Midnight Exploration

Huo En spread out a hand-drawn map of Kexola City and pointed to a densely packed area of shanties and warehouses in the dock district.

"It's here. This area is chaotic, inhabited by the lowest-class laborers, fugitives, and desperadoes.

A local gang called the Water Rats controls the place. They're ruthless, but they only recognize money.

Our branch lacks manpower. A direct assault and search would cause too much commotion, and we can't be sure whether Blood Bat is still inside or whether he has accomplices, so we don't dare act rashly."

Resak stared at the map, tapping the warehouse district with a finger. "Is there more detailed intelligence? The surroundings of the warehouse, the Water Rats' sphere of influence, whether their leader can be bought?"

Huo En shook his head. "It's Warehouse 17, by the river. Its rear window faces the Sewage River, making escape convenient.

The Water Rats' leader is nicknamed Iron Hook. He's a Soul Ancestor in his forties, cunning by nature, and only respects money and fists.

We tried contacting him. His asking price was high, and he wouldn't guarantee the accuracy of his information. Clearly, he doesn't want to get involved."

Yan listened quietly, his gaze occasionally drifting toward Huo En as he pondered.

A gang like the Water Rats had no credibility to speak of. If they merely wanted money, that would be acceptable. The concern was that they might be playing both sides and had already leaked Spirit Hall's movements to Blood Bat.

Iron Hook's attitude said it all.

"How many people can your branch deploy?" Resak asked.

"At most, two Soul Elders and six Soul Grandmasters. And the operation must remain covert, or we'll alert the enemy and possibly provoke conflict with the local factions." Huo En gave a bitter smile.

"Otherwise, if Morris becomes wary, he may escape, and all our efforts will have been wasted."

Resak fell silent for a moment before looking at Yan. "What do you think?"

Yan raised his head. "Time is of the essence. We should act as soon as possible. If we can, we should move on Morris's hiding place tonight."

"Too risky!" Huo En immediately objected.

"I already said the situation there is complicated, with eyes everywhere. Going in directly without preparation will very likely alert the enemy.

Of course, if Lord Resak decides to act, Morris will have no chance of escape."

Resak shook his head. "I said it before. This time, I am only the supervisor. I cannot intervene."

Huo En was somewhat disappointed, but he could only accept it. He looked at Yan. "It would be best to wait another two days, until our informants confirm Morris's location.

Then the Spirit Masters under our branch can work together to eliminate Morris. Only then can we ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Nothing can ensure that. I even suspect the Water Rats informed Morris of the branch's movements long ago."

At this point, Yan had no desire to waste any more time. "Show me Morris's approximate location. I'll find him myself tonight. I don't need the branch's cooperation."

"What?" Huo En instinctively wanted to fly into a rage and rebuke Yan for his overconfidence.

Yan's words were practically a blunt declaration that he did not think the branch could offer him much help at all.

But after glancing at Resak, Huo En suppressed the anger in his heart. "Are you sure you want to go alone?"

"Of course."

Yan nodded.

Huo En looked toward Resak again.

Resak gave Yan a deep look before finally nodding. "Huo En, tell him everything you know about Warehouse 17."

Seeing that Resak had already made his decision, Huo En no longer objected. He gathered all the information Yan needed and thoughtfully prepared a set of clothing suited to the habits of the locals.

Late at night, Kexola City's dock district.

The Sewage River gave off a pungent stench. Under the dim lights, dilapidated wooden shacks and mountains of cargo crates formed warped patches of shadow.

Dressed in local clothes and wearing light makeup on his face, Yan silently blended into the darkness.

Following the information Huo En had provided, he avoided several obvious sentries and used the shadows of cargo piles and buildings to approach Warehouse 17 by the river like a ghost.

The warehouse was large, an old brick-and-wood structure with mottled walls and broken windows. Only the rear wall near the riverbank remained relatively intact.

Yan did not approach from the front entrance or side windows. Instead, he circled around to the back of the warehouse, where the murky river pressed close and few people paid attention.

He pressed himself against the wall like a gecko and listened carefully.

The warehouse was deathly silent, but Yan's superhuman senses caught an extremely faint ripple of presence that did not belong to the living, along with a barely perceptible scent of blood.

It was faint, concealed by the stench of the river and the warehouse's own musty odor, but it could not escape him.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. With a flicker of his body, he swept up to a damaged ventilation opening in the rear wall like a wisp of smoke, slipped inside without a sound, and landed in the shadows cast by the piled cargo.

The warehouse interior was spacious and cluttered, filled with dusty, battered crates and miscellaneous junk.

Moonlight seeped in through the damaged roof and windows, keeping the warehouse from being completely swallowed by darkness.

Yan fully concealed the fluctuations of his Soul Power and every trace of his presence as he moved through the warehouse with extreme care.

The spiritual power in his mind spread outward like a tide.

After three years of cultivation, his spiritual power had become immensely powerful and of an exceptionally high grade. Unless he deliberately revealed it, even a Title Douluo would struggle to detect it.

As the supervisor of this battle, Resak was naturally hidden somewhere nearby. Yet under Yan's deliberate control, he was confident Resak would not notice anything unusual.

Yan carefully searched through the warehouse and finally sensed something amiss deep inside.

Behind a pile of seemingly casually stacked, dust-covered old wooden crates at the back of the warehouse, the lines in the floor revealed gaps that were noticeably wider than those elsewhere under Yan's meticulous spiritual scan.

If not for the extraordinarily high grade of his spiritual power and his deliberate investigation, they would have been nearly impossible to detect.

From beneath the gaps seeped faint traces of intensely suppressed bloodlust and cold Soul Power fluctuations.

It's here!

Yan narrowed his eyes, reining in his aura until it was almost nonexistent as he silently approached that spot.

After crouching down and feeling around for a while, he found an Iron Hook hidden in the gap. Pulling it open revealed an entrance to an underground passage roughly half a meter square.

A fresh, intense smell of blood immediately rushed at him.

Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. With a flash, he darted inside like a civet cat.

Below was a small basement with damp walls and a floor covered in dry grass. On a crude stone platform in the center lay food and daily necessities that had not yet been cleared away.

Yet Morris was nowhere to be seen. Yan frowned slightly. He had clearly sensed a cold Soul Power fluctuation just now, so how had the man vanished into thin air?

Just as Yan was about to release his spiritual power again, a black shadow wrapped in blinding blood-red light erupted from an inconspicuous pile of clutter at one side of the basement, and a frigid killing intent instantly locked onto Yan.