Shanghai regained its independence, in a sense. Because the city was neither in the hands of the Japanese army nor the Chinese army. The independence came from the city itself.

A fact that sounded like a joke turned out to be true with the drastic changes happening in the morning in this city. The number of patrolling cops multiplied. Police shut down Japanese owned businesses. And more shockingly, squads and squads of captured Japanese soldiers with expressions of fear were being escorted outside the city.

Shanghai was borderline bursting into a chaos since the night before. Explosions and gun shots echoed throughout the city. Even greater explosions came from just beyond the city area as though countless cannons were blasting in a battle. Two Xians on flying swords chased an army of routed soldiers into the city. Each ball of lightning that descended erased all the soldiers in an area from Earth. Each time the flying sword flew by, all nearby soldiers fell to the ground with needle sized injuries. These were the power of gods and Xians.

Past battles had taught the civilians not to cheer when the Chinese army did not show up. They abode to their role of remaining quiet in the city.

“... That’s the basic situation. There’s no longer a Japanese army in Shanghai. However, judging from the Japanese soldiers’ distribution from nearby the city, they can form into an army in one to two days. We will destroy them once more when that happens.”

Xuan and WangXia sat inside a spacious meeting room. Along them were over a hundred men and women with the ratio skewed toward men. There were wealthy people in the forties, police officers, mafia leaders, and even foreigners. Nearly all people of influence in Shanghai had gathered in this room. The two messages these people received in the early morning were the destruction of the Japanese army and the people who destroyed the army wanted to see them.

The Japanese army had proven themselves during World War II, in the year 1940. Their strength ranked first within Asia. Yet, the same army suffered tens of thousands in casualties within one night. Shanghai was seized from their hands. The situation was inconceivable.

The people of influence attempted to speculate the identity of the power that destroyed the army and their intent for wanting to see them. However, no answer came to their minds. The cops who relayed the message looked to be in a haste and thus these people finally gathered before noon.

A fat man in police uniform stood up abruptly and wiped the sweat off his face. He read aloud the document on his hand. “Yes. Yes. We have captured over 7300 Japanese soldiers as officer Chu Xuan stated. Over 18600 Japanese army personnel. We selected a group of uninjured Japanese personnel to watch the captives imprisoned in a camp. Furthermore, the total number of weapons...”

Xuan waved his hand and said, “That’s enough. I know everyone here is influential in Shanghai. Your interests do not swing no matter whether it is the Japanese or the Chinese army occupying Shanghai. Neither do I have the interest to express nationalistic acts. You’re here because of one thing. I need to use your information systems.”

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The meeting room erupted. These people were gathered hastily and Xuan did not place much importance in the set up. So everyone was sitting next to people they were familiar with. So everyone started talking to the people next to them.

Xuan looked at them quietly until the noises died down after a few minutes. Several people then started to speak at the same time. Upon realizing the crash of their voices, they allowed a slender middle age man to speak first.

He saluted at Xuan and said, “A late salutation but we are grateful for you driving the Japanese away. May I ask why do you need our information systems? Is it to surveil the Japanese army?”

Xuan went straight to the point as though to carry out his method of brute forcing his way. “Not the Japanese army. We need to find an item.”

The people were surprised to learn that Xuan wasn’t going after the Japanese army after having just destroyed it and taken over Shanghai. They could foresee the retaliation from the Japanese army. Questions arose among them with Xuan’s denial.

Xuan continued, “I believe everyone here is aware of the Buddha from not long before.”

The middle age man nodded. “Yes. Reports say an ancient tomb was unearth in Shanxi. The tomb is surrounded by a formation that kills any humans who entered. However, a foreigner managed to escape from the tomb with a floating Buddha head. The Buddha head is our country’s treasure. There’s no doubt it belongs to us despite not knowing how the head was crafted. We also tracked after this foreigner. Is the Buddha head related to you?”

“The Buddha head is only a part. The whole of it should be a floating Buddha statue.” Xuan snapped his fingers with a smile. “We are Cultivators who guarded this Buddha statue for generations because it possesses the power to destroy the world. It appears the Buddha has came into the mortal world. The head is merely a piece and most of the rest of the statue have been lost. There are six days before its destructive power activates. The world will come to and end. We must...”

(He’s lying again.)

WangXia’s felt a dizziness taking over his head. He never knew Xuan was such a good liar. Thinking back, Xuan had lied more than a couple of times already, like back in the Lord of the Rings...

“That’s the situation. We woke up a couple of days ago and realized it’s too late to find and seal the Buddha statue before its power activates. So we have to borrow the mortals. I believe the people here, from mafias, to businessmen, to police forces, and foreign spies have the information systems to gather the Buddha statue’s related info. How many powers entered the tomb after the foreigner escaped with the Buddha head, what pieces of the statue did they take away? Where are the pieces right now?”

Many of the people here were educated. Xuan’s talks of Cultivation, seals, destruction, and time limit hammered their reasoning minds. However, they had to ask what ought to be asked so as to not get fooled.

A foreigner stood up and said, “Although the Japanese captives are an evidence, but forgive my rudeness, are you the only two people who destroyed the Japanese army last night? It is difficult for a materialist to believe your words, especially with regard to Chinese gods and Xians. To put it frankly, I do not believe a Buddha statue can destroy the world. I hope you can provide us with solid proof or I will back out of this meeting.”

“Sure. I will prove it.”

Xuan held a silver plate in his hand and said to WangXia through the minds, “Control the tactical nukes with your Demon Energy — Three should be powerful enough.”

Xuan then said to the people in the room, “I have said that we are the Cultivators who guarded the Buddha statue. If you can not contribute to finding the Buddha statue, there is no need for your existence. Cultivators do not fear the power of the mortal world as we will prove. You will either follow my orders or die. The choice is in your hands.”