Gentlemen reading, come out and say hello~

Chen Daocheng broke out in a cold sweat.

Xilin Garden, the famous villa district in the western part of White City.

The people living there were either business tycoons or descendants of decorated heroes.

Every single person inside was more powerful than the last.

He never imagined the cult’s roots ran so deep.

Xiao Yu, an ordinary investigator, had no way of tailing them inside, so he could only stop outside to avoid alerting the enemy.

Although they were all merchants, heroes, and officials inside, it didn’t mean the Inspection Bureau was helpless against them.

It wouldn’t be impossible to surround the place, even under immense pressure.

The Inspection Bureau never had to worry about saving face when conducting its business.

What’s more, this case involved a cult; if anyone inside dared to obstruct, they would all be branded as cultists and dealt with one by one.

Hiding in the rear wasn’t an option for them to just be freeloaders.

At this critical juncture, the safety of White City’s millions of citizens was at stake.

Forget these people; even the commanders of the Seven Major Warzones would have to obediently cooperate with the investigation.

But the trouble wasn’t whether they had the authority to deal with that group of people, but that the people inside were incredibly influential.

Plucking out any single one of them could make White City tremble.

So, over so many years, using all these conveniences, just how large had the cult’s power, which he secretly managed, become?

The silver lining in the tragedy of the Qingcheng incident was that the mastermind was not a person of high rank and power, but merely the boss of a small company.

The owner of a small company, with about a hundred employees, most of whom were his subordinates.

Over several decades, he had gathered a band of cultists and plotted in secret, but their own strength was too mediocre, so they were wiped out in one fell swoop by a single Second Form warrior.

Xilin Garden was established in the year 6970, fifty years ago.

In those fifty years, the residents inside had barely changed, which meant the cultists had been operating in that area for at least fifty years.

With his resources and status, their strength might be even greater than imagined.

It might not even be a problem that a single Second Form warrior could solve.

No wonder they were so audacious, openly kidnapping youths for sacrifices.

With a certain level of strength, even if things were exposed, they would have enough time to delay, to allow the Dark Ones to descend upon White City.

Perhaps the cultists no longer cared about being exposed at all.

They would be exposed sooner or later; as long as everything was prepared, they had no fear of a raid from the Inspection Bureau.

All city guards must be notified immediately.

Because the enemy had such a powerful background, they might throw certain districts into chaos just before the summoning to stretch the defensive forces thin.

He didn’t know how the people sent from the frontlines were doing.

Chen Daocheng wasn’t foolish enough to contact only a single super squad.

He had also called the legion department of the Lingnan Warzone, requesting that they send people for support.

This way, he would have a dual layer of defense.

He just didn’t know how the reinforcements were faring, or how long it would be until they arrived.

The cult’s audacity was far greater than he had imagined.

After all, if the cultists had a sudden whim, they might just begin the ritual.

Chen Daocheng was restless, glancing at the bureau chief sitting calmly behind him.

The bureau chief gave a nod.

The entire Inspection Bureau was in an uproar, and everyone was mobilized.

Even a special group of people in White City, upon hearing the news, took their treasured battle uniforms out of their closets and hung their black, special-alloy military sabers at their waists.

They were retired soldiers, but they were still soldiers.

On the streets, the guards were dispatched in long formations.

Broadcasts ordered citizens to self-quarantine at home.

If anyone still dared to come out, they would all be detained.

The citizens watched those tall, straight figures standing under the streetlights, praying that tomorrow the world would still be as it always was.

“Mama~ are they bad guys?”

A little lolita pointed her cute little finger at a fully armed soldier outside the glass window, looking at her mama with wide eyes.

The mama stroked the lolita’s head with her warm hand and said, “No, they are all good people. They are heroes~ the Prince Charmings who protect us.”

“Then where are the white horses?”

“The white horses… they don’t like coming out at night, oh. They’re afraid of the dark.”

“Really~ Just like me.”

“Yes, dear.”

The old man leaned on his cane, looked at the several black-clothed men kneeling before him with their masks removed, and said slowly, “You were followed!”

The leading black-clothed man’s limbs trembled, and he said in a panic, “My lord… your subordinate did his best.”

The old man glanced at the altar covered in unknown runes and said in a low voice, “Of course you did your best. You were up against agents from the Inspection Bureau; it’s impossible for you to guard against their tracking. But it doesn’t matter, it’s just a small problem. Ignore them, because the god will be descending soon. In that case, let’s invite them over to witness the beauty of the divine descent…”

The conversation between the two woke the unconscious Su Xuan.

His hands were tied behind his back, and he couldn’t move.

Su Xuan made no sound.

In the dark basement, no one knew he was already awake.

The old man continued, “There is an important task for you to handle in a moment. Hold those guys back. I will have the Shadow Thorns assist you. Don’t let them disturb me.”

The middle-aged man quickly accepted the task.

It was merely to buy time for the old man’s ritual.

The old man smiled and sat down in a chair, recalling his glorious hundred-some years of life.

He had been on the battlefield, killed Dark Ones, been a deserter, and with the support of the divine religion, he changed his identity and lurked in White City.

He had been hiding for more than fifty years, becoming a famous business tycoon.

Because of how energy particles nourished the body, many people thought he was just a seventy or eighty-year-old man.

Who could have imagined that this grandfather, who would smile kindly at others when he went out, was a person laden with sins?

He once thought of living out his life peacefully like this, but when he watched his old acquaintances die one by one, when he attended their black-and-white funerals, he chose no.

He did not want to die so soon; he had to live longer.

Yao Chen was just his alias; his real name was Wang Xiang.

He had never married or had children because he felt that descendants were not easy to control like tools and could easily cause trouble for him, exposing his identity.

Moreover, he truly despised his human body and would wait until he had a divine body to procreate.

So, in this huge villa, he had not a single relative.

Everyone was his subordinate, or rather, his tool.

The old man caressed his cane.

If placed under the sun, one would see this cane had a very unique construction, as if it concealed a sword.

That sword was like a hidden venomous snake, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

Under the dim light, he looked towards where Su Xuan and Gao Chong lay, and at the group of faintly moaning young tributes.

Slowly, a fanatical smile appeared on his face, as if he could already see the pure Life Source Energy cleansing his body and forging his immortality.

Su Xuan’s face was directly facing the altar, and an indescribable tremor rippled in his heart.

It was an incomprehensibly bizarre geometric structure.

Its top was a special triangular prism that could not be formed naturally, supported by a cylindrical pillar below, which was carved with incomprehensible, special inscriptions.

His gaze suddenly solidified.

Several black-gold metal blocks were beckoning to Su Xuan like the most alluring women.

‘Come here, master~’

‘Don’t go, dear customer~’

‘That is the Black Energy Stone I have longed for day and night, the one I deeply love. How on earth can I find it~’

It turned out to be right in front of him, less than five meters away, yet it felt more distant than the entire galaxy.

Su Xuan’s eyes widened, seeing only those four plump Black Energy Stones.

But trapped as he was, he could barely even preserve his own life, let alone snatch the Black Energy Stones.

Su Xuan screamed frantically in his mind:

‘Su Xuan’er! Hey, Su Xuan’er! Are you done yet?’

Only when she finished her task would he have a chance to take a gamble.

Right now, he was a rookie who hadn’t even reached the Initial Form, without any capital to fight.

If the Energy Pool could be completed, perhaps he could still take a shot!

The so-called Energy Pool was something similar in nature to an Energy Chamber, but it stored different things.

Su Xuan’er’s voice rang in Su Xuan’s mind: “…Hold on, it’s not ready yet…”

Last night, Su Xuan’er had suddenly appeared, saying that his Life Source Energy was so abundant that if he didn’t open up a storage space similar to an Energy Chamber in his body, it would easily cause abnormal physical growth.

Although Su Xuan was inclined to give it to the Crimson Saber, Su Xuan’er had refused righteously.

She didn’t want to be like last time, using her meager Life Source Energy to stimulate his combat power; that was very dangerous for both of them.

In the end, Su Xuan had to compromise, staring blankly at the solitary red blade.

So, when the Energy Pool was successfully constructed, it would be like having an extra card in his hand, a card with fewer side effects, which could instantly activate the energy particles in his body, giving him an extremely short burst of top-tier Initial Form combat power.

From the eavesdropping just now, Su Xuan guessed that a battle would break out here soon.

He had to take the opportunity to touch that Black Energy Stone.

Even just one piece would make him happy for a long time.

Not only could it replenish the consumption of the Energy Pool, but the excess could also be used for the Crimson Saber.

That way, he could win back some ground on the male side of things.

He knew that if it weren’t for the chest binder, he would definitely be seen as a pervert.

‘That woman isn’t even wearing a bra~ what a slut!’

Su Xuan did not want to be talked about like that.

A voice rasped out, as if it belonged to someone who had gorged themselves in a latrine and then vomited until their throat was raw.

“You’re awake, aren’t you!”