Star Gate

Chapter 869: Plan (II)

“There are 3,216 cities in Skystar Dynasty at the moment and tens of thousands of smaller towns and villages.” Chen Zhongtian smiled to see everyone looking at him. “The Inspectorate has branches in almost all of these places, making for more than 3.2 million personnel! Although not all of them are supernatural, the Inspectorate is the most basic level of law enforcement and an indicator of the stability of society. It’s more important than the army, so it’s very important to gather up the Inspectorate’s strength!”

3.2 million inspectors weren’t that many as there were ten billion people in the dynasty. There were one million in Silver City alone. Li Hao had been an inspector once, so he knew that at least three hundred inspectors were needed to maintain basic public security in a city that size. That was the minimum amount of personnel as their jurisdiction would also span nearby towns and villages. In actuality, only three hundred inspectors would often cause a shortage in staff.

Ten billion meant three million inspectors were required, and that only satisfied a basic level of need.

The group looked at each other after Chen Zhongtian’s words. Hou Xiaochen nodded in agreement. “The Inspectorate is a vital faction. We can forgo the one million in the City of Supernaturals, but lacking those three million inspectors would entail chaos beneath the heavens!”

This group had started considering their problems from the perspective of the entire world at some point in time. Previously, their thoughts had only spanned Silver Moon province. Even Hou Xiaochen had never fathomed that he would one day stand in Skystar City and discuss the matters of the world.

Chen Zhongtian smiled to see Hou Xiaochen agree with him. “That’s right, so we need to consolidate the Inspectorate first. When it comes to the City of Supernaturals... to put it bluntly, their presence isn’t crucial and their absence isn’t of great consequence. It wouldn’t affect anything if all of them died!

“They’re a bunch of bastards who only know to cultivate day in and out and don’t do anything else. They don’t maintain the order of society and only know to wreak devastation. Getting to them a day earlier or a day later won’t affect anything.

“Although they’re strong, they’re quite useless!” Chen Zhongtian looked at Li Hao. “Commander Li, sometimes the value of one’s worth is measured not in terms of strength, but by their delegation of duty in society! The Inspectorate is in charge of very important duties. You were an inspector once before and should understand what happens when an Inspectorate branch falls apart. Will there be peace to be found in the city then?”

This question touched upon Li Hao’s area of expertise. “Pandemonium will ensue!” He nodded. “Robbery and looting will spontaneously rise, a city is plunged into mayhem without its law enforcement agency. The Night Watchers are the law enforcement personnel for superhumans, whereas the Inspectorate is the only one for ordinary people. Not everyone is a bad person, but not everyone is a good person either. The people will follow as soon as a precedent is set!”

He was well versed in this subject and instantly understood the importance of the Inspectorate. As for Chen Zhongtian’s haste in delivering the Inspectorate to Li Hao, the young man wouldn’t say anything.

Now as he looked at it, the division of labor between the nine ministries was very logical. Even the Ministry of Finance that Li Hao had thought only knew how to accept money was a vital component of the dynasty’s operations.

It was the Ministry of the Judiciary that’d had part of its duties replaced by the Inspectorate and Night Watchers. Therefore, it didn’t cause too much of a stir when it vanished. Otherwise, they would already be a hotbed of trouble.

“So right now, we need to secretly take down the senior executives of the City of Supernaturals. In that case, we don’t need to go with too many... A large force will raise attention.” Li Hao took a deep breath. “Then I will go with Deputy Zhou. Who else wants to join us? We need to keep it to ten people!”

“I’ll go. I have nothing better to do and no one will keep tabs on me,” volunteered a resigned Chen Zhongtian. When had the Inspectorate’s allegiance become an inconvenience for their backer? Li Hao didn’t have time to consolidate everyone he’d recruited to his side.

At the same time, this was good news. It meant that his decision was correct because Lin Hongyu also felt that Li Hao showed the signs of becoming a sovereign. The key laid with strength and patrons, of which Li Hao had aplenty. In this age, having those two factors and the support of Silver Moon meant that the young man stood a strong chance of victory.

Added to that support from the Inspectorate meant that Chen Zhongtian further felt that after taking down the City of Supernaturals, Li Hao’s chances of winning would increase by infinite times.

He was worthy of their investment!

“We can leave just one at the Night Watchers.” Yao Si looked at Hou Xiaochen. “Should you go or I go?”

“I’ll go, Director Yao is the heart of the Night Watchers.” Hou Xiaochen smiled. The old man didn’t say anything in response.

“Count me in,” said Hong Yitang.

Hou Xiaochen interrupted He Yong when the man wanted to speak, “Don’t think about it, you’re too weak.” He Yong wanted to break out in curses.

“You’re still entangled with the royal family,” Hou Xiaochen continued. “They’re also keeping an eye on you. They won’t mind it if we leave. We’ve been pursuing the Wind and Cloud Pavilion all this time and sending a few from our side won’t raise any eyebrows. If you go, however, it will seem like we’re ready to start a battle.”

He Yong’s presence blatantly signaled the beginning of a fight. Li Hao and the rest could be passed off as searching for the Wind and Cloud Pavilion.

The young man took a quick count of his forces. It was him, Hong Yitang, Hou Xiaochen, Deputy Zhou, and Chen Zhongtian. The weakest of Hou Xiaochen was between five and six elements. Indeed, Director Hou was their weakest, but he should’ve set foot into six elements, no?

Li Hao wasn’t certain either. It was hard to fully see through a person at times after they crafted their supernatural characters. They were also all on the same side, so he rarely used his eyes on them. If Director Hou had also advanced to six elements, then they would all be between six and seven elements. That would bring them victory even if they met a true Apex.

Should he bring the little tree’s replica? After all, there would also be plant spirits to contend with.

Li Hao’s only concern with that was that other plant spirits in the Skystar Town ruins might choose to investigate when the little tree was gone. Undesirable developments might easily occur without the little tree to confound them. The rest of the plant spirits would know ahead of time that the Golden Coconut was dead.

I’m short one plant replica! What a pity that General Pagoda didn’t give me one. Damned shame!

The silent Sky Sword suddenly said, “I’ll go with you and swing by Sky Sword Manor on my way back. Li Hao, do you want to come with me?”

“Me?”

“Yes, to meet a plant spirit.”

Li Hao blinked.

“How can Sky Sword Manor not have ruins of its own if it’s part of the seven divine mountains?” Sky Sword pointed out calmly.

Li Hao started. That was right!

“It’s just that I’m typically busy and I don’t like asking favors from others,” Sky Sword explained. “I prefer handling things myself and just trading with the plant spirit for some Water of Life. They are not part of the Skystar Town ruins collective, so let’s chat with it. Our partnership has existed for a few years and it can continue if it’s willing. If not, we can eliminate it!”

Li Hao soundlessly opened and closed his mouth. He hadn’t considered that Sky Sword Manor would have a plant spirit of its own. Sky Sword typically kept a very low profile and usually took action by himself. He never had a plant spirit replica with him and had exceedingly little Water of Life. The young man had suspected at one point that there were no ruins within Sky Sword Manor, but now he knew that they did exist!

“It can be inconvenient without a plant spirit being part of the task force at times,” Sky Sword said calmly. “But that imperial palace guard is better off staying here! Bring Panther with us. If it can coalesce some projections like last time, we might be able to take down the plant spirit if we head to the ruins alone!”

Panther!

The dog had been investigating the whereabouts of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion lately. Had it come back yet?

“Alright!” Li Hao nodded after some consideration. “Then it’ll just be us and no need for anyone else. We’ll head to Sky Sword Manor first. Our cover story can be that we’re going to meet the sword cultivators of the world. We’ll head to the City of Supernaturals in secret!”

The young man swiftly came to a decision. The rest of the people present were regretful that they couldn’t attend and some of the older martial masters were very regretful. Being unable to participate in a fight was a grave loss to them.

That concluded the conversation for Li Hao. The group decided to leave early in the morning. There was no need to specially conceal anything and they could spend the night waiting for Panther.

......

Li Hao sought out Liu Long after the meeting and handed the man multiple storage rings. His reaction was even more pronounced than Li Hao’s—his eyes almost fell out of his head when he heard the contents of the rings. Void shields, void chains, an earth driller, flying ship, sea cruiser... He was stunned beyond belief that Li Hao had obtained so many treasures with one trip to Battle Heaven!

It was incredible!

Li Hao didn’t say anything in particular and handed over a set of silver armor as well. “You are hereby promoted to a troop leader. Silver armor can contact one thousand Black Armors at once. Communication will be easier with the silver armor and your defensive capabilities will increase.”

Liu Long was delighted. He was only a Black Armor before and there were only two Bronze Armors in Li Hao’s division—Hong Yitang and He Yong. The suits of silver armor offered much more defense and most crucial of all, they could contact Bronze and Black Armors under their command at will. This would prevent mismatched timing in battle.

“We’re the newly established Eleventh Division and you are the leader of the first troop!” Li Hao smiled. “We can use these designations in private, we’ll keep to the previous positions in public. Additionally, I’m giving you twenty sets of bronze armor. You can assign them according to your needs!” n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Liu Long quickly nodded; he was in a wonderful mood.

“Chief, you should focus on cultivating more. Although the military formation is strong, there will be times when you’re alone.”

With the military formation present and with the latest treasures he’d collected, the Demon Hunter Army would greatly improve once more. But as a troop leader, Liu Long’s individual strength was too low.

Liu Long nodded solemnly. He understood his shortcomings as well. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d been with Li Hao since Silver City, his current strength would make him completely insignificant.