Chapter 41: The Celestial Assembly

Chapter 41: The Celestial Society

Combining the background information, a hypothesis formed in Jiang Ren’s mind.

"At the end of the 20th century, some powerful entity arrived here, imprisoned this continent within a dome, and cultivated supernatural soil, causing many unknown things to transition from legend to reality."

"I just don’t know what the purpose was for the entity that caused all of this."

Jiang Ren looked up at the azure sky. Every action has a purpose, whether subconscious or unconscious, active or passive. It might have been to achieve a specific goal, perhaps they treated this place as a playground, or maybe all of this was simply an accident. At that level of power, Jiang Ren could neither guess nor imagine.

*Whoosh.*

The ghostly blue flames rapidly shrank and finally receded into his right eye. Without the continuous searing of this special fire, and aided by the powerful regenerative properties of his body, the flesh and skin on his head healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. In just over ten seconds, his skin and hair had grown back, restoring him to his previous appearance.

"Why is there a burnt smell?"

Jiang Ren turned back and discovered a charred, acrid odor wafting from the nearby car. The high heat emitted when he had pushed his right eye to its limit earlier, while not enough to ignite items inside the car, had melted some of the low-melting-point decorations. The car was likely still functional, but clearly no longer fit for passengers.

Jiang Ren glanced at Richard and his two companions, who were standing nervously in the distance, then pulled out his phone and dialed the number of the intelligence officer, Tennyson.

"Boss." Tennyson’s voice came through the phone.

Jiang Ren provided his current location and said, "Send someone to bring two vehicles over. Also, how is the investigation into the Celestial Society coming along?"

"As you requested, Boss, we captured a few individuals and, through certain methods, obtained quite a bit of useful intelligence," Tennyson replied. "Synthesizing the information they spilled, the Celestial Society has a history of at least twenty years. Their power structure is parliamentary; every member enjoys decision-making power, but even to become the most junior member, one must be part of that tiny elite at the very pinnacle of federal wealth and power..."

"No need for so much detail," Jiang Ren interrupted. "Just tell me, where is their headquarters?"

He had intended to wait a while before checking on the Celestial Society. If there were dangerous entities, he would eliminate them; if there weren't, he would eliminate the potential future threats. But now that there was a high-level "dome" overhead, it was better to resolve these troubles as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen accidents.

Tennyson immediately replied, "The headquarters of the Celestial Society is in the Empire Building in Yorda Province. The security there is extremely tight, and there is a military zone with tens of thousands of soldiers nearby..."

"Who is that?" Mid-sentence, Tennyson suddenly exclaimed.

This was followed by a massive explosion, and the call was disconnected.

Jiang Ren pulled the phone away. Given the sound he had just heard, this was clearly not a voluntary hang-up; the phone had likely been destroyed by whatever had caused the explosion. Although he had known that using his limited channels to investigate the Celestial Society would inevitably draw their attention, he hadn't expected them to come for him the very day after he started the investigation.

"Take care," Jiang Ren murmured to himself.

Since a mistake had been made, it had to be remedied—for instance, by rooting out the Celestial Society entirely.

He casually called Richard and Henry over. Ignoring their complex expressions, he saw them onto the private boat that had just arrived and instructed the driver, a military veteran, to ensure their safety. Although the boat could not sail outside the "dome" and would only drift in slow circles on the sea, it was at least enough to guarantee basic safety in their current situation where few resources were available.

"Brother, you must keep yourself safe," Richard said from the boat, looking at Jiang Ren on the shore and waving his hand.

Seeing Jiang Ren’s head on fire earlier had truly terrified him. Especially watching him stand there as if nothing had happened after the flames had melted his skin, his shock had been tinged with a new, deep fear. But soon, Richard came to an understanding. Regardless of whether this person was truly human or not, it did not change the fact that he was his brother, nor did it change the fact that he was protecting him. Although Richard was young, he realized that his brother was sending him away not just to clear his head, but to protect him.

The boat gradually pulled away.

"The Empire Building, is it?"

Blue flames erupted from Jiang Ren’s left hand, holding the phone, and instantly melted it into a puddle of molten iron that dripped to the ground. Since the other side had already made their move, there was no time to lose; he could head to their headquarters right now.

In the distance, he saw a rugged-looking off-road vehicle speeding toward him. Jiang Ren walked into the middle of the road and blocked the way.

"You big idiot, are you trying to die?" The vehicle screeched to a halt, and a burly bald man leaned out from the driver’s seat, cursing viciously.

"Lend me your car," Jiang Ren said politely as he approached the vehicle. He had always been a very polite person, especially when he needed someone's help.

"Lend you my car? Are you crazy, or am I?" The bald man laughed in rage, pulled out a silver pistol, pointed it at Jiang Ren, and sneered, "Get lost if you don't want to die!"

A blur flashed.

The silver revolver appeared in Jiang Ren’s hand, the muzzle pointed directly at the bald man.

"?" The bald man froze. He didn't know how the gun he had been holding firmly had ended up in someone else’s hand, but he raised his hands in a state of confusion and fear.

Jiang Ren placed his other hand on the barrel of the gun, easily bent it until it lay flat against the grip, and then tilted his head to signal the driver to get out.

"Sir, the car isn't important; what's important is that only you are worthy of driving this car."

The bald man quickly opened the door and scrambled out, ushering Jiang Ren into the driver's seat with a look of reverence. Disarming someone in an instant was one thing—it wasn't impossible for a skilled person—but to bend a steel revolver barrel by hand was simply monstrous. He had no doubt that those large hands could easily snap his neck. Compared to his life, what was a car worth?

"Rent."

Jiang Ren tossed a watch from his person, stepped on the gas, and the off-road vehicle quickly vanished at the end of the road.

The smile on the bald man's face vanished instantly as he looked listlessly at the watch. He recognized the brand; the watch alone was worth more than several of the off-road vehicles that had just been taken. He didn't think for a moment that someone who had to resort to highway robbery would be carrying a genuine watch.

"The watch is actually real!"

He had only taken a few looks out of lingering resentment, but the bald man realized he had likely misjudged the situation entirely. To toss such an expensive watch away so casually—and that was just for "rent"—this was no "big idiot"; this was clearly a philanthropist!