"Cough, cough! Ha, ha..."
In a low, cramped space between pipes, Kong Nu leaned against a slightly warm light guide pipe. After crawling through the pipes for a long time, his standard protective suit was wrinkled and worn from the strain. He was panting heavily, needing to catch his breath.
Buzz, buzz.
A familiar vibrating sound. Kong Nu opened his briefcase and pulled out his communicator from a pile of papers. This communicator wasn’t for contacting his family; it wasn’t his wife or kids checking in on him. He felt he had done enough for his family, and they had already escaped to Fortress 82. What more could he do?
Kong Nu knew that with Professor Zhuang's help, that escape route was likely safe. But what about the big shots above? To them, he had lost his value and was just a pawn in their game. Going to Fortress 82 was still just entering a military cage. All these fortresses were cages! The only way out was to get to the City of Spiritual Energy!
As long as he got to the City of Spiritual Energy and reached the real center of spiritual research, he would have a chance to become one of those big shots!
Kong Nu's fingers trembled as he pressed the screen of the communicator.
[Old Li: The T921 exhaust port has stopped running, and the pipeline monitoring system in this area is shut down. After you come out, turn left. There’s a vehicle waiting for you that can fly straight to the City of Spiritual Energy. Hurry! The war zone may order the governor to eliminate you at any moment!]
[Kong Nu: Thank you, Old Li.]
[Old Li: When will you destroy those things you have?]
[Kong Nu: Soon. Once I reach the City of Spiritual Energy, those things will automatically be destroyed as they will lose my brainwave signal. If my pulse signal disappears midway, those things will be sent to the war zone command center.]
[Old Li: You better be honest. At my age, I don’t care about your threats; I’m just concerned about my friends’ reputations.]
[Kong Nu: Yes, Old Li, you’ve always been honorable.]
Kong Nu put away the communicator, a cold smile appearing on his face. He took out a syringe from the side pocket of his briefcase, gritted his teeth, and injected it into his neck. The next stretch of road was uphill, and the airflow from other exhaust ports would hinder his progress. He needed to muster more strength.
He remembered how exhausted he was the first time he dug out this escape route. After waiting for two minutes, he listened quietly to the sounds from the House of Spiritual Energy. The alarm he left behind hadn’t gone off, and no one had entered his office yet. This was great. The cautious governor must be anxious, especially with Zhou Zhengde and that spiritual practitioner.
Kong Nu took a deep breath. He stood up, trembling, feeling a new surge of strength as he crawled forward. Left turn, left turn, uphill, moving forward...
He was getting closer to his escape. Ahead, he began to see some natural light coming through. He was sweating all over; the protective suit felt stifling, but that was nothing compared to the goal ahead. Just a few more corners, and he would be out of this cage.
A smile crept onto Kong Nu's face. So many unexpected developments had happened during this incident—Zhou Zhengde's identity, the precious combat machine sent from the war zone, and the sudden appearance of that spiritual practitioner. But now, he was about to leave this place and step into a broader world.
Even if it was a bit messy; even if he felt stiff. That sudden E-level spiritual practitioner was a good topic. He wanted to use this guy to make a name for himself in the City of Spiritual Energy!
‘Turn this corner, walk about fifteen steps, then turn right to see the exhaust port.’
He could smell it now, the scent of dry earth!
Kong Nu's slightly swollen face wore a sickly smile.
Whoosh!
A sound of rushing air came from behind him.
"Huh?"
Kong Nu turned to look back. Was it an illusion? Did a stone get sucked in because the filter at the exhaust port was broken? His throat tightened, and he felt a cramp in his left calf as he suddenly stopped.
He couldn’t afford to stop; the injection had a time limit, and there was still a small uphill stretch to climb.
Kong Nu hurried forward.
Whoosh!
It was indeed the sound of rushing air!
Right behind him!
Kong Nu felt a sudden numbness in his left leg, and his body uncontrollably fell forward, barely stabilizing himself by gripping the hot pipe beside him. A nut fell to the metal floor with a soft sound.
A nut?
Kong Nu's sweaty, swollen face turned pale. His throat trembled as he dragged his numb left leg forward, gritting his teeth and turning to look behind him.
It was him!
In a black combat suit, with a scratched smooth helmet!
Mu Liang!
The one who caused the Black Fire Gang to suddenly collapse, killing several of his spiritual practitioners! He was charging at him!
Whoosh!
"Ah!"
Kong Nu's right leg buckled, and he heavily knelt at the corner. The space here was relatively wide, enough for two people to walk side by side, and the light guide pipe was getting hot.
"Don't! Don't come any closer! Spare me!"
Whoosh.
This time, the sound of rushing air wasn’t urgent, but the nut hit Kong Nu's throat, causing him to clutch his neck and cough painfully.
A voice came from behind the helmet. Kong Nu hadn’t expected the first thing the other person would say was...
"Where's Yezi?"
Kong Nu was still coughing, curled up and unable to answer. Behind the helmet, Wang Jixuan furrowed his brow slightly. He carefully sensed the surroundings, not daring to linger in this area.
He leaned down and yanked Kong Nu up, punching him in the abdomen. A breath of energy entered Kong Nu's legs, forcing him to stand facing the wall. Wang Jixuan remembered Zhou Zhengde's instructions.
[When a senior researcher dies, the last image seen by that researcher will be sent to the City of Spiritual Energy by their brain chip.]
So, Wang Jixuan had prepared a soul capturing talisman in advance and had stuck it to the back of Kong Nu's head. A shadowy figure entered the talisman, causing Kong Nu's body to sway.
Wang Jixuan was quick, pulling out a crumpled soul capturing talisman and stuffing a faint shadow that was almost invisible into Kong Nu's body.
The soul of Gu Wenqing.
"Go out."
Wang Jixuan whispered in 'Kong Nu's' ear.
'Kong Nu's' eyes were filled with confusion, a dazed look as he turned and, following Kong Nu's previous obsession, trembled as he walked around the corner.
Wang Jixuan leaned against the metal wall, using a small mirror to peek around the corner, closely watching 'Kong Nu's' back while holding a silenced pistol in his right hand.
He had noticed before coming that all the surveillance cameras in this passage were turned off. This must have been Kong Nu's partner helping him.
At the end of the passage, beyond the four giant, stopped fan blades, was a long-lost blue sky.
The white clouds were lazy, the breeze was gentle, and the sunlight was warm, creating a simple scene of desert and distant military camp.
Wang Jixuan felt a slight ripple in his heart but quickly suppressed it, continuing to observe with the mirror, ready to fire at any moment. If he was right, he wouldn’t need to expose himself.
Step by step, 'Kong Nu' walked into the warm sunlight, through the triangular opening created by the two fan blades, just needing to bend down to pass through.
"God..."
'Kong Nu' murmured.
The soul within this body had lost its ability to think, leaving only a final flicker of spiritual power. Driven by an instinctual yearning for sunlight, 'Kong Nu' used all his strength to bend down and squeeze through the exhaust port, which had had its filter removed in advance, taking a few steps on the concrete pipe.
"Light..."
Bang! Crack!
'Kong Nu's' temple burst, brain matter and blood splattering out.
Bang!
Bang!
Gunshots rang from two different directions, and 'Kong Nu's' body, not yet fully down, was suddenly riddled with two more holes, collapsing helplessly to the ground.
Wang Jixuan's lips twitched slightly.
He looked at the briefcase in his hand, which was vibrating continuously. With his tactical gloves on, he squeezed the communicator to take a look.
[Old Li: You think you can threaten me with this? I used to leave handles for the higher-ups myself; do you understand politics at all? Politics is about choosing sides, not personal character.]
[Old Li: You're just trash that can't be helped, researching human hearts instead of your spiritual energy. What can you possibly understand?]
[Old Li: Idiot.]
Wang Jixuan wondered if he replied with "I'm dying a horrible death," would this old man get scared.
He crushed the communicator and tossed it aside, clutching the briefcase as he rushed back the way he came.
Capturing Kong Nu's soul was just the first step; while the armored troops hadn’t yet moved into the spiritual practitioner’s stronghold, he wanted to see if he could grab a few crystal cores from the House of Spiritual Energy used for infusing materials.
‘Why is the spiritual energy in the upper city less than in the middle city?’
Wang Daozhang found this puzzling.
...
Half an hour later.
The office building of the House of Spiritual Practitioners suddenly erupted in dozens of fireballs.
The armored troops, who hadn’t yet received attack orders, along with more than a dozen spiritual practitioners waiting for checks, were all startled.
Zhou Zhengde, who had just arrived nearby, paused for a moment, then shouted, "Control the scene!"
The armored troops almost simultaneously received the command and charged toward the office building.
Zhou Zhengde felt a bad thought rising in his heart. When he went to find his mother and the governor, Mu Liang had said he would keep an eye on Kong Nu.
That was actually dangerous; Kong Nu had more than ten spiritual practitioners around him and a small armed force.
Zhou Zhengde knew Mu Liang was someone hard to change his mind. He had chosen to agree and had given Mu Liang a map of the surveillance distribution on the third floor.
Now, with the explosion...
"Team Zhou, over here."
Zhou Zhengde turned to see a familiar figure who had taken off his helmet and was wearing a mask.
Wang Jixuan calmly walked out from a corner. A member of the law enforcement team beside Zhou Zhengde immediately raised his gun, but Zhou Zhengde quickly pressed him down.
"Friend! Friend!"
"Here, take this. A supply truck left from Gate Nine with Kong Nu's family and Yezi on board. They’ve been gone for a while; see if you can stop them."
Wang Jixuan’s expression was slightly gloomy as he tossed a file bag to Zhou Zhengde. Inside were several primitive "discs" and some paper materials.
Zhou Zhengde instructed the front team member beside him, who immediately turned and ran off.
Then Zhou Zhengde fixed his gaze on Wang Jixuan and asked, "What’s wrong with Mu Liang? You seem a bit off."
"Nothing."
Wang Jixuan sighed.
"Just had a brief chat with a morally corrupt 'brother' and got a taste of darkness and evil, so I'm feeling a bit unwell.
"I think I’ll head back to the thirteenth floor to rest."
Zhou Zhengde quickly said, "Do you want to rest in the upper city? I have a place here too."
"No need," Wang Jixuan said with a bitter smile.
"Alright, I’ll try to handle the issues ahead, just like we discussed before."
Zhou Zhengde gave him a reassuring look.
"I can’t say how this will develop; Kong Nu is dead, shot simultaneously by three snipers, and some rather dark materials have been sent to the war zone command center.
"The governor is currently in a panic, gathering ministers for a meeting.
"I’ve sent a message to my grandfather's assistant, but I haven’t received a reply yet. Next, we’ll mainly see how the City of Spiritual Energy reacts; it’s still uncertain... Mu Liang, are you listening? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, just tired."
Wang Jixuan sighed.
"Let your team members help me find a way; the checkpoint isn’t easy to pass."
"Okay... Are you really okay?" Zhou Zhengde asked with concern.
Wang Jixuan held back a laugh, maintaining his tired demeanor.
He couldn’t wait to return to the thirteenth floor, find a quiet corner, interrogate Kong Nu, and by the way...
Ding, ding, ding.
A faint sound came from his pocket.
Six diamond-shaped crystal cores encased in alloy collided, creating a pleasant and beautiful melody.
And set up a gathering spirit formation!
(End of Chapter)