Chapter 66: The Undercover Unit

For this mission, the freshmen are divided into three groups: logistics, surveillance, and undercover.

The logistics group is naturally responsible for transporting and managing all supplies needed during the mission, including but not limited to vehicles, weaponry, food, and other necessities. Members of this group will likely be quite busy, but compared to the other two, the safety coefficient is much higher. There is no risk of direct contact with the enemy, and as long as supplies are dispatched in a timely manner without major errors, the evaluation upon completing the extracurricular mission will be very favorable.

As the name implies, the surveillance group is tasked with monitoring all activity around the North-South Memorial Hospital. One faction will conceal themselves within the crowds for on-the-ground observation, while the other sits in the control room, keeping a 24/7 watch on the feeds from dozens of security cameras inside the hospital to provide first-hand intelligence for the entire operational unit. The personnel on the ground in this group may face a slight element of danger, but generally speaking, with the combat units composed of veteran Executioners backing them up, even if a surveillance operative bumps into the enemy, as long as they aren't instantly wiped out in the first second, the veteran operatives will rush to the scene to take over the battlefield.

The final group, and also the most dangerous portion assigned to the freshmen, is the undercover group. This group is quite unique because it consists of a single person. That person's mission is also exceptionally arduous, easily standing as the highest-risk and most demanding position in the operation. He needs to change into a patient's gown and go undercover inside the hospital, personally monitoring and protecting the female patient in Room 303 who survived the serial killer known as Bloody Face.

"Does the Executioners' stance mean the Bloody Face killer will strike the same target again?" Someone raised a hand at the conference table.

"Yes." Ryder, who was presenting assignments in front of the projector, nodded. "We have reason to believe that the Bloody Face killer will once again commit a crime against the patient in Room 303. The Tactical Department's criminal profiling specialists have analyzed the current psychological state of the perpetrator. When someone considers themselves the world's only hybrid, their urge to kill and their arrogance swell to an unbelievable degree. Operative Andrew breaking up one of his attempts won't make him feel fear; instead, it will further stimulate his pride and fury. He does not know of the existence of our Secret Party, and this is our greatest advantage. He will strike again, and the moment he makes his move will be the moment he is caught."

"Then according to the Executioners' intent, the undercover operative will inevitably come into contact with the criminal, and the probability of a battle breaking out is close to ninety percent. Since that's the case, why not assign this group's work to the Executioners' ace operatives?" The students expressed their confusion.

"There are two explanations for this: the truth and the lie. Which one would you like to hear?" Ryder asked with a calm expression.

The expressions of everyone in the conference room became subtle. Caesar raised his hand first and said with a smile, "Why don't we hear the lie first?"

"Alright, let's start with the lie." Ryder nodded. "The Executioners' ace operatives are natural predators. We are afraid that the dangerous hybrid might perceive this threat and thus re-evaluate the danger level posed by the Secret Party, leading him to abandon the target and flee the hospital. If that happens, catching his tail again will be difficult. Therefore, we choose to let harmless yet thoroughly trained freshmen take over this job."

"That reason is more than sufficient." Caesar spread his hands. "You've successfully convinced us. It seems one of us lucky folks gets to have a face-to-face encounter with the killer."

"Then it seems I don't need to risk being demoted to tell the truth," Ryder said. "The top-ranked freshmen in cold weapons and marksmanship courses, stand up."

There was a brief silence at the conference table. Two people stood up unhurriedly. Ryder didn't look surprised when he saw them; instead, he wore an expression of absolute certainty.

Lin Nian and Caesar glanced at each other without saying a word. There was no doubt that Caesar was first in marksmanship; with his dual Desert Eagles, he could shred the ten-ring target with his eyes closed. As for the cold weapons course, if he didn't stand up, probably no one else would dare to. Both of them looked unhurriedly at Ryder, waiting for what came next.

"The undercover group has a ninety percent chance of encountering combat. I don't want the person sent undercover to end up like the previous operative, unable to even put up a resistance before dying in the line of duty on the spot. The terrain of the North-South Memorial Hospital is complex. Out of concern for alerting the enemy, the floor where the victimized patient is located has no defensive deployment. Once combat breaks out, based on the specific deployment map, the fastest a veteran operative can reach the scene is twenty seconds," Ryder said flatly. "Which of you two has the confidence to last twenty seconds against the killer?"

"Can we use thermal weapons?" Caesar asked.

"When necessary, yes, but the magazines allocated to you will uniformly be loaded with Frigg bullets. If you want to use live ammunition, you'll need to submit a special application to the Director of the Executioners. After all, you gentlemen are still only provisional operatives," Ryder said.

"Quite interesting—making provisional operatives do the work of veteran operatives while still imposing provisional restrictions. Why does this feel a bit like a high-difficulty trial? A test?" Caesar said intriguingly.

"The mission groupings were personally arranged by the Director of the Executioners. If you have any objections, you can report them upward. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to answer your questions and clear up your doubts." Ryder told a joke that only veteran operatives in the conference room could understand. In the corner, the veteran operatives clad in trench coats with firearms strapped to their waists let out a ripple of low chuckles.

"I don't have any problems. Twenty seconds is all. You guys should be worried about whether the killer can survive those twenty seconds," Caesar said with a faint smile.

"I don't mind either," Lin Nian said. "Also, let me ask one more thing: will this course count toward the final grade?"

"If completed brilliantly, the undercover group's final GPA will be a perfect 4.0," Ryder said.

"It's a pity I haven't officially started classes yet, so the final grade is useless to me," Lin Nian said with some regret.

"That truly is a pity, but we have no other means to compensate you. If you are unsatisfied, you can choose to withdraw," Ryder said indifferently.

Caesar raised an eyebrow slightly. Remarks intended to fan the flames like this would usually cause someone with a hotter temper to snap back on the spot, but Lin Nian looked very peaceful without a trace of irritation, merely shrugging and saying nothing more.

"If anyone else wants to compete for this thankless position, you may stand up. Internal competition is welcome. By the way, the Executioners are all about practical combat; we only appreciate those with combat capabilities." Ryder clapped his hands and swept his gaze across the conference table, but no third person stood up. Caesar and Lin Nian standing there represented the unanimous voice of the freshmen.

"Only the two of you standing up at the conference table means that among the freshmen, you are the elite of the elite. One is the future of the Gattuso family, and one is the widely anticipated 'S'-grade student. Choosing between the two of you is indeed a bit difficult." Ryder looked at Lin Nian and Caesar respectively. "Why don't the two of you just have a fight?"

"What?" Lin Nian and Caesar asked in unison.

"Have a fight. Whoever wins gets the undercover group position," Ryder said flatly. "Although internal fighting is not encouraged within the Executioners, friendly sparring happens frequently. We can move the conference table away to clear up some space for the two of you and provide all kinds of weapons and props."

Lin Nian glanced at Caesar and found that Caesar was also looking at him. He paused for a moment and asked, "What do you say?"

Caesar cracked his knuckles, pondered for a moment, and shook his head. "A dark, windowless conference room, a bunch of Executioner operatives and freshmen as an audience? This isn't the scene I imagined for a duel between the two of us."

"Then it doesn't seem like the right time." Lin Nian could understand Caesar's thought process.

"It looks like you aren't willing to fight," Ryder said. "How about deciding it with a coin toss?"

The students at the conference table were somewhat disillusioned. One second the deciding method was hardcore might-makes-right, and the next second it compromised into a coin toss? Didn't this seem a bit too childish?

"Luck is also a part of strength." Ryder tossed a coin into the center of the conference table. "If Andrew had been a bit luckier, he probably wouldn't have died in the hospital."

"I like this method of decision-making. A man from the Gattuso family usually doesn't have too bad of luck." Caesar reached out, slid the coin into his hand, and flipped it flexibly between his five fingers.

"I don't mind," Lin Nian said.

"Heads or tails?" Caesar looked at Lin Nian. On the American one-dollar coin, one side featured the Statue of Liberty while the other featured President Eisenhower.

"You flip first," Lin Nian said.

Caesar tilted his head slightly, his thumb flicking the coin high into the air. The silver coin spun into a circle, ultimately landing on the back of his hand where it was pressed down.

"Tails," Lin Nian said.

"Then I'll take heads. I rather like the flair of Texans." Caesar lifted his palm and glanced at the orientation of the coin.

The Statue of Liberty was facing upward.

"It looks like I won," Lin Nian said.

"It looks like I'll have to worry about my final GPA." Caesar indifferently tossed the coin back to Ryder.

Ryder raised his hand to catch the incoming coin, slipped it into his pocket, and looked at Lin Nian. "Then the member of the undercover group is decided to be you. Go ahead and prepare your costume change in advance; the relevant personnel will brief you on the specific mission details. There's nothing more for you here for now... Gloria!"

At the back of the conference room, Gloria in a trench coat stepped forward and made a gesture of invitation toward Lin Nian. Lin Nian also left the conference table and exited the room under everyone's watchful eyes.

Ryder, standing beside the projector, quietly watched Lin Nian's departing back. The fingers tucked inside his pocket twirled the coin, and he let out a barely audible chuckle. "An interesting 'S'-grade freshman..."