The Dark Thoughts of a Modern-Day Jia Xu

After a long journey by air, Riley finally ended his trip to Mexico and, with Banner whom he had met unexpectedly, returned to that land that prides itself on democracy and freedom.

Of course, because they were wanted by District 13, the Mafia couldn't land openly at a civilian airport, which meant Riley and Banner were currently in the suburbs, some distance from New York City.

To avoid pushing Tru too far and preventing him from becoming truly enraged and binding himself entirely to the Mafia, Riley kept his promise and, after disembarking from the plane, parted ways with the Mafia, keeping to himself.

At first glance, it seems that from this moment on, Riley and Banner will have to rely on their own two feet to slowly walk from the suburbs to the city.

But Riley, who had planned this all along, calmly made a phone call after the Mafia members left.

After a short wait, Uncle Long and Jade, who had arrived in New York earlier on a regular flight, met Banner and Riley in the iconic black van driven by Sheriff Black. They picked them up and drove smoothly into the city.

"Rieley, may I ask... if you just want Mr. Banner to enter New York City without attracting the military's attention, you could simply ask me for help. Why risk taking a Mafia plane? Isn't that unnecessary?"

During this time, everyone believed that Riley must have had his reasons for doing so.

But even after the Mafia members left, the crowd couldn't suppress their curiosity and confusion.

After exchanging glances, Sheriff Black, always straightforward and honest, spoke first, asking Riley a question.

"The answer is simple, because it's an open conspiracy."

Considering that Sheriff Black trusted his judgment and restrained his agents from arresting them all while Tru and his group were away, Riley was happy to give them this invaluable trust and carefully explain his plans to everyone.

After a brief moment of thought, Riley, in this secluded environment with no outsiders around, removed his battle suit, which had been in use and was now showing signs of low energy. He then began explaining, in the simplest terms possible, to these kind-hearted people before him—who, let alone Riley, probably all of them combined, were less cunning than a child like Jade.

"Just imagine, what will Valon think when he finds out that Tru's trip to Mexico not only failed to bring him back any talismans, but also that he teamed up with Uncle Long to fight the enemy, and even took me with him on his way back?"

"Hmm... I understand! I'll blame Tru for his poor performance and give him a good scolding!"

"You got it right, but not entirely."

"what?"

"Sheriff Black, put yourself in Valon's shoes... Imagine you're the leader of a crime syndicate. You discover that your top enforcer is working closely with your arch-enemy, and even spent a considerable amount of time with one of them on the way back... Even if Tru desperately tries to explain that he was forced by circumstances and had no intention of betraying you, would you still dare to continue relying on Tru as before to ensure the success of your future operations?"

"Hiss, this..."

"So, I didn't just choose to hitch a ride with the Mafia to avoid causing trouble for District 13. I also wanted to plant a seed of suspicion in Valmont's heart."

"Although for the time being, Valon will still choose to believe Tru. Even if you, Sheriff Black, hadn't been able to control your impulses and had taken Tru and the others to Section 13, Valon would do everything in his power to rescue Tru and the others."

"However, once Tru consistently fails in his attempts to seize the talismans, Valon's growing disappointment leads him to suspect that Tru has already betrayed them, becoming a spy planted within the Black Hand to constantly thwart him!"

"In this way, Valon will not only sideline Tru, but also, in order to prevent Tru from taking action against him, he will support a new confidant to check Tru and gradually replace Tru's position in the organization."

"Once Tru is disheartened, feels his sincerity has been misplaced, and his loyalty begins to waver, we'll extend an olive branch to him. By appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him, we can recruit a powerful lieutenant like Tru to our side without bloodshed!"

"With all these maneuvers, we can not only do nothing but wait for Tru to come and surrender. And by then, Tru, who believes only we understand his predicament, will even have to sincerely thank us, hahaha!"

Initially, Riley simply wanted to share his thoughts with everyone.

But as the explanation went on, Riley inexplicably felt as if he had been possessed by a famous strategist who would go down in history, becoming spirited and unable to stop.

His eloquent explanations revealed the true nature of Tru, who was supposed to be an irreconcilable enemy of District 13, and even the hidden figures Valmont and Shendu.

After giving his initial explanation, he put his hands on his hips and laughed triumphantly at his "masterpiece."

"...Wait, why aren't you laughing? Is there some flaw in my plan?"

When Riley came to his senses, he found that the people in the carriage, instead of laughing heartily with him about to turn the Black Hand's rightful henchman against him, were all remaining silent, staring at him with extremely strange and complicated expressions.

Banner, who had initially trusted Riley, couldn't help but begin to doubt whether he, like Tru, had been outmaneuvered by Riley long ago, and a chill ran down his spine. He silently shrank into a corner of the carriage, quietly keeping a distance from Riley.

This made Riley feel inexplicably embarrassed, and he thought that his hastily conceived plan had a huge flaw that he had failed to discover in time.

He quickly frowned, muttering to himself as he repeatedly went through the process of the plan in his mind, confirming its feasibility.

"That shouldn't be the case... Even if Valon is really determined to continue to rely on and trust Tru, I've still gotten a free return flight. I haven't lost anything in terms of morality or logic..."

"And I also planted a tracking device on Tru. As long as Tru returns to Valon, we can pinpoint the location of the Mafia's headquarters... At worst, we can release false information about the talisman to lure most of their people away, and then wipe out the Mafia's stronghold in one fell swoop. That would be a gain in itself..."

"If all else fails... I remember District 13 has heavy weaponry, right? Under the guise of organizing an evacuation drill, we can evacuate the surrounding residents in advance. Then, we can bombard them with firepower and wipe them off the face of the earth, along with the Black Hand's headquarters, while Shendu is still just a statue and hasn't been unsealed?"

"No, no, that's not safe enough. What if the tracker is detected and gives a fake address? And even if the address is real, I remember that even though Shendu is sealed away, he can still summon the Shadow Legion... What if the Shadow Legion runs away with Shendu's statue before we can destroy him, and we can't take him down in one go? Then it will be difficult to find him again!"

"Yes, that's right... Thinking about it that way, until we're absolutely certain, we still need to keep the Black Hand Gang as bait to keep the Holy Lord calm. But it's not like there's no room for maneuver at all. If I could..."

It was precisely because of Riley's rambling that Sheriff Black, who was already stunned, suddenly had a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Then, with trembling hands, he gently lifted Riley's jaw, which was at risk of dislocation, and put it back in place. He swallowed hard and carefully extended his other hand, patting Riley's shoulder as gently as possible.

Then, meeting Riley's puzzled gaze, Sheriff Black, with a complex expression, spoke meaningfully, revealing the thoughts of everyone present.

"Riley..."

"Huh? What's wrong, Sheriff Blake?"

"I only just realized that you're one of us, that's so great... Promise me, if you ever run into trouble, just come to me, I'll definitely help you! Don't let a moment of impulse lead you astray!!!"

"Huh? Why do you say that... Wait, Uncle Long, Jade, why are you nodding? Even Banner, you...?!"