I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng seized this rare opportunity and continued to move forward.

His goal was clear—the meeting room on the top floor!

As the current captain of the Third Division of the Fire Thieves, Qing Deng was naturally very familiar with the interior layout of the magnificent mansion beneath his feet.

The government office, which was converted by thieves, has three floors.

If we were to pinpoint the most likely location for Kimura Kazuma and the others right now, Aoto would immediately think of the third floor... the top-floor meeting room.

On his way to the stairs, Qingdeng soon encountered a new obstacle blocking his path.

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh! Take this! Take this! Take this!"

The newly emerged team members were very noisy.

He swung his knife wildly, intending to overwhelm Qing Deng with a barrage of blades.

Qing Deng expressionlessly sheathed the bamboo sword at his left waist...

Boom! !

A lightning-fast offensive.

The bamboo sword struck the side of the steel knife.

The dense array of sword shadows was blasted away by Qing Deng's powerful strike, which concentrated 6% of his strength.

The bamboo sword, its momentum undiminished, struck the opponent's body directly.

The talkative team member passed out without uttering a sound, and just as his figure slowly slumped forward... Suddenly! Two dark figures darted out from behind him!

"go to hell!"

"Drink!"

Using your partner's body as cover, ambushing from behind... a classic tactic.

Despite the two soldiers who suddenly appeared and unleashed slashes so fast that even a three-foot-long sword could only see a needle-like flash, Qing Deng still managed to dodge their blades gracefully, passing through the gap between them and leaving two sword shadows behind him.

Without even looking behind him, Qing Deng continued toward the stairs. As he left, the two soldiers he had left behind fell to the ground one after the other.

Then, a new opponent emerged.

The four team members gripped their cold blades tightly and surrounded Qingdeng.

Based on the positions and actions of these four people, it's easy to see that they are not ordinary fodder.

Four knives swept towards Qingdeng from different directions.

If someone were less skilled or inexperienced in combat, they would probably be overwhelmed by the four blades attacking from different directions.

Qingdeng remained calm and composed.

After scanning the area and identifying the positions of the four swords, Qing Deng swung his bamboo sword four times in one go.

With his extraordinary sword speed, Qingdeng managed to make one bamboo sword appear as if it were four.

The four swords seemed to be knocked down and parried at the same time.

After deflecting the attacks of the four soldiers, Qing Deng swung his bamboo sword four more times.

This time, the four soldiers who had already been disarmed were hit.

Now, there are no more obstacles on the way to the stairwell!

Qingdeng made a "thump-thump-thump" sound as he went up the stairs.

Just then, a tall figure descended from the sky and landed in the stairwell above the green steps.

"To think you could even reach this place... you thief, you're quite capable. From now on, I, your grandson Chutaro, will be your opponent!"

*******

*******

Ugh, it's like I'm cursed lately, all sorts of trivial things keep piling up! (Laughing and crying.jpg) Why is it so hard to even get a proper update?! (Laughing and crying.jpg)

As expected... being a part-time writer like me is just too difficult...

Chapter 373 Copying God-Level Talent: [God Brain +9]! [5600]

A few minutes ago—

Third floor, meeting room—

"So many days have passed, and this is all you've accomplished?! Huh?!"

While shouting, Tadashi Okubo slapped the tatami mat next to his thigh.

At this very moment, the current commanders of the Fire Thieves Bureau, Tadashi Okubo and Atsuyuki Kurosawa, are discussing the latest developments in the "Akabane Massacre Case" with all the squad leaders, led by Abiko, in a meeting room.

With Aoto "missing" and Kanazawa dead, the Third and Second Divisions are temporarily under the command of Mizushima and his grandson.

The pressure that Tadashi Okubo and Atsuyuki Kurosawa have been under recently is considerable.

The higher-ups were highly concerned about the tragedy of the Akabane family, and almost every day they would send people down to urge them to "solve the case as soon as possible" and "apprehend the real culprit as soon as possible".

Intense anxiety has made Okubo and Kurosawa look extremely pale lately, with an unhealthy pallor on their cheeks.

In an era when technology was underdeveloped and criminal investigation methods were quite limited, solving a case was largely a matter of luck.

It's not as simple as shouting a slogan or two to catch the real culprit.

However... it is obvious that bureaucrats of all eras are the same: they only care about issuing orders and pointing fingers, completely disregarding the hard work and fatigue of their subordinates, and whether the instructions they give are realistic and reasonable.

It should be said that the Fire Thief team has performed admirably recently; they have been diligent and hardworking enough.

Not only was the entire army mobilized, but in order to facilitate command and coordination among the various units, all the squad leaders had moved directly into the government office since the day before yesterday, effectively putting the area into a semi-wartime state.

However, as mentioned above, in an era when solving cases relied primarily on rudimentary reasoning and investigation, luck was directly linked to the case-solving rate.

Despite the Fire Thief's best efforts, the results were... rather lackluster.

The "pressure" from above and the "powerlessness" from below... these two cruel realities intertwine and ultimately combine to create the scene before us where Okubo and Kurosawa are throwing a tantrum at my grandson and the others.

Even those on the second floor could faintly hear Okubo and Kurosawa's roars.

Whether it was the usually carefree Abiko, the calm and composed Mizushima, the arrogant Kimura, or the haughty Hisaka, they all remained silent, enduring the reprimands from their two superiors.

None of us are newcomers to officialdom anymore.

Everyone here is a seasoned veteran.

Therefore, they are quite clear that in the current situation, talking back or reasoning is useless and will only further intensify the conflict. The best course of action is to obediently become the scapegoat of their superiors.

Just as my grandson was secretly yawning, wondering how long this boring meeting was going to go on...

boom!

The muffled thud of the door being violently smashed open, along with the increasingly loud shouts of "Enemy attack!", clearly reached the third floor.

Suddenly, the entire conference room fell silent...

Okubo and Kurosawa, who had been venting their emotions all at once until just now, were instantly stunned.

Kimura, Hisaka, Tsuchida, and Kazama were also stunned.

In this unexpected moment, only two people reacted quickly.

Click.

Click.

Two crisp sounds of knives being wielded rang out, one after the other.

As if they had rehearsed it beforehand, my grandson and Mizushima simultaneously picked up the swords resting on their right legs, got up, and went outside.

As soon as the door opened, they saw a soldier rushing toward them.

"My grandson! Lord Mizushima! Something terrible has happened! There are intruders!"

How many people came?

Mizushima remained expressionless and spoke in a cold tone.

"Four, four!"

"4?"

Upon hearing this astonishing number, even the composed Mizushima couldn't help but change his expression.

He glanced at the soldiers in front of him to confirm. This gesture, of course, meant, "There's no mistake, is there?"

At this moment, the noise coming from downstairs became increasingly loud and chaotic.

My grandson came to the stairwell and looked down into the stairwell.

"Hooray~~" My grandson raised his eyebrows and grinned. "These intruders are pretty good. They're almost up the stairs."

Snap, snap, snap, snap...

I heard anxious footsteps approaching from behind my grandson.

It was Okubo, Kurosawa, and the other captains except for Mizushima.

"What the hell is going on! What are those security guards doing?! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Okubo was like a broken tape recorder, constantly repeating offensive swear words.

"What? They've already made it up the stairs?! What, what are we going to do?"

Kurosawa, on the other hand, was like an ant on a hot pan, anxiously pacing around in circles.

Before the enemy even reached the front lines, their two commanders had already lost their composure... which is understandable. In a society where officials were selected and promoted based solely on lineage rather than ability, things even more absurd than this were commonplace.

Fortunately, Okubo and Kurosawa were merely incompetent, not stupid.

If you encounter a problem that you cannot solve on your own, you should seek help from truly capable people—they understand this principle.

And so, hopeful eyes fell upon my grandson.

Kurosawa: "My grandson! The invaders are about to attack! How should we defend ourselves?"

Faced with Kurosawa's earnest question, my grandson did not answer immediately, but instead chuckled as if it were none of his business.

"Should we praise the timing of this gang's intrusion as 'well-chosen' or 'poorly chosen'?"