My Professions Have Too Much Personality - Chapter 83: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity
Chapter 83: Chapter 83: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity
“This… is the only way,” Zhang Hongbo said reluctantly, steeling himself.
He had already braced himself to be blamed by Xia Hanshi, but the other man simply said lightly:
“Alright, do as you say. Send requests in my name to the nearest few cities and have them each dispatch some manpower to help.”
’He actually agreed?’
Yang Yan and Gu Bing were stunned. This was a thankless task.
Even if they brought in reinforcements and found a lead, it would still be difficult to answer for any heavy casualties during the subsequent cleanup operation.
Zhang Hongbo was also surprised, but a look of excitement soon crossed his face.
Su Chen, watching from the side, saw things clearly. After this, the leadership of the other cities would naturally be dissatisfied, and the bad reputation would fall on Xia Hanshi.
’Old Xia knows all this, but as long as he can kill the Deceitful God Sect, he doesn’t care. That’s his core principle.’ Su Chen mused to himself, ’Old Xia really hates them.’
Looking at the excited Zhang Hongbo, who was already preparing to send the requests, Su Chen thought to himself: ’Old Zhang, oh, Old Zhang, we already put last time’s incident behind us.’
’But this time, you can’t blame me. You can only blame yourself for not watching where you’re going.’
Immediately after, he gave a light cough. When everyone’s gazes turned to him, he said, “Not long ago, I heard Sun Tai mention a few clues that might be helpful to the search.”
“How about we check out this lead first?”
“Sun Tai again?” Zhang Hongbo stamped his foot, sensing something was off. He frowned and said, “He’s from the Internal Affairs Department. How does he have so many informants? More leads than the Patrol and Investigation Departments?”
“Who knows?” Su Chen shrugged.
Xia Hanshi glanced at him meaningfully. “Then call that little fatty over.”
And so, Sun Tai, who had just returned to his office, was hesitating over whether to quickly report the news of his home being broken into to his old superior, who was far away at the ruins.
Before he could make a decision, he received an order and hurried back here.
“Chief Judge, Special Envoy, City Lord, Younger Brother Su…” Sun Tai greeted them one by one after entering, then stood to the side, muttering to himself.
He felt even stranger when he saw Su Chen’s encouraging gaze.
“Sun Tai, Su Chen said you have a lead on the Deceitful God Sect?” Zhang Hongbo was the first to ask, his voice regaining the authority of a City Lord.
“A lead?” Sun Tai’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately thought of the letter someone had slipped him, and the back of his neck went numb.
“This, well…” Sun Tai’s eyes darted about, not daring to meet Zhang Hongbo’s gaze.
How was he supposed to say it? Tell him his younger brother was colluding with the Deceitful God Sect?
It was hard to say whether the City Lord before him genuinely didn’t know or was just pretending.
“Deliberately concealing matters concerning the Deceitful God Sect is a grave crime,” Xia Hanshi said impassively, and all the fat on Sun Tai’s body trembled.
But then, Su Chen added, “Brother Sun, if we really find something, it’ll be a great merit.”
’They’ll definitely find it.’ Su Chen was still certain that the “thing” was still in the main trade warehouse.
Xia Hanshi said nothing.
Sun Tai’s mind raced. ’I told Younger Brother Su about the letter, so why didn’t he just say it himself?’
’Is he afraid of offending Zhang Hongbo?’
’No, Younger Brother Su isn’t that kind of person. Besides, he’s the Chief Judge’s student now, there’s no way he’d be afraid.’
’And why would Younger Brother Su mention such unverified information in front of so many powerful figures? He’s clearly not a reckless person.’
’A lead on the Deceitful God Sect… How did that letter end up at my house…’
’Merit… merit… a great merit…’
Sun Tai’s mind spun rapidly. He had a faint feeling that this might be the only chance of his lifetime.
He had to decide whether or not to take this huge gamble.
If he won, the rewards would be unimaginable.
But if he lost, he probably couldn’t bear the consequences.
“Sun Tai!” Zhang Hongbo’s voice grew louder. He was already in a bad mood, and seeing the other man stammering as if he had something to say but couldn’t, he grew even more displeased.
“Yes…” Sun Tai responded instinctively, his subconscious already having made the decision for him. He blurted out, “I do have a lead, but it’s unverified, so I didn’t dare to speak recklessly.”
“Speak!” Zhang Hongbo said in a low voice. “Say what you know. We’ll be the ones to verify whether it’s useful or not!”
Sun Tai looked down at his paunch, his voice trembling slightly. “According to a tip, a few days ago, something related to the Deceitful God Sect seems to have been transported into the main warehouse along with a trade caravan.”
“The main trade warehouse?”
Zhang Hongbo’s expression changed instantly. He subconsciously glanced at Su Chen, then fixed his gaze on Sun Tai, his voice cold. “Where did this tip come from?”
“Well, it came from an informant. He’s already dead. This was the last piece of information he passed on before he died,” Sun Tai said, steeling himself.
Since he had already made the accusation, he couldn’t possibly say the source was a letter slipped into his home. It was better to claim a source that couldn’t be cross-examined.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing exchanged a subtle, suspicious glance.
“Your informant… is really impressive.” By the last three words, Zhang Hongbo was practically grinding his teeth.
“Your reaction is off,” Xia Hanshi said, his eyes fixed on Zhang Hongbo.
“The person in charge of the main trade warehouse is Zhang Feng, who is City Lord Zhang’s younger brother,” Gu Bing said at the opportune moment. They were reasonably familiar with these basic details.
“No wonder…” Xia Hanshi realized, a chilling smile appearing on his face.
’Is this a frame-up or revenge?’
Zhang Hongbo couldn’t help but wonder. His subordinates’ long-term covert investigations had yielded no evidence pointing to the trade warehouse. It all seemed like Yuan Chenyang’s doing…
’No…’ He was suddenly horrified.
’Perhaps it wasn’t that the investigation yielded no results, but that my subordinates never investigated at all!’
He had gotten rid of Yuan Chenyang, who had been investigating with great fanfare—at least, that’s how it appeared on the surface.
’If that’s the case, who would dare touch my younger brother?’
’If they actually found a problem, how would they answer for it?’
’What if…’
A chill went down Zhang Hongbo’s spine, but he forced himself to remain calm and quickly issued an order. “First, dispatch the Exploration, City Patrol, and Inspection Guards to surround the main trade warehouse. Don’t let a single person escape.”
“No…” Xia Hanshi interrupted him abruptly, looking at him with cold eyes. “Don’t use Southwind’s people. Just the four of us will go take a look.”
Zhang Hongbo’s expression turned grim. He knew he was temporarily not trusted.
If they found something, this distrust would no longer be temporary. There might even be more severe consequences.
“You and this little fatty stay here for now. Don’t wander off,” Xia Hanshi instructed.
“Understood,” Su Chen nodded, then couldn’t help but add, “Be careful.”
He emphasized again, “Be *extremely* careful!”
He was certain there was something big in the main trade warehouse, but Xia Hanshi didn’t know yet. He probably thought it was just a hideout and would, at most, be on guard against that Priest.
’These two warnings should at least make Old Xia a little more vigilant.’
The four of them left from the rooftop, heading swiftly toward the main trade warehouse, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
“Brother Su…”
Beside him, Sun Tai’s portly figure shivered in the cold wind on the rooftop. “Do you think… they’ll find any traces?”
“For some reason, I have a feeling they might actually find something,” Su Chen said quietly, gazing down at the sprawling city lights below.
Hearing this, Sun Tai’s expression relaxed a little. He pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something.
But then he closed his mouth again. He opened it, then closed it again. After repeating this several times, he finally said in a low voice, “Brother Su… I’m a light sleeper.”
Su Chen gave him a surprised look, then grinned. “Don’t worry. No one should be disturbing my big brother’s sleep from now on.”
Beyond Sun Tai’s expectations, and even beyond Su Chen’s, they didn’t have to wait long—only about half an hour in the cold wind.
BOOM!
In the direction Xia Hanshi and the others had gone, a golden fire dragon soared into the air, coiling in the heavens and showering down a rain of meteoric fire.
A misty rain also spread out, and a giant, illusory shadow of Black Tuo rose into the sky, clearly visible even from such a great distance.
“Old Xia…” Su Chen’s expression turned solemn. ’The fight’s started.’
“That… That is…” Sun Tai’s throat bobbed, his expression incredulous. “There really was something there?”
Quietly glancing at the horrified Old Sun, Su Chen switched to his “Black Tuo Follower” mode, and his expression immediately changed slightly.
His gaze shifted. ’That thing… it got away.’
…
“…They were indeed preparing to summon Black Tuo here in Southwind.” Xia Hanshi’s expression was grim. His withered, tree-like hand stroked the floating, fiery dragon head beside him, his pupils like eerie will-o’-the-wisps.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing stood behind him, breathing heavily. In the distance were piles of metal shipping containers.
They were in a clearing, surrounded by numerous corpses. In the center was a large crater, littered with fragments of containers.
Zhang Hongbo staggered to his feet, his usually calm face drained of all color.
“A Black Tuo Statue! It was actually a Black Tuo Statue!” Gu Bing gritted her teeth. “The Black Tuo Followers have invested far too many resources!”
The appearance of a Priest had already been shocking, but the Black Tuo Statue was even more horrifying. It was a true “Divine Statue,” and exceptionally precious.
“A Priest and a Black Tuo Statue, both hidden here… This place has truly become a den of ghouls,” Xia Hanshi said, suppressing his rage.
“I cannot escape the blame…” Zhang Hongbo said through gritted teeth.
“You won’t get another chance.” Xia Hanshi hadn’t expected to run into a Priest and a Black Tuo Statue just like that.
The Black Tuo Statue housed Black Tuo’s immense power, as well as its true consciousness, serving as a crucial support for summoning Black Tuo’s vessel.
With this item, the time and procedures for summoning Black Tuo’s vessel would be significantly reduced.
But its creation process was extremely difficult. Other Deceitful Gods rarely used such things, let alone Black Tuo.
“You can’t be the City Lord anymore,” Xia Hanshi said mercilessly, killing intent seeping from his eyes. “Whether your entire family lives or dies depends on whether you’re willing to uphold justice and turn on your own kin.”
For once, Yang Yan and Gu Bing agreed. They had thought that even if there was a lead here, it would just be a few small fries.
The lead had come too easily, and they hadn’t even thought a Priest would be present. They never expected to come face-to-face with both a Priest and a Black Tuo Statue.
If it weren’t for Xia Hanshi, they would already be corpses.
“I…” Zhang Hongbo’s expression shifted several times. The position of City Lord, gone without any warning. His ambitions and power had all been swept away.
The dramatic turn of events made it difficult for him to remain calm, even with his state of mind. His head swam, and he felt on the verge of fainting.
But in the end, he suppressed his emotions and nodded grimly. “Understood!”
Not long after, Xia Hanshi and the others returned, but Zhang Hongbo was not with them. He called Su Chen into his office and instructed him with a grave expression:
“For the time being, don’t go anywhere. Just stay here.”
