novelTele Chapter 55: The Senator's Fury
Chapter 55: The Senator's Fury
Just minutes before Lin Yun killed Smith and the black man, a storm was brewing at the HR Alliance headquarters on the other side of the world.
The former EU territory, after the Great Rebirth, became the core sphere of influence of the HR Alliance. A massive complex, converted from an old military base, stands in the wilderness, with high walls, electric fences, patrolling mech warriors, and ubiquitous surveillance equipment, making it look like an impregnable fortress.
Deep within the complex, in a windowless, secluded room, an elderly man with gray hair stands in front of a giant screen wall.
Clement von Schwarz, a senior member of the HR Alliance, is one of the de facto controllers of the European underworld. His family was one of the oldest noble families in Europe before the Great Nirvana. After the Great Nirvana, they rose rapidly from the ruins with their vast wealth and advanced technology, becoming a significant force within the HR Alliance.
Clement was sixty-seven years old, but he was very well-maintained and looked only in his early fifties. He was tall with a sharply defined face and sharp gray eyes like a hawk. He wore a well-tailored black suit with a gold HR Alliance badge pinned to his chest, exuding the authority of someone who had long held a position of power.
At that moment, his gaze was fixed intently on an image displayed on the screen wall.
It was a low-resolution video feed, seemingly transmitted in real-time from some mobile device. The image was shaking violently, with a dark cave in the background, littered with blood and rubble. In the center of the frame, a mysterious figure in black combat gear stood beside two corpses, twelve silver throwing knives slowly circling around him.
The mysterious man's face was covered by a mask, revealing only a pair of calm eyes. There was no fear, no hesitation, and not even a trace of emotion in those eyes, as if killing was as natural to him as breathing.
The image freezes on this frame.
"This is the last image Smith transmitted before he died," a technician in a white coat said in a low voice, his voice tinged with tension. "The signal was cut off after it was sent, and Smith and Jackson's vital signs have disappeared. They... should be dead."
Clement remained silent. His eyes were fixed on the mysterious figure on the screen, his gray pupils burning with fury.
Smith was one of his most capable lieutenants, a peak-level advanced war god martial artist who had followed him for over a decade and handled countless difficult tasks for him. Jack, though slightly weaker, was still a mid-level war god and utterly loyal. These two men were the result of his considerable investment in training, yet they were now dead in an unnamed cave in City 003.
The one who killed them was a young man whose voice wasn't very loud.
"Zoom in on his face." Clement's voice was calm, but those who knew him knew that this calm was more terrifying than rage.
Technicians quickly zoomed in on the boy's face in the image. However, the mask covered most of his face, leaving only his eyes and a small patch of skin on his forehead visible.
"Can facial recognition match them?" Clement asked.
"Trying." Another technician typed rapidly on the keyboard. "The database contains facial information of all War God-level martial artists worldwide, but... his mask covers most of his features, so the match is very low. Moreover, judging from his physique and eyes, there doesn't seem to be anyone in the database who is a perfect match."
"So, he's not on the God of War's list?" Clement frowned.
"We can't rule out that possibility," the technician said cautiously. "It could also be a relative or disciple of someone who surpasses the level of a War God and isn't officially registered."
Clement was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Search for all War God-level warriors in the entire city of 003 and its surrounding hundred-mile radius."
"Yes, Congressman." The technician immediately began operations.
The HR Alliance has information-sharing agreements with major martial arts schools, governments, and militaries worldwide. While it cannot directly access the core secrets of other forces, it can still query the levels and basic information of martial artists. Especially for War God-level martial artists, each one is registered in the War God Palace, making their information relatively transparent.
A few minutes later, the technician looked up: "Sir, there are a total of 38 War Gods in the entire city of 003 and its surrounding hundred-mile radius. Among them, there are 23 Junior War Gods, 10 Intermediate War Gods, and 5 Senior War Gods. This is the detailed list."
A list appeared on the big screen, with each person's photo, name, affiliation, and martial arts level clearly displayed.
Clement's gaze swept over the list of high-ranking warriors. Apart from the already deceased Smith, he recognized the other four—three were warriors from the Limit Martial Arts School, and one was a warrior from the Thunder Martial Arts School. They were all veteran powerhouses who had been famous for many years and could not possibly be the mysterious person in the picture.
"What about intermediate and basic War Gods?" Clement asked.
The technicians retrieved the lists of intermediate and beginner-level War Gods. There are 10 intermediate-level War Gods and 23 beginner-level War Gods.
Clement's gaze swept over the information of these people one by one. He noticed that there were two mentalists among the intermediate-level War Gods and four among the novice-level War Gods. Mentalists' combat power far exceeded that of ordinary martial artists at the same level, especially their throwing knives controlled by mental power, which closely matched the attack style of the mysterious person in the picture.
"These six people are the most suspicious," Clement said, pointing to the names of the six psychic masters on the list. "But we can't rule out the possibility that someone is hiding their strength and acting as a low-level war god."
He paused, then asked, "What about Warrior General level? Search for Warrior General level warriors."
The technician looked somewhat troubled: "Councilor, searching for warriors at the general level requires S-level authorization from the Alliance. Because… the location information of general-level warriors is obtained through communication watches, which is strictly prohibited under normal circumstances. If the outside world finds out we are monitoring the location of warriors, I'm afraid…"
"I authorize it." Clement's tone left no room for argument. "I'll take responsibility for any problems that arise."
The technicians exchanged glances but said nothing more. Clement was a senior member of the HR Alliance with S-level authorization. Since he had said so, they would simply do as he said.
The technician entered a long authorization code on the keyboard and pressed the confirmation button. The large screen began to refresh rapidly, and a map appeared, densely marked with hundreds of dots—each dot representing the location of a warrior of general level.
"Your Excellency, there are a total of 213 warriors at the general level in the entire city of 003 and its surrounding hundred-mile radius," the technician reported. "Among them, there are 96 junior generals, 74 intermediate generals, and 43 senior generals. Here is the detailed list."
The list appeared on the screen, a dense array of names and photos. Clement's eyes swept quickly across the names, his mind racing as he analyzed them.
There's a general rule among mental cultivators—the strength of their mental power is usually two levels higher than a martial artist's physical attributes. In other words, a high-level warrior might possess mental power equivalent to a mid-level war god; a mid-level warrior might have mental power equivalent to a low-level war god; while a low-level warrior's mental power can at most reach the level of a high-level warrior, far from the power displayed by the mysterious figure in the image—able to simultaneously control twelve throwing knives, each carrying the force of a high-level war god's full-force strike. Such mental power is at least at the high-level war god level.
Based on this pattern, someone who possesses advanced War God-level mental power should at least be a high-level War General, or even a low-level War God.
Therefore, the focus should be placed on high-ranking generals.
Clement's gaze fell upon the list of high-ranking generals, examining each one individually. Most were adults in their twenties or thirties, with some in their forties. Their photos, names, affiliations, and martial arts ranks were clearly displayed.
"Huaxia Kingdom Extreme Martial Arts Academy, Jiangnan Base City, Yangzhou City, Lin Yun, Junior Warrior."
Clement's gaze lingered on a name. Not because the name was anything special, but because of his age—fifteen. Among all the warriors at the general level, he was the only minor.
"A fifteen-year-old junior warrior..." Clement murmured. To possess the strength of a junior warrior at such a young age was indeed impressive, but with the physical attributes of a junior warrior, his mental power would at most reach that of a senior warrior, far from sufficient to kill Smith. His suspicion was probably minimal.
This was also thanks to Lin Yun's foresight in not verifying his own strength. He only submitted the materials for two novice beast generals to raise his level to novice warrior general.
Clement shifted his gaze and continued browsing information on other high-ranking generals.
But he didn't notice that in the list of junior warriors, the photo of the boy named Lin Yun—although it was just an ID photo—had a striking resemblance to the eyes of the boy in the picture.
"There are 43 high-ranking generals in total," Clement told the technicians. "These are the most suspicious. But we can't completely rule out junior and mid-level generals either. It's not impossible that someone is deliberately hiding their strength and acting as a low-ranking general."
He turned to the technicians and said, word by word, "Starting today, keep a close watch on these 213 people we found today."
The technician's expression changed: "Congressman, full surveillance? This...this would require a huge amount of manpower and resources..."
"Then invest more manpower and resources." Clement's tone left no room for argument. "I need to monitor two things. First, observe whether their warrior levels will improve significantly. If anyone breaks through from a junior warrior to a senior warrior or even a war god in a short period of time, report to me immediately."
"Second, monitor their bank accounts. Those items are quite valuable, and if that mysterious person wants to sell them, they will definitely try to monetize them through some channel. Pay attention to large transfers of funds, especially those from unknown sources."
"Yes, Congressman." The technicians dared not say anything more and immediately began making arrangements.
Clement looked back at the image of the masked man on the screen, a cold glint flashing in his gray pupils.
He was determined to get that thing.
While the combat suit and sword were valuable, they weren't enough to warrant such a drastic move. What truly drove him to reclaim them at any cost was the contents of that palm-sized metal box.
The box's previous owner was a high-level War God-level mentalist, who was also his son-in-law. He obtained the treasure inside the box during an exploration of ancient ruins, but this secret was known to no one except his wife at the time!
Later, during a hunt, he encountered a King-level monster. After being severely injured, he fled to City 003. There, he encountered the Mighty Demon Ape. Knowing that he could not escape, he sent a message to his wife before he died, telling her what had happened and asking her to tell her father, the powerful councilor Clement, to come and take the treasure!
However, as members of parliament, their actions were bound to attract attention, especially since a powerful member of parliament from China was permanently stationed in City 003. Therefore, they could only send their subordinates, high-level War God-level experts, which unexpectedly benefited Lin Yun.
"No matter who you are..." Clement said in a low voice, his voice filled with icy killing intent, "No matter where you hide, I will find you."
He raised his hand, turned off the image on the screen, and turned to walk out of the secret room.