Chapter 156: Eating Dinner (I)

“You guys need to keep in mind that a Solar is much stronger than a Sunflare!” Liu Long frowned. “Professor Yuan was the one who killed the Solar and we wouldn’t have so easily eliminated the rest of them if I didn’t progress to Dominator before the mission. It’s also thanks to a vast amount of intelligence from Li Hao that we were so well prepared today...”

He thought that Wang Ming was dissatisfied with the distribution, that the young man had his eye on the ruins. However, Wang Ming quickly shook his head.

“I’m not talking about the distribution, but... that... well... Director Liu, according to Night Watcher rules, we can decide ourselves how to allocate ordinary loot. But once ruins are involved, a report needs to be made...”

“So that’s what you’re talking about. I know the rules,” Liu Long replied calmly. “There’s another one that says the Night Watchers will try to stay out of struggles over ruins! You need to think carefully—those aren’t our war spoils. They belong to someone else. Therefore, are the Night Watchers going to imitate the three great organizations and seize it from another?”

“That’s not what I mean...” Wang Ming scratched his head awkwardly. As a Night Watcher and having already seen the ruins, he would suffer from a guilty conscience if he didn’t report it. He was being swayed by bad influences, wasn’t he!

Liu Long and his gang always seemed like they were breaking or bending the rules.

“Out with it, Wang Ming,” Liu Yan snorted. “Are you with us or are you going to be selfless and tell upstairs about this, and in the process ruin all relations with Professor Yuan?”

With them?

That phrasing sounded wrong to begin with. They were a legitimate, orthodox agency that was the government’s only supernatural organization. With them? Were these Silver City people all bandits?

A wry Wang Ming laughed with resignation. This wasn’t the kind of education he’d received in the Night Watchers, nor was this the kind of training he’d been subject to. According to the Night Watcher system, he needed to report this to his superiors at the first possible opportunity. Alright well, his superior was Liu Long.

The agency wasn’t in favor of bypassing one’s direct supervisor unless something was drastically wrong, such as betrayal. Otherwise, adhering to the rungs of hierarchy was the preference.

Wang Ming ran through numerous considerations before saying helplessly, “My professional code of conduct says that this cannot be ignored! Therefore, I’ve decided to...”

The group looked at him. Even Li Meng and Hu Hao turned their gaze to him.

“I’ve decided to report it to my superior!” He ignored a few sudden glares from a few people. He mumbled, “As my direct supervisor is Director Liu, I will be handing a report to you, sir. It’s nothing to do with me as to whether or not you actually pass it on!”

“......” The group looked at each other; the corners of Liu Long’s lips twitched.

Damn, kid. None of us made you take the fall, just listen to yourself. You’re a sharp one, huh?

Nothing that occurred after today would have anything to do with Wang Ming. He’d already made his report to Liu Long. If things went awry, the blame lay with Liu Long suppressing the report. It had nothing to do with Wang Ming!

At the same time, the young man’s decision to not bypass Liu Long was also a declaration of his stance. The kid was a tricky one!

Wang Ming suddenly grinned mischievously. “So... um... director. How much are each of us being allocated?”

Liu Long raised an eyebrow.

You’re an eager one.

He glanced at Yun Yao—she was responsible for extracting mysterious power. She was kneeling on the ground and making her assessment. The team doctor looked up when she sensed the look.

“Two fire supernaturals and one earth supernatural!” She smiled. “The earth supernatural was unlucky and died as soon as he came out. He would’ve been impossible to deal with if he’d taken cover underground.

“The earth supernatural will yield roughly 220 cubes since he consumed very little energy. The two fire supernaturals will yield roughly 400 cubes, making for 620 total cubes. The margin of error won’t be too big.”

Being experienced as she was, her judgment was typically correct. Liu Long didn’t wait to announce the distribution back at headquarters. Emotions were running high and the group needed greater encouragement.

“Wang Ming, the lion’s share of the credit goes to you. I saw your supernatural technique take out the enemy’s head. Therefore, you get 120 cubes.”

Wang Ming lit up. 120 cubes, and not from embezzlement or Li Hao’s methods! This was an allotment from his Night Watcher supervisor based on his contribution in battle. He wouldn’t turn it down! Based on his current monthly salary of one cube, it would take ten years to earn 120 cubes. Granted, that was at his current position. Promotions were inevitable given how young he was. All the same, it was highly exciting to earn ten years worth of salary in one go!

“Of the remaining five hundred, Li Meng gets 100 cubes because she used her third eye to beguile the enemy! She paid a hefty toll to create an opening so the team could kill the enemy.”

Li Meng beamed so brightly her smile could almost be seen from space. She wasn’t as composed as Wang Ming. The handsome young man was only excited, whereas she was so happy that she wanted to faint.

Oh heavens! 100 cubes!

“Liu Yan was in charge of baiting the enemy and was the main direct offense. 100 cubes.”

Liu Yan inclined her head without a word, not as jubilant as she might’ve been. Her hands were charred wrecks. What use was one hundred cubes if they couldn’t recover?

Well, injuries were only to be expected throughout the course of battle. She could retreat to the secondary lines if worst came to worst. Half of her enemies were gone with the extermination of the Qiaos. All that was left was the murderer that was now part of Yama. She’d never thought of taking vengeance on the supernatural organization. There might not ever be such a chance in this lifetime, so why seek out worries for herself?

Half of her enemies were dead. This mission was worth it even if she didn’t personally gain anything from it.

“Hu Hao, Yun Yao, Chen Jian, and Wu Chao. All four of you were auxiliary support. Although your strength levels are different, it seems to me that you made similar contributions. Each of you had your own positions to fulfill with nothing that particularly stood out. The four of you will split the remaining 300 for 75 each. Does anyone object?”

They quickly shook their heads.

“Chief, we killed one, but you killed two...” Chen Jian couldn’t help himself.

“I told you that I’ve already gotten my distribution ahead of time!” Liu Long grinned. “Is progressing to Dominator less than one or two hundred cubes?”

That drew the group back to their senses. Even Wang Ming couldn’t help but sigh with admiration. “Director, you advanced without telling any of us! Don’t they say that it’s more than ten times harder for martial masters to break through, compared to supernaturals? How did you manage it all of a sudden?”

“Elder Yuan is incredible!” Liu Long chuckled. Liu Yan, however, frowned.

“Is Li Hao not getting a share?”

“Him?” Liu Long snorted. “Elder Yuan killed a Solar and that is where the kid’s contribution is as well. We won’t be involving ourselves in those gains, so there’s nothing here for Li Hao either. Of course...” He lowered his voice when he looked at the caved-in area in front of them. “No matter what there is here, I hope that none of us attempt to investigate. We’ve gathered everything we should have and our harvest is greater than any before!”

The least among them was being allotted seventy-five cubes. If combined with the twenty that Chen Jian and them had received before, that made for an unbelievable sum after only two missions.

Wang Ming shrugged. Since he’d already decided to make a report to Liu Long, anything else was out of his hands.

Ancient ruins? What does that have to do with me? There’s a lot of them lying around—the bigger question is always if you can excavate them.

There were indeed quite a few ruins in the wilderness, but exploring them was a dangerous expedition filled with traps. The Night Watchers wouldn’t partner with the three great organizations otherwise.

Wang Ming knew this, so while he was tempted by the ruins here, he also knew how limited his strength was. These ruins were out of his reach.

Li Meng and Hu Hao also shook their heads without a word.

Yuan Shuo abruptly jumped out of the hole at this time. He was frowning, but his forehead quickly relaxed. He punched the ground without saying a word, collapsing the rest of the opening with a rumble.

Liu Long looked on with confusion.

“It’s a thorny issue.” Yuan Shuo shook his head. “Let’s address other concerns. We should clean up the battlefield and arrange for two people as a lookout. They just need to prevent ordinary people from barging in. Nothing else is an issue.”

Chen Jian looked at Liu Long and offered in his simple way, “Chief, I’ll stay behind.”

Liu Long looked back at him and sized up available personnel. “Hu Hao, you’re not injured and you can fly. You can run away as soon as there’s danger. How about you stay here with Chen Jian?”

Hu Hao was rather surprised. He talked very little and was a quiet man. Logically speaking, since there was a huge secret here and he was stronger than Chen Jian, unexpected developments could very likely occur if they were the only ones left behind. What if some other thoughts occurred to him and he killed Chen Jian with his superior strength as a Darkmoon, then secretly took some treasures...

Liu Long wanted him to stand guard here?

What a surprise!

“Director, am I... am I suitable?” he asked lowly.

“There is no question of suitability,” Yuan Shuo said faintly before Liu Long could respond. “You three are my honorary disciples and these ruins are from your little senior brother’s family. You won’t be able to open them without him. Given how generous he is, he’ll share any treasures there are with you! If you want to take them for yourself... go for it. A Solar was unable to fully access the ruins and claim the goods. If you can do it, that’s a testament to your skill!”

The three from White Moon blinked. That was true. If the ruins were so easily cracked open, they would’ve been emptied long ago. There were obviously no more treasures inside the outer fringe, any that had been there were long claimed. If they wanted more, they would need to plumb its depths again.

Hu Hao nodded with understanding. “I see, please be at ease, Elder—teacher.”

Yuan Shuo didn’t mind the stuttering. They were just honorary disciples, it didn’t matter that they weren’t wholly devoted to him.

Liu Long and the rest of the Demon Hunters were surprised by this tidbit. Little senior brother? Honorary disciples? What was going on?

“Let’s go back, Liu Long. If we don’t, Hao Lianchuan’s probably going to lose his mind.” Blood trickled out of Yuan Shuo’s mouth when he smiled.

Everyone’s eyes widened with dismay. Was the professor injured?

“I’m fine!” Yuan Shuo waved them off and wiped off all of the blood. He looked around and said softly, “It’s just a small scratch! There’s no need to say anything to anyone.”

He was Silver City’s bedrock and pillar at the moment. Some things were bound to happen if it became public knowledge that he was gravely injured. As worried as the others were, they didn’t say anything.

Yun Yao quickly cleaned up the corpses. The bodies of Sunflares possessed an additional purpose of preserving mysterious power. The rest of the team quickly cleaned the battlefield. It was difficult to thoroughly clean it given how intense the fighting had been. All they could do was to erase clues about the Sunflares’ strength and identity.

They stowed everything and climbed into the car. Chen Jian and Hu Hao were left behind to stand guard.