686: Chapter 686: Night Hawk (Vote for Monthly Ticket) 686: Chapter 686: Night Hawk (Vote for Monthly Ticket) “Grandfather!”
It was then that the half-closed door was nudescanning nudged open.
The rich aroma spread through the room as the door opened.
He Ao turned around and looked toward the door.
Jia Xi walked into the room with two plates and looked up at He Ao, “Ti for breakfast!
The teacher said that eating well helps with recovery.”
He Ao looked at the well-fried steaks on the plates, slightly startled, and smiled, “Jia Xi, did you cook this?”
“Mhm,”
Jia Xi nodded her head, and steam encircled her baby-fat cheeks as she looked at He Ao, “Grandfather, Jia Xi has grown up.”
Hearing this, He Ao appeared slightly absent-minded as he gazed at the young girl’s tender face.
After a short pause, he leaned forward, reaching out his arm, which slipped under his granddaughter’s armpit to hug her gently, his old cheek pressing against the girl’s soft little face.
Jia Xi slowly brought the arms holding the plates together and hugged her grandfather.
Between the two, a silence ensued that seed fleeting and yet incredibly drawn out.
Eventually, He Ao slowly let go of his arms and took the plate of steak from the girl’s hands, saying with a smile, “It looks like it’s ti for us to eat.”
“Mhm!”
Jia Xi nodded gently.
The two carried their plates to the dining room.
As He Ao cut the steak, he guided his granddaughter in her cultivation, just as Cito had once coached Jia Xi in her fitness regin.
Soon, they finished their breakfast.
He Ao placed the dishes in the dishwasher, changed into a new shirt, and picked up his cane.
After crushing the shell fragnt, He Ao could clearly feel that he had established a connection with an entity not too far away and could roughly discern the other’s location.
As ti passed, this connection was becoming weaker and weaker.
He needed to find the other party before the connection completely faded away.
Fortunately, the connection was dissipating quite slowly.
“Grandfather.”
And just as he was preparing to leave, Jia Xi tugged at the hem of his clothes, looking up at him with wide eyes.
He Ao smiled and pushed the door open, “Jia Xi, go ahead.”
The girl’s face, which had looked slightly dismayed, froze for a mont before transforming into a cute smile the next second, “Okay~”
One after the other, they left the house and quickly took the elevator to the underground parking lot, found the off-road vehicle from yesterday, and drove out.
Jia Xi sat in the back seat, leaning on the window, watching the streets under the sunlight.
The area around Northwest City, where Cito lived, had fewer high-rise factories belonging to the Kajet Group, so so sunlight still sprinkled onto the streets.
Actually, it was getting close to noon by now.
When He Ao returned ho, it was nearly morning, and in reality, he had slept for less than five hours.
However, thanks to his strong physical condition and soul, these few hours of rest had completely refreshed him.
He Ao reached out to turn on the car’s radio.
“Recently, in preparation for the establishnt of the second headquarters and to escort key equipnt, the main force of the Kajet Group’s rcenary Corps has already arrived and stationed just outside Saint Joen City,”
the radio emitted a voice similar to a news anchor’s,
“According to internal sources, many of the rcenaries stationed outside the city are originally from Saint Joen City.
“Currently, the city governnt is actively communicating with the Kajet Group, hoping to secure a few days of special ‘family visit leave’ during this period of rest and repair for the rcenaries of Saint Joen City origin to visit their families.
“At the sa ti, a spokesperson for the Kajet Group stated that they have set up recruitnt offices in four districts, and during this period of repair, they will carry out large-scale recruitnt.”
“The spokesperson claid that the Kajet Group is a young group, and so is the Kajet rcenary Corps.
Compared to other super conglorates of the sa level, Kajet’s rcenary corps is younger, more vibrant, offers a multitude of developnt opportunities, and provides generous benefits,” they welcod knowledgeable individuals to apply and join,”
Youth ans a thin heritage, a small team, still developing.
Compared to the established super conglorates, the Kajet Group is indeed too young and lacks depth.
Up to now, its rcenary corps might be considered large in comparison to ordinary consortiums, but relative to old players such as Nord and Stars Pharma, it still falls short.
In recent years, Cito often heard information about recruitnt for the Kajet Group’s rcenary corps on the internet.
“After more than two consecutive months of growth, Federation grain prices have leveled off today,” according to the Consortium Alliance.
Since the beginning of the year, due to dry weather and various other reasons, several grain consortiums’ warehouses have caught fire,”
After finishing the news about the Kajet rcenary Corps, the radio began broadcasting so current Federal affairs, “and a number of older machines have shown various degrees of aging this year.
Combining multiple factors, this led to a lower grain yield this year, and ultimately resulted in a two-month continuous increase in grain prices…”
…
“The midterm elections for the Dawn City Council are approaching.
Affected by the fluctuation of grain prices this year, the support rate for the current Dawn City Ruling Alliance has declined from last year’s high of dical reform.
“Usually, the Mayor’s Ruling Alliance of Dawn City is very likely to lose the majority support in the Council during the midterm elections, going from full control to barely managing the Council.
“As ti goes on, internal divisions within Mayor Christos’s Ruling Alliance seem to be worsening, and so believe that Christos may completely lose the Council in this midterm election, becoming a ‘caged Mayor’ hindered at every turn.”
“Now, Christos and his team urgently need so accomplishnts to salvage the crumbling alliance.”
…
The radio incessantly broadcasted the latest news.
anwhile, He Ao’s car weaved through the gaps in the streets.
He would mark the direction of the contact he felt on the car’s system for Eve, and then Eve would plot the nearest route in that direction.
Of course, since the exact location was unclear, He Ao proceeded in segnts, moving a distance before sensing the position of that elusive contact again.
This segnted planning strategy avoided taking wrong turns, but still inevitably wasted so distance traveled, detouring sowhat.
After more than two hours, He Ao finally circumnavigated a factory building and turned into a secluded alley.
He could vaguely sense that the entity making contact with him was at the end of this alley.
At the sa ti, he looked up ahead.
Behind the alley stood a quiet tall building.
He had been here before when escorting YiXiya back.
This building was a branch of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
Sotis, the most dangerous places are indeed the safest.
No matter how the Evolution Acolytes searched for Night Hawk, they never dared to co near the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
Eventually, He Ao stopped in front of a small building at the end of the alley.
He could distinctly feel that the being he was in contact with, presumably Night Hawk, was inside this small building.
To be precise, it was below this small building.
At this point, the connection had beco quite weak.
He Ao found the small building’s underground parking lot nearby and drove in.
This was a paid parking lot with automatic license plate recognition.
The parking lot seed quite old by the look of it, the fixtures appeared worn out, and the direction signs on the walls indicated that it had two levels; He Ao went directly to the second underground level.
As he descended, he could feel himself getting closer to the entity.
“Grandpa, where are we going?”
Jia Xi leaned through the gap between the driver and passenger seats, poking her little head out, looking at the underground parking lot where many of the lights were broken.
“We’re looking for soone.”
The off-road vehicle slowly moved through the second underground level of the parking lot.
He Ao could only vaguely sense that the entity from the connection was sowhere ahead, but he wasn’t sure where.
Of course, the worst-case scenario would be if the entity was in the city’s sewer system beneath the parking lot.
But He Ao thought that was unlikely.
If that existence really was Night Hawk, he could very likely guess that the Evolution Acolytes would go to the sewers to find him.
The sewer system of Saint Joen City that normally connects to the surface roads was not nearby.
Thus, relatively speaking, the underground sewer system and the aboveground building of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt were two different spaces; the likelihood of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt discovering the Evolution Acolytes moving through the sewers below was very small.
That ant the choice of this location near the Pollution Cleaning Departnt by ‘Night Hawk’ lacked the aning of hiding in plain sight.
His hiding in the sewers left behind by the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, as opposed to anywhere else’s sewers, was essentially the sa.
So it was very likely that ‘Night Hawk’ was in this parking lot.
And while pondering, He Ao reached the end of this parking lot.
In the darkness ahead, the outline of a rusted iron door faintly appeared.
He Ao parked the SUV at the innermost spot, got out of the vehicle with Jia Xi, and walked towards that iron door.
There were very few people in this parking lot, hardly any cars, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the ground.
In the era of price wars between the Kajet Group and the various grain consortiums, as well as during the Snava governing era, Saint Joen City once had a rather prosperous economy.
During that period, Saint Joen City had many cars and many parking lots were built.
But now, many of those cars had been sold or mortgaged to the banks.
And as the number of cars on the roads dwindled, well-located parking lots could still sustain themselves, while remote ones like this fell into a state of semi-abandonnt.
This place bore witness to the prosperity of Saint Joen City, as well as its decline.
Walking on the dust-covered road, He Ao quickly arrived in front of the rusty door.
The trembling, faint, invisible connection told him he was very close to the existence at the other end of the link.
The small door was locked, with a rusted little plate embedded on it, [Storage Room].
The smart lock that secured the door had long since broken, only a chanical keyhole with so scratch marks on it still indicated that the chanical part of the lock could be used.
If it were a smart lock, He Ao could find a way for Eve to connect and hack it, but Eve couldn’t directly crack a purely chanical lock.
He Ao thought for a mont, first extending his Divine Sense beyond the door, to see the scene behind it.
Then his body paused slightly, he pressed his index finger against the keyhole, his Divine Sense soaking through, quickly grasping the structure of the lock cylinder.
He then found a piece of rusty tal nearby, took out his Butterfly Knife, and shaped the tal into a thin key-like shape.
Finally, he inserted the makeshift key into the lock cylinder and gave it a gentle twist.
Click—
Accompanied by a crisp sound, the rusted door was easily opened.
The lock cylinder turned easily, without much resistance, indicating that soone had been oiling this chanical lock cylinder, aning this room was ‘frequently’ inhabited.
And Jia Xi, standing by, watched all this in astonishnt, as she saw Grandpa swiftly do sothing and then the door was open.
He Ao caught Jia Xi’s expression, glanced to his rear right, signaling her to hide behind him.
Jia Xi quickly caught on, suppressed her surprise, and imdiately retreated behind He Ao.
After ensuring that Jia Xi had moved away, He Ao slowly pulled open the rusted iron door, and at that mont, a twisted, ghostly figure suddenly burst out from behind the door, opening its gaping maw towards He Ao’s head.
It was a bizarre evil spirit, its body covered in various distorted bones and plates.
He Ao raised the Butterfly Knife in his hand, covered it with Divine Sense, stepped forward, and the sharp blade sliced through the evil spirit’s ethereal body, destroying it completely.
A weapon enhanced by Divine Sense could indeed harm a spiritual body.
And as the evil spirit was killed, He Ao also opened the iron door before him.
A narrow, cramped, elongated room appeared before He Ao’s eyes.
“Grandfather, is that…”
Jia Xi ca over, staring into the room.
At the entrance of the entire room, a hunting dog with a body as black as if it had rged into the shadows was lying at the doorway.
It had a deep wound on its body and it glared with wide eyes, angrily staring at He Ao standing at the door.
“Shadow Hound.”
He Ao slowly walked over and gently wiped the eyes of the hound.
Shadow Hounds found it hard to bond with humans, but once they did, they would live and die with that human, right up to the final mont of life.
This Shadow Hound was already dead.
It was rely lying here, deterring anyone who tried to enter in its final act.
He Ao looked down at the wounds on the Shadow Hound and felt a slight contamination, as if it ca from Winding Hill.
The twisted evil spirit that just appeared was probably a creature ford from a combination of that contamination and the remnants of the Shadow Hound’s soul.
“Jia Xi, wait for Grandpa at the door,” he said softly as he turned to look inside the house.
It was quite possible that there were items with stronger contamination inside the house.
“Okay!”
Jia Xi nodded.
By now, He Ao had slowly risen and was walking towards the inside of the house.
In the deepest part of this cramped room, there was a small bed with a little desk in front of it.
At this mont, a ‘person’ wearing an iron mask was sitting at the desk, leaning against the wall beside it.
His body was covered with wounds, and his clothes were drenched in crimson blood.
And just by looking at him, He Ao seed to hear the chaotic waltz whispering in his ears.
But his Divine Sense saw no flow of energy.
This person had been dead for so ti.
The power of the Transcendent preserved his body as if he had just passed away.
Indeed, just as He Ao had thought.
The person whom this broken shell ultimately connected to was Night Hawk.
He Ao walked up to the desk.
The items on the desk were simple: a pen, a storage chip, and a sheet of paper filled with writing.
He Ao picked up the paper.
The handwriting was beautiful, hand-written in cursive,
[Hello, my friend, I am delighted that you have found your way here.
I do not know how you discovered , but I hope that we are friends.
When I leave this note, I am about to embark on a battle I might not return from.
However, I must go.
The twisted contamination keeps awake at night, and I know I won’t hold out much longer.
I hope that when you find , not too much ti has passed.
The mory chip on the desk contains all the information I have gathered from my investigations.
If possible, I hope you can send this information to the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or make it public.
This is very dangerous, so please be careful.
I cannot offer you much, but below is so basic Transcendent knowledge that I hope will be of so help to you,
My ability is from the Talent Sequence 100: Martial Master.
The D tier is from the Talent Sequence 50: Martial Artist, the E tier from the Talent Sequence 23: Fighter, and the F tier from the Talent Sequence 5: Furious Man.]
Below that are the potion formulas for these four Talent Sequences.
He Ao already had the potion formulas for the Furious Man, Fighter, and Martial Artist.
So, his gaze mainly lingered on the ‘Martial Master’s’ potion formula.
[Talent Sequence 100: Martial Master]
[Main ingredients: Heart of the Fiery Ape, Core Root of the Abyss Willow]
[Auxiliary ingredients: 5 petals of the Calming Flower, 1000 milliliters of water from a kiloter-deep pool, 5 stalks of Hundred Tricks Grass]
[Mixing thod: Crush the Hundred Tricks Grass and the petals of the Calming Flower to extract all the juice.
Burn the residual material with the heart of the Fiery Ape in the flas until the heart’s surface turns crispy black.
Then peel off the charred layer to take out the hot inner heart tips.
Mix them with the Core Root of the Abyss Willow that has been soaked in pool water for 24 hours.
Add the crushed petals of the Calming Flower into the mixture and extract the juice.]]
[Promotion ritual: Within a week, partake in multiple fights using martial skills to win against stronger opponents.]
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