Chapter 187: The Divine Thunder Descends (Part 2)
Inside the warehouse, there was no lighting, completely pitch black. A glimmer of firelight sparked as a cigarette was lit, instantly illuminating several black shadows lazily standing or sitting in various corners of the warehouse.
“It’s the middle of the night, and suddenly we have to keep watch… Is there really a need for this dark, dank place? It’s better to have some fun in the city.” A mid-level servant, holding a cigarette, leaned against the wall with an expression of impatience.
“Haha, what’s the difference when we watch? It’s a thousand bucks for the night. Tonight, Big Boss Cao, Big Boss Zhu, and the other barons and knights from the guild are staying overnight downstairs. If someone really tries to cross us, we’ll just step aside and enjoy the food and drinks.” Another high-level servant, pulling out a plastic bag of braised meat and a few bottles of beer, cheerfully sat down and lit a candle.
“Hey, I heard Big Boss Cao and Big Boss Zhu brought some growth-enhancing drugs from abroad. Do you think we’ll get a share this time?” The mid-level servant quickly squatted closer, his face filled with anticipation.
The high-level servant glanced at his companion, somewhat helpless: “I doubt it. I heard they’re prioritizing supplies for Big Boss Zhu’s people. He took quite a hit in the south and has hardly any knights left. Don’t openly complain, though; Big Boss Zhu is a lower viscount from the Ganges, with a higher rank than our Big Boss Cao.”
“Hehe, I’m just saying. I saw Bald Brother, who’s been stuck for so many years, take the drug and become a baron. It warms my heart.” The mid-level servant chuckled softly, rubbing his dirty hands in the plastic bag to grab some braised meat while also reaching for a beer. As the aroma of the midnight snack wafted through the air, several black shadows in the warehouse moved closer.
Below the warehouse, in the secret underground space, the scene was completely different. The meticulously decorated underground base looked quite upscale, with not only ample accommodation rooms but also a large central lounge and several game rooms, resembling a hotel set deep underground.
In one of the game rooms, Cao Kuang and Zhu Bixian were playing poker; the former was relaxed while the latter seemed anxious. Zhu Bixian glanced at the wall clock, realizing it was almost one in the morning, and nervously discarded his cards: “Old Third, to be honest, I see through this Zhuang Jianfei. He’s ruthless and can be brutal. I’m genuinely worried he’ll turn us into cannon fodder. Now that we’re underground, if something unexpected happens, we could be buried alive!”
“Don’t worry, this place was personally designed by me; there’s no problem. I’ve arranged for Lin Guangto greet us at the exit.” Cao Kuang smiled, gesturing around with pride: “Moreover, Zhuang Jianfei is counting on us to continue to exploit in the south. Are you still afraid he’ll pull a fast one on us?”
“Did Old Third really say that after today’s incident is resolved, he would help me reclaim the territory in the southwest?” Zhu Bixian, looking down while smoking, appeared distracted while playing cards.
“Isn’t that obvious? If we take down the Wang family and the Hidden Arrow Alliance, we won’t be able to survive domestically anyway. Don’t just think about yourself; I’ll also have to scramble to head south… I heard Zhuang Jianfei and his people have also laid waste to the Wang family in the south. Those from the Liang family are also getting ready to move west.”
“Once everyone gathers in the south, there will be a brand new Black Dragon Society, and both of us will at least be vice presidents. At that time, we’ll connect the two sides with the southwest; the profits will be a hundred times richer than what you had fighting alone in Northern Myanmar!” Cao Kuang pointed in a certain direction, immensely proud: “Once the Liang family collapses in the south, there’s just a half-dead earl left, and the entire southwestern region will be territory for our expansion. As long as we have money, we won’t have trouble recruiting people there.”
Cao Kuang and Zhu Bixian weren’t lacking in money; excluding the rewards from Zhuang Jianfei, both had accumulated wealth surpassing nine figures after devouring Qian Guilong’s fortunes over the past decade.
Zhu Bixian pondered briefly and nodded: “That makes sense… But who’s the president? As long as the rules stay the same as before, I don’t care who becomes president.”
“I don’t know, but it definitely won’t be anyone from the Liang family. But it doesn’t matter; whoever replaces them is just a figurehead. Who can suppress us?”
Cao Kuang’s words sounded arrogant, but there was confidence behind it. After all, he already had three barons beneath him, and soon Zhu Bixian would also have a baron subordinate. Together, with the Liang family now significantly declining, they had virtually no rivals in the south.
As for the Hidden Arrow Alliance’s Feng Jiulong and Deng Baoyi, who were secretly at odds with the Liang family in the south, Zhuang Jianfei seemed to think they wouldn’t survive this year. Even taking a huge leap of faith, the two parties could coexist peacefully.
Suddenly, from a corner, there was a faint rustling sound coming from the surveillance camera. The two exchanged glances and quickly stood up, opening the side door to exit.
Alashankou’s mid-level viscount Xiang Zuxing, along with Iberia’s lower-level viscount Wu Yuqing, plus the latter’s cousin and Baron Zhuang Jianfei, swiftly eliminated the Black Dragon Society’s sentinels above ground without breaking a sweat.
The sensory illusion of Baron Zhuang Jianfei was nearly an insurmountable presence for foes far beneath his realm. As Xiang Zuxing and Wu Yuqing swaggered into the warehouse, four or five Black Dragon Society servants didn’t respond at all; they were still eating and chatting.
Zhuang Jianfei’s Dream of Apennines was the only advanced active ability among all bloodline clans that could be used without activating boiling blood, making it difficult for enemies to counter. High-level vampires above the rank of Apennine Barons instilled fear in others precisely because of this.
Did they really think no one dared to provoke them without a knight around?
Xiang Zuxing glanced down at the bodies on the ground, his brows furrowing slightly.
“Driven by the Wang family and Hidden Arrow for months, Cao Er’s losses are considerable. Not to mention Zhu Er, who’s lost his lair to Brother Xiang and Sister Wan in the old streets; his remaining followers probably don’t number more than ten combined.”
Wu Yuqing’s cousin, the Iberian lower-level baron Shen Yuan, excitedly swung his bloodied hand, thrilled at utilizing blood poison in his first real combat.
They missed their target; they didn’t stay overnight this time, wasting all this effort and manpower in placement, benefiting the Wang family instead… Jianfei, you’ve been here; continue to explore and finish this job early.
Wu Yuqing observed the entrance to the concealed underground passage nearby, feeling somewhat disappointed.
Zhuang Jianfei smiled but didn’t speak, adjusting his glasses at the bridge of his nose, and walked leisurely into the underground passage.
Suddenly, several fierce auras erupted from the entrance of the underground passage like a volcanic eruption, containing the presence of several barons and viscounts, indicating that the enemy had long been lying in ambush.
In just two seconds, Zhuang Jianfei was sent flying out of the passage, his body covered in blood, crashing heavily back into the warehouse, appearing seriously injured.
“Jianfei!” Wu Yuqing’s face changed drastically as she rushed over to Zhuang Jianfei’s side.
Shen Yuan, instead, dashed a few meters toward the passage entrance, pulling out a hand grenade from his waist, yanking the pin off before tossing it inside. A few seconds later, muffled explosions and puffs of smoke erupted.
Cao Kuang and Zhu Bixian were there; they’d escaped… Zhuang Jianfei spat out a mouthful of blood, begrudgingly pointing at the entrance.
In the trio’s perception, the auras of Zhu Bixian and Cao Kuang had already receded, leaving behind a few fearful knights and servants. The enemy’s ambush had nearly been a hit-and-run operation.
With great difficulty, Zhuang Jianfei murmured, the aura around him suddenly intensifying, his palms began to deform, and his complexion turned a pig liver color. Obviously, Zhuang Jianfei had fallen prey to Zhu Bixian’s trap, and could only attempt to surpass his boiling blood threshold to suppress the invading blood parasites within his body, but the pain was undoubtedly excruciating.
No more hesitation; Xiang Zuxing, Wu Yuqing, and Shen Yuan simultaneously activated their boiling blood, with Wu Yuqing leading the way, rushing into the underground passage.
Lying on the ground, Zhuang Jianfei gasped a few times, slowly revealing a bitter smile.
A few seconds later, Zhuang Jianfei managed to get up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, checked his watch, and limped towards the exit of the warehouse.
Exactly 1 AM.
On the eastern bank of the Minjiang River in L City, near the logistics center of the industrial park, over a hundred officers from the Xuan Armored Brigade’s support team were standing at the ready with their weapons, maintaining silence.
Meanwhile, more than fifty kilometers away at a military airport in North L City, the engines of six large black transport helicopters began to rev up.
Over ninety members of the Xuan Armored Brigade’s assault team, led by Squad Leader Tao Qiao’er, boarded the helicopters in an orderly fashion. Within a maximum of fifteen minutes, they would reach the target zone to conduct a night airborne assault.
Simultaneously, a similar mobilization of Hidden Arrow forces was occurring around P City and Y City.
In the clouds ten thousand meters up, a black-grey twin-seat heavy fighter aircraft was slowly circling over L City. From beneath its wings hung two dark precision-guided bombs, starkly visible.
“…Received, the target has been locked, payload release in five minutes.”
After ending the communication, the fighter descended, as the rear-seat weapons controller began the final pre-launch system checks and loaded target data for the onboard weapons…
Beneath the gentle silver moon, on the eastern side of the logistics center, a patch of sparse shrubbery lay in stillness.
A large drainage ditch, not yet activated, became somewhat visible under the moonlight as two shadows squatted by a large drainage opening, idly smoking cigarettes.
A few hundred meters away, Wan Yue sat behind a pile of construction debris, supporting her chin with her hands in a resigned manner, casually watching the round moon against the black sky, indifferent to the supposed ambush target behind her.
Feeling somewhat restless, Wan Yue snapped out of her daze, habitually pulled out a cigarette, and was about to light it when she gently sighed, letting it dangle. Smoking in this spot could easily attract the attention of the two Black Dragon Society barons waiting in the distant passage.
She glanced again at the emergency communicator on her shoulder; several times, Wan Yue had thought about sending an urgent evacuation signal to Xiang Zuxing, yet each time her hand reached for the button, she hesitated to withdraw.
From the northwest direction, the sound of helicopter engines echoed in the night sky. Wan Yue slowly stood up, leaped onto the pile of debris, raised her head, and a cold smile crept across her lips.
“Zhuang Jianfei, do you really think you can plan everything seamlessly? Maybe they are draining your last bit of value…”
She took a last look in the direction of the drainage ditch before turning around.
Feeling as if nothing mattered anymore, Wan Yue casually lit her cigarette, took a deep drag, and walked away towards the Copper Gong Mountain without looking back.
A figure rushed over, blocking her path.
“Xiao… Xiaoyue, I feel something isn’t right!”
Old Jin’s complexion looked bad, his face even twitching as he grabbed Wan Yue’s arm with a panicked tone, “The people up there are from Hidden Arrow. Is there really a problem?”
In the sky, several hundred meters above ground, six large black helicopters circled over a thousand meters away from the logistics center warehouse, their engines roaring loudly, projecting beams of light down to coldly illuminate the ground below.
Watching the six beams of light descending from the sky, Old Jin’s face turned pale as he hurriedly pressed the emergency communicator in his hand, but there was no response.
“Yeah, something’s off… but does it mean anything to ask me?”
Glancing at the helicopters in the distance, Wan Yue exhaled a puff of smoke, sidestepped around Old Jin’s body, and casually discarded the emergency communicator from her shoulder.
“You sensed it long ago, didn’t you? Why didn’t you stop it?!”
Old Jin trembled as he spoke, feeling disheveled, seated on the ground as he recalled Wan Yue’s sudden emotional shifts before the mission.
Wan Yue walked further away, the cold voice echoed in the darkness: “Didn’t I warn you? Is your Wang family truly an ironclad block? You should ask your elders.”
Old Jin stared at the direction Wan Yue disappeared, feeling a mix of emotions within; rage surged as he slammed his fist into the ground, glaring angrily at the direction of the drainage ditch, letting out a heavy sigh moments later.
Eight thousand meters high, the rear-seat weapons controller of the heavy fighter gently pressed the weapon release button. The two heavy guided munitions detached from the aircraft, entering a fierce parabolic trajectory, diving through the clouds and descending toward the brightly lit ground below.
In the underground space, on the third level of the blood field.
Both the underground entrance and the exit where Zhu Bixian and the others fled were blocked by suddenly descended solid steel gates.
In just a few minutes, the three experienced emotional fluctuations like a roller coaster.
Xiang Zuxing stood straight like a mountain, his eyes tightly shut, a self-deprecating smile on his face.
Wu Yuqing, her eyes vacant, knelt on the ground murmuring to herself.
Her cousin, the young and timid Shen Yuan, was frantically pounding on the steel gate, his eyes deep red, face contorted, fists bloodied.
Even though high-level bloodline creatures possess far superior physical qualities, facing steel doors over a hundred millimeters thick, the limits of physical law still rendered them helpless.
The effort being exerted seemed to reflect the situation of the three trapped in the underground blood feeding ground.
“Big Brother Xiang, there’s a ventilation system here; we won’t die here. Someone will come to rescue us, right?”
Surrounded by the increasingly frantic screams of her cousin Shen Yuan, along with the boiling blood scent that grew frenzied in the enclosed space, Wu Yuqing slowly raised her head, teary-eyed, watching the tall man in front of her.
“It’s useless… It’s all been planned from the start to take our lives. Perhaps the two points taken care of by the Wang family are meeting a similar fate.”
Xiang Zuxing neatly sat down cross-legged, looking up at the basement ceiling, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
“No way, I can’t die here… I need to wait for my uncle to come out; he’s about to become a count… Who, who set this trap against us with the Black Dragon Society!”
Wu Yuqing mumbled various phrases, fear written all over her face, her disheveled hair, and her curvaceous body trembling violently.
“Does it matter who you ask?”
Xiang Zuxing closed his eyes, surprisingly showing a relieved smile, “It could be the Wang family, could be Hidden Arrow, or perhaps… Old Master Chu and Zhuang Jianfei.”
“Why are they doing this…”
Wu Yuqing froze, slowly lowering her head, wrapping her hands around her head, and letting out a low sob.
Shen Yuan too had given up, retreating limply to the side, his crimson eyes fixated on the ground, silent.
Suddenly, a strange dull noise and tremor came from above, resembling an unseen bell tolling, echoing throughout the basement, deafening.
The ceiling shattered, and two strange cylindrical objects crashed down one after another, separated by seven or eight meters, ruthlessly slamming into the basement floor before embedding into the ceiling.
The swirling dust and falling debris obstructed Wu Yuqing’s view; she could only vaguely see Shen Yuan where he had been standing, now gone.
Shen Yuan had been struck; a one-and-a-half-ton heavy bomb, accelerated by gravity, had obliterated him into indistinguishable flesh within mere fractions of a second, dying without a hint of pain.
In that moment, both Xiang Zuxing and Wu Yuqing thought of many things, scenes flashing through their minds like a slideshow, from the moment they first became aware of the world until now.
Though this moment lasted but a brief second, it felt as if many years had gone by, bringing tears and deep contemplation.
A blinding light erupted from the two heavy bombs, and the brilliant white glow overwhelmed Xiang Zuxing and Wu Yuqing’s sight.
The vibrant and furious explosion shockwave accompanied by near-thousand-degree heat expanded, filling the entire basement, engulfing the small figures of Xiang Zuxing and Wu Yuqing, and violently surging back toward the direction they came from in an unparalleled manner.
…
The two one-thousand-five-hundred-kilogram heavy munitions accurately struck their targets, penetrating two layers of barriers and delving deeper than ten meters underground.
One of the most cruel weapons created by ordinary humans showed no mercy or compromise. Like a child stuffing firecrackers into a mosquito hole, the pressure and heat obliterated the entire warehouse and everything underground, indiscriminately reaping all life within a radius of over a hundred meters.
Under the silver moon, the ground began to crack at a certain point, opening a visible ripple and accompanied by tremendous roar and flames, and intense tremors erupting into a billowing mushroom cloud.
The entire industrial area logistics center construction site was swept by the explosion shockwave, many surface protrusions within a hundred-meter radius of the epicenter were completely wiped clean.
At the Minjiang River dock several kilometers away and the surrounding villages felt a powerful seismic tremor.
All shuddered in the subsequent shockwave, shaking off various debris.
The hovering Hidden Arrow transport helicopters above could only cautiously lower their height, resisting the strong shockwaves a few hundred meters away, their searchlights fluttering, losing their precision in a panic.
Minutes later, nearly a hundred Hidden Arrow assault team members descended from the sky, directly entering the target location to sweep through. Meanwhile, more than a hundred Hidden Arrow support team members had long occupied advantageous positions, locking onto anyone within the encirclement.
Above the clouds, the battle hawks roared.
…Report, the target has been struck, and the effects are being relayed; requesting to return…
Whether in L City, Y City, or P City, the three heavy fighters almost simultaneously communicated back to the command center, and seconds later, the sleek aircraft began to turn around.
Far away in the command center of the Western Supervision Area, Zhen Guangquan removed his headphones, picked up a cup of tea, and comfortably leaned back in his chair, smilingly gazing at the huge electronic screen ahead.
A few seconds later, Zhen Guangquan turned back, gesturing to a staff officer in the intelligence department: “Advisor Sun, where’s Xiao Han? Let him know there’s an impromptu meeting at the intelligence department at nine AM. He must attend.”
“It seems he was at the L City site; he made quite a few calls today, oh no, should be yesterday; apparently, he annoyed the headquarters’ intelligence bureau.”
The young staff officer smiled, handing over a document: “Chief of Staff, please sign this; the emotion control of the intelligence department is officially commencing.”
Zhen Guangquan put down his tea cup, took the document, glanced at it briefly, and signed with a few strokes, appearing nonchalant.
The earth-shattering aerial strike had already passed several minutes. In a parking lot near the eastern bank of the Minjiang River, Han Jiejian stared blankly at the night sky, the mushroom cloud rising in the southeast direction, accompanied by beams of light swaying in the smoke.
Tightening his lips, clenching and relaxing his fists repeatedly, Han Jiejian shook his head slowly, turning back towards his car.
“I hope I’m just overthinking this and it’s merely a coincidence…”
Just before starting the engine, Han Jiejian glanced at the logistics center and murmured softly.
The highway on the eastern bank of the Minjiang River is the backbone passage for logistics in S Province from north to south. The deeper it gets into the midnight hours, only two vehicles become increasingly prevalent, most being heavy freight trucks heading north towards City C.
The Wang family denied having activities tonight, which meant that the large operation planned by Zhen Guangquan hadn’t resulted in the worst consequences he had feared. However, why did he still feel an inexplicable sense of anxiety?
Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, Han Jiejian took a deep breath to regulate his emotions.
In the rearview mirror, a blinding white high beam flickered a few times as a heavy-duty truck began to overtake and activated its turn signal ahead of time.
Han Jiejian paid it no mind, maintaining his speed and steadying the steering wheel.
The monstrous heavy truck slowly caught up on the left side, making Han Jiejian’s smaller SUV appear dainty in comparison.
Suddenly, with more than two-thirds of its body past, the heavy truck veered off the lane and came barreling toward Han Jiejian’s SUV.
Han Jiejian’s pupils constricted as he readied to decelerate in an attempt to evade the truck’s disastrous error.
Unfortunately, on a highway with speeds exceeding a hundred kilometers an hour, all danger evasions must be executed within one or two seconds, exceeding most people’s neural reflexes, especially in Han Jiejian’s mentally fatigued state.
By the time Han Jiejian sensed the danger and began to react, it was too late.
On the darkened highway, Han Jiejian’s SUV was collided with the rear of the out-of-control heavy truck, producing a grotesque shower of sparks before being shoved off the highway barrier, rolling down a steep slope, landing in a pond within a farming field.
Han Jiejian felt as if he had been stuffed into a roller coaster, spiraling uncontrollably, almost as if he had fallen into a mixing truck, his body feeling as if it had been shredded, losing almost all sense of his limbs…
The last sight Han Jiejian could perceive before slipping into unconsciousness was the airbag rushing toward him.
(Volume Five ends)
