Those who Obey Me Prosper

Li Banfeng sat in his office, listening to Luo ZhengNan recount his encounter at Virtue Praise Cliff.

The situation at Virtue Praise Cliff was very special. The battle for the Local Earth God had turned into a local war. According to Luo ZhengNan's observation, many gangs in Pro State participated in the battle, including members of the Three Heroes Gate and White Crane Gang.

Li Banfeng found it hard to understand. "What are they going to Virtue Praise Cliff for? What are Shen Jinzhong and Bai Wuchuan thinking? Will they even get a piece of Dexiu's territory?"

"Seventh Master, this matter cannot be blamed on the two Gang Leader. I asked a few friends, and several Hall Masters of the Three Heroes Gate and White Crane Gang have connections with Song Demei, the Village Chief of Virtue Source Village. Once Song Demei spoke up, these Hall Master brought their men here."

"Doesn't the Hall Master need to ask the Gang Leader before leading his men?"

"Seventh Master, these two gangs are too powerful. The Gang Leader can't interfere in everything. Besides, even if they consulted the Gang Leader, Gang Leader couldn't very well stop them. Gangs rely on connections in the martial world. If we don't let them go, these two gangs will lose all influence at Virtue Praise Cliff!"

"Did the Azure Cloud Society members go?"

Luo ZhengNan arranged for someone to inquire, "The people from Azure Cloud Society didn't go. They are now under He Jiaqing's control. He Jiaqing may not be very familiar with the gang's business. He has given an order that anyone who dares to interfere in Virtue Praise Cliff's affairs will be dealt with according to the gang's rules and will not be let off lightly."

He Jiaqing wasn't unfamiliar with the gang's rules; he just sensed something was wrong. "Has Virtue Praise Cliff been beating us harder these past two days?"

"Since Doctor Cui left, the fighting has slowed down, but it's hard to say how long it will last." What was Cui Tike's purpose in going to Virtue Praise Cliff? What benefits did the Peddler promise him?

As Li Banfeng was pondering, Tangyuan suddenly entered the office. "Seventh Master, the Light Bulb has been found in Gourd Village."

"He didn't go in, did he?" Li Banfeng didn't take it too seriously. Finding Gourd Village wasn't a big deal, and the Light Bulb wasn't an insurmountable obstacle. Even if he did go in, he would be out in half a month at most.

"He didn't go in; he used Stealth Space tracker to lock onto Gourd Village!" Stealth Space tracker?

The Dark Star Bureau has such a good thing?

Li Banfeng hadn't even noticed all these good things. Little Shen, why don't you stay in Gourd Village for a couple more days?

Since the Dark Star Bureau has Stealth Space tracking device, why didn't they put it into use sooner? With this device, they should have been able to find Gourd Village much earlier!

If the Light Bulb really locks onto Gourd Village, things will get serious. If the Dark Star Bureau lines up and enters Gourd Village, it won't be as simple as just staying there for half a month. A-Yi might have to imprison them for life.

So what if they're locked up for life? Is the Dark Star Bureau's business really that important?

Li Banfeng rushed to the scene and saw that Guan Zhengyang's car had arrived first. Li Banfeng sensed that things were going to get bad. Guan Zhengyang was leading more than a hundred men, dressed in camouflage and wearing protective masks, making pre-battle preparations.

Li Banfeng asked Tangyuan, "Who are these people?"

Tangyuan lowered her voice and said, "This is the Dark Star Special Operations Team, a special organization personally overseen by Director Guan. Their weapons, equipment, and combat skills are all very strong." Guan Zhengyang was in charge of the Dark Energy Research Lab back then. After the lab was disbanded, a special operations team came. He's a very troublesome person.

The Light Bulb was standing in front of a motorhome. When he saw Li Banfeng arrive, he quickly stepped forward to report his work. The Star followed, occasionally chiming in with a few words.

"Director Li, during my patrol, I noticed something unusual about the WenYu Road. I was driving the No. 6 tracking device at the time, and upon seeing the anomaly, I immediately activated the device and located the entrance to Gourd Village..."

The Star added, "The No. 6 Tracker is the bureau's most advanced sixth-generation Stealth Space device, and the two of us will be carrying out the escort mission today."

The Light Bulb rolled its eyes at the Star, took out a notebook, and handed it to Li Banfeng: "I have made a record of the time, place, and details of the incident. Please take a look." The Star added, "Immediately after the incident, we evacuated the surrounding residents and closed WenYu Road."

The Light Bulb, unable to bear it any longer, looked at the Star and said, "What do you mean by this?"

The Star was taken aback. "I was just stating the facts."

"Stop messing around with this, okay? You've used this cheap trick so many times, don't you find it disgusting?" The Star shrugged. "I don't know what you mean."

"I discovered the entrance to Gourd Village by myself. You weren't even in the car at the time, so why were you rubbing against me?" The Star didn't say anything, and everyone in the team secretly laughed.

If someone has made a contribution, they have to claim credit. By obfuscating key information, the leader can't tell who got the credit. After some maneuvering, the Star can at least leave behind the identity of a participant. If they're lucky, they can even earn the title of a major participant. This is a common trick used by Star, and everyone in the Public Security Team knows it.

Li Banfeng glanced at the Light Bulb's notes. Actually, the Light Bulb's achievement was a stroke of luck. This so-called Stealth Space tracker could not actively track Stealth Space. The working principle of this thing was that after discovering Stealth Space, it could lock the entrance of the space and establish a passage to enter the space.

Gourd Village is elusive; finding Gourd Village entrance is purely accidental. Once the entrance is discovered, the tracking device is brought back, but the entrance has long since vanished, and the device can no longer locate Gourd Village.

When Gourd Village was discovered, the tracking device happened to be nearby, which is the only way it could function, but the chances of that happening are extremely low. Even with such a low probability, the Light Bulb managed to bump into it.

The task of the Light Bulb and the Star was to deliver the tracking device to the candied fruit so that she could direct its use. Unexpectedly, during the delivery, the Star went to buy a drink, Light Bulb opened the car window to smoke. When he peeked out, he saw two young women standing at the entrance of a hair salon.

The Light Bulb described the incident to Li Banfeng in detail. "Those two ladies were both hourglass-shaped and very beautiful. They waved at me and said, 'Dong Xiaoning, come and play!'"

How could I go to a place like that? I have a mission to complete. I didn't want to get involved in this, but then those two ladies suddenly disappeared!

I realized something was wrong; the symptoms were very similar to those seen in Gourd Village. I immediately activated the tracker. The new device only took sixteen seconds to start, and it immediately showed a successful lock.

The Star added, "I was back in less than a minute."

The Light Bulb waved his hand and said, "If you missed it, you missed it. There's no use trying to force it. Director Li, Gourd Village is now under our control. As long as we open the entrance of the tracking device, we can enter Gourd Village directly."

Before Li Banfeng could even see what the tracking device looked like, Guan Zhengyang and his men stepped forward and took control of it. "Director Guan, what do you mean by this?"

"Director Li, I've already reported to my superiors. This mission will be handled by the Special Operations Team. The Dark Star Bureau should not interfere any further."

"I've heard the work reports from these two young men. Although it was just a lucky break, it's still a credit to your bureau, and you'll definitely receive the reward you deserve." "Director Guan, I didn't hear you clearly!" Li Banfeng nudged the projector.

"I'm taking over this job! Do you understand?" Guan Zhengyang repeated, and Li Banfeng ordered the entire Dark Star Bureau to retreat. At Guan Zhengyang's command, more than a hundred special operations team members boarded the vehicles.

How big is the RV that can fit more than a hundred people?

In fact, none of the people who got into the RV stayed inside; they went directly through the vector channel into the locked Stealth Space.

Light Bulb was worried that Li Banfeng would be angry, so he lowered his voice and said, "Director Li, let's not take it to heart. It might not be a bad thing if we don't get involved in the fighting." Li Banfeng wasn't angry. He was thinking about something: was what Light Bulb saw really Gourd Village?

The people who come out to greet guests in Gourd Village usually don't know the guests' names. The reason they know the name Li Qi is because Awl revealed it to them. "Dong Xiaoning, come in and have some fun!" This sentence is not in accordance with the rules of Gourd Village.

While they were pondering, all one hundred-plus members of the special operations team entered the Stealth Space. Li Banfeng asked Tangyuan, "Who called Guan Zhengyang here?"

"Who else could it be?" Tangyuan looked at Deputy Director Wang, gritted her teeth, and said, "That sycophant is the most shameless!"

Wearing headphones, Guan Zhengyang watched the surveillance footage, exuding the aura of a commander-in-chief. Now, the special operations team only contacted him and obeyed his orders. Fifteen minutes later, the special operations team's communication was lost.

Guan Zhengyang looked slightly embarrassed, but he was still able to give a reasonable explanation.

If Gourd Village is a Dark Dimension Space, then radio communication would definitely be blocked once one enters Dark Dimension Space. But Li Banfeng was pondering something else: was Gourd Village actually Dark Dimension Space?

Even in the Dark Dimension Space, the special operations team's strategy was flawed. They should have left some members behind to maintain communication near the exit of the vector tunnel. About fifteen minutes later, the call was finally restored, but the video signal remained unrecovered.

The message Guan Zhengyang personally received showed a shift in expression from anticipation to solemnity to high tension, indicating that the outcome of this operation was far from optimistic. If they had simply encountered Gourd Village, that would be considered fortunate; Li Banfeng speculated that they might have encountered something else entirely.

"Get backup! Get backup now!" Guan Zhengyang shouted to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng and his Public Security Team had already retreated. Now, Guan Zhengyang hadn't explained the situation before suddenly ordering backup; he certainly couldn't lead his team to charge forward. Deputy Director Wang was frantic. "Director Li, did you hear Director Guan order backup? Public Security Team, listen to my command, immediately..."

Li Banfeng picked up Deputy Director Wang and brought them together to Guan Zhengyang's side, asking, "What happened?"

Before Guan Zhengyang could speak, several special operations team members rushed out of the RV, including the operations Team Leader. He said to Guan Zhengyang, "Director, please close the entrance to the vector tunnel immediately."

"Shut it down immediately..." Guan Zhengyang was stunned for a while. "Are you all the only ones left?" Whew!

A grayish-white spherical object, over fifty centimeters in diameter, emerged from the RV and slammed into Guan Zhengyang. Guan Zhengyang was knocked to the ground, and the spherical object opened its enormous mouth and swallowed Guan Zhengyang's head whole.

The action Team Leader, acting on behalf of Guan Zhengyang, ordered the vector channel to be shut down immediately.

The other team members rushed forward and began to struggle with the sphere, trying to get it to release Guan Zhengyang.

They dared not use weapons, nor Dark Energy Carrier, nor even dark abilities lightly; everyone was afraid of harming Guan Zhengyang. Deputy Director Wang was anxious. "Director Li, think of something..."

Li Banfeng picked up Deputy Director Wang, intending to hand him over to Guan Zhengyang. Deputy Director Wang trembled violently and dared not utter another word. Under the relentless attacks of the action team members, the spherical object spat out Guan Zhengyang and began to retaliate against the team members.

Its method of attack is very monotonous: it just opens its mouth and bites. Perhaps because it is not well adapted to the environment, this spherical creature is very sluggish.

The team members adapted very well to the street environment and quickly found their rhythm. The two walkers used their speed advantage to fire at the eight o'clock and four o'clock positions of the sphere. The bullets they used were extremely powerful and could penetrate the thick outer shell of the sphere.

The sphere's thinking was simple: if it was hit, it had to fight back. The sphere lunged at the attacker at the four o'clock position, and the other team members, having anticipated the attack route, used rocket launchers to destroy the sphere.

Throughout the entire process, Li Banfeng watched from the sidelines, and not a single member of the Dark Star Bureau intervened. Paramedics arrived at the scene and took Guan Zhengyang to the ambulance.

It has to be admitted that Director Guan is incredibly lucky. Last time, when he was taken hostage by the Birch Hermit Association, he didn't die, only losing an ear. This time, after being bitten on the head by an unknown creature, he still survived.

But this time the situation was much more serious than before. Guan Zhengyang had lost both of his ears, his nose, and almost all the skin on his face. He still had a tuft of hair left, hanging down on the right side of his head.

Deputy Director Wang's eyes welled up with tears. "Director Guan, please say something..."

Seeing how genuine Deputy Director Wang's feelings were, Li Banfeng arranged for him to take care of Guan Zhengyang alone.

He was the only one allowed to go; no other members of the Dark Star Bureau were permitted to go.

The special operations team is now without a leader, Team Leader doesn't know who to report to. He wants to call his superiors directly, but he's afraid he might not be able to handle the situation well and say something he shouldn't.

But if he kept quiet, he couldn't bear the responsibility. Hesitating, Li Banfeng stepped forward, a smile on his face, and said, "Tell me the details inside." The Team Leader looked around. "Our action team isn't under the jurisdiction of the Dark Star Bureau..."

"Don't want to talk?" A hint of coldness crept into Li Banfeng's smile, and the aura of Cloud Above Cultivator sent shivers down the Team Leader's spine.

Having just survived a fierce battle, in which most of the team members were killed and the team leader was seriously injured, the Team Leader's mental defenses collapsed under the immense pressure. He reported the battle situation to Li Banfeng.

"After entering the vector channel, the special operations team strictly implemented the operation plan. Fifteen team members conducted a preliminary exploration of the Stealth Space and confirmed that there were no abnormalities inside. Subsequently, other team members were arranged to enter the Stealth Space one after another."

"What do you mean by 'no abnormal conditions'?"

"There's nothing in the space. Within our visible and detectable range, we haven't found any life forms." Clearly, they haven't entered Gourd Village.

Li Banfeng asked, "So you had all the team members enter the Stealth Space?"

"I didn't. I left fifteen team members to guard the vector tunnel exit and maintain communication, but they were the first to be attacked."

According to the Team Leader's description, the spherical lifeform appeared in the vector channel, not the Stealth Space, because the communications team member was attacked first, causing the communication to be interrupted. Li Banfeng believed that the Team Leader wouldn't lie, but his account had serious problems.

"The vector channel was set up by our tracking device, so how could there be spherical creatures there?" The Team Leader couldn't give a reasonable explanation, so Li Banfeng asked him to continue describing the battle.

The attack on the passage cut off the team's retreat. The Team Leader could only lead the team back through the Stealth Space to fight the spherical creatures for control of the vector passage.

According to the Team Leader's estimate, there are between thirty and fifty spherical creatures. They have a strong combat advantage in the narrow passage because they can only fight from one direction. The team members have to face their bites directly, which is why there are so many casualties.

Li Banfeng imagined the vector passage as an ordinary tunnel, but he still couldn't understand the process. "When you went in, you didn't encounter any spherical creatures, so why did these spherical creatures suddenly appear in the passage later?"

The Team Leader couldn't explain this either; when the spherical creature appeared, Team Leader had already entered the Stealth Space and wasn't present. One of the team members responsible for communications survived and described what happened.

"Those monsters crawled out of the walls. They could enter the walls and move inside them. Our communication equipment was the first to be attacked..." The team member wrote and drew, trying to describe the entire battle clearly.

A group of monsters could hide, move, and attack within the walls; their adaptability to tunnels was astounding. Li Banfeng really wanted to see a real battle. "Didn't you bring any drones?"

"There were several drones, but none of them could be brought out. These drones played a crucial role in the final stage of the battle." There were some things the Team Leader couldn't say, because many team members had sacrificed their lives.

However, in terms of performance in this battle alone, the drones were far superior to the team members. They were much faster at automatically locking onto targets and had a much lower chance of being hit by the spherical objects.

"What about the video information transmitted back by the drone?"

Several team members did not enter the tunnel; they were responsible for coordinating with Guan Zhengyang's command, "Director Li, the on-site video is stored on dedicated equipment, and only Director Guan has the access password."

Li Banfeng was speechless. From beginning to end, Guan Zhengyang's best achievement was maintaining secrecy. There was no need to worry about not seeing the video, because this matter would eventually fall on the Dark Star Bureau's shoulders.

In the afternoon, an emergency meeting was convened by higher-ups, who requested Li Banfeng to attend. Li Banfeng, however, was not in the mood for it and instead sent the video he had recorded to his superiors. In the video, Guan Zhengyang made it very clear that they had taken over the operation and that Li Banfeng was to withdraw his men.

This Stealth Space has nothing to do with Gourd Village, and this case has nothing to do with the Dark Star Bureau. The responsibilities of both parties have been clearly explained.

Trying to shift the blame is impossible, especially since Li Banfeng is from Pro State. If they don't want to reason with him, Li Banfeng can simply walk away. The higher-ups can only hope that Li Banfeng will step up his game and take responsibility.

Li Banfeng felt that he was in a very high position, and his requirements were also very clear: if this Dark Dimension Space could be investigated thoroughly, he wanted Three-Headed People, and the Dark Star Bureau wanted Harmonizing Agent.

The higher-ups granted Li Qi's request and issued a special document. Li Banfeng was not in a hurry to launch an investigation. He could not risk the lives of the Public Security Team like Guan Zhengyang had done.

He first needs to figure out the principle behind the tracking device, and at the same time, he also needs to figure out the true origin of this spherical creature and the Stealth Space. If the round creature originally parasitized the tracking device, then the manufacturer of the device is highly suspicious.

As per Li Qi's orders, all evidence was to be under the control of the Dark Star Bureau, and no one else was allowed to interfere. The tracking device was to be sealed in place and inspected personally by Li Qi; no one else was permitted to approach. Late at night, Li Qi entered the RV and examined the shape of the tracking device.

The tracker's structure was simpler than Li Banfeng had imagined: a cabinet, a display screen, a power distribution system, and a door with a metal frame. It truly was a door; it not only had a frame but also a door panel.

The door panel is connected to the cabinet on the back and locked on the front. The lock cannot be opened. According to the equipment instructions, the door can only be opened after the tracker is activated.

Li Banfeng entered the Portable Abode and carried his Wife out. His Wife had read the device's instructions beforehand and had roughly examined the components, understanding the basic operating procedure of the tracker. "My dear Wife, shall we try turning the device on?"

"My lord, please don't be anxious. As you said, this thing is locked on an unnamed place. If it is opened now, it's hard to say what it will release. Little Slave examine it carefully first."

After spending the entire night figuring out how the tracker worked, the record player said, "This is a great thing. I'll make a list for you, my husband, and you can buy some things for me. I'll make some modifications to the Dark Bridge Cannon. If the modifications are successful, it can easily carry a hundred or so people with one shot."

With the technology for breaking boundaries becoming increasingly sophisticated, Li Banfeng was in high spirits. Should he return to Pro State?

Are we still going to deal with the Dark Star Bureau's affairs?

Li Banfeng sat in his office, pondering his next move, when Tangyuan entered and reported the latest progress, "Director Li, we have made a major discovery in the remains of a spherical organism. This fragment bears the mark of the Steam Restoration Faction."

"What do the Steam Restoration Faction do?" Li Banfeng asked, looking completely bewildered.

"It is an organization of steam engine enthusiasts who like to recreate modern equipment using steam-age technology."

"You mean the spherical organism was created by a non-governmental organization?" Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly, he didn't believe that a non-governmental organization could possess this level of technological capability.

Tangyuan was very certain about this. "Director Li, we conducted an investigation into the Steam Restoration Faction three years ago. The capabilities of this non-governmental organization may surprise you greatly."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Then don't bother investigating, just arrest them!"

"We can't catch them!" Tangyuan shook his head and said, "Three years ago, the Dark Star Bureau used all its resources but failed to capture any members of the Steam Restoration Faction."

Li Banfeng felt that Tangyuan's expression was problematic. "If you say you can't find a specific person, that's reasonable. But if you say an entire organization in the Huan Kingdom can't find a single person, that's a bit far-fetched."

"Seventh Master, how could I dare to talk nonsense to you?" Tangyuan said seriously. "This organization is too powerful. Since the Dark Star Bureau was established, it has never encountered such an opponent."

"I'd really like to see it for myself." Li Banfeng looked at the photos Tangyuan brought. There was a square on the fragment of the spherical object with an exhaust valve. This was the symbol of the Steam Restoration Faction.

This NGO certainly couldn't create that spherical object, but if they have connections with Inner State, that's a different story. Is this incident related to the impending war in Inner State?

The matter at Virtue Praise Cliff hadn't subsided. If Inner State really wanted to take action, would they choose Outer State or Pro State? After Tangyuan left, Li Banfeng contacted Luo ZhengNan to inquire about the situation at Virtue Praise Cliff.

"Seventh Master, Virtue Praise Cliff is doing quite well. There's no fighting lately. Whoever fights will get sick, first their hands will rot, then their feet. If they still want to fight, then their whole body will rot." Only Cui Tike could come up with such a method.

The key question is, how did he manage to precisely target everyone who wanted to fight?

Inside the cave, Cui Tike was rolling out noodles. "This is a traditional food from Pro State, and it should suit your taste better than the bread I bake." The child took a bite of the bread; he actually really liked bread.

Cui Tike put the chopped noodles into the pot and said to the child, "I've made some new food. Out of respect for me, you shouldn't eat so much bread." The child nodded and then took another bite of bread.

Cui Tike was furious. "I'm warning you one more time, you need to come up with some information that's valuable to me as soon as possible. My patience with you is really running out!" The child nodded and continued eating his bread.

The noodles were cooked, Cui Tike made a special fried sauce.

The child takes a bite of noodles, a bite of bread, and then a bite of fried sauce.

Cui Tike shook his head helplessly. "I've taught you for so long, you should at least know basic table manners. Today we're having Fried Sauce Noodles (noodles with soybean paste)." The child dipped his bread in the jajangmyeon, took a bite, and said, "Delicious!"

Cui Tike sighed, and while eating his noodles, he said to the child, "I've expanded the scope of the rules. It's not just those who attack me first who will get sick; those who make promises to me and then break them will also get sick."

I thought about it carefully, and it actually goes beyond the scope of the rules; it should be considered a technique. What do you think we should call this technique? The child looked up and said, "The noodles are delicious."

"I'm talking to you about techniques. Do you understand techniques? I'm thinking of naming this technique 'Those who Obey me Prosper!' What do you think of that name? Isn't it a bit too flamboyant?"

The child nodded and said, "Give me some noodle soup; the noodles are delicious!"

Cui Tike sighed, "Can't you be a little more focused? I'm really running out of patience with you." "Here's some noodle soup for you!" The child ladled out a bowl of noodle soup and brought it to the cave entrance.

A DaoLao Ghost stood at the entrance of the cave, and the child brought the noodle soup to his side.

DaoLao Ghost refused the child; he was standing guard at the cave entrance, it was his job. "Noodle soup, delicious!" the child kept holding the bowl of noodle soup.

"Eat it while it's hot," Cui Tike ordered. DaoLao Ghost picked up the bowl of soup and wolfed it down. After finishing, DaoLao Ghost forced a smile at the child and handed the bowl back to him.

This DaoLao Ghost was planted by Cui Tike at the entrance of the cave. He had warned many times not to water the seed, but the child still did.

To Cui Tike's surprise, DaoLao Ghost did not harm the child. Although he roared and howled at the child, frightening him, the child was indeed unharmed.

"Those who Obey me Prosper, a very good technique," Cui Tike nodded slightly, a little smug. "If you really master this technique, you might not have to kill everyone."

P. S.: What's so special about this child? What exactly does Cui Tike want to get out of the child?