Star Gate

Liu Long ran some quick calculations. “Judging from the looks of you and your ascension to Slayer yesterday, you’ve likely digested both cubes of mysterious power. I agreed to give you two more in a few days, but looks like this is the day!”

“Chief!” The rest of the team looked sharply at Liu Long. Another two cubes?

The team’s store of mysterious power didn’t belong to Liu Long alone. Although everyone thought that Li Hao was very capable, they’d gathered this energy by jointly risking their lives. This decision wasn’t very fair.

“Li Hao will be allotted less if we all survive this mission!” Liu Long smiled. “If he dies, we’ll split his share. If we all die, then none of this matters!”

The group settled back down. That made more sense.

The captain looked at Li Hao with a soft sigh. “You might not understand, Li Hao, but I still want to emphasize how precious mysterious power is. Killing one Starlight typically yields five to ten cubes of mysterious power.

“A Darkmoon yields twenty to forty. I don’t know about those ranked higher because we’ve never killed one.

“The Demon Hunters have gathered one hundred and twenty cubes from five demonic supernaturals. We’ve absorbed most of it—some having been absorbed by those who are now dead. These twelve cubes are all that’s left of more than a dozen lives!”

He thought for a moment before laughing at himself. “Twenty-two brothers, to be exact. That translates to roughly six cubes per life—and they were all Inspectorate elites! You’ll have taken a life if you absorb another two more!”

Li Hao suddenly found a weighty heft to the energy. Twenty-two people dead in exchange for one hundred and twenty cubes of energy! The price was too high!

“Chief… is it worth it?” he suddenly asked.

Liu Long threw his head back with manic laughter.

“Yes! Because… we are justice!”

Upholders of justice who defended Silver City!

Li Hao turned over the sentence in his mouth. He used to find the declaration laughable, but mirth was the last thing on his mind in this moment. It didn’t seem that funny anymore. Justice?

Perhaps!

He wasn’t too familiar with Liu Long or any of the Demon Hunters. Li Hao had rarely come in contact with the law enforcement team during his year at the agency. After a couple days in their company, however, his impression changed again and again. The first time that Liu Long spoke of defending justice, Li Hao’s only reaction was heh!

Hypocrite!

How is killing and looting under the guise of justice anything close to the side of good? That’s just talk to comfort and convince yourself!

But somehow, these fools treated it as gospel. Of course Li Hao couldn’t express his true sentiments. It wasn’t a bad thing to play along, in any case.

Liu Long’s second mention of justice sent some doubts swirling. Was the safeguarding he spoke of truly protection, or was it executing villainous supernaturals in order to obtain greater strength? Was that still justice?

Li Hao was also curious about one point—why did the various Demon Hunters pursue the supernatural domain? What were their goals? Did they want to grow stronger?

Being supernatural seemed very dangerous. Mundanes sometimes lived just as well, if not better, than their otherworldly counterparts. If it wasn’t for the scarlet shadow targeting him, Li Hao might not pursue this field.

His teacher once mentioned supernatural organizations. The Night Watchers were one—Li Hao knew of them, just not their name. He hadn’t thought much at the time, feeling that they and him were of two different worlds. Now he was forced to dive headfirst into this realm.

Li Hao voiced none of his myriad of thoughts. He liked staying silent, but sometimes chattered with other intentions. He’d put on a mask a year ago and customarily wore a false smile.

……

Li Hao followed the team captain on a repeat visit to the treasury; the entire team trailed behind. Liu Yan gushed with affection and wrapped her arm around the young man.

“You’re really something, Little Hao Hao!” The woman was wreathed in smiles. “You joined us only a few days ago, but this is your second time absorbing energy. When big sis here joined the team, three full months separated my first two times!”

Li Hao slightly shrugged his shoulders. Yo, sis, can you not be so friendly? You’re basically clinging onto me, that’s enough of that!

“Why are you shrugging your shoulders? Are they sore? Shall big sis rub them for you tonight?”

“……” Li Hao had nothing to say. She was… impossible to establish boundaries with.

Up ahead, Liu Long didn’t even blink at Liu Yan’s antics. He couldn’t be bothered. Of the five remaining Demon Hunters, each came with their own stories and thoughts. Twenty-two comrades-in-arms had died since the team’s founding and the survivors were full of various motivations and desires. Liu Long knew, he knew everything, but sometimes wasn’t willing to say anything.

Who knew if there was a tomorrow in store for them?

Creak!

The treasury door swung open. Mysterious power was stored in the third room; Li Hao hadn’t known what the first two rooms contained on his previous visit. Liu Yan took on the role of enthusiastic tour guide this time.

“There are three rooms here, mysterious power is stored in the third. Do you know what’s in the first two?”

“Hot weapons?”

“Nope, how are those things worthy of being stored in the treasury?” Liu Yan chuckled. “Supernatural objects such as weapons, books, diaries, and others are held in the first room. Apart from the ones we’ve killed, we’ve also collected some from other sources. It’s a bunch of knickknacks, but they should be worth something. We just find it difficult to categorize them!”

Li Hao nodded with understanding. “What about the second room?”

“The second room?” Liu Yan remained merry, but a sidelong glance from Li Hao found her smile… not exactly typical. “The second room’s interesting! Regular people can’t enter it—it’s the team’s most important area, even more so than the room with mysterious power! But a word of warning from your big sis, best stay out of it!”

Is it treasure? What kind of treasure can’t even be looked at?

Liu Long abruptly bestowed a cold look at the woman. “Have you had enough fun yet?”

Liu Yan tittered and let go of Li Hao’s neck. “Don’t be so rough, chief,” she simpered. “So I’ve been neglecting you, hmm? Are you jealous?”

An unmoved Liu Long didn’t grow angry. He simply glanced at the second door, fell silent, and continued to the third room.

Li Hao looked at the second room as well, truly curious now. The quiet team captain showed irritation only when Liu Yan mentioned the second secret chamber. What could possibly be inside?

There was no time to ponder as Yun Yao had already opened the door to the third room. The female team doctor was a taciturn individual, but she nodded smilingly every time Li Hao looked at her. She didn’t seem as standoffish as Liu Yan had said—she seemed very welcoming.

Mysterious power of various colors was visible within the ice crystal cover. Ten cubes were placed under different covers.

“These ten are all attributed,” Yun Yao introduced. “They come from three different supernaturals!”

“This is fire attribute energy.” She pointed at flaming-red power on the left. “Its supernatural was decent at peak Starlight. In martial master terms, he was a peak Slayer of Tens.

“Don’t underestimate a peak Starlight! Big brother Liu was already a Sunderer during that mission and strictly speaking, stronger than our opponent. Despite that, we still sacrificed a few people before killing the supernatural. His power of flame was very strong. A light graze envelops the body—those who died were burned to ashes!”

The portly Chen Jian suddenly lifted his shirt to show his chest. A massive scar occupied his skin instead of chest hair.

“Be careful of this guy, Li Hao!” he laughed brightly. “This is the mark he left on me. The tiniest bit of flame almost burned me to death!”

The young man was well aware of how strong Chen Jian was, particularly in terms of defense. However, that was pure physical defense. The barest graze of fire from mysterious power had almost burned the team tank to death!

That’s terrifying! Li Hao nodded with solemnity.

“There was a massive fire in the southern outskirts of the city in 1727. 128 people died and investigation after the fact found that a short circuit resulted in the immolation of the factory. However, eyewitness reports say that a tendril of fire descended from the skies that day and reduced the factory to ash…”

A surprised Liu Long glanced at Li Hao before inclining his head. “You’re well read, that case is closed! This fellow was behind it. He was a temp at the factory before he became supernatural, but he had sticky fingers. He was fired for it and socially ostracized because of his personality. After he crossed over, he returned to Silver City for vengeance!

“How is someone like that worthy of such powers?” snorted the man. “The heavens are blind! Which one of the Demon Hunters isn’t stronger than that bastard? Fuck the Heaven Favored! Heaven Favored is more like Heaven Blind As A Bat!”

He was both resentful and contemptuous that people like these could become supernatural. Heaven Favored? Bullshit!

Li Hao kept silent—so it really was this dead supernatural behind it. He’d paid more attention to that case due to the connection with a conflagration. Survivors all spoke of arson and not a short circuit, but the case was ultimately closed based on a short circuit burning the factory down.

He thought it was an unsettled case, but it turned out that the killer was already dead!

Yun Yao pointed at the second crystal cover. “The energy of lightning is inside! A newly ascended Darkmoon wielded it. This kind of energy is so strong that many people died to it—it took both Brother Liu and Liu Yan to kill that supernatural!”

Beaming brightly, Liu Yan raised her eyebrow with pride. “I made the final blow!”

Li Hao stuck his thumb up, now that was impressive!