"Holy crap..."
Chang'an City, which had been renamed Chang'an City by this time, had not changed much.
Dressed in plain clothes, Xiang Yu rode his black horse slowly toward the city gate, where many people were queuing up for inspection.
In times of crisis, with rebels roaming the land, the capital's security naturally needs to be more stringent.
"Halt! Out-of-towner? What brings you to Chang'an?" The guard at the gate stopped a burly man.
"Visiting a friend," the burly man replied, staring into the officer's eyes.
The officer glared at him. "What are you looking at? Search me! Search carefully! What's in the package?"
The burly man clenched his teeth and didn't speak. He opened the package and then raised his arm.
The officer's eyes lit up. "Oh ho, there's a short sword hidden inside! Could it be a traitor? Tie him up and take him away!"
"I am not a traitor! I am here to visit a friend! Let me go!" the burly man shouted angrily.
Clang!
The officer drew his sword, and the other soldiers also pointed their weapons at the burly man.
"Still dare to resist? You must be a traitor! Seize him!"
...
Xiang Yu frowned as he looked at the burly man who had been taken away, then slightly squeezed his legs and continued forward on horseback.
Just as the soldiers were about to stop Xiang Yu for questioning, a nearby officer pulled them aside, saying, "This man needs no questioning, let him pass!"
Xiang Yu kept his eyes straight ahead, rode his horse straight through the city gate, and entered Chang'an City.
The soldier was puzzled. "Boss, why did you let this guy through? His horse must be worth a lot of money."
"Hmph, this man has an extraordinary bearing and a hint of murderous intent. He must be either a high-ranking official or a fierce general. Could a rebel be like this? Learn from him. I'm going to rest for a while." The officer said, then walked to the side and sat down, letting out a long sigh of relief...
Chapter 235 Take Them All
After entering the city, Xiang Yu made some inquiries and basically figured out the era and the major events that had occurred.
This world is set in the fourth year of the reign of the Earthly Emperor, a time of great chaos during the Xin Dynasty established by Wang Mang. The Red Eyebrow Army in the north and the Green Forest Army in the south are the two most powerful forces.
Wang Mang initially believed that the Red Eyebrows Army had greater momentum, so he focused his efforts on suppressing the rebellion in the north, which allowed the Green Forest Army in the south to take the opportunity to grow stronger.
After Liu Xuan declared himself emperor and publicly proposed the slogan of restoring the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang finally realized that the Liu family was the biggest threat to him, and only then did he gather his main army to attack the Green Forest Army.
At this critical moment, when the two sides were about to engage in a decisive battle, Wang Mang's army of 420,000 men, led by Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi and Minister of Education Wang Xun, had arrived in Yingchuan and would soon attack Kunyang.
Although Hao Jiu wasn't particularly familiar with this period of history, he knew about this great battle, because the most fantastical and extraordinary event in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty took place during this great battle!
Liu Xiu's title as the Chosen One of the Planes came from this great battle—the meteorite, the falling clouds, the great wind, the thunderstorm, the river roar...
Looking for a system?
Just go to Kunyang!
However, for the time being, the main focus should be on gathering intelligence. Xiang Yu planned to find an inn first, as such a place would be better for gathering information. Moreover, they also needed a place to stay, and they had to adapt to or integrate into this era first.
Anyway, the mission deadline is one month, so it's better to be safe than sorry. The target system is something that can disable the system's radar.
It's important to know that the System Radar is an extremely powerful item. The equivalent System Invisibility item in the God's Shop is something Hao Jiu has always wanted to buy but couldn't bring himself to buy—a powerful item worth 100,000 points.
You absolutely must acquire it before you reach the mid-tier level, otherwise, if you're unlucky enough to encounter someone who has activated their system radar, it won't be good if they make the first move.
Even if you activate your radar immediately upon entering the dimension, and both sides detect each other simultaneously, the other side may still have stealth capabilities, which would be very dangerous if you couldn't become invisible.
Of course, lower-level planes shouldn't encounter those abnormal systems that have both radar and stealth capabilities, or even one of them.
However, having gained experience from fighting the Black Dragon, Hao Jiu dared not underestimate any opponent from a lower plane; they might just be an old fox who had escaped from a mid-level plane to a lower plane.
If the target of this mission is indeed someone who runs back to the newbie village to bully low-level players, Hao Jiu can only accept it. If the other party makes the first move, so be it. The mission deadline is only one month. It will definitely be too late to come back after he has enough energy to buy an invisibility item. He has to go even if it is dangerous.
However, the objective of this mission is not necessarily to defend against the system's radar, but rather to possess stealth equipment. It could also be the system's own built-in stealth function, just as Hao Jiu gained the ability to merge all modules when he became the system.
But Hao Jiu believes that the target's ability to defend against radar detection is likely related to 'mutation'; the world of systems is so vast, there are truly all sorts of wonders.
In short, if the target system is a cunning old fox with both radar and stealth capabilities, Hao Jiu can't do anything about it. But if it's not, it would be his own carelessness if the other side gained the upper hand again.
It was for this reason that Hao Jiu let the black horse land, not because he was worried about the 200 points of fodder!
If you ride a horse and fly in the sky, who wouldn't know you have a system? Even if you have a system, invisibility items are useless.
The lobby on the first floor of Chang'an Inn is where guests eat.
Xiang Yu ordered two meat dishes and a small jar of wine. While drinking by himself, he paid attention to the conversations of the other guests.
"Hehe, this time the Green Forest Army is definitely doomed. They will be wiped out by our new dynasty's army within a month."
How do you know?
"Not only are the Grand Minister of Works and the Minister of Education the commanders-in-chief, but His Majesty has also recruited a military genius who is proficient in sixty-three schools of military strategy as his strategist. There are sixty-three schools! I haven't even heard of three of them!"
"Hiss... Is this really true?"
"That's not all! In our new dynasty's army, there is a fierce general named Ju Wuba. He is over ten feet tall, incredibly strong, and can even command jackals, tigers, leopards, and other ferocious beasts to attack the enemy. He is truly formidable!"
"Oh dear, if there really were such a fierce general in the world, wouldn't the rebels be terrified?"
"Haha, that's right! The world will soon be at peace."
...
"God of Wine, could it be that this giant Wu Ba is the real target?" Xiang Yu was quite eager to meet this giant.
"Well, it's really hard to say. Haha, if Xiang Yu wants to fight him, it's easy. We can just go to Yingchuan and join the army." Hao Jiu is not sure if the host of this target system is either Wang Mang or Liu Xiu. At least this Ju Wuba is very suspicious, but that's all. Legends usually get more and more exaggerated as they are told. It's best not to make any conclusions without seeing it with your own eyes.
However, Hao Jiu still felt that Wang Mang and Liu Xiu were the most likely candidates. If someone else became the host, even if they didn't become emperor, they should have been on the path to rebellion.
With such a powerful cheat system, how could the host be content to be selfless and willing to do the work for others?
You have to be the protagonist of at least one dimension.
However, the development of this dimension seems to be very close to historical records, and no abnormal protagonists have been found to have entered the story yet.
Of course, it's also possible that the target system is an old fox trying to reap the benefits, waiting for the most powerful Wang Mang to be defeated before jumping out to claim the spoils. After all, many people declared themselves emperors before the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the various rebel armies were not convinced by each other.
"Join the army?" Xiang Yu asked, puzzled.
"Whether it's the new army or the rebel army, it's fine, but the rebel army is better. That way, Xiang Yu will have a chance to face Ju Wuba head-on. Before confirming the target's identity, Xiang Yu should not show too much strength that is beyond ordinary people, so as not to alert the enemy and scare away the real target. Playing dumb to take advantage of the enemy is the best way."
Hao Jiu felt that he had mastered the key to survival in the Rookie System, which was to hide his system identity as much as possible and disguise the host as an ordinary person without a system, pretending to be weak while actually being strong.
"I understand. Shall we head to Kunyang now?" Xiang Yu's eyes lit up.
"Hey, there's no need to be in such a hurry. We've already come to Chang'an, how can we not investigate Wang Mang?" Hao Jiu knew in his heart that Xiang Yu was itching to get his hands dirty.
"How do we investigate?" Xiang Yu asked.
"Try to use your clone to possess Wang Mang and meet him first. If you have the chance, secretly monitor him for a while. If Wang Mang is the host, he will eventually reveal some clues."
If necessary, leave our clone in Chang'an to continue monitoring Wang Mang for a while, then we'll head to Kunyang first, using a two-pronged approach—no, it should be called a multi-pronged approach. Once we're in Kunyang, we can also secretly investigate Liu Xiu, that guy…”
Before Hao Jiu could finish speaking, a commotion arose outside the inn, and several soldiers of the Xin Dynasty rushed in.
"Don't move!"
The new dynasty general stepped into the inn, looked around at everyone, and loudly proclaimed, "I am ordered to arrest the rebels. Take them all away for investigation. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
Chapter 236 Wang Mang
Even under the emperor's nose, it's not safe anymore. Are the rebels really this rampant?
Xiang Yu frowned. "God of Wine, what should we do?"
Hao Jiu was completely dumbfounded. This was incredibly unlucky! Was he implicated by the rebels lurking in the inn? Or…?
Now Xiang Yu has only two options: either find a way to escape, or be captured and interrogated along with the people at the inn.
But the problem is that Xiang Yu doesn't have a legitimate identity at all, and he doesn't even have a sufficient reason to come to Chang'an. Is he here for sightseeing?
"Do not act rashly; wait for the opportune moment."
"I understand." Xiang Yu closed his eyes, as steady as Mount Tai.
"Shoujun, can we let these people ignore us?" Hao Jiu's eyes darted around.
"I can give it a try, but there are too many people, so I'm afraid I can't hold out for long." As he spoke, Shoujun cast two spells, which, while blinding the eyes, also interfered with everyone's memories, making them forget that they had ever seen Xiang Yu. Even if they still had some memories, they would mistakenly think that it was an illusion caused by their eyes.
"It's alright, as long as you do your best, that's enough." Hao Jiu smiled slightly.
One by one, the soldiers took away the people in the inn. Throughout the entire ordeal, no one paid any attention to Xiang Yu, who was resting with his eyes closed. Once all those who had seen Xiang Yu sitting there had left, the crisis was considered over.
The Lord's ability to blind Xiang Yu is quite powerful. It's easy for ordinary people to not see Xiang Yu, but it's much more difficult to interfere with their memories, especially when there are many people around.
Surprisingly, the general kept staring at Xiang Yu's location with a suspicious look on his face.
"God of Wine, that general is probably a man of strong will. I'm afraid I won't be able to completely erase his memory of seeing Xiang Yu. If he continues to stare like this, I won't be able to hold on any longer." Shou Jun felt strange. How could this person resist his magic so much? Was his will really that strong?
"Then I'll trouble you to burn a little of your essence and hold on a little longer. But you can try to make him believe that King Xiang has already been taken away." Hao Jiu didn't believe that the thousand-year-old ghost could be so fast.
Shou Jun was slightly taken aback. "Uh, the God of Wine's plan is brilliant. I'll give it a try."
Another spell was cast into the general's head, and he immediately smiled, no longer fixing his gaze on Xiang Yu.
At this moment, the guests in the inn's rooms were also escorted out by the soldiers. The general nodded slightly and then turned and left the inn.
hoo~~~
With a neigh from his black horse, Xiang Yu suddenly opened his eyes.
"Reporting to the general, I have found a fine warhorse in the inn's stables. It must belong to the rebels," the junior officer of the new army said, clasping his hands in greeting.
The new army commander's eyes lit up. "Oh? It really is a fine horse! Take it away!"
"As the saying goes, a fine horse is a hero's gift. Why doesn't the general ride this horse?" the junior officer of the new army flattered.
"Hehe, I see this horse is no ordinary one. It's still wary of me. I'm afraid I'll fall off if I try to ride it. Let's let it rest for a few days first," the new army general laughed.
"Congratulations, General, on the birth of your magnificent steed!"