Chapter 120 - 6: Awakening

Zhai Shijiang looked at Zhang Deming in terror. ’Does this guy have some kind of misunderstanding about counter-interrogation?’

’Waterboarding was terrifying, sure, but how the hell was it even comparable to this ultimate experience with a tentacle monster?’

’Or maybe you have a misunderstanding about what counter-interrogation instructors are supposed to do?’

"Oh, right."

"Well, I’m talking about the physical aspect. You guys probably have some mental crap to deal with too, but I wouldn’t know about that."

"Anyway, in his state, I’m willing to use my Spiritual Power to keep him alive. With a nutrient drip from these Vines, I guarantee he’ll be full of life and vigor for a week or two."

"Oh, I might need to add some psycho-stimulants for that to work."

"I bet you have something in that pile of little bottles and jars of yours, right?"

"Or... how about I give you both a shot of what’s in this syringe?"

"I heard just now that this stuff is called ’Blazing Fire.’ You seemed pretty excited about it."

"How about I give you both a shot? Keep you in that passionate state while we have a nice chat about life?"

"Talk about our dreams?"

"Maybe we’ll have a truly deep conversation that way!"

"MMPH... MMPH..."

As Zhang Deming spoke, Zhai Shijiang started whimpering again.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming finally released the Vine from the man’s mouth. "Who are you?"

"Hongmeng Foreign Affairs Department, Celestial Spirit Special Operations Division, subordinate to a place that doesn’t exist," Zhai Shijiang answered rapidly. His words were precise and concise.

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly. He had understood the words, but at the same time, he hadn’t understood a thing.

"Are you from Earth?" Zhang Deming asked.

Hearing this, a flicker of confusion crossed Zhai Shijiang’s face. Before Zhang Deming could glare at him again, he quickly said:

"Earth? Where’s that? We’re from the Celestial Universe Federation."

"We came after you because of a mission."

"As for the mission details, I’m not too clear on them. I only know the order probably came from one of your own people in the Celestial Spirit Sect’s Inner Sect."

"I don’t know the mission parameters. Jit Tianlin, my teammate next to me, is the one mainly in charge of mission intel."

Hearing this, Zhang Deming breathed a sigh of relief. ’So they’re not from Earth. Not players, Reincarnators, Transmigrators, or any of that stuff. Good.’

’At least that rules out one possible enemy faction—an army of people with mass-produced cheats.’ The thought allowed him to relax completely.

Then, his brow furrowed again as he more or less sorted things out.

’They must be something like foreign agents, similar to the American CIA.’

’Or like some of America’s "non-existent" organizations—personnel with semi-official status who started out as government entities but have now become assassin guilds. And they come from this so-called Celestial Universe Federation.’

’But... there’s a Technology Realm in the Hongmeng Realm?’

’Wasn’t the entire Hongmeng Realm unified by the Three Great Holy Lands tens of thousands of years ago?’

’The culture was unified long ago and has been deliberately maintained in this ancient style. So what the hell is this Federation?’

"You..." Zhang Deming began to speak, but his expression suddenly changed. He whipped his head around in alarm, a Spiritual Light flickering in his eyes.

In the distance, at the edge of the woods, several figures were rapidly approaching.

"Damn it. You should have told me you had more teammates nearby," Zhang Deming said, his face turning ugly.

Zhai Shijiang’s expression changed at his words. "Wait, I can help! I can get them to retreat!"

"Heh, who are you trying to fool? You think I don’t know the Heart of a foreign affairs agent?"

"Or what kind of damned freaks you people are?"

Zhang Deming quickly scanned his surroundings. Gritting his teeth, he sent a Vine slithering out to bind Ling’er securely to his back.

Looking at the equipment on the ground, the Vine picked up all the guns.

In that instant, Zhang Deming’s sense of danger spiked, and the hair on his arms stood on end.

Without a moment’s hesitation, a Spiritual Shield spread out from him.

A long-range sniper bullet materialized against the Shield right in front of Zhang Deming, causing the Spiritual Shield to ripple.

"When you get to Hell, remember to blame your teammates," Zhang Deming said, turning his head back to the two men.

"Wait..." Zhai Shijiang cried out in terror, trying to delay Zhang Deming from acting against them.

Zhang Deming didn’t hesitate. All sorts of Vines erupted from the two men’s bodies, making them look like two bags of fertilizer sprouting countless creepers.

What was even more terrifying was that they weren’t dead. As long as the Vines weren’t destroyed and Zhang Deming didn’t finish them off, they could survive for a long time, sustained by the Vines.

Zhang Deming did this on purpose. He wanted to leave a message for the others.

’As long as they’re skilled in medicine, with their level of technology, it shouldn’t be hard to detect that these two can still be saved—physically, at least.’

’You could even say that with the right methods, they could be rescued ’unharmed’.’

’However, that would require an unknown amount of time, plus certain medical equipment.’

’Zhang Deming hoped to use this to stall for time.’

’If this Federation truly has a culture like the one from my past life, then rescue should be an equally important mission. After all, human life is paramount.’

Glancing at the four people lying on the ground and thinking about his conversation with the two men, Zhang Deming, with Ling’er on his back, summoned Light Wings to his heels, turned, and ran.

’Their target was clearly the two of them—or to be more precise, Ling’er. He was just caught in the crossfire.’

’Until he had a clear understanding of their technological capabilities, Zhang Deming had no intention of fighting them head-on.’

’Technology could be incredibly powerful, but it could also be weak. After all, he wasn’t some ignorant native.’

’But exploiting its weaknesses required sufficient intelligence to determine their technological level.’

’For now, the best option was to run.’

At that moment, the three rapidly approaching figures in the distance all stopped. "What’s going on? Vulture, did you open fire?"

"Didn’t I say not to engage without my order?"

A reply came through their earpieces: "The target’s Quantum Power—uh, Magic Power—wasn’t sealed. He’s already started to run."