Star Odyssey

Chapter 1377: Encouragement

Yu Chen thought about things for a moment. In a normal situation, even if the three Guan brothers would become upset with Long Qi, it would take a while, but the White Dragon Clan would not allow for such time. It seemed quite possible that the White Dragon Clan had already started to make arrangements for Long Qi to retire from Humility’s Gate.

After thinking a bit, Yu Chen realized that things had to be accelerated.

Yu Chen had made the right guess. Lu Yin was not satisfied with just the traitors he had arrested in Yinshan City. Those traitors had not been enough to sate Lu Yin’s ambition, and he intended to go much bigger.

Over the next few days, Lu Yin’s team began to take more frequent patrols through the Yinshan Mountains. Fortunately, the recent arrests of the five traitors had made Lu Yin’s underlings take him seriously, as otherwise he would only have been able to patrol with Unseen Light.

After three days passed, Lu Yin arrested another traitor. This traitor had been found at the border of the Yinshan District and Huaiyuan. While it was considered the border of the two jurisdictions, the place still technically fell into Huaiyuan’s territory.

The three Guan brothers were extremely upset when Lu Yin arrested this particular traitor, but there was nothing they could say. Humility’s Gate was split into nine different bases across the Middle Realm, and there was a tacit understanding to not enter other jurisdictions to make arrests, but it was merely an understanding and not a formal rule. Technically, it did not matter where an arrest was made.

Lu Yin quickly grew more and more active. Just a few more days passed, and he arrested another traitor Huaiyuan, which completely enraged the three Guan brothers. Still, Lu Yin did not particularly care, as he was trying to come up with a plan to capture Guan Yun. After all, the man was not a traitor, but a Redback.

Capturing a single Redback would be a greater accomplishment than arresting a hundred traitors. Each Redback might nurture dozens or even hundreds of traitors, and each traitor would often be active for many years. Each and every Redback was someone who had been directly groomed by those monsters of the Neohuman Alliance, and not one of them was an ordinary person. Each Redback had lived at least a thousand years, and it was impossible to predict how many people that were able to be turned into traitors during that time.

Even if Long Tian wanted to give Lu Yin accomplishments to allow him to retire, it was impossible for Lu Yin to be given information about a Redback. At best, Long Tian might help Lu Yin arrest a bit more than ten traitors.

If Lu Yin could arrest a Redback like Guan Yun, it would guarantee Lu Yin being able to get the attention of the supervisor of the nine bases, and likely even meet the powerhouse.

One day, while Lu Yin was leading his team out on patrol, an Explorer within the team returned after visiting his home. Lu Yin’s communication crystals vibrated as he received a message from the Explorer, and it included a line of text. These stones allowed not only communication, but also for people to send images and documents.

Lu Yin stared at the text. He was surprised to discover it was information about traitors, and more than just one. “Who did you get this from?”

“I don’t know. It was a direct message,” the Explorer said. He addressed Lu Yin in a very casual manner. After all, all of Lu Yin’s subordinates were wastrels, and while they had been convinced of Lu Yin’s capabilities, they were still not very obedient.

Lu Yin studied the list of names. He was assuming that it was information provided by Long Tian, and so Lu Yin was curious about where these traitors were located.

What? Every single person on this list was from Huaiyuan. Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. This was an interesting development; who would want to accelerate the rate at which Lu Yin cleaned up Huaiyuan’s traitors?

Lu Yin was not sure, but he had already realized that the more traitors he arrested in Huaiyuan, the more he would upset the three Guan brothers, as Lu Yin’s activities would make the brothers appear to be incompetent.

An important detail was that whoever had provided this information to Lu Yin was privy to secret information, but there was not way that the Guan brothers were unaware of these traitors. In that case, why had the people not been arrested by the brothers? The only possibility was that the people on this new list were just like the traitor from the Zhu family: they were all being used as bait by the brothers to lure out bigger fish.

Someone clearly wanted Lu Yin to offend the three Guan brothers, and after thinking about it, Lu Yin quickly realized who was behind this: it had to be Yu Chen.

She had been the one to get this list delivered to Lu Yin so that he would make the arrests himself, which would thoroughly offend the Guan brothers. Also, if Lu Yin did not make the arrests, then he could be charged with other crimes, such as aiding traitors to humanity or some such charge.

It seemed that Yu Chen was in a hurry. She had likely already guessed that the White Dragon Clan would make arrangements for Lu Yin to retire from Humility’s Gate, and Yu Chen intended to deal with the issue before Lu Yin retired.

After considering the matter for a while, Lu Yin led his team back to Humility’s Gate’s base, and he requested a meeting with Zhuo Si.

Zhuo Si scanned the list that Lu Yin had given him, and then silently set it down and looked up at Lu Yin. “The people on this list aren’t important or powerful, so you clearly are able to deal with them. Why did you bring this to me?”

Lu Yin puffed out his chest. “Merit given to a single soldier can never compare with merit given to Yinshan District as a whole.”

Zhuo Si was amused at the response. “Are you saying you want to give credit for these arrests to all of the Yinshan District?”

Lu Yin solemnly replied, “Yes.”

Zhuo Si pursed his lips. The man was not an idiot, and who would willingly forfeit achievements so casually. However, it only took a moment’s thought for Zhuo Si to understand Lu Yin’s motivation, and he looked at Lu Yin with an odd light in his eyes. “I find it interesting that someone like you is from the White Dragon Clan.”

After speaking, Zhuo Si raised a hand to call the fatty with his communication crystals.

It took a bit for the fatty to arrive, and he nodded to Lu Yin when he saw his fellow captain present.

The fatty had been acting the same as ever. Despite Lu Yin’s brilliant performance recently, it had nothing to do with the fatty, and he had focused entirely on indulging himself.

“Little Wang, how long have you been here in the Yinshan District?” Zhuo Si asked in a kind voice when the fatty arrived. While the fatty gave the appearance of being an idiot, he was actually very shrewd. Zhuo Si’s words instantly made the fatty feel bad, and he reflexively looked over at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin responded with a very warm and friendly smile, and the fatty was able to relax a bit.

“How long have you been here?” Zhuo Si asked a second time. No matter how famous Zhuo Si was for being a layabout, he was still the Yinshan District’s gate master, as well as an Envoy. Such a person demanded a measure of respect.

The fatty came to himself and quickly replied, “Well, it’s been a few years.”

Zhuo Si smiled and said, “And yet during these years you haven’t accomplished anything. How do you intend to explain yourself when you return home?”

The fatty gulped and again glanced over at Lu Yin. Lu Yin smiled back and looked at the fatty in an encouraging manner.

The fatty was stunned; what did this mean?

Zhuo Si’s finger twitched, and the list shot over to the fatty. He took it, and blinked. “Uncle Si? What is this?”

Zhuo Si commanded, “Everyone on that list is to be arrested. They are likely all traitors.”

The fatty’s mouth fell wide open and he pointed at himself. “Me?”

Zhuo Si nodded, clearly serious.

The fatty looked over at Lu Yin, who smiled brighter than ever. “Congratulations! You’ll soon gain some merit points!”

The fatty swallowed and turned back to Zhuo Si. “Can I not go?”

Zhuo Si’s expression instantly fell. “What? Are you trying to betray humanity?”

Such an accusation was a serious matter. Not to mention the fatty, even the patriarch of the Wang family, one of the four ruling powers, would not be able to freely commit such a crime.

The fatty was terrified and he almost jumped. “Uncle Si, don’t scare me! I’m a timid person and I can’t help being scared of such a task”

Zhuo Si lazily leaned against the wall. This was the same position he had held the first time Lu Yin had seen the gate master. “Then go get them. I don’t allow layabouts here in the Yinshan Mountains.”

You’re the laziest one here! The fatty said to himself. He looked at Lu Yin and licked his lips before smiling. “Bro, why don’t you go make the arrests? You’re already on a roll, so keep going, and maybe you can get a Medal of the Tree.”

Lu Yin’s expression instantly turned serious. “Right, it’s best if only I, Long Qi, get merit points. That doesn’t sound good to me.”

The fatty did not believe what he heard, but he had no way to argue. In the end, he was forced to lead his own team to make the arrests.

Lu Yin did not grow idle during this time. While he refused to target anyone on the list that he had been given, he had no reason to avoid the other traitors he was aware of. All of the names that Lu Yin had learned of from Guan Yun’s memories were verified traitors, and Lu Yin wanted to capture all of the people.

Humility’s Gate’s base in the Yinshan District was famous for being a hideaway for wastrels, so no one had expected for Long Qi to arrest four traitors in a row, let alone the fat and lazy Wang Dashuai to subsequently arrest three more traitors. This matter shocked Huaiyuan.

When the three Guan brothers heard the news, they immediately started cursing. “Those pawns that we purposely left alone to draw people’s attention were all picked up by the Wang family’s idiot! All of that effort to gain greater achievements is gone to waste! Ah.” Guan Yun was furious.

Guan Hai’s also had an ugly expression on his face. “There weren’t many people who knew about those traitors, and everyone who did was an upper-ranking member of Humility’s Gate. Yu Chen must also have known.”

“Second brother, are you saying that Yu Chen gave out information about the people who were just arrested? Why would she help that fatass from the Wang family?” Guan Yun was puzzled.

Guan Tong snorted coldly. “She isn’t helping that fat Wang, she was trying to help Long Qi. She gave Long Qi the intel in order to set him up against us. Arresting those people ruins our plans, and also makes us look like idiots, so naturally we’ll want to move against Long Qi. However, that kid isn’t an idiot, and he somehow managed to get that fat Wang kid to make the arrests instead.”

“Why are we the ones with the rotten luck again?” Guan Yun was unhappy.

Guan Tong’s eyes flickered. “It looks like Yu Chen has decided for us, and we’ll need to deal with Long Qi.”

Guan Hai frowned. “If that’s the case, then there’s nothing we can do. We can’t afford to offend Bai Shaohong. Dealing with Long Qi might drag us into a conflict involving the four ruling powers, but that’s still better than being laughed at and being seen as incompetent. The three of us have built up a reputation for ourselves, and we can’t allow that reputation to be ruined by Long Qi. We’re still part of Humility’s Gate, so even if we upset the White Dragon Clan with our actions, they still can’t casually deal with us. Also, if we’re lucky, you can still get that woman to back you, and that would completely change your current status.”

Guan Tong nodded. If he continued to refuse to make a move, he would offend Bai Shaohong and also see his reputation ruined, while taking action would offend the White Dragon Clan. Guan Tong quickly weighed the pros and cons. “Tell her we’ll do it.”

To the north of Huaiyuan, there was a massive, ugly brown bird flying high in the sky. It was carrying dozens of people on its back, and in the center of them there was a fat, middle-aged man. He was dressed in brocaded satin, and there were seven or eight cosmic rings on his fingers. He looked quite wealthy.

However, he also looked quite nervous at the moment, and he was constantly glancing behind. “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry up!”

Suddenly, dozens of people appeared up ahead, lined up to block the bird’s path. They were the cultivators who followed the fatty. The fatty also showed himself, and he arrogantly looked down at the people on the back of the strange bird. “Follow this handsome man quietly, and you won’t have to suffer! Resist, and you’ll wish you were dead!”

The middle-aged fat man became desperate. “It’s over! We were still discovered! It’s all over!”

“We’re from Humility’s Gate, so don’t act rashly!” the fatty shouted fiercely. The people on the back of the brown bird were so frightened that they did not dare move around. They were all cultivators who had been hired to protect the fat man, but when they heard that Humility’s Gate was after the middle-aged man, they immediately stopped all thoughts of resistance. Humility’s Gate was powerful enough that any resistance just meant a prolonged death, and so no one was willing to go against them.

The fatty let out a contented sigh. He had never considered that arresting traitors could feel so good! Why had he never known this before?