The rest of the team did not leave the place of the fight afterward per Xuan’s request. They gathered around a fountain nearby, which belonged to foreign forces and usually did not permit the Chinese to enter. They broke the limbs of the guards then soon got surrounded by over fifty foreign police. Farther back behind the police were reporters. Also on the ground were already ten police with broken limbs.
“I don’t know what you are planning but don’t you think this is too extreme?” Zheng said to Xuan.
Xuan was still focused on the doc.u.ments on hand and replied without taking his eyes off. “Oh? Does it?”
“Of course!” Zheng pointed at the crowd that was growing larger by the minute. “This doesn’t look normal no matter how you look at it. I don’t get it. You should have better ways to display our power if that’s your goal. Secondly, what’s wrong with staying low profile? Aren’t you worried something unexpected might happen in this world?”
“Zheng. Do you still remember the things I said to you?” Xuan raised his head and slowly said. “Tactics are nothing more than a way to use your power more appropriately. You can think of tactics as the optimization of power. The prerequisite to enacting a tactic is to have the minimum power required for the tactic. When you have overwhelming power, then there’s no need for tactics. This is the situation we are in.”
“Our situation?” Zheng pointed at the foreigners. “Do you actually think we have the power to fight an army? Or you think I can kill people in the hundreds of thousands and not get tired?”
“Not just fight an army.” Xuan turned back to his doc.u.ments. “Going by the power from this era, we have the Magic Cannon, tactical nukes, and other AOE weapons to use against an army. Even if we can’t kill them all in one battle, we can run with the Sky Sticks. I believe we have the power to end the war with killing.
“Secondly, aside from the work-in-progress atomic bomb, I don’t know of another technological weapon that can damage us. Fighter jets can’t catch up to the Sky Sticks. Rifles? Gatling guns? Cannons? They are only a joke. Our power stands at a different level from this world, like a human looking down at ants, though not as big a difference. Unless we have no Sky Sticks and no support during a drawn out battle with enemies throwing their bodies at us non stop, we do not need any tactics.”
Xuan paused for a moment before continuing. “… And thinking is tiring. A person can only think so much at the same time. When I spend the majority of my mind on tactics, it will lower my thinking for other stuff. Do as things come. Give me more time to think other stuff will be the best for the team’s interest.”
Zheng was speechless. He made it clear he would not help with tactics in this mission. The team should treat him as another combat member. Zheng made his final struggle. “But… we are carrying so many sleeping members. Don’t you fear for their safety? Like stray bullets.”
“That is your responsibility. If you can’t protect them, then let them die.”
Zheng nearly couldn’t hold himself back from beating up Xuan. Even though he cared the most about the team but not all responsibilities should fall on him. Xuan could make it through the movie with ease and yet he was just there reading the doc.u.ments, like nothing else mattered.
“So what are these doc.u.ments? You looked so entrenched.” Zheng finally lost the battle and asked.
Xuan said. “Uh. About the origin of G.o.d’s realm, the Saints, the ancient enemies, Cultivation and Xian, and the final battle.”
Zheng cried in surprise. “Really? Have you deciphered the doc.u.ments? Tell me the whole story. Haha. We are finally solving the mystery. What happened? What is G.o.d’s realm? How do we return to the real world?”
“I haven’t” Xuan glanced at him and calmly replied.
“You… haven’t?”
“The translation isn’t complete. That’s what I am doing right now. Why else do you think needs so much of my energy? I have only translated some scattered words. This section mentions the crafting of G.o.d’s realm, a product of the Saints and Xian. It used the energy technology from the Saints and rune words from Xian.”
Zheng sighed. He thought he could find out part of the mystery but it was too soon to rejoice. He wondered if Xuan was lying or actually couldn’t translate.
In an alley far away from team China, Jonathan poked his head out to take a look then quickly pulled back. He said to the other two people. “This is my last hideout. We got to find a s.h.i.+p as soon as possible, Imhotep. I have done business with an elder from Hongmen. They did not invest too much in Shanghai but it shouldn’t be a problem. I will leave the safety of my gold to you.” Jonathan started to walk away.
Imhotep grabbed him and sighed. “Let’s go together. I can carry you when we have to run. Don’t go too far from me. Yesterday’s divination disturbs me. The monsters in yellow clothes might come again soon.”
Jonathan s.h.i.+vered. “Can’t be so soon right? Didn’t they take over ten days to recover after you break them the first time?”
Anck-Su-Namun gave him a cold laugh. “Yeah. And the second time was ten days. The third time seven days. We broke them six times already. Their power has been growing too… Jonathan, we should just leave you in this continent before the monsters decides to kill us too.”
Jonathan couldn’t find a reply for a while. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said. “Anck-Su-Namun, the crystal phoenix hairpin you had your eyes on last night is yours. Don’t abandon me. Imhotep, we we are comrades. You won’t abandon a comrade, right?”
Before Imhotep could reply, a huge fist descended from above and crushed him into sand. It continued downward an blasted a hole on the ground. Several more fists appeared out of thin air aiming for Jonathan and Anck-Su-Namun. The two were shocked and immediately ran along the alley. A sand barrier formed between them and the fists. The fists couldn’t put a dent on this thin layer of sand no matter how much they struck.
Imhotep’s voice sounded in the air. “Jonathan! Take care of Anck-Su-Namun and leave!”
Four huge figures appeared in the air and surrounded the barrier.
Zheng was talking with the team on how to wake the sleeping members until ChengXiao and Heng returned. They had taken down over a hundred Chinese and foreign cops but people were still gathering. Every time the police attempted to set up gatling guns and similar heavy firearms, Zheng would kill those people. The police finally gave up after witnessing the inhuman strength and switched to negotiation.
Zheng suddenly looked at the sand dancing in the sky in the distance and asked Xuan. “Hey, is there a desert near Shanghai?”
“You think?”
Without a word, Zheng jumped up and brought up the Sky Stick from his ring. The next second, he was flying toward the sand’s location.