Chapter 159

Chapter 159

This unassuming mansion had quite a few servants, but the owner seemed to have some peculiar habits. The people working inside were either blind or deaf, allowing Ji Xinghai to move through without any obstacles.

As soon as he arrived, he overheard these two plotting.

He didn't expect news from another city to reach here in less than a day. Are the Squid People's information networks that efficient?

Unfortunately, the rest of their conversation was just empty business flattery, so Ji Xinghai stepped forward and 'politely' intervened.

The local thug was the one with no value, so he dealt with him first, then turned to the middle-aged man, slicing through his tentacles with several swift cuts before aiming for his head: "I know you Squid People are stubborn to the death. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you anything; I’ll make it quick."

Squid Man: ...

"You can ask! If I can answer, I will!"

The tip of the knife stopped just in front of the Squid Man’s wet, bulging eyes. The Squid Man broke out in cold sweat: This isn't a threat; he's really going to cut me! Where did this reckless human come from? Why doesn’t he follow the rules?

"Really? Don’t lie to me because I’m inexperienced. If you do, I'll chop you into pieces."

"Really." The Squid Man cursed the local thug in his mind, along with the expensive guards and the person responsible for this matter, but he kept a calm face.

There's always hope as long as one is alive. Temporary compromise is for greater gain.

Yes, exactly.

It's not because I'm afraid of death.

I have so much potential and money; dying now would be a waste.

"Where is the city's Fire Seed?"

Such a direct question startled the Squid Man.

"Forget it, forget it. You Squid People are indeed stubborn to the death. I might as well kill you."

The Squid Man snapped back to reality, feeling the blade already at his throat, imagining the pain of being split open.

Damn, is this guy crazy? Can't he give me a second to react?!

The Squid Man roared inwardly, blurting out the correct answer without thinking: "In the President's villa! One is in the treasure vault there, and the other is in the temple!"

"..." Good grief, so honest?

"..." The silence was deafening.

Taking a deep breath, it forced a smile uglier than tears: Why did I reveal everything? Just one would have been enough. I really want to slap myself. "They only know about the one in the treasure vault. Very few know about the larger one."

Since it was already said, the Squid Man pretended it had planned it all along, trying to maximize its benefit.

"Well, if you had said that earlier, I thought you were going to be stubborn to the death. I almost cut you up." Ji Xinghai withdrew the knife, looking like 'you’re such a troublemaker, it’s all your fault.'

Then give me some time! The Squid Man raged inwardly, feeling the frustration of dealing with an unreasonable opponent. The man opposite him played dirty.

"Next question: Where is the President's villa? Where are the treasure vault and the temple? Are there any traps?"

Ji Xinghai asked bluntly, but the Squid Man had no choice but to answer quickly before the blade came down again.

With no time to fabricate lies, it could only tell the truth.

The Squid Man trembled with anger, but had no options. It thought of the President's iron will; if they found out it leaked information... Shudder.

For a moment, the Vice President wished the President dead.

Of course, it wished this human dead even more.

As the Chamber of Commerce's Vice President, the Squid Man excelled at exploiting others' weaknesses during negotiations. No matter the species, greed was a weakness, and weaknesses were leverage.

Thus, it had turned many humans, with countless informants like the local thug, forming the largest intelligence network.

But this human had no intention of extracting anything from it. His attacks were not mere threats; they were real attempts to kill.

No matter how smooth-talking the Vice President was, it couldn't persuade someone who wanted nothing. And with its life on the line, it couldn't stay calm—it couldn't afford to lose.

From the start, this wasn't a negotiation.

To save its life and for some dark motive, the Vice President betrayed the President completely.

Being a successful businessman, the Vice President chose personal gain over racial interests.

Not only did it reveal which of the President's villas was the right one, but also disclosed some warehouse locations and even some of the President's plans.

The President, cunning and sly, used a smaller Fire Seed as bait, setting up a trap for those who sought it, while hiding a larger one elsewhere in the same villa as a precaution.

The Fire Seed detector could only find one, and no one suspected the President had two.

If not for the Vice President, Ji Xinghai might have missed the larger one.

"But I must warn you, the villa has many traps. The President's traps are almost unsolvable, only our race's secret technique can bypass them." The Vice President watched Ji Xinghai's expression closely, using a seductive tone.

"I can help you; only I can." Light flowed over the Squid Man's body, not enough to hypnotize but enough to confuse perception. "I can lead you there and help you."

The Vice President knew once it revealed everything, it would lose its value and die. It needed a bargaining chip, and the traps were it.

If this human's goal was the Fire Seed, he was 90% there; the remaining 10% was bypassing the traps.

He could kill it without hesitation when he knew nothing, but now, so close to success, he wouldn't dare. Ha, this human wouldn't let go, the more he had, the more he wanted to hold on. How could he...

"Are you threatening me? Do you think I'm naive?" Ji Xinghai's expression darkened, clearly displeased.

"… You misunderstood. I didn’t threaten you." What’s going on? Is this human crazy? Is he insane? Is that the main point here?

But lunatics don’t reason, so Ji Xinghai coldly said, "I hate being threatened, so you can die."

"!"

A flash of the blade split the unprepared vice president in two. It never understood why such a smart individual would end up dying at the hands of a brainless fool.

Ji Xinghai, the "brainless fool," sheathed his blade and swept away the energy dispersing in the air.

The self-proclaimed smart vice president didn’t realize that from start to finish, the initiative was always in the hands of the "brute" Ji Xinghai, who forced it to react and follow his rhythm.

If someone less clever had been there, the outcome wouldn’t have been as effective. This is a classic case of overthinking leading to one's downfall.

He raised his hand to sniff his sleeve, which had traces of something undetectable by human senses. The squid people could tell he was an "enemy" just by getting close, which would cause him a lot of trouble.

So before leaving, Ji Xinghai took a quick bath, changed clothes, and even took some "emotional compensation" from the storeroom. After all that acting, shouldn’t he get some reward?

The city’s nightlife was just beginning, and no one noticed a cloaked figure hurrying past. He soon arrived at the mansion where the chamber president hid the fire seed.

"So many people?"

As soon as he entered the mansion grounds, he sensed hidden presences everywhere. Well, he couldn’t tell exactly how many forces were involved, but there were at least thirty people. Was this place turning into a sieve?

With the king’s coronation approaching, the fire thieves couldn’t resist any longer, and the students with missions were also taking action. Plus, the fire seed here wasn’t hidden, making it an open invitation. No wonder there were so many people hiding here.

Ji Xinghai’s eyes darted around. Everyone’s attention was focused on the first fire seed, which must feel quite lonely.

He couldn’t stand such unfair treatment, so he decided to take the first fire seed!

He silently approached, took a detour, and slipped behind the mansion, finding the domed building.

The chamber president was inside, having finished its prayers and now listening to the steward’s report.

A thin layer of energy isolated Ji Xinghai completely, making it impossible for anyone to detect his presence. He lay quietly on the roof, blending into the blackness with his dark cloak.

Unlike the vice president, the chamber president, using the fire seed as bait, was accustomed to unexpected visitors. Although they had been frequent lately, everything was still under control.

For example, today, at least ten of the thirty or so people hiding had already been discovered.

The remaining dozen or so were likely students on missions. Anyone daring enough to seek the fire seed must have some leverage, and they were merely lying low for now, waiting to strike later.

The chamber president and the steward didn’t notice the uninvited guest on the roof. They discussed the capital, the new king’s coronation ceremony, the teams heading there from six cities, and a squid squad considered "traitors."

That squid squad didn’t support their race’s takeover; they preferred a peaceful life of working from dawn till dusk. Upon hearing about the new king’s coronation, their first reaction was to leave and find a land truly theirs.

Hmm, every race has its "black sheep."

However, the chamber president didn’t want to talk much about these traitors. Its focus remained on eliminating the main forces and living power of the fire thieves to ensure the coronation ceremony went smoothly.

The steward worriedly mentioned that the city’s best soldiers had already been sent to the capital, and it was uncertain if the remaining ones could defend the place.

"Don’t worry; this is all part of the plan," the chamber president said, tilting its head slightly. "Both I and the guards are integral parts of this plan. Only by fighting to the death, even sacrificing our lives, will they feel the fire seed is incredibly precious. And when they integrate this fire seed into what they possess…"

It smiled enigmatically.

Using its own death as leverage to destroy the fire thieves’ most important asset, the fire seed, was both tragic and bold.

Compared to personal gain, this chamber president seemed more concerned with collective interests. No wonder it was the president while the other was only the vice president; they had fundamental differences.

However…

Ji Xinghai guessed that only the chamber president and the steward knew about this plan, keeping the other squid people in the dark to gain the fire thieves’ trust.

So did those squid people know they were cannon fodder from the start?

Was this the elite exploiting the common squid people?

And the ultimate beneficiaries would still be the elite.

Wow~

The plan was brilliant, but could they hurry up? He needed to get the first fire seed.

He had no interest in the conflict between the native species and the first fire seed. Nor did he care about the internal class struggles. His sole purpose was to take more fire seeds, disrupt the coronation ceremony, and secure the victory. After that, they could do whatever they wanted.

But this chamber president was too patient. With several factions at the doorstep, it was still praying devoutly. Ji Xinghai, tired of lying on the roof, switched positions, lying on his back for a while, then back to lying flat. Bored, he started studying the squid people’s deity statue.

These beings were disguised humans and couldn’t openly worship an alien deity, so the statue looked human.

Squid people worshipping a human deity.

Hmm, it felt wrong and awkward.

Ji Xinghai lay awkwardly on the roof for over an hour, his bones aching, until the ambushers in the front yard finally made a move.

The students were the first to lose patience. Without any forewarning, they didn’t know this trap had already claimed many lives. With many competitors and limited time, they were confident and thus acted.

Their confidence was understandable. While they might not match the experienced fire thieves, most students had special abilities and were allowed to carry one piece of equipment, giving them an edge.

Even though the chamber president’s subordinates were skilled, they suffered significant losses during their first encounter with the students, alerting the chamber president.

The chamber president and the steward left, but being cautious, they left two skilled guards to watch over the family shrine. But Ji Xinghai, like a ghost, didn’t even disturb the guardians as he entered the religious building.

Though small and family-sized, the shrine was spacious, with over a dozen benches on either side. The statue on the platform was three meters tall, and a beam of light shone through a circular hole behind it, illuminating the statue’s head and creating a halo effect, making it look sacred and inspiring awe.

This trick worked well on people of this era, unlike modern folks who might pay lip service to deities without truly believing.

Ordinary people entering this building, seeing the divine halo and the towering, compassionate statue, would instinctively avoid looking directly at it, let alone try to topple it.

So for so long, apart from the vice president who was also at a high level, hardly anyone knew that there were treasures hidden inside the statue.

Ji Xinghai circled the statue twice. Smashing it would be easy; he could take what he wanted and leave without much trouble. But this statue was so beautiful, almost an artwork, and it would be a pity to destroy it.

Why not take it back and chisel open the bottom? That way, he could get the treasure without damaging the statue.

Good idea! He immediately took the statue away.

But once he did, the platform felt empty, as if something was missing.

Ji Xinghai pondered for a while: "Got it!"

A few minutes later, the servants found two guards unconscious at the entrance of the temple. They didn't dare enter the temple to check and reported the incident instead.

The president's face changed slightly upon hearing this. While others might not know, it knew what was in the temple.

Could it be that those people already knew about the hidden fire seed and were making a frontal attack while secretly stealing the fire seed from behind?

"Damn!" The president was unusually furious. It had plans for that fire seed, and it hated having its plans disrupted.

Being thwarted was more upsetting than the theft itself, like a tiny black dot on a pristine white sheet of paper, driving it mad.

It was preparing to sacrifice its life for a perfect plan... The president felt like spitting blood.

With murderous intent, it rushed into the home temple and, lifting its head, its entire face went blank.

The white marble statue that used to be there had vanished, replaced by a large white cloth hanging on the wall, depicting a flying tentacle monster. As the cloth fluttered, the tentacle monster seemed to be taking flight. Below it were some awkwardly written words:

"Sky... Flying Pasta God?"