Chapter 130: Leaving Qinshan
Under the cover of night, the shadows beneath Zhou Ming’s feet began to writhe, as dense clusters of Ironthread Snakes were summoned by him.
Because he had already obtained the intelligence in advance and knew that the three-story ordinary building ahead concealed various detection devices, Zhou Ming did not let the Ironthread Snakes infiltrate immediately.
According to the plan, Zhou Ming controlled an Ironthread Snake and headed toward the nearby power distribution box, intending to create a short circuit with the Ironthread Snake and cut off the electricity in the surrounding area.
Because there was a backup power supply inside the building, Zhou Ming only had a window of a few seconds to climb over the wall without being discovered, so he could only sacrifice one Ironthread Snake.
The power box suddenly crackled with electric sparks, and the light shining from nearby windows instantly vanished. Zhou Ming immediately seized the opportunity, leapt up with force, and directly vaulted over the three-meter-high wall.
The Ironthread Snake swarm, already prepared, entered the compound through drainage outlets and other gaps.
After vaulting over the wall, Zhou Ming immediately struck at the Black-backed Dogs that had sensed the disturbance. The powerful mental pressure from his dark-gold serpent pupils forced the two Black-backed Dogs to lie prone on the ground, letting out low whimpers.
Because he had intelligence on the burly man, the keen-sensed Black-backed Dogs did not raise an alarm and were directly approached by Zhou Ming, who stabbed a dagger through their ears into their brains.
“Damn it, another power outage.”
The security personnel in the gate guard room cursed as he walked out of the room to check the situation, only for a streak of blood-light to sever his throat.
It was Zhou Ming’s beast, Vermilion Jade, who made the move.
At the same time, power was restored inside the small building, and the personnel responsible for monitoring in the basement asked about the situation.
“It seems like there was a concentrated power outage in this area.”
“Damn it, the Qinshan Base officials really eat shit. It’s power outages at the drop of a hat.”
Hearing his companion’s response, the monitoring personnel also started cursing.
Because hydropower required suitable environments and thermal power consumed massive amounts of fuel, power generation within the Alliance almost entirely relied on nuclear energy.
However, the risks of nuclear power were too great. Once destroyed by Ferocious Beasts, it would cause irreparable losses.
Therefore, the nuclear power at Qinshan Base was small-scale nuclear generation designed for safety, with limited output.
Apart from the inner city, power outages in the four outer-city districts were not uncommon.
Among them, the western district was relatively better, because it housed the airship landing field, which was the core connection between Qinshan Base and the outside world.
However, it had independent power lines dedicated to ensuring that the airship landing field was unaffected by electricity issues, while the rest of the western district did not enjoy such treatment.
It was precisely due to these circumstances, coupled with the fact that the stronghold had never experienced an incident, that the intrusion was not discovered in time.
Outside the small building, the Ironthread Snake swarm scattered in all directions, helping Zhou Ming construct a complete Radar Sensory Domain.
As for Inkband and Vermilion Jade, they began clearing out the personnel inside the building according to Zhou Ming’s instructions.
With Vermilion Jade’s speed and Inkband’s concealment ability, those Plum Blossom branch members of the Dark Card Organization who were only responsible for gathering intelligence were all killed without any resistance.
Some of them were even still asleep. Without feeling the slightest pain, their consciousness sank into darkness.
However, no matter how covert Zhou Ming’s actions were, the aura of slaughter still alarmed the person in charge who was resting inside the stronghold.
An Iron-armored Python was summoned. Its nearly ten-meter-long body and metallic sheen scales were enough to trouble an ordinary Beast Tamer.
But the opponent encountered Zhou Ming.
The dark-gold serpent pupils bloomed with an eerie glow. Before the Iron-armored Python could even display its ferocious might, it felt fear stemming from its very bloodline.
A streak of blood-light descended from the sky. The bare tailbone pierced into the Iron-armored Python’s skull like a flying sword.
The stronghold leader, who was just about to raise his gun and issue an alarm, instantly felt his head splitting in pain. Inkband directly dealt with him and carried him away.
With the lack of security forces, the people of the Plum Blossom stronghold had almost no capacity to resist.
After dealing with the leader, Zhou Ming did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately headed toward the basement.
“Who?”
As the basement door was pushed open, the person on duty instinctively asked.
“Bang, bang……”
The muffled gunshots were Zhou Ming’s answer.
After confirming through the Radar Sensory Domain that all targets had been eliminated, Zhou Ming finally felt at ease and swept his gaze across the environment before him.
Monitoring consoles, long-distance telegram transmitters, file cabinets, armories……
The basement housed most of the important items belonging to the people of the Plum Blossom stronghold.
Zhou Ming then approached the long-distance telegram transmitter. This was a device powered by energy crystals, capable of transmitting information over long distances.
Zhou Ming did not understand its principles, only knowing that it was unaffected by the environment and required a massive consumption of energy crystals for each use.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the Plum Blossom strongholds of the Dark Card Organization would only report information once a month.
In special situations, they would use it regardless of the cost.
After briefly checking the records and confirming that no messages had been sent recently, Zhou Ming immediately took out fuel from his spatial ring.
Kill people and set fires, destroy corpses and erase traces—every step had to be completed.
More than ten minutes later, after stuffing his spatial ring full of spoils, a column of flame surged into the night sky.
The dazzling firelight was extraordinarily eye-catching within Qinshan Base.
As for the commotion he had caused, Zhou Ming paid it no further attention and quickly returned to his home.
……
The next day, Zhou Ming dialed Xiao Yun’s number.
Because of Xiao Lei, Zhou Ming had already reduced his contact with Xiao Yun, and Xiao Yun also knew that she had brought him trouble, so their communication had greatly diminished over the past year.
This time, Zhou Ming wanted to ask her to help him obtain an auditing certificate for Qinghui Scientific Research University.
Without taking the college entrance examination, one could attend university lectures, but could not enjoy various benefits nor participate in research projects.
Qinghui Scientific Research University was not a Beast Tamer academy, but a research institute within Qinghui Base. Zhou Ming wanted to use this opportunity to acquire professional knowledge related to spirit, mind, and consciousness, in order to perfect the final step of his class advancement—the Snake Swarm Will.
“Are you sure you want an auditing certificate from Qinghui Scientific Research University, and not Qinghui Beast Tamer University?”
On the phone, Xiao Yun confirmed Zhou Ming’s request. After all, she still knew what Zhou Ming’s aspirations were.
“Yes, Qinghui Scientific Research University. Sister Yun, I’ll transfer you one million. Consider it the expense for arranging this matter.”
“Can you help me get it as soon as possible?”
With the Xiao Family’s current capabilities, getting an auditing certificate from a Beast Tamer university was impossible. Even the research university would be very difficult, which was why Zhou Ming was willing to transfer one million to facilitate the matter.
“At the fastest, I’ll need three days. In three days, I’ll give it to you.”
Xiao Yun did not refuse the one-million transfer, because she also had to rely on her father to pull strings for this matter.
After the two chatted briefly, Zhou Ming hung up the phone.
While waiting for Xiao Yun to obtain the auditing certificate, Zhou Ming took the opportunity to thoroughly clean the modified laboratory.
Three days later, after obtaining the auditing certificate, Zhou Ming prepared to leave this familiar place.
First, to acquire the necessary knowledge and perfect the Snake Swarm Will plan, thereby smoothly advancing to a Professional Beast Tamer.
Second, to prevent the Dark Card Organization from finding him. After all, his plan might not be flawless, and any oversight could potentially expose him.