Chapter 265 Fox Hunting

In the forgotten dark corner of the city, Zao Wou-Ki was like a giant bear walking alone in the night, slowly walking through the narrow and winding streets.

Every gap between bricks and stones seemed to carry his heavy footsteps, echoing in the quiet and dilapidated atmosphere.

Whenever he met pedestrians unexpectedly, those hurried people would subconsciously shrink their pupils after catching a glimpse of his sturdy figure like an iron tower, and then quickly retreat to both sides, leaving a clear path for this man as majestic as a mountain.

Finally, under an old street lamp with a faint light swaying, Zao Wou-Ki locked on the target of this trip - a simple grocery stall run and guarded by a young child.

This stall was obviously mobile in nature, with wooden shelves slightly worn and mottled, and rough table legs, but it stubbornly carried a wide range of goods, like an isolated island shining alone in this remote place in the dark night.

At this moment, the whole city was shrouded in a haze of chaos and anxiety. In this remote place late at night, a child dared to set up a stall to do business. This was undoubtedly particularly abrupt and eye-catching.

Zhao Wuji walked steadily towards the grocery stall that exuded a lonely but firm light. He seemed to be casually flipping through the various small objects placed between the rows of wooden grids. In fact, every subtle movement revealed vigilance and alertness in his calm expression.

"The old owl told me that the quality of your goods here is outstanding. He has paid a deposit in advance. I came here to pick up the goods for this reason."

This sentence was like a low note rising from the calm lake, thick and rough, and it was powerfully uttered from Zhao Wuji's mouth with a beard as thick as a bunch of weeds, echoing in the silent night alley.

However, what responded to him was not the usual greetings from the vendors, but a hoarse and slightly trembling voice from the child's mouth.

"Ah, so you are the distinguished guest. Please wait a moment, please move aside a little so that the uncle behind can see the goods clearly."

Just as Zhao Wuji turned sideways as he was told, he realized that in the cold shadows of the street corner, a pair of eyes as cold as a knife were staring at the stall under the street light.

The murderous aura in that look made Zhao Wuji, who had been on the battlefield for a long time and experienced countless life-and-death battles, feel a chill in his heart, and his hair stood up instantly. A strong sense of crisis seemed to be a tangible object pressing straight into his heart.

With a playful and vigilant smile on his lips, Zhao Wuji responded calmly:

"It seems that your stall is really a 'registered business'!"

Although there was a joke in his words, his eyes never left the dangerous existence hidden in the darkness.

The dwarf merchant rubbed his rough hands, and a smile mixed with strangeness and uneasiness appeared on his face, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Although my stall is inconspicuous, it is a law-abiding and serious small business."

The dwarf deliberately emphasized the tone of the four words "legal operation", as if conveying some information to Zhao Wuji.

He carefully took out several heavy documents folded like bricks from his robe, which was worn but meticulously arranged, and handed them to Zhao Wuji respectfully, and took the heavy money bag in his hand without hesitation, and the money and goods were paid.

In this tense atmosphere, the observer in the dark did not hide his presence, but rather tapped a device on his left hand quite naturally.

Zhao Wuji saw through it at a glance, that guy was recording the transaction information through the bracelet.

As a hawk dog of the Tiandou Empire, he was obviously sure that those who came here to trade would not dare to act rashly.

Zhao Wuji felt deeply disgusted with this kind of hawks and dogs. In order to get rid of this place of trouble as soon as possible, he quickly restrained his emotions and strode back to his temporary safe house.

The meeting room of the safe house was brightly lit, and the magic lights were dazzling, illuminating the room like daylight.

Flanders sat on a large leather chair, his exhausted body leaned forward slightly, gently stretched his stiff muscles, and then gently adjusted his glasses on his nose with his fingertips.

The desktop was full of intelligence materials collected from all over the world. These dense texts and sketches were the basis for his ongoing intelligence compilation.

At this moment, Flanders' mind had already sketched a picture that was gradually becoming clearer but still blurry. All the clues were like pieces of puzzle pieces waiting to be assembled. Although most of them had been put in their places, there were still one or two key pieces of information missing, making the whole picture unable to be fully displayed.

At this moment, a familiar, solid and powerful footsteps came from outside the door, and then, accompanied by a muffled sound, the heavy wooden door was pushed open by a powerful hand.

It was Zhao Wuji who had just finished a deal after a day of running around outside and walked into the room.

"Flanders, this is the clue I got from the intelligence dealer according to your suggestion. I have roughly browsed it on the way, and the situation is not optimistic."

Zhao Wuji handed over the text in his hand while speaking, with a solemn expression on his face.

"The Tiandou Empire has implemented a strict blockade of all sewer exits and dispatched personnel to gradually explore in depth. It is estimated that the hiding place of Ross's gang will be found as early as tomorrow, or even tonight."

Flanders took the information handed over by Zhao Wuji, quickly scanned and digested the content.

"Using quantitative change to cause qualitative change, and advancing step by step through carpet searches, is indeed the usual method of the Empire, but it is indeed effective. We don't have much time, and we must act before them."

Flanders dug out some marked texts from the pile of messy documents and carefully compared them with the intelligence in front of him.

As he spoke, he accurately picked out several marked documents from the messy and numerous documents on the table and carefully compared them with the new intelligence brought by Zhao Wuji.

"After all, those high-ranking officials will not easily share the intelligence they have worked hard to dig out. If we want to avenge Lu Qibin, we can only rely on our own strength."

As Flanders spoke, he stood up and walked to the huge map of the sewers of Soto City hanging on the wall behind him, focusing his sharp eyes on a specific area and circling it heavily.

"Ha, I found you!"

The intelligence he had compared before was the wanderer who disappeared inexplicably after the city-wide carnival and before the food crisis.

In order to avoid being driven away, the wanderers in Soto City sometimes hide in the complex and dark sewer system.

There are various possibilities for their disappearance, but the sudden disappearance of a large number of them only means one thing, that they are in the way of some ruthless people.

"Old Zhao, tell Qin Ming about these things in person."

Although Zhao Wuji had a grudge against the imperial hawks he had met before, under Flanders' resolute gaze, he finally nodded and turned to walk out of the meeting room.

"Next, let's see what surprises our outstanding apprentice can bring us."

——

Qin Ming sat at his desk, holding the intelligence document he had just received from his mentor Zhao Wuji.

The texture of this paper has a familiar coldness, but it seems to contain a fiery power, just like the temperature transmitted by Zhao Wuji's calloused hands.

Scenes of the past emerged in his mind: the process of struggling and climbing in the Royal Dou Academy, and finally being promoted to a teaching position, and the consistent strictness and care of Teacher Zhao Wuji.

Thinking of the subtle anger on Teacher Zhao Wuji's lips at that time, and the force with which he put the information into his palm. How could he not understand the meaning of these things?

Now as a sharp sword under the command of Qian Renxue, the Queen of the Tiandou Empire, Qin Ming deeply understands that behind those seemingly ordinary orders, there are actually conflicts of interest and strategic layouts at the core of the empire.

He clearly remembers that the series of events that have come one after another recently originated from a secret order from Her Majesty Qian Renxue.

Qin Ming stood up and walked slowly to the window. Outside the window was the brightly lit aristocratic district. Even though the city was facing the threat of famine at the moment, the prosperity there was still the same.

Through the glass of the window, he seemed to see two worlds

-one was the nouveau riche with singing and dancing, and the other was the real world where the lower-class people were struggling to find a little precious food.

"Sure enough, Teacher Zhao Wuji still sneered at these people in the empire as he did in the past." Qin Ming said in his heart.

Principal Flanders' intentions were clear to him. He wanted to use Qin Ming as a chess piece to cleverly change the situation in the complex political situation, and even let the intelligence personnel become the vanguard of the charge.

This kind of calculating and unyielding character is undoubtedly the embodiment of Principal Flanders' consistent style.

Recalling his youthful years in Shrek Academy, Qin Ming couldn't help but curl up a warm smile at the corner of his lips.

At that time, he grew up with his partners and experienced wind and rain together. That memory has been deeply imprinted in the depths of his soul and has become an indelible part.

Despite this, Qin Ming did not lose his way because of personal feelings. He repeatedly weighed the potential risks and possible gains of this action in his mind. After careful consideration, he decided to report this intelligence to the relevant person in charge of the Tiandou Empire.

He knew that although the influence of the Wuhun Hall and the Xiaolunhui Academy has become increasingly significant in recent months, the belief from Shrek Academy in his bones is ultimately the most solid rock in his heart, which is much more far-reaching than any short-term camp influence.

With the delivery of this key intelligence, the huge intelligence network began to slowly start up like a precision machine.

In the archives in every corner, the long-sealed documents were opened by pairs of well-trained hands, and detailed and secret local terrain data were dug out one by one from the files full of traces of time.

These precious intelligences were posted on the intelligence analysis board page by page, and the intricate network of relationships was accurately marked through the logical grid woven by thread and needle.

The secret base in Lodz was originally a mausoleum of an ancient and unknown noble. When the underground construction project accidentally touched this area, no specific records were left on the engineering drawings, as if it was a corner forgotten by history.

As time passed, this mysterious place gradually became a secret base for marginal groups living at the bottom of the city. They gathered here and carried out activities that were not seen in the sun.

However, under the surging undercurrent, this plot of land that was originally ignored by the world quietly transformed into an important intelligence safe house deployed by the Xingluo Empire.

Now that the truth has surfaced, for those agents who are well versed in such high-risk covert operations, how to formulate a precise intrusion plan and subjugation plan based on the unique structure of this place is just a task that can be easily handled using the experience and skills accumulated over the years.

——

At this time, Ross, like a cunning fox who is unique in the world, has already keenly sensed the potential crisis here before the intelligence personnel of the Tiandou Empire took action.

He stood on the rooftop of an inconspicuous small building on the edge of the rich area, and leisurely examined the "scenery" shrouded in a tense atmosphere with the faint light of a new moon hanging in the night sky.

"Those hawks and dogs of the Tiandou Empire still maintain their usual stupidity."

Ross's mouth drew a mocking arc, and his eyes flashed with a wise light, "Such a blind large-scale action, but failed to be silent, is tantamount to alerting the snake, and will only become a laughing stock of others."

He gently shook the wine glass in his hand, and the crystal clear liquid glowed with an attractive luster under the new moon, as if he was showing the sky the dilemma his opponent was about to face in this way.

"I wonder if this 'gift' I specially prepared for them tonight will surprise these self-righteous bigwigs?"

He toasted a glass to the crescent moon in the sky, and then tasted it slowly.

On the street not far away, a group of figures in tight and capable clothes gradually appeared. They were the elite assaulters carefully selected for this operation.

Each team member was fully armed, and under the heavy coats were various sophisticated and complex equipment, enough to deal with any emergency.

In order to ensure the smooth execution of the key task that the queen attached great importance to this time, the commander did not hesitate to transfer a number of precious soul guides from the mysterious and powerful Xiao Lunhui Palace as support.

As the khaki soul power fluctuations quietly flowed between each team member, a strange pattern similar to a formation slowly took shape among them.

Since Mu Zhe made public a lot of information about soul power cultivation and application, the Royal Fighting Academy has also made breakthrough progress in the research of martial soul fusion mechanism.

At this moment, their research results will show their true power on the front line of actual combat.

At the moment when the formation pattern was gradually completed, a strong vibration spread from the center of the formation, like thunder. Then, the ground under the feet of the commandos suddenly cracked, and with the sound of bricks and rubble breaking, they were sucked into the huge spirit chamber hidden deep underground.

What greeted them was not the expected fierce attack, but a deep silence, as if it was the calm before the storm. This strange calmness made people feel nervous.

"Not good!" The captain's shout was like thunder exploding in the night sky. All the team members instantly tensed their nerves and slapped the soul guide activation device on their waists without hesitation, ready to deal with the crisis that might come at any time.

Then, a fierce explosion carefully planned by Rhodes broke out in the underground spirit chamber, like the fire of hell sweeping out, shaking the heart of the entire city.

On the balcony in the distance, Rhodes leaned against the railing, leisurely admiring his masterpiece, with a satisfied smile on the corner of his mouth.

However, when the smoke and dust from the explosion gradually dissipated, his sharp eyes caught something strange - those commandos who should have been turned into dust in the explosion were now standing safely in a huge transparent shield.

It was the modular rune defense shield that had shined in the fire of the Little Samsara Palace before, which withstood this devastating attack with its magical power.

Seeing that his carefully arranged trap was cracked, Ross's face changed slightly, anger and frustration intertwined, and he angrily smashed the wine glass in his hand to the ground.

The crisp cracking sound accompanied by the splashing crystal fragments and spilled wine was heard far away in the slightly silent night, like a whine for his failure.

At the same time, the cunning owl Flanders, hiding in the dark corner of the street not far away, caught this clear signal with his sensitive ears. His eyes flickered, as if he had found the direction of his prey in the dark.

"Finally found you! Ross!" Flanders' deep voice echoed in the night wind, "Today, Shrek will make you pay with blood. What you have done will come to an end tonight!"