In a secret room of the Zhejiang Provincial State Security Bureau, a middle-aged man with a square face and imposing bearing, though somewhat pale, sat cross-legged on a stone bed, breathing in and out as he cultivated. His temples bulged high, showing that he was an extremely formidable internal martial arts expert. After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the man stopped cultivating and slowly opened his eyes, but they were completely devoid of spirit. He let out a deep sigh and said in a low voice, "I never thought these Japanese devils' ninjutsu would be so powerful. It looks like it'll take a month or two for this injury to recover." He then opened the secret room's door and walked toward the conference room.
This middle-aged man was the deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial State Security Bureau, but his other identity was the person in charge of the Zhejiang branch of the Special Department. The Special Department was an even more mysterious existence than the State Security Bureau, carrying out stricter missions unknown to the public. Its members were basically extraordinary people, such as legendary martial arts experts and supernatural ability users. Other countries actually had similar departments as well. Japan had ninjas and samurai, while Europe had vampires, wizards, and mages serving government departments.
The middle-aged man was named Chen Jiaying. He was a disciple of the Hao generation of the Wudang Sect—in other words, Song Feng's martial nephew—and one of the outstanding disciples of the Hao generation. At forty, he had risen to become a Three-star Warrior of the Special Department. Within the Special Department, strength was divided from one star to five stars. Under normal circumstances, the heads of provincial branches were required to have reached the three-star level, while the heads of special operations groups such as the Dragon Group, Tiger Group, and Leopard Group were all at least four-star. The several heads of the Special Department itself were all five-star. As for Guest Elders, their strength could not be classified by stars, because no one knew how powerful they were. They were generally legendary figures in the martial arts world. A martial arts expert like Song Feng, the second disciple of the Wudang Sect Leader, held the additional identity of Guest Elder of the Special Department. Of course, even Zhang Hupan, the second-generation disciple and supreme existence of Wudang, had somehow now become a Guest Elder of the Special Department.
This time, the National Key Materials Research Base of Zhejiang XX University had researched and invented a metal alloy whose performance in every aspect far exceeded the current level of technology. If it were used in aviation, China's aviation industry would rise to another level and seize the pinnacle of the world's aviation industry. Unexpectedly, before the invention had officially passed the review of an expert group composed of five academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Japanese had already learned of this highly classified national secret through spies embedded in China. Of course, the Japanese were not foolish enough to deploy troops to seize the technological achievement. Instead, they sent members of Japan's Special Department to participate in the operation.
Japan had sent gold-medal ninjas this time, equivalent to China's Three-star Warriors. This showed just how seriously the Japanese valued the operation. With China's defenses insufficient, they had actually allowed the Japanese to succeed, and Chen Jiaying had also suffered severe injuries while fighting the Japanese ninjas.
In the conference room, the people from the Zhejiang branch of the Special Department looked anxiously at Chen Jiaying, who sat at the head of the table with a slightly pale face.
"Chief, what should we do? If we don't stop them, those Japanese devils are going to take our technological achievement back." A sturdy young man in his twenties spoke anxiously.
Chen Jiaying looked at his prized disciple, Wang Ming, whose face was full of anxiety, and angrily shouted, "How many times have I told you? No matter what happens, you mustn't panic. You have to respond calmly. Have you wasted all these years of study?"
Wang Ming had been about to defend himself, but after Chen Jiaying glared at him, he shrank back and did not dare say another word.
"Chen Sheng, what did headquarters say?" Although Chen Jiaying was just as anxious as his disciple, he still calmly asked the middle-aged man seated below him.
"The people from headquarters will arrive in four hours at the earliest."
"What? It'll take another four hours? By the time they arrive, the Japanese will have already sent the thing out." Wang Ming could not help shouting again, earning another fierce glare from Chen Jiaying.
"However, headquarters said that one of our Guest Elders is at Zhejiang XX University. We may be able to ask him for help first," Chen Sheng continued.
"Mm." Chen Jiaying nodded, indicating his agreement with Chen Sheng's suggestion. He then asked another sharp-looking young man, "Have you kept a close watch on the Japanese?"
"Yes. They've now hidden inside the Songxia Japanese-funded Enterprise in Xiasha. Apart from coming to China to make money, this company may also be one of Japan's secret departments. I estimate they'll transfer the goods tonight at the latest." The young man answered in a very orderly manner.
"Mm, well done. But tell your men not to make a move under any circumstances. These Japanese devils are extremely powerful. If I'm not mistaken, the ones Japan sent this time should be from the Ghost Group. Japan has truly invested heavily in this operation," Chen Jiaying said gravely.
"If our Dragon Group were here, how could we let the Japanese act so arrogantly?" Wang Ming muttered unwillingly. His greatest wish in life was to become a member of the Dragon Group. Those were the true elites of the Special Department, far beyond what local forces like them could compare with.
Winter nights always came especially early. Although it was only eight o'clock, the sky was already pitch-black. "Screech!" A speeding military jeep abruptly stopped at the entrance of the First Men's Dormitory. Its license plate was extremely ostentatious: Military 00009. A sturdy young man climbed out of the driver's seat, while an imposing middle-aged man got out of the passenger seat. They hurried toward the dormitory's reception room.
These two were Chen Jiaying and Wang Ming. After a brief meeting, Chen Jiaying had once again sternly instructed everyone not to act rashly against the Japanese devils. After carefully asking about the Guest Elder's situation, he had brought his disciple Wang Ming and hurried to Zhejiang XX University. Although they had run many red lights along the way, the traffic police had not dared stop them after seeing the Military 00009 license plate.
Zhang Hupan was truly a strange Guest Elder. Chen Jiaying could not find a single description of him in his files. He did not know what sect Zhang Hupan came from or what specialties he possessed. He only knew that Zhang Hupan was a genuine Guest Elder and a first-year student at Zhejiang XX University. In fact, it was no wonder Chen Jiaying could not find any substantive information about Zhang Hupan. When Song Feng had arranged the Guest Elder identity for Zhang Hupan, he had merely wanted to give him a super pass for moving about in society. Having spent time struggling through the world, Song Feng knew how corrupt society's atmosphere had become. Thus, to reduce the interference of worldly people with Zhang Hupan and to show a little filial devotion, Song Feng had instructed his junior brother, one of the heads of the Special Department, to make a Guest Elder ID for him. As for Zhang Hupan's identity, Song Feng naturally had not mentioned a single word.
If Song Feng learned that his kind act of arranging a Guest Elder identity for the Patriarch had caused Chen Jiaying to disturb the supreme existence of Wudang, he would be so furious that he would cough up blood. As Zhang Sanfeng's disciple and a founding-level figure of the Wudang Sect, Song Feng's crime would be enormous if he disturbed him over some worldly matter. If Kuye and the others found out, Song Feng would probably have to shed a layer of skin even if he did not die.
Fortunately, Chen Jiaying knew that the identities of those Guest Elders were either honorable or distinguished and that they could not be treated lightly. He knew to personally come and invite him. If he had foolishly sent a subordinate to summon Zhang Hupan, it would have become a huge joke: a disciple of the Hao generation sending a subordinate to summon his own Patriarch.
At that moment, Chen Jiaying and Wang Ming, the two Wudang master and disciple, still did not know that the person they were waiting for was the Patriarch of their own sect. As they waited impatiently for Zhang Hupan, they secretly wondered what kind of divine figure he might be.
Today, Zhang Hupan happened to have stayed in and was watching with interest as his roommates played cards, arguing until their faces flushed. For some reason, Zhang Hupan had found himself becoming increasingly immersed in ordinary people's lives. Perhaps it was compensation for the ordinary life he had never enjoyed over the past century. In any case, Zhang Hupan now considered himself completely an ordinary person. But facts were facts, and no one could change the fact that Zhang Hupan was a Nascent Soul Stage expert. When Chen Jiaying and his disciple approached the campus, Zhang Hupan's spiritual power immediately sensed the two powerful auras. Of course, they were only powerful relative to ordinary people. At the same time, Zhang Hupan could clearly tell that the two men cultivated orthodox Wudang internal cultivation methods.
When the reception room's loudspeaker echoed through the dormitory, "Zhang Hupan, someone is looking for you," Zhang Hupan went downstairs curiously to meet the Wudang disciple who had come to see him for the first time in the secular world. His lecherous roommates immediately threw down their cards and followed him downstairs, but Zhang Hupan did not expose the fact that the visitors were neither Scottish beauties nor Liu Xizhen. Usually, those two beauties were the ones who came looking for Zhang Hupan, so those lechers instantly abandoned their fiercely fought card game.
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