Star Gate

Liu Long laughed for a while before sighing, “This guy really did improve very quickly, so he wasn’t wrong to move to White Moon City. Seven of the brothers who left with him have become Sunderers...”

“Is that a lot, chief?” Li Hao chuckled. “We also have three Sunderers, me and you as a Dominator, and Sis Yun Yao who’s a Darkmoon. We don’t seem to be worse off than him, do we?”

“That’s now.” Liu Long smiled. That hadn’t been the case before.

“It’s all the same,” Li Hao continued merrily. “The inspector general is stronger than chief, but what comes next after peak Solar is Nova and that’s incredibly difficult. On the other hand, you have a lot of room for improvement. There are many paths available to Dominator and plenty of places where you can strengthen yourself.”

Strengthening the body, blood qi, consciousness, the five visceral organs... Based on current knowledge, there were four tried and true ways that one could enhance oneself. All that peak Solars could do was smash the fifth supernatural lock. It was up to luck whether or not they would succeed, and there was no path available to them if they couldn’t locate their lock like Hao Lianchuan.

Liu Long nodded and dropped the subject. “Who would’ve thought that there’d be so many brothers still pursuing martial dao? Sixteen of them... The guy took twenty with him that year, which means there have been no fatalities in all this time. He’s got some skill.”

The man grew despondent again. No one died following Wang Henggang, whereas his people died in droves. The Demon Hunters had lost many, but they chose him and didn’t look back, each and every single one of them.

“That’s different!” Li Hao said. “The Inspectorate is only in charge of inner city security. This is White Moon City with countless powerhouses. The Night Watchers oversee the critical issues and the army is also here. Who would dare make trouble in White Moon City? Executing daily missions naturally minimizes losses. It’s a completely different situation, chief.”

“Mmhmm.” Liu Long knew that Li Hao was comforting him, so he swiftly regained control of his mood.

His mindset had always been alright, but seeing the old friend that he’d disagreed with back in the day had set him back a little. He saw for himself how strong the other was, how the brothers he’d taken with him were all safe and well. In the meantime, Liu Long was weak and half of his brothers were injured or dead.

Li Hao had nothing further to say. He thought for a bit and made certain calculations. Thirty from the Sword Sect and another sixteen here made for forty-six total. Added to that Liu Long, Liu Yan, Wu Chao, Chen Jian, and excluding himself, that made for fifty. He’d managed to complete just half of his team.

This wasn’t including Golden Spear’s promise of being able to commandeer thirty-seven people from the Guards. If they were included, that made for eighty-seven. He would be very close to completing his team then. However, he had no intention of shifting people from the other teams. Everyone flowed smoothly through practice, losing a member here or there could immensely irritate the teams.

Fifty people were enough. He would make fifty-one. Two Dominators, twenty Sunderers, twenty-nine Slayers. There were quite a few Sunderers and naturally, his ratio of Slayers to the rest of the team was high compared to the rest. But he had suits of black armor, so it didn’t matter. Slayers would field equally powerful defensive capabilities if they wore it.

Ah yes, could the armor be opened? They should be, possibly thanks to Hou Xiaochen. The armor was hard to slash through even with Stellaris. It was possibly the only weapon that could.

“If all twenty-nine Slayers become Sunderers... Strength of internal force is the only consideration when it comes to Slayers setting foot into Sunderers. The aura is irrelevant, so blood pearls, sword energy, mysterious power stones, and unattributed mysterious power are all very effective methods to enhance Slayers!”

Li Hao’s first thought was to raise his entire team to the Sunderer level. Outfitted with black armor, this would be a formidable team. He wouldn’t need to worry about being attacked by Sunflares. Two or three Sunderers working in tandem could absolutely turn the tables. The big caveat was if their speed could keep up. These Sunderers were a little less than ideal as their speed couldn’t necessarily catch up to others.

Various thoughts floated into Li Hao’s mind. Wang Henggang walked back in at this time, wearing a fresh uniform. Smiling faintly, he waved his hand and instantly filled in the broken wall. Such are the terrifying capabilities of earth supernaturals! They were first class at building structures!

“Heroes come from the young, alright!” Wang Henggang sighed with appreciation, finally having the ability to closely inspect Li Hao. “With your strength... probably only Golden Spear can defeat you in the Guards!”

He sat down with a shake of his head and looked at Liu Long. “What brings you to your senses and to White Moon City? You weren’t willing when I invited you, but you’re willing when Li Hao does?”

“Was your timing the same as the timing now?” Liu Long sneered. “Supernaturals ran rampant everywhere then, but they’re mostly dead now. The four institutions are cleaning house and individual supernaturals can’t run fast enough. But in those times, these lone wolves were completely out of control and killed people everywhere. If I left then, Silver City would be long destroyed!”

“I understand everything you say, Ole Liu, but you know Mu Sen. He’s not weak. Silver City’s safety was guaranteed with him present.”

“Inspector General Mu hides himself too deeply,” Li Hao interjected. "We normally can’t tell.”

Wang Henggang thought for a bit and nodded in agreement. That fatty was just as shameless as his brother. He knew Mu Lin and had a relationship with the man. As two practitioners of the Iron Shirt discipline, they’d once engaged in a sparring match. Wang Henggang won by a small margin, but he wasn’t much stronger as Mu Lin was also very strong.

The inspector general set the affairs of yesteryear out of mind. Each decision had their own pros and cons, there was no talk of right and wrong. He didn’t think that he’d done wrong either.

“Ole Liu, I’ll have them report to the Silver Moon Guards tomorrow. No one will decline when they know that it’s you.” Wang Henggang turned to Li Hao. “We’re all Silver City brothers, Li Hao, so I’ll speak frankly. These days, someone from a shared hometown is more reliable than outsiders, so this warrants special attention. I know a bit about the Guards—it’s a very dangerous place, much more dangerous than the Inspectorate. Some of these brothers aren’t spring chickens anymore. They won’t have another chance if they miss this one.

“I considered having them join the Guards after the faction moved toward taking its place in the light. Now that you and Ole Liu have found your footing in the Guards, the situation is better than I thought it would be.”

He’d agreed so readily due to this consideration. He’d already thought of sending his men to the Guards when it emerged from the shadows. Apart from the Guards, it was supernaturals that dominated all other fields. Martial masters were not in a good spot in this world.

Since he’d discussed this possibility with his men early on, he didn’t bother asking for their opinion now. There wouldn’t be much opposition and this turn of events was even more up their alley. While Li Hao may not be familiar with them, Liu Long would be! Liu Yan and the others had also worked with the people he’d taken—they’d all been part of the law enforcement team.

It could be said that Li Hao’s arrival fit in readily with his plans!

“Then it’s settled!” Liu Long rose to leave. The discussion was concluded and he couldn’t be bothered to say another word to Wang Henggang.

The inspector general raised a hand to stop him. “What are you in such a hurry for? We old friends are finally meeting after so many years. Stay for a meal.”

“I don’t want to eat with you!”

“......” Wang Henggang broke out in laughter and looked at Li Hao. The young man shrugged. Don’t look at me, what chief says goes.

“Let’s share a meal and I’ll send the brothers with a nice treasure when they go to the Guards tomorrow.” Wang Henggang grinned.

“What?”

“A supernatural net! The Inspectorate hasn’t been stuck in place over these years. Apart from nurturing martial masters and supernaturals, we’ve also created some special weapons. There isn’t much to the rest, but the supernatural net is quite something!

“It comes from the central region and even mundanes can use it. A supernatural weapon is fashioned from a large net containing ice crystals mixed with other special materials. Not even Sunflares are able to withstand it if the net comes down over the target. Their strength is suppressed and their mysterious power immensely affected...”

“Why doesn’t Silver City have this?” Liu Long raised a brow.

“There are very few of them. The Night Watchers took a few, leaving only three for the Inspectorate. I’ll have them bring one over tomorrow. The production method is so unique that imitations are impossible.”

Li Hao’s interest was piqued. “Is it effective only against Sunflares?”

“Yes, Solars are too hard to cope with!” Wang Henggang shook his head. “It’s already fast progress to create a supernatural object effective against Sunflares within twenty years. Sunflares are the peak of power to mid and low level power structures. Solars rarely appear in the public eye, which makes this net enough.”

There were too few nets. The central region sent a dozen over. Wang Henggang had been able to lay hands on three because the White Moon Inspectorate was in charge of handling the capital’s affairs.

Liu Long considered the proposal, then nodded. They could eat together!

Wang Henggang smiled and had men relay orders for people to prepare a meal at the Inspectorate. He was the inspector general, no one would gainsay him.

......

Noon.

The Inspectorate’s internal cafeteria, the second floor.

Wang Henggang didn’t normally drink, but he had plenty of wine prepared today. He insisted on pouring for Liu Long. Liu Long didn’t drink either, but didn’t turn the man down.

“Ole Liu, I want to say something from the heart. When I chose to stay in White Moon, I also meant to fight for Silver City. I don’t care if you believe me or not, I have no reason to lie to you.

“The province wanted to migrate all of the small cities then, but no one could speak on Silver City’s behalf in the capital. No one would help us. I stayed and searched for opportunities, climbing to the position of inspector general of White Moon City after a few years. If migration was on the agenda again, at least I had a seat at the table...

“Those guys wanted to split up the people simply because we had no one backing us!” Wang Henggang sneered. “If we moved, there were only a million of us to settle. White Moon is a metropolis that contains thirty million people. Any of its supernaturals could mobilize to create a small city near White Moon. It would be no trouble to shelter a million denizens!

“Fertile farmland can be found all around White Moon, much of it lying fallow. Silver City people are a sturdy bunch. If we settle down here, it would only be a few years before we recovered...”

Liu Long didn’t say anything. Only Wang Henggang himself knew if these words were real or fake.

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