Persuasion to Surrender

"Gloria! Fuck!" This was the desperate cry of the corrupt cop Wilson. Her appearance spelled his doom.

His feet kicked up splinters from the wooden floor as he sprinted to the window with a speed rare for his age, grabbing the edge of the window frame in an attempt to jump out and escape.

"Bang."

A tongue of fire, mixed with the faint flash of a witchcraft rune, flared in the distant void.

A line of blood spurted from Wilson's head. He fell limply onto the wooden floor, his blood slowly pooling out.

Clearly, there were quite a few shooters armed with witchcraft-enhanced firearms positioned in the distance.

Seeing this, Rice's pupils shrank slightly. The protective witchcraft runes on his body flashed with a faint golden glimmer. Although his protective witchcraft ensured he wouldn't be killed by a single gunshot, it couldn't block everything completely. There was obviously a large number of gunmen lying in ambush outside. Even he couldn't force his way through.

This time, he was completely doomed!

He looked at the man and woman slowly appearing at the top of the stairs, his right hand unconsciously tightening around the lightning rune on his walking stick. The young man's appearance made Rice pause in surprise, and he asked in confusion:

"Flame Fox Sven!?"

Sven returned a faint smile, his fingertips lightly tapping the witchcraft badge at his waist:

"Oh? An elite lurker of Feiting knows me too?"

Rice shook his head with a bitter smile, his walking stick tapping out a dull thud on the floor, carrying a trace of disappointment:

"I read your file before entering Gele City. I had a premonition that you would be my lifelong enemy. I didn't expect to still underestimate you. To think you caught my flaw so quickly. Perhaps this is fate!"

Hearing his opponent's praise, Sven's expression showed a hint of embarrassment. He spread his hands and pointed at Lizer, who was applying Inferior Healing Powder behind Felina, and laughed:

"I didn't expect it either. You might not believe it, but you being cornered is entirely because of this little guy."

Rice was dumbfounded upon hearing this. His nails dug into his palms as he stared fixedly at Lizer, who was grimacing in pain, as if trying to deeply memorize him and remember this lesson:

Never underestimate anyone!

Seeing Rice staring at him, Lizer shrank back a little, his hand unconsciously reaching for the potion bottle at his waist.

He recalled the terrifying feeling of rolling around repeatedly on the brink of death just now, and fiercely complained to Sven:

"Captain Sven! This guy is a maniac! He tried to kill me the moment we met! I'm really out of luck, participating in this damn mission. I almost died several times."

Gloria walked to his side and crouched down. She poked Lizer's slowly healing wound with her fingertip, examining it with a somewhat curious look. Seeing that he was fine, she rolled her eyes and scolded with a smile:

"You've got quite a few lives, kid, to be able to die several times."

Resentful in his heart, Rice scraped his walking stick across the floor, leaving a shallow mark as the runes flashed with a cold light. Hearing this, he said coldly:

"I only regret not killing you the moment we met!"

"Cough, cough! Captain, Deputy Director, he's threatening me!"

Lizer complained to Sven in dissatisfaction, his face written with anger and grievance. He had really had enough.

It had been less than half a month since he transmigrated, and he had already almost died several times. This alternate world was too fucking dangerous.

Sven clapped his hands, patted Lizer on the shoulder, and signaled him with his eyes to calm down, smiling:

"Alright, you're not dead, are you? The organization will reimburse you for the consumed items. If we successfully persuade Rice to join us, you'll get ten extra merit points."

Lizer calculated that if he could get ten extra merit points, he would already have more than half of the twenty merit points needed to exchange for a low-level meditation technique.

Furthermore, with the upcoming counter-espionage operation, he could use this opportunity to join in and earn merit points much faster.

Additionally, he wanted to accumulate enough merit to become an official member of the Internal Affairs Department.

Meanwhile, hearing the persuasion in the latter half of Sven's words, Rice curled his lips into a mocking smile and sneered mercilessly:

"They say Flame Fox is a man of great intellect, but this sounds like pure fantasy to me. Have you ever seen a Lurker turn coat?"

Lizer thought for a moment:

These spies were all die-hard loyalists who had undergone years of brainwashing and training, and they were generally controlled through some rather shady methods.

Now that he thought about it, he really hadn't heard of many spies switching sides after being captured.

Seeing the skepticism from Rice and the others, Sven offered a mysterious, self-assured smile. He crossed his arms, his eyes gleaming with confidence, fully displaying the charisma of the Flame Fox:

"Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't happen today.

And you, Rice, might just join our Internal Affairs Department today.

Welcome to the team, Rice."

Hearing this, Rice's body suddenly stiffened. His ears pricked up, and he turned his head to the side, refusing to speak any further.

Sven continued mysteriously:

"Elena, living at 217 Newtland Avenue, Rhett City, Trais State, Feting Federation..."

Hearing this, Rice reacted like an enraged beast. His eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Sven. He suddenly stood up, slammed his walking stick heavily against the floor, and roared:

"Don't you dare! Leave my wife and daughter out of this! You! You!"

But just as quickly, his shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head in defeat. Closing his eyes in sorrow, his voice trembled with a sob:

"It's impossible! There is no way I can betray the organization."

Sven continued calmly:

"No. You misunderstand. We will arrange for someone to bring Elena to Gray Mist Mountain Town to reunite with you in seven days."

Rice opened his eyes and stared blankly into Sven's eyes. The two men locked gazes, both seeming to want to peer straight into the other's soul.

Finally, Rice yielded. His lips trembled, and there was a hint of pleading in his tone:

"Flame Fox, you should know that for people like us, our families are heavily monitored.

The moment Elena makes a move, they will immediately know that something is wrong with me.

She cannot leave Feting at all. Do not waste your effort, just kill me quickly."

Seeing that Rice was gradually being swayed, Sven continued:

"Rest assured. We will arrange for professionals to use witchcraft to disguise themselves as Elena.

No one will find out that Elena has gone abroad. She will live quietly in Gray Mist Mountain Town in the future, and Felina will protect her well. Isn't that a wonderful ending?"

Rice was somewhat tempted, and a bit of life finally returned to his face. He tapped his fingers on the table, thought for a moment, and said worriedly:

"Elena is a key target of surveillance. I am worried that your people will inevitably be seen through over time, and then all our efforts will be in vain."

"Have you heard of Thousand Faces?" (A top spy proficient in witchcraft disguises)

Sven naturally understood Rice's doubts. In fact, he had anticipated this long ago and was prepared, having already applied to headquarters for this person's assistance.

Hearing this, Rice was mostly reassured. If Flame Fox was considered somewhat famous among the Lurkers, then Thousand Faces was truly renowned.

To this day, no one knows the true appearance of Thousand Faces. She used top-tier witchcraft disguises to assume various identities, perfectly executing multiple missions and causing massive losses for Feiting.

It is said that to complete one particular mission, she used witchcraft daily to maintain her appearance and evade detection by Feiting's witchcraft scanning equipment.

She disguised herself as the wife of a high-ranking official in the Feiting Federation's Intelligence Agency for nearly three years, sitting safely right in the heart of Feiting's intelligence apparatus without ever being discovered.

It was not until the mission ended and she wiped away her traces with witchcraft to leave that the Intelligence Agency's witchcraft autopsy equipment accidentally obtained the test results of the replaced person's remains, revealing that the original wife had actually died three years prior.

Because of this, the Federation internally created a specially encrypted witchcraft case study, training everyone within Feiting's political system on how to use witchcraft to identify whether their acquaintances had been replaced.

Unfortunately, in the years that followed, Thousand Faces remained at large in Feiting, making the high-ranking government officials grind their teeth in pure hatred.

Obtaining the true identity of Thousand Faces had become a permanently pinned, high-level mission on the Lurkers' internally encrypted witchcraft task list.

To this day, no one has been able to complete it!

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Rice had heard many stories about Thousand Faces. If she were to make a move, her top-tier witchcraft disguise would be almost impossible to see through.

Rice's mouth twitched, and he tapped his fingers on the desk, unable to help but mock inwardly that even Feiting had not valued him this much.

To think that the Crimson Soul's witchcraft intelligence network would unhesitatingly deploy an ace spy just to recruit him...