Enforcer Manual
Chapter 721 - 719: Kindred _1

Chapter 721: Chapter 719: Kindred _1

Jock had never imagined that "Dominate" would fail, nor could he fathom why this "expert" had botched the job.

The target this time was Hog, a man advanced in years with cybernetic parts that might soon be obsolete, and a mental patient to boot. According to Lucy, even if they left Hog to his own devices, he might well end his own life.

What infuriated Jock even more was that after "Dominate" screwed up, it vanished without a trace, dumping the entire mess in his lap.

Now, the High-level Parliament was waiting for him to arrange for a new head of the Foster family to join the Fishing Boat Club, and after that, to assume Hog Foster’s identity as a high-level councilor.

The media had also readied press releases and eulogies to commemorate Mr. Hog’s contributions to the United Government.

Within the Foster family, preparations for transition were also in place.

However, just when everything was set, Hog, who should have been dead, somehow survived, leaving everyone prepared for action at a loss.

The only remedy Jock could think of was to have Lucy end Hog’s life while he was unconscious, but she immediately rejected his request. She wouldn’t entertain any thoughts of revenge, no matter how tempting, and even blocked his number after hanging up the phone.

A dejected Jock sat in his office, lost in thought.

He eventually realized that all these troubles stemmed from "Dominate’s" mess.

If not for its uncontrollable power which it unleashed to create conflicts, which consequently he could not manage properly, he wouldn’t be in such a mess.

But life had to go on.

Once Hog woke up, he would face an even worse situation.

No matter how severe Hog’s mental illness was, he would know that this was a conspiracy Jock had orchestrated, all to ensure that he died at the hands of "Dominate". With Hog’s vindictive nature, there was no telling how many new problems he would create for him.

The one piece of good news was that the high-level councilors were pleased with the results of their first off-the-record contact with the Six Stars rescuers. Apart from a few stubborn holdouts, most believed that the High-level Parliament was not their enemy, and converting them seemed to be only a matter of time.

Somewhere, someone was still doing the real work.

Once they controlled all the Six Stars rescuers, even if Hog or anyone else wanted to fight back, they wouldn’t get far.

While Jock was daydreaming, Lucy struggled alone to bring the unconscious Hog to the rendezvous point set by Military Intelligence Section Seven. To her surprise, it wasn’t Rob Lucci who greeted them, but someone completely unexpected.

When she saw the Chairperson of the Council, who was supposed to be dead, she rubbed her eyes hard, believing she was hallucinating due to a lack of rest.

"Welcome."

The always serious Chairperson greeted them. Aside from him and the agents of Military Intelligence Section Seven, Lucy recognized some familiar figures, such as the flamboyant "Yaku Barrier" and other Five Stars rescuers whose names she knew.

All these important figures she had only seen on television were now in front of her.

This realization made Lucy acutely aware that The First Region, or perhaps the whole United Government, was about to encounter an unprecedented storm, and she, just an ordinary psychiatrist, had been caught right in the center of it.

"Be wary of Jock."

After the agents settled Hog, she wasted no time informing them of the information she held, "He’s in league with that bomber. He just asked me to help him eliminate Mr. Hog."

But she was neither foolish nor heartless.

Hog had saved her twice. If facing Orman might have been an illusion the first time, this time, Hog’s actions in going into the meeting alone was ample proof of his courage.

This made all the slanderous rumors attacking Hog fall apart on their own.

"I know."

The Chairperson had a profound look, never having thought he would meet Hog in such a manner. The Hog he knew was someone who would stop at nothing to gain power from the High-level Parliament, ultimately leading to self-destruction. But in Lucy’s account, he seemed like a completely different person.

And more importantly, he had managed to repel "Dominate" after facing it head-on.

This indicated that Hog now wielded some sort of power that even "Dominate" dreaded.

"We will take care of him. The High-level Parliament might continue to send assassins. I suggest you stay here as well... I’ve never seen Hog care so much about anyone before."

...

That night, undercurrents stirred outside the window.

Despite the late hour, the streets became busier than ever.

Lu Xiang reluctantly accepted Song Lan’s explanation and tentatively believed that the vicious criminals of the Seventeenth Region had died in accidents.

She discovered that ever since Song Lan’s prolonged stay, the city’s situation had taken a turn for the worse. She heard rumors that when the members of the anti-terrorist squad learned that Melissa had been taken away by the agents of Military Intelligence Section Seven, they considered violently breaking her out of jail. If not for the fact that Military Intelligence Section Seven and the Counter-Intelligence Department didn’t have an exact office location, cybernetic madmen driven by rage might have already arrived at their doorstep.

Fortunately, Melissa managed to stabilize the emotions of the others.

But her return also caused dissatisfaction within the Counter-Intelligence Department, which pressured the High-level Parliament once again, hoping to personally deal with Melissa’s problem.

The head of the department seemed to want to alleviate the grief of those who died at Ulan’s hands by sentencing Melissa.

This made Lu Xiang once again realize the danger of the "Dominate" criminal group, which seemed to be the cause of the entire First Region’s unrest. Within a few days, it had played the United Government’s two important departments off each other—had it not been for Song Lan, even Military Intelligence Section Seven might have been dragged into the dispute by now.

No, had it not been for Song Lan, the Chairperson of the Council would probably have died in the explosion then and there.

The Secretary-General’s rebellion had been brilliantly planned, except he hadn’t taken Song Lan into account.

And now, Song Lan truly lay listless on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, motionless.

"If you want to sleep, just sleep."

She knew that Song Lan had been worried sick over the United Government’s major and minor issues these past few days, but it seemed that it was she herself who truly sank this Dumb Bird into a state of despondency today.

This made Lu Xiang feel somewhat remorseful.

But mixed with the remorse was a bit of sentimentality, complicating her emotions at the moment.

Burdened with a strong sense of guilt, Lu Xiang sat beside Song Lan. She had learned some skills to soothe someone to sleep from "A Love Tip Every Day," but had never had the chance to use them on Song Lan, because the latter usually slept well without the need for sleep aids or bedtime cuddles; as soon as she lay down, she could fall asleep.

Unfortunately, Song Lan didn’t manage to sleep for long that night.

The next morning, Mr. Hog woke up from his sleep and, excitedly, proposed a bold endeavor.

He claimed to have found a definitive method to crush "Dominate" and wanted to follow up on their momentum to confront this formidable foe.

Even "Yaku Barrier," who shared his impulsive approach, had doubts about this, but Hog, unwilling to listen to anyone at the moment, appeared eager to take the offensive. Worried that Hog might recklessly throw his life away, Yaku urgently contacted them.

The phenomenon was easy to explain.

Basically, Mr. Hog’s ego had inflated after gaining the upper hand in yesterday’s battle.

He had repelled an opponent of "Dominate’s" caliber.

This made him feel as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

The moment he saw Song Lan and Mo Lian, he couldn’t wait to come up to them, saying, "We can’t give ’Dominate’ a chance to catch its breath; we should strike immediately while we have the advantage!"

He had already figured out a plan, "Jock knows how to contact it. If we keep beating Jock and subject him to severe torture, we’ll find out where ’Dominate’ is hiding."

Hearing Hog’s agitated tone, Lu Xiang felt that the man was truly beyond hope, now even learning from Song Lan how to treat friends.

Of course, Jock was by no means less ruthless when it came to handling Hog, his old friend.

Having spent so much time with these people, they had almost made her unable to look straight at the word "friend."

In Lu Xiang’s traditional and straightforward imagination, friends should be like she and Hanna—chatting on their phones during their free time, sharing updates on their lives, and preparing small gifts for each other during holidays, not constantly scheming how to beat each other up or even plotting to end one’s life.

Moreover, she could sense that there was a personal vendetta involved in Hog’s eagerness—at this very moment, Hog really wanted to beat up Jock, who had almost killed him.

"So, Jock must also know what you’re thinking and is waiting for you to walk right into his trap," she said.

This was like pouring cold water over the excited Hog, momentarily cooling down his emotions.

Song Lan followed up with a question, "Based on your understanding of Jock, is he the kind of person who just waits for death?"

"But, as long as I can master the Standin ability..."

"Hog, the wrong ideas will lead you to death. The writer who documented the Standin users once mentioned, there is no such thing as an absolutely invincible ability in this world. Once your ability becomes known, defeat is not far off—you’ve already missed the best opportunity to kill ’Dominate.’"

In his opinion, Hog’s combat skills weren’t up to par, "The moment you saw Lucy, you told her about your ability, which directly resulted in ’Dominate’ knowing your powers in advance...Think carefully, how much distance can you move in two seconds? How many forms of attacks can you dodge?"

A series of questions plunged Hog into a prolonged silence.

But Song Lan didn’t stop there, continuing, "You indeed have the ability to harm ’Dominate,’ but you also let it escape from your grasp. This means that from now on, it will never appear within your attack range again...5 meters, 10 meters? How far can you really move in those two seconds?"

"...Why?"

After what seemed like an eternity, the solemn-faced Hog finally spoke, "Why are you so knowledgeable about my abilities?"

"Because we are the same type of Ability Users."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.