Chapter 18 - 17: Creating a Diversion, Visiting a Friend in Shangjing!

Chapter 18: Chapter 17: Creating a Diversion, Visiting a Friend in Shangjing!

Over the past two days, Liu Zimo had run around Luozhou City countless times to stockpile supplies for the impending catastrophe. Whether on the subway, in the streets, or at shopping malls, he had seen at least five thousand people, if not ten thousand. Yet, aside from Lou Yuchen, he hadn’t encountered a single person with a green light glowing above their head.

But today, bizarrely, five or six guys with Golden Locks hovering above their heads popped up right in front of him. Those dazzling clusters of golden light were like fireflies in the pitch dark—visible from miles away and impossible to conceal!

Considering that this cybercafe happened to be the exact same one where he uploaded the warning post and the Guiding Breathing Method yesterday, he couldn’t help but overthink it. After all, the Guiding Breathing Method had caused such a massive stir online that it was hard not to attract attention. Liu Zimo wasn’t stupid; he naturally knew that a Breathing Technique which combined the strengths of various schools—and was simplified to suit the vast majority of ordinary people—would inevitably catch the eye of interested parties if it suddenly appeared in this era.

Therefore, before publishing that warning article, he had deliberately taken some precautions. He originally thought that the article wouldn’t generate such a huge impact, or at least wouldn’t draw attention so quickly. But who could have predicted that due to the unexpected intervention of an internet streamer, the post and the Guiding Breathing Method would suddenly explode in popularity overnight, becoming known to almost everyone.

This was far beyond Liu Zimo’s expectations. So, when he published the second post this morning, he made a point to switch to a different cybercafe. To avoid interacting with more people and increasing the risk of exposure, he hadn’t even turned on a single computer himself. Instead, he had utilized someone else’s device to do the deed, leaving absolutely no trace behind. Looking at it now, his cautious maneuvering had been truly wise!

Those people’s reactions were simply too fast. After just one night, they had locked onto the first cybercafe and dispatched people to keep a covert watch. Even the ones sent for the stakeout were all Golden Lock targets of the same caliber as Jiang Tianxiong. Such rapid response speed and execution capability, coupled with so many Copper Skin realm Martial Artists sporting Golden Locks, definitely didn’t belong to any ordinary faction. If nothing unexpected happened, the cybercafe he had just visited this morning was likely receiving the exact same treatment. These people were just biding their time, expecting him to walk right into their trap!

While deep in thought, Liu Zimo noticed two young men with Golden Locks slowly walking toward him from the cybercafe, chatting and laughing.

"The fish at that place we went to last night was pretty good. Wanna go again today?"

"Of course! Don’t you know my biggest hobby in life is eating fish? If my wallet allowed it, I wouldn’t get tired of having a meal there every single day!"

"Tch! Don’t think I don’t know you have an ulterior motive. Eating fish is just a front. What you really want is to see the lady boss..."

"Screw off! I’m not as filthy as you!"

The two joked and teased each other, appearing to be deeply engrossed in a very natural conversation. However, the two eye-catching Golden Locks flashing incessantly above their heads made it really hard to take their act seriously. Furthermore, Liu Zimo sharply caught that while they were pretending to converse, they were constantly sizing him up from the corner of their eyes. It was way too deliberate!

Didn’t they know that even when sizing someone up from the periphery of their vision, their gaze shouldn’t be overly concentrated and focused? Not to mention, one of them almost broke character and laughed while speaking. Tsk, tsk, tsk! With such clumsy acting and scouting methods, Scouts like them wouldn’t survive more than three days in the Post-Apocalypse!

He thought, "They are actually two Copper Skin realm Martial Artists! Looking at their age, they don’t seem to be over thirty yet. Having such strength in this era makes them Martial Dao geniuses! If they manage to survive the first wave of the Demon Calamity, their Martial Dao will definitely progress even faster. They might even achieve something remarkable in the future Post-Apocalypse!"

Liu Zimo stood in place with a calm expression, having already seen through their approximate cultivation strength with just a slight glance. Looking at the two Golden Locks radiating an enticing glow above their heads, Liu Zimo forced down the urge to lock onto them. As good as a Golden Lock was, it wasn’t even close to the Purple Qi Heaven-locking Shadow above Lou Yuchen’s head.

Since his binding quota was limited, he naturally couldn’t casually waste a slot on these inferior Golden Locks. He had to admit that after binding with a Good Brother like Lou Yuchen, his standards and expectations had skyrocketed. Right now, he actually looked down somewhat upon destined people at the Golden Lock level!

Soon, the two men naturally brushed past Liu Zimo while chatting. From start to finish, they never looked directly at him, as if they truly treated him as an irrelevant passerby.

"Let’s go, let’s go!"

"This guy’s height isn’t right, and his build is way off. He’s not the target!"

"Yeah, he should just be a passerby. Looks like he’s waiting for a car."

"Seriously, judging by the style of his hat, I thought we had found our guy. Didn’t expect it to be another false alarm!"

"I heard that the guy published a new post at another cybercafe this morning. Team Two got the news and rushed over. I wonder if they found anything..."

Liu Zimo gathered qi in his ears and faintly eavesdropped on their hushed conversation as they walked away. Sure enough, these people were here for him! He just didn’t know which department they belonged to, or which faction they came from. Fortunately, these people didn’t know his specific identity or appearance.

His only identifiable features—his height and build—had undergone a qualitative change after his breakthrough to the Iron Bone realm last night. Now, even if he walked up to these people without any disguise, they definitely wouldn’t notice a single clue.

He thought, "However, this will only delay them for a while. The Celestial Eye system of this era is no joke. Once the administrative departments intervene, my true identity won’t be hidden for long. Therefore, I can’t stay in Luozhou for now either. I have to find a way to draw their attention to other provinces and cities! Otherwise, my identity will definitely be exposed, and my numerous arrangements in the East Suburb will be discovered prematurely. That’s not a good thing!"

Liu Zimo weighed his options. He originally intended to go to cities like Shangjing, Dragon Sea, and Jinmen to seek out the other future Martial Saints and Grandmasters of the Federation. Now, he might have to put that plan into action ahead of schedule.

At any rate, his preparations in Luozhou City were basically complete. Even if he left for a few days, it wouldn’t have much of an impact. Since that was the case, what was there to hesitate about? It was time to leave!

SWISH! A ride-hailing car stopped right in front of Liu Zimo as scheduled. The window rolled down, and a middle-aged driver poked his head out.

"Mr. Liu, is it? Please get in!"

Liu Zimo cast another glance at the cybercafe across the street, hesitated no longer, and casually opened the door to get in. "Sir, can I change the route to the nearest airport?"

"The airport? No problem at all!" the driver replied with a beaming smile. "You just need to change the destination on the ride-hailing app!"

The distance to the airport was more than twice as far as Liu Zimo’s original destination, so the fare would naturally increase accordingly. The driver obviously had no reason to refuse.

Twenty or so minutes later.

Inside the Luozhou International Airport, Liu Zimo clutched his boarding pass and stepped onto the earliest departing flight. As for his old man, he easily fobbed him off with a fabricated excuse. Ever since learning that Liu Zimo had awakened a Superpower, Liu Yi’s supervision over his eldest son had visibly relaxed a lot compared to before. When his son messaged saying he was going to Shangjing to visit a friend, he merely replied with a "come back soon" and left it at that, acting completely carefree and utterly at ease!