“But you are barred from reaching grand perfection!” Qiao Feilong murmured. “Based on the information we’ve gathered these years, the physical body is still very important. The notion of ascending beyond matter by abandoning the body is not proven! Red Moon is undertaking a similar plan—you’ve seen for yourself what you discovered before and realized that they were just puppets. They aren’t true spirits!”
“The spirit...” The person in the dark quieted down. They thought of the scarlet shadows that existed like puppets, completely lacking their own consciousness. Although they moved without a trace and were invisible to outsiders, they had not ascended any plane of existence.
Red Moon might have already discovered something and started experimenting, but everything pointed to the conclusion that this was not a viable path.
“Did someone from Red Moon come to collect those things?” Qiao Feilong asked.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t dare investigate with Yuan Shuo in the city and Hao Lianchuan also present at the time. They were gone when I could perform reconnaissance. Red Moon might have retrieved them, or they might have collapsed on their own.”
“What a pity!” Qiao Feilong sighed. He might’ve been inclined to capture some for study otherwise. They might be very useful.
Li Hao was naturally completely oblivious of the conversation that took place at Qiao Mining. He and Liu Long were hiding in the basement with the others. There was an additional fixture there today—a car undergoing modification.
Yun Yao gently embedded ice crystals into the vehicle, turning it into a moving ice crystal cover. A merry Liu Yan regarded her efforts with crossed arms.
“Modifying this is no problem, but we can’t let Li Hao drive it. If he does... he’ll crash this thing to smithereens no matter how tightly you enclose it!”
“Sis! My driving’s been pretty decent the past couple of days,” Li Hao protested awkwardly.
“Enough of that!” Liu Yan snorted. Pretty crap, more like!
Wang Ming and the supernaturals were also present. The former looked the car over with a frown. “What’s the point of modifying the car? The engine’s noise will draw the enemy’s attention. You’re just obscuring the supernatural ripples.”
What was the point of this? There wasn’t a need for it, ice crystals were expensive and easily broken.
“It’s enough to simply conceal mysterious power!” Liu Long explained calmly. “You supernaturals will ride in the car to prevent your power from leaking out and being exposed.”
Martial masters weren’t afraid of that possibility, but supernaturals were easily exposed.
“Chief, can we still not know who the target is?” Chen Jian shifted weapons off to the side.
“What are you in a rush for?!” Liu Long answered curtly and turned back to Wang Ming. “I told you your mission already, so keep another point in mind. Try not to get out of the car if you can help it, not unless the enemy is running toward you! Apart from being a zone of concealment, the ice crystal cover is also to facilitate your ambushes. You need to make good use of the opportunity!”
He then addressed Chen Jian and the other martial masters. “You, Wu Chao, and Liu Yan will be responsible for employing the hot weapons. The target will seek to kill you at first opportunity, but they may also show you mercy. Sunflares will most likely want revenge after being blasted by hot weapons!”
The martial masters nodded. Plainly, they were bait in this operation. It wouldn’t be the first time. They were in a more precarious position compared to the supernaturals.
“What about me?” Li Hao asked. There was no job for him.
Liu Long looked at him. “What do you think you can do?”
I... Li Hao didn’t know what to say, but also what Liu Long meant. The chief was protecting him as he knew the young man was a Sunderer. He was actually stronger than Chen Jian and Wu Chao.
“Your mission is simple, get rid of that flea!” Liu Long assigned a task in the end because he was worried about Li Hao wandering off. The flea he spoke of was Qiao Peng. The Qiaos needed to be exterminated as soon as possible.
“Then let Sis Liu go...”
“Just listen to orders!” Liu Long growled. “Not to mention, you’re a more suitable candidate if that person’s also at the office. I’d be afraid that your teacher doesn’t care about Liu Yan’s survival, do you understand?”
Li Hao did. If Qiao Peng was present when they went to take out Qiao Feilong, that made for a sticky situation. Or perhaps his teacher would eliminate him as an afterthought.
“Chief, is that guy really not going to go home?” Li Hao thought for a bit. “Why would he be at the office in the middle of the night?”
“He will. He’s lived there for many years.”
It was very odd that Qiao Feilong never returned home. Perhaps it was out of a desire to keep his strength hidden, or perhaps there was another reason. Regardless, there was a bedroom in his office.
Liu Long had personally visited to spy upon him there, which was why he knew that Qiao Feilong did not leave at night.
“Everyone needs to be careful as we will be conducting separate missions. We will commence action at the appropriate time. Synchronize watches now!”
The team looked down at their watches; the supernaturals did not wear any as mysterious power easily interfered with mechanical workings. That wasn’t a problem, however, as they would be with Liu Yan and the others.
Liu Long took a deep breath after completing preparations and waited. Only the sounds of everyone busy completing their tasks filled the basement. He rose to his feet when the car was complete after an indeterminate period of time.
“Li Hao, let’s make a round and let everyone know that we’re still here. Liu Yan will take the car and drive the others to the target spot!”
“Understood!” Excitement and agitation filled the woman’s eyes. She knew who the target was tonight!
She only had one mission—drive the car to a high vantage point near the mines and go into hiding. Then, when the time arrives, blast the shit out of those fuckers!
Wang Ming and the rest of the team quickly climbed into the car, leaving only Liu Long and Li Hao. Liu Long took a moment to sense the surroundings when the door closed and nodded with satisfaction when he couldn’t sense any mysterious power. Rookies such as Wang Ming and his comrades easily seeped energy. The three Sunflares would sense them as soon as they walked out of the ruins.
Another door opened elsewhere in the basement, one that led straight to the underground garage. No one would notice if they drove out of there.
Nerves set in once everyone left—Liu Long whispered as they walked, “This is the strongest enemy I’ve ever faced in my professional career, and it’s not just one enemy. Nothing can go wrong with your teacher’s side or we’ll be in grave trouble!”
As Qiao Mining’s headquarters were in the city center, blunders could easily happen. Of course, based on their analysis, neither Yuan Shuo nor Qiao Feilong would want others in the city to know of their situation. Hao Lianchuan was also present, so Qiao Feilong was bound to leave at the first possible opportunity once battle was joined.
But that was just their judgment. As for whether or not he would do so, that was uncertain.
“Chief, we’ve done everything we should do, so there’s no use in thinking too much about the results. The more perfect a plan is, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. All we can do now is just forge our heads!”
Liu Long inclined his head. “You only have one mission—protect yourself!”
“Don’t worry, chief. I’m a Sunderer!”
Liu Long didn’t say anything to that. “Perhaps you can bring Panther with you to prevent falling to bizarre danger. Supernaturals have many tricks up their sleeves. People can’t see certain things, but the dog can.”
He showed extra care and concern for the young man as his breakthrough to Dominator had much to do with Li Hao.
“I will!” The two reached the ground floor as they spoke, running into Hao Lianchuan descending from upstairs.
“Have Wang Ming and the others left?” he asked curiously when he saw the two. He didn’t sense other supernaturals within the building. Were they gone?
“They’ve gone to procure certain things for our fallen comrades.” Liu Long nodded. “Where are you headed to, Director Hao?”
“To Yuan Shuo,” Hao Lianchuan chuckled. “He’s the foremost of Silver City, after all, and needs to be invited to something . But he might not show you face if you go, so I’ll go in person!”
The professor would show him face, right?”
“I’ll go, director!” Li Hao hastily said. “How can we trouble the director? I’ll bring my teacher back here.”
“You go?” Hao Lianchuan acquiesced after some thought.
A merry Mu Sen walked in from outside. “Director Hao, Ole Liu, shall we instate a curfew tonight since there will be a gathering of supernaturals? Some of these guys won’t follow the rules and could cause trouble.”
“That’d be for the best!” Liu Long glanced at his watch. “Let’s make it a bit earlier tonight at 8pm! We can prevent anyone from acting the fool on the way here. The reception will start at 9pm sharp!”
9pm was slightly late, but day and night were all the same to supernaturals. Liu Long would’ve gone to Mu Sen had the inspector general not come. It’d be best if no one was on the streets tonight.
Mu Sen nodded; Li Hao made his farewells to leave for his teacher’s.
A weapon that looked like a brass knuckle had appeared in Yuan Shuo’s hands; the sharper point in the middle was the truly lethal weapon.
The blade of the Zhangs!
He pointed at a map on the table. “Your reception starts at 9pm. As the main focal point of the evening, I will leave at 8:30pm. You drive. We’ll pass by Qiao Mining Industries at roughly 8:45pm.”
Silver City was a small place. There would be almost no one on the streets at that time, and even fewer tonight since curfew would be in effect.
Qiao Mining headquarters was located in the commercial district. No one was there at night since they left for home after work.
“Teacher, Qiao Feilong is on the top floor. We don’t know how to fly, so we can only take the elevator or stairs. Doesn’t that give him too much time to react?”
Yuan Shuo smiled. “That’s of no matter, the Birdshot technique isn’t that impotent. Two leaps will definitely be sufficient, if not one! He won’t have much time to react. Qiao Feilong’s used to hiding in the dark, so he won’t respond as quickly this first time!”
Li Hao nodded. He could only trust his teacher’s words.
Student and teacher fell silent. Time trickled while they waited. It was soon 7pm, yet the sky wasn’t fully dark. Night descended slower on a summer’s night.