Chapter 265 - 9: Harvest and Crisis, Part 2

With everything in order, he then turned his gaze toward the other side of the square.

The situation was now completely under control. Most of the armed Rebels had been killed.

He had also casually used the excuse of pursuing an enemy to cover up his earlier encounter with the brown-haired young man.

Looking over now, dozens of bodies were strewn across the ground—all of them Rebels. Patrol teams and members of other Superpower Teams were handling the scene, working to identify them.

A few were captured alive and were about to be taken away for interrogation.

"These Rebel lunatics... they’ve got a death wish."

Footsteps approached from the side. Lu Chao turned his head to look.

Sun Jiayuan’s left arm was injured, held in a sling made of gauze and a splint. His face was pale from the wound, and he spoke in a low voice, "Attacking the specialists... they’re clearly doing it just to spite us."

"I bet this will be tomorrow’s headline. Who knows how many more people will be opposing Red Maple joining the Alliance Country after this."

Lu Chao sighed inwardly at his words, having already guessed as much.

The Rebels had always been at odds with the Alliance Country. As the largest Al-Qaeda in the wilderness, they were constantly scheming to restore the old nations.

Red Maple joining the Alliance Country was clearly a development they didn’t want to see, so naturally, they would try to stop it by any means necessary.

Incidents like today’s had happened several times even before his appointment, each time causing many within the Red Maple City Circle to cry out in opposition.

"But seriously, Younger Brother Lu, thank you for that."

Sun Jiayuan suddenly expressed his thanks, his face full of gratitude. "That reaction of yours back there... honestly, I’ve rarely seen anyone who could match it."

"If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve been a goner."

He was well aware of how dangerous the situation had been.

The Rebel sniper had been too perfectly hidden. If that bullet had really hit him in the head, he would have died on the spot.

That was why he was so impressed by the other’s split-second reaction.

"We’re comrades. Isn’t it natural to help each other out?"

Lu Chao smiled, not taking credit or explaining how he’d noticed the danger ahead of time.

Seeing this, Sun Jiayuan tactfully didn’t press the issue.

"In that case, once my arm is healed, you have to do me the honor of joining me for a meal..."

"Of course."

Lu Chao agreed with a smile and chatted with him for a little longer.

Eventually, the huge glass elevator connecting to the underground district rose once again, revealing a group of specialists and others emerging one after another.

WHIRRR!

Judging by their appearance, most of them looked disheveled, as if they had endured a more ferocious assault.

Many among them were injured and were being helped away by rescue teams.

This included Xu Wei and several elite captains from the East Port City Circle, all of whom had serious injuries and appeared weak.

In that instant, as if sensing something, Xu Wei and her group looked over.

Their eyes met, and they saw that Lu Chao and his team were mostly unharmed.

Clutching his injured arm, Li Xiyuan’s expression darkened, and Xu Wei’s eyelid twitched.

...

’It seems that guy today had nothing to do with the Rebels.’

’He only came looking for me and happened to run into the attack. It was just a coincidence.’

That night, after the mission was over, Lu Chao returned to his apartment provided by the Superpower Bureau.

A soft mat was spread on the floor. He sat cross-legged on it, silently reviewing the day’s events.

The fist-sized, fragmented Magic Crystal sat before him.

It was a brilliant, translucent red, constantly reflecting the light in an uncanny way.

To its other side lay the ancient book he had kept sealed away for so long—the magical Holy Scripture he had obtained from the old man of the God-Worshiping Church.

’The so-called Holy Scripture is the most important treasure of the God-Worshiping Church, considered one of their sacred relics.’

’Not only does it record the secrets of the path of Magic, but through a special blood-sacrifice ritual, it can be used as a medium to behold the grand, illusory image of a Demon God and receive an unconventional blessing.’

Recalling the information he had tortured out of the brown-haired young man today, Lu Chao finally understood the key points.

No wonder the book of Magic hadn’t been consumed by that strange fire. And no wonder these people were so obsessed with it.

To Mages who believe in Demon Gods, it truly was a treasure.

As for how they were able to find him...

’Divination...’

Lu Chao opened the book of Magic again and found the explanation for this technique.

It was a very special magical technique that required consuming a portion of the Mage’s own source power to activate.

Using this technique and a specific medium, one could sense the approximate location and residual traces of a person or object. The accuracy of the divination was closely related to the Caster’s power and the grade of the item being divined.

If the Mage was powerful enough, they could even use this technique to briefly predict a version of the future.

After reading the description, a flicker of surprise crossed Lu Chao’s eyes.

’This divination technique is that powerful?’

However, he looked at the words describing the consumption of source power.

The human body’s source power recovers extremely slowly and is closely tied to the development of Life Energy and the state of one’s physical functions. Activating this technique was clearly not easy; at the very least, it would be difficult to use it multiple times in a short period.

Moreover, thinking about the brown-haired young man’s actions, combined with the results of the final interrogation, a theory formed in Lu Chao’s mind.

’They didn’t come straight to my home to find it, which means they can’t divine the Holy Scripture’s exact location, only a general area.’

’And they weren’t completely sure it was me, either. Not until they’d tailed and observed everyone from the Superpower Bureau, got close to me, and found the last residual traces on my person...’

His eyes glinted. Lu Chao’s thoughts grew increasingly calm as he saw the crucial point.

If they had been certain it was him, they would have likely snuck into his apartment to search it long ago.

In other words, he wasn’t completely exposed yet.

’Still, there’s a risk of being exposed.’

A sense of urgency grew within him as Lu Chao recalled another piece of information the man had mentioned.

There was another Mage traveling with him, but due to some complication, this person had remained in Ring City and hadn’t come to Red Maple yet.

If that Mage came later and performed another divination, they would eventually find him.

A Mage was an existence on the same level as a Martial Artist—both were at the Superpower Level. If one really came to Red Maple, the danger was easy to imagine.

’This thing is a liability.’

Looking at the book of Magic, Lu Chao’s eyes narrowed. He made a decision.

He couldn’t keep it anymore.

He wasn’t on the path of Magic, nor did he want to believe in some so-called Demon God. The book was no longer of much use to him.

As for the Superpower Knowledge within it—including various magical techniques and potion formulas—he had already memorized most of it, and the rest could be copied down for backup.

Therefore, since keeping it was like holding onto a time bomb, the natural choice was to get rid of it.

But...

’If I just throw it away, and it falls into the hands of someone with ill intentions, it might create another Mage who believes in a Demon God and ends up hurting innocent people...’

His gaze flickered as he sat cross-legged, pondering for a long time.

Finally, he looked out toward the distant city blocks.

Holographic projections from mega-corporations still hung in the air. Glass corridors crisscrossed the sky, connecting towering buildings.

His gaze swept over the buildings, finally stopping on the one belonging to the [Biotechnology Subsidiary].

Perhaps because of the incident with the brown-haired young man, he had learned a lesson during his earlier review of events.

There’s no such thing as a perfect secret. Once something happens, it can never be completely hidden.

If a magical technique like divination exists, could the matter of him killing Ruan Hui also be discovered by some special means, exposing the truth?

If that happened, and the Biotechnology Company issued a kill-on-sight warrant for his capture, hunting him to the ends of the earth, would he even have a chance of survival?

His eyes flickered as thoughts flashed through his mind.

Finally, his resolve hardened.

Lu Chao had a plan.