With Shalnark's intellect, he might well have caught on.
After a moment, Xiang Nan put away his phone, thinking to himself:
Yes, the current predicament the team is in was, in fact, something he deliberately orchestrated.
When killing off the mafia's men just now, he used one of their phones to leak information externally—thus drawing the enemy's main focus on them.
But whether or not Shalnark had realized this didn't matter much to Xiang Nan. He only wanted to use resolving the current crisis to convey one message to the Spiders: Don't get any funny ideas!
As for the enemy players arriving so quickly, that was something Xiang Nan hadn't quite expected. He could conclude that this entire setup probably involved players from the opposing faction.
"Up there, a helicopter has been hovering in the sky all along. If we head out now, we'll undoubtedly be spotted right away. But staying hidden here isn't a solution either; the longer we wait, the more backup the enemy can gather, and the bigger their numbers will be. If this keeps up and they fully surround us, I'm afraid we won't be able to get away."
In the team, the other players looked anxiously at Xiang Nan.
"Let's wait a bit more."
Xiang Nan appeared quite calm. He threw a glance at Franklin, who likewise seemed very composed.
Since Shalnark had already agreed to alter the plan, Franklin had no objections.
After another half hour, a helicopter once again appeared overhead. This time, however, it did not fly away but precisely locked onto their coordinates and slowly descended.
It belonged to the mafia.
Right now, the only way to pass undetected by the mafia was to rely on people who were themselves part of the mafia. And these could not be from this local Glam Gas Land's mafia, because given how things were, the local forces would definitely recognize them.
Although the Zatobi family was just a mid‐range gang in the Republic of Padokea, Mia's identity was somewhat special—she was a lover to the confidant of one of the Ten Dons.
The underworld as a whole was overseen by the Ten Dons, but beneath them, mafia groups and syndicates were extremely complicated and chaotic.
Each Don held sway over a different territory. Even though this entire affair was fairly serious, it seemed largely localized to Glam Gas. The outside world probably didn't fully know about it yet.
Ordinarily, no small‐time mafia group could intervene at such a moment. But if one of the Ten Dons' subordinates stepped in, results would be immediate. Whether Mia paid money, or…other costs to secure a route, Xiang Nan didn't really care.
"Open up the rear of the van and move the goods onto the helicopter."
Xiang Nan said to Franklin.
At this juncture, continuing to hide no longer made sense. Inside the van were, of course, the spoils or ransom that the Phantom Troupe had extorted, nothing else.
Franklin opened up the rear, hauling out crates of Jenny, along with valuables of substantial worth, onto the aircraft.
Before long, several of them boarded, vanishing into the darkness of night.
…
"Captain… Are you actually with the mafia?"
An hour later, the helicopter had completely left Glam Gas's territory, with no hindrances.
That meant the team—though they lost one member—had passed the mission's most perilous initial phase.
One of the female players looked at Xiang Nan with disbelief.
Being able to call upon the underworld's force and calmly have them airlift everyone out of harm's way was…beyond astonishing. It showed how potent he must be. Some kind of behind‐the‐scenes mafia big shot?
"Just have a little connection to them…"
Xiang Nan casually replied.
But the more evasive he appeared, the more it fueled everyone's curiosity.
Franklin was also glancing over. As a Troupe member well‐familiar with mafia dealings, he had a clear sense of the underworld's structure.
Yet Xiang Nan's ability to orchestrate such large‐scale support left Franklin only one association in mind: the Ten Dons.
Although the Troupe's recent fiasco might reach the Dons' ears, it likely wouldn't concern them too much. The entire underworld was gargantuan, and the Troupe had, at most, just wiped out a handful of local heads in one city; not something that'd shake the underworld on a deep level.
Always mindful of not picking an unwinnable fight, the Spiders recognized the pecking order they were still climbing.
If the Troupe were in full force, at some point soon, they might well spin a web for the Ten Dons. But not yet.
Not that they lacked the strength; they just had to keep Meteor City stable first.
Suddenly—snap.
While the remaining two players finally relaxed, Franklin lifted his arms again. The muzzlelike fingertips locked onto Xiang Nan's temple.
"Don't bother… I could've refused to help. Those spoils, if I wanted to, you wouldn't bring one coin to Meteor City. And after all, a job's a job—I can separate it from anything else. If I wanted to screw you over, I'd already have done so," Xiang Nan said calmly, eyes still shut.
Hearing that, Franklin lowered his arms and spoke nothing further.
Indeed, if Xiang Nan had wanted to betray them, there had been too many opportunities…
"Though a job is a job… your Phantom Troupe owes me a favor now."
Xiang Nan abruptly opened his eyes, locking onto Franklin.
"A favor?"
"Don't kid yourself."
Franklin's face was expressionless.
He didn't fully realize Xiang Nan's behind‐the‐scenes manipulations that had exacerbated the crisis, but from all that had happened, if not for Xiang Nan's arrangement, they wouldn't have escaped easily. Nonetheless, in the Troupe's mindset, "favors" simply didn't exist.
"…You'll understand."
Xiang Nan gave a faint smile.
…
At dawn, the helicopter landed at an airport in another city on the Yorbian Continent.
As soon as they disembarked, one could see a lavish airship parked not far away.
Most notable was the insignia on that airship: representing a certain nation—the Republic of Padokea.
~~~
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