In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 10 Life Bone
Ten kilometers away from the border post, in Dama County, the county hospital morgue.

A strong white light shone on the outline covered by a white sheet, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and rotting flesh. A high-powered air conditioner hummed as it blew out cold air.

Lying on the central platform is the bandit who was killed a few days ago. Lin Zhiyan is interrogating this dead man.

With no protection whatsoever, slender, pale fingers reached directly into the exposed brain tissue after the skull had been sawed open.

Lin Zhiyan's eyes were tightly closed, his mind like the finest probe, struggling to traverse the shattered mental world of the deceased.

After a long while, she opened her eyes and quickly withdrew her hand.

Lin Zhiyan's assistant immediately brought water, and he vigorously rubbed his hands, splashing water droplets everywhere, with such force that it seemed he wanted to scrub his skin off.

She didn't stop until her skin turned red and in several places it was broken.

Lin Zhiyan said with a gloomy expression, "I saw him get a piece of dark blue jade, it was very heavy and had the earthy smell of an ancient tomb. Then my memory was cut off. When I forcibly pieced it together, I could only see fragments of his escape, and I couldn't determine the exact location of his life bone."

"We need to find out who he contacted and where he stayed along the way."

A year ago, a Ming Dynasty prince's tomb was unearthed in Lincheng, and a large number of bones were found inside.

Logically speaking, life bones should not be buried with the dead, as they represent the foundation of the ruling class, especially since a large number of them were brought in.

Therefore, the excavation of ancient tombs does not require military or police security.

However, an unexpected event occurred: hundreds of pieces of bone were unearthed from the ancient tomb, and even more unexpectedly, everything was stolen by bandits.
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On May 27th, it was Lu Zhao's turn to be on duty.

Border defense missions are divided into two types: one is to be stationed at outposts on the front lines deep in the mountains and forests, and the other is to conduct symbolic patrols in the surrounding areas.

The latter is relatively relaxed, at most conducting joint security checks on border hotels and entertainment venues, and verifying the identities of suspicious persons.

The former involves patrolling along the border on foot or by vehicle, covering complex terrains such as mountains, jungles, deserts, and islands, and facing smugglers and monsters.

Lu Zhaogang had just completed a round of outpost rotations and was now much more relaxed. He only needed to drive his peeling patrol jeep around the mountain roads every day.

At 9:10, Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang drove their beat-up little car to patrol the mountain.

At 10:30, the vehicle stopped halfway up the mountain. Liu Qiang waited in place, while Lu Zhao continued to drive up the mountain.

With no one holding him back, he was even faster. With an average of 30 points of vitality, he ran like a raptor skimming the ground.

On the mountaintop rock, Lu Zhao's mental energy swept around, transmitting back to his mind to form a rough outline.

He then bent down and reached his arm into the crevice of the rock, and with a little effort, pulled out a shoulder bag that smelled of damp earth.

Being covered in rocks, it naturally loves stones.

Inside the shoulder bag was a small, palm-sized, dark blue jade stone that emitted a faint glow.

Lu Zhao studied it for a moment, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Life bone?"

The vast majority of life bones are in the hands of the state; private ownership is illegal.

"Where did Green Forest steal this from?"

Lu Zhao was considering how to handle the situation.

Is the hoard for personal use or for resale?

One can only have one type of life bone, but similar types can be combined to obtain more powerful supernatural abilities. According to the numbers of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Fiends, all supernatural abilities can be categorized.

Just like trees, great powers form the trunk, strength forms the branches, and weakness forms the leaves.

However, Lu Zhao's own supernatural abilities were not weak, nor had they reached a bottleneck, and he was unable to confirm the type of his life bone.

He doesn't need it right now; what he lacks most is money. Selling his life bone to the black market could bring him a large sum of money, perhaps enough to cover his expenses for the next ten years.

The idea of ​​selling it was immediately rejected by Lu Zhao.

Those with life-bound supernatural powers, once scattered, will inevitably be used for murder. Good people who need life-bound powers don't need to buy them, and most likely can't afford them anyway. Only villains need life-bound supernatural powers, using them as weapons to challenge the established order.

This is the bottom line.

If everyone can be selfless, then he can naturally be selfless as well. Conversely, if everyone is corrupt and breaks the law, Lu Zhao will still maintain his bottom line.

Lu Zhao sorted out his thoughts and decided that he would use the merit points to exchange for future related missions.

He found a place to bury his shoulder bag, and then continued his hurried journey deeper into the back mountains.

Ant Ridge is not a single mountain peak, but a vast mountainous area stretching for thirty kilometers.

Their daily patrols cover only the outermost, relatively safe area of ​​Ant Ridge, less than one-tenth of its total area.

Often, all the outposts can do is issue warnings, and there are always stray monsters that manage to break through the blockade.

Recently, traces of monsters crossing the border have been discovered at the outpost. In such cases, Lu Zhao would usually request to be relieved of his post and return to investigate and hunt them down.

In the entire border station, only Lu Zhao was able to meticulously complete the planned patrol route and finish all the work without any mistakes.

Zhang Like criticized him harshly, complaining that he worked too hard, making them seem like they were just coasting along.

As Lu Zhao ventured deeper, the trees grew taller and thicker, their canopies blocking out the sun. Sunlight could only filter through the gaps in the branches and leaves with difficulty, making even midday somewhat dim.

Lu Zhao finally stopped when the understory was so dense that it was almost impossible to pass through with ferns and shade-tolerant shrubs.

He looked around to check for traces, marked and set traps before turning back.

Back on the outer layer, Liu Qiang had already climbed to the top of the mountain.

"Brother Lu, we've been ordered to search the mountains for the things that fugitive hid a few days ago."

"It's getting late, let's head back."

Lu Zhao shook his head and refused. He then took Liu Qiang down the mountain. On the way back to the border station, he was scolded by Lü Jinshan on the phone.

Liu Qiang wore a forced smile throughout. With only seven or eight points of vitality, he wasn't even considered an extraordinary person, so he could only nod and bow in front of a high-ranking leader.

Lu Zhao ignored it completely, not even responding.

He didn't plan to take it out immediately, because that would definitely allow Lü Jinshan to sabotage him again.

'Lü Jinshan seems very anxious.'

A thought suddenly came to mind.

If this was requested by the task force, or even by higher-ups in the county.

Lu Jinshan's failure to recover important lost items within a reasonable timeframe may result in disciplinary action, constituting dereliction of duty.

After Liu Qiang was hung up on by Lü Jinshan, Lu Zhao asked, "In the report I asked you to write a few days ago, did you include information about the items the fugitive might be hiding?"

"I did write something, but I only thought of searching the mountain today. All the traces have been washed away by the heavy rain."

Liu Qiang always handled clerical work flawlessly.

This pleased Lu Zhao greatly.

(End of this chapter)