Jianghai City was in utter chaos.
The Human New Citadel's Department of Military Affairs was cloaked in an even grimmer, murderous atmosphere.
Xie Litang had killed a Second Lieutenant, a Major, and blown apart an entire City Defense Force suppression unit; there was no way they could turn a blind eye.
But the problem was exceedingly thorny. The capabilities of the Department of Military Affairs were beyond doubt, and a professional team quickly conducted an analysis of Xie Litang's ability.
Furthermore, Xie Litang's combat style matched a piece of top-secret file material.
It was a surreal video recording of a single person chasing down and slashing through over a hundred thousand Skin Corpses.
An elderly general with star insignia on his shoulder spoke in a grave tone.
“You're saying her ability isn't trash E-Grade?”
“Elder Yan, facts speak louder than words. An E-Grade cannot achieve such magnificent battle results, much less chase down over a hundred thousand Skin Corpses.”
“So it was a misjudgment of her ability?”
“Yes. We even suspect it might be an undiscovered SSS-Grade ability.”
The officer standing below paused in thought.
Only then did he continue.
“According to our professional team's analysis...”
“...her ability might allow her to sacrifice things other than human beings. For example, in the video recording, that ant she kept hanging at her waist?”
“We checked other intel and found that whenever she challenged people at Jianghai High School, she always demanded they bring an ant nest. Therefore, this possibility is extremely high.”
Elder Yan waved his hand. “Just give me the bottom line.”
The officer gathered his thoughts and continued, “The summary is that her Teammate Sacrifice ability might have no upper limit, and its effects can stack.”
“If she directly sacrifices an entire ant nest of teammates, her combat power could surge by tens of thousands of percent.”
“Or even hundreds of thousands.”
“Just imagine...”
“...if someone with strength like yours, Elder Yan, were to receive a boost of tens of thousands of percent... what then?”
He didn't dare say any more, because this ability was absurdly broken.
It grew stronger as time went on, truly deserving of being called a divine skill.
Elder Yan tapped his fingers softly on the desk, his tone growing increasingly cold. “So, we missed out on a genius... No, perhaps a person with a divine-grade talent.”
“And simply because of a misjudgment, the principal of Jianghai High School expelled her.”
“Then the Ye Family couldn't afford to lose, so they framed her as a murderer.”
“They even threw her in jail, and she only managed to escape after enduring immense hardship.”
“And now...”
“...she is filled with hostility toward us.”
The officer wiped cold sweat from his forehead and whispered, “It might not necessarily be hostility...”
Elder Yan sighed. “It's still an extremely bad impression.”
“Elder Yan, how should we handle this matter?”
“Raise her wanted level to S-Grade. Internally, externally, and to the public, we need to give an explanation.”
“Elder Yan, do we need to dispatch a Colonel-level figure to execute an assassination mission?”
“Your suggestion is great. Never mention it again. What if the assassination mission fails? She will stand completely on the opposing side from us.”
“Then... what about the Ye Family?”
“Let the Ye Family and her resolve it themselves. Our Military Department—at least my faction—will not get involved.”
Elder Yan's real name was Yan Ke.
Right now, he had a massive headache.
With Xie Litang's talent, she should have been a rising star in the Far East New Citadel.
Yet because of all that bullshit pulled by the lower ranks, things had ended up like this.
Yan Ke let out a long sigh. “If only she hadn't touched our Department of Military Affairs' people... Even if I had to lower my old face, I would have dragged her into our military forces.”
But Xie Litang had harmed people from the Department of Military Affairs, which changed the nature of everything.
Moreover, among the dead this time...
...there was someone whose identity was far from simple.
“Du Yan.”
Yan Ke's head throbbed again.
She had merely come here to gain practical experience, only to end up dead.
Du Yan was a disciple of Wu Miejin, Dean of the Swordsmanship Department at Jingbu Martial Arts University and a Swordsmanship Grandmaster over Twenty-Star; her father was Du Kawi, a hawk-faction general officer in the Department of Military Affairs.
Yan Ke couldn't help cursing under his breath, “I'm fucking exhausted. I don't give a damn anymore.”
Yan Ke made it clear...
...all he wanted right now was to retire.
Fumu City.
Xie Litang stepped down from her turbofan hoverboard. Chen Linling was waiting at the entrance, seemingly having been there for a while, and called out sweetly, “Sis, you're back!”
Xie Litang nodded slightly. “Mm.”
Chen Linling obediently directed a robot to fetch the turbofan hoverboard and take it to the workbench for maintenance; this was one of her tasks.
Everything seemed normal on the surface.
But who could have known?
Among the two sisters, one had just slaughtered her way through the City Defense Force, while the other had used a heavy sniper rifle to stealthily pick off several enemy snipers.
Chen Linling had used a drone to hoist her wheelchair, returning even a bit faster than Xie Litang.
Chen Linling smiled so warmly her eyes curved into crescents, and she quickly resumed her grand plan.
She intended to use the collected circuit boards and parts to craft dozens more robots first. That would provide her with a basic labor force, after which she could construct assembly lines.
Xie Litang took a shower.
She changed into loose clothing and sat in the drafty hallway to dry her hair.
*Ding-dong~
“Girl, you're seriously insane.”
A message from Yang Yiyi popped up on her phone.
“Something up?”
“The city raised your wanted status to S-Grade, and the Ye Family placed a ten-million bounty on your head.”
“You actually didn't sell me out?”
“Our relationship isn't that cheap.”
“So what are you after, Yang Yiyi? Keep fooling around with me like this, and you're bound to get dragged down sooner or later.”
“What business doesn't carry risk? From a business standpoint, a 100% profit margin is enough for me to take a gamble. If I go down, I'll accept my fate. Besides, can't I just be bullish on you?”
“You're bullish on a heavy offender who's practically being painted as an enemy of humanity? From a business standpoint, that's a guaranteed loss-making deal.”
A good while passed.
Inside the city's sales hall, Yang Yiyi bit her red lips and typed, “But what if you grow up?”
“Someone who's only been awakened for a month or so, yet can already slaughter through the City Defense Force.”
“And my so-called investment is merely extending an insignificant amount of goodwill to you.”
Xie Litang stared at the message, responding only after a long pause, “Thanks for your goodwill. If nothing else is going on, I'll log off for now. Satellite communications are pretty expensive. Once I get connected to the intranet over here, you can talk as much as you like.”
Ding-dong.
“Wait a minute.”
“What else?”
“There's a big deal. You interested?”
“Is this deal legit?”
“Put it this way: in half a month, a Ye Family convoy has a shipment of processed demon beast materials being transported to the rear, worth at least twenty million.”
“There's a good deal like that?”
“Once it's done, I'll fence the goods for you, but I take a 20% cut.”
“Deal.”
“Lastly, stay away from populated areas if you have no reason to be there. A lot of people are eyeing your bounty.”
Xie Litang agreed readily.
For the near future, she really didn't want to go out unless necessary anyway. Combat was always the best teacher, and this incident had helped her uncover quite a few issues.
“That officer Wang Ping's Steel Arms dealt 1% of my HP in a single punch.”
“That's way too terrifying.”
Xie Litang felt...
...her stat-deficiency phobia flaring up again.
Rate on N.U.
