Chapter 552: Emergency Contact

“Good morning, London! I am Tom Huggins, your old friend. Today’s weather? Ladies and gentlemen, do not forget. This is London we are in. As such, you can expect rain in the morning, rain in the afternoon and good old rain in the evening. Thankfully, there is a two-hour period at night where the rain would leave us for a moment. Everyone would be able to go out and have some relaxing weekend time. However, don’t be too happy just yet. A heavy rain would be coming down later at night. Don’t forget, this is London we are in. Now, today’s temperature…”

A humorous anchor was announcing the weather report for London in the radio.

The taxi driver grumbled about something, seemingly in dissatisfaction. He quickly switched to a different station. This one was announcing sports-related news.

“Ohhh, fantastic! Manchester United has missed out on victory once more. Jose Mourinho’s face is looking terrible. Let us look at the game. That is right, in the last three minutes, Manchester United had the ball, but they lost it! Maybe everyone is missing Ferguson. Fans of Manchester United, please accept it. That old man is not coming back. He has retired!”

Clearly, the one announcing the result was not a Manchester United fan.

Tian Lie, who sat in the back seat, rubbed his nose.

London’s taxis were small – it would be more accurate to say that most of the cars in the streets of Europe were small. Tian Lie and Nicole sat side by side in the back row. Nicole was looking out the window at the streets.

As for Tian Lie, he rubbed his nose and would occasionally give out a yawn.

“So, other than us coincidentally taking the same flight, could we have coincidentally booked the same hotel?” Tian Lie asked with a sigh.

“No, I did not book any hotel.” Nicole shrugged. “But since you have booked one, I don’t mind going to the same hotel as yours to get a room.”

“Ha! And you claim you have not fallen for me,” said Tian Lie as he winked.

“That joke is not funny at all,” Nicole replied indifferently. “I just feel that you are definitely up to something interesting here in London. So, I have decided to keep a close watch on you to see what you are planning on doing.”

“What if I am here to kill someone?”

“Then I can help you by being a lookout.” Nicole continued coolly, “Likewise, if I want to do something… … having a helper with a decent level of strength is quite the good thing.”

Tian Lie grew silent.

One minute later, he gave a name, “Tom Huggins.”

“What?”

“Tom Huggins, the party pooping announcer from earlier. I am here to find him and get some information from him.”

“… who is he?”

“Thorned Flower Guild’s contact for the British Isles region… … he is not a Player. He is an Awakened who joined Thorned Flower Guild. His identity in this world is that of a party pooping radio host.”

“… … why do you want to go look for a member of Thorned Flower Guild?”

“Take a guess.” Tian Lie snickered.

Nicole was silent for a few seconds before saying, “A trade?”

“… … …” Tian Lie turned around to look at Nicole. “Fine, tell me something interesting.”

“One person, the name is not important. I know that this person serves as the contact person for the resident guilds of Zero City.”

“Go on.” Tian Lie looked at Nicole.

“Zero City has a special emergency protocol meant specifically for emergencies. According to the protocol, once an uncontrollable situation occurs, the members of Zero City who remain in the outside world can approach the closest contact person and gather there. That is to ensure those who remain in the outside world would not be attacked while they are separated outside. At the same time, only the special contact person of that region would have the authority to use the special communication channel. Using this channel, they can make contact with the other contact personnel. That is to ensure that, in unexpected situations, those who are left in the outside world would be able to band together.”

Tian Lie frowned and said, “This mechanism is quite good. I am curious though. Why must you run over to London to find the contact person? Aren’t there any in Asia?”

“The contact person in Asia has gone missing,” Nicole replied coolly. “You think I did not go find the contact person there before? I have. However, the point of operations in East Asia, the ‘safe house’ where the contact person is supposed to be at had been destroyed. By the time I got there, all I can find is an empty and broken building.”

“Empty? You mean to say that person is not there? The Asian region is so big. Could it be Zero City has only arranged for one contact person there?”

“To be exact, there should be several contact persons in the Asian region. However, I only know of that one. Zero City’s protocol dictates that each Zero City personnel could only be given one contact person. Thus, it is possible that there are several in the Asian region. However, I only know of the one. By the time I got there, the contact person had disappeared, the building damaged and not a single equipment left there. I suspect… … maybe the contact person had led away those who came to him. Or maybe… … maybe an accident had befallen him.”

There was heaviness in Nicole’s voice.

“All right, thank you for telling me about that.” Tian Lie considered it before continuing, “Tom Huggins is Thorned Flower Guild’s contact person in the British Isles region and also a secret recruiter. In this region, the recruitment and hiring of Awakened ones by Thorned Flower Guild are usually carried out by him.”

“So, you are very familiar with the internal affairs of Thorned Flower Guild?”

“Likewise, you are very familiar with the internal affairs of Zero City,” Tian Lie replied while shaking his head.

“If so, why do you want to look for Tom Huggins?”

“It is very simple. I am certain of one thing… … he must surely know where that Mene is.”

“Why?”

“Because Tom Huggins is Mene’s younger brother.”

Nicole was dumbfounded.

It was only after a few seconds did she recover. “How interesting. A member of Thorned Flower Guild is actually the younger brother of Mene the psycho?”

“The relationship between the two of them is not that good,” said Tian Lie nonchalantly. “Among those within this world who wish to see Mene dead, Tom Huggins would certainly be in the top three.”

“Why? Aren’t they brothers?”

“Mene had personally killed Tom’s wife and son.”

“… that… … why?”

“Because, in Mene’s opinion, marrying that kind of wife and having that kind of son is an act of betrayal, a betrayal of their faith. I mean to say, he married a ‘heretic’. Thus, there was a need for purification… … back then, Tom Huggins was also a member of the knights guild that Mene leads. However, after the internal clash between them, Tom’s wife and son died. As for Tom Huggins, despite suffering from heavy injuries himself, he was lucky enough to escape. After that, he joined Thorned Flower Guild. He has spent half his life thinking about vengeance.”

“So, this Tom Huggins can locate Mene?”

“Those so-called holy knights possess a special power. Using that power, they can find the exact position of the others. This is a very miraculous… … system-produced ability. Thus, it doesn’t matter where Mene and his gang choose to hide; Tom Huggins would be able to find them.”

“But if that is the case, why haven’t Mene find Tom Huggins and kill him?”

“Because… … the Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild had blocked off the special power on Tom Huggins’ body. Thus, Mene is unable to find his own younger brother whom he wishes to kill.”

There was a very solemn expression on Nicole’s face.

“Block? The Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild can actually block off the special power granted by the system?”

“Trust me, I have met a considerable number of experts, but the Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild is most certainly the most terrifying of them all! I have got quite the pair of balls on me, but I would rather face a group of [S] class experts than to face him,” said Tian Lie with a smirk.

Nicole considered the situation for a moment and said, “So, your objective is Mene?”

“And your objective is to get in touch with Zero City? The prodigal son wishes to find his mother?” Tian Lie broke into a smile.

“If so, do you want to cooperate?” Nicole glanced at Tian Lie.

Tian Lie considered it for a moment. “I am also feeling curious about this recent and strange situation with Zero City. So… … yes.”

“Good. I am also very interested in Mene’s gang. To be exact, I am very interested in the members of Thorned Flower Guild.”

The two of them exchanged glances. Next, they extended their hands and held each other’s palms.

“Here is to a happy cooperation. It seems we will be fighting side by side once again,” said Tian Lie with a smile.

Nicole nodded and said, “Well then… … let us go find my contact person first. The address is… Number XX, XX Street.”

Hearing the address, the smile on Tian Lie’s face suddenly…

Froze!

…

Jenny Miller.

Her public identity was that of a primary school mathematics teacher, presently 35 years old. She was married but had no children as of yet.

She had stayed in London for over two decades. She was without criminal records; her tax records and bank credit were all good.

Paper wise, she was the standard law-abiding citizen.

At the same time, her social status was also pretty decent. Other than her profession as a teacher, a respectable job, she was also passionate about charity. She would usually participate in some non-profit charitable works. She would contribute by working for those bodies – without asking for anything in return.

As for her husband, he could be considered something of a public figure.

He was a local radio host with a certain level of fame. He had an interesting style of hosting – naturally, some of the people who do not like him would say that his hosting style was not interesting, rather, it was party pooping.

Jenny and her husband had been married for over five years. However, as a woman who believed in girl power, she did not follow tradition and change her surname to that of her husband after marriage.

Surface wise, it would appear that Jenny Miller was a person with good personal credit and social status, an ordinary law-abiding citizen.

Secretly however, she held another identity.

One of Zero City’s emergency contact personnel based in the European region.

This secret identity of hers was not something that required much from her. As an emergency contact person, she practically had to do nothing most of the time – after all, it was not as though Zero City would always face disasters requiring the execution of their emergency plan.

Jenny had taken on the duty of an emergency contact person for a few years now. Her only job was to – from time to time – send a special password that meant ‘safe’ to Zero City using a special equipment.

Other than that, every other aspect about her life was no different to that of ordinary humans.

Most importantly, she would never be selected for instance dungeons.

This was not some special ability granted by Zero City. Rather, it was because…

Jenny Miller was not an Awakened.

She was an ordinary human.

An ordinary human that Zero City had secretly recruited.

There were only a few such people like her, ordinary humans residing in the outside world who work for Zero City. There were only twenty or so of them.

Naturally, Zero City possessed the means to ensure the loyalty of ordinary humans such as her.

Needless to say, these people would also obtain certain benefits for their service. For example, they would be provided with certain special enhancing agents, which would give them a body and life expectancy superior to that of ordinary humans.

And also a stable and abundant life.

As for betraying Zero City or revealing Zero City’s existence to the nations or powers that be in this world… … Jenny had never had such thoughts.

She knew all too well just how unbelievable those people she was dealing with were.

By the way… … her husband’s name was Tom Huggins.

An interesting… coincidence.

…