such an array of forces for an ambush to deal with him was overkill. Then, at the next moment, he realized that they had come for Wilde!
Gall’s eyes widened. The positions on the battlefield had now become like this: Secret Rite Tower main force vs Gall’s four-man team, Francis and his eight knights vs Grady.
He instantly lobbed out several patchwork monsters at his side for defense and then charged toward Francis’ group in agitation.
Night Falcon and the two others could only stare in shock.
How does a shrewd person like him who always hid behind and depended on others become so fierce?
“It’s an ambush indeed!” Wilde sneered but didn’t appear to be the least bit surprised.
It wasn’t all that hard to guess. If there were ones choosing to confront directly, then there would naturally also others preferring to take a sneak approach.
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The art of deception?
In truth, this wasn’t a shabby plan. It was just a pity that Wilde wasn’t just any academic-style magician. Rather, he was a cruel executioner with hundreds of battles under his belt.
Furthermore, all of this was surely within Boss Lin’s calculations. Since he had already completed his mission and also finally overcome the regret of losing successive disciples, Boss Lin must have presumably noticed his one and only fixation at the moment!
“It’s been a while… Joseph!”
With his beady green eyes flashed behind his mask, Wilde looked to the distance and met the gaze of the long overdue Joseph.
After two long years, these two who shared a deem ‘obsession’ with each other were finally reunited.
Joseph stood on the roof, giving Claude a pat on the back.
Familiar yet foreign gazes crossed without any communication. Both of them understood the thoughts and intentions of the other.
He’s stronger than he was two years ago! x2
But so am I! x2
The eye contact was fleeting.
Joseph now understood that containing and capturing Wilde here was no longer possible. His opponent’s strength had grown more powerful than he had initially anticipated and the ambush plan was now totally ineffective.
Wilde now understood that the test which was interrupted could no longer be completed. He could see the light that had returned to the eyes of his opponent. It didn’t matter whether they fought or not; he was just afraid of causing a disturbance to Boss Lin.
But it didn’t matter. Those few from Secret Rite Tower were already half dead while Gall and the others had put on a decent display. Wilde could now tell the shortcomings of each person, hence the purpose of the test had been fulfilled.
Wilde whistled and Grady reacted, sweeping away their whole team and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The battle had come to an abrupt end.
Joseph took over Claude and led the operation to clean up the battlefield, including rescuing Francis and the others, all of whom were still in shock and gravely injured.
Claude told his teacher about the hypothesis he had.
Shaking his head, Joseph replied, “If that were so, Boss Lin wouldn’t even have given the chance to cross paths once again.”
Claude stiffened, then asked with slight hesitation, “So…?”
Eyeing the bookstore in the distance, Joseph went on, “Boss Lin obviously wants me and Wilde to have a showdown where he chooses the victor to train as a Supreme-rank!”
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