Chapter 86 - 75. Difficulty

The deep roar was like that of a lion awakening. Everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter. The tent fell into a dead silence; the old man stared at the photo in his hand for a good while before slowly closing his eyes and speaking in a deep voice, "What else did Wei Shutong say?" "There’s nothing else," Xia Feng shook his head. Wei Shutong had also given him a USB drive, but he hadn’t said it was for Big Face Cat; he only asked him to keep it. The seven captains sat in silence, looking at the pile of photos of the girl’s head from various angles on the table. The atmosphere was dead silent for a moment until a captain with the build of a tiger and the waist of a bear suddenly slid back his chair and stood up: "Dammit, Liszt, that bastard of a mutt! Let’s finish him off!" As he rose to his feet, Chen Hangdao next to him also stood up: "Director, at this point, let’s just go for it!" "Director! Just give the order, and I, Guan, will fight to the death without retreat! Let’s take down that bastard Prince!" "Count me in," Freya said with a smile, stepping forward. Four of the captains had made their stance clear; the remaining three sat with furrowed brows in silence. Unlike the other four, these three had family members controlled by Prince. Xia Feng had only brought photos of the Director’s granddaughter; they had no knowledge of their own family member’s situation. But considering the state of the Director’s granddaughter, they couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Liszt had no credibility; if he could fool Xuanwu, the Director, using such methods, it was hard to guarantee that he hadn’t fooled them too. "Dammit!" A bald captain suddenly stood up, his face grim, "That bastard threatens me every day, I’m sick of it! Let’s do this!" The gentlemanly captain with glasses closed his eyes, sighed, and stood up: "Count me in as well." Finally, everyone’s gaze focused on the towering figure of Captain White Dragon. White Dragon’s face shifted between hope and despair, unable to make up his mind. At that moment, the oppressive silence was broken by the gentle voice of Mu Qingtong: "Scholar Luo De from the Spirit Science Institute has just published the latest research on the Dream Evil species: ’The Effect of Low-Temperature Superconductive Materials on the Persistence Time of Dream Evil Species.’" Seeing everyone’s confused looks, Mu Qingtong continued softly, "It mentioned a small detail; normally, the Spiritual Bodies created by the Soul Devouring Evil can only exist for about 60 seconds before disintegrating, but when acted upon by low-temperature superconductive materials, they can last for about 483 seconds, which is roughly eight minutes." "Think about it. Have you ever had a video call with your family that lasted over eight minutes?" Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Following Mu Qingtong’s words, the three captains hesitated, their pupils dilating slightly. Indeed, their conversations with their families were very brief, never exceeding eight minutes due to various reasons. This most likely meant that what they were speaking to were fake constructs made by the Soul Devouring Evil; these fakes could only maintain their presence for a maximum of eight minutes. Their real family members were probably already dead. Seeing the reaction of the three, Mu Qingtong closed her mouth and said no more. She wasn’t interested in the matters of Prince and the Holy Department, but the thought of Liszt and the Divine Evil Association colluding could affect her life in Zone 51, she knew Liszt had to be dealt with. All eyes were on the black-dressed woman wearing half-frame gold-rimmed glasses. In the dim light, they hadn’t taken much notice before, but now they realized just how extraordinarily beautiful she was and... "You look familiar," a captain muttered, then suddenly his eyes lit up, "Holy crap! Aren’t you Mu Shen?!" "I am your die-hard fan, Mu Shen! Do you know how much I love that song you sang about the Qing-Tibet..." Seeing the thirty-something-year-old man become so excited and talking non-stop, Xia Feng’s mouth twitched slightly. Was Mu Qingtong really that famous? Even a Holy Department captain was her fan?! "Let me formally introduce them." Freya smiled and said, "These two are my students, Xia Feng, the adopted son of Wei Shutong, and the most anticipated genius at Weiyang Academy. And this is Mu Qingtong, from the Mu family of Taicang, considered to be Chen Hangdao’s niece, a walking encyclopedia. You can ask her about anything you don’t understand regarding Spirit Science." "Damn, Chen Hangdao, when you mentioned Little Mu, your niece, you meant Mu Qingtong?!" Guan was shocked. Chen Hangdao smiled and nodded. "Wait, you also said your niece was engaged, and her fiancé is..." The young man looked towards the silent Xia Feng and his excitement immediately deflated like a kicked dog. Damn it! "Zzzzz—" While the others were interjecting, White Dragon silently stood up from his chair, which was taken as a declaration of his stance. Seeing this, everyone stopped talking. Director Xuanwu looked around silently and knocked on the table, speaking in a deep voice, "Since everyone is determined, let us not delay any further and start the strategic deployment immediately. Li Sheng, go and gather the team members first." "Yes!" Li Sheng, standing to one side, left with a stern voice. The old man continued, "As long as Liszt is alive, he will sooner or later betray Zone 51 again. Therefore, our only target this time is one, to kill Liszt! Liszt has seven Third Ranks under his command and two Fourth Ranks. I can handle two Fourth Ranks on my own, and the rest of the Third Ranks are up to you to deal with." "Director, you’re going to take on two Fourth Ranks?" White Dragon was taken aback and said gravely, "That doesn’t seem right, Fourth Ranks aren’t so easy to....." He was cut off halfway when the bespectacled man beside him pulled on his arm and shook his head, whispering, "The Director was once a Fifth Rank Spirit Master before falling to Fourth Rank due to a curse in the Beiqiu Holy War. His legs were severed, and his soul was heavily injured." In fact, Zone 51 once had a Sixth Rank Venerable based there a long time ago, but the Venerable fell during the Beiqiu Holy War, and both the military district and the Holy Department’s strength in Zone 51 were damaged. This was perhaps also the reason the Divine Evil Association originally targeted this place. "So it’s like that..." White Dragon’s eyes widened. If the Director was once a Fifth Rank Spirit Master, then even after falling to Fourth Rank, his strength must still be far above that of a regular Fourth Rank. After all, only his Spiritual Pressure had decreased, but his combat experience, the number and proficiency of his Spiritual Clothes, and the unlock state of his Spiritual Artifacts would not have changed. Taking on two united Fourth Rank experts shouldn’t be difficult; the only fear was a relapse of his old injuries. Xia Feng, who had overheard the conversation, nodded thoughtfully. Regarding combat power, the Holy Department and Liszt were actually evenly matched; previously, Director Xuanwu was unwilling to act, probably due to restrictions imposed by threats to his family. That’s why Wei Shutong had planned the raid during the banquet—to find evidence that Xuanwu’s granddaughter was truly dead and to completely resolve the Director’s hesitation. "With this in mind, there remains one last difficulty." Director Xuanwu spoke in a deep voice, "According to the information Wei Shutong provided us on previous occasions, there’s a small Infinite Field Barrier arranged around the birth ceremony. If Prince encounters danger, he will immediately hide inside the Barrier." "Really now, that guy actually carried away so many Infinite Stones!" Guan exclaimed in irritation, his teeth itching with anger. Creating an Infinite Field Barrier—even a small one—required an enormous amount of the Infinite Stone’s mass. Hearing the words ’Infinite Stone,’ Xia Feng’s eyes lit up reflexively. Although he already possessed 500g of the Infinite Stone, enough to live comfortably for several years, who wouldn’t want more Infinite Stones? "So, how do we break through a Barrier that only a Venerable can deal with?" White Dragon frowned and asked gravely, "Or do we kill the Prince before he activates the Barrier? But that’s damn hard; it only takes an instant to activate the Barrier." "Moreover, we haven’t counted Prince’s combat power before. Even though Prince lacks combat experience, he is still a bona fide Third Rank Spirit Master." Everyone fell silent. In the deathly still atmosphere, Xia Feng cleared his throat and spoke, "Actually, I have a method. I wonder if everyone is interested in hearing it?"