Star Gate

Chapter 47: Contentment (II)

An old family heirloom? Liu Long immediately understood—the sword of the Lis! Li Hao had sensed a reaction between Wang Ming and the object—a supernatural was with Li Hao!

The deputy chief frowned and recomposed himself. “Keep your head, don’t be afraid! There’s nothing to be concerned about if he’s just following you. He would’ve already killed you if he wants to. Don’t show that anything’s amiss, I’m sure you can calm down!”

“Chief, I’m worried that…”

“Don’t worry!” Liu Long comforted and quickly assessed—a supernatural at the Inspectorate… a Night Watcher?

It was highly likely.

Annoyance and irritation assailed him in turn that the Night Watchers had kept him in the dark. Liu Long was well aware of what they had in mind. They wanted to observe from the shadows and have him serve as a scout and cannon fodder!

Although he’d known this long ago, the Night Watchers sending someone to interfere without even notifying him was wholly unexpected. Neither had the inspector general said anything. So that one was also dissatisfied with him too, hmm? That was one personage that the Night Watchers could not pull the wool over.

After some thought, Liu Long concluded that the newcomer was most likely on their side. While he couldn’t one hundred percent rule out that it was the enemy, the likelihood wasn’t great.

Li Hao fretted as Liu Long pondered, “Chief, I am a bit worried… The guy said that he wants to buy my sword. Do you think I should sell it? Will I be safer then?

“I thought about it just now—he might be from the Night Watchers! If so, won’t we bait them into fighting the enemy if I sell the sword to them? We can just sit back and watch two tigers face off. I’ll earn some money too…”

Sell the sword?!

Liu Long instantly lost his temper and growled, “No! Are you short on money? What the hell are you selling it for?!”

“Chief, I am short on money! I want to ask if I can trade it for mysterious power. Maybe I’ll get stronger if I absorb more and can protect myself better…”

“Trade your ass!!” Liu Long was beyond irate. “You’re not allowed to do that! Remember, you’re part of the Demon Hunters and not the Night Watchers. You’re not certain of his identity either, so you might still die after selling the sword!”

“But I’ll die if I don’t sell it, so why not trade it for a couple cubes of mysterious power and enhance myself…”

“Shut up!” Liu Long was despondent. The kid was stubborn! He sighed after thinking over things more. “We still have some mysterious power in our reserves. It’s not that I can’t give them to you, but that I’m concerned about permanent damage from absorbing too much! You might even explode as all we have left is attributed energy.

“How about this, I’ll give you another two attributed cubes if you think you can endure it before the rains come. Selling the sword is not viable. You won’t be able to digest the energy you get from selling it!”

Delight gleamed in Li Hao’s eyes, now this was more like it! Liu Long didn’t want him to sell the sword as there would be no pickings left if the Night Watchers became involved. With great risk came great opportunity! Liu Long wished to cross over. Although killing a supernatural was very dangerous, he didn’t care. All he wanted was more personal benefit.

I knew it… Li Hao made quick calculations. Two cubes were fine—it didn’t matter if they were attributed or not. He’d find out if that mattered when he absorbed them.

“Then… alright, thank you chief. I won’t sell it. I’m also worried about the team’s safety and feel that everyone might be safer if the Night Watchers get involved.”

“It’s fine, so long as you understand!” Liu Long could finally relax. “Don’t expose yourself! If this person’s really from the Night Watchers, then our plan has a higher chance of succeeding and our safety is more assured. Pulling chestnuts out of the fire is what we martial masters who seek the supernatural must do!”

“Understood!” Li Hao hung up after the two conversed a little more. He was coolly composed— nerves from moments ago nowhere to be found.

It was a decent enough act. Although Liu Long was helping him, Li Hao did need to understand and obtain more mysterious power. Given how stingy the captain was, he’d at most parcel out a few cubes of mysterious power if their plan succeeded in killing the scarlet shadow. That was too little!

The ones newly assigned to Li Hao were doing nothing but sitting in storage. This meant they didn’t match the others. Why not let me have a try? Limits on absorption that applied to others were inapplicable to Li Hao. Cosmic power provided the best neutralization to mysterious power.

Exposing Wang Ming increases my degree of safety, no matter what his identity is. Gaining two additional cubes of mysterious power is not bad as well. This also redirects everyone’s attention to the sword. It’s much less likely that my jade pendant will be exposed.

Li Hao was satisfied with his performance, albeit it paled in comparison to his teacher’s. His teacher had beaten someone half to death, but the victims had to think of how to address his wounds and were afraid of him dying.

He had much to learn from his teacher! That there was a shining example of what he should strive for. His teacher probably wouldn’t think much of two cubes of mysterious power.

“It is a heavy burden on my shoulders and the road ahead is long!”

……

Li Hao returned to their private booth, whereupon Wang Ming displayed the depths of his pockets. He ordered a dozen dishes despite only three for dinner—some dishes were completely foreign to Li Hao. He was a blatant pauper compared to the newcomer.

Chen Na suddenly said mysteriously halfway through dinner, “You’re from White Moon City, Little Ming, that’s a big city. Out with it, you came to Silver City with a special goal in mind, didn’t you?”

Wang Ming started. Have I been made? No… no way!

Chen Na smirked knowingly at his expression and sighed when she saw a completely lost Li Hao.

“Li Hao, you’re from the Veteris Institute at the end of the day. How do you not know anything! Do you know that a group of people is about to be selected from Silver City for White Moon?”

“What for?” Li Hao asked blankly. “For training? Or promotion?”

“Neither!” Chen Na sighed and shook her head when she glanced at Wang Ming. “You don’t know, but Little Ming surely does. Some youngsters disappear from the Inspectorate around each year end. They’re sent to White Moon City for a selection! If they succeed, they might become… one of those legendary figures!”

Wang Ming heaved an inward sigh of relief. Got it. The Night Watcher selection! Damn she scared me, I thought the gig was up.

Li Hao was fully aware of what Chen Na spoke of—the Night Watchers selecting a few people from Silver City to conduct mysterious power into. There was a one percent chance of success; Liu Long had mentioned that.

Plainly, Chen Na misunderstood Wang Ming’s presence in Silver City. She thought he was here because competition for spots was too fierce in White Moon.

“Sis Na, what are you talking about?” Li Hao continued to play dumb. “One of those legendary figures?”

“I knew you didn’t know! What a pity… Li Hao, you should try talking to your teacher. You know about this, right, Little Ming?”

“I know a little.” Wang Ming nodded with a smile.

“I knew it!” Chen Na crowed with pride. “The minds of you people from big cities twist and turn too much! Little Ming, have you ever met those legendary figures?”

Legendary figures… Wang Ming was at a slight loss, but decided to answer with a word or two since he’d tacitly admitted he was here to vie for a spot. No one would believe that he didn’t know anything.

“I’ve encountered them before, yes, but didn’t share a deep conversation.” Wang Ming could tell from the new look of vague comprehension that Li Hao must have heard some things from Liu Long. Therefore, his response could be neither filled with too much truth nor falsehood.

“It’s actually an organization of people beyond ordinary! It’s part of the Inspectorate and there’s not many members. They choose people from the lower ranks each year and induct them into the organization.”

“From what you say, I think I actually do know a bit,” Li Hao interjected curiously. “I heard my teacher mention it once and saw someone like that when I visited today! I feel like no one will believe me, but it’s all true. I saw a man fly! That was incredible! Little Ming, people like that are the best of the best in White Moon, aren’t they?”

He paid special attention to Wang Ming’s expression as he spoke. The latter should know about Yuan Shuo’s affairs, so there was no need to hide anything. He just wanted to see what Wang Ming thought about Hu Hao.

Was it respect? Contempt? Or something else?

Wang Ming’s reaction could be used to determine his standing and strength—this was a tiny trick that Li Hao was employing. Based on what he knew, Hu Hao was a Darkmoon. According to what his teacher said, that didn’t make Hu Hao very strong. He was just someone with special abilities and a rookie among Darkmoons.

Liu Long would eat him for lunch if they met in battle. So then, what of Wang Ming? The Night Watchers had sent him in secret, making Liu Long just a figurehead. Was he stronger than Liu Long?

“Best of the best?” Wang Ming chuckled, oblivious of the scrutiny. “They’re all the best of the best to us! Being able to fly is amazing, but you said you saw him when you visited your teacher. That means he’s probably not that impressive because your teacher would’ve introduced you otherwise. Did he?”

“No… no he didn’t.”

“There you have it,” Wang Ming’s chuckles deepened.

Li Hao nodded. Hu Hao’s standing was less than this guy. Wang Ming enjoyed a higher status and was possibly even stronger. He might not be Sunflare, but he was a strong Darkmoon.

Wang Ming continued to remain oblivious of what he’d just done. It’d only taken a few casual words to nearly detail his entire background to Li Hao.

……

Everyone was content after the meal. Wang Ming spoke of many interesting happenings from White Moon City; Li Hao and Chen Na pointed out areas to take particular caution within the department. Chen Na simply enjoyed the meal, whereas Li Hao gained far more than what he could have imagined.

His greatest harvest was that Wang Ming didn’t think he’d given his identity away. The newcomer continued to chit chat idly and mentioned that he might not be able to report to work on time the day after tomorrow. A family elder was coming to visit him.

Li Hao immediately snapped to attention. A family elder! A real elder, or a Night Watcher powerhouse?

Were the Night Watchers going to send even stronger personages to Silver City? It was a bit of a pity for them if they sent in more agents for this secret mission. They had a walking beacon named Wang Ming among their ranks. Thankfully, Li Hao was also on the side of justice or Wang Ming would’ve been beaten to death long ago for revealing their secrets.

Li Hao clapped Wang Ming on the shoulder before he left and spoke a few comforting words. This supernatural didn’t seem that scary or frankly, all that smart. He was almost simpleminded, yet thought he was quite shrewd.

This seems all there is to supernaturals. They’re a bit stronger, but short on brains. They don’t exert as much pressure as Liu Long.

As he sped away on his bike, Li Hao found that he no longer feared supernaturals as much as he did before.

Time to go home! Everyone’s attention being elsewhere created a perfect opportunity to retrieve the stone blade and see if he could create some blade-infused water. Stellaris’ cosmic power was incredible, so how about the stone blade? Would it be the same energy or something different?

This would be quite an interesting experiment.

Back at the restaurant.

Wang Ming looked strangely at the departing Li Hao. That guy had acted like a senior looking after a junior when he left. Why do I get the feeling that he thinks I’m dumb? Does he really think I’m the rookie I appear to be?

“Looks like Veteris students aren’t any smarter than the rest of us!” Wang Ming shook his head. Ah Li Hao, do you know that you’re in bigger danger than you can imagine? It might be a Sunflare coming for your head!

“Thankfully, a much stronger presence will be here soon and can observe from the shadows. We’ll ambush the enemy even if they’re a Sunflare!” Wang Ming was highly satisfied with the deed of merit he’d be recognized for after he reported the sword to the newcomer.

Both Li Hao and Wang Ming were very satisfied with how their relationship had deepened after a meal.