Chapter 32: Starlight, Mysterious Power (II)
White Moon City!
There were several other cities close to Silver City that were of similar scale, ones with populations just over one million. One hundred and fifty kilometers away, however, was a large city called White Moon City.
It occupied special status as the capital of their province. The name of the province—Silver Moon—was coined from the names of Silver City and White Moon City. Silver City was even placed in front!
But that was many years ago. As time went on, Silver City declined in geographical prominence and its population emigrated en masse. These days, Silver City was just an ordinary city among Silver Moon’s thirty-two cities.
There were rumblings from above that provincial officials were debating whether to change the province name from Silver Moon to Moon Flare, since the second greatest city within the province these days was Flare City. It was much more prosperous than Silver City.
There was yet to be a conclusion in this matter; Silver City apparently refused the proposal numerous times. After all, it, too, exulted in glory once.
Such thoughts ran through Li Hao’s mind and honed in on a graduate of the capital’s Inspectorate Academy coming here, of all places. Who knew whether this identify was real or fake? Do they think that coming from further away means I won’t be able to investigate him?
Meanwhile, Chen Na was both surprised and envious. “What are you doing here, Wang Ming?”
The young man smiled radiantly. “Silver City is nice! Well… it’s also because competition is too fierce at White Moon. Promotions are hard to come by, so my family recommended I come here. Circumstances are less intense at Silver City, so maybe I can get promoted here and transfer back home.”
Understood!
“That’s a good idea.” Chen Na nodded. “As small as Silver City is, there are more opportunities and chances for all of us since the staff count is lower. Competition is too stressful in a big city, so you made a wise choice!”
“I think so too.” Wang Ming’s smile grew more radiant, casting him in such a handsome light that even Chen Na was caught by his aura. She quickly averted her eyes and looked at Li Hao to reorient herself.
The new focus of her attention was rather resigned. What do you mean by this?! You always said I was very handsome! Women… heh!
Li Hao slowly calmed down; it wasn’t the time to quibble about this. What was he afraid of? He would knock down every obstacle as they arose! He held the immense advantage of being able to immediately tell people apart. No matter who the other was, they were here already. Screw it!
Li Hao threw his responsibilities aside after briefly conversing with Wang Ming. “Chen Na, take Wang Ming under your wing for a while. I need to head out for a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Law Enforcement.”
“Again?”
“I’m on the mission to escort the Veteris field study, remember?” Li Hao chuckled. “I need to make a full handover and undergo some training so nothing goes awry.”
“You wouldn’t go when I asked, but somehow you’re going now,” Chen Na responded with a partial eye roll. “Fine, go! I’ll show Wang Ming around!”
“Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m leaving such a handsome guy to you?” Li Hao teased. “Wang Ming, learn well from Chen Na! The tasks are simple and you’re highly educated. You should pick things up quickly.”
Wang Ming smiled gently and nodded. “Brother Hao, let’s grab dinner tonight—my treat. I’m newly arrived and a disciple to the two of you. I need to express my sentiments!”
“Alright, sure!” Chen Na bobbed her head in agreement.
Li Hao wanted to turn him down at first, but likewise nodded after some thought. “Sure, then thank you in advance!” He left without another word.
Your treat?
Treat your ass!
This guy is very likely here for me. He’s either with the scarlet shadow or from the Night Watchers. If the latter, then Wang Ming was keeping such a low profile because… Oh, heh. They want to trap the scarlet shadow faction. These guys know about the situation at Silver City, but are biding their time.
An observer was here because the Night Watchers had perhaps determined that the next target was Li Hao. It was possible they didn’t even notify the city council before coming to scope out the situation.
“Someone so bold that they came directly to the Inspectorate… Would a supernatural from the shadow’s side be so fearless? We are still Silver City’s highest level law enforcement agency at the end of the day… so it’s probably the Night Watchers!” Li Hao wasn’t sure about the accuracy of his conclusion, but he was eighty percent certain that Wang Ming came from the Night Watchers!
A Starlight, and such a young one! Of course, his age might also be part of his cover.
Li Hao’s mind spun rapidly through various thoughts. Was this a good or bad development? If the newcomer really was from the Night Watchers… then… this was good.
“I was worried that Liu Long might not be able to handle things himself, but with the Night Watchers in the mix, that makes success more likely!” With that, Li Hao entered the basement of the law enforcement team.
…
“I’m late!” Li Hao was unruffled by Liu Long’s obvious wait. “A few rookies joined Classified Affairs today and one of them was assigned to me, probably to take over my duties. I showed him the ropes for a bit and have to say, White Moon inspectors are real professionals. He picked up everything very easily.”
Liu Long nodded, not paying the explanation much heed. Li Hao could only guess from the man’s reaction that he either really didn’t know anything, or that he kept his cards too close to his heart.
“Did you find anything last night, chief? Is someone following me?”
“It’s hard to say—it’s possible. I didn’t see anything when I went.”
Li Hao cared a lot about this matter not because he was wary of the scarlet shadow, but because of another reason.
“Chief, can ordinary people like us identify Starlights?” he asked rapidly. “Are they any different from the rest of us?”
“Didn’t Liu Yan tell you?” Liu Long blinked.
“No.”
Liu Long shook his head. As he thought, the woman was none too reliable. “There’s normally not much of a difference,” he quickly explained. “They are human, we are human. The real difference comes when they utilize their abilities. Energy ripples form when they activate their powers. While those are still hard for ordinary people to detect, martial masters like us can sense them. As for non martial masters…”
The captain thought of something when he glanced at Li Hao. “I believe we have a supernatural probe that can detect energy ripples. It was prepared for ordinary people to use.”
“A supernatural probe?”
“Yes!” Liu Long nodded. “It can pick up any usage of otherworldly abilities within one hundred meters of you.”
One hundred meters? That's useless!
Li Hao frowned. “Its range is so limited. If a supernatural uses their powers within one hundred meters I’m probably dead meat, aren’t I?”
“There’s no helping it!” Liu Long shook his head. “It hasn’t been long since the supernatural world appeared in our society. This is already a decent development. Besides, those who usually go against supernaturals are either strong martial masters or others of their kind. A probe isn’t needed. This kind of equipment is typically placed in a static location to prevent supernatural infiltration.”
“Oh!” A new thought occurred to Li Hao. “So this means we’re unable to identity supernaturals as long as they don’t use their powers?”
“Not necessarily. Supernaturals with the appropriate abilities or a certain level of strength can ID their kind—they can sense the innate energy ripples within their target. We’re a long ways off from that, of course!”
“I see,” Li Hao sighed with pity. “And here I thought supernaturals would appear with a halo of light or something, that we’d be able to tell who they were with a single glance.”
“Now those are some wild thoughts!” Liu Long laughed. “How is that possible! Well, if the supernatural is very weak or a newbie, but possesses a large amount of energy at the same time… Even ordinary people will sense something off if they’re in close proximity.”
“Got it!” Li Hao nodded. Got it, you guys can’t see the starlight associated with mysterious energy. I don’t know if it’s you being too weak, not making the crossover yet, or if this holds true for other supernaturals.
I seem to be a little… special.
No wonder the people who could see the scarlet shadow eventually disappeared. There were likely other connotations associated with that ability.
“Chief, can I get a probe?”
“We’ve already prepared one for you.” Liu Long nodded. “It can be a defensive measure, though it won’t be very useful.”
Li Hao didn’t mind, who cared about how useful it was? With the probe in hand, he could opportunistically expose Wang Ming. He couldn’t tell the chief now—it would raise suspicions. But once he had the probe, he would find a way to reveal Wang Ming’s identity as a Starlight whether or not the newbie used his powers.
At the very least, Liu Long’s starting point was to protect him. It was difficult to say the same for the Night Watchers. Whether it was the shadowy organization or the scarlet shadow, Li Hao had to let Liu Long know so countermeasures could be prepared!
And all of it had to be achieved as naturally as possible.
As Li Hao mulled over his plans, Liu Long spoke no further and led the young man deeper into the basement. There was no one inside but the faint figure of a busy Yun Yao in one of the rooms. Liu Long didn’t stop until he reached a door made of metal in the deepest portion of the basement.
“This is the Demon Hunters’ treasury!” the man explained coldly. “Everything inside was won through blood, sweat, and tears! You’re new and will act as bait soon, so we’re making an exception! You’re being given a chance that no one else had and will witness what true, precious mysterious power was!”
Liu Long spoke solemnly as the treasures inside had indeed been harvested thanks to team members putting their lives on the line.
Li Hao was instantly intrigued. Mysterious power! This was his first real contact with the energy apart from the jade sword. Would it be similar to what came from Stellaris? Teacher said that power from supernatural objects was feeble and faint. Would he see unbounded energy in a short while?
Agitated, the young man eagerly peered forward. He seemed to glimpse a river of starlight!
Well, he knew that was a delusion, but he couldn’t help himself.
Liu Long inclined his head as he looked at Li Hao, an imperceptible smile crossing his lips. This was the normal, expected reaction. I want you to understand that even if you’ve encountered this domain through the sword of the Lis, it’s absolutely nothing compared to true mysterious power!