Gao Hai’s words made everyone stop and look at Su Mo.

Ou Chenyu asked in confusion, “Old Gao, where did you see him?”

Gao Hai squinted and said, “Not long ago at the public commission center, remember? Someone took on and completed the C-level bounty issued by the Public Security Bureau, it was him who did it.”

Only then did Ou Chenyu remember, he looked at Su Mo: “Oh… so it was you, I heard about that news at the time.”

Su Mo: “Just a humble deed, just a C-level bounty, does Grand Captain Ou really care about it?”

Ou Chenyu: “Normally there’s nothing to care about. But you, a rookie mercenary, challenged a C-level bounty on your first commission, that’s very rare.”

“I’m curious, where did you come from previously? You seem experienced, but indeed, you are an unfamiliar face,”

Su Mo’s mind raced, pulling the background of “Street Kid” from the game “Dawn Realm”, babbling on like an old man.

“I used to hang around the Border District, grew up alone, no parents, no friends, just relying on my fists to get by. I had a dream since I was young…”

Seeing Su Mo about to start rambling about his childhood, Ou Chenyu impatiently raised his hand to interrupt: “Alright, alright, you don’t have to say anymore. Childhood dreams… why don’t you start from God’s creation of man?”

“Old Gao, give him a card.”

Gao Hai handed Su Mo a card from the Tiger Fang Mercenary Corps.

Ou Chenyu: “My Mercenary Corps is in an expansion phase, we’re recruiting new blood recently. If you’re interested in working for me, give me a call. If not, you can continue on your own, up to you.”

Su Mo accepted the card, a polite smile on his face: “Much appreciated.”

Ou Chenyu called out to everyone: “Let’s go.”

The Tiger Fang members and Tareg departed.

Su Mo steadied his thoughts.

This meeting was indeed unexpected, but fortunately it ended without incident.

As the Mercenary Corps Leader, Ou Chenyu is always busy, dealing with all sorts of people; someone like him, a “passerby”, would surely be forgotten after one meeting.

Having the opponent in the light and himself in the dark was a significant advantage, well preserved.

After leaving Libetong Mansion, the first thing Su Mo did was notify KK that Ou Chenyu had been found, and asked him to stop all investigations.

Ou Chenyu’s information had all been gathered, including the exclusive plot lines he would follow, which Su Mo already knew, making further investigation meaningless.

The question now was how to proceed with the next steps.

There was no way he could kill Ou Chenyu before the “opening” of the game.

The disparity between the two was just too great in every aspect.

Connections? As a Tiger Fang Corps Leader, Ou Chenyu’s connections were far superior.

Strength? At present, Ou Chenyu could defeat him with just one hand.

Survive? Ignore Ou Chenyu? According to his understanding of the game, he should focus on treasure hunting and strengthening, fighting for future development.

Weak-witted villains all think like that, eventually all being overtaken in a curve by the protagonist.

Only someone with a broken brain would match themselves against a destiny-bound protagonist in the late game.

Su Mo pondered deeply, seeing only one solution.

Wait until the “opening”, when Ou Chenyu moves on to principal or secondary lines, then use his knowledge of the “Dawn Realm” task flow to exploit the information gap, finding ways to deal with him.

Before the opening, he could only proceed as usual, unable to do much else.

Because all kinds of “encounters” are dynamically changing, only post-opening would he know where they trigger.

Top-tier weapons and equipment are similar, mostly obtained through main and side quest flows, and currently without the plot activated, it’s difficult to pinpoint their locations.

There are indeed many goods in the Ancient Era Ruins.

However, geographically speaking, the paths from the World Government Territory to the Land of No Master are sealed by the three corporate giants, without their permission, no one can enter or exit.

The last time he managed to find the exotic gene fusion decoction was a convergence of timing, geography, and human effort, forcefully breaching the Hegemony Company’s territory, barely escaping death to return with the item.

Wanting to secretly venture to the Land of No Master again now simply isn’t feasible.

In the “Dawn Realm” game, the Land of No Master is mainly a late-game area, requiring various tasks and enhancing influence in the three corporate giants to gain the privilege of free access.

Waiting for the opening period, on one hand, Su Mo was completing Audiana’s commissions, using the earned money to purchase equipment from Poxuding, creating better hardware conditions for the future.

On the other hand, he was acquiring Blood Circulation Factor, occasionally training intensively with the Tank to improve his hard strength, continuously pushing toward the “High Tier of Awakening”.

Time slowly drifted away…

…

“Bang! Bang bang bang!…”

The sound of fists and feet clashing echoed continuously.

“All right, that’s it for today.” Haywood called to stop the drill.

Su Mo and Tank exchanged friendly fists, taking the offered wet towel to wipe his sweat.

Haywood praised: “Your progress is increasingly evident, sometimes you can even suppress Tank.”

During this period, under the assistance of Blood Circulation Factor, Su Mo underwent continuous combat training, his blood code level almost breaching the threshold between the Middle Tier and High Tier of Awakening.

Additionally, gradually familiarizing himself with Tank’s combat strategy, he sometimes could draw even, or even take the advantage.

But Su Mo knew, this was far from enough.

Tank was Haywood’s first fighter.

Yet across the entire Dawn Realm, Tank wasn’t even considered a fourth-rate master.

The current opening condition of Ou Chenyu was far stronger than Tank.

Not only Tank, even at peak prowess, whether Nuobai could surely kill Ou Chenyu was uncertain.

In Su Mo’s understanding, Nuobai’s apparent strength definitely exceeded that of current Ou Chenyu—a lot more; but not to a “crushing” degree.

And the “protagonist’s” forte is defeating the strong with the weak, defying fate.

Should Nuobai act now, and Ou Chenyu pulls off a near-death resurgence, pulling off an extreme reversal, everything would truly be over.

Therefore, Su Mo could only wait.

Wait for the right moment to play all his cards.

It was already dusk, Su Mo gazed towards the western sky shrouded in sunset, asking: “What time is it now?”

Haywood glanced at his watch, saying: “Six o’clock. Are you free tonight? If you have no plans, stay for dinner.”

Su Mo didn’t reply, simply taking a sip of water, the sunset’s afterglow reflected in his eyes, as if flames were burning.

Without warning, a distant “boom” echoed.

The muffled explosion shook the ground slightly, thick black smoke unfurled across the sky, as if a demon spreading its claws.

Explosions in the Border District were commonplace, Haywood looked towards the distant smoke, indifferently saying: “Quite the commotion, which group is at it this time?”

Su Mo knew well, this wasn’t an ordinary explosion, nor a battle between groups.

[Dawn 152nd Year, September 12, 18:00 sharp]

[Game Beginning]

[“Mercenary Corps Leader” Exclusive Prologue: Rise to Fame]

Ou Chenyu received the commission, leading the Tiger Fang Mercenaries to launch an assault on the border group “Anhong Association”.

From this moment, the “game” truly begins!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep