Star Gate

Chapter 430: Secrets (I)

After Li Hao melded four auras together, he would stand a chance of fighting Novas. But as of now, he only had three and the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. Despite his incredibly fortified physical body and organs, he still wasn’t confident enough to declare that he could stand against Novas.

His body and organs were much stronger than before, but the auras did not fall into the same system. His auras had remained at approximately the same level, which meant that his offensive power did not improve at the same rate. It was his defensive capabilities that’d increased many times over.

Li Hao put these thoughts out of his mind and set out to look for Wang Ming. He would cross-reference everything with who was in the canyon, then supplement the information of those who weren’t officially registered. That would be the best way to discover all the powerhouses that’d come. Even if he missed some, it wouldn’t be too many.

......

Half an hour later, outside the military camp.

Clad in black armor, Li Hao stood outside the entrance as opposed to sneaking in. He raised a lot of attention—what was a Silver Moon Guard doing here? Their camp wasn’t here.

“I’m looking for Wang Ming!” Li Hao called out gruffly beneath the visor. “Please let him know that a friend has come.”

He struck a waiting pose and also took the chance to scan the balls of light in the military camp. There were quite a few! Of the Novas, he knew Hu Qingfeng’s ball of flight. There was someone else stronger than him that Li Hao didn’t recognize, and there was another that was also very strong. It startled the young man.

Three Novas? When did the military have so many?

While Hou Xiaochen and the others were possibly also here, they were too far away for Li Hao to catch a glimpse of. He could only see their piercing light when they were close. He was here posing as a Silver Moon Guard—no, he was a Guard. He was here with a concealed identity to await Wang Ming.

The handsome supernatural didn’t present himself, but someone else who Li Hao recognized did. He didn’t look at the old man, pretending not to recognize the other. Instead, the other beckoned to him.

“Come here!” The old man waved his hand again when Li Hao didn’t move after a glance. “Yes, you. Stop looking and come here!”

Baffled, Li Hao had to walk over since the old man was indeed summoning him. “Greetings, sir!”

“Do you recognize me?”

“Yes, sir. Deputy Zhou of the provincial government!”

“Good!” The old man nodded with a smile. “I need to make a trip out and require an escort. You’re perfect, the Guards are all quite strong.”

Li Hao was struck dumb! You... want me to be your bodyguard? Yo, you’re from the provincial government and I’m from the Silver Moon Guards. We don’t belong to the same system and our institutions aren’t exactly friendly with each other. What do you want with me? Get someone from the military!

...or has he recognized me?

But that didn’t seem that possible because Li Hao had withdrawn all of his presence. Under normal circumstances, no one would discover him. Deputy Zhou was the only one of the senior executives that he couldn’t read. He might be a mundane, he might be a powerhouse. Regardless, the old man shouldn’t have identified Li Hao through the layer of armor, bronze mirror, and martial master... right?

“Sir, I’m waiting for someone...”

“Let that person wait,” Deputy Zhou chuckled. “You’ll do. I can’t be bothered locating someone else at this hour. Someone from the Guards sets me at ease. Plus, you’re obviously part of the core troops since you have a suit of armor. It’s a Night Watcher dereliction of duty if anything happens to me!”

Li Hao could say nothing. He could only mumble, “Yes sir! Where would you like to go?”

Where does a moldy old fart like you wanna go in the middle of the night?!

Deputy Zhou had already set foot outside camp. “Just follow me.”

Li Hao was incredibly dejected, but he couldn’t refuse. A Silver Moon Guard had no right to refuse escorting this personage. Even though the Silver Moon Guards and the provincial government weren't of the same official system, the latter outranked the Guards. Even Hou Xiaochen would have to bow his head.

Deeply resigned, Li Hao had no choice but to let Wang Ming wait and follow the old man. The paths were winding and twisting in Rift Canyon. The old man almost fell over when he stumbled in the dim light.

Li Hao quickly reached out to give him a hand. You should be staying in camp at your old age! What are you doing out here so late at night?? Other thoughts ran through his head at the same time. Did he seek me out, or is this really a coincidence? He couldn’t afford to underestimate any of the Silver Moon senior executives. All of them were terrifying people. Thus, he wouldn’t dismiss even an old man that appeared perfectly normal to his eyes.

Take Hong Yitang, for example. Li Hao had seen the light of a Solar around him before, but there was no light when they met again in Ash Mountain. Not only was there no light, there was nothing at all. Hong Yitang appeared to be a martial master.

Therefore, sometimes Li Hao’s eyes lied to him. As he grabbed Deputy Zhou, he wondered—are you really not afraid of anything bad happening to you? You’ve asked an unknown guard to escort you alone!

“I’m old now... I used to be able to walk fifty kilometers in one night and eat five bowls of rice in one meal. I’m old in the blink of an eye...” sighed Deputy Zhou, thinking back to his youth. “I envy you youngsters.”

“Surely you jest, Deputy Zhou,” Li Hao said in a muffled voice. “I’m not young either, I’m almost seventy.”

“Now look who’s joking.” Deputy Zhou continued forward merrily. “I can tell from your voice that you’re not too old, kiddo. You’re joking with an old man like me.”

Li Hao didn’t say a word.

“Don’t be thinking that it’s a bad thing to escort me. It’s a good thing, not a bad thing! You’re lucky that you ran into me tonight.”

Li Hao was instantly vigilant and highly skeptical of the man. He’s not trying to lure me to an empty place and suddenly erupt like Hong Yitang so he can kill me, is he? Regardless of what the old man had in mind, something was off with his sudden appearance in the middle of the night.

Li Hao was on high alert and poised for action.

“Kiddo, good karma results from good deeds.” Deputy Zhou smiled as he walked. “You should choose your friends more wisely next time.”

Li Hao blinked, what did the deputy mean?

“Thank goodness that I’m the one who came out.” The deputy continued walking. “If I was a bit slower and Huang Yu or the others saw you instead... you’d be in trouble.”

Nerves stretched taut, Li Hao didn’t even dare continue walking forward.

Deputy Zhou turned back and gestured with a smile. “Come on, keep up. How come a bold fellow like you is losing your courage now?”

Now Li Hao could be certain, the other knew who he was! He stepped forward, but didn’t say anything.

“You should stay away from people like Wang Ming. They’re too dumb and will only drag you down. He’s running around asking this and that in the middle of the night, wanting to know all sorts of secret intelligence. He even grabbed colleagues from Classified Affairs to pump them for information. If it wasn’t for his grandfather, he’d already been thrown into the dungeons!

“Everyone’s curious who he’s collecting this information for, or if he just wants to sell it for some pocket money. And here you come along. If Huang Yu had come out before I did, he would’ve casually run you through on the spot.”

Li Hao could find absolutely no words to express himself. Ole Wang... you’re... such a blithering idiot! I told you to gather information, but you’re running straight to Classified Affairs?? You might as well announce through a bullhorn that you want top secret information!

You absolute fucking idiot!

Granted, Li Hao also knew that Wang Ming had no other options. He was grounded, so what did he know? But he wanted to make money and satisfy Li Hao’s request for more clarification. He probably thought it wasn’t a big deal if he was discovered. His grandfather would protect him, and it wasn’t like he was truly looking for sensitive information. He hadn’t thought that Li Hao would visit him openly... and be caught in the act.

The higher-ups in the military were keeping an eye on the development, wanting to find out who Wang Ming was working for. It was most likely Li Hao, but since Li Hao had yet to return even now, he didn’t seem to be a likely candidate. A caller had come for Wang Ming, but was commandeered by the deputy as soon as he showed up.

Li Hao didn’t say a word, finding the old man to be exaggerating things. No matter what, Commander Yu wouldn’t kill him without asking a single question. In fact, the man wouldn’t do anything at all after learning that he was Li Hao. The commander would just fake the honor of doing the young man a favor!

Li Hao had appeared out in the open because he wasn’t terribly concerned about being exposed. He just hadn’t expected to be exposed so quickly. Ole Wang was such an idiot that he barged around like a bull in a china shop!

“That’s very funny, Deputy Zhou!” Li Hao replied in a muffled voice. “I’ve simply been asked by others to visit Wang Ming. I’ve done nothing and am part of the Silver Moon Guards. How would Commander Yu kill me for no reason at all? Even if he wanted to, he would ask Director Hou first. And so... don’t scare me, deputy general.”

Who does this old far think he’s scaring? He’s trying to tighten me in the middle of the night so he can do me a favor. It’s obvious from your words that you have something to ask of me.

Deputy Zhou started laughing. He kept walking and headed for an area that was illuminated. “I really do have something to take care of tonight. I brought you along as a matter of convenience. Do you know what’s ahead?”

“Rift Canyon.”

No shit! Deputy Zhou’s jaw nearly dropped. The little guy was better at nonsense than he was!

“I mean if you know which faction’s camp it is.”

“Nope.” Li Hao peered ahead and saw a massive ball of light. There was a Nova there! Anyone who was a Nova was a well known individual, but he was indeed unaware of their particulars.

“You have a need to meet them,” said the old man as he continued walking. “There’s someone there from the military, but he has not declared his identity. Do you know what the military’s supernatural organization is called?”

“Yes, the Skystar Troops!” Li Hao knew of it because Wang Ming had told him about it before. The Inspectorate was the first to create an official supernatural agency—the Night Watchers. Then came the Supervisory Office of the Ministry of Administration, the Skystar Troops of the Ministry of Armed Forces, and the Trade Security Committee of the Ministry of Commerce...

As the Night Watchers grew too strong to control, the nine ministries ceased supplying them with supernatural recruits and created their own instead. They’d poured their resources into one agency at first because there’d been no other option. They needed an official supernatural agency to quickly find its footing in the changing world. Now that the ministries were in control again, they flexed their muscles as the heart of the dynasty and quickly built their own supernatural agencies.