A Deliberately Engineered Conflict

In the Maritime Transport Bureau office area of the City Hall, Zhang Tao leisurely sipped his coffee while flipping through the remaining three documents.

He glanced at the clock on his desk every now and then; there was still a while before the eight o'clock closing time.

In order to avoid being overwhelmed with work by the team leader, he slowed down the pace of reviewing the two remaining documents at hand.

It was already dark outside, and the streetlights were on, making the port city seem like daytime.

Just when Zhang Tao thought he could leave work on time tonight, an unexpected incident still occurred.

"Team One, urgent notice, field mission!"

A group leader's familiar yet annoying loud voice rang out.

Like a bolt from the blue, the sound instantly shattered Zhang Tao's good mood before he left work.

That's right, he's in a team, and he has to work overtime, specifically on a field assignment.

His heart was screaming and roaring.

Even though awakened beings have physical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people, they still need to rest!

Even the lives of the awakened are lives!

But when Zhang Tao stood in front of the team leader, he simply obediently agreed and then followed him.

It's just making a living, there's nothing shameful about it.

Let's go back a bit.

7 PM, Harbour District.

The Radiant Feathers Shisui that had settled throughout the city settled atop the stacked shipping containers, looking down down upon the busy workers.

Given Earth Realm power, everyone in this region is nothing but ants to him.

Killing even the Earth Realm officer on the warship anchored in the distance would have been an easy task for him.

However, killing them would not yield the Chain Bombs hidden by the Human Race, but would also alert those he had targeted Bound Captive.

Therefore, Shisui did not smash them on the spot.

But this doesn't mean that Shisui will let these prey go.

He only intended to use these people as prey for his burrowing.

Shisui's Psychic Energy began to surge, but the Psychic Energy were firmly contained to his side by a powerful control force.

On the distant sea surface, the Psychic Energy in the seawater was stirred by Radiant Feathers, and the water temperature began to rise.

Feather Powder blanketed the sea surface, and mist slowly condensed above the water.

A sea breeze blew, and a thick fog, carrying a lot of Feather Powder, surged towards the harbor.

The lighthouse's glow was obscured by the thick fog, but nothing unusual was detected in the bustling harbor.

After all, sea fog is not a big deal; experienced sailors have all seen it before.

"Why did it suddenly get foggy tonight? The weather forecast didn't mention it."

"Sigh, the weather at sea can't be accurate every day."

"That's right, false alarms and omissions have happened more than once or twice; it's normal."

"Too."

"Let's hurry up and finish this patrol and go back. This fog is really making things uncomfortable."

In the cargo storage area for harbor merchants, a group of workers are conducting their patrol for the evening.

They were led by a person at the Second Realm of the Yellow Realm, while the remaining five were all unawakened individuals.

There are fifty-five of these patrol teams in this vast storage area.

It's fair to say that, disregarding the financial strength of these individuals, the merchants did indeed put in a great deal of effort to prevent theft of their goods.

But these people were clearly weak, and it was almost obvious that they wanted to stage an accident to extort money.

So much so that military patrols would abruptly turn around and leave whenever they saw them.

So far, no patrol team on the merchant side has caught any military soldiers.

However, this situation was instantly disrupted once the thick fog rose.

Within the mist composed of Shisui Feather Powder, the vision of all living beings can be blocked at Shisui's will.

Even if one tries to perceive the outside world through Psychic Energy fluctuations, the range of perception will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, a group of soldiers encountered the patrol team moments after the fog had completely enveloped the harbor and its surrounding buildings.

In the instant the soldiers froze in surprise, the leader, Second Realm Yellow Realm expert, struck first.

"Hello, this is a restricted area; please do not cross the boundary."

His wording was polite, but his tone was quite condescending.

His face even bore an open display of disdain and contempt.

It was like a landlord seeing a thief scaling the wall and breaking into his own yard.

He did it on purpose; everyone, including the soldiers on the other side, knew it.

But his wording was not out of line, and there was nothing wrong with it.

So, following orders from their superiors, these soldiers were supposed to silently turn and leave.

However, a strange anger began to surge within me.

Anger made the soldiers breathe rapidly, and more mist rushed into their bodies.

And so, like adding fuel to the fire, their anger instantly extinguished their reason.

I don't know who couldn't control themselves and took the first step.

Immediately afterwards, amidst the shocked, astonished, or fearful gazes of the merchant patrol, Yellow Realm, the one who had spoken, died.

Apart from the increasingly heavy breathing of the crowd, there was no other sound in the air for a moment.

Bright red liquid flowed, and the pool of blood slowly spread to the feet of an ordinary person who was standing relatively close to the front.

The ordinary person could no longer suppress the fear in his heart, and his scream instantly broke the silence.

"Ah! Murder!!"

The patrol team turned and fled towards the areas covered by other patrol teams.

The scream also brought some sense of rationality back to the soldiers.

Only then did they belatedly realize that they had caused trouble.

My mind was still foggy, and the anger that had not yet dissipated was replaced by a resentment that had only just begun to rise but suddenly grew stronger.

Therefore, in this state of confusion, they made the worst possible choice.

"Chase them! Don't let them get back alive and report to us!"

That's right. As long as everyone on the other side is dead and the bodies are disposed of properly, the military can handle it without any evidence.

On the cargo container in the distance, Shisui watched them cross the boundary line and then rush towards the unarmed civilians.

His eyes held an undisguised, malicious smile.

"You're so pitiful, let me help you."

Visibility in the fog decreased again instantly, slowing the soldiers' pursuit of their prey.

However, this did not make them realize that they had compounded their mistake.

On the contrary, the fact that they, as awakened beings of the Profound Realm, could not catch up with a group of ordinary people made them even angrier.

The murderous intent in his heart gathered and spiraled out of control.

It finally erupted the moment these ordinary people met up with another patrol team.

They caught up with the ordinary people a few moments after they stopped.

Without any preamble, the attack was unleashed!

"Bang!"

The first soldier to arrive threw a punch, and several Human Race bodies exploded on the spot where the fist passed.

Blood was splattered everywhere.

The newly arrived patrol captain looked terrified.

Even knowing that their family will receive substantial compensation after their death.

But the fear of death at that moment made him instinctively turn around, wanting to escape immediately.

But the soldiers, driven mad with killing, wouldn't let him leave alive.

"Laugh!"

The blade of the standard longsword pierced his skull instantly, then slashed downwards, almost cutting him in two.

In just a few moments, the patrol was wiped out.

The blood and gore scattered on the ground extinguished the soldiers' anger.

After calming down, they realized what they had done in a moment of impulse.

An indescribable sense of dread welled up inside me.

Before they could even begin cleaning up the battlefield, the thick fog started to thin.

So, under the bright lights of the harbor, they stared at each other in bewilderment at several patrol teams that had just arrived.

"Ha ha!"

In the distant, Alternate Space atop the cargo container, Shisui burst into laughter.

But he didn't stop trying to retract the mist.

Various forces will likely get involved in handling this matter, and it's hard to guarantee that the Heaven Realm won't remotely control the situation.

He couldn't leave any trace of the Feather Powder's existence.