Chapter 1219: Tracing

After waiting in the base for more than 30 hours, Party Ace finally received some inside information.

To be exact, it was inside information from the Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI.

The credibility of this information was beyond doubt as it came from sources that were very high-level. The reason the base could receive confidential information of this level was because official Ark tickets were simply too scarce. As the saying goes, only the dead could keep secrets. Rumours of the end of the world had begun to spread, which directly led to their airship tickets to be in high demand too.

With common interests at work, how hard could it be to investigate the whereabouts of two people?

The ones who leaked the information were, of course, the purchasers of airship tickets too.

According to the intel they received, Mr. Jackson Curtis had just returned from a hospital in Miami with his daughter, while Dr. Adrian Helmsley was returning in a nuclear submarine having collected first-hand data from the bottom of the South Pacific.

Dr. Helmsley was a key figure in the Ark Project, so the security around him was no doubt comparable to the President. In a world with legendary superheroes, this level of protection was definitely not something contestants could easily crack.

Mr. Jackson Curtis had encountered some accidents during his trip, but he escaped completely unharmed, as if he were blessed by the Goddess of Fortune. A thug had shot at him with a shotgun, but the shotgun had somehow blown up by itself. A truck had gone out of control and was crashing towards him and his daughter, but an earthquake somehow occurred at that moment. The unlucky truck’s wheels got caught in a fissure, causing the truck to crash into a nearby gas station instead….

Sheyan immediately knew that Jackson Curtis must have been buffed with the Protagonist’s Luck – ie. Plot Armour – and a really strong one at that! After all, he was just a normal person, so the only thing he could rely on was his exceptional luck!

When such a person was shot at, not only would his luck surge to its peak, the assailant’s luck would also drop to the extreme.

While reading through the information on Mr. Jackson Curtis, something moved in Sheyan’s heart. He felt like he had caught on to something really important, but he could not say for sure what it was.

But he could not dwell on it, time was tight – since Party Ace could obtain this information, the others surely could too, to some extent. Some of them might have even gotten the info earlier than Party Ace did.

Even if Party Ace only wished to fulfil the minimum mission requirement, they must rescue one of the two targets as quickly as possible.

“Mr. Jackson Curtis looks promising.” Sheyan drew a tick next to his name.

Knowing that Party Ace was about to mobilise, the legendary figures in the base cooperated with their actions by pretending to assault the other forces. The other forces thus went back to their bases and shrunk their defensive perimeter in panic.

After that, with the help of Professor X’s mental shield, they successfully took a private jet to Manhattan Beach, California without much trouble.

***

Mr. Jackson Curtis’ main occupation was a writer, but unfortunately, most of his books were stacked inside his own house. He was apparently not very popular, and had so few readers that he could count them – 422 people, to be exact.

So he once became the laughing stock of the people around him due to his embarrassing financial situation. In order to survive, he had no choice but to make a living as the chauffeur of a Russian billionaire — in this regard, the author of this novel seems to have more luck than the protagonist, haha.

He had two kids, Noah and Lilly, who lived with his former wife Kate and her boyfriend. However, the ex-wife apparently still had some thoughts about her ex-husband.

That explained the history and interpersonal relationships of the first half of Mr. Jackson Curtis’ life. It was obvious that life had not treated him well so far. Perhaps all his luck was being saved for the latter half of his life, who knows. But, he had a very good mentality and always maintained an optimistic and positive attitude.

And now, the day his luck turned had finally come.

Sheyan gave Mr. Jackson Curtis a call while he was on the private jet. When he tried calling this number previously, all he got was the message “the number you have dialed is not in service”. The Realm must have deliberately blocked the number back then. Now…it’s finally reachable.

“Mr. Jackson Curtis?”

An exhausted and slightly enraged voice came from the other side of the phone.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t need any credit cards, or refrigerators, or washing machines, or automobiles, or anything you have to sell. I just want to have a good, long sleep right now. I’ve just been through a lot of things and my energy’s completely spent. Well, I don’t mind if you call back ten hours later. That’s all. Bye-bye.”

Hearing the beeping noises from the phone, Sheyan could only shrug. He threw the phone to Zi.

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“How many people have you recruited before?”

“Why do you ask?” inquired Zi, perplexed.

“Just answer me first,” Sheyan insisted.

After thinking about it, she replied, “I’ve only personally interviewed the president of our company’s Chinese region and the HR director of our European region.”

Sheyan laughed. “That’s good enough. Call Mr. Jackson Curtis, tell him that you’ve read his work and feel that many of his ideas resonated with you, so you’d like to talk to him about a new job. We can’t underestimate Mr. Curtis’ IQ; you’re the only one among us who can realistically pull this off.”

Zi made the call after giving Sheyan a glare. It took her little effort to convince Mr. Jackson Curtis with her strong career woman vibe. The conversation went as follows:

“Hello, is this Mr. Jackson Curtis? I wonder if you’re interested in a job with an annual salary of $700,000 and a signing fee of $200,000?”

“WHAT?? Is this an April Fool’s joke, Ma’am?”

“If you wish to accept the offer, give me your bank account number. You’ll immediately receive an advanced signing fee of $100,000 to prove that this isn’t a fraud. The truth is, my boss is a reader of yours and he agrees with some of the ideas in your books. He’s just been promoted to the position of president and is in urgent need of capable subordinates.”

“I… This…Forgive my rudeness, Ma’am, but I’m an adult and I prefer to be convinced with numbers and facts, so my bank account number is….”

“Check the balance in ten minutes.”

Zi hung up the phone without hesitation after that. “Pay the money and settle the rest yourself,” she told Sheyan.

“Money is the most persuasive thing after all,” Sheyan sighed.

However, right when Sheyan thought that everything was going to go smoothly, his Nightmare Imprint suddenly sent him some notifications:

[ Warning! Warning! Dr. Adrian Helmsley, one of the two key protection targets, is dead! ]

[ Warning: If Jackson Curtis dies, your main mission will fail! ]

[ Please locate and protect Jackson Curtis as quickly as possible! ]

“So fast!” Party Ace were no doubt shocked. If they were the one who had to kill someone, it was impossible to do it so quickly unless they make use of Freddy’s power. However, a key storyline character like Dr. Adrian Helmsley would most probably be immune to Freddy’s mental attack.

Sheyan immediately transferred the money to Jackson Curtis and dialed his number again. He was obviously not given the cold shoulder this time.

After inquiring Jackson Curtis’ address, Sheyan suddenly heard the sound of glass shattering from the other end of the phone. His heart sank! He urgently asked Jackson Curtis what had happened.

The writer yawned nonchalantly. “Probably a pizza delivery guy who got the wrong house.”

Sheyan’s pupils shrunk. He was about to warn Curtis when an earth-shaking explosion sounded from the other end!

“Damn it! So fast?!!!”

Party Ace held their breath collectively in fear of hearing the heartbreaking notification that their main mission had failed! Fortunately, the dreaded notification did not arrive. They immediately rushed off the plane at the fastest speed possible and drove straight towards Curtis’ location. There was no need to look for road signs to guide their way because the thick black smoke rising from a spot not far away was the best guide they could ask for.

Amidst a harsh braking sound, Sheyan jumped out of the car like a tiger before it had completely stopped. After landing with a roll, he remained in a crouching posture with one hand on the ground. His entire body was filled with an explosive force, ready to violently burst out at any moment.

The rest of Party Ace who were already on high alert immediately got into their battle stances as well. Sheyan’s palm that was pressed down on the concrete road sank into it quietly, as if it was not hard pavement but soft sand and mud. A fissure appeared from the spot where he pressed down, creeping forward like a venomous snake.

There was a person blocking their way – a huge man whose every movement carried a hint of condescension. Behind him lay three contestant corpses that were gradually turning into light particles, fading away. The huge man’s chest was half-exposed through his shirt, and on it was a very conspicuous blood-red, crescent-shaped scar, extending deep down.

There were two things near him that stood out. Jackson Curtis, the incomparably important storyline character, was lying motionless next to his feet. They could not tell if he was on the verge of dying or merely unconscious.

The other thing that stood out was an elongated object that the huge man was carrying behind his back! The object was surprisingly emitting a supremely majestic vibe, causing those near it to have the impulse to kneel down in worship. It was glowing faintly with a white light under the sun. The glow would sometimes condense into the image of a cross, and sometimes into the image of a bolt of lightning!