?58: Chapter 54 Junk Task 58: Chapter 54 Junk Task He found an expert who may or may not be formidable, but was very much in line with Gao Yi’s needs—an ace student from the California Institute of Technology who, if he also wanted to compensate for a lack of skills with equipment, would certainly have a more effective solution than a novice like Gao Yi.

    Having sent the email and received no reply, Gao Yi became impatient when by the next day the email still showed as unread, so he handed the matter over to Sean to resolve.

    Sean was efficient; it took him only a few minutes to find the studio’s phone number, and then, with one call, he was dialing through.

    After asking briefly, Sean turned to Gao Yi and said, “Li Jie has gone to Argentina, but it seems he boarded the wrong flight on his return and ended up in Ecuador.”

    Looking at Gao Yi’s puzzled face, Sean shrugged and said, “Yes, that’s what his colleague said.”

    Gao Yi was somewhat confused as he asked, “What did Gordon Fermand say about Li Jie being an ace student from which department…

    of mechanical engineering?”

    “Aerospace.”

    “The aerospace department of the California Institute of Technology?”

    In the United States, and indeed, the whole world, aside from MIT, there is perhaps only the California Institute of Technology. Sёar?h the N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    But in the field of aerospace, no one dares to claim first place over the California Institute of Technology whenever it says it’s second.

    And in Gordon’s description, Li Jie belonged to that category of ‘kids from other families’.

    In other words, he was exceptionally smart and truly formidable—the kind without limits—that made someone like Gao Yi, a mere academic underachiever, only able to look up in admiration without entertaining any other thoughts.

    Gao Yi’s expertise in brawling, at best, made him something of a fighter, whereas someone like Li Jie was a real genius, the truly skilled kind, the backbone of a country.

    Yet, could such a true genius make the mistake of boarding the wrong plane?

    Intending to fly to the United States but ending up in Ecuador?

    Sean understood Gao Yi’s confusion, for when he had heard the news, he too was just as puzzled, but having lived quite a few more decades and seen all sorts of people, he was somewhat more immune to this kind of situation.

    “Well, it’s not unusual; those exceptionally brilliant geniuses might be a mess in their daily lives—happens quite a lot.”

    Gao Yi blinked and said, “So he…”

    Sean spoke wearily, “It’s been two days, not exactly missing, but he hasn’t returned.

    His colleagues say he might have gone to Ecuador to visit a friend named Frost.

    Eh, that’s the situation now—no one knows when he’ll be back.”

    If Gao Yi insisted on seeing Li Jie before setting out, then he had to wait for Li Jie’s return, so Sean was a bit worried, fearing too much delay, yet knowing Gao Yi’s concerns, he couldn’t suggest not to wait.

    Gao Yi, however, understood Sean’s urgency.

    “Forget it, let’s not look for him now; let’s check out the tasks instead.”

    Gao Yi’s understanding visibly relieved Sean.

    Less than three months remained, and in the style of a conventional assassin, that time might not even suffice for preparation.

    The first step was to identify a target, and then one could prepare in a targeted manner.

    “Shall we pick a target?”

    Sean’s tone suggested he was asking for Gao Yi’s opinion, but he had already taken out his phone and leaned in close to Gao Yi.

    Gao Yi took out his own phone as well.

    Gao Yi had now progressed from the quagmire of F-rank to the somewhat better E-rank, still at the base level.

    It’s tough being a newcomer; the vast majority of them think only of risking their lives for money, but few actually succeed.

    Having the means to access the Dark Web is one thing; truly skilled newcomers, like Gao Yi, as well as those from an organization, merely linger in F-rank, quickly completing a task and immediately moving up to E-rank.

    Those who stay stuck in F-rank don’t even count as consumables, nor do they deserve to form the foundation or base of the pyramid.

    The shuttlecock structure is the most common organizational setup for all illicit organizations in the underworld, meaning that the structure of the Dark Web isn’t pyramid-shaped, but rather like a shuttlecock, with very few at each end.

    Having reached E-rank, Gao Yi could now take on public tasks for grades C, D, and E.

    But for Garden to maintain its status as an A-rank assassin organization, it had to take on an A-rank task, which was out of Gao Yi’s reach.

    The two leaned in close, and a comparison quickly showed the difference, evident even in the amount of the bounty.

    A-rank tasks started at ten million dollars.

    The most irksome part was that there were so many A-rank tasks; scrolling down, there were at least more than twenty listings.

    “Are there that many A-rank public tasks?”

    Gao Yi was somewhat surprised; he had assumed the A-rank task column would be sparse, but to his astonishment, advanced tasks far outnumbered simple ones.

    Sean spoke in a low voice, “These are tasks that remain uncompleted for years, forced to turn public.

    The shorter ones have been up for two to three years, the oldest for as many as eight.”

    Gao Yi cautiously asked, “What level is Gray Horace’s task?”

    “B.”

    “Oh?”

    Sean suddenly showed impatience, “Don’t ‘oh’ me, I hate it when people keep ‘oh-ing’ without end—I don’t want you picking up that habit.”

    “Oh, okay.”

    Sean helplessly said, “A-rank is the highest level, meaning the most difficult tasks with the highest bounties are categorized as A-level, but for a top assassin organization, picking from public tasks is a sign of failure.”

    Gao Yi was curious, “What do you mean?”

    “The truly successful assassin organizations don’t need public tasks, or to put it another way, if a client wants someone eliminated, the most common approach is to directly contact a capable assassin organization—one-on-one, direct communication.”

    Gao Yi understood and nodded, “That means, if I want to eliminate someone, I would contact Garden directly.

    But if you take on the task and can’t complete it, or if it takes too long, I’d look for someone else, or just throw the task into the public pool.

    Is that right?”

    Sean’s expression turned grim, but he nodded lightly, “Yes.”

    Gao Yi sighed softly, “So, nobody is approaching Garden now; to maintain your rank and status, you have to pick from the highly challenging public tasks?”

    The stark reality left Sean quite helpless; he spread his hands and spoke quietly, “That’s about it.

    But there’s an advantage to public tasks: if the influence is significant, completing one can rapidly boost your reputation.”

    “Isn’t there any A-rank public task that’s easier with a high payout?”

    “There are, occasionally, but they get snatched up as soon as they appear.”

    “What do you mean ‘snatched up’?

    Aren’t public tasks open to anyone, and whoever completes them first gets the money?”

    “Snatched up means someone quickly eliminated the target without giving others a chance.”

    Understood.

    A-rank tasks and lower ones weren’t significantly different, merely harder with a higher bounty.

    Gao Yi put away his phone and said, “Alright, let’s see what tasks are available.”

    Sean handed over his phone to Gao Yi, “You have a look.”

    Tapping into the first task, the bounty was 500 million USD, targeting a high-profile individual who couldn’t be named.

    Gao Yi promptly backed out and exclaimed in shock, “Can such a person be listed with a bounty on the Dark Web?”

    Sean shrugged.

    “That’s why the KGB is so angry, making the Dark Web a prime focus of their crackdown.”

    Muttering in disapproval, Gao Yi opened the second task, then with a look of resignation, said, “What’s the point of looking at such tasks?”

    Sean gestured downwards with his hand, “Keep scrolling.

    The first ten tasks are a waste of time.

    I just wanted you to get a rough idea of A-rank tasks; it’s better to work your way up.”

    Scrolling to the bottom, Gao Yi found a task that seemed much more reasonable, despite also being A-rank.

    “The bounty is ten million dollars, no time limit, the target is Kratoyev, a Russian?”

    Sean nodded, “Yes, a Russian oligarch who fled to the UK.

    But forget about him; look further up.”

    “Why forget about this one?”

    Sean spoke helplessly, “He’s too difficult to kill, too well-protected.

    It’s a typical low payout, high difficulty, high risk, garbage task.

    The downside of choosing from the bottom is these kinds of trash tasks are more common.”

    Gao Yi returned the phone to Sean, “You pick it then.

    You must have thought this through; let’s not waste more time.”

    Sean smiled slightly and said, “A-rank has the largest backlog of tasks.

    I was just letting you get familiar first.

    I’ll make a suggestion then, and if you don’t like it, we can choose another.”

    Gao Yi waved dismissively, speaking softly, “Choose something realistic.

    The amount of money doesn’t matter much; the important thing is not to send me to my death.”