Chapter 410 - 373: Not History

Chapter 410: Chapter 373: Not History

At noon on the fourth day of the Rule Stage, Guan Tong walked out of the Double Star Bar.

Black Star was highly efficient with his commissions, never causing delays. Every time Guan Tong came by, he could pick up fully charged Psychic Power Crystals.

He stocked up six hundred units each time, which amounted to several thousand after a few visits. This would have been a lot for other Ascenders, but for Guan Tong, it was far from enough.

His own Psychic Power capacity was close to a thousand points, and he could convert a great deal into reserves each day. Between his self-conversion and the external supply, he could bank around fifteen hundred units daily.

It sounded like a lot, but considering the massive drain from Guan Tong’s abilities, it was a paltry amount when he truly needed it.

BUZZ BUZZ.

Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out to see a message from Black Star.

"My sources say someone’s targeting you. Be careful."

Guan Tong replied, "I know."

He had sensed something following him ever since he left the bar.

It wasn’t a person, however, but a micro, low-noise drone.

The palm-sized drone appeared stealthy and maintained its distance, but his Shadow still spotted it.

The reason his Psychic Power drained so quickly wasn’t just due to combat. It was because he almost constantly had a Shadow projected outward, handling surveillance, reconnaissance, and other tasks.

Even if these shadows weren’t large and didn’t drain as much power as a complete, humanoid "Shadow," their cumulative cost over a day still consumed a considerable amount of his Psychic Power.

This was a necessary precaution for Guan Tong. He was in a foreign land, and worse, his agreement with Yelena had unavoidably dragged him into Sisiya’s political maelstrom.

In this environment, fraught with danger, he had to remain vigilant at all times. The multitude of shadows he deployed for reconnaissance and security were therefore indispensable.

He just wasn’t sure who had sent this drone.

’Is it Valery’s crew, or someone else?’

If it was the former, it made sense. He had taken their one-million-Sublimation-Coin deposit. If he just took the money and did nothing, Valery and his men would certainly not let it slide.

’But I only took the deposit last night. Sending a drone after me today, before I’ve even made a move, seems a little too hasty.’

Mulling it over, Guan Tong didn’t look for a deserted spot to use Body Shifting to return. Instead, he strolled around the neighborhood and entered an abandoned park.

He found a bench in the park, lay down, and pulled up his hood, looking for all the world like he was about to take a nap in the sun.

The drone monitored him from a distance for a short while. About ten minutes later, the Shadow Guan Tong had placed at a corner of the park entrance spotted more than a dozen people in trench coats hurrying into the park.

Through its shared vision, Guan Tong saw that all of them had point values displayed above their heads. Some had 1, some had 3, and the highest was 14.

Furthermore, the waists of their coats were all bulging, indicating they were carrying firearms—and they didn’t look like small ones.

This discovery told Guan Tong that these people probably weren’t sent by Valery. Knowing his identity, Valery, no matter how stupid, wouldn’t think that sending a dozen Ascender gunmen would be enough to eliminate "Shadow."

’Then they must be here for my Sublimation Coins.’

As Guan Tong had this thought, he sat up. The group of men had already jogged over.

Seeing the "napping" Guan Tong sit up, they were slightly startled, but they stuck to the plan. They all pulled submachine guns from under their coats and aimed them at him.

The one with 14 points, who appeared to be their leader, cut straight to the chase, his tone menacing. "Hand over your Sublimation Coins and get lost! Don’t play dumb. We’ve been watching Black Star’s shop for two days. We know you’re the one buying up Psychic Power!"

Hearing this, Guan Tong thought, ’Just as Black Star said, spending Sublimation Coins to buy Psychic Power was bound to get me targeted. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I’ve only been buying for a few days, and these thugs have already found me.’

"Don’t you guys think this is pretty risky?" Guan Tong asked. "I mean, did it not occur to a single one of you to think, ’This guy has a lot of Sublimation Coins, so he must be dangerous. We’d be better off leaving him alone’?"

The leader sneered, gesturing with his gun toward the space above Guan Tong’s head. "If you were really so dangerous, would you only have 1 point?"

"..."

Guan Tong was speechless. ’Judging someone’s strength based on their point value is just plain stupid.’

"Listen up! Transfer the Sublimation Coins to me right now, or you’re not walking out of this park today!"

"I’m the one who should be saying that," Guan Tong said. "Give me all of your Sublimation Coins, and I might consider sparing your lives."

"Haha, this foreigner is insane!"

"Enough talk, Boss! Let’s teach him a lesson!"

One of the goons raised his gun, aimed at Guan Tong’s arm, and pulled the trigger. BANG! A bullet shot out. He intended to cripple one of Guan Tong’s arms to show him they were serious.

The next moment, everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The man they were trying to rob had actually raised his left hand and caught the bullet. With a light squeeze, the bullet vanished without a trace, as if it were a magic trick.

One of them pointed at the solid black glove on Guan Tong’s left hand and shouted, "It must be that glove! There’s something weird about it!"

He wasn’t wrong. Guan Tong’s glove, formed from a Nanomite Swarm, could rapidly disintegrate anything it touched. The process was simply too fast for the naked eye to follow, making it look as though the object had vanished into thin air.

"My principles are simple," Guan Tong said as he stood up. "I don’t care if people harbor ill will toward me. But if they act on that hostility and launch an actual attack... I won’t let them off the hook."

Killing intent instantly flooded the area. The robbers felt an inexplicable terror course through their bodies. In their panic, they forgot all about the robbery and just frantically pulled their triggers, trying to kill Guan Tong.

An instant later, they all fell silent. Shadow Thorns erupted from the ground and impaled every one of them. Only the leader seemed to possess a defensive item that neutralized the shadow’s attack.

"Shadow... You... How is this possible..."

The gang leader’s legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground. Guan Tong picked up a dropped gun and sent him on his way with a burst of bullets.

The number above Guan Tong’s head had now changed from "1" to "37." The combined points of the dozen-plus robbers had all been transferred to him.

"I was hoping to keep my score at 1 until the Rule Stage ended..." Guan Tong shook his head.

Just then, he heard the sound of police sirens coming from outside the park. Someone must have reported the burst of intense gunfire.

He had no desire to get tangled up with Sisiya’s public security bureau, so he activated Body Shifting and returned to Yelena’s estate.

Yelena had just finished lunch and was taking a stroll in the courtyard. When Guan Tong emerged from his room, she was about to greet him but stopped, her eyes wide with surprise at the conspicuous "37" floating above his head.

"Teacher, you..."

"Hm? Oh, the points," Guan Tong said, noticing Yelena staring above his head. He didn’t hide anything. "Some robbers attacked me, and I took care of them. These are their points."

"..."

Seeing Yelena fall silent, Guan Tong realized that as the Governor of Sisiya, she might be troubled by the fact that the robbers were Sisiya’s own people.

Even if they were robbers, his act of executing them directly might have made her uncomfortable.

"If you’re not happy about it, you can just say so," Guan Tong said. "But this is how I am. I will always strike back if someone attacks me."

Yelena shook her head. "Teacher, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not blaming you. In fact, I am well aware that in these special times, we can no longer handle everything through proper channels as we would in peacetime."

"Besides, since you say they were robbers who attacked you with deadly force... eliminating them is a benefit to this country."

Guan Tong said, "I’m glad you see it that way. I was worried your position would make it difficult for you to accept what I did."

"No. It is precisely because I am the Governor that I must excise the malignant tumors from this country, so that no more good people are harmed... By the way, Teacher, I already told Sikokun about Valery hiring you for the assassination."

"Oh? And what did she say?"

Yelena replied with a serious expression, "She said she was going to blow up the security bureau and smash Valery into pulp with a hammer."

"...I didn’t realize she had such a wild side."

"She’s angry, but she won’t be reckless. She said she’ll cooperate with whatever plan we come up with. She even said that if it came down to it, she wouldn’t hesitate to give her life. But I told her you would never do something like that."

Guan Tong nodded. "That’s right. I’m no Jing Ke, you’re no Yan Dan, Sikokun is no Fan Yuqi, and that Valery fellow is certainly no Qin Shi Huang."

Hearing this, Yelena looked utterly lost. "...What?"

"Ahem... It’s nothing. Just a small historical anecdote, not important," Guan Tong said, brushing it off. "Let’s stick to the plan we discussed yesterday. Valery’s crew will probably give me three days. During that time, Sikokun will be at the suburban factory, maintaining order for the competition. That place is crawling with dangerous Ascenders, making it a perfect opportunity for an assassin to strike."

"So, if I haven’t killed Sikokun by the time the three days are up and the Rule Stage ends, they’ll know for sure that I’m not on their side and make their move. To seize the initiative, I’ll try to get the video evidence tonight. Then, we’ll act first and report later—take them down, then release the evidence. That way, you’ll have an explanation for the public."

"Alright, let’s do that." Yelena paused, looking at Guan Tong with gratitude. "Thank you, Teacher, for being so considerate of my position."

"You call me Teacher, so of course I have to look out for you. However... I’ll be keeping the one-million-Sublimation-Coin deposit for myself. Is that alright?"

Yelena didn’t say anything, merely letting a small smile grace her lips.