The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

Xia Mi's eyes immediately turned around: "This is about Comrade Xiao Chu...it should be taken seriously."

Zhao Qing nodded and lightly traced in the air with his fingertips.

Holographic projections expanded and contracted into vector graphics lines, creating multiple high-precision simulated images, which were then compressed into encrypted data packets, injected into the data that Shi Yi Guang had already sorted out, and sent out through the independent channel of the ice crystal cloud.

"Ding."

Hundreds of miles away, raindrops dripped down the branches of the cherry trees in Chidori Abyss. Chu Zihang stood under the cherry tree, the light of his mobile phone screen reflected on his stern face. His thumb paused on the screen for a moment, then slowly slid down, his eyes locked on the encrypted message sent by Shi Yiguang——

It was a 3D model of a knight wearing a dead wood mask. Every detail coincided with the nightmare in his memory - the winding dark patterns on the one-eyed mask, the obsidian blade at the tip of Gungnir's spear, and even the shape of the gap on the edge of the dark blue cloak torn by the wind.

This ghostly darkness is completely different from the gilded statue of Odin in Kassel College - the decoration that is glorified as the "Lord of Valhalla", wearing luxurious armor, with a shining eight-legged Pegasus, majestic and awe-inspiring demeanor.

If it were someone else, they would never choose such a realistic horror style when modeling - unless they had seen it with their own eyes.

"There are new clues about the disappearance of your father Chu Tianjiao."

Shi Yiguang's message followed closely, "This is the transformed image of the Wind King that Zhao Qinggang killed. According to the existing intelligence, this individual has been disguising himself as Odin for a long time. Please confirm and compare whether Model 1 is consistent with what we saw that day?"

Chu Zihang's fingers were trembling slightly as they hovered above the screen. His thumb tightened unconsciously, and the phone case made a slight "click" sound. After pausing for two seconds, he finally typed:
"Confirmed. The guns are the same shape."

send.

Half a second later, Shi Yiguang replied:
"Then your father is most likely not dead. We speculate that Odin needs a top-notch heroic spirit who can act as his agent and give him a mask to make a 'puppet', and a hybrid like Chu Tianjiao is the best choice. If he is still alive, he may be imprisoned in a Nibelungen, waiting for 'processing'."

"Christmas is the time when the dead return home in Norse mythology, and it is also the time when Valhalla opens. If the Valkyrie is going to transport him, it must be to Avalon."

"And at present, he is likely still under the control of the Wind King-related forces - for example, the Gattuso family."

Yuan Zhisheng and Lancelot had just finished a sparring match. Lancelot's swift sword combined with the power-generating technique of the staff version of One Finger of the Sun had evenly matched Yuan Zhisheng's Japanese swordsmanship for dozens of rounds, until Chu Zihang intervened and separated the two.

It has to be said that the old era when individual combat effectiveness was determined by bloodline is now a thing of the past.

The martial arts secrets that Zhao Qing spread among a series of allies allowed many young and courageous new-generation hybrids to make rapid progress. For example, an A-level like Lancelot is now not much weaker than the "Emperor".

With the endless circulation of "dragon blood", an energy rich in the vitality of heaven and earth, and the assistance of relevant instruments, the speed at which excellent hybrids practice internal skills can be said to be astonishingly fast, making rapid progress every day, especially when the attributes of their true energy are consistent with their own awakened words.

For example, Lancelot, the owner of "Word Spirit Fiery", after spending a huge amount of money to purchase a large amount of resources, was able to cultivate masculine internal force as easily as using his own arms. He soon reached the initial fifth level of "One Yang Finger", close to Duan Zhengchun's level, but the power of the fire element attached to "Fiery" was increased several times.

Judging purely from the "temperature" generated by the moves, it has actually surpassed the Dacheng Flame Sword, but in terms of sharpness, agility, endurance of internal strength, and aerial distance, it is still far inferior.

After all, he had only trained for more than a month. How could he possibly compare to Jiumozhi, a rare martial arts genius in the world?
If we only take into account the attainments in family swordsmanship, he is not even as good as Zuo Zimu of the Wuliang Sword School. The latter can actually be regarded as a master of swordsmanship, and his changes in moves are roughly at the same level as Yuan Zhisheng's traditional Japanese swordsmanship - both are far behind Duan Zhengchun and Jiumozhi.

Therefore, in the eyes of masters with real vision and insight, the competition between the two is not much different from a fight between novices, with second- and third-rate moves combined with top-notch internal strength.

By the way, it has a low threshold, no side effects, a wide range of functions, and can cure diseases and save lives in addition to fighting. It can be upgraded to the "One Yang Finger" of the Six Meridians Divine Sword in the future. It should be one of the best choices for practicing martial arts. After Zhao Qing "put" the exclusive course on the shelves, many mixed-race wealthy families have sought to buy it.

However, under Zhao Qing's focused training, Chu Zihang's strength has risen to the sixth level of "Huang Tian Da Fa".

Due to the further bonus of "Word Spirit Lord Flame", it can even be equivalent to the initial seventh level of refining the nature of enlightenment, using the real to attack the non-real, using the real to fill the void, all the spiritual orifices in the body are open, using the innate to control the acquired, and the combat power level of life and death are integrated. It can continuously use a 300-stone strong bow and normally jump nearly 30 feet high...

Not to mention, he also has a blood-blasting upgraded version of "The Twelve Conferred Gods" that he can activate. This secret technique can increase his strength by more than ten times, allowing Chu Zihang to fight against the pure-blooded dragon.

Such radical and harsh training and unprecedented rapid improvement in combat power were precisely due to his desire for revenge against "God" and the regret and powerlessness for losing his father that day.

Chu Zihang had fantasized about revenge countless times - finding the "god" who appeared on the viaduct on a rainy night, and using knives, fire, and all other means to make him pay the price.

But now?

But that "God" is dead.

He was met by Zhao Qing by chance in Osaka, and was killed with a sword on the spot, without even leaving a complete dragon bone cross.

His revenge lost its target before it even began.

And his father, perhaps still alive, has become a bargaining chip in the hands of some force.

The sense of absurdity surged over him like a tide, and Chu Zihang suddenly wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.

After the competition, Lancelot found an opportunity to boast about the excellence of the mysterious Eastern martial arts, and they discussed it with great interest, interspersed with the issue of breakwater steel.

Yuan Zhisheng lowered his head and sipped his canned coffee. Raindrops fell on the stone road between the three of them, splashing tiny water droplets.

No one noticed that Chu Zihang slowly squatted down and rested his forehead on the back of the cold phone. The rain flowed down his neck into his collar, but he felt the blood in his body boiling.

The sound of the rainstorm that night roared in his eardrums again - the warmth of his father's palm when he pushed him away, the blood-red light trail drawn by the Maybach's taillights in the rain, and the figure in the rearview mirror that was gradually swallowed by the golden meteor light.

The rain soaked through his trouser legs, freezing cold, but it was far less cold than the emotions surging in his chest - shock, suspicion, anger, confusion, hope. It was like a knife carving the same name on his heart over and over again, but the more it carved, the emptier it felt.

(He is not dead?)
(Imprisoned?)
(Heroic spirit?)

Every thought was like a heavy hammer, hitting his usually calm mind.

Chu Zihang took a deep breath, forced himself to stare at the message, and reread it word by word three times to make sure he had not misunderstood any word.

He thought it was a farewell forever.

But now, fate suddenly gave him a glimmer of hope - even though there might be a deeper abyss behind this hope.

"Gattuso?"

After calming down a bit, Chu Zihang began to sort out the information he knew: an ancient family of the European secret party, one of the directors of Kassel College, the surname of Pompey Gattuso, a behemoth known as the "Regent of Europe". If my father is really in their hands...

Chu Zihang pretended to tie his shoelaces, stood up again, and quickly operated his fingers on the screen to call up an encrypted interface. He entered a complex verification code - the account of Hermann von Cassel, special adviser to the Pentagon's Strategic Defense Agency.

This is one of the backup identities registered by Angers within the M Army, and it has extremely high authority.

【OPERATION IRON SAMURAI】Encrypted Discussion Group
[User: [Strategic Defense Agency-Kassel (Hermann von Kassel)] has logged in]

[Strategic Defense Agency-Kassel]: Urgent Intelligence Assessment (Attachment: Summary of Gattuso Consortium’s Recent Activities.pdf)

[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: According to recent intelligence cross-verification, the Gattuso family has the following high-risk behaviors:

1. Through a Cyprus shell company, the Russian Federal Space Agency invested $136.8 billion. The two sides secretly cooperated to develop a space-based kinetic weapon system (code-named "Sword of Punishment"), which is suspected of having orbital strike capabilities and is suspected of violating Article 4 of the Outer Space Treaty;
2. Procurement of weapons-grade uranium enrichment materials through offshore accounts (see Annex 2 for details) (traced to Kazakhstan’s black market transaction records);
3.在过去五年内，操纵欧盟27国136名议员（完整名单见附件3），手段包括但不限于金融胁迫、替身暗杀（意大利议员猝死事件）、言灵·催眠精神控制（参考附件3第32页脑波实验数据）
(Attachments: 1. Gattuso-Russian Space Agency cooperation record.pdf; 2. Nuclear material procurement list.xlsx; 3. European political infiltration analysis.doc)

[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: It is recommended to immediately initiate an investigation under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Authorization Act, freeze its assets in the United States, conduct a surprise inspection of the Rome headquarters, monitor Frost Gattuso (family agent), and verify his potential connection with the "yellow eye disease" (GIS) cases.

When the message was sent, there was silence in the group for a few seconds, and then a series of replies exploded:

[NSA-Europe]: Holy shit! If this is true, it's more explosive than the dragon viper! [bomb][skull]@[FBI-Transnational Crime Division] Are you guys awake?
[CIA-Rome]: Wait, brainwave intervention?! Isn't this science fiction? [Question mark]
[DARPA-Biotechnology Group]: No, it is theoretically feasible... (Attachment: Excerpt from the 1987 MKUltra follow-up research report.pdf)

[Seventh Fleet - Rear Admiral Harper]: I said the Italians can't be trusted! [Stars and Stripes][Fist]
[CIA-Paranormal Research Group]: Already synchronized with the White House Situation Room, but the "mental intervention" part needs more evidence. [Glasses]
[DARPA-Directed Energy Weapons Group]: Space-based kinetic weapons? ? ? Are they trying to flatten Wall Street with tungsten rods? [Shocked]
[NSA-East Asia Division]: @[Strategic Defense Agency-Kassel] Man, where did you get these? !

Chu Zihang browsed the replies expressionlessly, his fingers continuing to type:
[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: Gattuso has been active in Tokyo recently. According to reliable intelligence, he has secret contact with the internationally wanted criminal "Wang Jiang" and is suspected of arms trafficking. It is recommended to verify his contact records with senior Self-Defense Forces officials.

——He is gambling.

Betting that Gattuso really has a problem, betting that the M army will investigate first, and betting that the chaos will reveal the whereabouts of his father.

However, the moment he pressed the send button again, Shi Yiguang's warning came through the headset: "Anger is forcibly taking over the account."

Sure enough, three seconds later a new message popped up in the group:

[Strategic Defense Agency-Kassel]: Correction, previous information was misjudged. Gattuso Group's uranium fuel procurement complies with IAEA filing (see new Annex 4 for details), and the so-called "space-based weapons" are actually astronomical observation platforms. (Attachment: "Gattuso Group Uranium Fuel Procurement Compliance Audit Report.pdf")
[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: All relevant allegations are not established. Repeat: All allegations are not established. Do not accept them.

[NSA-Counter-Terrorism Division]: ...Huh? [Question mark face] This is a very fast change, isn't it? Two minutes ago they were talking about them buying weapons-grade uranium, and now they're suddenly talking about astronomical telescopes?
[CIA-Rome Station]: @[Strategic Defense Agency-Caselle] Buddy, are you sure your account hasn't been hacked? There are many "problematic figures" on the list of congressmen we've been watching for a long time, and even the manner of death was accurate to the minute. How could this be a misjudgment?

[DARPA-Biotechnology Group]: Wait, where's the brainwave intervention data? The alpha wave suppression curve in the experimental record is highly consistent with the MKUltra file. It can't be that a Cold War file was mixed in by "slip", right? [Suspicion]
[Seventh Fleet-Rear Admiral Harper]: I knew it! Italians are the best at this kind of "misunderstanding"! [Stars and Stripes][Fist] But the uranium procurement records can be forged, but what about the orbital data of space-based weapons tests? The cooperation records of the Russian Space Agency can't be fake, right?

[NSA-Europe]: @[Strategic Defense Agency-Kassel] Are you being pressured? [Eat melon] Do you need help applying for the witness protection program?

[Raytheon Consultant]: System test data was sent by mistake, right? [Rifle] Next time, remember to mark "exercise". It almost caused our stock price to plunge!
[FBI-Transnational Crime Division]: The original email has been archived and the internal review process has been initiated. [Sunglasses] According to Section 12 of the Intelligence Accountability Act, even if it is "misdirected", the content involving the death threats of members of Congress still needs to be filed for investigation.

[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: The Gattuso family is a legitimate business and has long-term cooperation with the M Army (Attachment: 2003 National Defense Procurement Contract.pdf) (Attachment: Congressional Commendation Document.pdf) @All members suggest that you focus on current combat missions and do not spread false information.

[Strategic Defense Agency - Kassel]: This topic is terminated. Pending further verification, further discussion.

The corners of Chu Zihang's mouth tightened slightly.

He had expected Angers' emergency intervention - the internal game of the board of directors could not be exposed to ordinary military high-ranking officials, even if someone from the "Supernatural Research Group" was already aware of it in the group.

But enough was enough - Gattuso's name was nailed on the suspect list.

The M Army will not easily let go of this level of "potential threat". Even if it is just a suspicion, it is enough to restrain the Gattuso family's subsequent actions and their power will continue to shrink.

As for whether this hacker-style reporting would touch the secret party's red line, Chu Zihang said that it would be difficult for him to gain much trust and goodwill from an organization that has portrayed Odin as positive for thousands of years. So why should he abide by the other party's tacit rules?

He closed the group chat, paused his finger on the screen for a moment, and then opened the music player.

An old and desolate Irish music started playing automatically, and the father and daughter sang in duet:
“The trees they grow high, and the leaves they do grow green…”

(The tree is growing taller and the leaves are turning greener)

"Many's the time my true love I've seen…"

(Many times, I saw my true love)

"Many's the time he's passed by me…"

(Sometimes I saw him alone)
“He’s young, but he’s daily growing…” (He’s still young, but he’s growing up day by day)

This is a sad song, but there is no sad tone.

The melodies of bagpipes and harps interweave, and the male and female duets are calm and desolate, as if standing on the green hills of Ireland, the wind blowing through the long grass, and the people in the story have long gone away.

Chu Zihang closed his eyes. He remembered that rainy night, when the Maybach's speakers played this song on repeat, and his father hummed the tune while his fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel.

The rain slid down his cheeks, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or something else.

He knew this was just the beginning.

But at least——

Father is still alive.

And this time, he won't let anyone take anything away from him.

"Any mission?" Lancelot asked sharply.

"Personal matter." Chu Zihang said, his voice calm, but the gold in his eyes was slightly bright.

Yuan Zhisheng glanced at him and didn't ask any more questions. He just said, "If you need help, the Sheqi Eight Clan can mobilize their intelligence network."

Chu Zihang shook his head: "Not for now."

Yuan Zhisheng glanced at him and said nothing. Lancelot seemed to want to say something but stopped himself and finally just sighed softly.

Chu Zihang put away his phone.

"Go." He said only one word.

Mount Fuji in the distance was still burning.

……

At the same time, Shi Yi Guang's holographic screen unfolded in front of Zhao Qing, and the data stream rolled like a waterfall.

"Chu Zihang has received the message," she reported. "His emotions are fluctuating violently, but he is not out of control."

Zhao Qing nodded: "His psychological quality is stronger than expected."

"Next?"

"Gattuso family..."

Zhao Qing pondered for a moment, "The priority is not that high. Currently, many forces have gathered in R, and the Holy Relics must be found and dealt with as soon as possible. Considering that the first generation species like the Wind King have just transformed, it is best for us to take it down directly while the enemy's forces are vacant."

Shi Yiguang agreed and casually marked the location of the Red Devil River on the map: "After relevant exploration, the well of hidden corpses should be in this area. Let the blind dragon dig quickly... In order to avoid more trouble, 'Word Spirit Listening' is a good choice for stratigraphic modeling and imaging."

"Having said that, things seem to have changed now..." Zhao Qing's gaze passed over the surging waves and fell on the gradually solidifying shadow in the distance.

In the rain, a cavalry was coming on the waves.

Without exception, they were all wearing dark wind cloaks and skull masks, and their rusty weapons shone coldly in the rain. Under the hooves of those war horses, the sea water condensed into frost, and every step made the sea surface freeze and shatter, as if they were stepping on an invisible layer of ice.

Their appearance was strange and ancient, like the Ringwraiths from the Lord of the Rings movie, with dry and pale hands holding weapons and sharp claws between the knuckles. A few of them were holding AK47s, with tattered cloth wrapped around the barrels, like second-hand goods picked up from a battlefield in the Middle East.

Xia Mi had just completed the initial fusion of the Water King's core and was stretching his muscles. When he noticed Zhao Qing's gaze, he turned around to look.

"Sleipnir's brothers and nephews?"

She whistled, "When did Odin start a breeding farm part-time? Can the Nibelungen stables mass-produce these bone horses? There are quite a lot of them." She paused, stared at the AK47s again, and twitched her lips slightly, "He's keeping up with the times and using guns? What is this, a modernization plan for the Undead Cavalry?"

Zhao Qing chuckled: "Maybe they think that cold weapons are too inefficient to kill people, so they just use full automatic firepower."

"Tsk, that makes sense." Xia Mi nodded, "After all, times have changed, and the Dragon King must learn to embrace technology. It's just that the aesthetics are a bit outdated, pitch black, like a funeral procession."

She complained on the surface, but was secretly frightened - these war horses were all excellent subspecies of dragon, each one had ancient blood flowing in it, runes were embedded between their bones, and extremely advanced life creation technology was used. The coordination between man and horse was ingenious, far beyond the reach of an ordinary Deadpool.

However, the combat effectiveness of these cavalrymen themselves is not very strong. At best, they are just high-level deadpools. In the face of modern technology, a heavy machine gun can knock down a large number of them with one sweep. But the problem is——

Why did the M Army frigate several nautical miles away show no reaction?

The ship's radar, infrared detection, and sonar systems seemed to be completely out of order, ignoring the army of the undead. The guns did not move, and the searchlights did not sweep over the sea. The sailors on the deck walked back and forth, and some even leaned on the railings to smoke and stare blankly.

"Invisible?" Zhao Qing whispered, "Or... modern technology can't detect them at all?"

"It looks like that..." Xia Mi's golden eyes were frighteningly bright, and she suddenly waved behind her: "Hey there! The guy in a kimono, staring blankly! Come over here and play a game!"

Genji was squatting behind a reef assembling the Akazakura long sword, and almost stuck the guard of the sword into her nostrils when she heard this.

As he came over with his weapon in hand, he looked like a truant student called out by the class teacher: "Seniors, I am actually better at..."

"Here." Zhao Qing casually took out a high-power military telescope and tapped it on his chest. "Look at the eleven o'clock direction and tell me what you see. Concentrate and find anything unusual on the sea?"

Yuan Zhinu followed his instructions and raised the telescope he had just bought, adjusted the focus, and scanned the sea carefully. However, in his field of vision, there were only rolling waves and rain curtains, and occasionally a few abnormal ripples, as if the sea water was delayed by some invisible force, but there was no sign of any cavalry at all.

"Nothing." He put down the telescope, frowning, "But the movement of the waves... is not natural."

Xia Mi sighed, "It seems that it is not only optically invisible, but also radar, infrared, and sonar are all blocked? This is no longer ordinary alchemy, but an erasure at the 'rule' level, a conceptual invisibility - the observation methods in the real world are almost completely ineffective against it."

"Even the super S-class hybrids of the Spiritual Scriptures can't be seen, so it must be a high-level dragon that can barely detect them... If a fight breaks out, won't the modern army be one-sided?"

She imagined the scene - several teams of deadpools boarding the ship silently, the soldiers didn't even know where the enemy was, their throats were cut by rusty blades, the muzzles of AKs spewed flames in the dark, and the radar was empty.

Zhao Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Use a sniper rifle."

Yuan Zhinu was stunned for a moment, but soon understood, took out a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle from the equipment box, loaded it with alchemical bullets, and placed it on the rock. Zhao Qing raised his hand, and a wisp of Qi gathered at his fingertips, drawing a light golden track in the air, pointing directly at a knight at the front of the cavalry corps.

"Aim in this direction and shoot."

Yuan Zhinv took a deep breath and aimed the crosshairs at the void where Zhao Qing was pointing - there was clearly nothing there, but his finger still pulled the trigger.

"boom--!"

The 12.7mm mercury core armor-piercing bullet tore through the rain curtain and whizzed out at an initial velocity of over 800 meters per second.

The next moment, on the sea in the distance, the head of an undead warhorse suddenly exploded, and black mist-like blood spurted out. The knight's body shook and he almost fell off the horse.

"Hit it?!" Gen Chinu's pupils shrank slightly. Although he saw nothing, the bullet seemed to have hit an entity and seemed to encounter flesh and blood obstruction in his visual perception.

Xia Mi raised her eyebrows: "It seems that they are not completely immune to physical damage."

Zhao Qing nodded slightly: "It is only invisible at the 'observation' level, not erased at the 'existence' level. Modern technology cannot lock them, but pure kinetic energy strikes are still effective."

This discovery made the situation a little clearer - the Undead Cavalry was not invincible, but the detection methods of modern armies were completely suppressed. If you can't "see" the enemy, no matter how advanced the weapons are, they will not work. But if there is guidance from high-level dragons, ordinary firearms can still cause casualties.

Pure firepower coverage can also be effective and kill the enemy.

However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The warhorse that was hit did not die completely. Its body trembled a few times in the black mist of blood, and then began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The tissue at the wound began to wriggle and the bones began to reconnect. In a blink of an eye, the horse's head was restored to its original state, as if it had never been injured.

The knight steadied his body, his eyes under the skull mask flashing with dark golden light. He then raised the AK47 in his hand and fired a burst of bullets in the direction of Yuan Zhinv.

"Bang bang bang-!"

The bullets penetrated the rain and hit the rocks, sending sparks flying.

"Is there such a regeneration ability outside of Nibelung?" Xia Mi narrowed her eyes, used her inner energy to grab a few pieces of broken rocks, and took a look at them. "It seems that Odin's alchemy technology has been upgraded again... But he is quite stingy with bullets. There is not a single alchemical bullet. All of them are made of renewable bone products."

Yuan Zhinv put down her gun and held the knife in her hand alertly, ready to split the bullet at any time, but her face was full of disbelief: "...So, what did I hit just now?"

"A skeleton knight getting ready to go to a Halloween party."

Xia Mi came closer and patted his shoulder, "Congratulations, you are now the 'King of Blind Snipers'."

Yuan Zongnu: "..."

"Considering that in the eyes of most people, this group of invisible monsters still have a hysteresis and obstruction effect on water and gas, perhaps we can write a paper on "How to use fluid mechanics to detect ghosts"? " Shi Yiguang communicated with Chu Zihang for a while and expressed his own opinion on the side: "Try the detection-type word spirits such as the blood-related Jie Luo?"

"It's probably useless. The 'spirit' driven by the dragon spirit is no more special than human eyes and radar..."

Zhao Qing was thinking for a while, but he quickly came to a conclusion and drafted a preliminary solution: "It just so happens that in order to quickly search for the remaining 'king generals' shadow warriors, I originally planned to build a series of 'psychic beacons'. This way, I can kill two birds with one stone and monitor these invisible cavalry."

"The exclusive technology of Yuri's camp in Red Alert?" Xia Mi complained dissatisfiedly: "Last time you accused me of playing Plants vs. Zombies and not doing my job, but now you bring up video games yourself? Such double standards, how can a gentleman or a teacher act?"

Zhao Qing smiled slightly and said, "It's a different time now, inspiration comes from life, so why not?"

She then glanced at the sea surface and saw a hexagonal metal buoy breaking through the water. It was exactly the living sample of the shadow warrior that was captured by the alchemical gel earlier. "The express I asked for has finally arrived."

...(End of chapter)