After hearing Elena's words, Victor fell into hesitation.
He asked, "Why would rescuing your teacher alert Jackson?"
Elena sighed and explained in a low voice, "The dungeon in this prison has the most advanced anti-escape system. The moment a prisoner leaves, the alarm goes off."
"What if I find a way to cut the alarm?" Victor asked.
"Cut the alarm?" Elena froze, then shook her head and said no. "The whole system is run by the central room. If anything happens, they can trigger the alarm at once."
Elena gave Victor a long look and said, "Unless... you can kill everyone in the central room without anyone knowing."
Victor couldn't help smiling at her words.
Maybe he couldn't have done it before, but now it was different.
He had the Eye of Retrospection, Phantom Trail, and Phantom Trajectory.
These three skills could let Victor finish a stealth assassination perfectly.
"You can do it?" Elena seemed to see what he meant and asked in disbelief.
Victor gave a slight nod and said, "If you're willing to trust me, I can try."
Hearing this, Elena also hesitated.
If she didn't trust Victor and they split up, it would most likely be a lose-lose.
"Alright, I'll trust you this once!" Thinking of Victor's past feats, Elena chose to believe him this time.
"Thanks!" Victor gave Elena a grateful look.
"I should be the one thanking you. When it's done, I'll go with you to assassinate Jackson," Elena said.
Right after, the two of them slipped toward the fortress.
Victor had Phantom Trail, and Elena had "Wind Morph," so getting into the fortress was no problem.
They then agreed that Victor would cut the alarm system first, while Elena waited here.
Once the alarm was down, Victor would notify Elena with a message scroll, and then Elena would rush to rescue the Bonfire Society elder.
"Victor, good luck. If you're discovered, remember to use the teleport scroll!" Elena warned, still uneasy.
"Don't worry, I've got it." Victor smiled and nodded, then followed the route Elena gave and slipped toward the central room.
He held the Silent Hunter and activated Phantom Trail, moving carefully along the wall.
The fortress was Jackson's core base. The people inside were all his close men, and they were the best of the best.
These soldiers were mostly Level 15 or higher, and they were equipped with full sets of silver-levle gear.
Victor raised the Silent Hunter, locked onto the two Red Rebel guards, and then pulled and released the string.
In a flash, the bolt ripped through the air and went straight through both of their throats!
This was the terror of the Silent Hunter: at close range it hit hard, and it was silent.
After the kill, Victor hurried to their bodies and dragged them into a secluded corner.
He searched them and finally found a key.
There was an A3 mark on it. Victor guessed it was the key to the A3 sector door.
He picked up the key and was about to leave when he suddenly grew alert.
He felt the key was a little... special.
It wasn't iron or copper. It felt like a special composite material.
That kind of material is usually found in devices that connect and protect chips.
With that thought, Victor realized something was wrong.
He searched the other rebel—the one without the key—and at last found a tiny chip on the man's gums.
The chip was pressed tight to the gum. Victor had almost missed it the first time.
Staring at the tiny chip, Victor thought for a moment and then understood the trick.
The chip should be linked to the key. If they get too far apart, it might trigger the alarm system.
"No wonder this is a Red Rebels base. Traps everywhere." Victor took a deep breath, glad he'd stayed sharp.
Taking both the chip and the key, Victor moved on with care.
The fortress had signs everywhere, so Victor easily found the A3 sector.
A3 was where the central room was.
But there were two guards standing right at the A3 gate, which gave him a headache.
Victor could kill them, but after what just happened, he was much more careful.
He worried that striking them down without a plan might set off an alarm.
Thinking of this, Victor remembered an office he had seen earlier in the fortress.
The sign on the door showed the role: a Red Rebels minister in charge of resource distribution.
And from the photo, Victor noticed the man's build and face shape looked a lot like his own.
If he could subdue the man and pretend to be him, maybe he could slip into the A3 sector.
With that thought, Victor decided at once and crept to the office door.
Right then, he saw someone key in a code and go inside.
It was the minister in charge of resource distribution.
A plan formed in Victor's mind, and he activated the skill "Eye of Retrospection."
Eye of Retrospection was Victor's strongest skill. It let him see the scene from ten seconds ago.
Using it, he saw the code the minister had entered.
With the code in hand, Victor took a deep breath, drew the Silent Hunter, and quickly keyed in the code.
As soon as the code was in, the door unlocked. The moment he opened it, Victor pulled out the Silent Hunter again and fired a bolt.
The whole move flowed like water. Before the minister could react, a bolt had slammed through his shoulder.
"This bolt is poisoned. Do what I say if you don't want to die!" Victor kept the crossbow aimed at the minister and spoke coldly.
The minister turned pale with fear and stammered, "O-okay! Don't kill me!"
"Looks like not everyone in the Red Rebels is a die-hard believer." Victor gave a cold laugh, shut the door, and walked up to him.
He drew a dagger and pressed it hard to the man's throat. "How do I get into the A3 sector? Do I use this key?"
With that, he took out the captured key and waved it in front of the minister.
The minister swallowed and said in a shaky voice, "Each key is tied to a fingerprint. If the print doesn't match, the key alone won't open the door."
"Figures there's a trap!" Victor felt secretly relieved, then snapped, "So if I want to get in, what should I do?"
The minister stared at the dagger's cold gleam and said in a low voice, "Y-you can pretend to be me. I don't need a fingerprint. I can have them open the door for me."
"That simple?" Victor glanced at him, a bit unconvinced.
"You still need a code. I'll tell you the code." The minister quickly gave Victor the code.
"Good. If I find the code is wrong, I'll drag you down with me even if I die!" Victor worried the man would trick him, so he threatened him harshly.
The minister nodded again and again. "I won't lie to you. Just don't kill me!"
Victor shot him a look of contempt, then chopped the side of his neck and knocked him out. Conservatively, he wouldn't wake for four or five hours.
He actually wanted to ask more, but he was afraid wasting time would cause problems.
Right after, Victor changed into the minister's suit, did a quick disguise, and walked out openly.
At the A3 sector gate, two rebels looked at Victor and saluted in unison. "Minister Dean."
Victor gave a slight nod, then walked up to the gate and said coldly, "Three-four-two-six. Open the door."
The guards nodded and entered 3426 on the door.
The gate opened at once. Victor let out a small breath and walked in.
This area was very different from the others. The whole style was blue and white, and it felt ice-cold.
There were no offices on either side, only cold walls. Ahead was a corridor that seemed endless, with no guards in sight.
Here, even Victor couldn't help feeling a bit tense.
No one from the Bonfire Society had ever come in here, so even Elena didn't know what it was like inside.