Chapter 41: Landing on Shanli Island

In a private estate, a man in his early thirties was holding a tablet and flipping through documents.

He was Liu Hetong. Although he was already over seventy years old, his appearance remained remarkably youthful.

This was thanks to the latest biotechnology, with anti-oxidation results that were exceptionally pronounced. The average lifespan of the upper echelons had long since reached the milestone of one hundred and twenty years.

"Councilor, the Five Forms Sect has sent a reply," his secretary suddenly walked over to Liu Hetong and said.

"I know. Continue to maintain contact with them, and provide as much convenience and assistance wherever possible," Liu Hetong replied indifferently.

"Understood," the secretary nodded and then walked away.

After the secretary left, a meaningful smile appeared at the corners of Liu Hetong's lips.

Those fellows had finally failed to restrain themselves and made a move. Did they really think he favored a policy of appeasement?

To him, the reintegration and administration of Shanli Island was the smallest slice of the pie in terms of political achievements.

The real, substantial cake was the incriminating evidence left behind by those councilors up above.

This was the exact reason why he targeted Shanli Island the moment he took office. As for the Five Forms Sect, it could only be said that their involvement was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.

However, merely obtaining the incriminating evidence against those councilors would only cause them to lose some popular support; it couldn't inflict any fatal damage. After all, in the current Eastern Polar State, the major aristocratic families still held the real power.

Therefore, Liu Hetong had set his strategy for Shanli Island as autonomy, deliberately refraining from dispatching personnel to assist with governance.

This meant that for quite a long time, he would have no control over Shanli Island, and might not even know what was happening there.

And the reason for doing this was to lure those councilors into sending people to clean up the traces and silence the place.

If these traces were found, it would only be a minor annoyance for them. But if the councilors resorted to military force, things would be entirely different.

That would violate an unwritten rule among the upper echelons of the Eastern Polar State: armed forces could only be used outwardly and never in internal struggles.

He had even investigated and found that these fellows had called in five sets of active-duty Blade armor, which made the matter infinitely more serious now. It was almost as if they were afraid he wouldn't have enough evidence.

As long as the people from the Five Forms Sect could leave behind the wreckage of even one powered exoskeleton, he would be able to bark loudly and tear them apart in the council assembly.

Sure enough, it was impossible for every single member of a powerful family to be smart; there were always some who feared being treated as disposable pawns and would make foolish moves. His bait had worked after all.

Even so, he couldn't let down his guard just yet.

The people of the Five Forms Sect possessed commendable strength, but compared to those five sets of Blade armor, it still felt somewhat risky.

Upon second thought, however, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Even if they could deploy the Blade armor, they certainly wouldn't be able to get their hands on certain matching heavy weaponry. The application process for such armaments was rigorous, and once strategic-level weapons were mobilized, the situation would escalate beyond control.

By then, he wouldn't even need to make a move; the entire interest-driven class would collectively target the individuals responsible.

As long as strategic weapons were not equipped, the Grandmasters of the Five Forms Sect should still stand a fighting chance.

It was just a pity that he had taken office only recently, and the usable personnel under his command were scarce. Moreover, he didn't dare leave behind any compromising paper trails; otherwise, why would he ever need to rely on this group of martial artists?

Putting that aside, to think that mere flesh and blood could actually contend against armored units...

"There are simply far too many of these Grandmaster martial artists! Their numbers still need to be thinned down!" Liu Hetong muttered to himself.

***

Over at the Five Forms Sect, after deciding to head to Shanli Island to handle the situation, preparations were immediately organized.

Zheng Chengze rapidly mobilized the relevant security personnel, leaving out anyone below professional rank three.

At this moment, the profound foundation of the Five Forms Sect was fully displayed.

With a single command, more than six hundred security personnel of professional rank three and above all reported for duty, armed with high-powered firearms and wearing modified exoskeletons.

This firepower output was entirely comparable to average rank-nine professional martial artists.

The very next day, the group assembled on the outskirts of the city closest to Shanli Island and boarded a retrofitted transport vessel.

Aside from Elders Zheng Chengze and Wang Quan accompanying Li Long this time, Zhang Ji also volunteered to come along. Additionally, Wu Chen was on board as a pivotal figure.

The plan was already finalized: they would land at the spot closest to Kui City District.

From there, they would fight their way through to take control of Kui City District, first checking on whether Old Kui and the others were safe, and then gathering more detailed information from the locals to formulate a more comprehensive assault plan.

Traveling by ship was different from taking a helicopter. After tossing about on the waves for the better part of a day, late into the night, they finally caught sight of the outline of Shanli Island.

This, however, had been calculated in advance—the goal was to make a nighttime landing.

The security captain woke up the resting personnel, who then donned their exoskeletons.

Zhang Ji and the others also made their respective preparations.

Wu Chen had already put on his exoskeleton, but seeing that Zhang Ji was still wearing casual clothes, he asked, "Don't you need one?"
"That gadget of mine isn't as tough as I am. Wearing it is just climbing into an iron coffin," Zhang Ji replied.

Wu Chen remained skeptical.

When Zhang Ji left Shanli Island, although he already possessed considerable mastery in hard qigong, at that time he definitely couldn't match the hardness of these advanced exoskeletons.

Faced with Wu Chen's skepticism, Zhang Ji reached out and pinched the exoskeleton armor on Wu Chen's arm.

*Crunch!*

A shallow fingerprint appeared on the surface.

Wu Chen's eyes widened, his expression filled with sheer disbelief.

This wasn't some welded tin can cobbled together back on Shanli Island; this was ultra-hard alloy, the kind that would merely deform even if struck by a low-yield missile.

To pinch a dent into it with bare hands?

And it looked like he hadn't even used his full strength!

Was he a monster?

Zhang Ji had no intention of explaining. He simply finished his preparations and walked over to Li Long's side.

Li Long was wearing lightweight exoskeleton armor, and both Zheng Chengze and Wang Quan had custom models designed to make it easier for them to unleash their own physical strength.

If Zhang Ji wanted to, he could have gotten a set as well, but this time the matter arose too suddenly, and there hadn't been time to procure one. Standard-issue exoskeletons would only hinder his flexibility rather than help.

Soon, the transport ship smoothly docked against the shore.

The group remained undetected because they hadn't chosen to land at the harbor, but rather on the opposite side of the island.

However, reconnaissance drones had already spotted the enemy vessels anchored at the harbor.

"An older model ship, doesn't look domestic. Can't tell where it's from, looks more like a pirate ship, and the crew left behind doesn't look local either," a professional technical specialist reported.

"Disguises are normal; they wouldn't dare openly fly official flags," Zheng Chengze nodded.

"Time to land!"

Receiving the onshore intelligence, Li Long issued the order.

Landing ramps were immediately extended from the ship to connect with the island. The troops moved out rapidly in formation, securing advantageous positions before all-terrain armored vehicles rolled off the vessel one after another.

Zhang Ji and the others sat inside one of these vehicles as they drove together toward Kui City District.

After so much time had passed, revisiting this place stirred a subtle feeling within Zhang Ji's heart.

He actually had the absurd illusion of returning in glory!

Yet this wasn't a triumphant return; they were here to clean up a mess.

Before they even reached Kui City District, apple-sized micro-drones transmitted reconnaissance intelligence from ahead.

Thermal imaging roughly revealed the silhouettes scattered throughout the area.

There were fewer than ten armed personnel present, and they lacked any anti-reconnaissance measures.

Furthermore, they seemed to be indulging themselves entirely; there weren't even any sentries posted, and they appeared to be playing with women inside the rooms, enjoying themselves lawlessly.

"Huh? Could they really be pirates? So lacking in discipline!"
"Most of them probably are real pirates, but the core personnel should be official operatives."

Before the armored vehicles closed in on Kui City District, some operatives had already infiltrated the district. The vanguard force directly smashed open the gate, and the pirates who were still making merry inside were instantly subdued.

In less than ten minutes, the entire Kui City District was under the control of the Five Forms Sect.

The captured pirates were shouting in the Roman language.

Li Long had a disciple who understood Roman interrogate them.

Pirates lacked any real willpower; after chopping off a couple of fingers and asking a few questions, they spilled everything.

"The people weren't all killed. Three of them were locked up because they possessed some useful information. The rest of these guys were just left behind here to garrison the place, scavenge valuables, and wait for the return voyage," the interrogating Five Forms Sect disciple told Zhang Ji and the others.

"Where are they locked up?"
"The dungeon!"

***

*Creeeak—!*

The heavy iron door of the dungeon was pushed open, and Zhang Ji and Wu Chen stepped inside.

A foul, putrid stench hit them in the face. Zhang Ji turned on the lights—they were dim, orange-red vintage bulbs.

Old Kui, lying on a cot, had already been drawn by the commotion. He squinted slightly against the light, looked at the two men, parted his lips, and asked, "What's the situation?"

"The Five Forms Sect has taken over," Zhang Ji replied, then stared at Old Kui's bare right arm and asked, "Old man, how did you end up in such a miserable state?"

"If you're just here to dish out cold comfort, you needn't have bothered," Old Kui sat up and retorted irritably.

Zhang Ji tossed out a box of cigars. Old Kui quickly thrust out his left hand to catch it, pulled one out, and Wu Chen hurriedly stepped forward to light it for him.

After taking a deep drag, Old Kui said, "Damn it, I really missed this taste!"

"Didn't you organize a resistance? What happened to the others?" Zhang Ji asked.

"Quite a few were killed, but two are left—they're right next door!"

As Old Kui spoke, he struck the wall forcefully.

Almost the moment he finished knocking, a voice rang out immediately.

"Zhao Kui, what the hell are you banging around for in the middle of the night? Trying to get us killed?!"

It was Hong Kang's voice.

Who would have thought that despite fighting each other to the death in the past, they would end up resisting together and becoming cellmates now.

"What about the other one?" Zhang Ji asked.

"Fatty, someone's here for you!" Old Kui shouted loudly.

"Who? Who's looking for me? I'm trying to sleep!" Fatty Xiong mumbled drowsily in reply.

They were all still quite familiar.

"Tell me, what's the exact situation? Roughly how many people were there, and where did they go?" Zhang Ji asked.

***

Meanwhile.

The pirates were still reveling in the joy of plunder, wantonly venting their desires.

However, five individuals wearing silver-white exoskeleton armor stood out in stark contrast.

They were genuine regular soldiers, embedded among the pirates this time and dispatched to execute a classified mission.

At this moment, they had also received the intelligence that the Five Forms Sect had arrived.

"Someone has landed. It's people from the martial arts community, including three Grandmasters..."

The person who obtained the information reported it in great detail. The Five Forms Sect's movements were so massive that investigating them was effortless, and not everyone within the sect was truly loyal to the core.

"Captain, what do the superiors say?"
"We already have a lead. They told us to evacuate immediately once we find the items, and try to avoid clashing with them. If we run into them, kill if we can; if not, prioritize extracting the mission items."
"Should we tell these pirates?"
"Pirates? Heh! It would be best if they all just died here!!"