Chapter 348: The Most Horrifying Squad
“Spit it out. What were you two planning?” With complete lack of emotion on her face, Gu Xiqiao flung the flower onto the table the moment she returned to her temporary residential unit.
Knowing how powerful both Dog Feed and Xixi were, it was impossible that a young human girl could grab them as if they were harmless toys. It was rather obvious that they had allowed her to do so deliberately. No wonder they disappeared right after the battle.
Dog Feed’s petals trembled in fear. It had never seen Gu Xiqiao react in such a way before; she was pretty intimidating.
After parking his car, Jiang Shuxuan walked into the place slowly. As he set his keys down onto the coffee table, Xixi dashed behind him, trying to hide from Gu Xiqiao.
“My mom has just started a video call with me.” Jiang Shuxuan pa.s.sed his phone over to Gu Xiqiao.
Gu Xiqiao’s ice-cold expression melted away after seeing Shu Chen’s face on the screen. With the phone in hand, she made her way upstairs, leaving Dog Feed on its own, for now.
Jiang Shuxuan waited for her to completely disappear upstairs before peering down at Dog Feed with a merciless look. “You had it coming.”
Dog Feed: “…”
Its petals almost wilted away at that moment when its fear peaked.
With a computer in its hands, Jiji descended the stairs. It shook its head upon seeing Dog Feed. “I really couldn’t care less if you ate someone else’s treasures, but to let yourself get caught while doing so? I don’t buy it if you said you weren’t trying to p.i.s.s Beauty Qiao off.”
Dog Feed’s petals regained its s.h.i.+ne upon hearing this. “Where’s that little son of b*tch? I’m gonna gobble him up right this instant!”
Jiji booted up the computer and logged into his game, as it had done a million times before. Without looking up, it replied, “You’re talking about Alang? He’s still under training. If you want to do that, then I suggest you pick up the pace. It is only a matter of time before you turn into his punching bag.”
Dog Feed convulsed even more upon hearing this.
“Hm? Why’s he here?” Jiji’s gaming session had barely begun when it detected the presence of someone else. And so, he sent a message to the team.
[Team] Master Jiji: “Ma’am, someone’s here. You should go with this duplicate first.”
[Team] A Blooming Dawn: “Go away Jiji, I’m talking to my daughter-in-law.”
[Team] A Blooming Dawn: “Wait, something’s wrong. Is that person here to visit my daughter-in-law?”
Jiji did not even read what Shu Chen said before it called out to Gu Xiiqao with its digital mind, “Beauty Qiao, Nozawa’s here to see you.”
Gu Xiqiao was in the study, talking to Shu Chen over the video call when she heard Jiji’s voice. She paused for a moment before telling her mother-in-law, “Auntie, someone’s here for me. I’m gonna head down now.”
“Go ahead, but don’t push yourself alright?” Shu Chen replied.
Now that Gu Xiqiao has left, Jiang Shuxuan couldn’t be bothered with listening to what his mom had to say. He leaned over with the intention to end the call immediately.
“Hey hey hey, little brat what do you think you’re doing? So, what’s your answer to the proposition I made to you previously?” asked Shu Chen whose face moved closer to the webcam, expecting an answer.
Jiang Shuxuan merely shot her a glance from the corner of his eyes. “I’m still considering it.”
Although her son had lost his memory, his personality remained largely the same. Shu Chen understood him well. His reply meant that he was fairly sure of himself. She smiled happily in response to his reply. “I’ll be waiting for good news when you two return. Now that you guys have completed your tasks in America, you two probably should be back by tomorrow. After all, you have 2 free days left now that you’ve completed the mission in 5.”
Shu Chen was ecstatic when she thought about this. “I heard you guys are having fun over in the States. You’ve even brought the Peacekeepers along? You should let me tag along next time!”
Jiang Shuxuan expanded his consciousness outwards. He detected a presence outside the door approaching their unit. “You’re overthinking things. When did she ever make wrong calculations? If she said that their business here would last seven days then seven days it is. No more, no less.”
“He-” Shu Chen glared at the screen when Jiang Shuxuan ended their call without a warning.
Downstairs.
Nozawa moved his hand up and down to feel the heft of the items he was holding. He wondered if he had brought enough of it. Over here in the United States, this was the most he could conjure. He could get more of them back in j.a.pan, but getting Gu Xiqiao to agree to visit his country was a major hurdle.
Thinking about what his clan elder said, his mood took a plunge. Swallowing his doubts down, he raised his arm up to press on the doorbell. Though, the door popped open before he did so.
He was first greeted by the face of a robot, who opened the door for him to enter. “Mister Nozawa, Beauty Qiao has allowed you into her house.”
Nozawa was surprised to discover that she had been expecting his arrival. His footsteps were hasty, perhaps due to the urgency of the situation he was caught up in.
He saw Gu Xiqiao sitting on the sofa upon stepping through the front door. That, and a pink flower slowly inching its way towards her. Though, before it could get any closer, a purple electric spark would smack it away cold-heartedly.
That flower didn’t seem to mind the abuse, as it continued crawling towards her relentlessly.
If not for Dog Feed’s show of force that afternoon, n.o.body would’ve known that this flower had reached such a stage of development in terms of its skill.
Nozawa sighed when he saw Gu Xiqiao torturing the poor little flower. Perhaps she was the only person in the world who was able to turn such a powerful being into a worm-like m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic thing.
“Miss Gu,” greeted Nozawa.
Gu Xiqiao smacked Dog Feed away for one last time before s.h.i.+fting her gaze over to her visitor, and then onto the bag that he was holding. “Mister Nozawa.”
“Miss Gu, our clan elder…” Nozawa found it hard to speak. He was aware of the j.a.panese leader’s malicious intentions when he made the decision to crush the ancient martial arts world. However, he could do nothing significant to change the reality of things, and so he went down to his Legacy Base and focused solely on getting stronger.
However, he did not expect things to get so bad. In spite of the advice the leader of his country received from Miss Gu before disaster struck, he still chose to ignore it.
If he was Gu Xiqiao, or if he wasn’t j.a.panese, he would’ve chosen to ignore entirely the decisions that the leader of j.a.pan made. However, reality remained that he was j.a.panese, and he was a member of their supernatural forces, which meant that he had to shoulder a part of the responsibility to keep their nation safe as well.
Gu Xiqiao looked down at the thing Nozawa was holding. Before he could speak, she nodded her head. “I know what you’re about to say and I promise to help you. But, I must have your word on one thing. Whatever that happens to j.a.pan afterward, you must listen to my words.”
“Understood!” Nozawa did not waste a single second before answering Gu Xiqiao.
“If you still have preparations to make, do it now. We’ll leave now,” ordered Gu Xiqiao.
Her words shocked him. “Now?” Even if she had her own private jet, one still needed to wait for at least a couple of hours before departing, right?
He was happy that Gu Xiqiao had agreed so quickly to his request but something wasn’t adding up.
Gu Xiqiao did not say a word more when she went upstairs. She sent Yao Jiamu a message while heading towards the study room. [Bring squad 1, immediately.]
Jiang Shuxuan had already ended the call with his mother. He was reading through the doc.u.ment sent by the elders of the ancient martial arts world when Gu Xiqiao entered the room. He looked up at her and asked calmly, “Are you leaving?”
“Yes,” Gu Xiqiao walked over for a quick glance at what he was reading. It was a report on the training of those blokes back in the ancient martial arts world. “These people are pretty good, aren’t they?” She was initially worried that they wouldn’t be able to cope with the intensity of their training.
“With you and the Peace Manor in front of them, how could they dare to slack off?” Jiang Shuxuan suddenly remembered what the elders said, about how quick their people were advancing. It would only be a short while before they caught up with those old geezers. The thought of this made Jiang Shuxuan chuckle to himself.
Gu Xiqiao smiled. “Yeah, I reckon it’s time for us to return too.”
“Are you tired?” Jiang Shuxuan printed the doc.u.ment out after closing the email. “Let me go to j.a.pan this time. My mom’s been waiting for you back at home. You’ve only spoken to each other for a handful of minutes tonight.”
Indeed, they had been really busy for the past few days. The political arena in America was extremely turbulent and in addition to that, they still had to deal with the incident at the zoo. Despite the fact that she already had the foresight of this happening, it was still quite a ha.s.sle to bring the situation under control. She looked over at Jiang Shuxuan with a smile.
Ever since he lost his memory, he had become even more cold and unapproachable to strangers. However, this barrier was let down whenever they were alone together. The minor quirks which she had grown used to, were still present and it was these little things that warmed her soul. Even though his memory was lost, he was still the same Jiang Shuxuan.
This, she felt, was forever to remain a constant.
The s.h.i.+mmering stars in the sky could be seen in her eyes. As the printer noisily churned out sheet after sheet of paper, Jiang Shuxuan outstretched his arm and caressed her face with his fingers.
Gu Xiqiao merely smiled back at him. She reached down to pick up the freshly-printed papers but to no avail, for she was immobilized in the next second. Jiang Shuxuan pressed down with his palm on the doc.u.ments and grabbed her waist with his other hand. A frost, almost-refres.h.i.+ng atmosphere suddenly enveloped her body.
Downstairs, Jiji tucked the item Nozawa brought over into its chest. Looking up at their guest, who was staring blankly into empty air, it asked, “Are you still thinking about a plane ride back to j.a.pan?”
There was a moment of silence before Nozawa nodded. That’s right. Traveling by plane was currently his fastest way of reaching the supernatural world of the United States. They would have to arrange a flight for him to get back to j.a.pan as soon as possible. At least, this was the plan he had in mind.
“If you really wish to return to j.a.pan, you will be greeted by the scene of sheer destruction come tomorrow,” replied Jiji while shaking its head.
Nozawa snapped out of his mental haze the moment he heard the word ‘sheer destruction’. His heart throbbed in pain. He desperately tried to look for signs in Jiji’s speech that it was just making a morbid joke. Unfortunately, there was none. Jiji was being dead serious.
“Then…what are we gonna do?” Nozawa started panicking. He turned towards Jiji, in search of an answer. The scene from this afternoon kept replaying through his mind. If what happened in the States were to happen in j.a.pan, he found it impossible to imagine how much carnage there would be.
It was at this point that Jiji realized that it was a bad idea to continue saying such things to Nozawa. It tried to console him but Nozawa’s expression remained the same. It was as if his soul had been utterly crushed.
“Relax, with Beauty Qiao here, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
That’s right! Miss Gu!
Hope returned to Nozawa’s eyes. The gloomy atmosphere faded away instantaneously. From a defeated young man on the brink of total morale destruction, he turned into a hopeful and suns.h.i.+ne-filled young man.
Jiji was relieved that it remembered to mention Gu Xiqiao’s name. But at the same time, it was slightly repulsed upon discovering that Nozawa was just another braindead fan of Gu Xiqiao.
It let out a sigh before resuming its gaming session.
Yao Jiamu and the rest of squad one came lightning fast. Nozawa’s emotions were further riled up when he saw them arrive. Of course, he had already gotten a taste of how powerful these people were from the battle that happened earlier in the day.
“We’re all here it seems.” Even Cecily and Cecil had made their way over to Gu Xiqiao’s place. Raising her brow when she saw both Nozawa and Yao Jiamu, Cecily said, “It appears that we have arrived just in the nick of time.”
Back during the ranking tournament, Cecil became acquaintances with Yao Jiamu, which was why they greeted each other when both of them arrived here. Wu Hongwen, who was relaxing on the couch looked up. “What are you doing here, Cecil?”
“To watch a show.” Cecil leaned against the table. He glanced at Wu Hongwen and then at Yao Jiamu and Xiao Yun. “It has only been a month since we last saw each other, and yet you all have grown so much stronger.”
He thought that after spending a month’s time in the Legacy Base, he would fare no worse than these people. To his surprise, their powers had far exceeded that of his own.
“It’s been a month man, is there any way that we can stop growing stronger?” Wu Hongwen asked. “Yeah, sure, we’re strong and all, but the power disparity between Qiao Qiao and us is only getting greater and greater.”
One month? Is that period a very long time? No, in fact, it was almost microscopic where cultivating one’s powers were concerned. However, for Wu Hongwen and the rest who had only started engaging in ancient martial arts six months ago, such a period of time seemed almost endless.
Still, they felt the rate at which they were growing was too slow. That of course, was because they were watching Gu Xiqiao surge ahead of them unaware that in comparison to the outside world, they were already plenty strong themselves.
Cecily, Cecil, and Nozawa looked at each other, to confirm the shock they were all feeling.
“d.a.m.n,” Cecily let out a laugh before taking in a deep breath. “Hearing them talk makes my blood boil.”
“Now that everyone’s here,” Jiang Shuxuan and Gu Xiqiao had finished packing their things upstairs. They descended the stairs with Alang and Joyner following behind. “It’s time for us to go.”
Go? How?
Nozawa and Cecily both wore puzzled expressions.
Gu Xiqiao did not waste time with pointless explanations. Her eyes were on Jiji, who had tucked away its computer into its chest compartment. Then, with both hands, it started drawing a weird symbol in the air.
Seeing such a bizarre scene shocked the first-timers. They suddenly recalled how the Peacekeepers came swooping in as if they had appeared suddenly out of thin air. So, to be able to transport a group of people in the blink of an eye was the working of this little robot?
Cecily peered down at Jiji, then at Gu Xiqiao. She shook her head while wearing an awkward smile. She should’ve known. She should’ve known that the things Gu Xiqiao kept around her were all out-of-this-world items.
Ten minutes later, Jiji’s hands stopped. With their very eyes, the people there watched as the s.p.a.ce before them warped into a black hole.
Yao Jiamu and his men walked into the black hole as if they had rehea.r.s.ed this countless times in the past. Nozawa, Cecily, and her brother, on the other hand, got on all fours and crawled slowly into the black hole. Right after they did that, they heard Gu Xiqiao’s voice.
“Jiji, although this function of yours comes in handy, it’s pretty slow. You’ll get struck down pretty easily on the battlefield if you go on like this,” said Gu Xiqiao while looking down at Jiji.
Jiji nodded. “I’m trying to improve my speed too. Didn’t you notice? It took five minutes shorter to draw up this thing compared to the last time I did it.”
Gu Xiqiao nodded. “Keep it up, let’s aim for seconds instead of minutes.”
Nozawa quaked upon hearing their conversation. They would’ve praised Jiji like a G.o.d for possessing such a game-changing power, and yet Gu Xiqiao was still dissatisfied with its speed? Dissatisfied?
Alright fine, maybe being dissatisfied was the main reason why the Peacekeepers were so terrifyingly powerful.
A glow then appeared before the team.
The supernatural world of j.a.pan was having a meeting; all of the higher-ups were gathered in this room which was enveloped by the same gloomy atmosphere that stuck with Nozawa when he first appeared before Gu Xiqiao. Rightfully so, as the island nation of j.a.pan was facing an existential threat. One slip was all it would take for their entire nation to be wiped off the face of the Earth.
“Chief, if it weren’t for Young Master Nozawa notifying me, I would not have known that you were keeping Miss Gu’s warning a secret from all of us!” An elder slammed his fist on the table. “Your foolish decision almost cost us millions of innocent j.a.panese lives!”
Being on the receiving end of angry glares made the leader of j.a.pan feel a mixture of both fear and regret. His fist was so tight that his nails dug into the flesh of his palm. Looking back at the elder, he reb.u.t.ted, “Now is not the time to mull over my mistakes! We have to look for a plan for us to survive this disaster!”
“We wait for Young Master Nozawa’s return!” replied the elder. Now, j.a.pan’s fate rested entirely in Nozawa’s hands.
“Nozawa…” The leader of j.a.pan muttered under his breath. “What’s the use of him coming back?”
He feared that without doing anything significant, Nozawa would still gain the support of the supernatural world. It had become apparent that Nozawa was being viewed in a more positive light than himself, which was a worrying phenomenon. If only he had listened to Gu Xiqiao’s words, would the situation have turned out like this?
The elder ignored his question. There was indeed, nothing Nozawa could do realistically to stop the disaster. However, it was the people he would be returning with that could. However, at this point, the elder saw no point in wasting time with the leader of j.a.pan.
“Great Elder, Apple Hill is collapsing.” A middle-aged man with a face as pale as a sheet of paper came in and reported the latest developments. Apple Hill was the supernatural world’s nucleus in j.a.pan. There were countless folks living under the hill who would be sacrificed in this disaster. They were all extremely powerful people, which conversely meant that the supernatural world of j.a.pan would lose a great deal if this were to continue. Fear was at an all-time high for the j.a.panese.
A gloomy mist could be seen above the heads of the people of the supernatural world.
The great elder contemplated in silence for a moment before making his decision. “The young master has yet to return. Let us return to our homes.”
The rest of the elders shut their eyes as they prepared to leave.
It was at this moment that the air before them warped. Following a humming noise, a group of people materialized out of thin air.
“Young Master!” The great elder recognized Nozawa’s face instantly from among the crowd. A glow of hope returned to his eyes.
Nozawa stepped forth from behind Gu Xiqiao. He nodded upon hearing his name being called. In a solemn tone, he announced to the people present in the room, “Great Elder, this is Miss Gu, Young Master Jiang, and the rest of the Peacekeepers.”
The great elder was about to prostrate on the ground but was stopped by Gu Xiqiao. She turned towards Yao Jiamu and the rest of his team. “There isn’t much time left, follow me outside.”
The great elder watched as Nozawa and his friends left the room. Out of curiosity, he too followed their team. He watched as Gu Xiqiao led them halfway down the hill’s slope. Jiang Shuxuan was standing nearby, observing them as they worked. “Young Master Nozawa, why isn’t Young Master Jiang joining them?” In the old man’s eyes, Jiang Shuxuan was, of course, the person who was best suited to such missions.
Nozawa kept his eyes glued on the Peacekeepers. “Be not afraid, Great Elder. Tonight, we shall witness the might of a single squad from the Peacekeepers.”