The Specialist

The White Stag—dismembered into pieces. The Heart Pivot—soul shattered. The Desolate Ruins... the Desolate Ruins was somehow still alive! Even though, when Lu Feng dragged him out, only half his body remained—a thermal kinetic axe wedged into his forehead, anchor-type armor-piercing rounds pinning his hands, and an electromagnetic stun baton jammed in his mouth—after such a grand feast of violence, he still had a breath in him... What was more, after a shot of spiritus tonic, he could even cry out loud. "D-Don't hit me anymore... don't hit me!" Wan Wu sobbed, his mangled tongue squirming as he wheezed with every ounce of strength, forcing out slurred words. "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything—I... I took money! The person behind me is—" "Shh." Ji Jue patted his head with an amused smile and raised a finger to his lips—don't say a thing, not a single word. Just feel it with your heart. Ji Jue had neither interest in nor concern for anything he had to say. Though a wise man submits to circumstances, and Brother Feng had already pried his mouth open, a dying man's words were naturally hard to separate from lies. Who would believe him? Besides, Ji Jue already had a list of suspects; at worst, he would simply run down it from top to bottom. When the time came, those who died deserved it. As for those who lived—well, if they could survive, something was definitely wrong with them. During the brief wait, a knock sounded at the door. The man outside took off his hat, holding it in both hands, and offered Ji Jue an honest, simple smile. "Apologies, I'm late." "Right on time. Please, come in." Ji Jue stepped aside. "You're truly doing us a huge favor." This was the specialist Blondie had brought. Rough skin, dark complexion mottled with sunspots, scruffy graying beard, and well-muscled—he looked just like an old fisherman, reserved and humble. In Xinquan, he was utterly unremarkable, a dime a dozen. If there was anything peculiar about him, it was only the sense of distance he seemed deliberately to maintain. Even when smiling, he never made direct eye contact with anyone. It was enough to be called "polite." For a Heart Pivot Celestial Chosen, such etiquette was reserved strictly for honored guests to show harmlessness. After all, when facing the Heart Pivot lineage, Celestial Chosen generally felt disgust or hostility; at best, once they found out, they kept a respectful distance. Because these bastards were simply too underhanded! As the saying went, human imagination knew no bounds; one only had to look at how people on a certain pale-green forum brainstormed applications for these abilities to understand why the Heart Pivot had such a terrible reputation. Yet ironically, one of the prerequisites for awakening Heart Pivot was having desires far more violent and turbulent than an ordinary person's! Imagine having someone like that living next door—no sane person could sleep at night! Unless there was absolute trust, who could ever accept a Heart Pivot as a friend? And even if you trusted them completely, how could you ever tell whether that trust stemmed from their genuine devotion or from their abilities? Trust was such a vexing thing. Once suspicion arose, even a faint wisp, a tiny spark, everything would vanish into thin air. At the same time, because Heart Pivot put all its skill points into underhanded trickery, its overt combat power was neck and neck with Aether, yet it couldn't outrun Aether. After all, if you planned to wipe out an Aether's whole family tomorrow, the Aether had probably run off yesterday. Even when hiding in the shadows, they couldn't out-hide Mirror. After all, if you went to all the trouble of catching a Mirror, it might just turn out to be a mimetic disguise. What was worse, unlike Artisans, they could hardly seek refuge under a workshop. Therefore, the vast majority of Heart Pivot Celestial Chosen rarely revealed their identities lightly. They hid securely, observed from the shadows, and often used multiple layers of insulation to guarantee their own safety. And that only deepened everyone's stereotype of Heart Pivot as backstabbing schemers. But then again, if we're talking about underhanded, underhanded they truly were. If the prejudice in human hearts was a mountain, then the one facing Heart Pivot was the highest peak in the world. Countless catastrophic cautionary tales had firmly established the Heart Pivot's stench three miles against the wind, successfully placing them at the absolute bottom of the Twelve Virtues' food chain of contempt, saving the rest from taking the brunt. "Old Fisherman" was his code name. Interactions in the wilderness had never involved asking about origins or pasts. Old Fisherman's collaboration with the Wild Gathering went back many years; to prevent a thick-headed guy like Blondie from screwing things up, Chen Xingzhou had specifically sent him over to serve as an external brain. For now, he could still be considered trustworthy. Still, even if trustworthy, it was hard to develop any real friendship—at most, it was merely a professional relationship between colleagues. Since he had arrived, he wasted no time. He asked no unnecessary questions and looked at nothing else. Taking off his hat and asking what Ji Jue required, he placed a hand directly on the Desolate Ruins' head. With a gentle tug, countless strands of consciousness were drawn from the soul like a net. Countless stray thoughts and memories were entangled together in a chaotic mess. Yet Old Fisherman's ten fingers were exceedingly deft. Truly like a fisherman, he casually separated the torn ends and loosened the tangled dead knots as if mending a fishing net. Following the loose ends upward, he traced and read. "Mhm, there are indeed several settlements behind this..." He examined the memories in his hands again and again, confirming the details. "Five people came in total. Two are waiting in nearby settlements, while three ambushed a vehicle en route, murdered the couriers picking up the goods, took their identities, and slipped in. "There was an inside man in Xinquan who took bribes. Well, he was sent here from the very beginning." "I know. Targets of potential risk are all under surveillance; he's already been contained." Ji Jue waved his hand. "What about the identities of these guys?" "Hmm, let me see... This Desolate Ruins is an enforcer for the chief of Panshan Stronghold over in Yinjiang. One of the others, a Heart Pivot, committed crimes in the city, got slapped with a warrant, and fled into the wilderness hoping to escape to the Thousand Islands... "Mhm... and the last one, the White Stag, came from Gray Port. He's a 'water ghost.'" Old Fisherman's hands didn't stop. He repeatedly guided the thoughts and consciousness, coaxing memories from the hollow soul and piecing them together from fleeting glimpses. "As an enforcer, this Desolate Ruins doesn't know the full background of the White Stag, but after working together for so long, he had his guesses. The man was likely a scout sent by the Blood Cleansing Fleet, a pirate armada under a warlord in the Seven Cities Alliance. He was sent ahead to Haizhou to scout things out in preparation for this rainy season. "This year, the Grand Lord up in the Northern Realm was newly replaced. The new lord is hell-bent on breaking out of the Northern Realm and fighting another Battle of the White River, so trade routes are completely halted. "Those water ghosts have probably been driven mad by poverty. They traveled thousands of leagues, desperate to make a huge score. "From the look of things, they've already struck deals with many local settlements." Old Fisherman withdrew his hand and looked back. "Mr. Ji, you should make preparations early." "Alright, I understand." Ji Jue smiled and politely offered a handshake. Old Fisherman hesitated, not daring to be discourteous; he reached out, touched hands briefly, and broke contact immediately. Then, he excused himself. What a joke—even if Ji Jue asked him to stay for dinner, he wouldn't dare eat a bite! A Heart Pivot's perception of emotion was as natural as eating and drinking; how could it be mistaken? In the past, when dealing with partners who greeted him with smiles, it wasn't as if he hadn't sensed the distaste or wariness beneath their hypocrisy. Yet strangely enough, Ji Jue had none of that! It was as though he held no prejudice against the Heart Pivot at all. Beneath the smile was not hypocrisy, but a chilling void that made his hair stand on end. From the moment he stepped into the room, he had been breaking out in a cold sweat... That gentle gaze felt like needles in his back. The warmth and thoughtfulness right now, rather than politeness, felt more like an instinctive respect and appreciation for raw materials. The longer he stayed, the more terrified he grew. To be watched by those eyes—the longer it went on, the more he trembled with dread! When turning around, his heart leaped into his throat, terrified that Ji Jue would grab him and refine him on the spot. He nearly stumbled walking out the door, staggered for a few steps, picked up speed, and swiftly vanished into the night. Too damn creepy! Lying down in the Wild Gathering branch in Diaomao Town, Old Fisherman gulped down several cups of hard liquor before finally catching his breath. Lingering terror. "Tch, that old codger has no manners at all, didn't even say goodbye." Still lingering at Haian, Blondie couldn't help but frown, casting an awkward glance at Ji Jue. "Forgive him, Brother Ji. He might've taken the wrong medicine. Next time I'll drag him over to apologize to you." "No need. He probably just wasn't feeling well," Ji Jue smiled magnanimously, not minding in the slightest. "It's just that... well..." Blondie scratched his head and promised solemnly, "I may not know how to say fancy words, but I definitely stand on your side, Brother Ji. If there's anything you need, just say the word. Do you want me to call in some people from the city?" "No need. Xinquan is Haian's business. As long as you keep those guys from Diaomao Town under control, that's already a huge help. Just make sure none of them turn traitor and collude with outsiders." Ji Jue patted his shoulder with a couple of comforting words. "My matters, I'll handle myself." Hearing that, Blondie merely nodded. Whatever Brother Ji said went. Since the boss hadn't issued orders and Brother Ji said it wasn't necessary, he would just do his job honestly without holding anyone back or making a fool of himself. After a polite farewell, he left. "Ha, looks like a big storm is coming," Lu Feng grinned. Having taken a shower, he swaggered out wearing boxer shorts and sat on a chair picking at his feet, his hair still dripping wet and uncombed. After enjoying a rare, exhilarating run without receiving bad news from Isis, and hearing there were reckless fools coming to serve as his warm-up, he was naturally in high spirits. For Ji Jue, however, what lay ahead was bound to be somewhat troublesome. Hefang, Tianning, Shanmen, Yinjiang... Most likely, every prominent settlement in Haizhou was involved. None of these large wilderness settlements were pushovers. If one really investigated them, every single chieftain and executive could be lined up and shot a dozen times over, and their deaths would still not atone for their crimes. Human trafficking and illicit substance cultivation were commonplace; some worked underground covered in grime by day, only to don masks at night and roam the wilderness as bandits. That they were entangled with those water ghosts on the sea was hardly a surprise. For some time now, they had maintained a facade of peaceful coexistence, but that was solely because of the bloody path Ji Jue had carved when he purged Diaomao Town. A ruthless Artisan like Ji Jue—backed by the Security Bureau, with the Tong family, the Lou family, and even Haichao Industry behind him—was someone nobody wanted to cross without good reason. Yet at the end of the day, blocking someone's path to wealth was like killing their parents. In the past, when three-wheelers and minivans were being sold outward from the city, everyone was lovey-dovey and sweet as honey—after all, only a bastard would pass up cheap goods. But now that Ji Jue had stepped into the market himself, things were entirely different. Xinquan and Haian had long become thorns in the side and eyesores to countless people. And with such a juicy piece of meat, who wouldn't want a bite? A pirate armada like the Blood Cleansing Fleet was likely just the vanguard. The Endless Sea was vast, with far more than a thousand islands—how many desperate madmen and corsairs lurked out there? Which meant... Ji Jue smacked his fist into his open palm, struck by sudden enlightenment. "Once we wrap up this wave, we won't have to worry about running out of free beasts of burden at all?!" Not just free labor—if things went well, he could reap another massive haul of raw materials! How were these enemies or adversaries? They were clearly his long-lost "cherished friends and relatives"! Now, when would such wonderful blessings arrive at his doorstep? He stroked his chin, already unable to wait. *** Under that same shroud of night, at the entrance outside Xinquan, a rust-eaten wreck of a car slowly ground to a halt. Several figures carrying cases of various sizes stepped down. Under the cold gaze of floodlights, the guards at the watchpost raised their weapons, night-vision goggles strapped to their helmets. "Excuse me, please pass word to Mr. Ji." The bearded man at the front grinned, flashing a mouthful of gold teeth as he spoke to the guards. "The Longdao Chamber of Commerce has come specifically to pay our respects." Before long, Gou Er, who had just drifted off in the gatehouse, was hauled awake. He stumbled over, squinting as he took in their sincere, smiling faces. He put on an answering smile, though for some reason his heart leaped into his throat. Every nerve went taut. Glancing at the guards to signal alert, he offered a breezy grin. "Terribly sorry, folks, what rotten timing. The rainy season is approaching and security is tight. If you wish to enter town, you'll have to wait until tomorrow." The bearded man shook his head, his smile warm and pleasant. "We came to pay our respects to Mr. Ji." Gou Er went quiet, studying them. After a long moment, he replied firmly, "Pardon me, but the factory director has been busy lately. He isn't seeing outside guests." "What a thing to say! Strangers on the first meeting, friends on the second—how could we be considered outsiders?" The bearded man leaned in, grinning, and clapped a hand onto Gou Er's shoulder. "Besides, even though the sea and the land are quite a distance apart, as neighbors bound to cross paths, we ought to meet at least once—right?" Beneath the smile, the putrid, bloody reek of the sea surged toward him!