Chapter 001: The Weasel Thieves
It was midnight in the Ice Ridge Wasteland and the fog was thick.
A rusty, steam-powered troop carrier quietly moved forward under the cover of thick fog and darkness, its steel tracks rolling, leaving deep plow marks on the frozen soil.
In the last section of the carriage, more than twenty men dressed as thieves were crowded here.
The air was filled with a strange, turbid smell mixed with sweat and tobacco.
"S...S-level mission?!"
"No way... How could we be involved in such a high-level mission?"
"Captain Tiger, are you sure? This time the mission is to sneak into the Burning Steel Castle and assassinate an Imperial Baron?"
"I heard that the Lord of 'Burning Steel Castle', Marquis Barrett... is a [Great Demon Hunter] who has awakened the fourth stage of the gene lock. No one dares to cause trouble in his territory..."
"Yes, Captain. And although the target, Dr. Morin, is only a baron, he is an official nobleman canonized by the Empire after all. If we kill him, the Imperial Inquisition will directly intervene in the investigation... Will our [Weasel Phantom Thieves] get into trouble?"
“…”
Inside the carriage, the trainee assassins of the "Weasel Phantom Thieves" never imagined that their first mission would be an "S"-level mission, the most dangerous mission in the group!
I heard... the death rate for extraordinary people in this kind of mission is extremely high, not to mention these rookies who haven't awakened yet.
Upon hearing the news, a handsome brown-haired slightly eyelid twitched.
As expected, my luck since traveling across time has been as bad as ever.
…
In the legion of people traveling through the heavens, there are always "sons of the planes" and "unlucky guys". Ryan feels that he is the latter.
A year ago, after working overtime until the early morning for half a month, he woke up and came to this strange world. His soul was transferred to the body of a 15-year-old refugee named Ryan Hermes.
He thought that good things would come to him and he had completely escaped the fate of being a social slave. But he never expected that on the first day he came to this foggy world, he was almost bitten to death by a "big rabbit" with a mouth full of dog teeth in this endless wasteland!
Later he learned that this was one of the creatures at the bottom of the food chain in the wilderness - the canine rabbit, a herbivorous and omnivorous rabbit.
Only then did he realize that he had come to an extremely cruel magical world.
Then, before he was bitten to death by the rabbit, he saw a scene that he would never forget.
Accompanied by a loud roar, a steel castle with exaggerated metal tracks and wheels, driven by a steam engine, broke into the field of vision violently from the fog like a monster.
On the castle, a hooded assassin jumped down from a sentry tower more than ten stories high and cut the neck of the calf-sized evil rabbit with one knife.
Ryan was rescued.
He originally thought that his luck was about to change, but he didn't expect that it was the beginning of a nightmare.
This notorious "Weasel Thieves" is a gathering place of bandits who do all kinds of evil!
They found orphans from everywhere, controlled them with poison, and trained them to become cold-blooded professional thieves and assassins...
In this way, Ryan received nearly a year of brutal training at the base of the "Weasel Phantom Thieves" and became an [Apprentice Assassin].
Today, he went out of the training base for the first time to carry out a mission.
Hmm... a family extermination mission.
…
Tiger, the captain of the 19th squad and the new training instructor, shouted, "Hey, hey, hey... kids, be quiet!"
The level of this mission reached the highest S level, which really exceeded everyone's expectations.
The trainee assassins in the carriage gradually became terrified.
Tiger pursed his lips and said, "Don't worry, although this mission has certain risks, Chief Quinn will also participate, so there won't be any problems... You little brats, just follow along and earn merit points."
When the newcomers heard the instructor say this, they were overjoyed and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, really... Chief Quinn will also participate in this mission?"
"Then there will definitely be no problem now. With such a powerful leader, any mission will not be a problem."
"That's what I said. It's impossible for us newcomers to participate in such an important mission..."
“…”
After hearing this, Ryan's slightly frowned brows relaxed.
Finally, the dark cloud of "bad luck" in his heart dissipated, and he no longer felt that this was a train to death.
The wanted criminal, [ One , was indeed ridiculously strong and gave people a full sense of "security". He saw with his own eyes that guy jump off a cliff several hundred meters high and remain unharmed, and he could even easily pierce a steel plate with a dagger...
At this time, another newcomer asked curiously, "Captain Tiger, what is so special about Baron the client would pay such a high price to have us sneak into the Burning Steel Castle and kill him?"
This was not just a question for others, it was also a question that Ryan had in his mind.
This mission is indeed a bit unusual.
Logically speaking, a group of Phantom Thieves like them who hunt in the wilderness would never risk sneaking into a large territory to assassinate a noble.
Not to mention that the mission would be extremely difficult, even if it succeeded, it would still lead to endless hunting by the royal family of the Omar Empire.
Even if the employer is willing to pay a high price for the commission, the Phantom Thieves would not dare to accept it if they have reason.
But this time, Leader Quinn not only accepted the mission, but also participated in it personally, which was particularly unusual.
Ryan speculated that the "Baron Morin" must be hiding some great secret, which made Quinn take such a risk...
"Who knows? I heard he's a very wealthy surgeon..."
Tiger replied nonchalantly, as if it made no difference who he killed.
Shrugging his shoulders, he added, "Besides, for us, whether it's revenge or money, what difference does it make? Aren't we all doing it for money anyway?"
"Oh, that's right..."
"Shh... stop talking, put on your gas mask and get ready to get off the car!"
"Yes, Captain."
“…”
As soon as the words fell, there was no more extra sound in the carriage.
This group of assassins in light leather armor were sorting out the daggers and muskets in their holsters, and then quickly put on various gas masks to cover their faces.
In the corner, Ryan also put on a black leather gas mask in the shape of a crow with a pointed beak, with an expressionless face.
In a flash, these young men wearing dark gas masks turned into cold killing machines, and the carriage was filled with a thick murderous atmosphere.
…
Soon, the Centipede steam troop carrier arrived at the designated location.
"Everyone get off the car and sneak close to the city wall. Remember, no one from Morin Manor will be left alive!"
"Yes, Chief Quinn!"
“…”
There will be a "fog tide" tonight, with thick fog and very low visibility.
The group sneaked quietly under the cover of night.
Ryan was accustomed to this slightly toxic mist.
This is a mysterious world that is shrouded in thick fog all year round, with crises and unknowns hidden everywhere.
After walking a short distance in the thick fog, the huge city that was originally obscured by the fog suddenly became clearly visible.
Then, he was once again shocked by the architecture of this world.
"This... is the human city in this world?!"
Although he had heard of it before, Ryan was still shocked when he saw the steel castle in front of him.
"It's really an exaggerated iron and steel miracle. Such a large city is actually an iron and steel castle powered by a steam engine..."
Even though he was used to seeing tall buildings in his previous life, he was still shocked by the scene before him.
It has been almost a year since he traveled to this strange world, and this is the first time he has seen a large city where humans gather.
The "Steel Fort" was brightly lit, and giant searchlights dispelled the fog, allowing people to see clearly the savage steel behemoth in front of them.
The city was huge, roughly equivalent in size to a county town in Ryan's previous life, but with more densely built buildings.
Gothic-style spires stood in a row, and a thirty-story-high wall surrounded the entire city. There were tall buildings in the city, connected by spider-web-like bridges and pipelines...
The giant war hammer iron arm, the siege ram, the metal cutting machine with a diameter of tens of meters... and the large-caliber artillery that is several meters short and tens of meters long are particularly eye-catching.
Dense rivets connect the thick steel plates together, and the huge and exaggerated tracks and wheels support the entire city.
The most bizarre thing is... on top of the buildings in the black city, there are chimneys that are towering into the sky and emitting thick smoke.
This is the hallmark of a large steam boiler!
The entire city exudes a strong rugged industrial style, like a steel hedgehog, giving people a very strong visual impact.
This is a steam-and-steel castle, a true mobile war fortress.
This iron barrier is also the greatest reliance of the human beings in this world to survive and reproduce in this wasteland where ferocious beasts and monsters roam rampant!
