Volume One: Intrigue in the Imperial Capital - The Importance of Joining Forces
"Haa, haa, haa..."
Outside the main gate of the capital, on a long bridge several hundred meters long and nearly a hundred meters wide, I ran as fast as I could.
"Phew, phew--Are you alright, Xiao Ye?" Hao Yue, who was running on my left, asked with concern.
"It's okay, I can still hold my liquor--"
""""ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW------!""""
Before I could finish speaking, I was interrupted by a deafening roar behind me. The roar was hoarse and terrifying, filled with the aura of death. I turned around and saw hundreds of gray-black zombies covered in blood approaching us at an alarming speed. Since they were already dead, they were not limited by their brains and could unleash their full physical potential!
They are not actually zombies; their blood and gray skin are "fake," but the "concept" they are given completely rewrites their nature.
"Haoyue, they caught up so quickly!"
"There's no other way— Xiao Ye, grab me! I'll use 'Moon Step' to accelerate again!"
As she spoke, she hugged me without saying a word, and dazzling orange runes appeared on her feet.
"No! If we accelerate any further, he'll—"
"Too late~~~♪"
The man's figure instantly blocked our way. "Yellowish-brown" and "light gray" colors danced in the air, and the air in front of us immediately turned into an indestructible barrier!
"Cut--!"
Haoyue, who had already started sprinting, quickly pushed off the ground and forcibly changed her direction midway. At that moment, her expression was contorted and her teeth were clenched, showing how much this action strained her body!
"You think you can escape?"
The cold, metallic color enveloped us, and the alienated air transformed into an incredibly hard iron wall, imprisoning us and locking us in an airtight metallic box, like a prison cell. Before we could react, we crashed hard into the inner wall of the box.
I was trapped—I was so dizzy and lightheaded that I barely realized it when the metal box began to fall. It first hit the bridge, bounced up, and then fell again. The nauseating feeling of weightlessness lasted for a moment, and then, accompanied by a loud splash, the metal box's descent slowed considerably.
It took me two seconds to realize what had happened.
We sank to the bottom of the river.
Let's rewind to a dozen hours ago----------------------------
"You mean to destroy the Si Nan Family, one of the Cleon Family, and the Tartaglia Family first?"
"That's right, there's no need to destroy them all, just two of them will suffice. Nineteen years have passed, Tartaglia is no longer my support; it's now merely a constraint. Only by resolving this issue as soon as possible can I truly move towards the future."
"What if we destroy either the Si Nan Family or the Cleon Family?"
"Of course it's for you. The most direct way to break away from the Si Nan Family is to destroy Si Nan Family. If you can't destroy the Si Nan Family, then destroy the Cleon Family. That way, the pressure on you will be much less."
To be honest, I don't care what happens to the Si Nan Family at all. I'm just attaching myself to them to achieve my own goals. It's a relationship of dependence and being depended on, and there's no "feeling" involved. I saved their second young lady and helped them in the clan competition. In return, they provided me with protection and helped me with special training to improve my strength. It's a completely equal exchange, and neither of us owes the other anything.
But I still don't want the Si Nan Family to be destroyed, after all, there are many people there who helped me, such as Si Nan Ying, Si Nan Yuan, Rui Feng Rui Xin, and Si Nan Xiao. As Hao Yue said, I may not have truly considered them friends, but after spending so much time together, there are still feelings involved...
"It seems you still can't bring yourself to betray the Si Nan Family, Xiao Ye. But it's alright. Actually, 'destroying the Si Nan Family's wasn't part of my plan to begin with. Rather, I have a brilliant plan that the two of us can drive the Cleon Family and Tartaglia Family to their doom."
"Huh!? Is there really such a way?"
"Oh ho ho~ Let me tell you the story in detail." Haoyue tossed her hair and said with a hint of pride.
Reach out and take it.
She took out something that looked like a police baton, all black and unremarkable in appearance. It had some buttons and dials of various sizes on it, making it seem quite high-tech.
... Could this be a masturbation device? Okay, I'm getting wicked.
"Haoyue, what's this?"
"My favorite masturbation device when I masturbate."
"What?!"
"Just kidding, I actually only use my fingers to masturbate."
"Who wants to know that! I'm asking what this stick is!"
"Okay, just kidding. Actually, this thing is called... Shielding Device."
Shielding Device? That name sounds familiar! I feel like I've heard it somewhere before...
"You probably already know, right? The Si Nan Family's intelligence network, which used to be invincible, has suddenly stopped gathering information about the Cleon Family. The reason lies with this little thing."
"Shielding Device... is that what it's called? Could it be that it can shield the detection force field?"
"Your statement contains two errors. Based on my experiments, firstly, it's not only designed for detecting force fields; it can also handle other weaker force fields and sound waves. Secondly, although it's called Shielding Device, its principle isn't 'shielding,' but rather directly causing the force field within a certain range to 'collapse.'"
"That looks amazing... Wait, the Cleon Family must have kept this very safe! How did you get your hands on it?"
"This is the main point I'm about to make. I've consulted a lot of materials, but I haven't found any records about this kind of object at all, and the method of its manufacture is completely unknown..."
"So this thing was secretly developed by the Cleon Family?"
"The fact that the Cleon Family are users doesn't mean they are the developers. They purchased this product from an unknown organization, and the Tartaglia Family was the middleman in the transaction. To avoid suspicion, the Cleon Family didn't contact the supplier directly, so the Tartaglia Family volunteered to be the errand runner."
Unknown... organization?
Wait, could that be...?
"The day before you came to the capital, I interrogated a man in the dungeon who was suspected of being a traitor. I was just killing time, but I got some very interesting information. The man was in charge of transporting the goods for a trade. The lower-level members, unaware of the inside story, thought he was smuggling goods behind the family's back, so they arrested him. You see, only the higher-ups knew he was acting as a middleman, so those who arrested him were obviously unaware of the truth. The man himself didn't even know what the goods were; he was just running errands according to orders."
"..."
"So I followed the clues and successfully obtained this sample, and finally uncovered what the family's higher-ups had been hiding from me. Once the double-dealing is exposed, the Tartaglia Family will definitely be wiped out by the enraged Si Nan Family, and the Cleon Family, whose secret has been exposed, will suffer even more. This way, we'll kill two birds with one stone... Xiao Ye, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Seeing that I remained silent for a while, Haoyue asked with concern.
"No, it's nothing... it's just... Haoyue, how much do you know about that 'unknown organization'?"
"I don't know much about it," Haoyue shrugged. "All I can investigate goes up to the delivery location; I can't find anything deeper... Wait, do you know about that organization?"
"I... I'm not sure, but there should be some connection."
"Xiao Ye... if you have anything bothering you, just tell me." Hao Yue gave a reassuring smile.
After a moment's thought, I made a decision.
"Haoyue," I said seriously, "I actually have some very important secrets that I've never told anyone. There's something I want to accomplish, and it's very difficult, so difficult that it's almost impossible for me to do it alone... So, Haoyue, I've decided that after this matter is resolved, I'll tell you everything."
Can't you say it now?
"Now... is not the time."
Haoyue stared intently at me, and we locked eyes for a moment. Perhaps realizing my insistence, Haoyue looked away and sighed.
"Alright, since you're unwilling to talk about it now, I'll just wait. Be sure to let me know once this is all settled!"
As she spoke, she extended her little finger, and I, understanding her meaning, quickly extended my hand as well.
Two fingers were tightly hooked together.
"Pinky promise, a hundred years, no take-backs!"
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Considering I have to travel all day on the 23rd, I'll finish updating that day's content at 12:30 AM.