More than a month had passed.
On February 27, the earthquake struck Chile as expected, and the Illuminati handled it properly.
The epicenter was offshore, far from any city. Although the quake was stronger, it did far less damage to human society than the one in Haiti.
Huang Ji sensed that hundreds would have died, but with the Illuminati spending money to deal with it, only some buildings were lost.
Of course, the Illuminati had plenty of people to handle a minor matter like that. Huang Ji never even went to Chile.
Now an acknowledged "treasure-hunting authority," Huang Ji became a senior investigator, rising three ranks in one leap. He was assigned specifically to Nature Disruptor matters as Carmen's adviser.
And who was Carmen? The strongest man at Level 32, head of the Phoenix Group, and supreme commander of the Combat Department.
Before him, Huang Ji was just a foot soldier. Yet Carmen valued him highly. After spending several days asking him about the alien, Carmen realized how much danger he was in.
Ancient treasures like the Winged God and Torch Dragon were one thing if they remained unfound. But if Carmen found them? Heh. Sword-Keeper Feis would dispose of him once he was no longer useful.
For one thing, Feis had actually told him he need not eliminate Maxi and the others. The Disruptor had named them as future traitors. Why leave them alive?
Feis was keeping them alive to serve as witnesses—or rather, to tell his version of events.
Once Carmen and the others were silenced, Feis and Maxi could say whatever they liked and clear themselves of blame.
Carmen was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Huang Ji offered him a simple solution: secure the Winged God, but drag out the search for Torch