49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 310: Chapter 287: The Fish Has Bitten the Hook, Time to Reel In

Shangyuan Zi’s former Chosen Team had three members in total: herself, Moon Fate, and Wuyan Clan.

Just as her name was assigned by the Divine Son, the names of her two teammates were also bestowed by him, each corresponding to their respective abilities.

Wuyan Clan’s ability was impersonation. She could use it to disguise herself as anyone, and as long as her Psychic Power didn’t run out, she could maintain the facade indefinitely.

Moreover, her ability had a unique trait: upon completing a disguise, she not only acquired the target’s face, figure, and voice, but could even mimic the abilities they possessed.

However, the degree of effectiveness depended on the disparity in Psychic Power between herself and her target.

On the strength of this special ability, the Divine Son chose her for the Chosen Team, positioning her as support for Shangyuan Zi and tasking her with infiltration and assassination missions as needed.

The other team member, Moon Fate, possessed an exclusive Psychic Power item: the "Moon Wheel." Upon activation, it summoned a massive, moon-like wheel, resembling a children’s toy.

This wheel could trap a target within it. As it spun, the victim would lose their balance and eventually fall completely unconscious.

In terms of destructive power, both of their abilities were far inferior to Shangyuan Zi’s. They were utility-focused members.

And this was precisely the Divine Son’s philosophy for forming teams: one "destroyer" per team was enough; everyone else was to exist as support for that destroyer.

The Chosen Team’s destroyer, Shangyuan Zi, had been placed under house arrest, and the other two members had been under investigation. Now that Shangyuan Zi was suspected of being rescued by Shadow, her actions were tantamount to outright betrayal.

As her teammates, Moon Fate and Wuyan Clan were immediately placed under strict surveillance. When they were contacted by Shangyuan Zi, they instantly agreed to assist in the capture operation in order to prove their innocence.

As for Shadow...

The action team members gathered at headquarters to coordinate with the special investigation team. The two groups would be conducting a joint operation: the special investigation team would provide intelligence support, while the action team would handle the capture.

"Lord Divine Son’s orders are to capture Shadow as well, if the opportunity arises. If he cannot be taken alive, then he is to be eliminated on the spot," the action team’s Commander said.

The personnel from the special investigation team exchanged glances, feeling this decision was somewhat ill-advised.

An older investigator frowned. "I mean no disrespect to Lord Divine Son, but Shadow has only abducted one person. He hasn’t killed any of our personnel. What if we make such a hard move against him and fail?"

"That’s right. Shadow’s power is too great. Making a mortal enemy of him... it’s just not worth it, no matter how you look at it. If the operation fails and he begins launching indiscriminate attacks, we’ll be completely defenseless."

"Are you bastards questioning our abilities?" a man from the action team, his face covered in tattoos, said with a vicious look in his eyes.

The special investigation team members fell silent. The action team’s Commander spoke up, "This action team is comprised of four Ascender squads. We are confident we can handle Shadow. Especially since we know all about his abilities, while he knows nothing about ours."

"Also," the Commander said, looking at a woman in the special investigation team. "You’re Suzuki, right? You’ve been assigned to the action team as well. Your [Profile] ability may prove useful."

"Yes! I’m honored to serve!" Suzuki declared, her face beaming with pride.

Just then, someone entered from outside, looking grim. "The diplomatic department just received a message from North Star."

"What is it?"

"First, they’re demanding evidence that Shadow is the suspect, which we currently don’t have."

The conclusion that Shadow was the one who abducted her was based entirely on the results of Suzuki’s Profile. But that kind of result could not be presented as concrete evidence for North Star to acknowledge.

"Second... second, North Star says that if it really is Shadow, they advise us to proceed with caution. They say they currently have no official channels of communication with him."

"Hmph. So they’re washing their hands of it," the action team’s Commander snorted. "Forget North Star. We’ll proceed as planned. We move out in ten minutes to the location where Baqizi is scheduled to meet them."

"Sir!"

...

Shangyuan Zi was in a forest, an earpiece in her ear.

She glanced around and asked, "Why did you choose this place?"

Her voice traveled through the earpiece to Guan Tong, who was not with her at the moment.

"I’m very familiar with this forest," he said.

It was true.

After Guan Tong had first arrived in the Andai Kingdom and burned down Ba Song’s manor, he had lived in this very forest for a while.

That had been long enough for him to familiarize himself with every inch of it, which was why he had chosen it as the battlefield.

Without a doubt, Shangyuan Zi contacting Moon Fate and Wuyan Clan had been his idea.

The goal was to lure out the Divine Son’s confidants.

Shangyuan Zi was important to the Divine Son, so Guan Tong knew that as soon as the man received the information, he would surely dispatch at least one of his trusted subordinates to take part in the capture mission.

If Guan Tong could get control of that person, he could in turn learn the Divine Son’s location.

He could have achieved his goal by simply wreaking havoc, but he didn’t like to escalate conflicts. His target was the Divine Son alone, not uninvolved Yingqi People, which was why he chose this method to locate him.

Right now, Shangyuan Zi was in the forest, but Guan Tong was outside of it. He planned to control Shadow remotely, keeping himself off the battlefield to maintain a strategic overview.

He was also doing this to avoid any long-range saturation strikes. Although the Sakura Prayer nation’s military power was greatly diminished after their relocation, and they hadn’t brought much weaponry with them, it was possible they had since purchased more from the Soloma Empire.

After relocating, the Sakura Prayer nation must have felt militarily insecure. They would have found a way to purchase weaponry, even if it cost them a vast amount of Sublimation Coins. And as a major arms dealer, the Soloma Empire would never turn down a paying customer.

If the Divine Son was a madman, he might just unleash a remote bombardment on the forest the moment he knew Shangyuan Zi and Guan Tong were there, which would be quite dangerous.

As for Shangyuan Zi, who remained in the forest, her armor of scales was sufficient to defend against most conventional firearms. Besides, it was impossible to act as bait without assuming any risk, a fact she understood perfectly well.

"They’re here."

Guan Tong’s voice echoed in Shangyuan Zi’s earpiece.

"Two people have entered the forest. It should be your teammates."

"Just them?" Shangyuan Zi asked, curious. "Didn’t they tell anyone else?"

"No, they’re probably trying not to spook their quarry. Only two entered the forest, but they’re both wearing communication devices."

The numerous Shadow Lines Guan Tong had laid throughout the forest monitored the pair from every angle as they entered.

"My guess is that as soon as they see you, they’ll notify the capture team. Then, to catch us by surprise, that team will likely use some kind of Teleportation Items to instantly warp to your location."

Guan Tong was well aware that after demonstrating his abilities so many times, his enemies would surely have countermeasures prepared.

There was probably already a team dedicated to collecting intelligence on him and studying the specific effects of his powers.

No organization would be foolish enough to attack him head-on now. They would definitely opt for a surprise attack. And what could be more surprising than an ambush via Teleportation Items?

"They’re heading your way."

"When are you going to make your move?"

"I won’t move until the enemy does. I’m not making a move until their main force shows up."

A few minutes later, Moon Fate and Wuyan Clan found Shangyuan Zi.

The moment the three met, the atmosphere grew tense.

Shangyuan Zi was the first to speak. "I contacted you and invited you to leave with me. Since you’re here now, does that mean you’ve agreed?"

"Yes. We’re with you, Team Leader, through thick and thin," Moon Fate said.

Wuyan Clan asked, "Team Leader, the one who broke you out was Shadow, right? Why don’t we see him?"

"Leave this country with me, and you’ll meet the one who saved me."

Wuyan Clan and Moon Fate exchanged a glance and dropped the pretense.

Moon Fate said coldly, "Team Leader, did you really think we’d still be free to do as we please after you were taken away?"

"..."

"We don’t understand, Team Leader. Why did you betray Lord Divine Son? Betray us? You’re partly responsible for Instructor Mu Tian City killing himself in despair... Have you no sense of gratitude at all?"

Shangyuan Zi said coolly, "Should I be grateful that they raised me just to send me out to turn people into Snake Servants? Grateful that they want to use my power to help them achieve their delusional dream of world domination?"

"And why shouldn’t you be?" Moon Fate’s face was a mask of disbelief. "This is an age of survival of the fittest!"

Wuyan Clan chimed in, "Team Leader, Lord Divine Son only asked you to turn ordinary people into Snake Servants. Don’t you know that in this day and age, the lives of ordinary people are meaningless? As normal humans, they’ll die sooner or later by breaking some rule of the world. It’s better for them to contribute their value as Snake Servants."

Listening in from outside the forest, Guan Tong felt more sorrow than anger as he heard their words.

’Their rhetoric proved that the Fire Thief had succeeded in dividing humanity. Ascenders like them, who no longer even viewed ordinary people as human, represented the dominant ideology among the leadership of the Sakura Prayer nation.’

’Perhaps there was another reason Shangyuan Zi had given him the Qimo Star Fragment. She must have felt that her environment was beyond saving, and that acquiring more power would only lead to more harm being inflicted on humanity.’

"Team Leader, it seems you’re a lost cause." Moon Fate produced a scepter-like item and planted it in the ground.

A ring of light immediately blazed forth from the scepter.

"We know we’re no match for you. That’s why we have people specially assigned to handle you. As for where Shadow is, I imagine we’ll find that out when we interrogate you after your capture."

As the ring of light expanded to its peak, more than a dozen figures appeared within it.

It was the action team, having arrived via a mass Teleportation Item. In addition to the four Ascender squads, there was the Commander and Suzuki, totaling fourteen people.

The Commander had already heard their conversation through his earpiece. The moment he teleported in, he gave the order: "Apprehend Baqizi immediately."

The four Ascender squads immediately surrounded Baqizi. One of them threw several Smoke Bombs, and thick smoke instantly billowed out.

These men knew Shangyuan Zi’s abilities well. They knew the first step to capturing her was to block her vision. Otherwise, if she activated the power in those slitted pupils, they might suffer hallucinations or even be transformed into Snake Servants.

Guan Tong, watching this scene unfold from a distance, knew the fish had taken the bait. ’Time to reel them in.’

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