He habitually touched his waist, only to remember that when he entered the Supreme, his cell phone had been temporarily stored away according to the gambling ship's requirements. Unless he left the gambling ship, he could not use any wireless devices at any time on the ship.
"Shin-chan... bring me my phone..."
Zhou Ziwei did not act rashly, but immediately used his soul connection to issue his command to Xiaoxin, who was on the next level.
"Alright—" Xiao Xin was bored over there when he sensed Zhou Ziwei's call and immediately shouted excitedly like a child. Then, with a flap of his thin metal wings, he smashed through the door and rushed straight down to the bottom of the gambling ship...
Shin-chan's speed was as fast as lightning. All anyone could see along the way was a flash of silver light. When they rubbed their eyes, they could no longer see anything unusual. Most people thought they were seeing things. But when several people saw Shin-chan flash past them at the same time, they checked each other's accounts and then a slight sense of panic arose.
"Boom—" Shin-chan smashed open the wall of the storage room where communication devices were stored in an extremely violent manner. Then, under the dumbfounded gazes of the two girls on duty in the storage room, it slowly flew around inside, and finally suddenly poked out a small paw from its round, platinum belly, grabbed a plastic bag hanging on the wall, and then turned around and flew out through the hole it had just smashed.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 483: Deceived
It wasn't until Xiaoxin had disappeared for quite some time that the two girls on duty gasped in surprise and frantically used the internal phone to report to their superiors.
"Something terrible has happened... Someone forced their way into our storage room number three, stole something, and ran away."
"What...who broke into your storage room number three?"
“Report to the Minister…that…it seems…it doesn’t seem…not human…it’s…it’s a big iron ball.”
"What did you say?"
"I said... the person who just came into our storage room number three and stole things seemed to be... a big iron ball with wings."
"You...you say that again and I'll slap you across the face!"
"Ah... Minister, I'm telling the truth... If you don't believe me, I... I can show you the surveillance footage!"
The girl, who had just been frightened and now felt wronged, immediately contacted the security department and retrieved the surveillance footage from the storage room. However, when they found the video footage... they discovered that during that period, the surveillance footage from the storage room had become completely blank, showing nothing but static on the screen...
Xiao Xin failed to successfully infiltrate the entire gambling ship's internal network, which made him lose face in front of his master and also made him feel very unwilling. So, while Zhou Ziwei was gambling on the eighth floor, Xiao Xin kept trying. In the end, although he still could not crack the gambling ship's internal network defense system, he unexpectedly broke through the security department's monitoring system.
This monitoring system is a separate system from the casino ship's internal network. Although it has a fairly powerful defense system, it is still a little simpler compared to the main network's ridiculously strong defenses. Xiao Xin only took advantage of that small difference to successfully infiltrate the system and obtain the maximum privileges.
In this way, apart from the most important areas on the gambling ship, all the surveillance equipment on the ship became Xiao Xin's eyes and ears and underlings, which he could use at will.
Having just received Zhou Ziwei's order to retrieve the phone, Xiao Xin, in its excitement, did not forget to keep a low profile. So, under its control, wherever it went, the surveillance cameras immediately became temporarily blind, and not a single camera captured the footage of it flying through the air.
With a "whoosh," to buy time, Xiaoxin rushed out of the gambling ship and climbed straight up to the eighth floor. It then smashed through the porthole of the eighth-floor gambling hall and dashed to Zhou Ziwei in a flash. It threw the plastic bag it was clutching in its paws into Zhou Ziwei's arms, and then flew straight through the spacious gambling hall, quickly disappearing into the shadows.
Xiao Xin was fast enough that, although there were many people in the gambling hall, none of them could see what was happening. They only heard a crisp sound, the thick porthole shattered, and then saw a flash of silver light, and Zhou Ziwei seemed to have something in his hand.
Zhou Ziwei had no time to pay attention to the horrified and astonished looks of the thugs in black. He quickly tore open the plastic bag in his hand, took out the satellite phone he had just bought in Japan, and dialed a number...
"What...they really have reappeared in Zhongdu...I understand...thank you for your help, old commander...okay...I'll go back to meet them right away..."
After Zhou Ziwei turned off his phone, his expression became more serious.
Sure enough... he did fall for the diversionary tactic. In reality, when he went to his parents' house in Zhongdu in his previous life, his parents and Yu Xiaoru had not fallen into the hands of the Black Market Assassin Network. The Black Market Assassin Network members had simply arrived there before him, but they had not found anyone. So the Black Market Assassin Network members played this trick, luring Zhou Ziwei away from Zhongdu, while their people launched a full-scale search in Zhongdu for Zhou Ziwei's parents and Yu Xiaoru from his previous life.
At the time, Zhou Ziwei was so worried that he lost his composure. Although he knew it might be a trap, he had no choice but to jump in. However, he also considered the possibility that although his parents had fallen into the hands of the black market assassin network, they simply didn't have time to move them out of Zhongdu City. So, Zhou Ziwei went directly to the old chief and asked him to use the strength of an elite force under his command to conduct a large-scale search for the three people in Zhongdu City.
Furthermore, the police were used to secretly seal off the entire city, preventing anyone from leaving easily without inspection.
As it turned out, Zhou Ziwei's pre-arranged move played a crucial role. The police were one thing, but ordinary police officers were obviously useless against the internationally notorious black market assassins.
However, the special forces unit personally mobilized by the old commander flew to Zhongdu to carry out this mission and achieved good results. They actually found Yu Xiaoru and the other two who were preparing to escape Zhongdu even before the black market assassin network.
It turned out that when Yu Xiaoru was on her way home from get off work, she suddenly received a mysterious phone call, informing her that someone might kidnap her family of three to threaten the mysterious person who had once helped her and Mr. and Mrs. Yang. The caller advised them to abandon everything and escape from their home immediately, to flee Zhongdu...
Yu Xiaoru broke out in a cold sweat after hearing the phone call. After a slight hesitation, she decided to believe the mysterious person this once. If it was just a prank, it would only give them a false alarm, but if it was real... she couldn't bear the terrifying consequences.
So Yu Xiaoru made a quick decision and immediately called Yang's parents out.
However, Yu Xiaoru did not tell the truth to Yang's parents. She pretended that she had bought a lot of things and couldn't get them back outside the community, so she asked Yang's parents to come down and help her carry them back.
This is why Yu Xiaoru was cautious and didn't dare tell Yang's parents the truth. Otherwise, it's easy to imagine that if the two elders heard that Yu Xiaoru was going to take them away from this home, they would definitely hesitate. Even if they decided to listen to Yu Xiaoru and leave temporarily, they would definitely pack a lot of things and make full preparations for the long trip. If that was delayed, it would be too late.
Mr. and Mrs. Yang left in a hurry, without even turning off the soup simmering in the kitchen. As soon as they left the community, they ran into Yu Xiaoru, who suddenly got out of a taxi. Without saying a word, Yu Xiaoru pulled them into the car and drove away in a hurry.
At this moment... the black market assassins who had been keeping an eye on Yang's parents in the vicinity became alert and hurriedly got into their car and gave chase...
If Zhou Ziwei hadn't urgently called his old superior to send people to find and help Yu Xiaoru and the others, the three of them would probably have already fallen into the hands of the black market assassin network!
Even so, it was still extremely dangerous. The people sent by the old commander found Yu Xiaoru and the others and took them to a military base in the Zhongdu City. They then protected them with layers of security, but they were still attacked one after another by the black market assassin network.
The black market assassins were like a group of madmen who had lost their minds, relentlessly charging into the heavily guarded military compound. The people they deployed were all extremely skilled, and ordinary soldiers were no match for them. Fortunately, the elite special forces sent by the old commander were there to protect Yu Xiaoru and the other two. Among these special forces were even two double-S-level bodyguards from Zhongnanhai.
These two are true masters, the same level of bodyguards Zhou Ziwei discovered around the old leader last time. If they were outside, their strength would be comparable to the world's top ten assassins. And because their profession is bodyguard, they are even more adept at protecting a small number of targets. Under their protection, very few people can break through their defenses and hurt the people they are protecting, let alone kidnap them.
During that period, the black market assassin network launched at least five attacks on the military compound, and the personnel they deployed became more and more elite each time, all of them top-level experts. The military defenses of the compound were practically non-existent under the attack of these elites. It was only thanks to the special forces brigade specially dispatched by the old commander that the attacks of these desperados were repelled time and time again.
Fortunately, the black market assassin network's goal was to capture Yang's parents and Yu Xiaoru alive to threaten Zhou Ziwei. Therefore, they had to cripple the forces protecting the three of them before they could abduct them. Otherwise, if they had launched a horrific assassination without regard for consequences, Yang's parents and the others would probably have been killed a hundred times over.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was calling his old commander, the black market assassin network didn't seem to have completely given up on their attack plan. The old commander had already dispatched another special forces team to reinforce them, but it seemed that there were also experts from the black market assassin network constantly arriving, and the situation was not optimistic...
After learning the news, Zhou Ziwei breathed a slight sigh of relief, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. He had to get back to Zhongdu as quickly as possible. Only by bringing Yu Xiaoru and the others to his side could he feel completely at ease.
"Xiao Xin... let's go..." After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ziwei did not hesitate at all. He immediately notified Xiao Xin, who was still running around and having a great time on the gambling ship, and then prepared to leave the gambling ship and fly back to Zhongdu.
Zhou Ziwei is a man of his word; having promised Allen a chance to realize his dream, he wouldn't go back on his word now.
Anyway, taking one more person on the road won't slow down Zhou Ziwei's speed.
Just then, the dozen or so thugs in black had almost finished stuffing all the cash stored in the vault into canvas bags and taking them out.
Zhou Ziwei didn't care how much money there was. He immediately waved his hand, and a powerful gust of wind energy burst out from his hand, instantly sweeping up the several large bags of banknotes. Together with Allen, they were all transformed into a tornado and "whoosh" flew out of the porthole that Xiao Xin had just broken.
"Oh...that was so much fun!"
Having received Zhou Ziwei's instructions, Xiao Xin knew it was about to leave the gambling ship. There was no need for it to hide anymore, so it excitedly shouted and crashed around the ship again before flying out and joining Zhou Ziwei in the air.
"You better behave for a while!" Seeing Xiaoxin jumping around like a madman, Zhou Ziwei angrily smacked it on the forehead, then rode the powerful tornado and flew back towards Zhongdu.
Zhou Ziwei's flying speed might not be able to catch up with Xiaoxin over short distances, but Xiaoxin flies entirely on electric power. Its electric power is consumed very quickly during flight, and once the electric power is exhausted, Xiaoxin will fall into a deep sleep. So... Zhou Ziwei naturally couldn't let it run wild on its own, so he used a tornado to wrap it up and fly together.
This trip to the gambling ship was indeed a ploy by the black market assassin network to lure them away from their prey. However, it wasn't a wasted trip, because if Zhou Ziwei hadn't made this journey, he wouldn't have had the chance to help Xiao Xin obtain the spherical metal robot's body.
Zhou Ziwei was extremely anxious, wishing he had the ability to teleport so he could fly back to Zhongdu instantly. However, this was international waters, and flying back to Zhongdu wouldn't be something that could be done in a short time. Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei had learned many methods and techniques for using energy during the tsunami. Now, flying in the air, he quickly realized that although he was using wind energy to fly at high altitudes, the wind seemed to be the biggest obstacle to his flight.
Because of his high-speed flight, the air in front of him formed a strong wind, which became the biggest obstacle to his progress. This not only greatly restricted his forward speed, but also caused the tornado he controlled to be rapidly depleted due to constant friction with the natural wind.
Having learned from his previous experience during the tsunami, Zhou Ziwei knew that his ability to absorb attribute-free energy was not only effective against solar energy. As long as he was in the water, he could also absorb the energy of the water. So now that he was in the wind, it seemed that he could also absorb the energy of the wind.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ziwei immediately and deliberately opened all the pores of his body, like a person who had been thirsty for a long time encountering a spring in the desert, using every cell in his body to quickly absorb the free energy from the outside world.
Sure enough... At this moment, he was manipulating a gust of wind to move at high speed in the air, which was equivalent to being in a world of wind. He was absorbing the free energy around him without restraint. Instantly, he sucked in the huge amount of wind energy particles carried by the strong and fast wind rushing towards him, and then transformed them into pure attribute-free energy and stored them in his middle dantian.
In this way, Zhou Ziwei was consuming some of his attribute-less energy while maintaining the tornado, and at the same time replenishing it by absorbing wind energy from the outside. At this moment, the attribute-less energy in his body actually reached a balance between release and absorption. In other words, if they continued to fly like this, it was basically the same as Zhou Ziwei directly converting the energy absorbed from the outside into the power for their forward flight, without having to consume any of the energy stored in his body.
If Zhou Ziwei continues flying like this, he will never feel tired.
What surprised Zhou Ziwei the most was that by absorbing the oncoming wind energy into his body, the resistance he encountered while moving forward was reduced to almost zero. Without resistance, he was flying at high speed as if in a vacuum, more than doubling his speed. Now he was flying at his fastest speed, far exceeding the speed of sound, reaching an unprecedented level...
Once his speed exceeded three times the speed of sound, Zhou Ziwei suddenly had an illusion... He found that the space in front of him seemed to be slightly wriggling and twisting, and the surrounding scenery seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Extremes beget their opposites. After reaching an extremely high speed, Zhou Ziwei actually felt himself entering a state of extreme slowness.
Because it was a vast ocean and the middle of the night, there were hardly any obvious landmarks around. Zhou Ziwei didn't notice this reaction at first, until he saw a seagull flapping its wings as if in slow motion, and he was suddenly startled.
But as soon as he relaxed his guard slightly, the petrel had already completely disappeared behind him, as fast as a shooting star.
Was his speed actually increasing or decreasing? Zhou Ziwei was somewhat confused about this...
When Zhou Ziwei flew from the distant high seas to the coastline in less than twenty minutes and saw the distant lights, he was shocked.
Such a long distance... and it only took a dozen minutes to fly over? Am I dreaming?
Zhou Ziwei had no time to think; in an instant, he had already flown over the brightly lit Zhongdu City.
Although it was already late at night, Zhongdu was a famous city that never sleeps. The city was brightly lit by the dazzling lights. With the light and numerous obvious reference points, Zhou Ziwei found that the illusion of time and space distortion was even more obvious.
However… he had already reached his destination and dared not maintain such a terrifying high speed any longer. As his flight speed decreased, that strange feeling also disappeared without a trace…
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 484: Earth Escape
"Mudfish, Earth Dog, can you go any faster... Lord Black God has given a death order. This time, we must succeed no matter what. Dozens of our brothers have already died covering our group's operation. If we fail again, even if we manage to escape, we can forget about surviving."
Deep underground, there is a long underground passage.
The passage is less than half a meter high, so people can only lie down inside, and if they raise their heads even slightly, they might bump their heads.
A dozen or so people dressed in tight black clothes crawled slowly forward one after another through the underground passage.
The two people at the front were like two slippery ground rats. One of them used a folding shovel to spin and insert it into the soil in front of him. With each rotation of the shovel, a pile of fine soil was shoveled off. The other person behind him used two strangely shaped metal tools tied to his elbows to crush the soil that was shoveled off into the walls of the underground passage and patted the soil on the walls as hard as iron to prevent the passage from collapsing again.
The man in front was extremely skilled at shoveling soil, and he made almost no sound. The other man was doing the same when he was pressing the soil to make a hole. He just used the two tools tied to his arms to press the soil down, but he didn't make any knocking motions, so he could hardly hear any sound either.
The line of men in black following behind the two seemed to be mute as well. They would climb forward a few meters after the cave ahead had been dug a little further, but no one coughed or spoke.
However, when the man in black who was third in line received the message from above through the communicator, his expression immediately turned serious, and he urged the two people in front of him in a low voice.
"We just received news... Dead Ash has left the gambling ship and is probably on its way back to Zhongdu after receiving the news. So we have to speed up. If Dead Ash goes all out to get back, it might be able to return to Zhongdu from international waters in an hour. So... we only have a little over half an hour. What do you think... how much longer until the passage is cleared?"
The man at the front, nicknamed "Loach," who was in charge of shoveling soil, paused slightly, wiped the dirt off his face, and said, "It's hard to say... There are too many rocks underground here, and it won't be easy to find a tunnel to dig. If everything goes smoothly, we might be able to dig through this tunnel in another ten minutes. If not... and we encounter a few more large rocks blocking the way, then it might take another two hours before we can get through."
"Two hours!" the one who had asked the question earlier said angrily. "In two hours, Dead Ash would probably have returned by now, and we'd all be dead... Don't stop... Hurry up and dig faster! Hmph... You better pray to God that you don't encounter another rock ahead. If you two can't dig this tunnel through within an hour at the latest... I'll kill you both first."
The loach let out a soft hum, seemingly unconcerned by the man's words, but it didn't dare slack off in the slightest. It turned around and began swinging its strange iron shovel again, shoveling up piles of fine dirt...
Whether the loach had actually prayed to God or not, and the world's busiest old man happened to respond to this not-so-devout lamb on a whim, they actually didn't encounter a single stone that could hinder their progress for the next stretch of distance. As a result, they successfully dug through the gas maintenance passage in the military compound in less than ten minutes.
A dozen or so people filed out of the hole and found a place to sit down and rest in the slightly more spacious maintenance passage. Meanwhile, Mudfish and Earth Dog, who had been in charge of digging the hole, were exhausted and lay down at the entrance of the hole, looking like two dead dogs, not wanting to move at all.
They arrived at the designated location about twenty minutes ahead of schedule, which made Venom feel extremely fortunate. It seems that these people are afraid of being pushed, and they will unleash their potential when pushed. If he hadn't said that he would kill those two guys if they couldn't dig through the tunnel within an hour, would those two slippery guys have been so desperate?
Venomous Fang grinned, then pulled out a small instrument, held it up in front of him and examined it closely for a while before determining the direction. With a wave of his hand, he directed the dozen or so people to slowly crawl towards the left side of the gas maintenance passage. After crawling for dozens of meters, he suddenly stopped, looked up at the solid stone slab above him, and chuckled again.
He then gently pressed a black button on the wireless communicator in his pocket, made a hand gesture, and led the twelve team members, excluding Tu Gou and Ni Qiu, to slowly move forward.
A dozen seconds later, an alarm sounded from above, followed by gunshots and shouts from many people.
Fang tilted his head, listening intently to the sounds above. As he heard hurried footsteps moving into the distance, and a brief silence descended above him, a smug yet cruel smirk crept onto Fang's lips...
"Now—" Venomous Fang waved his hand forcefully, and two burly men immediately rushed from behind, arching their backs and slamming their bodies against the stone slab above their heads...
With a loud "thud," the stone slab, half a foot thick, was smashed into pieces by the two burly men, turning into a pile of rubble on the ground.
"Go!" After smashing the stone slab, the two burly men seemed to have exhausted every last bit of strength in their bodies. They immediately stepped aside and sat down. With another wave of his hand, Poison Fang sent three slender men in black crawling out of the hole that the two burly men had just smashed through, like monkeys. The three men then formed a triangle, each facing one side. Suddenly, countless bright crystals flashed from their bodies, and a barrage of various shapes of hidden weapons rained down, instantly covering every corner of the house with their projectiles.