The Storm Approaches

"Attention: suspected high-risk target Hongye has been confirmed near Binhai City and has now come ashore."

Song Xian stared at the message on his battered Nokia phone, his brow deeply furrowed.

What he had feared most had finally happened.

Because the card had last appeared in Binhai City, these dangerous people had begun appearing one after another. Including the newly confirmed Hongye, three high-risk targets and seven dangerous persons of interest had surfaced.

And the people accompanying them were also highly likely to be reincarnators whose identities had yet to be confirmed.

Binhai City had suddenly gained many unstable factors.

Noticing her master’s troubled expression, Luoshui carefully brought him a cup of coffee.

"Master, is there anything I can help with?"

Her eyes blinked meaningfully, seemingly suggesting that Song Xian could make use of some of her family’s connections.

But Song Xian merely rubbed his temples. Though the Luo Family wielded considerable influence, when it came to dealing with these monsters, the military could only be the final trump card, not a conventional weapon.

Only power used sparingly could deter people.

Once the military clashed head-on with reincarnators and gave them a chance to test how much impact different levels of force could have on the existing order, chaos would become inevitable.

East Xia had remained stable and had not become a paradise for shooting-specialized reincarnators like the Free Federation precisely because it had always kept its weapons concealed.

Every reincarnator who had tried to challenge the order in East Xia had ultimately been killed, greatly deterring those madmen.

Combined with what could be called the strictest gun-control measures in the world, East Xia was practically the worst place for shooting-specialized reincarnators to perform.

But this time, the people who had come were all difficult customers.

Knock, knock.

The office door was knocked on. The two looked up to see the director’s helpless face at the doorway.

Song Xian said nothing. He simply set down his coffee, stood up, and walked out of the office.

Luoshui knew that those dangerous missions would likely fall to her master again. She looked around the office. Although there were several colleagues said to possess special abilities like her master’s, they were all staring at their noses, their noses at their hearts, doing their utmost to minimize their presence.

Song Xian reached the door, then suddenly remembered something and turned back.

"Luoshui, I may be quite busy these next few days. If anything happens on Bai Cangshu’s end, you’ll have to make the call on the spot."

Luoshui’s eyes widened. She could hardly believe such a task had been handed to her alone. But seeing the looks the others gave her, she swallowed her panicked expression, nodded, and sat back down.

She comforted herself.

"Bai Cangshu is just a person of interest. Just a person of interest… It’ll be fine."

Outside the office, the director, who knew some of the details, sighed helplessly.

"Song Xian, you know our department is still very weak. I can only trouble you once more."

Song Xian nodded without replying.

The director knew he was in the wrong, but he had no better solution. In this situation, he felt like the most detestable kind of boss, taking advantage of Song Xian’s understanding nature to work him to the bone.

But at a time of such momentous change, unprecedented in a century, no country had a good response. They could only rely on brave people like Song Xian to step forward.

Song Xian left the building, got into his car, and drove straight toward Binhai City’s port district.

Not long after Song Xian left, before the director had even settled down, his phone rang again.

"Director Wang, we’ve just received word that the Goryeo March Consortium has sent over an inspection team. They say they’re considering establishing a production line in Binhai City."

"Given the current situation, I hope you can assign personnel to ensure that the inspection team won’t be affected by those unstable factors."

Director Wang could already feel his old migraine acting up.

This place was supposed to be a peaceful corner of the world. Why had so much suddenly started happening lately?

But the March Group was one of the major players in the global chip industry. East Xia could not possibly ignore an industry like this, so he reluctantly agreed.

Director Wang looked out the window. Dark clouds crowded over the sea, as though a torrential storm was about to descend.

Bai Cangshu looked at Doma’s head in his hand and tested it, discovering that he could still put it into his Backpack. After thinking for a moment, he asked tentatively, "What use does this extra head of mine have?"

Knight Sister still wore her energetic smile. No one could tell that beneath that warm, approachable body lay such terrifying speed and strength.

"A head that can serve as a foundation for power is quite a good item. Reincarnators can pay a certain price at certain stages to fuse it into their own bodies as well."

"As the saying goes, one general’s glory is built upon ten thousand bones. The deaths of countless ordinary people can forge one strong individual, while the corpses of countless strong individuals can forge the strongest reincarnator."

Knight Sister said this while nodding.

"If you don’t need this head, we can also buy it back for 3,000 Dimensional Points."

Bai Cangshu immediately put Doma’s head away. Anyone could tell that this sort of "buyback" price had to be ridiculously low.

And according to Knight Sister, reincarnators probably did not get only one chance to fuse materials when advancing from paper-level to Bing-level. There would likely be other opportunities to fuse the materials of powerful individuals, granting themselves more and stronger traits.

Those traits would form an important part of a reincarnator’s strength.

"What way is there for me to continue fusing other traits, Miss Knight?"

Knight Sister merely smiled.

"I don’t know about that either. I only know that reincarnators who meet the requirements will display a special radiance in my eyes."

Bai Cangshu clicked his tongue inwardly. This was probably another cryptic hint, like the puzzles for Hidden Missions deliberately placed in certain games.

Fortunately, even if this space was a game, it was a multiplayer one. Everyone knew that where there were puzzles in multiplayer games, there were naturally guides.

The only difference was how much you had to pay for them.

He waved his hand and turned to leave the shop.

Bai Cangshu checked the time. He had already spent nearly an hour in the public space. He had learned from Black Butler that the Cultivation Institute was a place where one could spend Dimensional Points and Singularities to rapidly train abilities, specializations, and even attributes.

He did not intend to use up his remaining hour right now. He had to leave time for training.

Besides, there was something even more urgent that he could not wait to do.

Bai Cangshu hurried to the Slum Area, spent 1,000 Dimensional Points to rent a temporary stall, then hung Doma’s head inside. He set it to accept offers, though any transaction would require his confirmation.

This was another test. Anyone who needed such a head would definitely know about the special fusion route. If he wanted that information, the best way was to start with the buyer.

Doma’s head was fairly good material. The moment it was listed, it attracted plenty of attention. Bai Cangshu did not wait around and directly teleported back to his Private Space before returning to the real world.

Back in his dorm room, Bai Cangshu glanced at the phone he had deliberately placed on the desk. Less than five minutes had passed in reality. He drew the curtains while dialing a number.

"Hello, Teacher Zhang? It’s me, Bai Cangshu."

"Isn’t there an international marathon over in Haidai these next couple of days?"

"Yes, that’s right. I want to participate. You know I’m fairly good at sports. Hehe, if I get lucky, I might even win some honor for the school."

Hearing this, Teacher Zhang, his counselor, checked the schedule. In her eyes, sports really was one of the few positive outlets where Bai Cangshu could put that monstrous strength of his to use.

She did not refuse. After all, Bai Cangshu was now in the second semester of his junior year, and he had very few major courses left.

"Do you need me to send a classmate with you… Forget it. Just be careful."

The counselor hesitated several times, but in the end, all she heard was the beeping from the disconnected call.

Bai Cangshu hung up in high spirits. He turned on his computer, inserted the storage device he had taken from Evans’s Backpack, skillfully opened a website called "Silk Road," and began using money to make obtaining information easier.

By evening, a personnel roster for Haidai Energy Group had appeared on Bai Cangshu’s computer.

Bai Cangshu looked through the list and did not find Lu Ziyang’s name. But soon, he smiled.

"Lu Ziyang, LZY… Lu Zeyu…"

"Vincent, that’s quite a fatal bad habit."