Blind Spot
Chapter 255 - 237 heading to Yi (Thank you to the wise, brave, and clever Ling San, Alliance Hierarch)

Chapter 255: 237 heading to Yi (Thank you to the wise, brave, and clever Ling San, Alliance Hierarch)

Shuoyang City, night, 21:30.

On the bustling streets, where crowds once thronged, now there was complete emptiness.

Robots that automatically swept up trash roamed about, their wheels jammed by several shredded plastic bags, rendering them immobile.

Whirring.

Amidst the faint hum of engines, a black sedan emblazoned with a pale blue tiger sped toward the suburbs.

Inside the car.

The Dragon Gate Crane’s older brother, Ji Xian, sat with his hands on his knees, irritably loosening his tie around his neck.

After loosening the tie, he casually picked up a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Greyish rings of smoke spouted from his nostrils, gradually fading and dispersing, sucked away by the car’s automatic air system.

"Alliance Hierarch, the current situation isn’t looking too good. Our bars all over are being deliberately provoked, leading to closures. Should we rally our brothers and mount a counterattack?" the silver-haired man with a scholarly demeanor in the passenger seat said gravely.

"From the confirmed intelligence, how many are targeting us?" Ji Xian asked coldly.

"Three. Yalong Gang, Black Sand from outside our area, and Kunyu." the silver-haired man answered.

"They’re joining forces to press us, ah..." Ji Xian took a drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaling, trying to ease his tense and rapidly operating nerves.

"The situation now is, with these three gangs uniting against us, our voice in the provincial alliance is completely suppressed, and on the local level, the new head of the security department also belongs to their camp," said the silver-haired man.

"Let’s evacuate. I’ve made arrangements on another front; we’ll temporarily concede this territory to them," Ji Xian said after a moment of silence.

He knew how difficult it was to make this decision. Some territories, once given up, would be hard to reclaim later.

But at this point, there was no other choice; resisting with all their might would be pointless.

Instead, it was better to cede the territory, letting the three rival gangs tear at each other’s throats first.

"I agree with your decision," the silver-haired man said softly.

"Also, have you found any leads on my brother?" Ji Xian asked, wearily leaning back.

"Not yet, but considering Mr. Ji Shenglong’s status, he might already be in the Blind Spot. At such a critical juncture, diverting manpower to search for him might not be very rational," the silver-haired man said gravely.

"Perhaps... he’s already unknowingly died somewhere in the Blind Spot... In this family, the only one capable of holding the fort now is me," Ji Xian said, nodding in agreement.

"Forgive my frankness, but Mr. Ji Shenglong is a Blind Spot Individual. Based on the time limit, his time isn’t much. If you had taken my advice earlier and used him as a sacrificial pawn to attract the Yalong Gang’s people and set up our plan..."

Bang!!

Suddenly, Ji Xian’s hand pierced through the back of the front seat, grabbing the silver-haired man by the neck from behind.

"Are you trying to insult me?" His grip tightened around the man’s throat, choking him, as his face slowly turned red.

"To rely on abandonment to gain so-called victory... that’s an insult to my abilities!" Ji Xian huffed coldly, his gaze sharp and vicious.

"Besides, no matter how useless he is, he’s still my brother. It’s not your place to design and arrange his fate!"

"...." The silver-haired young man, choked to the point of turning purple, had veins bulging on his face.

Only when he was on the brink of unconsciousness did Ji Xian slowly release his grip, smoothing out his slightly wrinkled sleeve.

"Even if you kill me, it’s useless," the silver-haired young man said, his gaze unyielding. "The situation won’t change because of it."

"You understand nothing," Ji Xian said coldly. He closed his eyes, saying no more.

In his mind, he recalled the scene when his father transferred leadership to him.

"From now on, I will handle everything on the gang’s side!" he declared resolutely in front of his father.

"It’s my responsibility, and my duty!"

"I believe in you," his father Ji Qiang said, sitting in a leather chair, his expression somber. "But what about your brother Shenglong? What do you intend to do with him?"

"...." Ji Xian didn’t respond. He had no good impression of his useless brother.

"Be good to him," his father said gravely. "The day before yesterday, he signed a property division agreement with me. He said... he doesn’t have the ability to help the family, that you have more capability and are so much stronger than him. So, he willingly gave up all his inheritance rights, transferring everything to you."

"...!?" Ji Xian was taken aback, the coldness in his eyes softening slightly with disbelief.

"He could do something like that?"

"Your brother..." Ji Qiang paused, turning his head to look out at the night scene beyond the window.

"He has tried too..."

In the car, Ji Xian’s gaze returned from the past to the present.

He gently snuffed out the cigarette butt.

"If I can easily give up on him, then... I could even more easily give up on you, on everyone around me, on everyone."

"Do you understand?"

The color of the silver-haired man’s face changed slightly in the front row. He understood the underlying message.

*

*

*

"Weakness..."

"What exactly is a weakness?"

In the Garden.

After talking with the boss, Xindela, Li Chengyi still stood alone under the moonlight, pondering the deeper meaning of their conversation.

The boss Xindela’s original words still echoed in his mind like a movie on repeat.

"Weakness is the place that can greatly diminish your strength; it’s a flaw, a gap, a fatal weak spot," Xindela had said meaningfully.

"Weaknesses only exist relatively. To an opponent far stronger than you, any part of you could be a weakness to him," Xindela elaborated.

"Of course, that’s a discussion on another level altogether," he continued, looking at Li Chengyi.

"Increasing your strength is of course necessary. But covering your weaknesses ensures you won’t be easily defeated by opponents much weaker than you."

"You can achieve invincibility, where your strengths can overcome your weaknesses," said Xindela. "You can be impervious to all attacks."

"Impervious to all attacks... Then, how should I go about it?" Li Chengyi asked with a serious tone.

"It’s difficult, I’ve never accomplished it, but I know someone who did," Xindela replied. "His methods can serve as a reference for you."

Li Chengyi stood still, listening intently.

"In that person’s view, vulnerabilities come in two types: physical and mental. Physical vulnerabilities are the aspects of your daily routine that could allow someone to cause you fatal harm with ease.

For example, when you go out to buy a drink. If someone can predict your movements and knows your preferences, then they might be able to replace the drink you’re buying with a lethal poison that could kill you," explained Xindela.

"Another example is the food you eat. If the entire cooking process is handled by someone else, someone with ill intentions simply needs to exploit the countless vulnerabilities in the cooking process to succeed."

"Additionally, if someone has precise information about your whereabouts and plants a large quantity of explosives in certain empty spaces ahead of time. Once you enter and trigger them, you would be doomed."

Xindela gave several examples in one go.

"You’re right..." Li Chengyi nodded earnestly. "So... Can these dangers be avoided with technological equipment?"

"Do you know why every top-level Feiyi Master must assemble and create their equipment with their own hands?" Xindela asked.

"Because they’re worried about sabotage!" Li Chengyi said.

"So then? With the incomprehensibly complex processes behind the technological equipment you possess, can you truly trust it completely?" Xindela countered.

"Indeed..." Li Chengyi said, as if he had come to a realization.

"So, faced with such vulnerabilities, some choose to establish a relatively perfect system that allows mutual supervision to ensure their absolute safety.

Others choose to optimize themselves, eliminating any possible flaws from their daily lives."

"Optimize oneself..." Li Chengyi stood in The Garden. "Isn’t the safest method to have others misjudge you, causing them to attack with the wrong means and thus allowing you to fully eliminate the threat?"

"Never reveal all of your secrets and information. Only then can you always keep others guessing about you and ensure you always have room to maneuver," said Xindela.

"Hiding and improving yourself as much as possible maybe the greatest safety and invincibility..."

With physiological vulnerabilities, like poisons, he had the Flower Language Technique, which should provide an effective method of defense.

"But you must be careful; in case you encounter a poison that even my constitution cannot withstand or develop a resistance to, it would only take one mistake for something to go wrong."

Standing in The Garden, Li Chengyi organized his thoughts thoroughly.

He began to plan even more for his future path and direction.

Regaining his focus,

he once again concentrated on his current Divine Flower Position.

Right now, the only Divine Flower Position that had achieved complete Flowers was the Purple Magnolia.

The Purple Magnolia was evolving for the first time, so there should be a significant enhancement.

Raising his hand, his fingers gently pressed on the Purple Magnolia tile.

He still had 144% of Evil Thoughts.

As he controlled it with his mind, a hundred units of fear from Evil Thoughts rapidly flowed into the tile.

Hiss.

A faint purple glow lit up, illuminating the lower half of Li Chengyi’s face.

The light lasted for two seconds before extinguishing.

New feedback information flowed in at the same time.

’Purple Magnolia: Second evolution 0%, Evil Thoughts 0%.’

’Flower Language Technique: Mother of Heart Enhancement (Feedback: When a sub-body successfully activates a Floral Bead, the sub-body will feed 10% of all-around physical condition into the main body) (Floral Beads currently activated: 3.)’

"...Incredible!"

No sooner had the evolution completed, Li Chengyi felt a cool sensation throughout his body as three streams of air emerged from his heart, spreading to every part of his body.

His entire body felt lighter and more robust, and his spirit was more vigorous.

"Isn’t this encouraging me to increase the number of Floral Beads as much as possible? The number of Floral Beads is determined by the number of Divine Flower Positions, which means... activating more Divine Flower Positions is the real shortcut to strengthening the Purple Magnolia?"

Li Chengyi suddenly understood.

Now that he had acquired the Green Electric Greatsword and the Gladiolus Ultimate Form, technological adversaries posed much less of a threat to him.

As long as he wasn’t exposed to long-range bombardment or energy laser fire, other threats were minor.

This would also allow him to devote more effort to finding the ultimate way out within the Blind Spot.

With the appearance of Dark City, the difficulty of the Blind Spot had already started to increase significantly.

’The Purple Magnolia is still in season; I’ll go absorb new Flowers tomorrow to prepare for the second evolution. Tonight, I need to think carefully about which new Divine Flower Position to target for activation.’

*

*

*

In Luo An.

A testing facility recently acquired by Da Xiong.

In the spacious training grounds, two silver figures were quickly engaged in a sparring match.

From the sidelines, Da Xiong and Xiao Zhong were carefully manipulating the floating holographic screens, observing the special data transmitted by sensors from all around.

"The impact force of the punches exceeds one ton. The kicking power of the legs is over two tons. According to Reinforced Human standards, they could be regarded as having the equivalent fitness of a perfectly evolved specimen. The Armor’s defensive capabilities are also strong; it can protect against most conventional small arms fire on the market. It only sustains damage under special armor-piercing attacks.

But after being damaged, it will slowly self-repair; minor injuries heal overnight. Extensive damage will require further observation," Da Xiong explained in simple terms for everyone to understand.

"I must say, this Fantasia Floral Armor fulfills all of my fantasies about Biological Armor..." Xiao Zhong sighed.

"Yes. All these features are actually secondary. The key aspect is the slow but constant enhancement of the wearer’s all-around qualities; that’s what’s truly frightening," Da Xiong nodded seriously.

Through the high-strength glass, the two observed Rainbow Candy and Dragon Gate Crane sparring inside.