Star Gate

Chapter 76: The Inspectorate of Silver City (I)

The rain came down in buckets. Liu Yan delivered finishing blows to the Ghostfaces on the ground, even the Sunderer fallen in a kneeling position. Experience had taught her to be deathly afraid of an enemy faking death.

Instances abounded on the battlefield of being killed in turn when one failed to make sure that the foe was dead. After the supernatural world appeared, so did unique abilities that could temporarily stop the heart. Sometimes, burning them to ashes was the best way to deal with those bastards.

Liu Yan wasn’t injured. She’d broken the skin in a few places from running too quickly and being caught in the final grenade blast—that didn’t count. When she finished her task, she looked at Li Hao again, as if seeing the young man for the first time.

Li Hao had demonstrated an extremely ruthless character when he fought Zhou He. However, the team occupied a disadvantageous position this time. Regardless, this newbie Slayer of Tens still brainstormed how to counterattack under such circumstances, and succeeded!

A Sunderer wouldn’t take Li Hao lightly, if not for the martial master’s own carelessness. Even with the three Demon Hunters working together, it was far more likely that their enemy would trounce them.

A baffled Chen Jian picked himself up—the portly man was injured. He’d safeguarded their rear and had been hit by some of the martial masters wielding guns. His skin and flesh were thick, so he was able to nonchalantly dig out the bullets from his back and buttock. He was also staring at Li Hao.

The two veterans held the young man in high regard after this battle! Meanwhile, the subject of their attentions sank into deep thought. He turned toward the two after thinking of next steps.

“Do we have more grenades?” He’d thrown out all of the ones he carried.

“An ambush?” Liu Yan shook her head. “Anyone with sufficient experience will not rashly check corpses. They’re all martial masters, so they’re all experienced. It’s just that they underestimated you…”

Li Hao chuckled. He wanted to say that he was actually thinking of possibly getting one on the supernaturals—but those might be even more on guard. They also commanded more abilities, so it was more likely that the grenades would be wasted instead of blowing them to death.

“Should we bury them?”

Any length of concealment that they could manage was acceptable. Once the enemy discovered that a squad of martial masters had died, Li Hao and the others would dramatically rise in importance. He didn’t need to explain that to the rest of the team; Liu Yan tossed corpses into the pit created by the grenades after she finished ensuring they were dead. Chen Jian helped as well.

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Plainly, it wasn’t the first time they’d undertaken a task like this. When Li Hao stepped forward to help, three people made quick work of all of the bodies. The young man looted a dagger from the Sunderer—bare fists and hands were sometimes a losing combination.

Just look at how Liu Yan operated with a dagger! Martial masters were made of flesh and blood, after all. She cut through their throats with one stroke all the same.

The trio left the rest of the items alone. They could come back for the rest of the loot if they won the night. If not… it was a futile effort to take anything. Although there was only one Sunderer among the ten martial masters, there was bound to be treasure on everyone. The Demon Hunters were preoccupied elsewhere for the moment.

The torrential downpour was a boon as it washed away the blood and footprints. Water swiftly accumulated in the pit of corpses. A cursory glance would lead one to think that this was just a puddle. Seeing as they were close to the city outskirts, it was quite normal for a pothole to appear here.

Liu Yan and Chen Jian didn’t say a word as they busied themselves. The team could just barely see each other through the feeble moonlight filtering through the darkness. Not even the heavy rain could blot out the crescent in the sky. The scene seemed particularly desolate!

Liu Yan rose when she finished and waved her hand. Chen Jian and Li Hao swiftly fell in step behind her, proceeding along the muddy road.

“We’ll go to the meeting spot—the warehouse at the foot of Mt. Heavenly King!” she said.

“They must know that we buried explosives there…” Li Hao raised. One hundred percent they knew! The enemy wouldn’t try to stop him from exiting the city otherwise.

“No worries!” Liu Yan seemed willing to reveal certain things to the young man now. Her gaze was remote through the heavy rainfall, but it softened with friendliness when she looked at him. “They won’t see through chief that easily! I can tell you a thing or two though. Just remember that when we reach the meeting spot, we’ll have the ability to withstand supernaturals!”

Withstand supernaturals?

Li Hao didn’t understand, but he could tell that Liu Long had other arrangements at the ready. This law enforcement captain of Silver City seemed more capable than he thought! Although the captain’s whereabouts and status were currently unknown, no one would think he was dead before seeing his corpse.

“Hurry! We need to make it there before they react! They think that those martial masters are enough to capture us!”

“Alright!”

The three sprinted through the darkness. Chen Jian was the slowest—after the bullets, he was even slower than Li Hao. His wounds still bled and he muttered after a while, “You guys go ahead, I’ll bring up the rear! I’ll set up an ambush and kill whoever comes in pursuit!”

He was so slow that he was less than Li Hao at their current pace. He was only a burden to the other two, so he might as well stay and fight with everything he had left!

As for departing the premises… the thought didn’t cross his mind. To the Demon Hunters, departure before the mission was complete was desertion.

Li Hao smacked his head and grabbed Chen Jian’s arm, sending a warm current into the man.

“Don’t worry about it, this is a unique special force that my teacher taught me!”

The baffled Chen Jian didn’t say anything as he quickly felt the benefits of this energy. His wounds immediately stopped hurting and the vast quantity of internal force he’d depleted before rapidly returned.

Li Hao possessed secrets.

Of course, the portly man neither minded nor had the ability to care. His face flushed as excitement brewed. He could continue the mission! Once his internal force began recovering and his wounds stopped bleeding, strength returned to his limbs.

Up ahead, Liu Yan said nothing and grabbed Li Hao’s hand. “Give me some so I won’t consume too much stamina!”

She couldn’t afford to exhaust as many resources as she was during such high speed running. Locating a car was out of the question as it was the middle of the night in the suburbs. They would also become too conspicuous if they found one.

Li Hao said nothing as he held Liu Yan with one hand and Chen Jian with the other. The three formed a line with the young man in the middle. He was almost torn apart as he focused on conducting some cosmic power into the two.

This wasn’t the time to quibble over energy. If they failed, everyone would die. If they succeeded, they were all battle comrades through life and death. It was just cosmic power—he could easily find a plausible excuse. It was up to them if they believed him or not.

The young man somehow had the effort to spare for other thought. “Is chief unable to make the crossover, or does he not want to?”

“He’s unable to!” Liu Yan quickly responded as they ran. “Who’s fool enough to not ascend if they can? Don’t overthink it! He’s not Yuan Shuo though, he does have a chance to ascend. The Night Watchers are willing to give him plenty of opportunities, but with one caveat. He needs to move to White Moon City after ascension and hold down the fort there!

“Chief will very possibly be a Sunflare after he makes the transformation. The Night Watchers need his help, but he’s not willing. Thus, he left them and returned home!

“The provincial government wishes to tighten their defensive net. Silver City, among others, will have their charter revoked and be moved elsewhere. The Night Watchers mean to give some cities and people to the supernatural organizations and recognize their rule!”

Li Hao blinked. Recognize their rule? What did that mean?

“The current organizations are completely lawless,” Liu Yan muttered while they ran. “Part of that is due to a complete lack of public knowledge of where their base is, how many people they have, and how strong they are.

“They can have a few cities and even an entire province if need be. They can establish a nation so that one, they will have ties that bind them, making them be much more prudent about attacking mundanes. Two, it will be easier to attack them if they have a significant base of operations. Three, some of our more powerful siege weapons will be useful if they form their own nation. They won’t be able to come and go at will like they do now…”

Li Hao’s eyes gleamed after he thought it over. This was good!

It was absolutely a good development based on Liu Yan’s words. These organizations were so unbridled because they were entirely unrestrained and mysterious. They would be curtailed once they established a nation.

Go on, be cocky little shits then! We’ll blast you with cannons and siege weapons!

The Night Watchers had a great idea!

“This is the inexorable trend of the times!” Liu Yan continued. “Chief and I are unable to protest and cannot protest because their strategy is right, the plan is correct. It is one that will stabilize society and these unknown factors!

“But Li Hao, keep in mind that people are needed to establish a nation. Where will the people come from? The current government is comprised of ordinary people, so they care and are willing to protect their own kind. Do you think the supernaturals of these organizations will care? Will they properly run their cities? Thus, wherever is abandoned means that its people are also abandoned!”

What would happen to ordinary people if they lived under the auspices of supernatural organizations?

No one knew!

They might live happily ever after, or it might be a living hell. The future was unknown, which made it highly unfair to those left behind.

However, what else could be done?

Everything Liu Long did was to prevent Silver City from becoming an abandoned city. It wasn’t strategically important as it was located on the province’s borders. Being a small city, its population was tiny, making it a good choice for abandonment. Using it to curtail some supernatural organizations seemed like a great deal.

However, Liu Long wasn’t willing. He’d come back home and slowly ascend through killing supernaturals. Only through this could he ensure that Silver City wasn’t renounced. Once it was, the entire city would fall under supernatural jurisdiction.

Once war broke out, the city would become leverage for the government to use against the organizations. Weapons of great devastation might be used against Silver City. While Li Hao didn’t read the situation that clearly yet, the upper levels of Silver City and the Night Watchers were well aware. It was part of the reason why the Demon Hunters had been established.

Liu Yan fell silent as the young man digested what he’d heard. The three moved at high speed with minimal movement, darting through the night. They were more than ten kilometers out from their designated meeting spot. Even as martial masters, they needed time to traverse the distance given the environment.