Chapter 926: Four Spirits
Qu Liangshao's suggestion clearly displeased Li Tianyang.
He snorted coldly and said, "Since we already know the location of the Divine Source, why should we share it with others! In my opinion, we should send our elite troops to sneak over and secure the Divine Source directly!"
"If absolutely necessary, we can deploy Xuanwu! He can completely avoid the Colombian Navy's sonar detection, moving without a trace."
"At worst, after we obtain the Divine Source, we can offer some compensation to the Jiangnan Region! By then, they'll have no choice but to agree."
Qu Liangshao shook his head and sighed, "That approach seems too risky. Our greatest enemy now is external forces. Why scheme so deeply against our own people?"
Li Tianyang sneered, "Even brothers keep clear accounts! There should be order and hierarchy within a family."
After listening to their argument, Li Guangxiao reached a decision.
"Enough, stop arguing."
He sat in his chair, rubbing the corner of the table with his right hand as he pondered for a long moment before making his decision."In three days, send the Rose Squad and Chaos's group back to the Jiangnan Region. Tell them we were protecting them for safety reasons."
"Additionally, as Minister Li suggested, send people via submarine to investigate the area between Malaya and Star Island. Prepare both options."
"As for Xuanwu, do not deploy him."
Xuanwu had completely transformed into a giant sea turtle, spending most of his time dormant on the ocean floor.
Each of his movements consumed enormous amounts of energy.
As the East Sea Region's trump card, Li Guangxiao would not easily deploy Xuanwu.
Li Tianyang and Qu Liangshao accepted their orders and went to arrange their respective tasks.
...
After Zhang Yi "woke up," he immediately flew into a rage, angrily demanding to see Li Guangxiao.
He punched the sofa, leaving a deep crater in it.
"You actually used interrogation tactics on me! This is utterly shameless! Completely despicable! Is this how a major region should behave?"
Faced with Zhang Yi's attitude, the guards could only pretend not to hear.
Liang Simiao and the intelligence department staff felt quite awkward.
Using such underhanded methods on their own people would have meant court-martial in the past.
As the East Sea Region's trump card, Li Guangxiao would not easily deploy Xuanwu.
For the next few days, Zhang Yi maintained an angry demeanor.
The intelligence personnel no longer came to question him.
They only provided him with all necessary daily supplies.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Chief of Staff Qu Liangshao arrived with his team and opened Zhang Yi's door.
"Captain Chaos, I hope you've been resting well during your stay in our East Sea Region?"
Qu Liangshao asked with a smile.
Zhang Yi gave him a cold glance but didn't respond.
Qu Liangshao wasn't offended at all, smiling as he said, "We're here to send you back. Please get ready—our special train will depart shortly."
Zhang Yi rose from the sofa with an expressionless face and walked toward the door.
Soon, he was riding in a military vehicle to the East Sea City subway station.
Linghu Feixue and the Rose Squad members had already arrived.
In the adjacent carriage sat Old Tian and the other crew members and passengers from the ship.
Zhang Yi and Linghu Feixue exchanged glances, both their faces cold as ice, neither saying a word.
The East Sea Region personnel escorted them onto the special train.
As captains, both Zhang Yi and Linghu Feixue enjoyed separate luxury compartments.
Qu Liangshao smiled and said, "The effects of the medication will take about a week to wear off, so you'll need to rest for some time after returning."
Zhang Yi sat on the train seat and had already closed his eyes.
Qu Liangshao didn't mind at all. After counting the passengers and confirming no one was missing, he instructed the people beside him: "The escort mission is in your hands. You must safely deliver our honored guests to Blizzard City!"
"Don't worry, Chief of Staff. With us here, there won't be any problems."
As these words fell, several people entered the carriage.
But the moment they appeared, Zhang Yi's instincts triggered a strange sensation.
It was the instinctive reaction when powerful beings encounter each other.
He looked up and saw three people: two men and one woman.
One had long hair, a square face, and a robust build;
One was bald with somewhat pale skin and sharp, narrow phoenix eyes;
And a woman with long hair tinged with burgundy, exquisite features, standing with arms crossed.
Zhang Yi immediately realized these were all captain-level experts.
But it made sense—this escort mission was critically important.
If anything happened to Zhang Yi, Linghu Feixue, and the others en route, it could lead to complete rupture between the Jiangnan and East Sea Regions.
It might even potentially trigger war between them someday.
"Are you all investigation captains from the East Sea Region?"
Zhang Yi asked calmly.
The long-haired man shook his head.
"No, in our East Sea Region, we only have fleet commanders. I am Qinglong! They are Baihu and Zhuque."
Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
The East Sea Region's four most famous experts were Qinglong, Baihu, Zhuque, and Xuanwu—the Four Spirits.
He had already met Xuanwu, an immensely powerful Epsilon-level expert.
So these three before him, while perhaps not as terrifying as Xuanwu, were definitely top-tier experts.
"The East Sea Region is being quite cautious, sending three of the Four Spirits fleet to escort us back! Hah!"
Zhang Yi said with slight sarcasm.
Given his current situation, he should indeed display some anger.
The three weren't bothered by Zhang Yi's attitude.
They sat down opposite Zhang Yi.
Zhuque spoke, her voice clear like a lark's.
"No, this mission wasn't originally ours. We just all felt curious about you, so we wanted to meet you."
Baihu pulled a bottle of baijiu and four cups from his pocket, while Qinglong took out a food container with some peanuts and fish skin.
"The strongest expert of the Jiangnan Region—that title inevitably makes people curious. You could say we've admired your reputation for a long time!"
Qinglong said with a smile.
Baihu shrugged. "And we get to see the Jiangnan scenery while we're at it. Reasonable slacking off!"
Smiles appeared on all their faces.
Zhang Yi watched the three of them, unsure what these guys were up to.
But since they were here, he would play along with whatever they had planned.
If they wanted to drink, he would drink!
After all, he had ways to transfer the alcohol.
But soon he realized he was overthinking it.
These people had straightforward personalities. Their conversation mostly involved asking about life experiences and sharing their own stories from the apocalypse.
Perhaps at their level, they rarely encountered people worth opening up to.
After all, very few people qualified for them to communicate with.
Zhang Yi could somewhat sense their sentiment.
Throughout the Jiangnan Region, everyone who met Zhang Yi now regarded him with awe and reverence—how many dared to share drinks and casual conversation with him?
Last time he visited Blizzard City, he encountered Chen Xiaoxiao from Bacheng.
She had been excited to run over and catch up with him, but after approaching, her expression suddenly changed.
Zhang Yi clearly saw her bow and call out "Captain."
Author's Note