Chapter 116 - Isolated
Just as a whole troop of men came charging into the inner region of the base, a vaguely transparent white screen suddenly rose from Owl’s Sanctuary, enveloping the entire base from within.
This white screen was called a large communications inhibitor, able to create high-density spatial interference waves that inhibited any communication signal within the covered area, preventing transmission, thereby isolating the universe at large from contacting anyone within the base, and vice versa.
“Follow me! The heart of the base is on the top floor. Let’s charge in and capture Scar alive,” Ning Baichen exhorted with his two arms raised.
The paths in Owl’s Sanctuary were in a spiral, going from the dock at the very bottom all the way to the command center on the highest level, so they required people to climb quite a long distance which comprised sixteen floors.
Around eight thousand warriors hailing from different forces all surrounded Nin Baichen and the other local giants, forming an assault formation as they pushed forward.
The path on both sides had some function houses and warehouses. These warriors continued to purge the enemies from both flanks as they made progress, looting anything valuable that they came across like a swarm of locusts. Everything was left in tatters as they went away; anything valuable would be snatched, and anyone breathing was killed.
“This is an alcohol warehouse! Everyone, come quickly!”
It was unknown who yelled this, but thousands of warriors surged into the warehouse to grab the stored items even as they drank what they could, emptying the place in the blink of an eye.
Tully was dark-skinned, a complexion that was as black as charcoal, so Xia Fei could not see any visible change in his skin color, though Tully’s face was frozen in astonishment and fear as he sweated profusely from his forehead.
He had always thought Xia Fei was just an average hooligan who was greedy, slick, and afraid of dying. Such people were a dime a dozen in the Wild Star Region and were completely worthless. He had been disappointed when Ning Baichen instructed him to keep an eye on this person, wishing he could just slap Xia Fei to death.
Tully never thought Xia Fei could so easily restrain him as he did. From the instant Xia Fei unleashed his explosive strength and speed, Tully could tell that he was not just some random hooligan but an expert, instead. The placement of his hand on his neck had been perfect, making it such that he would be unable to make a noise while ensuring the strength he used would not kill him outright. Just this confidence Xia Fei was demonstrating in his strength control was far above his.
“To think you’re actually an expert… a speed ability user?” Tully gathered what courage he had to ask this question. His throat hurt from being manhandled by Xia Fei, so his voice was still a bit hoarse.
Xia Fei nodded slightly and reached out to remove Tully’s red armband, and there seemed to be a button-sized item in that thin, red cloth.
Xia Fei slowly pulled down the armband and flipped it over to examine it.
All he saw was a circular metal item that was stuck to the armband with super glue. It was completely imperceptible if anyone was merely looking at it.
“Our armbands seem to be different.” Xia Fei smiled. “You now have two options: Either you tell me yourself or I force it out of you.”
Xia Fei intentionally pushed the point of his blade an inch closer so that it was now poking Tully’s skin, sending that ice-cold metal sensation straight to his brain.
Just as Tully was about to speak, Xia Fei suddenly drew an arc and slashed open his throat. Tully’s eyes rolled and he collapsed onto the ground. There was a final shudder from his body before he became dead to the world.
“Why did you kill him?” Phantom asked, puzzled.
Xia Fei exchanged Tully’s armband with his own. “His eyes were quite frantic, blinking thrice every second. That means he’s trying to come up with a lie, and I wasn’t interested in hearing any of it.”
Phantom pouted. “I realized that you have an almost paranoid trust of your judgment. What would a few blinks tell you? What if he’s preparing to tell you the truth?”
Xia Fei shook his head. “If I were in normal circumstances, there would indeed be no harm in hearing him out, but where am I right now? What’s my present state? The only one I can trust at the moment is myself, and since I’m already suspicious of his words, why should I bother listening? What if he told me some lies which ended up clouding my judgment? I can’t risk that.”
Phantom was speechless for a good while before finally heaving a helpless sigh. “Sometimes, I really do wonder if you’re the assassin or me. Forget it; what are you planning to do next?”
Xia Fei gave it some thought before answering, “The men from the Ning clan have a different armband than others. There’s more to this here. Also, Scar’s men are acting very strangely. Their very orderly retreat seems like something that they’ve rehearsed prior.
“This situation is very complex. I’m not exactly sure, so it’s best to keep observing before we decide on our next actions.”