I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

The drizzle masked the cold sweat on the assassin's body. He gripped his short sword tightly, unable to make up his mind.

He swallowed hard and wiped the liquid on his face, which he couldn't tell was either sweat or rain.

Then, in an almost sarcastic tone, he said, "You think I'd fall for your tricks? There's definitely an ambush nearby."

So that's it. He was afraid that Zod would ambush him, which is why he couldn't accept Zod's terms!

Zod stared intently at the assassin, raising his hands: "I assure you, there are absolutely no ambushes around, and there could never be any."

"Besides, as a professional assassin, it's impossible for you not to have noticed anything."

Zod's words successfully awakened the assassin.

He then recalled the basic qualities of a professional assassin.

There was indeed no sign of a large ambush nearby. If an army were lying in ambush nearby, he would have been completely unaware of their murderous intent.

His sensitivity as a professional assassin is fundamentally different from that of other professions.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of relief throughout his body.

Since there were no ambushes nearby, he didn't need to make any gentleman's agreement with Zod.

He assumed that Zod was no match for him, which was why he resorted to this desperate measure, tricking him into laying down his weapons.

Unexpectedly!

Such petty tricks from the Imperial Dog could not fool his intelligence; he saw through them easily.

What do you mean by standing still and not fighting back? It's all a lie.

He would personally execute him with the short sword in his hand.

"Then I will grant your wish."

The assassin's eyes flashed with malice as he gripped his short sword tightly. In a flash, he vanished into the darkness.

When the figure reappeared, it was already in front of Zod.

"Huh? We agreed not to use weapons, this bastard has no sportsmanship at all."

Zod cursed inwardly for the damned assassin breaking his promise and wasting so much of his time.

He hesitated whether to take the attack with his body, but was also worried that the assassin's short sword was poisoned.

After all, being an assassin is a despicable profession, and in TV dramas, treacherous assassins often coat their swords with poison.

As expected, the only option was to disarm the opponent of their short sword.

Then pretend you can't beat them, and then get beaten up in a sorry state.

Regardless of whether he gets injured and hospitalized, he can't show off now, especially not with some cool counterattack.

Audiences love to see this kind of pretentious plot.

Since the more the audience wants to see it, the less he should do it, and he should even make things more awkward.

Otherwise, his popularity will be uncontrollable again.

It's almost reached 30000 now; if it continues to increase, the consequences will be unimaginable.

He still feels fear when he recalls the battle of Zhongta Town.

If he could, he would never want to go to such a dangerous battlefield again.

The assassin swung his short sword at Zod's neck, and Zod was preparing to take a step back to dodge the attack.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.

Suddenly, a flame appeared in a secluded alley.

Before Zod could even react, the assassin in front of him had been shot in the chest.

"Cough~ You...you're too despicable...as expected...there was an ambush!!!"

If I had known, I shouldn't have trusted that damned imperial dog. He's so untrustworthy; there must have been an ambush.

He only realized on his deathbed that Zod's words were all meant to lower his guard.

After uttering his last words, the assassin coughed up blood and died with resentment.

Just then, the figure hiding in the alley rushed up to Zod: "Lieutenant Zod, are you alright?"

The figure running towards them was none other than Warrant Officer Hitis, whose pistol still had a wisp of smoke remaining at the muzzle.

Because Lieutenant Hitis was well hidden and did not show much murderous intent.

In addition, Zod's attention was completely focused on the assassin in front of him.

Therefore, Zod was unaware that Hitis had been hiding in the shadows all along.

In fact, until a few seconds before the shot was fired, Lieutenant Hitis believed that Zod was capable of easily dealing with the assassin.

However, when the assassin drew his dagger to kill Zod, she fired the gun out of concern for Zod's safety.

"Who gave you permission to fire?"

Zod didn't blame Hitis; he just didn't like his plans being disrupted.

Zod suddenly turned his head and noticed that there was another gaze watching him not far away.

After Hitis was dealt with, the gaze disappeared as well.

Without a doubt, that person was in cahoots with the assassin who was lying on the ground.

As for whether that person was merely witnessing from afar whether the assassination attempt succeeded, or whether he was the assassin's backup plan, to strike at a later opportunity after the assassination failed.

That Zod did not know.

However, this means that Zod will have to be a little more careful about his safety for the foreseeable future.

"Oh, should I have spared their lives?" Hitis lowered her head, looking somewhat aggrieved. "But the situation was too urgent just now; I didn't have time to think about it."

"Fine, since you've gotten involved, you'll be in charge of cleaning up the mess. The follow-up investigation, reporting the situation to your superiors... and the report, of course, should be written by you."

Although Zod's plans were disrupted, at least he didn't have to clean up the mess himself.

The assassin was dealt with by Hitis, and even if Zod gets credit for it later, he certainly won't compete with Hitis.

This outcome couldn't be better for Zod.

"Huh???" Hitis looked unwilling and pleaded in a wailing tone, "Please don't make me write a report, Lieutenant Zod!"

"By the way, I remember that the place you live in is in the opposite direction from the place I live in, so why are you here?" Zod stared at Hitis with suspicion.

Hitis's bright eyes darted left and right, avoiding Zod's gaze. "Lieutenant, I have a lot to do! I need to go to the camp to get some soldiers and clean up the scene. Goodbye!"

After saying that, Hitis turned and hurriedly left, but Zod grabbed her arm: "Answer me quickly, Warrant Officer Hitis, why were you hiding on my way home?"

"I...I saw...yes...I saw the lieutenant leave the office alone to go home, and I followed him because I was worried about your safety." Hitis's eyes darted around, and she quickly made up a reason.

She certainly wouldn't tell Zod that she followed him because she lacked a three-dimensional understanding of Zod's character when writing the novel.

She enriched the character development in her novels by observing Zod's daily behavior.

It absolutely could not be spying!

"Really?" Zod felt like he had been fooled, but Hitis's reasons were so convincing that he couldn't find any flaws.

Besides, Hitis was genuinely protecting him out of good intentions, so he couldn't ask for too much.

"Really!" Hitis replied firmly.

"Alright! Go find someone to clean up the scene!" Zod waved his hand. "I'll stay here and watch over the scene!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!" Hitis breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully Zod hadn't noticed anything amiss.

She turned to leave, but Zod grabbed her again: "Hitis, why did that assassin call me 'Eagle of the Empire'? Is that an assassination code name? Do you know?"

"Huh? Don't you know that your nickname 'Eagle of the Empire' is already known to everyone?"

Hitis was surprised by Zod's complete ignorance.

Of course, she also thought it was possible that Lieutenant Zod was indifferent to fame and fortune and didn't care what others called him.

After all, that's how her second lieutenant always was.

"What? I don't know!" Zod looked puzzled.