Chapter 35: That Year

There were practically no ordinary citizens walking on the streets.

The fifty-thousand-square-meter Xilin Garden was cordoned off with all sorts of warning lines.

Several thousand investigators from the Investigation Bureau, who had rushed over from various places, were all on standby.

The seventy-plus villas inside were now as quiet as if they were in the countryside, where walking by the paddy fields, one would only hear the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs.

Inside the command post, discussions were heated.

Some advocated for an all-out assault at once, giving the cult no chance to react.

Others advocated for sending in a team first to probe the situation, so that further targeted arrangements could be made.

There were also discussions on how to identify the cultists and evacuate the ordinary citizens inside.

Should they detain everyone and interrogate them one by one after destroying the altar, or was there another way?

Xilin Garden was located in the western part of White City, backed by a large bamboo forest.

A river divided it in two.

Behind the bamboo forest was a range of low hills.

The river eventually flowed into the Xiang River.

If the encirclement was not properly set up, it would be very easy for the cultists to take the opportunity to escape.

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses suddenly spoke up: “They won’t run away. If they want to activate the altar, then they can only surround it to prevent us from destroying it. Otherwise, everything they’ve done will be meaningless.”

Someone else said, “The logic is sound, but out of a hundred cultists, even if ninety-nine stay behind to stop us from destroying the altar, the one that escapes will still cause damage to White City in the future. Since we have such an opportunity today, we must pull them out by the roots, killing all the flies and tigers!”

A person next to him wearing a watch looked at the time and said quietly, “There are ten minutes left for discussion.”

“If we have enough personnel, I hope we can tackle it from two angles: launch a surprise attack to catch them off guard, and also have enough manpower to be vigilant against fleeing small fry.”

“But we only have a few thousand people…”

Just as everyone was getting anxious, a communicator came in.

“Report, a call from retired soldier representative, Zhang Heng!”

In the discussion room, everyone looked at each other.

To be honest, they didn’t want the retired soldiers to get involved in this matter, because their combat strength no longer met the standards for battle.

But, at this critical moment, there was no room for so much hesitation.

One more person meant one more bit of strength.

The director took the call, his eyes slightly narrowed, and said a few words: “Good… mhm… you will follow our arrangements when the time comes!”

Zhang Heng held his phone.

Behind him stood over three hundred burly men, all dressed in black combat uniforms, with special iron military sabers hanging at their waists.

If Su Xuan saw them, he would surely be astonished.

Among them were the few “hooligans” who had teased him back then.

Their usual ruffian demeanor was gone, replaced by solemn expressions and piercing eyes.

Zhang Heng held the phone, looked at the Investigation Bureau combat personnel in front of him, and smiled.

“Don’t worry, the people here have all shed blood for humanity. You can trust them completely.”

The Investigation Bureau personnel looked nervously at the several hundred people.
If not for the call from above just now, he really wouldn’t know how to handle this.
He recognized many of the people inside, but that didn’t mean he was qualified to let them go there.

The Investigation Bureau personnel nodded.

The retired soldiers surely knew their own limits and probably wouldn’t let any cultists slip in among them.

“Mhm… the vehicles are here.”

A dozen military-green vehicles shone their bright lights, illuminating Liberation Square and casting a glorious glow on the faces of the several hundred brave men.

Zhang Heng sat in a military vehicle once again and was suddenly lost in thought.

A middle-aged man with blood on his face squeezed himself into the crack of a door, looked at the young man outside, and shouted, “Zhang Heng, fall back! You’re our team’s hope, the only hope of advancing to the Second Form! If you advance to the Second Form, just kill more Dark Abominations to avenge us!”

Another middle-aged man clawed at the door, wanting to go out: “You’re a soldier, you know this. The combat value of a Second Form is much higher than that of an ordinary Initial Form warrior. Twenty of us for one of your Second Form is not a loss!”

“You’re only twenty-five, we’re almost at retirement age! Let us out, quick!”

“No, I don’t want to see what you old geezers look like after you die. Besides, what retirement age~”

After Zhang Heng spoke, he pulled with all his might, and the huge metal iron door was slammed shut.

The middle-aged men all cursed angrily: “You bastard! Break down this door!”

“Bang! Bang!”

“Stop pushing, even a Moon-rank Dark Abomination would take ten minutes to break this door! Right?”

Zhang Heng looked at the five Moon-rank Dark Abominations before him.

They were more robust and had a greater suppressive force than ordinary Star-rank Dark Abominations.

Powerful energons rippled in the air.

With his current strength, he could at most defeat one, and might not even be able to win against a single one.

So, this was the only way.

“Please… Water God!”

Suddenly, a huge, familiar yet strange power surged within his body.

A massive flow of energons rushed into his black battle saber.

The energons slowly passed through the black blade, dyeing it blue.

The body of the blade immediately softened, as if being tempered, becoming bent, convex, and concave…

A blue halo enveloped the battle saber.
After a few seconds, its appearance was finally revealed.

It was no longer an ordinary black battle saber, but one filled with a blue luster, like the battle blade of a water god, exuding nobility and magnificence.

A unique, formless divine charm covered the blade.

“Is this the Second Form? Phew~ It’s really powerful. If I don’t take this chance to kill a few more, wouldn’t it be a huge loss!”

His figure moved, and the left arm of a Moon-rank Dark Abomination was directly lopped off.

In the gap of the ruined house, under the falling sunlight, a streak of azure water brushed through the air where the tip of the blade had passed.

“Awooo~~~”

The Dark Abomination clutched its arm, letting out an unspeakably tragic cry.

“Thump thump thump!!!”

The pounding on the other side of the door grew heavier.

“That kid Zhang Heng… he’s really overdrawing his future!”

“Damn it… what are the higher-ups doing? No notification at all, how could there be a sudden Moon-rank raid!”

“Hurry up and open this damn door…”

Faint voices came from inside the door.
Zhang Heng smiled faintly.

He could no longer stop.

This was his last battle with the Water God, and also his first.

A few minutes later, five Moon-rank corpses were trampled under his feet.

He looked at the bodies on the ground with satisfaction, a wave of weariness washing over his heart…

Zhang Heng felt that being a hero once in a lifetime was enough.

Exchanging a future for the lives of dozens of people was quite a bargain.

He might as well live an ordinary life from now on, marry a wife, have children, and train students.

That could also be considered a contribution to humanity.

In five years, it wasn’t that he hadn’t called out to the Water God.

It was useless.

It seemed to have fallen into an eternal slumber.

Without the support of his Phantom Soul, let alone advancing to the Second Form, even his Initial Form combat strength had begun to decline.

Heretical cults.

Under normal circumstances, someone would come to deal with them.

But this time, it was clear they couldn’t be dealt with.

They were short on people.

So Zhang Heng considered whether or not to exert his final ounce of strength.

Then he heard that the cult had actually kidnapped his precious disciple!

Zhang Heng didn’t even think about it.
He directly picked up the blade he had treasured in his attic, that azure, noble, and holy Blade of the Water God.

Inside the vehicle, the atmosphere was very heavy.

It had been a long time since everyone had worn this uniform, a long time since they had picked up that blade, a long time since they had sat in a vehicle, listening to the unique roar of the engine.

Each had their own stories, and memories flooded their minds like a tide.

The lonely sound of the vehicle’s horn in the dark night traveled far, far away~