Chumming the Waters

Somewhere on the outskirts of the Radiant Holy City.

Tuoxun'e'si, leading a few men, staggered and fled into the woods.

The night wind rustled through the branches and leaves. The clothes on the men were already blackened by the smoke, and some were stained red with blood.

As soon as they entered, patrol lights swept across the woods, and several SUVs passed by on nearby roads.

Everyone covered their wounds and huddled under the bushes, afraid to make a sound.

The pursuers lingered for a moment, then continued their advance, and the group finally breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

Tuoxun'e'si leaned against the tree trunk, looked at the three people remaining beside him, and tears streamed down his face.

The original plan for this sabotage operation in the Holy City was to create chaos and then quickly leave.

They have an inside man who can provide real-time information on the defenses within the Radiant Holy City. In theory, as long as they avoid a few key patrol teams, the process of setting fires, creating panic, and retreating should not be complicated.

Unexpectedly, they encountered Su Ming himself, who was out for a stroll, and were brutally humiliated by the leader's guard composed of High Rank combatants.

After a while, the sound of light footsteps came from the woods again.

The men around Tuoxun'e'si immediately tensed up; some grabbed their daggers, while others raised their crossbows.

The shadows of the trees swayed, signaling the arrival of a new team.

The two stopped some distance apart, exchanged a secret signal in hushed tones, and then slowly approached, meeting up in the bushes.

The other side didn't look too good either; everyone was injured, their bodies covered in burn marks.

But behind them were more than twenty horses carrying boxes.

The opposing leader didn't say much, but simply waved his hand, indicating that ten of the horses belonged to them.

Tuoxun'e'si paused for a moment, then quickly stepped forward. He unloaded a pair of wooden crates and pried open one of them.

The next moment, his eyes lit up: inside was a row of guns and ammunition.

The dark gun body was wrapped in oiled paper, with the magazine and bullets stacked in wooden compartments. There were also a few metal parts that Tuoxun'e'si couldn't identify, gleaming with a cold luster.

He opened several more boxes, all containing the same type of high-tech weaponry. They were neatly arranged, exuding an unfamiliar sense of order.

"You... you really succeeded?" Tuoxun'e'si asked excitedly.

The Last Followers did not form a particularly unified organization.

They usually live scattered in small groups, hiding in various places. They only cooperate when there are large-scale operations, in order to adapt to the initial situation.

The high-pressure stance of the Republic of Xu.

When the tasks were originally assigned, Tuoxun'e'si chose the easier option of setting fire to the Holy City, while the other side was responsible for attacking the Hardbone Diamond Industrial Base.

It now appears that this allied force actually succeeded.

"May the God of Light protect us," the leader of the visitors prayed.

But Tuoxun'e'si couldn't help but wonder, "How did you manage to keep the Diamond Industrial Base so well-defended?"

"We also have an inside man," the man explained. "A large number of personnel were transferred from the base, and the rest were busy with the Lunar New Year festival. We seized the opportunity and caught them off guard."

He continued his story, a look of lingering fear on his face.

"But the base guards reacted quickly, and we were soon surrounded."

"Their firepower was extremely fierce; many of our brothers were killed on the spot."

A teammate behind the man chimed in, "Thanks to our smart lead, we immediately switched to the enemy's weapons and fought them."

"This completely stunned the other side."

Tuoxun'e'si imagined the First Sunrise troops suddenly being attacked by their own weapons, looking bewildered, and felt a pang of envy.

He couldn't resist stroking the rifle in the box again.

"Then we set fire to the armory at the Diamond Base, and the other side scrambled to put out the fire."

"Taking advantage of the chaos, they managed to escape successfully."

Tuoxun'e'si nodded; he had also seen the towering explosion.

According to an inside source, the scene at the Diamond Base was horrific, with corpses strewn everywhere. Bone King was furious and immediately dismissed Master Newman, the base's director.

Touching the sharply defined weapon in his hand once more, Tuoxun'e'si was overcome with sorrow again.

The opponent at least succeeded, while their own team was almost completely wiped out.

However, as both were the last hope of the God of Light, Tuoxun'e'si was "sincerely" happy for the other.

"Having suffered such a great loss, the Bone King is now furious," the other party reminded him. "All departments are launching a large-scale manhunt."

"This just proves we've hit a nerve!" Tuoxun'e'si said bitterly.

However, this also indicates that the situation was urgent, and neither side wasted any more time.

They closed the wooden crate again, and someone took a small bottle from their pocket and sprinkled the pungent powder inside nearby to interfere with tracking animals or spells.

Then these "Last Followers," each carrying a weapon, disappeared into the woods and the night.

****

There was a communication connection, which Su Ming handled.

After it was all over, they found that Yise was still there.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

Yise, however, sat down in the chair in front of Su Ming.

She sat very upright, with her hands on her knees.

"Why did you terminate the investigation into the girl who was present at the scene?" Yise asked.

Su Ming poked his head out from the computer screen and looked Yise up and down.

Very well, I still can't match her with the noble girl from before.

"They are friends, not enemies, and I don't want to delve into it," Su Ming offered as an excuse.

Logically, the conversation could have ended here.

But Yise suddenly covered his face with his hands.

"You noticed, didn't you?" The voice came from between the fingers.

Isn't it said that playing dumb is a good habit? Su Ming sighed inwardly.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Katharine."

Yise shuddered upon hearing this.

"If my mother knew, she would definitely prepare a whole bunch of lace dresses for me!"

"Those things are really shameful!"

Su Ming really wanted to say, "Your Rose Set today isn't much better either."

Add to that the flashy little umbrella, and that affectedly arrogant tone, and it's just... unbelievable.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.

Yise suddenly lowered his hand, looked up and glared at Su Ming.

Are you laughing at me?

"No." Su Ming covered her mouth and turned her head away, sounding rather unconvincing.

"Delete today's recording!" Yise demanded.

"Electricity-Swallowing Beast." Su Ming chuckled as he issued the voice command, "Erase the surveillance footage of Yise's activities on the streets after 7 PM tonight."

"Is it only the portion of Miss Yise's image that's been blurred out, and the entire surveillance footage is still preserved?"

"Yes," Su Ming confirmed.

A dozen seconds later, the Electricity-Swallowing Beast responded, the cleanup was complete, and Miss Yise was completely blurred out.

Yise visibly relaxed.

"I'm sorry, President."

She belatedly realized that her behavior had been somewhat willful.

"I've caused you extra trouble today."

"Tampering with the surveillance footage is a minor matter," Su Ming waved his hand and said, "If you hadn't stopped them, several staff members at the children's shelter would have been injured or killed."

He thought for a moment, then continued, "I come from a world with very diverse interests, so you don't need to feel any pressure."

"Furthermore, if you continue to do similar things, neither I nor the Electricity-Swallowing Beast will intervene."

Yise twisted his fingers.

"----Thanks."

Su Ming and decided it would be better to make a request.

"In exchange for satisfying my curiosity."

"Can you tell me why you have this hobby?"

Yise sighed softly.

"Even though I'm a young girl who often wields a greatsword to fight people, I still want to role-play as a princess and experience all sorts of stories."

Su Ming didn't quite understand.

"You really are a princess, aren't you?" he corrected.

Xialike acknowledges that Yise is her adopted daughter.

"If I were to appear in the City of Radiance wearing a princess dress right now, do you think it would cause a lot of chaos?" Yise said irritably.

It's one thing if Yise doesn't reveal her identity as a princess, but if she does, the current situation will definitely lead other countries to speculate wildly.

Su Ming raised his hand.

"It seems like I've wronged you."

"It's quite fun," Yise honestly admitted. "I can freely do whatever I want during the week, and in my free time, I can pretend to be a noble lady, strolling through the streets and being the center of attention. It's a very special feeling."

"If I ever have the chance, I should really take you to a comic convention," Su Ming said with a smile.

****

After thanking him again, Yise left, and Rupert's report arrived.

"It's all done successfully. The weapons have been handed over to Tuoxun'e'si."

"Not bad." Su Ming nodded.

Rupert never misses a fishing test, whether he uses the bait himself or someone else does.

Because they had been brutally beaten by Su Ming with modern weapons, in the eyes of these "Last Followers," the guns of the Final Bone Mad Machines were...

Ammunition is naturally very attractive.

That's only one aspect.

Halflings, dwarves, and other factions had already spread the word on the black market, offering to buy the weapons at high prices.

Therefore, acquiring these weapons also represents a substantial reward that would drive people to take risks!

Therefore, when Rupert arranged for someone to infiltrate the diamond industry, proposing to raid the Diamond Industrial Base, and volunteering to take on the most dangerous part of the mission—

These people are actually tempted!

"Electricity-Swallowing Beast, begin tracking," Su Ming commanded.

Soon, a large map unfolded on the screen, with several red dots appearing on it.

Apart from the batch held by Rupert, the weapons delivered to Tuoxun'e'si have been divided into five parts and are still being further differentiated.

The team that entered the Holy City was deliberately decimated by Su Ming, leaving only a handful of survivors, so that they would be unable to handle the weapons on their own.

As a result, they had to seek help from "friendly forces" to split up and hide.

Meanwhile, the "behind-the-scenes" personnel in the Holy City who supported this operation weren't working for free; they certainly deserved compensation.

Some.

Su Ming deliberately created a trap, aiming to catch as many people hiding in the shadows as possible, and then follow the clues to find the source.

He added Bowers to the channel.

"You are in full command of this operation," Su Ming ordered. "Immediately begin deployment and choose an appropriate time to close the net."

"Yes!" Bowers replied.

A while later, the intelligence department's report arrived.

Currently, the trading companies offering to buy Su Ming weapons on the black market are actually fronts for the intelligence department.

They have just received several offers claiming to have stock available.

Su Ming scoffed; he was utterly ashamed to call this operation a fishing expedition.

These greedy people from the old era will eagerly walk into the net when faced with profit.

"Make contact with them and lure out the person behind it all," Su Ming instructed.

"Be ruthless when you strike; I don't want to leave too many survivors for the trial process."

"Yes!" the intelligence team leader replied.

"When it comes to concrete actions"

Su Ming paused.

To lure the enemy into a trap, the weapons dispersed, though not of high quality, were all genuine weapons. This tactic was highly effective, but it also increased the risk.

"Contact Yise and arrange for sufficient military support," Su Ming instructed.

"Clear!"