“In regards to this matter, Lin Zheng’s definitely gonna find a way to get back at you. However, Chen Ming’s mutation must have something to do with Lin Zheng. Whatever filth that’s in there, you really have no choice but to continue the investigation. I’m just saying that there’s a chance that the situation’s gonna get out of control. If that happens, we’re gonna be in deep trouble!” Deng Nian said.
Qin Feng responded with a serious nod.
“We’ve gotta investigate this issue!”
This case did not just involve a dark organisation out to harm innocent people. No, it went deeper than that.
Before his rebirth, the fate of being born as a genius was completely upended and turned into a life full of misery, hardship and anguish—who could understand his struggle?
The higher Qin Feng strived, the more his hatred toward the Z Organisation grew.
Now that he finally had strength that he could call his own, he would continuously build up his powers, up to the point where no one would be able to defeat him. And then, he would wipe out the Z Organisation from the face of this earth, once and for all.
He could not afford to allow such a group to continue existing.
This belief alone was the driving force for Qin Feng to continue growing.
“If you’re thinking about it this way, then by all means, go ahead. I’ll lend you my strength to block off Lin Zheng!” said Deng Nian.
Qin Feng nodded, appreciating Deng Nian’s intentions.
“I’ll remain at Chengyang for a few days. You guys go back first!”
“Aye, aye!”
Of course, Qin Feng still climbed into the car and left with them as a group.
“Qin Feng, we’ve got a lot this time around, don’t ya think? How should we divvy up the loot?” asked Zhou Hao.
Qin Feng was truly holding the reins of this entire situation. After all, the group’s main efforts were centered around his strength. Still, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tianche were too embarrassed to ask so Zhou Hao was the one to step up and bite the bullet!
“We’ll divide it equally!” Qin Feng replied.
“No, no, this isn’t right!” Zhao Yu rebutted. “If not for you, we wouldn’t have obtained so many items. Not to mention the fact that a great deal of the rewards are ranked.”
It was Zhang Tianche’s turn to step in. “Qin Feng takes forty percent, we’ll get twenty each!”
“Agreed!” Zhou Hao said as he nodded in agreement.
Qin Feng smiled and nodded in unison. They had finally reached a consensus on the allocation of rewards for the time being.
However, in the next moment, Qin Feng sent a message to Zhou Hao. “You can have my share of the rewards. I want each of you to have a conscious fruit!”
Zhou Hao stared wide-eyed at Qing Feng. Through the communicator, he wrote, “But you’re an ability user! If it were up to me, I want you to have two conscious fruits then leave the final one for Zhao Yu. It’s not a big deal to her that she gets less spirit herbs, or at the very least, it won’t negatively hamper her abilities. After all, it’s not like you need those things now, right?”
“Even the best ancient warriors need a bit of conscious energy. While it isn’t the most important unit of their total power, it can mean either life or death at the most crucial moment. Also, do you really think that a consciousness tree is only able to bear three conscious fruits at once?”
Zhou Hao made a troubled expression.
Qin Feng picked up Xiao Bai and held her near his chest while brushing her soft fur with affection.
At that moment, there was a slight change in Zhou Hao’s facial expression that reflected his sudden awareness of something.
It became apparent that his mind had returned to the incident at the Greenhill copper mine.
Back then when Xiao Bai left, she went to steal the conscious fruits!
His thoughts then turned to the bare consciousness tree of today. In remembrance of the principal of Chengyang University, Zhou Hao mentally lit up a row of candles.
How unfortunate!
The exchange between them stopped then and there. Try as they might they simply could not think of anything to say to each other. Even the records on their communicators had been wiped clean.
It was only after they had cleared the gates of the military base did Qin Feng get off the vehicle at a relatively busy street. As he did so, a great number of students looked up at him, eyes full of admiration. This was partly also because it was their first time coming to Chengyang City. Needless to say, just going around this bustling city once was enough for them to learn much more than they would elsewhere.
However, most of these students would not be able to afford to stay around here for too long!
On the other hand, Qin Feng had no such worries.
After all, the huge amount of raw materials brought over from Han Town had not even been processed yet! Qin Feng managed to locate a relatively secluded corner and subsequently, set up a Dark Shroud around its perimeter to prevent prying eyes from looking in.
Bai Li hopped down from his shoulder and morphed into her human form. She then put on some clothes, a cap as well as a pair of dark sunglasses.
“Ah, how stuffy!”
Bai Li had grown to dislike staying in her bestial form now as she could not fiddle with the communicator, nor was she able to wear pretty clothes in that form, boring her out of her mind.
Qin Feng poked at her cute tiny nose. “Alright, after I’m done resting, let’s go buy a new outfit for you!”
“Hubby’s the best!”
Bai Li wrapped her arms around Qin Feng and licked his cheeks playfully, disregarding the fact that he had not washed himself for the past few days.
They quickly looked for a random hotel to check into. One in which Qin Feng was able to take a nice, long bath. After thoroughly scrubbing himself clean, he threw on a fresh, casual outfit for the first time in what seemed like ages.
Qin Feng, who was not wearing his school uniform but was sporting a casual outfit, appeared sharp nonetheless. Apart from that, due to his height and toned muscles, nobody was able to make out that he was in fact, only a teenager.
On the contrary, most people whose eyes met his would immediately be intimidated by his threatening presence.
An F6-tier ancient warrior.
After waving down a taxi, he brought Bai Li to a marketplace where she was given total freedom to pick whichever item she wanted. It was then that Qin Feng picked up Chen Ming’s communicator.
However, there was a password set on the communicator. Luckily, Qin Feng understood Chen Ming inside-out, and after three failed attempts, he unlocked it on his fourth try.
“Liang Kan!”
It did not take long for Qin Feng to find this name.
However, to avoid alerting said person, he refrained from immediately dialling his number and instead, quickly noted down the number.
Qin Feng switched on his own communicator and connected to the battle net, on which he looked for a secret web page.
“Secret door!”
Secret door was a special intelligence agency who, given the right price, would be more than willing to sell any information that you were looking for. They also kept their secrets well-guarded, making them more secure than any other agency.
Qin Feng handed them Liang Kan’s name and the number of his communicator. He then stated that he needed a simple overview on the individual before paying forth a million yuan.
To buy such information with one million yuan was way overkill. In fact, so long as the person remained in Chengyang, Qin Feng could discover way more information about Liang Kan for free if he were to put in a small bit of effort.
However, he did not wish to go down a rabbit hole which he felt was inevitable and what was more, he did not have too much time to spare at the moment.
After merely half an hour, the information he seeked was sent over.
“Liang Kan—28 years old—E-tier ancient warrior—Second-in-command of the external patrol unit of Chengyang colony!”
“Liang Kan’s photo!”
“Joined Chengyang colony three years ago…”
More and more information about the man appeared below but Qin Feng’s eyes were locked onto one of the photos provided.
It showed a close-up of Liang Kan posing during a training session. It must have been a scorching day when the photo was taken as glistening sweat could be seen covering his body. The sweat however, had made the weird tattoos around his neck even more obvious.
Qin Feng stared at these tattoos for a while.
“They look so familiar. I must have seen it somewhere in the past!”
Qin Feng shut his eyes and went searching through his memories. His consciousness was spinning rapidly, like the gears on a train. Memories flashed through his mind like a film reel, moving at near light speed but everything appeared to him, as clear as crystal.
Finally, a scene floated into Qin Feng’s mind.
It was before his rebirth, when he was around eighteen years old. At that time, he had already reached F5-tier as an aptitude user. He was wandering around Fu City when he encountered the infamous Black Python Organization.
Of course, back then, the organisation was in its infancy stage with only around a hundred members or so. They were made up completely by mutants, none were aptitude users.
They mainly operated by ransacking caravans and robbing logistic convoys. By sheer coincidence, Qin Feng was working as a guard for one of the targeted caravans. After receiving return fire from the caravan, they retreated back where they came from. One of the guys who went for Qin Feng’s position was killed on the spot and had tattoos that looked just like the one in the photo right now.
Obviously that man was not Liang Kan.
“Still, could it be possible that there’s a connection between them?”
Somehow, Qin Feng felt that this was merely the tip of a colossal iceberg; he would be facing more chaos and confusion in the near future.