Star Gate

Chapter 241: Director Hao’s Earnest Teachings (I)

Did she not have one? Or was her shadow not here?

Violet Moon was very strong, so if she had a shadow, it should be on par with a Solar. Why didn’t he see one?

Li Hao was baffled, but there was no one who could give him answers.

Violet Moon heaved for breath off in the distance and snuck a glance back at the Silver Armor. She suddenly turned in Li Hao’s direction. She could sense someone watching her. Although many people were looking at her, this particular gaze made her quite uncomfortable.

Her eyelids fluttered when she looked over—the heir of the Lis!

She was yet to see Li Hao in the ruins before this, but with the Night Watchers entering ahead of Red Moon, she hadn’t been certain if he’d entered the city to investigate or gone off elsewhere. When she continuously failed to see him, she began worrying that he’d died.

Thank goodness he was still alive. More than anyone, Violet Moon did not wish for Li Hao to die in the ruins. The organization’s standing command was that she had to ensure his survival to the best of her efforts, if not capture him. The caveat was that he did not have a chance to grow stronger. His quiet progression to Sunderer was already a source of grave dissatisfaction to those upstairs.

It was best if she could take him alive!

Red Moon’s bottom line was that if the young man did die, she had to bring back an intact corpse. That was her last course of action. She was to guarantee his survival if it was the slightest possibility.

Thus, Violet Moon didn’t care how the young man was looking at her. Some of her brewing resentment at being injured dispersed—Li Hao was over there, he was still alive!

She knew more about the eight families of Silver City than most. It was a very important matter and the organization had made preparations for many years for it. They’d wanted to soundlessly complete their plans, but missteps occurred in their last operation. It was a huge pity.

The organization had managed to disguise the other families’ deaths as natural causes and stayed under the radar. Now, however, the eight families of Silver City were a hot topic.

Another loud explosion traveled out of the city—Hong Yitang was being run down. “Commander Hu!” he had to plead.

Up ahead, Hu Dingfang jerked his head back for a look. The Silver Armor was flying through the air at top speed. It would be hard to outrun this fellow on the ground. Should he save Hong Yitang?

The man’s Sword Sect was stronger than the three great organizations and Hong Yitang was a Silver Moon native. His faction wasn’t a menace to provincial citizens, so while the three great organizations were officially listed as evil organizations, the Sword Sect was not.

After a split second, Hu Dingfang turned and threw a blast of incomparably sharp metal energy through the air. Being a metal supernatural, he condemned his power into a ball of light, flinging it at the Silver Armor!

Kaboom!!

The soldier stumbled a few steps backward, providing enough breathing space for Hong Yitang to put some more distance between himself and his pursuer.

......

In the plaza.

Li Hao looked at the Sword Sect instead of the outer city. Many of its members were highly worried and the Solar that he’d taken note of before, the one who seemed to be Hong Yitang’s partner, was also anxious. She seemed ready to rescue the sect leader at any time.

The young man only had time for a quick glance as many Black Armors marched into the plaza. Hao Lianchuan and the other powerhouses that’d returned safely pushed back the soldiers in large swathes. Some were even thrown out of the plaza. Those that landed outside city confines quickly lost their battle capabilities.

“The rest of you can withdraw now!” Hao Lianchuan shouted. They’d brought a horde of Black Armors to them. At this rate, the Silver Armor would change focus to the group in the plaza. That would turn everyone here into cannon fodder.

The assembly quickly retreated beyond the outer city’s perimeter. Wang Ming squeezed himself out of the crowd and heaved a sigh of relief to see Li Hao and the others. “Are you guys okay?”

The trio had disappeared as soon as they entered the ruins. They’d returned now, thankfully.

“We’re fine!” Li Hao chuckled and lowered his voice. “Director Hao arranged a special mission for us to complete, so we split up from everyone after coming inside. We didn’t expect Violet Moon to antagonize such a strong entity. What a pity, we’d almost finished our task.”

What special mission?

Curiosity sparked in Wang Ming, but Li Hao shook his head without an answer. Although regretful, Wang Ming didn’t press further. It was better not to ask when the matter involved classified affairs. He knew that he had trouble keeping his tongue still sometime.

Zhang Ting’s ears twitched not too far away. It was a very minute movement, but she clearly captured their conversation. A mission? Purposefully split up? Didn’t Hao Lianchuan say that something had gone wrong with the transportation to cause their separation? So that hadn’t been the case!

The martial masters had vanished and entered the outer city... They did indeed hold some advantages in the city as Black Armors couldn’t discover them as easily. These three weren’t that strong, however, so what kind of special mission could they undertake?

Zhang Ting looked at the fighting Hao Lianchuan. This man seemed open and aboveboard, as well as a bit incompetent. So it seemed that he nursed his own plans as well! She was highly concerned with Li Hao. The young man was part of the eight families of Silver City and the heir to the Lis.

It wasn’t that the central region didn’t care about Silver City after its matters were made public, but that they were completely engaged in the war. There really was no personnel to spare. But since Li Hao was part of the Night Watchers, certain commands came from upstairs.

One, obtain as much information about the eight families as possible. All information was to be collected.

Two, it was best if they could obtain the sword that Li Hao had handed in.

Three, approach Li Hao to see if they could gain special information.

Four, Red Moon was not to be allowed to succeed. As for how their success could be foiled, that was up to the operative’s own decisions. Zhang Ting knew full well what this meant. There was no need to be involved in anything when there were no issues. Once trouble was upon them, her first reaction should be to save the young man. If that proved impossible, she was to kill him so that Red Moon’s people could not have him!

It was fine to leave the eight families’ secrets buried so long as Red Moon’s plans were foiled. The government knew less than the supernatural organization.

Zhang Ting turned over these thoughts in her mind and looked at the Silver Armor in the distance. The look in her eyes shifted slightly. Silver Moon’s ruins were far stronger than they’d imagined! She had to make a report of this!

Just the one thousand Black Armors, additional Bronze Armors, and the Silver Armor were priceless, to say nothing of anything else! It would make for a martial master army of one thousand strong if they were all turned in! This kind of battalion would trample right over many provinces in a horrifying display of might!

And they were only in the outer city. What about the inner city?

There was at least one origin weapon there, and it might be exceedingly strong. It could be a legendary divine origin weapon...

Origin weapons were divided into ranks. Anything that bore the characteristics of an origin weapon could be categorized thus. For example, absorbing mysterious power of its own volition to supplement the wielder’s consumption, being able to minimize or enlarge the item, being able to store it within the wielder’s body...

All of those formed the definition of an origin weapon. However, they were also divided according to strength. Hers was the weakest and the Flaming Phoenix Spear of Silver Moon was one of the stronger. It would be a rare sight even in the central region.

Zhang Ting glanced at Violet Moon; she hadn’t known what origin weapon the latter carried, but now she knew. It was the Armor of the Thunder God! This was an arcane level item that was one degree higher than her gold level weapon.

As it was an armor type, it was more valuable in comparison. But any item that was an origin weapon was precious, no matter its type. Given that she was one of the seven moons, it was normal for Violet Moon to wield an arcane level weapon.

Zhang Ting observed silently. She hadn’t entered the ruins with too many missions. After she reported in, upstairs gave her only one command. Just keep an eye on things and don’t make a move, but don’t let the defensive origin weapon fall into Hou Xiaochen\'s hands!

The item was no secret to many people. According to her superiors, this command was to prevent Hou Xiaochen from mutinying and declaring independence. He might do so at any moment once his concerns back home were resolved.

Would Hou Xiaochen revolt?

Zhang Ting didn’t know, but she knew that he’d defied orders many times. He refused to participate in the battle of the central region. Upstairs had sent her to oversee Silver Moon in Hou Xiaochen’s absence, but the man refused to leave. This was already a deed of rebellion!

Zhang Ting’s mind ran through many calculations. She looked at the Red Moon organization and at the Black Armors being thrown out of the city. Where were the ones that the Night Watchers had obtained before? Was Hou Xiaochen secretly raising powerhouses in preparation to rebel? She needed to make a report of this as soon as possible! Hou Xiaochen might really be ready to take up arms!

But why?

Well, it had nothing to do with her.

As a Solar who’d spent the last three years in a backwater province, she might’ve reached late or peak Solar long ago in the central region. She was growing impatient after wasting all this time. This time, she hoped to obtain concrete evidence of Hou Xiaochen’s impending rebellion. The central region might give orders for his arrest then. That would be fully justifiable if the proof declared it.

As for resistance from the three great organizations...

They wouldn’t. They wanted nothing more than for him to leave. That left Hu Dingfang to consider...

Violet Moon looked in the commander’s direction. Collusion with the army was a severe transgression, to say nothing of anything else. The army was an independent entity. According to dynastic laws, the Inspectorate and military were two separate systems that could not collude at any level. Any sign of untoward partnership was an omen of revolt!

Although this was on Hu Dingfang’s personal schedule, he was the commander of the Tiger Wings. Perhaps she’d be able to eliminate even Hu Dingfang this time.