Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1404 - 1397: Destroying Goods

Chapter 1404: Chapter 1397: Destroying Goods

Feng had not received orders to let these people go, so he began to continue the pursuit of the warriors. However, these guys were quite cunning in their escape, scattering in all directions, making it impossible for Feng to catch them all; he only managed to kill a few, and all the others had run off without a trace.

Although there were no specific orders regarding the warriors, there were indeed instructions for non-combatants from Cheng Ziang: not to attack non-armed individuals unless attacked first. It was because of this that Feng did not lay a hand on these people.

But even so, these people had mostly fled during the course of the battle, especially after the warriors admitted defeat. Those remaining finally lost hope, scattering like birds and beasts along with the warriors.

The battle lasted only a little over ten minutes before ending with a victory for the three men; the gunfire from the rear of the caravan had already ceased, and the trio regrouped.

Looking at the carnage left in their wake, Hu Daoke felt a great sense of satisfaction in his heart and excitedly exclaimed, "Wow, this is my first time doing this kind of murder and looting business."

"We’re serving the will of Heaven here; we haven’t killed anyone," Cheng Ziang reminded him.

"Oh, right, right, whatever works," Hu Daoke agreed, nodding again and again.

Although it was robbery, Cheng Ziang and his two companions still maintained restraint, targeting only the goods and the armed personnel, not the unarmed and non-combatants. In this respect, they were fundamentally different from actual bandits.

The three were on a mission to infiltrate deep into the territory of the three great aristocratic families and disrupt their relationships, not to rob them. Thus, they had to exercise restraint in their use of force, which was necessitated not just by the mission but also by their own sense of ethics.

"Let’s see what good stuff there is, get some food, and destroy the rest of the goods," Cheng Ziang commanded.

"Destroy it?" Hu Daoke asked, somewhat dumbstruck.

"What else? You’re not planning on reselling it on the black market, are you?" Cheng Ziang retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Alas, all right, all right, as long as we find food, that’s enough," Hu Daoke said, dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand.

"Be careful; there might still be ambushes," Cheng Ziang reminded him once more.

"Don’t we have Little Fengye? You’ve been getting more and more naggy lately," Hu Daoke said as he patted Feng’s shoulder.

Cheng Ziang began to climb onto the wagons, looking for food they could eat. He grabbed Feng’s hand, asking with a grave expression, "Did you use Magic Formulas during the fight just now?"

"Yes..." Feng answered timidly, his confidence decreasing in the face of Cheng Ziang’s serious demeanor.

"Were you using it the whole time?" Cheng Ziang asked, softening his tone this time.

"Now and then; I mainly relied on my sword skills," Feng replied, making a small gesture with the blade in his hand.

"Hmm, it seems no one recognized you, so either they lack knowledge, or you hid it well enough," Cheng Ziang contemplated, nodding his head.

"You see, I told you you’re not too bright, but you wouldn’t believe me, always trying to act so profound," Hu Daoke said leaning against the wagon, looking at Cheng Ziang with a face full of mockery.

"What are you trying to say?" Cheng Ziang asked, frowning at him.

"Think about it, who was the first to recognize Little Fengye’s identity? It was the generals, the commanders; and what’s their status? They’re members of the nobility, you idiot. Can’t you see? Any warrior with a significant background, how could they stoop to serving as dogs for the nobility?" Hu Daoke shrugged and spread his hands as he spoke.

"Hmm..." Faced with Hu Daoke’s mockery, Cheng Ziang fell into silence.

He was not thinking; he was immersed in embarrassment, because Hu Daoke’s words had highlighted the crux of the matter. He had been pondering why no one could recognize Feng’s identity, yet had completely overlooked this fact.

Yes, just as Hu Daoke had said, how could a member of the nobility who is cultivating a magic core run off to serve as a hired thug for another aristocratic family?

Clearly, anyone who could recognize Feng’s identity must have also come into contact with the Dongsheng Empire’s royal family, or at least seen them. This kind of large aristocratic family that has direct ties to the central Imperial Court certainly cannot be compared to the likes of Dangyang Zixia.

"What, nothing to say?" It was rare to see Cheng Ziang at a loss, so Hu Daoke laughed heartily and asked.

"Shut it, and mind your own business!" Cheng Ziang retorted in annoyed embarrassment, giving him a fierce glare.

"Oh, oh, oh, such a big temper." Hu Daoke let out a few teasing laughs and continued to search through the goods.

After some rummaging, Hu Daoke found only a few bags of dry rations in the convoy; the rest of the cargo was just a mishmash of daily necessities that they had no use for. And about half of the cargo consisted of Magic Crystals, presumably intended for sale back in their own country.

As mentioned before, because of the scarcity of Magic Crystals in Kyushu, the aristocratic families had formed a certain tacit agreement, which allowed them to use the Magic Crystals to substitute for silver in some circumstances, acting as a general equivalent.

Having seen Magic Crystals aplenty, Cheng Ziang and the others had little interest in these gems that the people of Kyushu regarded as treasures. They only selected a few of better quality to take with them, intending to engrave them with Runes as a supplemental energy source; the rest they decided to destroy en masse.

Destroying Magic Crystals is a technical job, not something that can be done by simply starting a fire. As previously mentioned, the Magic stored in the Magic Crystals is very stable and can only be extracted by a Guidance Rune.

Other methods such as impact, crushing, burning, or freezing can’t release the Magic from within the Magic Crystals, hence, they won’t trigger any Magic-related reactions.

The solution Cheng Ziang and his team used to deal with these Magic Crystals was to shoot them with Yuanzi guns. The anchors fired by the Yuanzi guns would be captured by the Magic within the Magic Crystals, which would then react with the bullet and explode.

The only regret was that Yuanzi Reactions could not cause fission reactions like atoms could; otherwise, the Yuanzi guns could transform into Magic nuclear bomb launchers.

The group gathered the carriages together, let the horses loose, and then used the Yuanzi guns set to automatic fire. Shortly, the goods piled together were ablaze with roaring flames.

Looking at the light of the flames reflecting on his cheeks, Hu Daoke couldn’t help but sigh, "Too bad we didn’t find anything good."

"We’re not bandits!" Cheng Ziang once again emphasized their identity.

"Not bandits, sure, but you might as well be," Hu Daoke retorted indifferently.

"Listen carefully, our discipline is..." Cheng Ziang was about to stress their discipline once more but was cut off by Hu Daoke.

"I know, I know, how can you nag more than the boss?" Hu Daoke covered his ears, a pained expression on his face.

"Now I finally understand Luo’er’s difficulties," Cheng Ziang said with a long sigh, "Without a mentor to keep you in line, you guys are bound to make mistakes."

"Wondering how Luo’er is doing over there..." With that thought, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but look up at the sky, lost in thought.

At that moment in Big South East Peace City, Luo’er, who had been busy for a long time, finally had the chance to catch his breath. After shaking off the pestering of two girls, he took a hot bath and then lay comfortably in bed, slowly sinking into deep thought.

In his dream, he was back in Lipei. Lipei was still in the state of just being taken over, with workers coming and going everywhere. Watching these people bustle about, Luo’er suddenly had an urge, turned around, and ran towards a prefabricated house without a second thought.

Climbing the somewhat shaky staircase, he rushed to the corridor on the second floor of the prefabricated house. As expected, he saw the familiar figure—a little girl styled Xia Yue—barefoot, sitting on the railing of the corridor, gazing into the distance.

The soft moonlight shone on her, making her fair skin even more dazzling, so much so that Luo’er found it somewhat difficult to look at her. Seemingly sensing Luo’er’s gaze, Xia Yue turned her head, smiling at him.

Luo’er was stunned for a moment, as he realized Xia Yue wasn’t looking at him, but rather, behind him. He quickly turned around, only to find his mother, Nina, had appeared behind him unawares.

She was emitting a faint, gentle light—not the reflection of the moonlight, but a soft glow coming from within. Nina’s face was expressionless, as she tenderly gazed at Luo’er.