Star Gate

Chapter 171: The Entire Team Breaks Through (III)

Liu Long knew that Li Hao had advanced a long time ago, but since the kid insisted that he’d done so last night, the director wouldn’t bother to expose his lie.

“This is wonderful news! Add to that the demise of the Qiaos, Liu Yan having her vengeance... we’ll get the remaining half sooner or later!” Liu Long flashed a rare grin. “My treat tonight!”

Answering smiles appeared on everyone’s faces. Li Hao wanted to speak when the director continued, “We’ll eat at Li Hao’s and save ourselves the trouble of going out. Remember to order, Li Hao!”

The young man looked on wordlessly. Seriously? And it’s your treat? How is this your treat?? Chief is treating me with less and less respect these days!

Liu Long walked off merrily; his spirits hadn’t been so high even when he became a Dominator. No one had died in the team lately and everyone was improving. This was wonderful!

Li Hao didn’t say anything as he watched the man leave. He walked over to Yun Yao instead. The team doctor seemed to have gotten steadily more depressed after she crossed over as a water supernatural.

......

Yun Yao smiled calmly at the young man. “Congratulations!”

“Sis Yun, can you make your glasses smaller?” Li Hao brought up the topic of the glasses instead of anything else.

“I’ve been experimenting lately.” Yun Yao nodded. “I can shrink them, but some things remain very difficult to see in them. I want to keep adjusting the glasses to see if I can bring those into focus.”

“When you’re done, Sis Yun, could I have a pair?”

“You want this?”

Li Hao nodded. He didn’t want them, his teacher wanted them. His teacher planned to hunt Red Moon powerhouses, but he couldn’t see scarlet shadows. He could slightly sense them, but not in a clear sense. If the glasses could reveal red dots to him, he could pair that with his perception to immediately identify the scarlet shadows.

Yun Yao’s glasses were exceedingly important. The team wasn’t placing enough importance on them yet. If they were presented to their superiors, especially someone of Hou Xiaochen’s level who was aware of Red Moon, they would highly value the invention. The strength of the scarlet shadows lay in their invisibility. Once everyone could see red dots through the glasses, these entities would be rendered much less effective.

“Sis Yun, if you present your glasses to upstairs, I’m afraid...”

Yun Yao interrupted him. “I won’t be doing so in the short term. They haven’t been fine-tuned yet. I know what you’re getting at.” She suddenly sniffed disdainfully. “But it’s not certain whether they can be used effectively against Red Moon. It might expose the glasses ahead of time instead and tip the organization off.”

Li Hao blinked.

“You must know that the Night Watchers aren’t a solid whole,” Yun Yao said softly. “Things are better in Silver Moon, but the Night Watchers are splintered in other regions. The glasses aren’t important in Silver Moon because Red Moon isn’t strong in our province. Where they’ll be truly useful is where Red Moon powerhouses abound, but that’s where the situation is also most chaotic. Little Hao, sometimes it’s not a good thing to just offer up any treasure that you come across. And, are you sure that no one else has a way of discovering those things?”

Li Hao sank into deep contemplation. Was there no other way?

There was!

He knew that the Night Watchers had taken away anyone who could see the scarlet shadows. Where had those people gone? Why could they see the shadow?

He still knew too little of the circumstances. It was rather Yun Yao who knew more than him. Liu Long had mentioned that every one of the Demon Hunters had their own story, but no one pried unless someone volunteered their story. That was how Li Hao knew Liu Yan’s background.

What story did Yun Yao have?

“I’ll give you a pair when I’m done optimizing them.” Yun Yao didn’t ask too many questions and was perfectly willing to satisfy Li Hao’s request.

The young man nodded. “Sis Yun, I’ll ask my teacher to help you advance when we get more treasures later...”

“No worries, there’s no rush,” Yun Yao laughed softly. “I’m a doctor, it’s fine if I’m weaker.”

Li Hao said nothing more. He wished for the entire team to be strong. Silver City was his home and there were many secrets here. Powerhouses would descend on the city sooner or later, whereas Night Watcher sentiment had not changed. They might still wish to abandon Silver City and defend only the larger cities.

He could discern this from Hao Lianchuan’s desire to explore the ruins at the end of the month. The director prioritized it so heavily that everything else could be set aside. It was plain to see that they highly valued the defensive origin weapon. His teacher said that it could be the turtle shell of the Wangs.

Wasn’t that in Red Moon hands, however? Li Hao was confused. Just how many weapons did the organization possess?

......

Someone flung their arm around his shoulder as the young man contemplated the situation. Wang Ming held him warmly and grinning widely. “Li Hao, do you know that we’re fellow junior brothers?”

A wordless Li Hao was jarred out of his musings. I know, I just learned about that yesterday. And technically speaking, I’m your senior brother.

“Remember to bring me along next time there’s something good to be had! We’re all on the same side here and actually closer than you and the Demon Hunters!” Wang Ming pushed hard for the relationship and his grin turned ever more radiant. “I’m going to see if I can get some blood pearls from White Moon... Can you really help me advance?”

“It’s hard to say, you’re so strong that one Darkmoon level blood pearl may not be enough.”

Wang Ming creased his forehead. That was true.

“Then... two?”

“Maybe.”

Wang Ming was wracked by conflict. This would be difficult to pull off. Those items were meant to nurture rookies.

“Do you know where these things originate from?” Li Hao asked softly.

“I don’t.”

“I do,” Li Hao continued gently. "Teacher knows too. He says that they’re a special product that Darkmoon level Red Moon members carry on them. You should’ve felt it last time too, the intangible thing that harmed the director. They are extracted through special methods...”

The look in Wang Ming’s eyes shifted from shock to a bright gleam. Red Moon!

“Killing one Darkmoon nets us one to be made into a blood pearl. That’s where the blood pearls come from!”

“Hiss!” Wang Ming sucked in a sharp breath and swallowed hard. “Really?”

“One hundred percent. We’re fellow junior brothers, so why would I lie to you?”

“Then... I’ll have a chance to ascend to Plenilune if we kill two of them?”

“Yep, but the precursor to that is that there’s someone to help extract them. Teacher can do it, I can’t. So if you have something in mind, it’s better for you to act with us. Not everyone can draw them out—only teacher and Director Hou can do so in all of Silver Moon.”

“I see!” Wang Ming gasped with astonishment. “Our teacher really is an absolute savant!”

He suddenly felt that it was well worth being Yuan Shuo’s honorary disciple. Thank goodness for that development!

The handsome young man suddenly clenched his jaw. “The evil organization that is Red Moon ought to be exterminated! We’ll kill whatever Red Moon member we come across next, no questions asked!”

Li Hao laughed. That was more like it. If he had everyone fight Red Moon for him, there might be differences in opinion at the end even if everyone was willing. But if it was for their collective benefit? Shouldn’t it be a foregone conclusion that they should kill Red Moon members?

That’s what was called a win-win situation!

“You have a wide network to collect more information,” Li Hao lowered his voice. “Where might their strongholds and powerhouses be? It’s tough for us in Silver City to gather intel, but you should have your ways in White Moon City.”

“I do!” Wang Ming affirmed enthusiastically. “Leave this to me, don’t worry about it. I say, Li Hao, don’t think that I only know how to take advantage of you. I’m a genius in White Moon, after all! That’s part of it, the other part is that my family commands authority and power in the city. I wouldn’t have received sufficient mysterious power to advance so quickly otherwise.

“Let me put it this way. My family elders do not serve in the Night Watchers because we are primarily rooted in the Silver Moon army. Li Hao, I won’t speak to you like I would an outsider because we’re fellow junior brothers. When you arrive in White Moon City in the future, you’ve got a brother in me who can deploy troops of less than one thousand at any time, to say nothing of anything else!”

“What, is that allowed?” Li Hao frowned slightly. “Is White Moon that chaotic?”

Deploying the army for private purposes!

“All regions are in turmoil with the rise of the supernatural!” Wang Ming curled his lip. “What do you think? Silver Moon is in better straits since it at least listens to orders from the central region. But the province is fractured internally. Thankfully, the factions all work together to withstand enemies.

“I can only mobilize groups of less than one thousand. Any larger contingents are beyond me.”

That was already impressive enough! Li Hao could imagine that the Wangs must be very powerful and have family members serving as army executives. Wang Ming wouldn’t have the right to command the troops otherwise.

“How big of an army is stationed in Silver Moon?”

“Roughly three hundred thousand, it’s not that much. Apart from the Night Watchers, the army, Inspectorate, and city council all have a few supernaturals in their ranks, but the Night Watchers have the most. They have more than the army, which is why they are the government’s only supernatural organization.”

Li Hao nodded, adding more to his general knowledge. This unexpected junior brother of his may actually be of some help in the future. The army may seem feeble compared to supernaturals, but that was under the guise of few people. When numbers swelled and everyone was equipped with a gun, plus a few large scale weapons, even Solars might die when the two sides met in the while and artillery pounded the field.

The two young men chatted for a while, with Li Meng joining not too long after. The White Moon supernaturals would never bring up the matter of being honorary disciples in the past, but now they wanted nothing more than for the entire world to know that they were one family.

Li Hao suppressed his laughter. He hadn’t asked his teacher why he’d taken honorary disciples; it went without saying that it must have been an amusing process. His teacher might’ve forced them to acknowledge him as their teacher—that was highly likely.

The entire law enforcement building was filled with joy this day. Those who broke through exulted and those who didn’t saw the light of hope. All of them were highly agitated and burned to eliminate Red Moon right this very second.