Chapter 786: Chapter 434: Assassination_2
They saw the gun in Arno’s hand.
Arno fired three times in quick succession, three pale purple beams piercing through the bodies of three men, killing them.
Then, he quickened his pace, moving closer to the center of the explosion.
Along the way, he saw many remnants.
They appeared to be a certain model of Feedback-Type Power Armor, slightly different from the Servant Gods used by the Alliance, likely purchased by Zelos through trade from other places.
Even the elites in Feedback-Type Power Armor couldn’t withstand the thermal bombs. Multiple parts of the armors had suffered severe melting.
Continuing forward, closer to the center of the explosion, Arno’s gaze suddenly tightened.
He noticed an oddly intact area of the ground ahead.
Several thoughts flashed quickly through his mind, and he almost confirmed the most likely one: a miniaturized personal energy shield!
Such a device was rare and expensive, but for someone like Zelos, having one wouldn’t be surprising.
And if there was such a device, the likelihood of survival under a thermal bomb would be greatly increased.
Arno’s gaze was steady as he quickened his steps.
Having come this far, he couldn’t let Zelos survive.
He had to personally handle this unexpected complication.
He deduced that there should be no guards left around Zelos.
The relatively intact area was just about large enough for one person to stand. This matched the performance of the personal energy shields mentioned in the knowledge Arno had learned, which were only large enough to cloak a single person and couldn’t protect a second.
The rest of the guards must have already perished under the thermal bombs.
Of course, it was not impossible for a lucky individual to have been outside the blast radius at the moment of the explosion.
Anything was possible, but Arno still needed to follow up and see for himself.
Even if there were other survivors, he’d have to find a way to deal with them.
He would have to improvise then.
The traces left by the survivor from the explosion were quite evident to him.
Tracking them all the way, Arno’s mood grew heavier.
He was almost at the underground parking garage.
There, he hadn’t had the chance to set up bombs.
And for sure, there would still be guards on duty there. Having heard the explosion, they would probably come to respond.
That would complicate things.
Although they had a contingency plan for if they couldn’t kill Zelos in the ‘hotel’ and had measures in place for what to do next, things were certainly better the simpler they were.
He couldn’t help but quicken his pace, even forsaking the need for secrecy in his actions.
As he passed a narrow path, he squinted and slowed his steps— he observed some changes in the survivor’s trail.
His gaze shifted to a small storage closet nearby, filled with cleaning supplies, with its door slightly ajar.
Arno made a judgement, muted his footsteps, and approached silently.
Suddenly, he saw a metallic reflection!
Instinctively dodging to the side, a beam grazed past him.
Without lingering on the close call, Arno retaliated with a swing of his hand.
Firing continuously, he sent pale purple beams into the compartment and, pushing off the ground with his feet, lunged forward!
There was no longer any movement inside the compartment.
Arno, pressing against the wall next to the compartment, cautiously reached out and fully opened the door, then aimed his gun inside.
He saw Ms. Zelos collapsed inside.
The Star Sector head was not yet dead, but a hole the size of a wrist had been melted through her abdomen by a laser. The residual heat from the laser shot was still causing continuous internal damage to her flesh and organs.
She was indeed not dead, but that was about to change.
Yet, Zelos thought she still had a chance of being saved.
If she could receive medical attention now, given the powerful medical technology and the relentless investment in medical resources, even replacing parts of her body with mechanical structures… she had a fair chance of survival.
That was if medical help arrived in time.
Her eyes, filled with the desire to live, turned towards Arno Chinko. She tried to speak, struggling:
“I know you are from the Alliance… save me… I will sign…”
Before she could finish, Arno fired.
Two shots hit her chest and neck; then, lowering the power, he added a shot to her forehead.
He had reduced the power to avoid making the hole too large and destroying the facial features.
Straight after, Arno pulled out a miniature camera, took several shots from different angles, and then left without a trace of mercy.
A live witness, definitely not needed.
For this operation, a dead Zelos was more useful than a live one.
The Alliance did not believe she would completely change sides. After the assassination, only hatred would remain.
Actually, taking the head or the entire body would have been ideal.
But at the moment, he didn’t have the conditions to do so and couldn’t take Zelos’s body with him.
The photos would have to suffice.
Back in the employee dormitory, he was taking refuge with other hotel staff, and he found the opportunity to send a message each to Amanda and Martin.
The first phase of the operation was complete, and the following steps could proceed.
An assassination is not enough to overturn a government.
However, Zelos’s death still caused huge ripples.
Zelos was very special in her position. As the head of the Star Sector, different from the governors of the various planets who could rise from below, this role was expressly appointed by the Empire to act on behalf of the imperial will, to integrate the Imperial forces within the Star Sector.