Star Gate

Chapter 384: A Ferocious Tiger Emerges From the Mountain (I)

September 15.

A team of fifty assembled at the front doors of the Silver Moon Guards before the sky fully brightened. Hong Qing, Hong Hao, Wang Chao, and Liu Yan had successfully assembled their teams. It went without saying that Hong Qing and Hong Hao filled theirs with swordsmen and women—they were all Sword Sect disciples.

Wang Chao and Liu Yan had taken nearly exclusively Inspectorate members. Only Li Heng and Wu Chao had to choose from the leftovers. Their team was a bit of a motley array.

The Demon Hunters were rather apprehensive. For some of the Sword Sect disciples, this was their first official mission. Although training was arduous and grueling, it was still nerve-racking to actually think of killing someone.

Li Hao strode up to the group and scanned his people. “We’re all here.” He inclined his head. “Get in the cars. The team captains will teach you how to use the armor!”

After obtaining his armor last night, Li Hao also learned how the Silver Moon Guards made use of it. There was a special contraption within them that appeared smooth, but was punctuated by some bumps. Pressing on them in the proper configuration opened the suit of armor. This was a possibility that Li Hao hadn’t thought of and he wondered how Hou Xiaochen had come to know of it.

There were two mini trucks parked in front of the Guards complex. They belonged to the Silver Moon Guards and were outfitted with a special driving system. These cars could drive themselves without needing human drivers.

“Teams one and two on the car up ahead. Three, four, five will take the one behind!” instructed Li Hao. Liu Long was also in the first car. Teams one and two were the ones led by Hong Qing and Liu Yan. They’d claimed most of the few female martial masters in the Demon Hunters.

The teams quickly filed into their cars. Although they’d never received professional training, martial masters understood and swiftly executed these easy commands. The ones from the Inspectorate, in particular, had received systematic training and were used to this kind of operation.

......

Three teams climbed into the second car. Li Hao vanished in front of the group’s eyes instead of taking one of the cars. These cars belonging to the Silver Moon Guards were specially made. The carriages weren’t completely sealed shut; there was no car roof. Openings were scattered around the carriage to make it convenient to locate enemies.

Li Heng liked to talk. He started chattering as soon as he saw Li Hao wasn’t in their car. “There’s thirty of us in one car and twenty in the one up ahead. My team with Ole Wu actually only has nine people. Deputy Liu is a Dominator and the leader has lumped him in with us. Are we actually supposed to give the deputy orders?”

Everyone ignored him.

“Also,” continued a dejected Li Heng. “We just got to know our teams last night. We don’t know any of the other teams. The leader is hastily pushing us into the field to run missions. That’s just... so... ugh!”

He’d never seen someone like that! Thankfully, they were probably just going out for a spin. Most people were treating this as a leisure outing. Their new leader wanted to go through the motions. Li Heng understood the concept after many years at the Inspectorate. Li Hao just wanted to obtain some acknowledgement and put himself out there.

Wang Chao ignored him. As Wang Henggang’s nephew, the inspector general had told him one thing before he left. Li Hao was not a kind soul. Although young, there was nothing simple about Old Demon Yuan’s disciple. Wang Chao was warned to be careful and keep his head down at the Silver Moon Guards.

Therefore, he didn’t say anything and turned to his team. “Put the armor on!” He helped his curious team members acclimate themselves to their new battle gear.

“Captain Wang,” someone soon said. “It’s rather heavy and impacts my movement. Why don’t we take it off? We’re still in White Moon City...”

“Keep it on!” Wang Chao responded in a muffled voice. There was a certain weight to the armor, but it wasn’t too heavy for martial masters. It didn’t impact their movement much and the armor wasn’t stiff, so there actually wasn’t a large effect on the wearer’s motions.

There wouldn’t be issues after they grew accustomed to it. Plainly, the ancient powerhouses had considered this as well and didn’t haphazardly create equipment that would negatively impact battle capabilities.

Hong Hao directed his team to put on the armor too. The car wasn’t that big, but suitable enough for three teams to squeeze together. It became rather crowded once they were all dressed for battle.

Li Heng continued to complain when he saw that the other two teams were putting on the armor, but he also directed his team to do the same.

The car was quickly filled with black armored warriors.

“Does anyone know where we’re going today? The leader didn’t give a destination...”

“Why do you have so many questions?” Wu Chao couldn’t help but say behind his visor.

“Aren’t you curious, Ole Wu?”

“Nope.”

“That’s right, you worked with the leader before. Ole Wu, would you say that he’s um... ahem, reliable?”

Wu Chao ignored him. Reliable? How would I know?? Li Hao’s reliable enough, but he’s also crazy bold. The man had chatted with Liu Long last night. Although the chief didn’t say anything, he’d hinted to be careful on this mission. Li Hao had grand plans in mind.

......

Two mini trucks steered out of the Guards complex. Li Hao was up in front, running instead of taking one of the cars. He easily kept up with the cars and found a drowsy Wang Ming in a sports car before long.

Wang Ming didn’t sense Li Hao’s approach until the latter was near. He sprang up with alertness. “Li Hao... you’re so early!”

Li Hao flicked him a glance and cut straight to the chase. “I told you everything last night, are you sure you want to be in on this?”

“Yes!” Wang Ming piped up excitedly. “The Night Watchers are so boring after being out with you a few times. I hear that you’re going on a training trip. Take me along, I promise I won’t give you trouble.”

“The Guards don’t recruit supernaturals partially because it’s difficult to work together, and partially out of concerns for concealment. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” Wang Ming nodded. Of course he did, Li Hao had mentioned it in the communicator last night.

“I won’t refuse your participation,” Li Hao continued. “Your only mission is to be bait! Supernaturals are easily discovered and you’re not weak as a Sunflare. It’d be best if you can lure out some supernaturals who want to do you harm!

“You won’t be traveling with us, you’ll be alone and I won’t be responsible if anything happens to you! The dangers are sizable—any powerhouse can swiftly manifest and kill you. I’ll be at least one thousand meters away from you, so it’ll be up to you to dodge or evade attacks!”

Li Hao didn’t turn down Wang Ming’s request to join, he happened to lack bait. As good as his eyes were, he couldn’t really scan every blade of grass or leaf. It was best if Wang Ming could lure out a group of supernaturals.

However, being bait meant accepting a great deal of risk and danger.

“That’s no problem so long as I receive a commensurate payout!” Wang Ming grinned. “This is the kind of life worth living! We’ll have to kill a few Solars to make it worth waking up so early, won’t we?”

This guy’s appetite had certainly grown. Li Hao raised an eyebrow. Ole Wang was growing bolder and bolder. Li Hao nodded slightly.

“Ah, right. Li... senior brother,” Wang Ming coughed gently. “Can I bring someone?”

“Hmm?”

“Zhou Qin from last time... the one who had the tiger,” explained Wang Ming. “It’s suspicious if I run around by myself. A Sunflare poking around without doing anything? Supernaturals aren’t idiots and will easily tell that I’m bait. If Zhou Qin’s with me, we can race cars or wander around, looking like dandies out for some fun. I don’t look the part if I’m by myself.”

“He’s a Darkmoon, right?”

“Yes, a Fullmoon. That does make him a bit weak...”

“You know best that we’re out to kill people,” Li Hao said calmly. “You know how dangerous it is! This isn’t a leisure jaunt. You can bring him if you want, but I won’t care if he dies!”

A Darkmoon looking for a good time... Li Hao wasn’t a babysitter and he hadn’t told Wang Ming to bring anyone else. He wouldn’t do a thing if Zhou Qin died. A Zhou surname... I wonder if he’s related to Deputy Zhou from the provincial government?

Li Hao didn’t really care, in either case.

“It’s fine, he dies if he dies.” Wang Ming grinned widely. “The guy likes exciting stuff. No one will say anything if he dies. To be honest, senior brother, my friend is already dying from boredom. Would he capture a tiger for fun if he’s right in the head? If we can, we should take him and two ladies on a drive. Now that would really be a leisure jaunt! And if we have a couple of bodyguards with us... We’ll look like rich scions loafing around. No one will suspect a thing!”

Such were his thoughts to really look the part. If the bait was two guys that were supernaturals, would it make sense?

“If senior brother okays it, I’ll find someone right away,” Wang Ming elaborated when Li Hao remained silent. “I promise I’ll have it done quick and won’t hold us up! The ladies will also be my friends. They’ll be daredevils who won’t blame anyone if they die! It doesn’t matter if we have bodyguards or not. We’re all supernaturals and young. It’s normal that we’re bold and don’t think much of anyone.”

Li Hao frowned at him, not understanding what went on in these people’s heads. These second generations seemed a little different. They weren’t lackadaisical good-for-nothings who spent their days partying. They had the strange urge to look for fun and exciting things.

If he was part of them, Li Hao felt that he’d never share the same mindset.

“We can forget about it if you don’t think it’s appropriate, senior brother,” Wang Ming quickly backtracked when he still failed to receive a response from Li Hao. “I was just thinking of making the disguise more complete.”

“Are there any descendants of major personages among your friends?” Li Hao thought for a while. “The kind that will make trouble if their descendants die?”

“No!” Wang Ming immediately answered. “Even if there were, they wouldn’t make trouble either. Don’t worry, senior brother. Would I cause trouble for my own people?”

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