Chapter 358 300: The War Sparked by Thousand Shadows and Transformations; Chu Bamboo's Zero-Dollar Shopping Plan

Chu Bamboo was noncommittal. He glanced at the time, fluently thanked the waiter who brought his coffee in English, and quietly took a sip.

Of course, he hadn't just plunged into Mexico unprepared. As early as the night before, he had an in-depth discussion with Zhao Shao and Lin Xia.

Through those two, Chu Bamboo then contacted Principal Li... and using Principal Li's connections, as well as his own cooperation agreement with the military, he successfully connected with a certain big shot.

Using the excuse of bringing Hodges back to the country, Chu Bamboo successfully obtained the big shot's permission to make a temporary exception, establish a security company, and gather some retired soldiers—although this batch of soldiers consisted of elite troops who were "temporarily retired"!

Yes, strictly speaking, the people arriving the day after tomorrow had no connection whatsoever to the Divine Continent's official government—they were just members of an ordinary security company on an overseas team-building trip.

At worst, one could only say they might encounter some "accidents" along the way... so these highly skilled individuals would have to act as good Samaritans!

Hodges was actually quite famous among the upper echelons of the Divine Continent.

The Divine Continent had even once tried to extend an invitation to him... but they were rejected by NASA before they could even make contact!

So, Hodges's special status... combined with the sharp edges Chu Bamboo was beginning to show... was indeed enough for the higher-ups to make a special exception.

In reality, while the Divine Continent's internet was in an uproar and its netizens were baffled...

...the big shots who knew the inside story were imagining a completely different scenario.

They were wondering if they had underestimated Hodges, or perhaps, underestimated Chu Bamboo.

Otherwise, why would the White-headed Eagle go crazy the moment the two of them disappeared? The big shots knew exactly what kind of "character" the White-headed Eagle had; such a fierce reaction could only mean a nerve had been truly struck.

"Alright!" Chu Bamboo finished the last of his coffee and glanced at Hodges beside him. "You go back to the embassy with Lao Zhang first! I have some things to take care of... When the time comes, I'll contact you!"

"Okay," Hodges nodded, his face devoid of expression.

...

「6:30 PM.」

Chu Bamboo had once again completed his Disguise. He now looked like a local Old Mo—burly, with a few scars on his face.

He took the Turtle Shell from his Bracelet and placed it on his chest, continuously pouring Blessing Power into it.

The Power of Avoiding Arrows activated!

It had to be said, after studying the diary several times, Chu Bamboo fully understood how powerful the Turtle Shell was. This artifact almost guaranteed that he couldn't be assassinated, and it could even be said that the threat from all kinds of firearms and ammunition had dropped precipitously!

"Going on a rampage" amidst a hail of bullets was no longer a "privilege" reserved for some absurd White-headed Eagle captain, but a real possibility for Chu Bamboo...

'Time to start the show.' With a hint of excitement, Chu Bamboo arrived at the back door of a luxurious hotel. Then, his gaze sharpened, and his shadow seemed to come alive! It then split apart abruptly.

It transformed into three incredibly agile monkeys.

Chu Bamboo calmly took out a gift from a White-headed Eagle gang boss from his Bracelet—several standard-issue White-headed Eagle firearms, fully loaded, and a few grenades.

"Go!" The shadow monkeys took the various weapons and nodded at Chu Bamboo. The lead monkey gave its hand a gentle twist, and the back door's lock opened with a CLANG. The three of them slipped inside as a matter of course.

Chu Bamboo closed his eyes, controlling the monkeys while calmly processing the information they were feeding back to him.

Three minutes later, a barrage of gunfire erupted from the large hotel behind him. The panicked sounds of English and Spanish could be faintly heard, punctuated by the occasional explosion of a grenade!

Five minutes later, the entire hotel gradually fell silent. But the occasional, sporadic gunshot could still be heard...

The people at the front of the hotel could, of course, hear the gunfire, but aside from quickening their pace, the pedestrians showed no unusual reaction. They were already used to it!

'All clear.' Chu Bamboo calmly opened the back door that the shadow monkeys had unlocked, and, following the path they had scouted with practiced ease, he stepped inside.

Along the way, the faint smell of gunpowder still lingered, and a corpse or two could be seen from time to time.

Chu Bamboo didn't spare them a glance—the entire hotel's floor plan had been clearly drawn in one of the diary entries. Coupled with the fact that the shadow monkeys had already scouted the route, the place didn't feel unfamiliar to him at all.

Soon, Chu Bamboo arrived at a basement.

The basement door had already been opened by the shadows. Chu Bamboo walked right in!

A fully-armed shadow monkey stood silently in the center of the basement... Around it lay several heavily-armed drug dealers... Blood trickled from their wounds...

Chu Bamboo scanned his surroundings and took a deep breath.

It was a scene beyond imagination.

The walls were lined with rows upon rows of firearms and ammunition, bulletproof vests, bulletproof helmets, gas masks... It didn't look like a hotel at all, but more like an armory—which, in effect, it was!

"I'd heard for a while that the Old Mo Family's drug traffickers were even more 'badass' than the regular army! Their reputation is well-deserved," Chu Bamboo remarked. All of these weapons were standard-issue equipment for the White-headed Eagle's regular army.

He closed his eyes to sense for a moment, confirming there were no surveillance devices like cameras... Chu Bamboo immediately began a major cleanup. While he was at it, he also stuffed all the gold and jewelry from the safes the shadows had opened, along with cash like US Dollars, Pounds Sterling, and yen, into his Space Bracelet.

Of course, there were also plenty of drugs on site, but Chu Bamboo simply ignored them, not bothering to destroy them either...

For one, time was tight; for another, it would have been pointless.

The Old Mo Family's drug problem was far from something that could be solved by cleaning up the drugs once... This was a truly systemic issue!

Then, humming a tune, Chu Bamboo walked out of the basement.

He hadn't taken more than two steps when he suddenly heard the sharp CRACK of a gunshot. Chu Bamboo raised an eyebrow. The Turtle Shell let him ignore the bullet flying toward him. Without even looking, he raised his own hand and fired a shot...

The blood-soaked drug dealer who had emerged from around the corner let out a muffled grunt and dropped dead on the spot.

Chu Bamboo calmly exited through another hidden door inside the hotel, leaving unhurriedly.

He scaled a few walls and altered his appearance. Besides, he was leaving soon! So he didn't need to worry too much about being identified.

The only potential problem was his shadow ability being exposed! That would then attract the attention of the Golden Dawn—

But, this was Mexico, not the White-headed Eagle's turf! It would be impossible for them to deploy the regular army!

And if it was just some small-scale mercenaries or local drug dealers... Chu Bamboo wasn't afraid in the slightest. He would kill as many as came.

On his way back, Chu Bamboo could hear the wail of ambulance sirens... He just gave a noncommittal smile at the sound. Everyone was already dead; the ambulances were useless now.

Rubbing his Bracelet, Chu Bamboo considered the armaments he'd collected this time. 'Hmm, enough to arm about two hundred people...' Abruptly, he reached out and grabbed a dark hand that was reaching for his Space Bracelet. Expressionless, he kicked the person and pulled out a gun.

The Old Mo thief didn't even dare to curse, just raised his hands in terror and fled in disarray... Chu Bamboo watched him go, then swept a cold gaze across the area. The few other people who had been eyeing him because he'd revealed the Golden Bracelet all averted their gazes.

With a cold snort, Chu Bamboo continued on his way, lost in thought.

'That should be enough.'

The reason Chu Bamboo had gone to all this trouble was, naturally, because he planned to arm the workers as well.

Experience from his multiple readings of the diary told him... if he wanted to rely on his own strength alone to rescue all the workers... forget about it! There would inevitably be casualties; it was only a question of how many.

But if the workers were armed... it would basically guarantee that even when facing the armed forces controlled by the Golden Dawn, there would be enough hesitation on the other side to avoid an all-out firefight! Or, even if a fight did break out, they would have the means to protect themselves...

This group of state-owned enterprise workers were no pushovers. There were even a few retired soldiers among them... and many had undergone military training—state-owned enterprise workers sent to chaotic regions basically all knew how to handle a pistol or two! After all, their lives really depended on it.

Thoughts churned in Chu Bamboo's mind. Aside from the armed forces controlled by the Golden Dawn, the other thing to consider was pressure from the officials... But, as it happened...

'Those audacious bastards from the Golden Dawn even dared to kidnap the daughters of high-ranking Old Mo Family officials!' Chu Bamboo sighed. The key was, they didn't just kidnap one or two.

So, after the fact, once the people were rescued, the pressure from the officials was actually not as great as one might imagine... They could basically get through it by just going through the motions!

Chu Bamboo collected his thoughts and made a call to Hodges. "...I've finished things up on my end! Get ready on your side... and then we can set off."

"...Okay."

...

Chu Bamboo rented a gasoline-powered SUV, put a few barrels of fuel in the back, and then had Z act as a guide on Hodges's phone, letting Hodges drive.

"Don't be afraid... If we run into any enemies on the way, just start shooting," Chu Bamboo said comfortingly as he handed Hodges a pistol, a revolver, a standard-issue infantry rifle, a sniper rifle... and grenades...

"..." Hodges was sweating profusely. 'Are we going to war? And where did you even pull all these guns from...'

But soon, Hodges's gaze turned resolute, and he nodded seriously. "Don't worry!"

"Uh, you might have misunderstood... I mean, if we run into trouble on the road, you just fire a warning shot... You don't need to worry too much about enemies hitting the SUV..." Chu Bamboo blinked. After all, he had now formed a connection with the Turtle Shell, extending its Power of Avoiding Arrows to cover the entire vehicle.

The Blessing Power consumption was a bit high, but it was still within a manageable range for Chu Bamboo.

This at least guaranteed that even if they ran into some unlucky fools along the way, their gunfire wouldn't disturb Chu Bamboo's sleep...

Chu Bamboo wasn't actually too worried about encountering danger while he slept...

Even though sleeping would cause him to enter the Dream World, according to an experiment he'd run sometime in the past half-month, he could actually be woken up early, and it wouldn't affect his state in the dream. This was mainly because after reading about the occasional pursuits in the diary, he felt he needed to prepare for the worst. Therefore, the weakness of his physical body while in the Dream World had to be specifically protected—

According to his experimental results, when he went to sleep in the dream, he would normally wake up at 6 AM! But if he was forcibly woken at 4 AM, he would wake up at 4 AM... It had nothing to do with when he fell asleep in the dream! Nor would it cause him to suddenly pass out in the middle of doing something in the dream...

It could only be said that when he slept in the dream, the moment he woke up in reality... would either be 6 AM, or the moment he was forcibly awakened!

Although it was a bit outrageous, Chu Bamboo wasn't surprised. He had long since realized... that time in the Dream World and time in the Real World had no connection at all. There was no logical, concrete ratio between the two...

Climbing into the back seat, Chu Bamboo reclined the seat until it was flat, treating it purely as a large bed. He lay there quietly. "If anything happens... just wake me up!"

"I understand," Hodges said, his voice serious.

Gradually, the car drove out of Mexico City. The roads outside the city were quite bumpy.

Chu Bamboo stayed awake until after eleven at night and found that nothing unusual had happened along the way—of course, this was also because the route Z had planned was a rather remote one...

Glancing again at Hodges, who was driving with his back ramrod straight, Chu Bamboo finally, slowly closed his eyes.

'Z, maintain maximum vigilance!'

"Understood, Father! Please rest assured." Z's voice was as hardcore as ever. At this moment, she still hadn't disengaged from war mode.