Star Gate

Chapter 68: Raining (I)

It was a small matter that Liu Long walked away with Panther. But half a day later… the team captain came to Li Hao with an odd look in his eyes. He delivered a friendly punch without saying a word and just as bizarrely ran off.

Li Hao had no idea what’d happened. What you hit me for?

……

The law enforcement team.

The captain’s office.

Liu Long’s gaze remained as strange as before. He stared at the little black dog in front of him and abruptly sighed.

“A human is less than a dog! Hot damn! A dog knows a martial breathing method, and it’s the one that belongs to my family’s Nine Forged Force! How are you this damned smart?? It took me a few days to learn it and you at most watched Li Hao practice it last night! How do you know it too??”

Indeed, he’d discovered a secret. Panther habitually employed a martial breathing method. Although the dog’s breathing was so imperceptible that regular people wouldn’t be able to detect it, it was the Liu breathing method that the little black dog utilized.

Liu Long didn’t realize it at first. It wasn’t until he led the dog around for a bit that he noticed the dog breathed at the same tempo as he did. His jaw dropped with shock!

When he breathed, the dog breathed. When he paused, the dog paused…

It nearly sent him up a wall!

This dog was uncanny. No wonder Li Hao said it could see existences of the mental state.

“The supernatural domain has become part of our world and even dogs are larger than life!” Liu Long shook his head, but wasn’t overly surprised. He sighed softly, “Myths awake, the supernatural rises, and stories come from White Moon City of animals turning into spirits!

“There’s even news from the central region of these animals devouring powerhouses stronger than Sunflare! To think that a tiny Silver City would see a dog like you as well!” He laughed self-deprecatingly at himself. “A dog can become so, but I cannot make the crossover. How ironic! Forget it, forget it. You’ve learned my family’s breathing method and I have nothing better to do. I’ll try teaching you Nine Forged Force. If you really turn into a dog spirit, show me a paw of nine layered force and smack those bastards to death!”

Liu Long laughed heartily. Could a dog learn the method? Who cares, let’s give it a try. He was a much better teacher than Li Hao since he’d trained for decades. The kid had nothing on him!

Upon assessing the little black dog for a while, Liu Long began teaching the owner of eager canine eyes how to layer internal force!

Panther’s learning abilities shocked him anew. Hot diggity, he’d never learned as fast as the dog!

In actuality, it was because Panther had spent a night practicing and absorbing a large amount of cosmic power. It was naturally a quick study after meeting a suitable teacher. Its paws blurred with afterimages through the air!

Twice Forged Dog Paw!

Liu Long almost wanted to tell the dog to be his student when Panther mastered the second layer. Be my final disciple! You’re much better than a human!

He thought Li Hao had a lot of potential given that Yuan Shuo accepted the lad. But now? What was Li Hao good for? He didn’t measure up to Panther at all! Look how quickly the little black dog had mastered Twice Forged!

The day of reckoning was upon them, but Liu Long put business out of mind. He spent the entire day in his office teaching a dog. If word of this got out, the rest of the team would go mad. They thought their captain was brainstorming in seclusion, thinking of ways to stymie the enemy and defuse the crisis that might arrive tomorrow.

No one imagined that he would spend the day teaching a dog martial arts!

At the end of the day, Panther could just barely deploy Thrice Forged Dog Paw! Li Hao’s jaw would drop with incomprehension if he knew!

Time passed slowly as the little black dog practiced its new craft. July 17th gradually came to a close. Dusk fell and thunderclouds filled the sky.

Cold winds gusted through Silver City. Scarlet shadows manifested in the darkness to await the coming harvest. The eight bloodlines were almost assembled!

……

Plop plop plop…

It was raining!

Tiny raindrops splattered on windows and overhangs, plinking as they connected. All was quiet as the night stretched on.

Passersby on the streets were rare after 10pm in a small place like Silver City. Everyone knew that the weather was about to take a turn for a worse, so there were even fewer people than usual. Storefronts were closed; the rainy season was here! The city would be inundated in the days to come.

……

The basement.

Li Hao wore a new inspector uniform and a third gen vortex gun on his waist. Some grenades rested in his pockets. He didn’t carry overly powerful hot weapons as they weren’t too convenient. They were also too difficult for a single person to operate by himself.

Not too far away, a shield stood next to Chen Jian. Black and of moderate size, it would be employed to protect the vitals.

Yun Yao packed up a medicine kit in a nearby corner while skinny Wu Chao toyed with a dagger. His mind seemed to be lost in thought.

Liu Yan sat in front of Li Hao. Bereft of her customary smile, she was also lost in thought. A framed photograph rested face down in front of her. Did it hold a picture of her late husband?

Bam!

The door swung open. Dressed in a trench coat, Liu Long walked in with a dog by his side. It was only now that he left his office with Panther.

Everyone looked at him, even the distracted Liu Yan and Wu Chao. They snapped to attention and focused on their captain, the heart of the Demon Hunters.

“It’s raining!” He strode in coolly and looked around. “Are you all ready?”

“Ready!” Chen Jian answered in a muffled voice.

Liu Long flashed a vicious leer. “Remember, evil never triumphs over justice. We are justice!”

“Justice!” the team growled.

“We uphold justice, eliminate evil, and safeguard order!” Their motto once more rang through the basement. Flamboyant as ever, this time, the echoes stirred Li Hao’s heart. To uphold justice and eliminate evil!

BOOM!

Thunder roared through the sky, but the team’s expression shifted. Liu Yan quickly stood up with a stern look. “That’s not thunder!”

Indeed, it wasn’t. They were all too familiar with this kind of sound. It was a bomb!

Liu Long’s expression turned unpleasant and he smiled stiffly. “The supernaturals… really are something! They don’t want us to leave the city and aren’t willing to let us seize the initiative. Therefore, they’ve entered the city!”

Entered the city!

The enemy had entered the city and was destroying their home. They were using the entire city’s safety to split up the team and assume command!

Li Hao paled. The rest of the team didn’t say anything as they thought he was scared. It was surprising that he was scared now, of all times. Youngsters couldn’t be counted on in moments of crisis, alright!

However, Li Hao wasn’t scared. He shook with anger and panic as he listened to the sound. “Chief, was that an explosion? It… came from my home…”

It definitely sounded like it, but he couldn’t be certain.

A clamor rose outside as the Inspectorate mobilized!

“It’s only the beginning.” Liu Long regained his calm. “Looks like our opponent this time isn’t easy to handle!”

They’d made the first move before the team could move out of the city. It was both a threat and warning. Don’t think of leaving the city!

It was also a message to Liu Long and the others that they should give up, that all of their plans were known. Even the location of the trap was no secret!

So don’t even think about it!

Some supernaturals may be arrogant, but some were cautious. Their opponents were plainly the prudent sort. Though they didn’t think the Demon Hunters needed to be guarded against, they still weren’t willing to set foot into the trap.

Liu Long took a deep breath. He had a hunch that trouble was coming for him.

Ring ring ring!

The deputy chief picked up a communicator and swiftly heard a familiar roar. “Liu Long, where are you?! You’re not at the law enforcement team and neither is Liu Yan! Big matters are afoot in Silver City, are you deaf?? There’s been an explosion and people are dead!”

The law enforcement team needed to immediately resolve such a major incident, but they milled about uncertainly because the captain and vice captain were absent. There was only one blast site thus far, who knew if there would be a second?

The furious voice crackled to life again. “Return to the Inspectorate immediately and lead a team to the relevant area! Not just you, but also Liu Yan! Arson has occurred in the western outskirts and the oil storage tanks are on fire! Someone’s lit them up!”

“Alright, Inspector General, don’t panic. I’ll take care of it!” Liu Long said slowly in a calm tone.

“Liu Long!” The man’s voice rang with solemnity. “I know you’ve been busy lately and I overlook certain things you undertake. However, you should let professionals handle the job. I am the inspector general of the only law enforcement agency in Silver City. You must keep in mind that the safety of the entire city is more important than one singular person!

“I am holding down the fort in the Inspectorate tonight while you… you need to head out there and catch the perpetrators. If you must protect the little guy, send him to my office!”

Both of them knew that the explosion was just the beginning, a warning. It was a signal to the agency that they should recognize the situation they were in and give up Li Hao. Their target from beginning to end was Li Hao.

Therefore, whether it was the explosion or fire, they were just warnings and not a declaration of war against Silver City’s law enforcement agency.

The Inspector General’s voice was so loud that Li Hao heard him as well. The young man finally understood how terrifying and crafty the enemy was. They were as quiet as a mouse and didn’t care about Demon Hunter involvement because they’d laid their plans long ago—throw Silver City into chaos!

The team would suffer immense pressure as the city dissolved into confusion.

Don’t you consider yourself the side of good? Are you going to investigate these cases and restore peace to the city, or will you forsake your duty and stay to protect Li Hao?

“I know!” Liu Long’s voice remained even. “I’ll take care of it! Inspector General, I’m going to hang up now!”

He glanced at Li Hao and remained silent for a moment. “All of you, stay here and don’t take brash action. I’m going upstairs to handle things!”

“Chief!” Liu Yan was alarmed. “This is exactly what they want to see!”

They wanted a distracted Demon Hunters that was unable to fend for themselves. The enemy’s target from beginning to end was always very plainly Li Hao.

Liu Long nodded. “I know!” But he had to go.