In the Name of Divine Abilities, Part 45

Lu Zhao sat down on the sofa and quickly leafed through the intelligence report. Xu Zhenhua and Wang Tong sat across from him.

The latter studied Lu Zhao. He had vaguely heard rumors about him a long time ago. Two years earlier, Lu Zhao's outstanding performance in a drug raid had caught Wang Tong's attention.

At the time, Wang Tong had been ready to swoop in and claim him. Someone that talented belonged on their Special Response team.

Then his immediate superior, Fang City's chief of police, had warned him off.

He hadn't been given a specific reason, and he hadn't asked.

Now that they had finally met, Lu Zhao was indeed an impressive-looking young man, handsome enough to be a celebrity.

Two minutes later, Lu Zhao finished reading the report.

The Fang City police had roughly pinned down the fugitive's location: Kabuki Street in the Foreign District in the west of the city.

Named after the traditional Fusang performing art, kabuki streets were common throughout the South Sea Circuit. They were generally run by people from Fusang and lined with shops offering all manner of Fusang specialties, mainly in the service industry.

To put it plainly, they were brothels. The people of Fusang had a near monopoly on the Federation's entire sex industry.

Wherever there was a Foreign District, there was bound to be a Kabuki Street. Even places without a Foreign District were certain to have one.

The Federation prohibited the sex trade, but after the Great Cataclysm, enforcement had been virtually nonexistent.

But strangely, why hadn't they simply sealed off the Foreign District?

Since the target was injured and couldn't travel far, finding him was only a matter of time.

Lu Zhao put down the report, and Wang Tong went straight to the point. "The fugitive is a first-tier fire-type transcendent. His Divine Ability is a flaming saber. When he swings it, it creates a wall of fire that can stop bullets."

"Our mission is simple: find the fugitive on Kabuki Street."

Lu Zhao asked, "Why not seal off the Foreign District? Can't we send in a large number of officers and conduct a thorough search?"

Wang Tong explained, "The situation in the Foreign District is complicated. The higher-ups want to minimize the impact as much as possible."

Xu Zhenhua said bluntly, "What impact could there be? Are they going to turn the world upside down?"

Wang Tong glanced at his subordinate and said, frustrated at his failure to improve, "One of these days, that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble."

Lu Zhao thought so too.

His own attitude was a little tough, but he had never been as unguarded with his words as Xu Zhenhua.

At noon, Lin Zhiyan brought her people to the Special Service Response Detachment.

Colonel Wang Tong, who ranked two grades above Lü Jinshan, adopted the same posture and waited at the gate to welcome her well in advance.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lin Zhiyan led her people to a conference room for a pre-operation meeting.

Lin Zhiyan gave them the operational objective, Wang Tong explained the plan they had prepared, and Xu Zhenhua was responsible for carrying it out.

Lu Zhao said nothing throughout the meeting, quietly taking notes.

The Federation had plenty of talented people. There was nothing that couldn't go on without him. At most, things would be a little worse without him and a little better with him.

The voices around him fell silent.

Lin Zhiyan stood up, and everyone else in the room followed.

"Then the mission begins."

Half an hour later, there were twenty-two people in all, including the squad Lu Zhao had brought.

Everyone changed into plain clothes and carried a pistol, while their rifles were left in the vehicles to keep from giving themselves away the moment they entered the Foreign District.

Because of their earlier conflict, the atmosphere was somewhat tense. Their looks toward one another held varying degrees of hostility, but they all showed restraint.

Most Federation public servants conscientiously fulfilled their duties. If everyone were like Lü Jinshan, society would have descended into chaos long ago.

After Xu Zhenhua finished briefing everyone on the mission, he looked at Lu Zhao and asked, "Anything you'd like to add?"

Lu Zhao stepped forward. "Although this mission is in the Foreign District, I hope everyone will exercise some restraint and do their best to minimize innocent civilian casualties. Even the Foreign District is subject to Federation law."

His words caused a bit of a stir.

Clearly, it was very common to disregard civilian casualties in the Foreign District.

Xu Zhenhua didn't object. As the team leader, he didn't want that to happen either.

If too many people died, even if they were foreigners, he would be criticized.

Besides, members of the Hua People also went about their business in the Foreign District, and they were all registered citizens.

At ten in the morning, the disguised convoy set out.

Naturally, Lin Zhiyan pulled Lu Zhao into her car again, saying she had an important task for him.

Once he got in, Lin Zhiyan did indeed have an important task.

"Get out with me later. We'll head straight deep into the Foreign District."

Lu Zhao frowned. "That's too dangerous."

What Lin Zhiyan meant by going deep definitely wasn't sitting in a car and keeping watch along the road. She intended to go into the residential district, a maze as complicated as a walled city.

Transcendents were still made of flesh and blood. If they were caught in a surprise attack, they could die too.

"My Divine Ability can unleash a wide-area mental shock. It can knock ordinary people within fifty meters unconscious in an instant." Lin Zhiyan twirled her index finger. "And you can change the trajectory of bullets, Senior Lu. The two of us can handle most situations."

Lu Zhao thought for a moment, then asked, "Your shock can't distinguish friend from foe?"

Lin Zhiyan looked surprised.

He was far too perceptive. She had only revealed a little about her ability, yet Lu Zhao had already guessed the gist of it.

She nodded noncommittally. "That's why you're the only one who can come with me. Given the level of Life Development among our colleagues today, you're the only one who can withstand my mental shock, Senior."

Chapter 55: The True Nature of the Foreign District

The Foreign District, west of the city.

A peculiar stench hung in the air, and addicts could be seen lying on the ground every so often along both sides of the street.

Clunk.

The vehicle jolted, and out of the corner of his eye, Lu Zhao saw someone lying in the road behind it.

Xu Fang said, "We ran over someone."

Lin Zhiyan said, "Ignore it."

After that brief exchange, the vehicle continued on as usual.

They made it all the way to Kabuki Street. The twenty people split into three groups: the firepower group stood by in the vehicles, the assault group got out in plain clothes and wandered around, and the support group kept watch at key traffic routes.

Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan got out and stood before the gateway to Kabuki Street. Looking inside, they saw a dense mass of signs hanging from the buildings on either side.

People from Fusang speaking with Wu Chinese accents called out to customers, most of whom were Hua.

Lin Zhiyan caught the smell of weed hanging in the air and couldn't help frowning.

"Let's go on."

Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan walked through the noisy, chaotic Foreign District. Judging by appearance alone, there was no difference to be seen.

Before the Great Cataclysm, a few students at his middle school had not been Hua: one was from Fusang, one from Annam, and one from Luzon.

Back then, unless someone deliberately brought it up, Lu Zhao hadn't felt any particularly strong sense of regional difference.

People from Annam were foreigners who spoke with a South Sea West Circuit accent, people from Luzon spoke with a Cangwu accent, and people from Fusang had Wu Chinese accents.

Only the more distant region of Siam gave people a very obvious sense of difference.

Language and writing had always been matters of power. The East, never having been shaped by outside civilizations, had continued to use the standard language through historical inertia.

The Federation's integration of the East was also a product of historical inertia.

To the surrounding regions, the power of the Central Plains dynasties was like the tide: it might recede for a time, but one day it would always return.

Ten years after the Great Cataclysm, the standard language of the Central Plains had become the only language. Other ethnic languages might have survived, but even among their own peoples, they were no longer mainstream.

"Hey, handsome, want to come upstairs and have some fun?"

A heavily made-up "wakashu" blocked Lu Zhao's path, his gaze sticking to Lu Zhao's face like a lump of mud.

On Kabuki Street, women who sold their bodies were called yujo, men who sold their bodies and dressed as women were called wakashu, and those who didn't dress up were called yaro.

They catered to different audiences.

"No, thanks."

Lu Zhao went around him, but after only a couple of steps, a wakashu with exquisite makeup approached. He was much more refined than the yujo.

In a coy, lilting voice, he said, "Young master, would you like to come upstairs and sit for a while? Our establishment is affordable, and we offer discounts to new customers."

A wave of revulsion ran through Lu Zhao, and he shoved him aside.

"Pfft..."

Beside him, Lin Zhiyan let out a quiet laugh. But she didn't merely stand by and watch. She stepped forward, took Lu Zhao's arm, and pulled him along.

Looking at the somewhat uncomfortable Lu Zhao, she smiled. "Senior, just think of it as being for the mission. Let me take advantage of you a little."

The corners of Lu Zhao's mouth twitched. "The honor is all mine."

In an instant, many of the eyes watching them disappeared.

After they made it past the pimps surrounding them, the sex-trade establishments around them gave way to billiard halls, also known as pool halls in the South Sea West Circuit.

Lin Zhiyan looked around curiously, as if this were her first time seeing them, or perhaps she had heard about them for a long time.

"Let's go in and have a look."

She let go of Lu Zhao and entered the billiard hall ahead of him.

Lu Zhao suspected she had come here to have fun, while he had become the Lin Family's young lady's bodyguard.

He followed her into the billiard hall and immediately felt several gazes turn toward him.

One came from the young woman at the front desk, one from the thug guarding the place, and one from a group of youthful-looking bleached-blond punks.

The largest underground organization in the South Sea West Circuit was called the New Gang, a gang made up of youths. It was an extremely loose organization, basically just a name; any thug could claim to be part of the New Gang.