Chapter 166: A Mole

Chapter 166: A Mole

Ji Xinghuo felt pain all over his body. Even the slightest movement of his fingers would aggravate his injuries, triggering waves of pain.

The worst part was that his stellar power was almost completely depleted.

He opened his interface to check his stats:

Stellar Power: 18/742

The rotating magnetic field was operating at full capacity, and he had also activated the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil, which was rapidly consuming his stellar power to heal his severe injuries. On top of that, the acceleration ring and the Gale Force Boots were also draining his stellar power. In this peak state, after less than two minutes of combat, his stellar power was almost entirely exhausted.

Repeatedly using Flash Step and Instant Step despite his injuries had taken a toll on his physical energy, and his defenses had weakened.

Ji Xinghuo felt a sense of relief.

If that Omnidirectional Warrior had seen through his true condition, another head-on collision would have resulted in more than just severe injuries.

"Hiss..."

Ji Xinghuo lowered his head to inspect his wounds. Several massive lacerations extended from his shoulders to his waist and abdomen, exposing his internal organs. It was a gruesome sight.

If it had been any other mutant, they would have died several times over.

"Fortunately, I fused with the titanium-cobalt dragon's blood earlier. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived," Ji Xinghuo muttered through gritted teeth.

The rotating magnetic field and dragon blood were working, slowly healing his wounds. However, due to the lack of stellar power and physical energy, as well as excessive blood loss, his self-healing ability was much slower than usual.

Qinghong shrank in size and swiftly swam over, her golden-yellow eyes filled with concern. She could sense that Ji Xinghuo was in a dire state.

"I'm fine, I won't die," Ji Xinghuo assured her, letting her crawl into his hair.

He lifted his head and saw a trail of fire streaking across the sky like a meteor. Within the flames was a human figure, leaving a tail of fire dozens of meters long in its wake.

"That was fast!" Ji Xinghuo exclaimed inwardly. In less than two minutes, a mutant had arrived at the scene, and from the looks of it, a powerful one at that.

A loud boom shook the ground as the fiery meteor landed, causing the street to tremble. About ten meters away from Ji Xinghuo, a man clad in high-temperature resistant armor emerged from the flames. He bore the emblem of a silver shield on his shoulder and carried a massive battle blade on his back. His eyes blazed with fiery fervor, and even his hair seemed to be ablaze, giving off an intimidating aura.

He was a "Shield Guard" from the Defense Division of the Security Department, and his rank was exceptionally high.

Ji Xinghuo sensed the powerful magnetic field and etheric energy fluctuations emanating from him, similar to the Omnidirectional Warrior. He, too, was a Legend Tier 2 mutant, perhaps even stronger.

A Legend Tier 2 madman of fiery passion! His age was indeterminate; he had the appearance of a young man but exuded the calm demeanor of a middle-aged man. Ji Xinghuo felt a tremendous amount of pressure under his gaze.

"I am a Red Cloud Swordsman," Ji Xinghuo quickly introduced himself.

The Legend mutant could also tell that he wasn't an enemy and asked in a deep voice, "Where's the Omnidirectional Warrior?"

"He escaped that way," Ji Xinghuo replied, pointing in the direction the Omnidirectional Warrior had fled. "Be careful. He's a Legend Tier 2 mutant."

The Fiery Maniac's expression changed slightly as he sized up Ji Xinghuo, "Noted."

Flames erupted from his body, and he soared into the sky like a human rocket.

With a thunderous roar, the legendary "Shield Guard" sped off at a velocity approaching the speed of sound, soon disappearing from Ji Xinghuo's magnetic field sensing range.

Ji Xinghuo watched the direction of his departure, shaking his head inwardly.

The Shield Guard was indeed powerful, and his combat abilities were likely on par with the Omnidirectional Warrior. However, he had arrived a step too late, and the chances of finding the Omnidirectional Warrior were slim.

The Omnidirectional Warrior possessed the extremely rare "Invisibility" ability, making it challenging even for Ji Xinghuo's magnetic field sensing to lock onto him. Other forms of perception would find it even more difficult to track him down.

"Why did the Omnidirectional Warrior try to kill me?" Ji Xinghuo finally had the chance to ponder this question.

The Omnidirectional Warrior was the ace profession of the American Federation, with a total number of about ten thousand, far surpassing the titanium-cobalt dragonmen. The majority of them were super mutants, and the total number of Omnidirectional Warriors who had advanced to the Legend tier was likely less than a hundred. Each one of them was a tactical weapon for the American Federation.

Ji Xinghuo was just a mere Red Cloud Swordsman. Why would the American Federation go through the trouble of sending a legendary Omnidirectional Warrior to infiltrate the country and attempt to assassinate him?

Moreover, how did the Omnidirectional Warrior find him? And how did he know his identity?

Ji Xinghuo's expression turned grim.

The only connection he could think of between himself and the American Federation was his recent mission to the Immortal City, where he had killed Shen Yucheng and retrieved the Star Realm Department's data.

During that mission, he had not only disguised himself but also used a codename, never revealing his true identity.

Whether it was because of the Shen Yucheng mission, which had drawn the attention of the American Federation's intelligence agency, or if there were other motives at play, one thing was clear: there was a mole within the Sword Bureau who had sold out his true identity. Moreover, someone within the country had helped the Omnidirectional Warrior pinpoint his location!

"Are they willing to expose the existence of a mole just to take me out?" Ji Xinghuo furrowed his brows.

He didn't think he was worth all this trouble, and the more significant possibility was that he had been caught in the crossfire due to his involvement with Shen Yucheng.

"The Qian Yuan Association?" Ji Xinghuo couldn't be sure.

Just as he was about to contact the Sword Bureau, he reached into his pants pocket and realized his phone was missing.

That's right, he had thrown his phone into the magnetic levitation car during the surprise attack, and it was most likely fried by the lightning.

About ten cars sped to the scene and surrounded the battle area.

A team of fully armed "Special Mutant Guard" officers, totaling more than twenty, emerged from the vehicles. Each of them bore the Shield Guard emblem on their shoulders and quickly secured the area. They set up a blockade to keep bystanders away, but some people in the distance were already recording the scene with their phones.

The leader of this Shield Guard unit was a tall woman with short hair that grazed her shoulders. Her skin had a silvery-gray sheen to it.

Back then, on the day he shot and killed Ji Zongbang, a special mutant guard team had also arrived, led by none other than her—Song Fei. Later, when he inquired with Min Chongwu, he learned that Song Fei belonged to the Shield Division under the Security Bureau of the Ministry of Order, and her rank was equivalent to Min Chongwu's. She served as the captain of a special mutant guard team.

"Captain Song," Ji Xinghuo nodded slightly and slowly stood up.

Song Fei looked at the injuries on Ji Xinghuo's body, and a hint of shock flashed in her eyes. Had it been her, she wouldn't have stood a chance of survival.

"We received multiple emergency calls and rushed here as soon as we could." Song Fei paused halfway through her sentence as she saw the pained expression on Ji Xinghuo's face and asked, "You need to receive treatment immediately."

She lightly pressed the communicator in her ear and asked, "Where's the ambulance?"

After hearing the response, Song Fei said, "I suggest you don't move. The ambulance is on its way and will be here in less than a minute."

"Alright." Ji Xinghuo didn't put on a strong front.

"What exactly happened?" Song Fei asked, her face full of doubt. "The person who called the police said you were fighting a Versatile Warrior?"

She was filled with suspicion and disbelief. It had been years since a Versatile Warrior from the American Federation dared to infiltrate the territory of the Asia-Pacific Community and commit murder.

What surprised her even more was that Ji Xinghuo had survived.

Song Fei remembered that less than two years ago, Ji Xinghuo had only recently fused with an exotic species and was a low-level mutant. In contrast, a Versatile Warrior would be at least a super mutant.

However, recalling that Ji Xinghuo had killed a super mutant in the past, she felt somewhat relieved.

Just as Ji Xinghuo was about to answer, a sky fighter jet flew by at high speed and hovered in the air. The cockpit opened, and a team of Swordsmen descended.

Ji Xinghuo was very familiar with the way the Sword Bureau operated.

In Chang'an, there were at least four Sword Teams on rotational duty at all times. The Security Bureau's alarm system was synchronized with the Sword Bureau, and once triggers like counter-intelligence, foreign enemies, or spies were set off, the Sword Teams would immediately spring into action. Sometimes they reacted even faster than the Security Bureau, and sometimes they were slower, depending on the distance from the incident location.

Ji Xinghuo recognized the captain of this Sword Team; his name was Zhang Ke, and they had met at the Qinling Base, but they weren't familiar with each other.

"Captain Zhang," Ji Xinghuo called out.

Zhang Ke paused, then looked intently and recognized Ji Xinghuo.

He was covered in blood, his face had been hit by an explosive flame punch, and half of it was charred black. His hair was burnt off, and the terrible wounds on his body made for a gruesome sight.

"Xinghuo? What happened to you?" Zhang Ke exclaimed in shock.

Ji Xinghuo didn't answer and instead said, "Help me contact Director Zhou."

"Okay."

The rank of a Red Cloud Swordsman was one level higher than a Sword Captain. When on an outdoor mission, Ji Xinghuo was Zhang Ke's superior, so he immediately complied.

However, just as Zhang Ke was about to make the call, his phone rang.

"It's Director Zhou," he said.

He answered the call and listened for a few seconds before handing the phone to Ji Xinghuo. Zhou Yishang's voice came through, deep and low, "How are you doing?"

"I'll live," Ji Xinghuo replied.

"The problem is serious," Zhou Yishang said, clearly aware of the internal situation. "You're not the only one who was attacked. Three other Swordsmen from the Bureau were also assassinated, and they didn't make it." He paused for a moment and then added, "They were all members of the secret investigation team."

Ji Xinghuo's face changed at his words.

The so-called secret investigation team was formed by Zhou Yishang in secret to investigate the "Qianyuan Association." It had only been established yesterday, and today, they faced bloody retaliation!

The Qianyuan Association was even more profound and mysterious than imagined, daring to target even members of the Sword Bureau.

What was even more terrifying was how quickly the Qianyuan Association had received the information.

There was an insider in the Bureau...

Ji Xinghuo was about to say this aloud when his gaze swept over Song Fei and Zhang Ke, thinking that he didn't need to remind Zhou Yishang, as he would surely figure it out himself.

Sure enough, Zhou Yishang said in a low voice, "Don't return to the Bureau for now. For you, it's safer outside than at the base at the moment. Before I root out the insider, you need to keep your movements hidden, and I'll send reliable Swordsmen to protect you."

Ji Xinghuo hesitated and asked, "Are they truly reliable?"

The one who tried to assassinate him was a legendary mutant, and even if they sent a few Red Cloud Swordsmen, it wouldn't be safe. As for the higher-level Xuanyuan Swordsmen, they might not necessarily be legendary.

What if the one sent to protect him was also an insider...

"Rest assured, there's absolutely no problem," Zhou Yishang said affirmatively.

"Understood."

Ji Xinghuo hung up the phone, returned the phone to Zhang Ke, and said to him, "You guys head back first. I'll go with Captain Song to the hospital for treatment."

Zhang Ke didn't ask any questions and immediately ordered his team to leave.

The ambulance had also arrived.

Ji Xinghuo was placed on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance. Song Fei helped him retrieve his phone from the superconducting road, and miraculously, it wasn't broken and was still usable.

However, he turned it off and, taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, stored it in his dimensional pocket.

Escorted by police cars, Ji Xinghuo was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated by a mutant doctor. His stellar power recovered, and the terrifying wounds quickly healed, but his body was still weak from the severe injury, so the doctor required him to stay in the hospital for observation.

Ji Xinghuo lay in the hospital room, and a Shield Guard stood guard outside the door.

He felt well, except for his slightly pale face. Through his magnetic field sensing, he detected a powerful human-shaped magnetic field approaching the hospital room, one that he had encountered before.

It was the Fiery Maniac, a Legend Tier 2 mutant, and Song Fei was with him.

"I'm Zhuo Feiqun," a voice came from outside the door. "Mr. Ji, is it convenient for me to ask you some questions now?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end