Chapter 522: Brewing Storm
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“New energy!? New metal!?”
King Dus.h.i.+ was lost in thought, looking at the video on the projection screen. Although Inferno didn’t send top-level martial arts experts for this exploration, their strengths could not be underestimated. The team leader was a seventy-five years old quasi-martial dao master. He might not be as strong as a real martial dao master, but he had rich and diverse combat experiences, and he was especially experienced when it came to exploration in the wild. One’s life experience was a very important aspect of an expert apart from his martial strength.
A quasi-martial dao master with a rich life and death experience, died while armed with a super modern squadron of martial artists, as well as six Jungle Rangers. All of them had died when they found the new energy source and the new metal.
What King Dus.h.i.+ found harder to believe was even with so many dead, the camera was unable to capture even the shadow of the murderer. The quasi-martial dao master couldn’t even respond before he abruptly lost his life. The other team members also lost their lives in a flash. Could it be a new type of mutated beast that could hide its body so that not even a quasi-martial dao master with diverse experience was unable to sense it?
King Dus.h.i.+ sunk into his thoughts. He had seen a lot of mutant creatures on Saturn, the most powerful of which was only just about as strong as a fourteen-star martial artist. However, what was scarier about them was still their camouflaging and other special abilities.
For example, it might look like a puddle of clear water but the moment somebody stepped on it, the puddle of water would suddenly come to life. It would turn into thorns that were as hard as the steel itself and pierce into the human body in the blink of an eye before injecting a nerve paralyzing venom into the human body the next moment.
Or they could appear as a piece of hard rock but the moment somebody sat on it, hard thorns would suddenly burst from the stone, stabbing directly into the vital point, and through the fragile intestine, innumerable sharp needles would extend out, stabbing the man to death.
Sometimes, even a fifteen-star martial dao master wasn’t able to escape these sneak attacks. Judging by the information on all the mutant creatures collected by all the organizations, the strongest of the mutant creatures was about as strong as a fourteen-star martial artist. They weren’t an opponent for a martial dao master in a frontal battle for sure. It was very hard for them to kill a quasi-martial dao master of the fourteen-star level.
Unless it was a sneak attack! If the sneak attack was proper, it would not be strange for even a martial dao master to lose his life in their hands.
What mutant creature is this exactly? If it’s captured, it would hold value in research! While King Dus.h.i.+ was still lost in thoughts, he suddenly felt the conference announcer under his seat ring. Only Inferno Kings, Inferno’s upper echelons, could partic.i.p.ate in this conference.
King Dus.h.i.+ casually started the conference mode as nine Inferno Kings with their faces covered by a black screen were projected before him. Inferno was full of freedom. If the Inferno Kings didn’t want to let others know about their true appearances, they could adjust their videos into a black screen. So, it was also normal for the Inferno Kings to not know each other’s true appearance.
King Dus.h.i.+ didn’t care about these. As a martial dao master, should I still be afraid of being seen by others? A few of the Inferno Kings had already seen their true faces, G.o.d knows why these people still like to hide their faces… but…
King Dus.h.i.+ kept glancing towards the fifth Inferno King, hoping to find the origin of this mysterious Inferno’s Emperor through the black screen. Rumor had it that only Kṣitigarbha and King Qin’guang had seen his real face. Even the first general under Ksitigarbha, Diting, hadn’t seen the Inferno Emperor’s appearance.
Among the nine windows, apart from the seven Inferno Kings who were still alive, two were black. One of which was the Inferno’s strongest expert, the current in-charge of Inferno, Ksitigarbha!
The black screen next to Ksitigarbha belonged to Diting, whom King Dus.h.i.+ had never seen. Rumor had it that his strength wasn’t inferior to King Qin’guang.
“I believe everyone is aware of the new energy source and the new metal.”
Ksitigarbha’s voice was always full of magnetic charm but people couldn’t tell whether it belonged to a male or female. The last five of the ten Inferno Kings were personally invited by King Qin’quang; they hadn’t seen Ksitigarbha’s face.
Rumor had it that even among the first five Inferno Kings, only King Qin’quang and Inferno Emperor had seen Ksitigarbha. Although the other Inferno Kings were personally invited by Ksitigarbha, they hadn’t seen his or her real appearance.
“Mhmm!”
A deep and orderly reply exited from everyone’s nose at the same time.
“I think Inferno should get this new energy and metal.” Ksitigarbga’s melodious voice rang, once again. “What does everyone think?”
The black screen King Qin’guang’s voice was very thick but only G.o.d knew whether he was using a voice modulator or not. “This is very extraordinary news. Although we don’t know whether this new energy exists in large quant.i.ties, nor do we know about the reserves of the new metal, they indeed have very terrible potential. Putting aside the application of new energy in interstellar voyages, just the lethality of the new metal…”
The black screen sunk into silence. But everyone was an expert in martial arts. They knew what a weapon with that kind of lethality meant to experts who were used to using weapons.
“Right.” Ksitigarbha’s voice rang again. “Therefore, we can’t take things lightly this time. Although sending Inferno Kings might seem somewhat overkill, I think it’s necessary.”
The black screens sunk into silence one after another. Their eyes s.h.i.+mmered with brilliance as they looked at King Dus.h.i.+ silently.
As the saying goes, ma.s.ses have sharp eyes.
King Dus.h.i.+ felt the glares shot by the various Inferno Kings. But then he recalled another sentence: the truth is often in the hands of a few people.
Inferno Kings moving out wasn’t that big of a deal. Even in Inferno, it wasn’t strange to dispatch King Qin’guang. Rumor had it that when the Inferno Emperor went to kill the eight heavenly immortals for the first time, King Qin’guang was dispatched secretly to protect the Inferno Emperor who had just joined Inferno.
King Dus.h.i.+ didn’t want to move out at this moment. A trip to the natural cemetery might not be that fruitful. He might gain better status in Inferno because of this meritorious deed but the final winner would only be Inferno and not King Dus.h.i.+.
King Dus.h.i.+ believed that as long as everything worked out well during the exchange of ransom and hostage after three days, he would receive Qin Fen and the others as his subordinates. The subsequent benefits were far from what he would have gained from the natural cemetery. If I left now, Black and White Impermanence will be duty-bound to report the things again. I will miss the best future.
Every Inferno King’s goal wasn’t just to remain as the Inferno King.
Divine beast martial artist! It was the goal of every Inferno King, as well as Elysium’s eight heavenly immortals and any martial artist above them.
In order to be a divine beast martial artist, one needed to have their own constellation warriors! After remunerating, King Dus.h.i.+ believed it was better to have Qin Fen and the others as his constellation warriors rather than picking people from Inferno in the future. These young people had low qualifications and limited connections. They were easier to control than the Inferno Kings; he didn’t need to worry about their rebellion.
…
King Dus.h.i.+ remained silent for a short while under the watchful gazes of everyone before coughing and speaking, “Everyone, I also think it will be safe to send an Inferno King to investigate but I think it will be even safer to send two Inferno Kings. Don’t forget, this news is very easy to leak. If Elysium came to know about this matter…”
Ks.h.i.+tigarbha’s eyes looked around thoughtfully, apparently considering King Dus.h.i.+’s suggestion seriously. The conflict between Elysium and Inferno had already reached the climax. If the news of new energy really got leaked, then Elysium would definitely get involved!
“Everyone, I really want to go but…” King Dus.h.i.+ looked at everyone, apologetically. “I have something to do these days. If you can wait for me for a few days, then I won’t mind making a trip for Inferno.”
Wait a few days!? Everyone sunk into silence once more. How could things like the new energy source be delayed? Every second delayed was an extra second for Elysium to get wind of it.
“This…” Ks.h.i.+tigarbha started speaking slowly. “Old Six, Old Seven, you go first. After King Dus.h.i.+ is finished with his matters, he will converge with you immediately. You need to be extra careful this time.”
The projections disappeared after the meeting came to an end. King Dus.h.i.+ started tapping on the armrest gently. If Old Six and Old Seven haven’t finished the mission after three days, all the credit will quite possibly be taken by me. If Elysium people saw me rus.h.i.+ng with a bunch of youngsters, it would scare the h.e.l.l out of them, right? Of course, the premise is that Elysium people are aware of this information!
Will Elysium know about it? King Dus.h.i.+ smiled. There are many secrets on Saturn but these secrets aren’t secrets for long. If my guess is right, Elysium might have similarly received the news already.
“Alright! Since that’s the case, Lu Dongbin, take the remaining eight immortals.”
In Elysium’s video conference room, a similar meeting was being held at the same time. Jade Emperor had also gotten the news regarding the new energy source and the metal. After a simple discussion, Lu Dongbin, the most powerful of the eight immortals took a team to the natural cemetery to search.
Whether it was Elysium or Inferno, both of them wanted to send troops, but at the same time, they had to worry about guarding against each other. The other party might take advantage of this opportunity to launch an attack on their opponent’s headquarters. At that time, it would be even more dangerous for the martial artists stationed at the base!
“Qin Fen, I have calculated a few possible positions for this new energy and metal.” Yang Lie raised his head from the computer screen and said, “We have to exchange hostage and ransom after three days. But a wait of three days might result in too many variables. We are not the only ones on Saturn, there are Elysium and Inferno as well.”
Qin Fen nodded in agreement. “What do you think?”
“I think, you don’t need to go for the exchange of hostage and ransom.” Yang Lie looked at Xue Tian. “Young Master Xue, you can consider who to send at that time. If they are up to no good, Lin Ling can snipe them from a long distance and kill Solov, whereas you can withdraw immediately. Even if you can’t win, you can always run, can’t you?”
“I will go.”
Solomon took the job with a simple and short sentence.
Yang Lie nodded indifferently. “As for the matter regarding the natural cemetery, Qin Fen, you will take one more person with you on this trip. The remaining people will remain at the base for the base transfer. Since Inferno’s Solov is in-charge of this base, I dare not guarantee its safety.”
The soldiers in the room stared at Qin Fen and Yang Lie just like Solov, tongue-tied, and dumbfounded. Isn’t the person appointed as the highest officer-in-charge of Saturn by the military headquarters Lieutenant Colonel Qin Fen? Then, why is this handsome half-blood boy taking command from Lieutenant Colonel Qin Fen and arranging everything at will? And Qin Fen actually doesn’t care about it. Does he not care about authority at all? This is the military control of the entire planet! If people get used to following some half-blood’s command, Lieutenant Colonel will be suspended.
“Alright!” Qin Fen, sensing Du Peng’s burning gaze, said calmly, “Then, Du Peng will go with me.”
Yang Lie was slightly taken aback. Looking at the excitement shrouded by Du Peng’s calm face, a faint sigh escaped in his heart. Du Peng isn’t the most suitable person for this task. Mourad, Caesar, Brooks, or Chen Feiyu are more suitable than Du Peng. Even I would be more suitable. But since this friend had already voiced his opinion so strongly, it will not be good to say anything.
“Okay.” Yang Lie patted Du Peng’s shoulder. “Be careful on the road. I have checked the images a few times. It has been giving me jitters. That place seems to be really dangerous.”
Du Peng clenched his fingers as he nodded, again and again. I admit my star-cla.s.s is a bit weaker compared to other guys but I too have similarly contributed to this group.
Qin Fen looked at Du Peng. “Can you drive a Jungle Ranger? I just observed the terrain there and found that it’s very suitable to use light mobile armors.”
Du Peng nodded as his deep eyes flickered with a cold gleam. “Ace-level pilot.”
“Very good.” Qin Fen looked back at the logistic office plate hanging by the door and asked. “Colonel, do we still have Jungle Rangers?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The colonel in charge of managing the logistics nodded in succession.
Qin Fen stepped forward. “Please give us two.”
“Okay, okay.” The colonel nodded again. “I’ll link them to you. When you leave, you can pick them up from there.”
Qin Fen took the permission to take the goods and left through the lift. Yang Lie swept a glance at Caesar. His eyes twitched slightly a bit, and Caesar turned and left the base with a smile.
Brooks walked to Yang Lie and punched him on the shoulder, asking him in a low voice, “Why not me?”
“If a jungle battle really took place, Caesar is more suitable.” Yang Lie answered earnestly. “I remember, Caesar’s jungle battle score is higher than yours.”
Brooks shrugged his shoulders and didn’t argue. No matter what, no one was a.s.sured by Qin Fen’s choice to take Du Peng with him to the natural cemetery. It was always better to have Caesar follow them secretly as double insurance. If something did happen, he could provide help at a moment’s notice.
Solov found that he couldn’t see through this group of youngsters even more so. It seemed that anyone could have the final say. Anyone could order others.