TL : Anna Yildiz
PR : Adrian Katastofi
Outside the dark room, Liu Sishan leaned against the wall, holding a badge in her hand, nervously awaiting the result.
An hour passed before the pearl on the badge faintly lit up, and the voice of the old captain came through, “Sisi?”
“Captain, I’m here,” Liu Sishan responded immediately.
The old captain said, “From now on, Sisi, you and Manni will be responsible for protecting Zhang Ping in secret. The information he provides is crucial. As for his credibility, you will have to judge for yourself. Bingbing will monitor your mental state, and if there is any issue, I will order Jinbo to forcefully remove you from Pearl City.”
Liu Sishan nodded, listening carefully.
“Also… cooperate with Zhang Ping to identify each Celestial Fox.”
“Captain, what is Zhang Ping’s current status?” Liu Sishan asked.
The old captain replied, “The current situation in Pearl City is unclear. Although Zhang Ping provides critical information, we cannot ensure that this is not a trap set by the enemy. So, for now, treat him as an important informant. If this matter is resolved smoothly, we will arrange a reward for him later.”
“Understood.” Liu Sishan nodded.
After ending the contact, Liu Sishan put away the badge and returned to the dark room.
Zhang Ping’s restraints were removed instantly, and he moved his limbs a bit before asking, “Verified?”
“Yes, but we can’t be sure if your discovery of the Celestial Fox is deliberately set by the enemy. So, sorry, you can only be an informant for now. Besides providing the location of the Celestial Fox, there will be no further contact for the time being.” Liu Sishan nodded and continued.
Zhang Ping was pleased with this outcome.
He harbored no intention of benefiting from Liu Sishan or her organization. By solving the Celestial Fox problem in the city, With his abilities, he would eventually have everything he needed in the future. Why go the long way around?
No demands, hence no concerns.
“I will be watching over you from the shadows for the foreseeable future. If you discover anything, you can contact me at night.” Liu Sishan added.
Zhang Ping smiled and said, “Protection plus surveillance? I understand, don’t worry, I will cooperate well with you. As long as we can eliminate the Celestial Fox, everything is negotiable.”
“Thank you for understanding.” Liu Sishan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She thought Zhang Ping would be angry about being monitored, as most young people would be upset knowing they were being watched and might even have a fit of rage.
Zhang Ping’s words gave her a sense of ease.
“But I have a question, I hope you can answer.” Zhang Ping said at this moment.
Liu Sishan pondered for a moment and agreed, “I will answer as much as I can.”
“Why can’t the high-level awakened individuals see through the disguise of the low-level Celestial Foxes?” Zhang Ping asked directly.
This was something he couldn’t understand.
High-level awakened individuals have a certain resistance to the abilities of low-level awakened individuals and mutated beasts. So, competitors at each level are usually of the same level.
Diamonds cut diamonds ; a worthy opponent of a high level awakener is another awakener at the same level. Not a level up or below.
The former is too weak to be a worthy opponent, and the latter is too strong to qualify as an opponent.
“Actually, we discovered this early on. According to the captain’s speculation, there might be a king-level mutated beast lurking in Pearl City.” Liu Sishan replied.
Zhang Ping’s eyes widened in surprise: “A king-level beast? Are you joking?”
As far as he knew, there were no king-level awakened individuals among humans.
If a king-level strange beast with intelligence comparable to humans invaded Pearl City, what would humans use to resist?
“I know you will doubt, but king-level beasts do exist, and upon reaching the highest level of awakening…” Liu Sishan thought Zhang Ping was surprised about the existence of king-level beasts and began to explain.
However, Zhang Ping cut her off: “No, it’s not about the existence of king-level beasts, I just want to know, do we humans have any king-level individuals?”
“No, even the captain is just at the highest level of awakening.” Liu Sishan paused for a moment before answering.
Zhang Ping frowned: “Soldier against soldier, general against general. Even if I find the hidden king-level Celestial Fox in Pearl City, what do you have to do to fight it?”
“That’s not something you need to consider. What you need to think about is how to find all the Celestial Foxes, and we will be responsible for eliminating them.” Liu Sishan frowned. Actually, she was also unsure as the captain had not told her what to do after finding it.
However, because of her past trust in the captain, she did not question his decisions.
Zhang Ping was silent for a moment, then spoke again: “So, high-level awakened individuals cannot detect low-level strange beasts because a king-level strange beast is exerting influence on them?”
“The biggest difference between mutated beasts and human awakened individuals is the presence of innate racial skills. Once a king-level strange beast appears, all strange beasts of the same race within a certain range will have their innate racial skills enhanced by the king.
Generally, this enhancement raises the skill by one level at most, but the mental system is an exception. Unless someone’s mental power is higher than the king’s, it is almost impossible to see through the illusions, consciousness distortions, and common sense distortions created by the mental system.” Liu Sishan explained.
Zhang Ping frowned and said: “So, once a king-level psychic-type mutated beast appears, isn’t it invincible?”
The emergence of a king-level psychic-type mutated beast is like a group of king-level mutated beast.That’s incredibly unfair.
“Not really. The reason the mental system is like this is because their abilities don’t cause direct harm to the target. Once they try to target an awakened individual of a higher level, their abilities might get discovered.” Liu Sishan shook her head.
Zhang Ping pondered: “So, stronger individuals are less likely to be attacked by the Celestial Fox.”
“Not necessarily. If the patrol team has indeed been entirely replaced by the Celestial Fox, then the patrol team captain, Linkti, must have already fallen, and Linkti is a top-level awakened individual.” Liu Sishan said.
Zhang Ping took a deep breath and stood up saying: “Alright, no further questions for now. If I have any more, I’ll ask you. How do I get out of here?”
“I’ll contact you in the evening.” Liu Sishan nodded.
The next moment, Zhang Ping felt a force pulling him forward, and in an instant, he was lifted up and pulled through a dark tunnel, emerging in a small park.
He blinked and then looked down at the ground; it was still just ground, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Superpower?
Zhang Ping thought for a moment and guessed.
It seemed that the dark room itself was a space created by a superpower, and the entire small park had special passages leading to the dark room.
He returned to Iron Soul, climbed through the window, and sat on the bed, pondering the night’s revelations.
First, his safety was somewhat secured.
Although Liu Sishan’s protection also included surveillance, he had nothing to hide, so he wasn’t afraid of being watched.
Second, he could use Liu Sishan to convey information to the organization behind her, which would then be responsible for eliminating the Celestial Fox.
Finally, he had finally figured out a rough outline of the current enemy.
“King-level beast.”
Zhang Ping sighed slightly, believing that the strongest individuals behind Liu Sishan’s organization were probably only top-level awakened individuals.
Although he didn’t know what trump cards they had, he still felt insecure.
Insufficient firepower.
If we don’t have a king-level beast, it would be best to gather hundreds or thousands of top-level awakened individuals to surround and kill the enemy’s king-level beast.
The next day.
Zhang Ping got up as usual and continued practicing the dough kneading and forging techniques under Liu Tifeng’s supervision.
Any craft, unless supported by corresponding superpowers, requires repeated practice to reach a level comparable to superpowers.
This is not an easy task.
Zhang Ping found that the dough kneading practice in the forging technique had many benefits; his hands became more sensitive to materials, and with each kneading motion, he had to exert full-body strength, making the training as effective as push-ups.
He could learn the technique while also training his physical abilities, so why not?
Additionally, while kneading the dough, he could simultaneously deepen his control over the fire element within his body, making it a triple benefit.
After finishing the dough kneading practice…
Afterward, Zhang Ping continued learning how to distinguish various materials and understand their uses.
In the materials room on the third floor, there were piles of strange materials, some were minerals, some were plants, and most were body parts of mutated beasts.
This time, Liu Tifeng took out a material that looked like a dog’s paw and began to explain: “This material is taken from a mutated beast called the corpse-eating dog. Because Pearl City practices cremation, there are no corpse-eating dogs nearby. But outside Pearl City, there are many villages, and some of them still follow the old tradition of burial. In those places, corpse-eating dogs might be lurking.”
“There are villages outside Pearl City?” Zhang Ping asked in surprise.
He had always thought that Pearl City was a solitary fortress surrounded by thousands of miles of uninhabited land.
“Heh heh, of course, there are. Those villages are often closed off, backward, and xenophobic. Many even worship strange beasts as gods. If you encounter a village in the wild, it’s best to avoid it to prevent being captured and turned into a slave or a sacrificial offering.” Liu Tifeng said slowly, smoking his cigarette.
Zhang Ping pondered and analyzed: “So, most people living in those villages can be considered enemies?”
“Heh heh, they are barely considered humans. Adventurers like to call them savages. Sometimes, in the wild, the most dangerous thing isn’t the strange beasts but these savages. If you become an adventurer, the seniors will usually tell you these things.” Liu Tifeng’s wrinkled face showed a trace of mockery.
There were once naive awakened individuals who tried to communicate with the savages in those villages, only to end up as their sacrificial offerings, and even their companions who tried to rescue them died at the hands of those savages.
The customs and habits of those savages are entirely different from the civilized people in Pearl City.
They have their own set of logic, and outsiders are not considered human in their eyes.
“Alright, enough with the digression. Let’s get back to the corpse-eating dog. The paw of the corpse-eating dog inherently has an ‘anti-earth’ attribute. This attribute cannot be forged, so it needs to be ground into a powder. When cooling the weapon, add this powder along with hot oil into the mold. This way, you can create a weapon that has a certain restraining effect on earth element energy.” Liu Tifeng explained, throwing the corpse-eating dog’s paw to Zhang Ping.
After speaking, he tossed the corpse-eating dog’s paw to Zhang Ping.
