Star Gate

Chapter 652: Paper Tiger (II)

“There’s three incoming and another metamorphosis following them. Circle carefully toward them, He Yong. You go too, Panther!” Li Hao melted into the darkness and transmitted his instructions through the armor. He could direct He Yong, but he couldn’t direct the dog. That was fine—Panther followed Qin Lian at the moment. She was the weakest link, which meant that He Yong, Qin Lian, and Panther would head over together.

“Be careful of any trump cards up their sleeves. They might be able to instantly kill a metamorphosis expert. He Yong can take the lead. If they’ve guessed that I’m here, they’ll definitely be prepared. They won’t send just one metamorphosis against me...”

“What about you?” He Yong’s voice carried through the armor. “Someone seems to be coming from up ahead...”

“It’s fine! Whether it’s the three great organizations or someone else, they’ll all be wary of the nine ministries. They won’t easily attack once they see all the descendants of the nine ministries on the ship.”

He Yong sped through the darkness, headed for the direction that Li Hao had pointed out.

“What about me, Commander Li?” asked Yang Shan.

“You’ll be in charge of martial masters that may come our way.”

“But...”

“Execute your orders!”

Yang Shan didn’t dare ask further; he’d truly gotten to know Li Hao this time. The young man was a vicious sort and stronger than rumored to be. He hadn’t expended much energy to kill a peak Nova. Perhaps it really would take an Arcanus to contend with him...

......

Wu Yong was in a hurry, but slowed down throughout the course of his flight. His transmission pendant buzzed with numerous messages. He scanned them quickly and identified some important ones. One came from the minister, telling him to slow down. Liu Sha had been sent to join him.

Another message came from an assassin, saying that he’d discovered a ship flying out from Four Seas Island. It seemed to be filled with nobles. The killer was following it. Additionally, people were on their way to the island. There would be news soon from their investigation.

Wu Yong heaved a sigh of relief. This was good. He looked at the two Novas next to him. “We can slow down, there’s no rush.”

The two blinked. You were the one in a hurry earlier, but now you’re the one not in a hurry... Granted, they were in no position to contradict Wu Yong. So they would slow down.

The three adjusted their speed; they could discern some of the situation outside the city by now. There seemed to be a flying ship in the distance filled with young men and women enjoying themselves. They saw people playing drinking games and kissing out in the open...

“And we thought something had happened!” One of the Novas breathed out with a low curse. “That they’d all died or something. They seem perfectly fine!”

Wu Yong also frowned. Were they all fine? He caught sight of someone important—the one from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They were only a few thousand meters apart. He sent a message to her transmission pendant, but she didn’t react. Had she not seen it, or was there another reason...?

After thinking it over, Wu Yong messaged some others he recognized on the ship. All of the attempts went unanswered. This was becoming uncanny.

“Be careful, there’s something wrong about these people...” he transmitted to those beside him.

The two Novas snapped to attention. Something wrong? The trio fell silent and proceeded cautiously, covering their tracks to gradually approach the ship.

......

The three big balls of light were simply too noticeable to Li Hao. However, he didn’t spring into action just yet. The only thing he did was infuse vast quantities of internal force into the Windchaser Boots beneath his feet. The boots were critical for escape, but also immensely useful for killing. The saying that all martial methods were confounded by speed wasn’t necessarily accurate, but it was quite appropriate at times.

If the young man exploded with everything he had, he could instantly cover three thousand meters. Granted, he couldn’t maintain that kind of state for long. He’d utilized the boots three times in a row when being chased by Xu Qing before having to rest, recover, then go on the run again.

“Four thousand meters...” Li Hao waited silently in the darkness, unmoving.

Thirty-five hundred... He was still unmoving. In the next moment, he messaged He Yong, “Action!”

A massive boom sounded in the distance! He Yong struck with his fist and raised a collision that rang through heaven and earth.

“How dare a Celestial killer attack personages of the nine ministries!” He Yong roared in all directions.

BOOM!

His fists dominated the world! It was the only thing that existed beneath the heavens! In the darkness, a dog morphed into a golden color and moved soundlessly, viciously slashing its paw at the black-robed powerhouse!

Bam!

Loud explosions continued to echo. Wu Yong and his men swiftly looked in the relevant direction.

“Hurry and go help...” Wu Yong transmitted to his men.

“Sir, is... that... He Yong?”

Help? He Yong was a royal powerhouse and hollering that he was handling a Celestial killer. How could they help?

Wu Yong cursed to himself! They would have to help by accident. As he thought, something unwished for had developed. He Yong’s presence here likely meant he was working in conjunction with Li Hao.

Where was Li Hao?

A ripple undulated through the void and silver armor appeared in front of him.

So fast!

No, it wasn’t speed. It was like he’d teleported right in front of the three. The young man threw something down and vanished without a look back.

Wu Yong didn’t have time to react before subconsciously realizing something. He didn’t even have time to retrieve the Arcanus talisman before his eyes widened with dismay. There was no time to warn his men, he had to run for it!

KABOOM!

An ear-splitting detonation ripped through the air, shaking even Skystar City in its wake. It came from an energy bomb designed for metamorphosis experts. Just one alone could very possibly blow up a metamorphosis supernatural, depending on their strength. The stronger ones could still get away, but injury was inevitable.

The two peak Novas were blasted out of their positions in the sky. One of them was unlucky enough that their head was blown straight to bits. The other shouted with alarm and fled, paying the price of both legs being obliterated to get away.

Wu Yong likewise snarled with fury and raced through the air.

Kaboom!

A massive energy pulse exploded behind him and churned through the sky. A formidable presence erupted from Wu Yong’s body in response. The tremendous impact sent him flying backward through the air as he vomited blood, but gratification shone at the corner of his eye. He was only injured and his organs shaken up...

Pfft!

A sword stabbed through the sky! It came with perfect timing—Wu Yong punched out with a howl. “I am the president of the Four Seas Company, the nine ministries will show you no mercy if you dare harm me...”

He wanted to scare Li Hao into retreat; he knew it was the young man. So long as Li Hao hesitated, so long as he felt that he couldn’t kill Wu Yong out in the open, the latter would have the chance to take out the Arcanus talisman and kill Li Hao.

However, this was precisely the opening that the young man wanted to make use of. His longsword jabbed forward without a sound!

An arm flew through the air. Wu Yong’s expression shifted drastically as there was a storage ring attached to the arm. His other arm hastily flailed after the severed one.

That bastard Li Hao! He’d suddenly broken through the air with the Windchaser Boots! Wu Yong greatly regretted forgetting that the young man had that treasure and could bring it to bear to great effect. The key question was, where did the guy’s energy bomb come from?

He didn’t have time to think; Liu Sha was almost upon them from the rear. He couldn’t allow Li Hao to dictate the pace of the engagement. Wu Yong resolutely gave up on his storage ring when his thoughts traveled here and instantly backed away, turning to flee.

Li Hao connected with empty air as his target retracted an arm the moment he would’ve struck. The young man was rather surprised and grabbed the falling arm. He looked at the fleeing Wu Yong, smiling at the metamorphosis expert. He’s capable enough to make this decision at this time! Li Hao’s five supernatural locks partially snapped into half in the next moment and a powerful presence barreled out of his body.

The young man clutched the severed arm and activated the Windchaser Boots again, instantly breaking through and striking with his sword. He settled back on his feet, activated the boots again, and struck again! He didn’t care how Wu Yong was, simply striking again and again.

Pfft!

The longsword sank into the other’s body, but Li Hao immediately backed away. The Windchaser Boots repeatedly flared to life. Wu Yong cried out with agony and wanted to erupt with fury, but his blows couldn’t fight their target!

The boots flared so Li Hao could deliver another stroke! His blows were coming with increasing speed. Wu Yong seemed to see a ferocious tiger leaping at him, wanting to rip his heart out with a claw. He wasn’t dead and vomited blood with disbelief.

“You’re... not... peak Nova...” The young man was absolutely not just a peak Nova! Their intelligence was wrong, dead wrong! Li Hao was stronger than him! Wu Yong didn’t know if it was a delusion or not, but he felt that he wouldn’t be able to match Li Hao even if he was in prime condition. Not only was the young man strong when it came to battle strength, but he was equipped with the heritage weapons.

Nova?

Li Hao had never thought he was a Nova, he was a martial master. Martial masters were different from supernaturals. He pierced through Wu Yong’s head without another word; the man stared wide-eyed back at him. This was the first metamorphosis expert that Li Hao had killed by himself.

The heavily injured peak Nova missing his legs looked on with horror. “Liu Sha...” Hope flared in his heart. Liu Sha was here! She was right there in the distance with a few more Novas. Liu Sha was here, he didn’t need to die!