Chapter 116 (1/2)

Maximillius was displeased. Ever since he became a false immortal, all feelings of anxiety and unease had ceased to exist. Nothing could threaten him, and he was never in a dangerous position. However, after his target had fled and couldn’t be found, he once again experienced the feeling of anxiety. It was like a giant hand was slowly approaching him, ready to squeeze him once he was in its grasp. As a false immortal, it was difficult for anything to shake his determination. If he was feeling anxiety, then it meant there was a credible threat to his life. No matter what, that woman had to be found! “There’s still no sign of her?”

“None, sir,” a man said. He was the head of homeland security. The two of them were standing in a room with dozens of men sitting in front of multiple monitors each. In the middle of the back wall of the room, there was a giant display with hundreds of thousands of video feeds on display. “We’ve been searching nonstop, monitoring every video feed on the planet. We’ve tapped into webcams, traffic monitors, doorbell cameras, nanny cams, everything. There’s no sign of her at all.”

“Expand the search!” Maximillius said. “Don’t just search one planet, search them all. Verify everyone’s identity! All suspicious individuals must be apprehended!”

“We don’t have the necessary manpower to do that,” the head of homeland security said. “There are hundreds of billions of individuals. How long will it take to verify their individual identities? We don’t have the same kind of mass-surveillance program that the empire has.”

Maximillius practically growled. “Well, why don’t we?”

“Not all planets were willing to comply,” the head of homeland security said. “As you know, the federation is a joint—”

“I”—Maximillius jabbed at his own chest with his thumb—“am the federation! Me! Without me, there’s nothing to stop the empire’s and coalition’s false immortals. Do you understand?”

The head of homeland gulped. “Even if you say that, to implement the same kind of mass surveillance as the empire’s will take at least a month. Even then, if the target randomly teleported into the ground or escaped into a zone without any surveillance cameras, we wouldn’t be able to find her.”

Maximillius exhaled. “I don’t care what it takes. Find her! Isn’t there a whole world of hostages you can use to drag her out of hiding!?”

The head of homeland security’s face darkened. If it was so easy to find the target, why couldn’t the false immortal do it himself? “I’ll do whatever I can, sir.”

“Good.” Maximillius placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “If you don’t find her, I’ll have your head. Don’t think the law will save you.”

***

Grandpa Vremya frowned. It wasn’t unusual for nascent-soul cultivators to appear in the capital city of Bread. However, for a whole group of them to approach the internet café at once? It definitely wasn’t a coincidence. Along with the turmoil caused by Rachel, there could only be one reason for so many of them to show up. They were here for him and Azalea. Since there wasn’t any news about Rachel dying or being captured, she must’ve gotten away successfully, and who wouldn’t be worried about the tiger returning to the mountain? How could the false immortal sleep well at night knowing Rachel was still alive and mightily pissed off because of her loss? A peak soul-seed cultivator could ruin countless planets while playing hide-and-seek as long as she was willing to throw everything away. The only question was whether or not Rachel would be willing to give up the Moon Lotus World for the sake of her revenge.

“What’s wrong?’ Azalea asked, noticing Grandpa Vremya’s change in expression. “Did someone steal your jungle monsters?”