https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-162-Obtaining-the-Dragon-s-Blood/12550857/
Chapter 161: Taking Inventory
Chapter 161: Taking Inventory
Ji Xinghuo's expression suddenly changed, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
He hadn't absorbed any spiritual source energy!
"What's going on?"
Ever since obtaining the Myriad Star Pupils, any creature that died around him, whether by his hand or not, had yielded spiritual source energy without fail.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the spiritual source energy value on the interface again, confirming that it hadn't changed.
He quickly examined Shen Yucheng's body, finding nothing out of the ordinary. He was a living, breathing human being with no mechanical modifications. Before his death, he had behaved, spoken, and fought just like any other human, with no discernible differences. He certainly wasn't a robot.
There was just one peculiarity—Shen Yucheng's behavior had been rather strange.
It was as if he had sought death intentionally! Moreover, many of Shen Yucheng's words had implied hidden meanings, and he had even taken the initiative to hand over the storage device. The whole situation was shrouded in mystery.
Ji Xinghuo frowned, feeling irritated by the enigma.
He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss.
Looking up at the sky, he noticed that the three airborne fighters were already close by. He had entered the range of their machine guns, and the spot between his eyebrows kept tingling, warning him of danger.
"I need to get out of here."
Ji Xinghuo collected some of Shen Yucheng's blood and removed his gauntlets, making sure he hadn't missed anything important on the body. He then turned and jumped back into the hole in the rooftop. The building was right next to the street, and each floor was divided into numerous narrow, dimly lit rooms where illegal transactions took place and many people resided. Due to the fight on the rooftop, chaos reigned inside, with everyone trying to escape.
Ji Xinghuo blended into the crowd and made his way onto the street, joining the throng of people to move away from the scene.
Almost simultaneously, the three airborne fighters arrived.
High-powered lights illuminated the rooftop, turning night into day. Hundreds of fully armed mechanical rebels parachuted down, surrounding the entire building.
Three all-round combat police officers flew out and landed on the rooftop.
Before the streets could be blocked off, Ji Xinghuo had already left the area. He made his way through half of the Saint Fibo District and reached the outskirts, where he retrieved his light-wheel motorcycle from an inconspicuous corner and sped off.
One hour later.
After circling around the Immortal City a couple of times to ensure he wasn't being followed, Ji Xinghuo returned to the Sword Bureau's secret base.
It was now 2:30 in the morning.
The base, hidden underground, was brightly lit. Hundreds of Sword Bureau members worked through the night, providing logistical support and information analysis for the deployed Red Cloud Swordsmen, creating a bustling scene.
Liu Tianxu, the bureau chief of the South American branch, was overseeing the entire operation from the base.
The light-wheel motorcycle came to a stop in the neighboring garage, its engine drawing everyone's attention. They turned to see Ji Xinghuo walk in. He glanced at the walls of the large hall, which were divided into dozens of screens displaying various locations in the Immortal City, including live feeds from some of the Red Cloud Swordsmen.
Not all the Red Cloud Swordsmen had left; two or three were still working with analysts to gather information and formulate action plans.
Everyone's eyes were on Ji Xinghuo, their expressions amused.
This Red Cloud Swordsman had rushed off in a hurry, and they guessed that he had probably circled the Immortal City a few times to no avail and was now back for more help.
"Xinghuo?"
Liu Tianxu looked at Ji Xinghuo and asked, "Any leads?"
Ji Xinghuo nodded and took the storage device out of his coat pocket, placing it on the table in front of Liu Tianxu. "I've retrieved the data."
The hall fell silent.
Liu Tianxu froze for a couple of seconds before reacting. He saw the Star Sector logo on the storage device and felt a mix of surprise and delight. "You found Shen Yucheng?" he asked, seeing Ji Xinghuo nod. He immediately followed up with another question: "Where is he?"
"He's dead," Ji Xinghuo replied.
At that moment, an emergency news broadcast interrupted the programming on the large screen, switching to the rooftop where Ji Xinghuo had slain Shen Yucheng. An electronic female voice announced, "At 1:15 a.m. today, a battle involving superhumans took place in the Saint Fibo District, resulting in one death and twenty-six injuries. The deceased was one of the parties involved in the conflict, a man named Shen Yucheng, who is reported to be a citizen of the Asia-Pacific Collective..."
As the broadcast continued, the screen displayed information about Shen Yucheng along with photos from the death scene.
Everyone stared at Ji Xinghuo, their expressions incredulous.
Had the mission been accomplished in just over two hours?
Liu Tianxu was equally astonished. "How did you find Shen Yucheng?" he asked, then turned to look at the people around him. "Come with me."
Ji Xinghuo followed him to his office and gave a brief report on his actions.
After listening, Liu Tianxu remained silent for a long while.
In just over two hours, Ji Xinghuo had rushed through three battles—first defeating the Dark Tide Gang, then interrogating Black Dream Elinor, and finally locating Shen Yucheng to retrieve the data. It sounded simple, but in reality, it had been fraught with challenges.
The first hurdle had been getting the leader of the Dark Tide Gang, Gonsa, to talk.
Liu Tianxu wanted to ask how Ji Xinghuo had dealt with the hundreds of gang members and gotten Gonsa to confess, but he held back.
He handed the storage device to a technician.
Soon enough, the technician reported, "The password has been cracked. The data is authentic and shows no signs of previous copying."
"Excellent!"
Liu Tianxu's face lit up with delight. The most critical aspect of this mission was ensuring that the Star Sector's data remained secure, and the retrieval of the data from Shen Yucheng took precedence over his life.
As for the reason behind Shen Yucheng's defection, they would have to continue their investigations.
"Mission accomplished!" Liu Tianxu announced to the entire hall, issuing an order. "Notify the Red Cloud Swordsmen to return immediately.
"Congratulations," she said softly as she entered Ji Xinghuo's room. "You startled everyone, but it's a good thing that the mission was accomplished successfully."
"Do you think anyone will be upset with me?" Ji Xinghuo laughed. "After all, I snatched away their chance to make a contribution."
"That's your skill, who dares to complain?" Ling Yufeng was thoroughly convinced.
"Then that's good."
The South American branch was only responsible for the operation to apprehend Shen Yucheng. The main case was handled by the headquarters in Chang'an.
As soon as all ten Red Cloud Swordsmen returned, they set off on their journey back to China without any delay.
At 4:00 a.m.
Ji Xinghuo traveled through the stargate and arrived in Chang'an. He immediately proceeded to the Qinling Base to report to Zhou Yishang in person and brought back the storage device.
"Well done!"
Zhou Yishang had already received the report from the bureau and was pleased to see Ji Xinghuo. "You accomplished this mission beautifully and made me proud."
Ji Xinghuo had been promoted to the rank of Red Cloud Swordsman by Zhou Yishang himself, and there had been some discordant voices within the Sharp Sword Bureau regarding this decision. However, after this successful mission, no one would dare to object anymore.
"Commissioner Zhou, there's something strange about Shen Yucheng," Ji Xinghuo said after some deliberation.
Zhou Yishang's eyes narrowed. "What's the problem?"
"He handed over the storage device to me voluntarily, and it seemed like he knew he was going to die." Ji Xinghuo briefly described Shen Yucheng's last words, especially the part about being wary of the Qian Yuan Society. He asked, "Commissioner Zhou, do you know about this Qian Yuan Society?"
"Qian Yuan Society?" Zhou Yishang shook his head. "I have no recollection of hearing about it before."
"Even Commissioner Zhou doesn't know about it..." Ji Xinghuo murmured.
Shen Yucheng's defection was triggered when the Sharp Sword Bureau traced him through the Ji Zong Gang, which in turn had been exposed due to a report implicating the high-ranking members of the Asia-Pacific Collective.
Now it seemed that the informant's claims were indeed true, as Shen Yucheng held a position as a high-ranking official within the country.
And Shen Yucheng might just be the tip of the iceberg.
Zhou Yishang clearly realized this as well, his face grave as he pondered for a long while before speaking. "Don't disclose Shen Yucheng's matter. I'll arrange for people to secretly investigate the background of this Qian Yuan Society. You go and get some rest. I'll inform you once we have any results."
"Okay." Ji Xinghuo nodded but didn't get up to leave.
Zhou Yishang immediately smiled and said, "Rest assured, I will immediately apply for titanium-cobalt dragon blood in the name of the Sharp Sword Bureau to the Star Sector Department. We should have a result within three days."
"Thank you, Commissioner Zhou."
Only then did Ji Xinghuo leave the office and remove his disguise, restoring his original appearance and voice.
Upon returning to the city of Chang'an, it was only 5:00 p.m.
From the time he received Zhou Yishang's call to the completion of the mission, it had only taken one afternoon to circle the globe.
Back at his home in Qishan District, Ji Xinghuo took out the items he had obtained from the Immortal City: a power hammer, a shield-generating armguard, a pair of gauntlets, and possibly the most valuable item, a safe containing Gonsa's collection.
There were also several electromagnetic rifles, laser guns, and dozens of magazines—all top-quality firearms he had picked up during the raid on the Dark Tide Gang.
Ji Xinghuo proceeded to take inventory of his spoils.
The power hammer was a technological weapon, about four and a half feet long, with a handle as thick as an arm. The entire hammer weighed more than 600 pounds, and the black hammerhead was equipped with an electric engine that released kinetic energy upon impact, delivering several times the destructive force of a regular hammer.
It also came with two effects: "Anger Strike" and "Shockwave," making it incredibly powerful.
This hammer was a Superpower Two-Star weapon, suitable for superpower-type mutants.
However, its power system was inactive within the Star Sector, so its value was slightly discounted. It would sell for around 30 million dollars.
Ji Xinghuo gripped the power hammer, finding it very handy.
"I'll keep this for use on Earth," he decided.
As for the armguard, Ji Xinghuo had to search online to find out that it was called the "Guardian Armguard." It could generate a repulsive force field to defend against physical and energy attacks. One of its biggest advantages was that it could be activated by either superpower or electricity, making it a rare dual-energy equipment that combined superpowers and technology. In the Immortal City, where mechanical prostheses were prevalent, it was highly sought-after.
Gonsa had used the electricity generated by his body to activate the armguard, reducing his superpower consumption.
The Guardian Armguard was also a Superpower Two-Star item, valued at over 20 million dollars.
The gauntlets had belonged to Shen Yucheng, and after examining them, Ji Xinghuo discovered that they were only Superpower One-Star, worth about 2 to 3 million dollars. They didn't have any unique features, but they could serve as regular gloves.
Lastly, he inspected the safe.
This safe, standing over three feet tall, was cast entirely from an alloy. Ji Xinghuo used magnetic field sensing to probe its interior and found that it contained many items.
The safe's password lock was equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, so forcibly unlocking it or entering the wrong password could potentially destroy the contents.
However, this was not a problem for Ji Xinghuo.
Holding the Lightning War Blade, he made a series of over a dozen slashes at the same point, causing the electric light on the blade to dance. He directly cut off a corner of the safe, allowing just enough space for a hand to reach in and retrieve the contents, which he then stored in his dimensional stomach. From there, he took them out and placed them on the table.
A large pile of items appeared, and after just a brief glance, Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but laugh in delight. "I've struck it rich!"
(End of Chapter)
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