Qian Ye leapt onto the truck, meticulously searching inside and out to ensure all traces of himself were erased. Then, he retrieved a force gun from both the guard and Qi Yue.
Qi Yue carried a pistol-type force gun, named Wasp, of exceptional quality with a force conversion rate of 30%, placing it in the category of a second-tier weapon. The guard’s, on the other hand, was an assault rifle model, a second-hand piece retired from the Expeditionary Legion from the last century. Though old, it still barely qualified as a first-tier weapon.
The Empire and the dark races use the same standard for classifying force guns, primarily based on their force conversion rates. A 20% conversion rate is the minimum, making it a first-tier weapon. Each additional 10% increase moves it up a tier. For example, Red Scorpion’s Scorpion Needle Special Edition is a fourth-tier, while the Flowing Gold Rose Basic Edition Qian Ye acquired should be considered a third-tier. As for the antique Dawnlight First Model, it is no longer even considered a first-tier weapon in the current age.
Qian Ye also found the mithril bullet on the guard. This little thing was a deadly tool against the dark races. He opened the sealed box and took a look, the strong mithril scent causing his blood to surge and making him feel unwell.
However, the recent battle with the vampire clan had shown Qian Ye a new possibility: if he could control the power of the blood within him to infuse the force bullets, he might not have to rely solely on silver poison when dealing with vampires in the future. Based on the outcome of the battle against the fourth-tier elder vampire, using heavy projectiles and the extra damage from blood essence would likely allow him to kill a vampire of the same level with a single shot. Even when facing vampires one or two tiers higher, a critical hit should still deal significant damage.
Although Qian Ye couldn’t yet understand the abnormalities in his body, he followed the pragmatic military mindset of using every means available to strike the enemy, focusing only on the results and not on the causes.
Besides the equipment, Qian Ye found several dozen imperial gold coins. Even for someone of Qi Yue’s status, this was a considerable sum.
Qian Ye pulled the tactical backpack off the guard, cleared out the unnecessary items, and kept only the precision tools for maintaining the firearms. He then placed the Flowing Gold Rose and all its tactical attachments inside, along with the disassembled parts of the guard’s assault rifle.
He kept the complete Dawnlight and Wasp with him and began retracing his steps. Soon, he found the chest he had hidden. After sitting beside it and meditating for a while, he heard the crisp chime of the timed lock, indicating that the three-hour alert period had ended.
Gently pressing the switch on the chest, the lid automatically popped open, revealing the cargo covered by thick velvet. A small force level gauge was fixed to the cargo, with a blue wire leading to the timer and a red wire extending to the lid.
To his surprise, the underside of the lid was filled with plastic explosives, enough to completely annihilate both the cargo and anyone holding the chest.
Carefully, Qian Ye removed the level gauge, the timer, and the automatic detonator, then lifted the velvet. He gasped, his face gradually showing anger.
Inside the chest, neatly arranged, were four black crystals, each about the size of a palm and roughly one centimeter thick.
Black crystals!
Qian Ye never expected Qi Yue’s transaction with the vampire clan to involve exchanging black crystals for force guns!
The black crystals in the chest were of standard cutting units, marked with a medium purity rating. These weren’t ordinary combustion-driven energy sources but manufacturing-grade black crystals, which Qian Ye knew were used to create energy compression magazines for force guns.
If these were used for third-tier force guns, each crystal could produce two, while for fourth-tier, two crystals were needed to make one.
It seemed that the power behind Qi Yue had a stable source of black crystals, leading to the idea of long-term transactions with the vampire clan.
And the fully equipped Flowing Gold Rose, with its artistic value, could fetch twenty standard units of black crystals if auctioned in the upper midlands. A fourfold profit, no wonder they risked so much to trade with the vampires. Once this channel was established, gold would flow in steadily.
What angered Qian Ye was that these black crystals, in the hands of the vampires, could become eight Flowing Gold Roses! If they were less refined, ten ordinary third-tier force guns. Even after accounting for other expenses, the vampires would still make at least triple the profit.
Among the dark races, the vampire clan was humanity’s greatest enemy, as humans were still a primary food source for them. In the deep recesses of the Evernight Continent and on the territories controlled by the dark races, countless humans were kept like livestock, serving as sustenance for the vampires.
Millennia of enmity could not be resolved by any means; only death could end it.
But in this context, the Qi family secretly traded strategic materials like black crystals to the vampires. This was outright aid to the enemy! According to imperial law, any connection with the dark races was a serious offense, punishable by life imprisonment at the least. The Qi family’s actions were deserving of total annihilation.
Yet, Qian Ye’s brief service with the Red Scorpion had taught him that things were not so simple. On the distant Evernight Continent, the imperial expeditionary forces held sway. The Qi family’s background was with the expeditionary forces, and if Qi Yue’s claims were true, he was the illegitimate son of a serving general.
Regardless of whether there was a bigger hand behind this disrupted transaction, given the two layers of relationships, it was not just a matter of bringing the Qi family to justice. He first had to worry about the ensuing pursuit, possibly under the name of the expeditionary forces.
After some consideration, Qian Ye decided to alter his original plan. He secured the black crystals, took the chest, and returned to the battlefield with the vampires. Fortunately, there were no signs of anyone else having been there.
He quickly cleaned up the area, arranging the three vampire corpses together, then reset the timed detonator on the chest, placing it on the bodies before leaving.
A few minutes later, he heard an explosion behind him, flames shooting up dozens of meters. The explosives were indeed powerful, and the blast would certainly fragment the vampire corpses, making it impossible to determine their cause of death.
Qian Ye checked his direction and, instead of heading back to Blackflow City, walked north. In that direction lay the Rockhold Territory, the domain of the Third Division of the expeditionary forces.
Unlike the relatively calm Blackflow City, the Rockhold Territory was at the forefront of conflict with the dark races, a mix of various factions. Mercenaries, hunters, and numerous gangs populated the area, making the situation far more complex. The expeditionary forces’ control was much weaker here.
There, Qian Ye would re-plan his future path.
In Cloudsail City, less than two hundred kilometers from Blackflow City, Brigadier General Wu Zhengnan woke up at exactly five o’clock, as he always did. At six o’clock, when the large bell chimed, he entered his office. In his more than three decades of military service, this habit had never changed.
The sky was still dark, with the sun only beginning to shine on the upper midlands in another five hours. But the field was lit like day by over a hundred blazing gas lamps. Troops were already out for morning exercises, their shouts rising and falling in a menacing rhythm.
Brigadier General Wu Zhengnan was not tall, but his physique was as solid as steel. His thick eyebrows resembled unsheathed blades, and though his eyes were disproportionately small, they gleamed with sharpness.
Standing by the window, he watched the soldiers training like dragons and wolves, nodding in satisfaction. He then returned to his desk and picked up the latest imperial courier, reading through it.
Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted him, and Wu Zhengnan’s expression darkened. “Come in!” he growled.
From six to seven in the morning was his time to read the latest news and contemplate the empire’s political situation. No one was to disturb him unless it was urgent.
The door creaked open, and an attractive female adjutant entered, saying, “General, Director Qi says he has something important to discuss with you.”
Qi Sicheng, the logistical director of the Seventh Division, was competent and had a decent way of making money without causing trouble for Wu Zhengnan.
More importantly, he had a very seductive wife who had pleased Wu Zhengnan for over twenty years. She had secretly borne him a son, and Qi Sicheng acted as if he knew nothing about it.
Wu Zhengnan’s tone softened. “Let him in.”
Qi Sicheng, although approaching sixty, looked only in his early forties, tall and handsome, exuding the charm of a middle-aged man. Yet, in front of the medium-sized Wu Zhengnan, he bowed and smiled, always giving an impression of fear and submission.
Wu Zhengnan enjoyed this attitude. But on the surface, he greeted Qi Sicheng with a warm smile. “Old Qi, come in and sit. There are no outsiders here.”
Qi Sicheng, however, stood straight and serious. “General, this is the military. We must maintain strict order!”
Wu Zhengnan sighed. “Old Qi, you’re always so rigid! I’ve told you many times, relax when there are no outsiders. Alright, what brings you here?”
Qi Sicheng lowered his voice. “Last night’s transaction went wrong. Qi Yue and his escort were killed outside the city.”
“What!” Wu Zhengnan jumped up, his face turning pale. “How could this happen? Wasn’t everything set? Did the vampires go back on their word?”
“No, it wasn’t the cold-blooded creatures. My men found the remains of three vampires and fragments of the chest. But the items from both sides were gone.”
Wu Zhengnan’s anger subsided, and he calmed down. “So, someone else targeted our transaction?”
Qi Sicheng spoke slowly. “I don’t think it’s likely. This was a test run, just to open a channel. The value wasn’t high, and the information was tightly controlled. Only a few people knew, and they didn’t know the full details. I’ve checked them all, and they’re clean. So, the most likely scenario is that some passersby happened upon the site and stole the items.”
Wu Zhengnan’s face was stern as he asked, “Any leads?”
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