Air Hero

Another mission

“Going all out?”

“Yes. Although it is known publicly that the evil mastermind is the United Heroes association's greatest enemy, there isn’t any big confrontation where the association is going to fight with our lives on the line. This time, it might be different since the Enforcer of Justice badge is bestowed already. It means that there’s no pulling back anymore.”

“I don’t see any differences, though.”

“It’s because you haven’t getting involved with the association when they are fighting the evil mastermind. Usually, the mission that is posted on the board is to handle normal villains. Right now, with the badge out, the priority will be involving the evil mastermind. From catching their members to investigating their whereabouts. To put it simply, right now, the association only has the evil mastermind in their eyes.”

“Ah, I see now. You can say we’re dropping everything in order to eliminate the Evil Mastermind.”

“Yeah. It’s like that. I found a mission for you too. It is related to the Evil Mastermind.”

“Sounds good. Let’s end the call and send me the details.”

“Okay.”

While driving, Max looked at the mission details that Marie just sent to the bike.

“Hmmm, investigating the whereabouts of D-rank villains from the Evil Mastermind. Blur, was it? He is only a D-rank, but because of his camouflage ability, it is tricky to catch him.”

Looking at the last location of Blur, it was in a nearby city. If it were before, Max would spend a lot of time traveling to the town because he needs to wait for the bus, but since he got his bike, he could reach that place in half-hour.

On the way, he connected the intercom to Marie once again.

“Marie, can you hack the security camera in the area and search for Blur while I am on the way?”

“I can try, but I don’t promise anything. After all, if he could be found by accessing the CCTV, they won’t bother putting it up for a mission.”

“Thanks.”

While Max is driving to the location, Marie started to hack the system in the area. She tried to find anyone that matched Blur’s description and appearance, but she couldn’t find anything useful. Until the time Max arrived in the city, she still hasn’t found anything useful.

“Max, I’m sorry, I couldn’t find anything.”

“That’s alright. We know that the probability of finding any info from hacking the camera is slim. In fact, I have to praise you that you managed to access the area and search the perimeter within this short window of time. It seemed that you’ve improved a lot since the supporter competition.”

“Yeah. If it was before, I doubt that I could hack the system on time. It is thanks to you too. If you didn’t recruit me to join your team, I would probably still be holed up in the library reading books.”

“There’s no need to thank me. After all, you’ve been a great help to me. Alright, I’ll ask around the area. Please continue to monitor the surroundings.”

“Roger that.”

Finding someone is easy yet hard at the same time. After all, finding someone in a city with an average population of ten thousand people is a tedious task.

“Now, where should I start looking for?”

“You can try asking around at the bar that he frequents. Red Rose Tavern, I’ll send the location to you.”

“Okay.”

Asking around for information like a detective is not a strange occurrence for heroes. After all, when there is a search and find mission, no one could tell the heroes where to search for the enemy.

Not only when searching for a person, but the D-rank mission that Max used to take is also to search for a missing pet and to find the animal. Max needs to ask around to find the missing animal. Because of that, asking around is not a strange thing for him. However, there is a slight difference when looking for a person compared to searching for a missing pet.

That is to consider the danger level or the alertness of the enemy. For example, when searching for a pet and asking the people around, they will either give you information or don’t know about the pet you’re looking for.

When searching for a villain, it is an entirely different game. When they give you information, that could be a big lead to find the target. However, when they answer with don’t know, there are two possibilities.

The first is, they really don’t know about the person that you’re looking for. As for the second possibility, it could be that the person you’re asking is the friend of the person you’re looking for. They could alert the target to escape, or in the worst-case scenario, they will inform his friend and gang up on you.

It wasn’t rare for heroes to perish when they are sniffing out the whereabouts of the criminal and, in the end, fall into a trap where the person he is asking to earlier turns out to be the villain’s ally.

Max has learned about this from Kalina. In Kalina’s case, she could use her plants to scout, and even when asking other people, she could make sure that the target is telling the truth by using the truth serum produced by her plants.

As for Max, he doesn’t have this kind of convenience ability, so it will depend on his luck and observation. It will be another experience for Max in his process of learning and growth as a hero.

Visiting the Red Rose Tavern that is informed by Marie, Max arrived at the place. It was a small but crowded place: loud music, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. The moment Max entered the place, everyone noticed him instantly. After all, it is too eye-catching for a hero in his costume to visit the place as most of the time, it is used as a hub place for villains.

“Look what we have here.”

*Pweet*

The people inside teased Max and laughed seeing him enters the tavern. One of them even whistles as if Max is a pretty girl. It is certainly not a good start for this mission.