Light Fortress
Chapter 193 - 180 Night Xiao (2nd update)

Chapter 193: Chapter 180 Night Xiao (2nd update)

He retrieved the Compass.

Gu Shen’s thoughts once again entered a state of extreme calm and an incredibly slow, wondrous realm.

When something happened—

What often needed to be thought about was not the reason that caused it all.

Just as a bomb explodes in an instant, simple and brief.

Similarly, when the symphony in the hall surged... hypnotizing ninety percent of the high-ranking individuals in the Dadu District of the East Continent Federation, a feat that seemed utterly impossible, had already been accomplished by Xiao.

The completion of it all appeared effortless and relaxed... but the important part was "appeared".

This was the effect that the mastermind behind it all wanted to create—

What did the Federation’s defenses count for?

How could the upper echelons’ supervision matter?

You hold great power... yet in my hands, the Extraordinary Power is a greater power than order.

The two "accidents" at tonight’s Freedom Dance received another angle of explanation at this moment... The first time Deep Sea got out of control, Xiao borrowed the authority of the hall; the second time the power went out, he had completed all his arrangements.

"Fanatics obsessed with the old era often adopt extreme measures to solve problems."

Zhou Jiren looked at Gu Shen, half enlightening, half questioning, "What do you speculate will happen next?"

Gu Shen spoke quickly in a low voice, "Judging by the conduct of the Changjiu Foundation, they don’t care about the life and death of their targets. Once they have the opportunity to create chaos, it will be an indiscriminate slaughter... If Xiao has the power to kill these ’rulers’, then the hall would already be a river of blood by now. Clearly, creating this ’Great Hypnosis’ already maximizes the display of Xiao’s abilities."

"Continue."

Zhou Jiren whispered.

"The only reason to hypnotize the entire hall is to paralyze it... Here in this hall gathered those who control the economic lifeline and adjudicative power of Da Du, they are asleep, hence Da Du’s higher echelons are paralyzed," Gu Shen paused slightly, "If Xiao really borrowed Deep Sea’s authority, then he’s well aware of how heavily guarded tonight’s Freedom Hall is, the three extraordinarily powerful Transcendents will soon take action..."

"This dream cannot be forcibly awakened, which means... during the time the hall is paralyzed, no effective commands can be sent out," Gu Shen said meaningfully, "So... Xiao’s target tonight is not these high-ranking individuals at the Freedom Dance."

...

...

Dust wandered in the corridor.

Lights flickered under the night sky.

The Freedom Hall resonated with stirring music.

The music grew forceful, then shattered the glass and the dust, radiating and stretching far off along with the fragmented flickering lights—

If someone truly enjoyed symphonies... then they could recognize, this was the famous "Heroic Symphony", its majestic tunes echoing with the aid of countless amplifiers throughout the neighboring districts of the Freedom Hall, passersby halting their steps, unanimously turning their eyes toward the same spot.

They gazed at the hall that dazzled like an ancient palace, a grand scene of charging cavalry inadvertently emerging in their minds, the ancient tune under the neon of the new era revitalizing with another kind of vitality, like a mesmerizing beautiful dream.

Their gazes gradually became blurry.

The full moon hung high.

Atop the ivy-covered tower, a figure wrapped in a weather-beaten trench coat crouched, not particularly large, face hidden under the black robe, seemingly closing his eyes in listening, silently enjoying the ancient music floating and spreading.

In this unprecedented concert.

He was both the principal conductor.

And the sole audience.

And just as the music echoed and resonated, the spotty, old wall of the ancient tower underwent a change, the ivy-covered walls blooming outward with layers of ghastly white frost.

This frost spread quickly and produced an extremely eerie sound.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh."

The sound of frost spreading, like... a snake hissing.

If viewed from under the night sky, it was indeed a chilling sight.

The crumbling old tower, wrapped and entwined by numerous snow-white Sea Snakes, resembled a lone cliff.

And those Sea Snakes rapidly spread along the cliff face—

Just as they were about to reach their destination.

The figure in the black robe under the full moon, atop the tower, suddenly opened his eyes.

He could have submerged into the dream with those vagrants in the streets, enjoying the ancient yet solemn music.

But the minute noise mixed in with the grand beats.

Shattered that beautiful dream!

Thus, he awoke from his deep enjoyment, his eyes angrily and coldly gazing towards the distant figure standing with hands behind his back.

A trail of blood-red flame ignited at his forehead.

The next moment.

On the tower’s surface, the continuous crackling breaking sounds burst forth—

The ice shards were shattered by the vibrations!

The blood-red flames burst forth from within the Sea Snake, like swords, as numerous dead white ivy branches fell from the walls, the sound of exploding ice, like the painful scream of a dying serpent spirit.

The figure in the black robe slowly stood up.

Under the moonlight, the wide robe fluttered with the wind, rustling loudly, burning with Blood Fire, resembling a vivid and sternly fluttering flag.

His face also became exposed under the moonlight.

To be precise... what was exposed under the moonlight was not a face.

It was a smiling V-shaped mask.

"Gu Zhi, accepted the title ’Shuang Chuan’ at the Northern Fortress from the Federation Government ten years ago, and now you’re trailing behind Chen San as a bodyguard," a teasing young man’s voice floated from beneath the V-shaped mask. "After so many years of hard cultivation, you finally fully absorbed your own extraordinary power... why bother being the Federation’s lapdog?"

Gu Zhi’s expression didn’t change; he just seriously stared at the mocking V-shaped mask, trying to see through the mask to discern the true face of this infamous S-level fugitive.

That mask was shrouded in a layer of spiritual power, like a veil, impenetrable to the eye.

The next moment.

The old man gave up observing and stretched out a palm, lifting his fingers.

"Boom!"

In the air, hundreds of Frost Snow Sea Snakes suddenly straightened their bodies, snow splashing around, sharpening into fine long swords, shooting towards the top of the tower—

Xiao chuckled lightly.

He sharply tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, suddenly darting forward, starting to run, a phantom figure instantly breaking away from the tower, streaking to the arch above the hall.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

A series of explosive sounds erupted.

One after another, the fine Frost Snow Flying Swords mercilessly pursued, the robed figure sweeping through like a swift sparrow, with exploding frost and shattered lights trailing behind him, and eventually, all the swords shot past him.

And after much dodging and weaving, Xiao floated back atop the tower.

"What... didn’t eat?"

"Or say, you’re afraid to exert force... afraid of disturbing the ’masters’ in the hall’s sweet dreams?"

The man in the black robe casually lifted his robe, elegantly sitting on a corner under the eaves of the tower, smiling as he asked, "I’m really curious... under the Federation’s indoctrination, even a strong person like you, would willingly give up their dignity? Holding the power to crush those fools, yet willingly bowing down to serve as their slaves."

Gu Zhi narrowed his eyes... he was in charge of the outer field at this freedom ball, and from the moment music came through the hall’s loudspeakers, he sensed something was wrong.

This was a song infused with intense spiritual hypnotic power.

If allowed to spread like this, at least a thousand people in the Freedom Hall District would fall into a dream state.

The Hunt Xiao plan had already caused an uproar in the East Continent Council; this ball was considered to be a trap of "inviting the gentleman into the urn."

As expected, the other party had come to the appointment—

And what was worse, this S-level fugitive’s spiritual power was even greater and more full-bodied than Deep Sea had anticipated.

The attack just now was merely a probe.

After a bout of combat, Gu Zhi was very sure that this was a Titled Transcendent from the Deep Sea 12th Floor. If it were a life-or-death duel one-on-one, even if he could win, the cost would be extremely severe.

His gaze covertly moved towards the nearby hall.

Gu Zhi’s expression didn’t change, but deep down he was somewhat anxious; that old man responsible for the whole scheme was in the hall, why hadn’t he come out yet?

However... since the other party wanted to talk.

Then it might as well continue.

"Not a slave, just friends." Gu Zhi calmly opened his mouth, saying, "The friendship I have with Mr. Chen is not something you can understand."

"Is that so?"

"Let me think, how does the file say it..."

Xiao propped his cheek with one hand, speaking leisurely to himself: "During an outing at the Northern Fortress, the titled ’Shuang Chuan’ was seriously injured, Extraordinary Essence severely leaked, strength temporarily plummeted... Chen San chose to save him, spending a considerable amount of money, only then did this Titled Transcendent slowly recover, although not to his peak strength but at least the title was preserved."

"Thus, Shuang Chuan chose to follow to repay this favor."

He spoke very slowly, but each word struck deep into Gu Zhi’s heart.

To ensure there were no mistakes, Xiao still asked with a smile after finishing speaking: "Um... am I wrong? Is that correct?"

Gu Zhi felt a chill down his spine.

Files of Titled level... strictly controlled in Deep Sea, only a very few people had the capacity to fetch and review them.

How could this guy possibly know?

"You seem quite surprised..."

Xiao smiled very satisfied, murmuring wistfully, "But... sorry. The facts are before us, I indeed do know. You see, Deep Sea may not be as reliable as you think, since it conceals things from the public, it would also conceal them from you... in a way, there’s no difference between Titled Transcendents and the masses in its eyes."

"Still remember that outing? Because of the chosen treacherous path, you were injured, it seems like an unfortunate disaster..."

"But what if I tell you, the person who planned that outing route was Chen San himself. He provided a complete plan and route map, but then excused himself at the last minute, not participating in the outing." Xiao smiled, "Now think about it again... was all that just an accident?"

Gu Zhi was slightly dazed.

Just as Xiao wanted to press his advantage and speak again.

A sudden, intense sound of an explosion rang next to his ear!

"Thunderous boom—"

There was no time to turn around.

A forceful whip-like kick, breaking the sound barrier, harshly struck Xiao’s mask.

In the distance in the night sky, a flock of crows shrieked as they spread their wings, flying across the large moon.

Song Ci’s cold voice rang out above the tower.

"If you want to fight, just fight... What’s with all this chatter?"

...

...

(More tonight, if you can’t wait you can go to sleep first~)