Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Adjust the flight route? Beside him, the officer’s eyes widened. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly relayed the message to the pilot in the cockpit.
From the information he was given, he was well aware that the Physical Invulnerability Mighty One before him had a keen sense of danger premonition.
Plus, his ability was supported by past cases, so this wasn’t superstitious drivel.
Soon, the plane diverted from its initial route and took a longer way.
A few minutes later, they received a warning from the control station stating that there were two factions at war in the area ahead. Fighter jets, bombers, anti-aircraft artillery, and SAMs had all been deployed, so it was best if they steered clear to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
As to why they were called factions, not every area had its own government, so there wasn’t anything along the lines of rebels or sects. Though factions controlled a large amount of territory, they never formed official countries.
After receiving this information, the officer sneaked another peek at Lou Cheng, looking at him as if he defied the natural laws of science.
As of now, modern technology was not even capable of such premonition abilities.
So this is what they call “seeing is believing!”
Lou Cheng, eyes shut, had begun meditating again in preparation for any conflict.
The plane landed at the Gelangang at the crack of dawn, where they were welcomed by stationed troops.
Lou Cheng requested a satellite phone and contacted Yan Zheke to inform her of his safety. Then, he looked around and asked in a deep voice,
“Are the elders from Shushan Sect here yet?”
“Senior Heaven Leaning Sword and Senior Seven Stars have already made their way to Tignes City in Tallinn,” reported Officer Wang Feiyun. “We have prepared information for you containing answers to questions they raised and the files they browsed through.”
As he spoke, he produced binders of information from his briefcase.
“Thank you,” Lou Cheng nodded and took them. In the back row of the camouflaged jeep, he began poring over the information in his hand, probing for hidden clues.
“Did Lin Que last return to this place five days ago?” he asked thoughtfully after a while.
Gelangang was China’s main operating base in the war-torn zones. Mighty Ones who ventured into the surrounding lands in seek of self-improvement treated this place as a base for recuperation, meditation, resupplying, and information gathering. Lin Que was no exception.
“That’s correct,” Wang Feiyun hesitated. “He brought back a group of people. It could be related to what he’s been up to for the past few months.”
Lou Cheng shut the files, his right index finger gently tapping the paperback.
“Bring me there. I’ll have a look.”
Based on the information he was given, there had been mentions of other people. Along with the information gathered by Lin Que, he was getting an idea of what happened. Now, he might be able to get some worthwhile information if he could pay a visit to these witnesses. Anyway, Ke Ke’s grandpa and grandma had already gone to Tignes, so he could afford to take his time.
“Sure,” Wang Feiyun agreed readily.
In Gelangang, China had its own military base and airport, which was where Lou Cheng had arrived. The jeep left the entrance and zoomed on the quiet, deserted road under the dim morning light. The visible bullet holes in the surrounding walls suggested that the place wasn’t exactly peaceful.
After arriving at China’s rescue unit located in the southern part of the city, Wang Leyun led Lou Cheng to some buildings in the back.
“They’re in awful shape. Some have even begun displaying symptoms of autism,” he pointed to a door.
Through the window, Lou Cheng saw children that had lost their liveliness, women staring blankly into the air, and men who ranged from taciturn to silent. They seemed to have lost their souls, responding only to physical stimulation.
Hardened as he was, Lou Cheng couldn’t bear to look at them in their dazed, vacant eyes. He had Wang Feiyun pick out two relatively sane men and proceeded to question them on what had happened.
He roughly understood what Lin Que had been up to the past few months—while hunting down an international human trafficking organization based in Tignes, Lin Que had thwarted the organization’s deals multiple times with the help of other Mighty Ones, causing them huge losses.
After that, the mafia organization stayed low. Without further leads, Lin Que headed for Tignes for training and to probe for more information.
“Did they take revenge on him? Or did he run into a high-caliber enemy while following their trail?” wondered Lou Cheng.
He never expected an aloof, introverted, quiet guy like his brother-in-law to risk his life in the name of justice.
...
Locked room, walls glistening with metallic sheen.
Lin Que laid limply on a bed covered in a white sheet. His limbs were bound by cuffs with silvery spikes that impaled his bones and muscles. His blood stained the spikes sanguine.
His jet-black pupils were slightly unfocused but fiercely defiant. From head to toe, there were all sorts of apparatus fixed onto him.
“Increase pain stimulation. Observe reaction in bone marrow and brainwave...”
“Extract 10ml of blood, then mix Reagent No. T305 into it and inject it into lab rat No. 106...”
“Make a 3cm incision in the muscles and apply Reagent No. T246. Record down the rejection and recovery process. Focus on gathering data...”
...
“Stop. Give Test Subject No.19 time to recover. Collate the data from before.”
...
As he listened to the cruel, merciless sounds, Lin Que felt unbearable pain, as though he was being dismembered. He wanted badly to pass out.
But he stubbornly hung in there. He felt dizzy, as though he was experiencing hell. If not for his strength, his teeth would have sunk into his lips.
Finally, the torture ended. It took all his strength to stay awake, inspecting his body and healing his wounds, until he completely lost consciousness.
...
In the China Military Base in Gelangang.
Through the satellite phone, Lou Cheng got in touch with the elderly couple, Ji Jianzhang and Dou Ning, who were already in Tignes City.
“So you’re here too...” said Ji Jianzhang, pleased. “Hurry up and make your way here then. Stay low. We can’t afford to alarm the enemy. Who knows what they might do if they’re backed into a corner. When you get here, we’ll act separately to save time.”
At first, Lou Cheng didn’t really get why the old man instructed him to stay low, but he made sense of it after thinking it through.
His brother-in-law had left the stage—the center of attraction—before attaining Inhuman level. He wasn’t well-known, despite having a bit of fame. In fact, he was close to being forgotten in the recent two years. Therefore, foreign intelligence agencies never paid much attention to him, and it wouldn’t be strange for organizations in the war-torn areas to be ignorant of his background.
If his kidnappers realized that his abduction had drawn at least three Physical Invulnerability experts to them, they would be confronted with two choices. The first was to surrender and hope for a better outcome through negotiations using the hostage. The other was to silence the hostage and hide their tracks, erasing every trace of his brother-in-law.
The latter option was highly plausible, which explains why Gramps and Granny were unwilling to take the risk. The plan was to storm the enemy base after ascertaining the clues.
Whew...Exhaling, Lou Cheng updated his wife with the latest information. Keeping the satellite phone, he asked for a map of Tallinn and Tignes, then left Gelangang without further ado. He traveled by foot, which was much faster than any off-road vehicle.
Around noon, when the sun was at its zenith, he arrived at Tignes after scaling mountains and hills. Skirting around the entrances guarded by armed personnel, he infiltrated the city from an unlikely opening. His first destination was Kamon Street, the place where Lin Que had dwelled and recuperated, as mentioned in the information he received.
At the end of the street, children around age ten armed with automatic rifles were patrolling up and down. Their clothes were tattered, their complexion swarthy. The innocence on their faces had been replaced by numbness and flitting looks of hatred.
Lou Cheng hid his presence by casting a Cultivation secret art. Using the ice’s refraction and distortion on sunlight, he camouflaged himself.
Just like that, he walked through the streets under the eyes of the boy scouts undetected.
Longhu Cultivation Secret Art—Invisibility!
At the center of Kamon Street, Lou Cheng entered a rundown apartment, ascending the stairs to the third floor.
As mentioned in the information, this was his cousin-in-law’s past residence. His landlord was a man named Ji Kang.
As he was about to knock, Lou Cheng felt a presence. Turning sideways, he rammed the door down with his shoulder and barged in.
Beside a window opposite him, a foxy woman with black hair and eyes had her arms and body wrapped tightly around a man with bronze complexion, as though she was boneless. The man was none other than Ji Kang.
A loud crack erupted. Ji Kang, with every bone in his body crushed, drew his last breath.
The snake-like woman smiled at Lou Cheng, then did a back-flip and landed on the street. Judging from the fluidity and spontaneity of her movements, it was clear that she was confident in her abilities.
After landing without a sound, the woman’s figure faded, turning into a shadow as she traversed into hidden places. Her movements bespoke her experience and calmness.
At that instant, her vision blurred, and the next thing she saw was the young man from before standing before her, as though he had been expecting her.
Crap! Just as the woman was about to veer, she noticed Lou Cheng’s palm strike at her with the speed of lightning, leaving afterimages in its path.
Bam!
She reached out to block, but the attack drove her forearm into her face. The world before her darkened, and she blacked out before she could utter a grunt.
After some time, she opened her eyes groggily and saw the young man from before with his hands crossed behind his back. An austere and deep voice entered her ears,
“Why kill Ji Kang?”