Star Gate

Chapter 505: The Skies Are Vast Enough for the Birds to Soar Through (III)

Silver Moon.

White Moon City, the Night Watcher headquarters.

Li Hao was yet to recover from Hou Xiaochen’s departure. At the moment, he and Hao Lianchuan were busy staring at each other. It was the two of them against the entire world. Another piece of bad news arrived while Li Hao’s thoughts were a tangled snarl.

A red communicator rang in Hou Xiaochen’s empty office.

Li Hao looked at Hao Lianchuan, Hao Lianchuan looked at Li Hao. The two were still relishing the melancholic bleakness that’d washed over them. That suddenly ringing communicator... was not a good sign.

Hao Lianchuan focused on Li Hao and gestured with his fat chin. “My head hurts and I don’t want to pick it up. You get it!”

Li Hao rolled his eyes! My head hurts too! I’ve never been in charge of people in my life! I was a class rep once when I was a kid, but all I had to do was collect candy. The Demon Hunters regulate themselves, so I’m the one in a massive pickle!

However, there must be something large at stake if the red communicator was ringing now. The young man swiftly answered it.

“Is this Li Hao or Hao Lianchuan?”

“I am Li Hao...” The young man vaguely made out who it was, but he wasn’t too sure.

“That’s good. Don’t go around by yourself these days. Either you run after Hou Xiaochen right now and head to the central region with him, or you stay put in White Moon City! There’s news traveling through the central region that you wield the divine sword of the Lis, that it can access many core ruins—even the one held by the royal family!

“You know what that means. As more information about the eight families spreads, your troubles will continue to grow bigger!”

Li Hao blinked and took a moment to respond, “I gave it to...”

“Enough, do you take everyone for fools?”

“......” Well, it looks like not everyone is a fool. So now there were people who felt that Stellaris was on him. And the key thing was, the news was spreading only after Hou Xiaochen left. Li Hao had become an easy target when he had no one protecting him!

When Hou Xiaochen was present, some people played dumb out of wariness of the Night Watcher director. Now, they dropped the act. Troubles came one after another! Li Hao stared forward with resignation.

“You’re not the only one, your teacher is in a great deal of trouble too. Rumors say that he holds the blade of the Zhangs. People didn’t care that he was attacking Red Moon members before, but now they’ll make trouble for him too. No one knows where the eight weapons are, but they’re likely in the hands of major factions. You and your teacher are weak and you hold two of them. Who will people look for, if not you?”

“Did Red Moon spread this information?” Li Hao frowned.

“How did you figure that out?”

“Setting me aside.” Li Hao recovered his calm. “Apart from Red Moon and Ying Hongyue being exceedingly familiar with the eight families, no one is able to guess that my teacher holds the blade of the Zhangs.”

It would be one thing if his teacher was left out of the stories, but once Yuan Shuo was involved, that confirmed for Li Hao that the news came from Ying Hongyue! After some thought, the young man asked, “So I will be fine if I stay in the city?”

“Correct.”

“White Moon City won’t be able to protect me if I leave?”

“Correct.”

He understood! Li Hao was just asking and wasn’t truly concerned. He was more resigned that some of his earlier preparations were ruined after Stellaris was exposed. People wouldn’t be focused on Hou Xiaochen anymore. Thankfully, most simply knew that the divine weapons were strong. They were unaware of the specific effects. If they knew that as well... trouble would be never-ending!

The only ones that knew at the moment were his teacher, Southern Fist, and Earthturner Sword. They wouldn’t do anything with their information.

As more thoughts rose in Li Hao’s mind, he suddenly understood why Hou Xiaochen wanted to leave together. Perhaps he’d already foreseen that if Li Hao remained in Silver Moon, there would be endless issues coming for the young man!

“Thank you for the reminder!” Li Hao didn’t have time to finish his sentence before the communicator cut off. He looked at it wordlessly.

“Who was it?” Hao Lianchuan asked curiously. He’d heard the voice and found it familiar, but didn’t recall who it was.

Li Hao raised his chin in the eastern direction. Hao Lianchuan paused, quickly thinking of someone. “Director General Zhao? How does he have a personal communication channel with the director?”

“......” Li Hao suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “They’re both in Silver Moon and the heads of their major institutions. Is it weird that they have a personal channel?”

What was going through Ole Hao’s mind? Why was this such a surprise to him?

“It’s not that.” Hao Lianchuan shook his head. “It’s that that old man has always had a poor relationship with the director. It’s one thing if others have a private channel with him, but him... and for him to know all this and tell you? What does he mean by that?”

“Who knows,” Li Hao sighed.

“Does this mean that trouble has grown bigger?” Hao Lianchuan asked after some thought.

“Probably.”

“What can your family sword do? If there isn’t much use to it, you should just give it to the director before and avoid all this trouble...”

“Director Hao.” Li Hao served Hao Lianchuan with a long look. “Why are you so timid today?”

Where had his previous domineering air gone? No matter how many powerhouses the three great organizations had sent to the province before, this one always excitedly charged forward to kill Red Moon powerhouses and harvest blood pearls. But now, he seemed deathly afraid of being embroiled in trouble.

Hao Lianchuan ignored him and continued to wallow in misery. What do you think?? I’m a mid Solar without Hou Xiaochen’s influence to borrow from. How dare I provoke anyone right now?

Ole Hou is so heartless to have me hunt down the three great organizations while knowing that he was about to leave. Look at things now! He’s off high and dry, and took all of the Silver Moon Guards with him and Manager Yu! I’m the only one left! What should I do now??

Hao Lianchuan drooped dejectedly on the sofa and wanted to light up a cigarette. He pawed at his pockets before recalling... he didn’t smoke.

“Forget it, let’s not think so much.” The man rallied his spirits. “Good thing we took care of most of the supernaturals in the ruins. There are some stragglers left, but not that many. We can only pray that those bastards aren’t all that strong and that there’s no more Novas left to cause trouble. Otherwise... we’ll be in for it!

“Also, you seem to be in a pickle, so you should probably just listen to what other people are saying. Stay at White Moon City with peace of mind or wait for Director Hou to come back, or... find a place to hide.

“The director insisted on promoting you when he left. He probably wants you to shoulder some responsibilities. In that case, you can be in charge of the coastline. I’ll redeploy some supernaturals to be under your command and supplement your defenses. As for outside of White Moon City... I’ll do that since you can’t leave. I hope no one has their eye set on me. We’d just be proceeding as usual, I was in charge of these before as well.”

Hao Lianchuan looked hesitantly at the young man and suddenly said, “Li Hao, um...”

“What?” Li Hao looked warily at the man. What did he want to complain about now?

“Don’t take the coastline lightly! There has indeed been a lack of nautical invasion in Silver Moon these years, so the people’s understanding of pirates isn’t deep. According to what I know, the big cities along the North Sea might suffer attacks at any time. Each attack leads to thousands of casualties, with sometimes cities being outright massacred! A single spot of inattention from you might lead to pirates making landfall and rushing the cities. They won’t all have Night Watcher presence in them, so that might result in extreme suffering for the people!

“Moon Sea’s coastline is very long and you don’t have enough people! Don’t think that your job is done simply after you hold the line at White Moon City. Pirates will probably stay away from the capital and more likely focus their attention on the surrounding cities.

“Of the sixteen cities in the southern half of the province, there are three closer to the coast in addition to White Moon. They are Southern Ford, Abundance, and Flowing Cloud. Only Southern Ford has a Night Watcher branch with two Sunflares. The other two cities don’t have any supernaturals present.”

“Then how did the Silver Moon Guards defend the coastline before?” Li Hao frowned.

“They didn’t, they struck proactively instead. They cleansed the waters every so often!” Hao Lianchuan responded seriously. “The Silver Moon Guards are still known on the open seas. Regular pirates don’t dare trespass in Silver Moon territory, and it’s also because we’re very barren here. To those pirates, it’s a better use of time to visit the North Sea because it’s richer over there. But now that the Guard is gone, don’t you think those pirates will wander over for a casual raid?”

Li Hao’s temples throbbed! Three cities, plus White Moon, so four cities. He had fifty subordinates to draw from—they would be forty-fine once Liu Long left! Was he supposed to defend four cities with this number? What a joke!

He would have to take the fight to them like the Silver Moon Guards did and destroy the pirates at the intersection of the North and Moon Seas. Defense would be entirely impossible otherwise.

“Don’t look at me,” Hao Lianchuan mumbled. “It’s good enough if I protect the inland cities.”

He was at a loss too.

“Then the army and Inspectorate...” Li Hao looked at him.

“It’s not that we can’t ask them for reinforcements.” Hao Lianchuan considered the idea. “But that the Night Watchers were the agency with the highest authority over superhumans along the coast and cities. Once we hand that over... we won’t be getting it back. I don’t mind as power struggles are not what I desire. But if we lose Director Hou’s hard work as soon as he leaves...”

That didn’t seem to fly!

“Very well, I see.” Li Hao rose to leave.

“Are you doing?” Hao Lianchuan quickly asked.

“What else should I do?” Li Hao sighed. “I’ll go back to the Guards barracks first. Also, assign some cars to me. I have to run every time I travel, it’s such a loss of face.”

“Will do!” Hao Lianchuan didn’t protest this easy request.

The young man tossed over a small bottle after some thought. “There’s some blood pearls inside, you use them, Director Hou. It’s best if you can find the fifth supernatural lock. If not... we’ll think of another way.”

Hao Lianchuan paused. You have blood pearls?