Chapter 673 – Riot Shields (1/2)

Chapter 673 – Riot Shields

The following morning, I saw Li Mu, Wang Jian, Meng Yao and the others off at the bus stopheaded for the airport before turning the car around to return to Hangzhou with Wan Er, Dong Cheng and Tang Qi. The Hero’s Wings Cup has finally come to an end for the Chinese region. While our results are definitely quite acceptable, we’re still going to have to double our efforts over this coming month. In just 30 more days, the true finale Hero’s Wings Worlds will take place. And by then, we won’t be fighting just for the sake of [Zhan Long] but the entirety of China.

……

We arrived at Hangzhou around 11 o’clock and had lunch around 12 before going online in the afternoon.

Whoosh!

I spawned inside Tian Ling City. I glanced at my stats window to confirm my level; Lv 123. The sixth class advancement isn’t until level 150 so there’s still a ways to go huh. Oh well, no hurries, I’ll go at my own pace. After getting my equipment repaired, I decided to stock up on some tier 10 herbs over at the Eastern City Gates. I figure it’s time to level my skills a bit.

Not long after, a chime sounded in the game; ah, it’s from my private cell phone. The ingame HUD displayed the caller ID—— Shen Bing.

For Shen Bing to call... something must’ve happened at the Base! Promptly answering, Shen Bing’s cheery voice was transmitted over——

“HIIII!!! Congratulations, Special Ops Squad Leader Li, for achieving second place in the [ Heroes’ Wings Cup] with your harem. Don’t forget to treat us comrades to a meal too, alright?”

I couldn’t hold back a chuckle, “Shen Bing-jie, please don’t tease me!’

Shen Bing laughed, “What? When did I ever tease you! Oh right, you do know that a lot of our Special Ops members also play [Destiny] too right? There’s a rumor that it helps with bringing out our brains’ untapped potential. So anyway, everyone only has admiration for you now. You see how I’m doing in [Thousand Burial]? Not worth mentioning whatsoever. We barely even reached the top 256 before getting kicked out! Pisses me off so much…… Wei Fan and You Yi… these 2 nimrods practically made every category in the 13 levels of stupidity……”

I politely coughed twice, “Shen Bing-jie, let’s not be too vulgar…… This is still an official call alright? Did we get a new order from above? I don’t think you’d call me for no reason.”

Shen Bin’s voice turned serious, “Mmmhm. Be here within an hour. And bring ‘that’ with you. There’s a big mission for us.”

“Got it!”

……

After ending the call, I sent Wan Er a message: “Wan Er, I need to return to Base for a bit. There’s work to do.”

She immediately replied, “Be extra careful and come back soon! No matter what, your safety comes first, Piggy……”

“Yea I know, don’t worry. Don’t forget, my martial arts are the best in the world!”

“……”

……

When I logged off, I took the password secured trunk out from under my bed. After unlocking it, I quickly equipped myself with two combat knives and a M9 pistol as well as several spare magazines; grabbing Xiao Hei last. I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me as I gripped the familiar hilt. It is said that a subtle synergy exists between a sword and its wielder, which seemed to be true. This feeling has been intensifying over time as my cultivation continuously became more and more refined. Just like Gramps said before, with the progression of my cultivation, the sword will integrate with me more and more until it becomes an extension of my body; able to unleash even greater lethality than ever before with the most casual of swings.

I went downstairs after wrapping Xiao Hei in a black cloth. Hopping into the A4, I sped out of the Liú Huá University premises accompanied by the sound of a roaring V6 engine. Gotta admit, it’s become so much more convenient now that I have my own car.

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the Base. The trooper on lookout recognized my car and saluted me with a smile, “Squad Leader, you’re here!”

“Yea.”

I stopped in the parking lot and walked towards the debriefing room, Xiao Hei in hand. Located underneath a water tower surrounded by a vegetation landscape, the conference building exterior is normally overgrown with plants and grape ivy. Since winter was almost here, the ivy had already withered. Despite that, it was still an otherworldly sight.

Creak…...

The door opened and Shen Bing, in a trim police uniform, greeted me with a smile, “Hurry it up! Everyone’s been waiting for you!”

“Okay!”

I quickened my pace and followed Shen Bing down the long corridor leading to the building’s depths. The debriefing room is located on Basement Level 3. Inside the well illuminated room sat approximately 37 heavily armed Special Ops members. After we suffered those losses from the previous couple missions, we received quite a bit of reinforcements. Some were even pulled over here straight from the Special Forces.

Captain Wang, who was working next to the projector, raised up his head upon my entry, “You’re here? Take a seat.”

I went and sat at the very front.

“We received intel just now. This evening at 18:00, Wei Fan’s henchman, You Yi, will be representing him at drug trade taking place on a boat under Bridge #16 over at Yanjiang Avenue. Our intel gauges that it will be a large scale exchange with an estimated value of around $100 million RMB.” Captain Wang gives a short rundown of tonight’s mission.

I couldn’t stop myself from frowning, “Blood Scythe is extending its hand into the drug trade now?”

“It has been all along.”

Captain Wang continued, “Basically all the drugs in the illegal nightspots of north Hangzhou are supplied by Blood Scythe. Wei Fan is not the type to be satisfied with just the earnings from bars and night clubs.”

Someone near me interjected, “Captain, isn’t this a job for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)?”

“Officially, yes... it is.” Captain Wang admitted, “But with circumstances as is, the involvement of Blood Scythe and the one identified as ‘You Yi’ means that the Artificials will definitely show up as well. By themselves, the DEA will just be sitting ducks for the slaughter. Therefore we’ll be co-operating with them this time. Also, the Nanjing Military will be sending some people over too so this operation will be a coordinated effort by three different units.”

“Nanjing Military?” Doubts rose up within in me.

“Yes. It shouldn’t be a problem. They should be here any time now.”

The corner of the Captain’s lips faintly curled up.

……