Chapter 301: This Thing Can Run Away?
Actually, Yu Sheng thought very clearly—he was no “professional.”
Of course, if you counted his business license, then technically he was a certified “spirit realm detective,” and among ordinary people, that made him a specialist in dealing with supernatural phenomena. But in the face of something as highly specialized as this, he still had enough self-awareness.
If he ran into a strange alien realm and had to rely on his death-defying guts to map it out, or if he encountered an unknown entity and needed to test its mettle, or even if he faced a dark angel he couldn’t beat and had to go all out and die messily—he could handle all that. But this tower in front of him was obviously the kind of high-level cultist stronghold with a bunch of secrets hidden inside. For someone ignorant like him to barge in and investigate would just cause chaos. It was uncertain what he could find, but dying inside on the first try was a sure thing.
He wasn’t afraid to die, but dying without even getting an assist—only a pool of blood—was something he wasn’t keen on. Moreover, if he rashly rushed in and fed an extra head, it might cause trouble for the actual investigators later.
With that in mind, he sent a message to the Special Affairs Bureau explaining the situation and saying he would stay in a safe area nearby and keep watch. Then he led Hu Li and the others to the edge of that “polluted land,” hiding among a grove of crystal clusters, waiting for the Bureau’s team to arrive while keeping an eye on the tower.
Everything was quiet. The tower still stood silently at the center of this dark land, the tower and the surrounding weird plot of land like a sudden, jarring scar on the city. No one (or anything not human) came out of the tower.
The two Ai Lins lay on Yu Sheng’s shoulders, peeking over the crystal clusters at the giant tower, muttering one after the other: “No movement at all.” “Hey, do you think there are people in that tower? Do they know we found them?”
“There definitely are people—such a big facility. Besides, I can sense that Artificial Saint hiding inside the tower. There must be a bunch of maintenance staff around her, right?” Yu Sheng said seriously. “And they must know they’re exposed, considering the big commotion I caused.”
“Then why is there no reaction inside?” Hu Li, lying beside Yu Sheng, leaned in and whispered.
“I don’t know… maybe they’re all lying in ambush inside,” Yu Sheng speculated. “Waiting for us to rashly enter and investigate, then suddenly five hundred axe-wielding warriors jump out from both sides of the door…”
“I’ve already covered the entire area with my divine sense,” Xuan Che’s voice came from the side. “If anyone leaves that tower, they definitely won’t escape my eyes.”
“Good.” Yu Sheng nodded, then his gaze involuntarily fell on Xuan Che, staring at him for a few moments.
Xuan Che felt a bit uncomfortable under the look. “You… is there something wrong with this junior?”
He was back to being polite and restrained.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about the moves you used in the fight earlier,” Yu Sheng said, recalling the other’s earth-shattering plain straight punch and the string of actions before the fight—popping pills, burning talismans, casting buffs—and couldn’t help but sound a little strange. “Honestly, not quite the image of a cultivator I had in mind.”
Xuan Che’s face immediately showed embarrassment. “You flatter me. This junior… uh, I’m actually not very good at fighting. Those rough moves are quite shallow.”
“Is that so?” Yu Sheng was a bit surprised, then glanced at the sword still floating behind the other. “I saw you pull out a sword, but you never used it…”
Xuan Che’s expression grew even more awkward. “Well… I don’t actually know how to use a sword.”
This time, even Ai Lin widened her eyes in surprise. “Then why did you pull it out and float it behind you?”
“This sword was given by my master from Divine Blade Peak. It has the effect of stabilizing one’s realm, enhancing cultivation, and improving qi and blood spirituality,” Xuan Che explained quickly. “Even though I can’t use it, bringing it out can help boost my combat power.”
Yu Sheng was dumbfounded. Ai Lin immediately caught on: “So it’s purely because this piece of equipment has high stats—you bring it out to increase attack—but actually your sword skill level is zero, and you’ve put all your points into fists?”
Xuan Che thought for a moment and said honestly, “You could say that…”
Then he noticed the subtle, amazed expressions on Yu Sheng, Ai Lin, and even Hu Li’s faces. Probably unable to hold it in himself, he quickly added, “When I trained with my master, I mainly focused on alchemy, talismans, and medical arts. Strictly speaking, I’m actually a doctor—not good at fighting is natural.”
Then he paused and added a few more sentences: “These few nameless fist and foot techniques were also forced on me by my master. He said that a healer travels the world and often encounters life-and-death situations, inevitably getting into trouble. Learning some martial arts for self-defense would allow me to endure.”
Ai Lin blinked, translating this semi-classical speech in her mind. Suddenly, she clapped her hands. “Oh! I get it—Medical Riot Breaker Fist, right?”
Yu Sheng nearly spat. “That’s a damn Medical Riot Breaker Fist!”
Then he recalled the scene of Xuan Che punching a few hundred feet of road into dust, and any further complaints died in his throat. He had to admit the little puppet’s summary was spot-on—that was indeed quite explosive…
Even Xuan Che, after a moment of stupefaction, suddenly lit up and applauded. “Ai Lin’s words are exquisite! Good name, good name—I’ll tell my master that this fist technique he created now has a name!”
Upon hearing that, Ai Lin quickly waved her hand. “Then don’t mention that I came up with the name when you go back. Say you thought of it yourself.”
Xuan Che said with a righteous face, “How can that be? Taking credit for others’ work goes against the path of cultivation. This name was bestowed by you, miss. I must explain it to my master clearly.”
Ai Lin: “…Damn, I’ve run into a blockhead!”
Yu Sheng didn’t say anything, just ate his popcorn and watched the show. At that moment, a sudden low rumbling interrupted the conversation between the little puppet and Xuan Che.
The rumbling came from the giant tower.
The group hiding behind the crystal clusters immediately turned their gazes toward the towering structure and simultaneously saw something shocking—
The entire tower was flickering.
Like a trembling illusion, the dark tower began to flicker in place. Each flicker was accompanied by an unbearable low rumble that seemed to make space itself tremble. And as the flickering progressed, the phantom overlapping effect originally confined to the upper half of the tower began to spread rapidly downward. A dizzying scene of multiple images superimposed soon covered the entire tower!
Ai Lin’s noisy voice immediately rang out: “What the hell! What’s it doing! Is it transforming to launch or what?”
Yu Sheng opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a roaring sound from high above interrupted him.
The group stunned, looked toward the source of the noise. They saw two strange aircraft—narrow triangular shapes covered with translucent energy shields—appearing in the sky. They howled through the thick fog, arriving in an instant, and without hesitation locked onto the flickering tower, launching a dozen or so white-hot glowing orbs.
Almost at the same time, as if an army had been airdropped from another dimension, hundreds of figures in heavy power armor materialized out of thin air beneath the two aircraft. Using jet packs to adjust their posture in midair, these heavily armored warriors unleashed a massive barrage toward the tower before even touching the ground.
Solid missiles, high-energy beams, constrained particle clusters—all kinds of firepower, some Yu Sheng recognized and some he didn’t, began to pour wildly toward the flickering tower.
After a brief moment of confusion, Yu Sheng realized that the Special Affairs Bureau’s “investigators” had arrived—his text message had summoned a Deep-Dive Unit with “Hunter Owl” bombers, a heavy firepower force.
Regiment-level firepower bombardment enveloped the entire tower in the blink of an eye. Deafening explosions and shockwaves from various energy screeches dispersed the nearby fog. At first, Yu Sheng was a bit stunned—he had thought the Bureau team would first try to approach and investigate the strange tower—but then he understood why they were bombarding it.
After the initial volley successfully blew away the tower’s outer energy shield and some floating “subsidiary structures” in the high air, he saw that most of the Bureau’s subsequent attacks were directly “penetrating” the flickering giant tower!
Even Ai Lin reacted quickly, exclaiming, “…Damn! That thing can run away?”
The entire tower was undergoing some kind of “teleportation.”
The Bureau forces were trying to destroy the facility before it could leave, but clearly, they were too late.
The Hunter Owl bombers and the firepower from the Deep-Dive Unit continued to bombard the tower’s direction. Yet as time passed, more and more attacks passed straight through the phantom illusion. The humming sound of the tower’s teleportation grew sharper, even piercing through the roar of gunfire and the entire “City in the Mist.”
Yu Sheng could no longer sit still.
He couldn’t let this thing escape—he didn’t want it to escape.
The Artificial Saint, the mysteriously appearing City in the Mist, the Brass Knights hidden in the dense fog, the sneaky Chongsheng Hermits… too many secrets were hidden inside this tower. He had barely managed to tear this thing out of its camouflage, and he was counting on it to solve the valley’s massive infrastructure funding problems. How could he let it slip away?
Moreover, with something like this, once it escaped, it would be a disaster forever!
With that thought, he gritted his teeth. An idea, half-formed but not yet settled, made him turn to Hu Li. “Give me a tail!”
“Huh?”
“Plan B—launch me over there!”