After Kino returned to Twilight City, he first counted the casualties.

There were a total of 1,174 cavalrymen accompanying this time, 163 of whom were killed in battle, and 394 were injured. 52 of the injured were incurably disabled, and they basically had to bid farewell to the front line.

These cavalrymen who were taken out were all elite, with a permanent attrition rate of nearly 20%, which was a considerable loss.

But compared with hundreds of gold moons, tens of thousands of silver moons, countless copper and iron moons, and more than a hundred living assassin prisoners, this loss is obviously insignificant.

A group of elite cavalry can be raised through training and actual combat. Such a large number of gold and silver moons are hard to come by, not to mention there are so many prisoners. As long as any important information can be extracted from them, the benefits will be huge.

Unlimited.

Kino asked Baixa to handle the funeral affairs of these people, appease their families, and issue pensions. He then confiscated the captured moon coins and imprisoned the assassin captives in the dungeon.

Kino took the boxes of contracts with bloody handprints back to his office without letting anyone see them.

Kino closed the door and began to look through the contracts, but as he flipped through them, he found that these contracts only had the name of the target and did not include the name of the employer.

The only thing that can be distinguished is the symbols next to the names. Their writing structure is extremely complicated, with horizontal, vertical and dots interlaced like a maze, with infinite details. Even if ordinary people deliberately observe, it is difficult to distinguish the difference between them.

But for Chino, who has undergone processing and engraving and can even distinguish QR codes with the naked eye, the gap between these marks is like an open book, and there is no secret at all.

I just don’t know what the purpose of these slightly different symbols are?

An encrypted language similar to that of a processor, used to communicate secret information internally?

Or is it some kind of password used to pair different files?

Kino thought for a while and asked Hanyi: "Is this kind of contract stored in two parts?"

Han Yi shook his head: "Not just two, but three. An employer document - the name of the employer is written on it, usually with a code name instead of the real name; a prey document - the name of the target is written on it,

This is the one in your hand; there is also an assassin document - the assassin who takes on the task will not leave his real name or code name, but will press a bloody fingerprint on it."

"A contract is divided into three parts and stored in three strongholds. Only by matching special symbols can they be pieced together to restore the entire contract."

"This is not only to protect the identity of the employer and the assassin, so that they do not know each other's identity. It is also to prevent a certain stronghold from being wiped out like it is now, and the contents of the contract from being spread."

Kino: "Then why did you know last year that the person who hired you to kill me was Irene?"

Hanyi: "I used a little trick - I tied a blood-thorned "helmmaster" and used Lingchi on him. When I cut him 3123 times, he did it."

Kino looked at the "prey document" with his name written on it in his hand. From this, it seemed that the "rudder" who was tied up in Han Yi was not aware enough. He was already in the management position of the assassin organization, and he even endured torture.

Can't live.

But I have to say that the secrecy method of the Bloodthorn Society is a bit interesting. A contract is divided into three parts and kept in three different locations. To see the complete content, all three strongholds must be captured, and the secret signs must be cracked to compare and match.

...This kind of thing is extremely difficult, thus ensuring the safety of the contract.

Employer, prey, assassin...without any one of the three, the truth cannot be restored.

Kino continued to flip through other prey documents, flipping through them. His fingers suddenly stopped, and he took out one of them, and his tone became playful: "Interesting."

The paper of this contract is golden, which indicates an extraordinary and noble status. The target on it is actually "Bolton Van Dogulland", Solandel's biological brother and the seventh prince of the current royal family.

Han Yi said with great interest: "The Golden Assassination Order, this is the highest level order of the Blood Thorn Association, and the reward must be settled in gold moon. The assassins sent out are the most skilled assassins, and some of them may even be above me - by the way

By the way, Erin’s commission against you last year was also a golden assassination order.”

Kino silently looked at this golden assassination order. The Blood Thorns would even dare to assassinate princes. It was true as their motto said: Blood Thorns would kill no one.

Kino continued to search, and as Hanyi said, he found the hunting document with his name written on it, which was also a golden assassination order. It seemed that Aileen Troy was determined to kill him.

Kino: "There should be more than one Blood Assassin Order in the desert, right?"

Hanyi shook his head: "More than that, the desert is mainly composed of two major forces - the 52 nomadic tribes of horse bandits under the "Holy Lord of the Desert", and the 36 discrete assassin organizations. The two cooperate with each other and do not invade each other."

"The Blood Thorn Association is at the upper-middle level among the 36 assassin organizations. We are not the strongest, but we have always had the best reputation. Customers who hire us may not necessarily get the most satisfactory results, but they definitely don't have to worry about privacy leaks or other issues.

."

The corners of Kino's lips raised slightly: "It seems that the reputation of the Blood Thorn Society has been ruined by you alone."

Hanyi put his chin on Qino's shoulder and said in a joking tone: "Now, you have also made enemies with the Blood Thorn Society. Do you want to take the kitten with you and flee to the end of the world?"

Kino did not accept the joke and continued to the topic: "How many strongholds does the Blood Thorn Society have in total?"

Han Yi shook his head: "I don't know. Only the higher-ups above the "Dharma Protector" know these things. The assassins and messengers below, including the helmsman I captured last time, only know the stronghold they belong to and have no information about other strongholds.

I don’t know.”

"I can only tell you that only one kind of document will be placed in a stronghold. You can see the prey document with your name on it, which means that the stronghold you removed is the stronghold I used to work for - it is a disguised nomadic settlement.

There is an oasis next to it, and there is also a ground dragon, right?"

Kino nodded.

Hanyi thought for a moment and suddenly showed a wicked smile: "Since you have captured the prisoner and come back, let's go to the dungeon and have a look. If you are lucky, there is a living protector inside. I will point it out for you. You can try

Pry open the other person’s mouth.”

This was a good idea. Soon, Kino appeared in the dungeon holding the little black cat.

These assassins were all imprisoned in separate compartments, with all their limbs locked, and their mouths forcibly separated by devices to prevent them from biting their tongues to commit suicide. This also made it easier to pour food into their mouths, eliminating the possibility of starvation.

Kino was walking in various compartments holding the little black cat. When these assassins saw the little black cat, their eyes suddenly showed fierce murderous intent. They obviously recognized it, but they could do nothing.

In the cubicle where Omani was, when he saw the little black cat, his mouth kept moving and he said vaguely: "The blood thorn...will not let go...any traitor..."

The little black cat pushed its head against Kino's chin, and Kino stretched out his hand to lift it in front of Omani.

"Bia!" The little black cat slapped Omani's bald head with a meowing paw. If the force was light, it would be a caress. If the force was strong, it would be a scratch. If it was neither light nor strong, it would be an insult.

Omani was panting like an ox, his eyes were wide open, but he couldn't even spit out a mouthful of phlegm. He could only rage with impotence.

Kino left the cubicle and continued to take the little black cat to recognize people.

When he walked in front of a woman with a cold face, the little black cat's back hair suddenly exploded, and he bared his sharp fangs: "Ha——"

Kino touched the little black cat's head, looked at the woman and smiled: "It seems that you are the protector of the Blood Thorn Society. Can you tell me the locations of your other strongholds? In return, I will give you a painless death.

.Believe me, I am professional.”

The woman just looked at him coldly, without saying anything, like a statue.

"No one is a saint, and no one can make mistakes. People are bound to make many mistakes in their lives, and no one can avoid it. I am like this, and so are you." Kino put the little black cat outside, closed the door gently, and then looked

Facing the woman, her amber eyes were filled with a smile, "But the mistake you are making now will be the most serious one in your life."

...

The little black cat was waiting outside the door, and rustling sounds kept coming from inside, but strangely, there was no groan of pain, and he didn't know what Kino was doing.

47 minutes later, the door reopened. Chino, who was spotless, waved to the little black cat to come in.

The little black cat turned into a human form and walked through the door. When she saw the scene in front of her clearly, she lost consciousness for an instant.

What a beautiful picture this is. There is no skin on the exquisite work of art, but not a drop of blood is shed. The scarlet body is as crystal clear as a ruby, and the butterfly bone on the back is carved out with exquisite techniques. It is pure white.

It looks like an angel spreading its wings, and the clear candlelight falls on it, like the holy light from heaven.

Han Yi felt his heart beat faster and murmured to himself: "I know thousands of torture techniques, but I have never seen this kind of art..."

"Do you like it?" Kino's fingers pressed against the curve of Hanyi's neck, touched his handsome chin, pinched it gently, and said with a smile, "Always remember, respect every raw material, they are not yet formed.

artwork."

Hanyi gently held Kino's hand, put it on his cheek and rubbed it, his eyes seemed to be filled with drunken light: "Tell me, why is there not a drop of blood here?"

Chino: "While removing the skin, I used a highly effective hemostatic drug. The time it falls on the wound must be carefully calculated - if it is too early, it will have no effect and cannot act on the wound. If it is too late, it will cause blood to overflow and the artwork will be destroyed.

So it must be absolutely precise, and the interval from when the knife is dropped to when the medicine is applied cannot exceed 0.2 seconds."

The look in Han Yi's eyes became even more confused, and he was in a state of intoxication. A seductive voice came from his mouth: "Why didn't I hear anything outside?"

Chino: "Insert the needle into the second vertebra at a 45-degree angle without any deviation, and you can cut off the connection between the central nervous system and the pontine base. The motor outgoing function will be lost, and only the eyeballs can move. In this way

, her consciousness is still awake and she can feel everything on her body, but because her vocal cords cannot vibrate, she will not make any sound - to use a vivid metaphor: there are lights on in the house, but there is no one."

Hanyi's delicate body kept trembling, and her beautiful little face turned crimson with excitement, like a ripe apple. She rubbed her red lips on Kino's hand, and her voice was filled with intoxicating trembling: "I seem to love

Fuck you..."

Kino gently pinched Hanyi's cat ears, leaned towards her ear, and smiled like a temptation from the devil: "Then study hard."

...

After Chino finished the slow processing, he directly used telepathy to connect with the female protector and asked her for the location of the remaining strongholds of the Blood Thorn Society.

In Kino's mind, the persevering female guardian cried and told the information.

Immediately afterwards, the telepathy was cut off, and her voice disappeared from this world forever, leaving only a body with only the eyeballs that could move, thus turning into a real statue, dedicated to art.

Kino asked Hanyi to study the essence of slow processing here, walked out of the dungeon, and left the Twilight City again.

This time, he did not take the cavalry with him, but flew at high speed with the power of telekinesis throughout the whole journey, as if he were transformed into a wild bird. He flew to the hinterland of the desert 18 hours later and found the Blood Thorn Society's stronghold based on the clues provided by the female guardian.

However, the Blood Thorn Club was still one step ahead.

The demise of one stronghold aroused the vigilance of the Blood Thorn Society. Before Kino arrived, the other eight strongholds provided by the female guardian had long been cleared. All assassins had evacuated, and the treasures and contract documents had also been transferred away, leaving them for Kino.

There were only some worn-out furniture and traps laid by the assassins before they left.

The desert is filled with flying sand, footprints will be covered up within 5 minutes, and the visibility is even lower. Kino cannot locate the evacuation direction of the Blood Thorn Society, and the clues are interrupted.
To be continued...