Right after that, Elena laid out everything she knew about Jackson.
Victor had to admire the Bonfire Society's intel network.
Kane and his people had worked hard and only got a thin sheet of paper.
But the Bonfire Society? They easily dug up a lot of hidden info.
"Elena, I still don't plan to join the Bonfire Society, but I'm shocked by how vast your intel network is," Victor praised her over the phone.
"You think too highly of us." Elena laughed on the other end.
Then she explained, "The reason we know so many secrets about Jackson is mostly because of one thing... something tied to him."
"I see. If you need my help, contact me anytime," Victor said.
Though he figured with the Bonfire Society's power, they likely wouldn't need him for much.
After Victor hung up, he already had a clear picture of Jackson in his mind.
Born inside the Red Rebels, he was fiercely loyal to them, with no chance of turning him or making him surrender.
Also, he was only thirty-six this year and already at level 32.
According to the Bonfire Society's intel, Jackson's awakened class should be "Hunter."
It's a class that focuses on quick kills, high attack, and low defense.
Aside from that, Jackson had no family or friends, was sly and cold, and treated enemies with cruelty.
If he caught you, it was best to end yourself at once, or you'd face inhuman torture.
"Inhuman torture?" Victor repeated the words in his head and let out a bitter smile.
Looks like this mission really is packed with danger.
After sorting the info, Victor didn't dare relax and spent the next two days practicing with the crossbow.
In a blink, the day he and Kane had agreed on arrived.
So his parents wouldn't worry, Victor lied that he'd been invited to visit the Holy Knights' Order.
The Holy Knights' Order sat on the outskirts of the underground city, in a very remote spot.
Victor walked a full hour before he reached the area near their base.
As soon as he got close, Victor felt danger.
He looked up and saw two armored Knights on a distant arrow tower, bows raised, staring at him like hawks.
"Who goes there? What are you doing here?" one of them asked coldly.
They already had arrows nocked, making it clear that if Victor couldn't give a good reason, they would shoot at once.
Victor wasn't afraid of them, but he still said politely, "I was invited by your vice commander, Mr. Kane."
"Commander Kane?" The two sentries traded a look and whispered a few words.
Then one of them turned his head and said coldly, "Commander Kane never informed us of this. Please withdraw at once."
"What is this Kane even doing!" Victor cursed in his heart, then smiled at the sentries and said, "You can go ask your vice commander."
The sentry lost patience and waved the bow in his hand. "Move along, or don't blame us for being rough!"
Seeing how hostile they stayed, Victor felt a bit annoyed too.
He looked at them and said coolly, "Gentlemen, I'm telling the truth. You can ask your commander yourselves."
The sentry snorted and said with disdain, "If you were a Mid-tier awakened, we might believe you. A Primary awakened—what right do you have to know our vice commander!"
"So that's it, you just look down on people." Angered by their overbearing attitude, Victor immediately pulled out his crossbow.
"What are you doing? On alert!" The two sentries acted like they were facing a great enemy and hurriedly pulled out their shields to cover themselves.
"That should be the alarm bell." Victor glanced at the bell hanging behind them and formed a plan.
Of course he couldn't really shoot at people from the Holy Knights' Order; that would be a death wish.
But this way should be fine, and it was Kane's oversight to begin with.
Under the two sentries' fearful gazes, Victor slowly pulled the crossbow trigger.
In an instant, the bolt sprang out without a sound, drawing a sharp long line through the air and stabbing precisely toward the two sentries' direction.
"Stay behind the shield!" The two of them curled up behind their shields, worrying whether the shields could stop Victor's bolt.
But the bolt didn't hit the shields as they imagined; it skimmed past and struck the alarm bell.
The bolt hit the bell, and in a flash the bell rang out in sharp, rapid chimes.
The alarm bell had a special sound relay, and the noise reached the Holy Knights' Order's command center quickly.
"That should do it." Victor put away the crossbow and let out a breath of relief.
But the two sentries stared at Victor like he was an idiot.
One of them even shouted in mockery, "Kid, your shooting is terrible—look where you just hit!"
The other pointed at the bell and laughed. "You hit the alarm bell. Besides dragging our commander and vice commander over here, what good is that?"
Victor said nothing; he just looked calmly at the sentry.
Soon, he saw a figure in the distance riding hard toward them.
"It's Kane." Victor recognized the man on the horse.
The two sentries also saw it was Kane and shouted, "Vice Commander, there's a madman here!"
Victor's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected they'd already put him in the "madman" box.
Kane got off his horse, didn't even have time to catch his breath, and rushed straight over.
Next, under the sentries' expectant gazes, he walked up to Victor, patted his shoulder, and said with guilt, "Sorry. I didn't prepare well. I forgot you don't have clearance to enter the Knights' Order."
Then he turned and shouted at the two sentries, "Shut down the security grid. Let him through!"
The two sentries looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't expected Victor to really know Kane.
And from the tone of their talk just now, it seemed Victor wasn't low in Kane's eyes.
The two sentries nervously shut down the security grid around the Knights' Order base, silently praying Victor wouldn't make trouble for them.
In the end, to their relief, Victor just followed Kane toward the encampment without blaming either of them.
In truth, Victor didn't hold anything against them.
They were just doing their job by the rules—at most their attitude had been a bit harsh.
"Is this where you usually train?" Victor looked around, curious about the scene before him.
Since he was a kid, the Holy Knights' Order had been a name he heard all the time.
Many young people felt proud to join the Holy Knights' Order and guard the underground city.
"Yeah. Interested? Want to think about being a squad leader?" Kane saw the look on Victor's face and pitched it with a smile.
"Forget it. I still need to get into college." Victor waved his hand and turned him down with a smile.
Although joining the Holy Knights' Order right now would mean monthly subsidies and items, it wasn't good for long-term growth.
"Alright." Kane shook his head with regret.
"By the way, Commander Kane, you still haven't told me—where exactly is Jackson hiding?" Victor asked the question he was very curious about.
At that, Kane's expression turned serious at once.
He gave a small cough and whispered by Victor's ear, "In a ruin on the surface."
Hearing that, Victor stopped in his tracks, took a deep breath, and turned to leave.
"Don't go! Don't go!" Kane grabbed him, nervous. "Why are you leaving all of a sudden?"
"What do you think?" For the first time, Victor was angry at the Knights' Order's vice commander.
He looked at Kane and said coldly, "There are all kinds of beasts in the ruins. I don't want to die."
You have to know, the surface ruins are places with no Federal protection.
Any beast can go there—Mid-tier beasts, even High-tier beasts, maybe even some mutant beasts.
The Red Rebels were camped there because they couldn't stay in the underground city anymore, but that didn't mean Victor wanted to go.
In that cursed place, even if he assassinated Jackson, the noise would likely draw beasts.
"Victor! Think it over!" Kane held onto Victor and pleaded.