Star Gate - C.249: Breaking Through to Dominator of Thousands (II)Mar 24, 2024

A late Sunflare was in charge of the Sword Sect delegation. He seemed young and glanced at Li Hao with a smile. “We of the Silver Moon martial world are all one family. If you need anything, Li Hao, come to the Sword Sect!”

He waved his hand and left with his people. Li Hao grinned, sending them off with a smile. The other factions left as well. When the plaza was empty, the metal supernatural Director Zhou cautioned in a low voice, “Everyone stay on your guard. None of our supernaturals entered the second passageway, so we don’t enjoy their kind of cover!” He took a look around. “We came with seven Sunflares this time...”

There was also Wang Ming and Liu Long who counted as Sunflares, but the director didn’t include them.

“We can split into two groups—we become too big of a target if we stay together. Director Hao was very clear when he left. We need to try to eliminate as many powerhouses of the three great organizations as we can!

“I’ll lead one group, Ole He will lead the other!”

He and Director He were both deputy directors and peak Sunflares. Director Zhou was a metal supernatural while Director He was a water supernatural. The remaining five Sunflares were divided among the two groups. Director Zhou took three, leaving two that Li Hao was familiar with—wind supernatural Huang Yun and earth supernatural Zhao Huan. Plainly, Director Zhou was taking Wang Ming and Liu Long’s strength into account because those two were both assigned to the second group. This made for a roughly equal distribution of power.

Being a water supernatural, Zhang Ting was also assigned to Director He.

Li Hao didn’t know if Director Zhou had accidentally put him and Zhang Ting in the same group, or if Hao Lianchuan had left instructions to do so. In any case, the young man didn’t care. He didn’t have as much of an urge to kill the woman at present as he was yet to absorb the one hundred fifty cubes of water energy. Not to mention, they were running low on Black Armors. How was he supposed to kill a mid Solar under such circumstances?

Hao Lianchuan wants to kill her via a borrowed knife, but I’m such a weak knife that there’s no hope of me doing so. There might have been a chance before, but it’s too difficult now. I’m not going to take that risk.

The Night Watcher top brass was taking particular care of Li Hao to assign the people he was familiar with to the same group.

Director He didn’t say anything and swiftly brought his team into the streets. “This is a chance for everyone to temper themselves,” he talked as they kept a fast pace. “The various larger organizations often employ this method to show the world to their weaker members and familiarize them with the sight of blood! Kill anyone of the three great organizations you come across. There’s no need for any other considerations.”

“What if we run into the Sword Sect?” someone asked in a low voice.

“The Sword Sect... Do not antagonize them if they do not provoke us. The Sword Sect is a local organization and we occasionally partner with them. The three greats are officially recognized as evil organizations, so just kill them if you see them!”

The factions had been cooperating just fine moments ago and turned on each other without further ado. This was a regular occurrence and illustrated the difference between the government and bandits. They treated each other with terms of endearment when necessary; they were enemies when they had no use for each other.

Li Hao looked around without a word. Although these people had passed through the second passageway and obscured the ripples of mysterious power, their supernatural abilities remained. So at the moment he was... quite appreciative of how well they could hide without their power giving their presence away!

There was a supernatural hidden beneath the eaves of an ancient house they’d just passed by, but peak Sunflare Director He didn’t notice the person. One had to say, supernaturals who passed through the ancient house had gained a great deal for their hardship. They held overwhelming advantages in a place like this.

Unfortunately for them, these big light bulbs were particularly conspicuous in the darkness. Li Hao could also discern the supernatural situation of the street over—those further away were harder to catch sight of, but this was enough. His street and the ones on either side meant that he could see the layout of supernaturals on three streets. The only ones he needed to be on guard against were martial masters.

The young man looked around curiously, observing each supernatural. It was possibly due to the large Night Watcher delegation that these supernaturals didn’t attack. They’d be courting death if they did so. Having multiple Sunflares in his group meant that the Night Watchers really were unconcerned with run-of-the-mill raids. This was why Director He dared walk on the streets so blatantly.

Li Hao found it quite a pity. If he was working alone with Liu Long and Liu Yan, those guys beneath the eaves would already be dead and they’d be pocketing mysterious power. Sadly, he wasn’t at liberty to give pointers with others present.

While Director He didn’t discover anything, the mid Solar might have sensed a hint or two. She swept a glance in the relevant direction—just a quick glance. She didn’t say anything or seem inclined to give a reminder.

Seeing that Li Hao was looking around, Zhang Ting took the advantage to strike up a conversation. “Li Hao, are you guys familiar with the city layout after your earlier visit?”

“More or less!” The young man grinned. “This is the sixth street. Each street is roughly fifteen hundred meters long with small alleyways on both sides that lead to the other streets. There were Black Armors patrolling them before—there may not be any now. The soldiers might be in hiding...”

A piercing shriek rang out ahead of them! Li Hao and the rest quickly looked to its source, their expressions shifting with dismay when they saw a sight they’d never witnessed before. An ancient house had its front door open, making room for a Bronze Armor to kill the supernatural hidden outside with one sword stroke. Mission complete, it closed the door and vanished!

Shock rippled through the Night Watcher delegation. How was this possible??

“A Bronze Armor has appeared inside a house and suddenly killed someone!” yelled Director He. He had to ignore the fact that they needed to keep quiet as this was a major development! It was unprecedented and needed to be carefully considered. It was fine if others died, but the other Night Watcher team might not know about this turn of events. He had to notify them as soon as possible even if it meant enlightening the entire expedition!

Disturbances erupted on various streets as soon as his words echoed. There were soldiers inside the ancient houses!

......

The first street, outside the inner city gates.

The gates were tightly shut and the Solars deep in discussion when they heard Director He’s roar. Eyes widening, the group looked at each other.

“How is that possible?!” A solemn Hao Lianchuan looked back with a frown. “This has never happened before! Can only Bronze Armors enter the houses, or can Black Armors as well? These are thorny circumstances!” freewebnov(e)l.com

The remaining three hundred Black Armors weren’t by the city gates. A few could be glimpsed on the city walls, but there wasn’t a single one outside the city gates. Had this become guerrilla warfare?

Violet Moon and the others looked around, then settled on Hao Lianchuan. “Have Solars ever entered the ancient houses?”

“No.” The man shook his head. “Sunflares have gone inside before, but never come back out!”

The group frowned. This really was troublesome. Their previous thoughts had been that the soldiers would be easy to eliminate since they wandered down the streets. But now...

“Black Armors cannot enter the houses!” Another roar rang out as they thought. “Only the Bronze Armors can!”

The latest revelation brought some ease. Thank goodness! It looked like the Bronze Armors had higher authorizations than the Black Armors. That made sense, as Bronze Armors were part of the command rank as centurions. Black Armors were just regular soldiers—their clearance levels should be different.

“There’s only five Bronze Armors... There shouldn’t be much of an issue if the delegations stay on guard.” The group turned back to the city gates with peace of mind.

The enormous city gates were crafted of ancient bronze; they towered at nearly one hundred meters in height. Since flight was impossible, they could only try opening the city gates.

The Revolution King coalesced a blade of wind without further word and shot it at the gates. The blade exploded upon collision, but the gates remained unmarked. These results meant that even a peak Solar such as him was at a loss for what to do.

“Hao Lianchuan, we can’t fly or force it open... Are you sure these gates open?”

“There was hope...” Hao Lianchuan sighed. “I invited Yuan Shuo on the expedition so that he would think of a way to open the gates. But thanks to you guys, he was sent packing before he entered the ruins. Otherwise, I think he stood a high chance of succeeding given his knowledge.”

The group fell silent. Was it us who didn’t let him in? He was the one who insisted on fighting Sun Yifei, killed the man, slaughtered so many Red Moon members, as well as exposed Summoner of Spirit. What could we have done about that?

The group started studying the gates, keeping an eye out for the Silver Armor at the same time. Or rather, they wanted to lure it out because they guessed that this officer might carry some important items. A key, for instance. Could the gates be opened by a key?

According to custom, the key to the city gates should be held by the leader of the city defenders—such as his sword. It looked to be a perfect fit for one of the cracks in the gates!

Sadly, the guy was no longer in the field. The group, however, did seem to catch silver flash by on the city walls. Perhaps the Silver Armor wouldn’t be able to help itself after all of the Black Armors were eliminated and the Bronze Armors disposed of.

......

Bam!

In the outer city, Li Hao and a few others sent a Black Armor packing. They alternated between punches and wind energy to efficiently keep a Black Armor in the air for a minute. It gradually ceased to struggle.

This was their third Black Armor. The group hadn’t met many supernaturals thus far, but rather ran into Black Armors. These soldiers did not seem to be conscious and could not hide in the ancient houses like the Bronze Armors, so their fate was to fall to the expedition.

Up ahead, Director He and some colleagues easily disposed of two more Black Armors. The team had almost swept the street clean. Other than needing to be careful of Bronze Armors appearing on the sides, targeting the Black Armors was a walk in the park.

Sounds of fighting came from the other streets as well, with some unlucky souls being killed instead of eliminating the Black Armors. There were still three hundred left and some spots saw more soldiers gathered. Dying to them instead was plausible if one was unfortunate enough.

Director He walked over and threw down some suits of armor. This Night Watcher team had collected ten—quite a bulky burden. The director hesitated. These weren’t convenient to travel with, but someone else could claim them if they were left here. It wasn’t as if any of the armor was labeled with names.

Each organization had left two or three people outside the plaza to watch over their gains.

“Liu Long.” Director He scanned the group. “You, Wang Ming, Li Hao, and Liu Yan will take this armor back. Ah, forget it, Wang Ming stays behind. Your supernatural ripples are too noticeable and will affect the martial masters instead. Go quick and return swiftly!”

Li Hao found the command odd. Just us three? I thought you would send Zhang Ting with us too. I guess not, looks like Hao Lianchuan didn’t leave further instructions.

It was normal to send martial masters on a courier mission since they lacked noticeable ripples of power. But ten sets were too easily seen and provided a huge target. Unless those in the city were blind, they’d see the three coming from a mile away. Who cared about supernatural ripples then?

Director He... isn’t trying to cause our deaths, is he? Li Hao wasn’t to be blamed for the sudden thought as even Liu Long was only officially registered as a peak Sunderer. Three Sunderers escorting ten sets of armor back would absolutely draw unwanted attention if anyone saw them.

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