Star Gate

Chapter 121: Undercurrents in Silver City (III)

“We have nothing to hide,” said the vice principal with white hair. “We didn’t report ourselves previously because there was no requirement to be entered in the official records. Since that is now in effect, I’ll have Captain Chen from the protection detail come over. You can talk to him directly.”

Li Hao nodded, he was familiar with Captain Chen. But since the young man was here on official business, he needed to officially present himself to the Veteris Institute.

The vice principal pulled out his communicator, summoning a hulking bear—hulking man before long. The newcomer smiled faintly at Li Hao and frowned slightly at Wang Ming.

“Captain Chen!” Li Hao grinned in return. “My apologies for the disturbance. We’re here because Silver City is forming its own Night Watcher branch and thus needs to register the superhuman characters within the city. We also want to invite all superhuman personnel to attend our ribbon-cutting ceremony in three days!

“This is our first stop because I’m most familiar with the Institute,” chuckled the young man. “I trust that with Captain Chen present, our work will go smoothly!”

“Of course!” The captain inclined his head, then glanced at Wang Ming. “And this is...?”

“A person of note from White Moon City, Director Wang Ming!”

Wang Ming stared stonily ahead. Do you really have to introduce me this way, Li Hao? A person of note from White Moon... It’s like you’re afraid people don’t know what a big deal I am!

“It’s an honor!” Captain Chen didn’t offer to shake hands. It was best that powerhouses maintained a bit of a distance. He gave a candid overview after some pleasantries. “The Institute’s protection detail is a modest size of forty people, with only seven true Slayers. Counting me makes for eight...”

“Has the captain not reached Sunderer?” Li Hao scribbled down some notes.

“No, I fall just a little short,” the captain said with regret. “I’m similar to your Vice Captain Liu of old, but I hear she’s broken through to Sunderer lately? Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“How wonderful!” the captain said wistfully. He was rather envious as he held high hopes for Sunderer since the crossover was impossible for him. Unfortunately, he’d continuously failed to ascend.

Peak Slayer wasn’t a weak level, but Li Hao still asked, “Does our Institute not have a single supernatural?”

“How should I put it...” the captain considered his words carefully. “We do, and he’s a Darkmoon! This is also why our Institute is relatively safe. But that one is not in residence lately, he’s gone to visit other places.”

Li Hao nodded and didn’t ask further. He visited the protection detail’s station with Captain Chen, made a cursory overview, then quickly left the Veteris Institute.

......

On the road.

“Li Hao, is such a simple inspection enough?” Wang Ming frowned. His counterpart was so perfunctory that he was being negligent! The kid simply scanned the premises, made a few notes, and called it a day. That’s it? There were no additional measures or detailed proving. Were they supposed to discover more secrets this way? Ferret out supernaturals?

What a joke!

“It’s not easy to investigate them since they’re all martial masters,” Li Hao responded casually. “Am I supposed to fight them?”

“We should at least bring a supernatural probe with us. Who knows if they’re hiding anything if we don’t even have that?”

“My teacher’s there?” Li Hao replied blankly. “Teacher’s senses are very strong after breaking through to Dominator. He’ll be the first to discover anything amiss at the Institute.”

It was only then that Wang Ming recalled this character. He instantly ran out of things to say. What Li Hao left unsaid was that he wished for his inspection style to quickly become common knowledge. It would be best if everyone thought he was just going through the motions and didn’t think much of his task. If that was the case, then supernaturals wouldn’t feel compelled to immediately go into hiding.

They wouldn’t be able to hide from his eyes so long as they remained in place!

......

As expected, several factions received word as soon as Li Hao and Wang Ming left the Veteris Institute. The two Night Watchers were very perfunctory in their visits and didn’t bother looking into things. It was a routine that was over after a few lines were entered into the public record.

......

Inside a massive office of the Qiao Mining Industries.

The white-haired president of the corporation smiled faintly and looked at his son standing in front of him. “The process looks to be just a formality. Welcome them if they visit later and register our people. Don’t give them excuses. Everyone who should be entered from the Qiao Mining Industries should be entered! Make sure they know all about our Slayers and two Starlight!”

“I understand, father.” Qiao Peng nodded with a smile. “Do I need to cultivate more of a relationship with Li Hao?”

“An appropriate one. Don’t get too close as there are too many keeping an eye on him these days.”

“Understood!”

“Are you sure... there’s no problem with Liu Yan?” asked the president after some thought.

“Most probably!” Qiao Peng replied lowly. “We handled it very quickly, so I trust that the guy didn’t have a chance or time to say anything to Liu Yan. I’ve been testing her these years and while she’s very annoyed toward me, she shows no sign of bone-deep hate. She’s been keeping an eye on Yama instead!”

“That’s good!” President Qiao didn’t want to deal with Liu Yan either, not unless he had to. She was the vice captain of the Inspectorate’s law enforcement team and shared an ambiguous relationship with Liu Long. It wouldn’t be good if the situation snowballed out of control.

It was one thing if something happened to a regular inspector, but Liu Yan was different. She was a commissioner inspector. A dead commissioner inspector would involve the Night Watchers, even if they were spread thin.

When Liu Yan’s husband died, it was a different matter compared to a commissioner inspector’s death. The Night Watchers couldn’t be bothered to involve themselves in her grudge against Yama, so putting out an arrest warrant was the best they could do.

“Father,” Qiao Peng whispered when the man fell silent. “More and more people are paying attention to Silver City these days. Has anyone come from... over there? I’m also worried about exposure because our rate of progress is very slow.”

“Take a deep breath!” His father smiled. “Being overly hasty only leads to failure. We’ve put our down roots for many years—no one can measure up to that. Additionally, don’t take further action over there for the time being. I don’t want to raise attention. Let’s maintain a holding pattern.”

“Understood!” Qiao Peng nodded.

His father regarded him for a bit. “It’s fine if you act a little dumber and more foolish in front of others, but don’t be a real fool in critical moments. Yama’s grandson... Now that was a real fool! He let all the flattery and fawning get to his head, which was why he grew so bold as to show off that kind of treasure outside. His head wasn’t screwed on right! It’s one thing that he’s dead, but he’s dragged all of Yama into the swamp. Don’t imitate him!”

“Don’t worry, father!” Qiao Peng promised solemnly.

“Mmhmm!” Qiao Senior nodded. “Good. Also, don’t resent me for suppressing your crossover all these years. It’s only been twenty years since the supernatural world’s development and the situation wasn’t as stable as before. But now... it may be. You can make the crossover after this matter is over. You’ll be more than a Darkmoon when you succeed.”

Joy dawned on Qiao Peng’s face and he rapidly bobbed his head. This was what he’d been looking forward to all this time! He hadn’t ascended during these years partially because he didn’t dare to be too flamboyant, and also because his father forbade him from it.

“Father, then... once I cross over, can I take a few things from...” he couldn’t help himself.

“Shut up!” Qiao Senior’s face darkened. “Did you already forget my reminder?! Idiot! Forget about that and everything else! Remember that we are only a corporation, a legitimate corporation! We mine for ore and that’s it! Forget about everything else!”

“Understood!” Qiao Peng barked out solemnly. He didn’t dare say anything else, but he was expectant, excited, and a bit reluctant. After so many years of effort, was father really going to offer that up on a silver platter?

Of course, they couldn’t afford to provoke Yama, but would the organization know about everything they discovered? The central region occupied too much of Yama’s resources. If that wasn’t the case, true powerhouses would’ve long arrived in Silver City from both Yama and Red Moon. The secrets of the eight families were more mysterious than they thought.

As a local mover and shaker with many years of history, the Qiaos held a fair bit of intelligence. They might know as much as Red Moon and they’d also concealed a fair bit.

Qiao Peng slowly backed out of the office with various thoughts running through his mind.

Inside the office, Qiao Senior looked silently out of the window. “You be careful,” he suddenly said. “Get close to Li Hao and see if there’s anything special about him. Don’t let him discover you. We might need his blood to open that place.”

“‘There are too many watching him!” Someone responded softly from the shadows.

“I know, so you can only surreptitiously observe him when he comes. There’s no need to take action right now,” Qiao Senior said tiredly. “I, too, am unwilling to just let things go after a dozen years, but I know it’d be pulling chestnuts out of a fire if I really took any action. Don’t forget that it’s only been twenty years since the supernatural domain appeared! There’s still a chance to catch up! I wouldn’t nurse any other thoughts if it’d been a few hundred years.”

Supernatural organizations constantly rotated throughout these twenty years. Some were established today and toppled tomorrow. Nothing was set in stone! Not even the three great organizations were secure in their position. Everything was possible.

Qiao Senior wasn’t so ambitious as to want to set himself against the three greats—he just hoped that his side would measure up to the effort of a dozen years.

“Understood!” The voice in the shadows vanished.

Qiao Senior lounged on a chair, continuing to look outside. The eight great families... Silver City!

It was becoming apparent that everyone had overlooked Silver City and the eight families. From what bits and pieces he’d obtained, the eight families had been beyond imagination in the ancient civilization! Silver City might’ve been the heart of the continent then!

It might be up to this chance to determine whether or not the Qiaos could rise.