Chapter 513: Respect

One hour later.

The late autumn sunset was as red as blood, dyeing the entirety of Fortress Mountain City in a deep crimson.

The streets near the city gates were devastated. The charred remains of several armored vehicles still billowed black smoke, and the pungent smell of melted metal filled the air. The slate-paved roads were fractured into shallow, cobweb-like craters.

The dozen or so concrete buildings destroyed by the aftermath of the battle were reduced to half-standing ruined walls with twisted, exposed rebar. The concrete walls had collapsed into rubble. Team after team of Alliance Country soldiers appeared to clear the scene.

“Are they really human?”

Whenever they looked at the collapsed ruins and the shallow craters dotting the ground, shock and bewilderment washed over the soldiers’ faces. Some instinctively recalled the daytime battle scenes, their faces turning slightly pale as they wondered if even Superpower Level experts could achieve such destruction.

At this thought, the Alliance Country soldiers’ expressions shifted as their internal awe grew. The residents of Mountain City, huddled inside their homes, also wore complex looks that gradually melted into the relief of surviving a disaster.

In stark contrast, inside the central command post…

Over a dozen Superpower Level team leaders crowded both sides of the conference table. Some were wrapped in bandages and hooked up to Nutrient Liquid and healing IV drips, while others leaned on crutches or sat in corners with their arms in splints. Many of them were Superpower Team leaders and commanders who had previously attempted to intercept the Clare People. By now, their injuries were stabilized. Those in critical, near-death conditions had been sent to the temporary infirmary and were already receiving treatment.

Everything seemed to be proceeding in an orderly fashion. However, with heavy expressions, everyone stared at the images displayed on the light screen.

“Non-human Level combat power…”

The footage showed the Clare People when they first appeared at the city gates. Clad in silver armor, the enemy had beaten them so thoroughly they had no power to resist; in a head-on clash, they couldn’t withstand even a single strike. Furthermore, if Celestial Hunter hadn’t intervened, they might have already caved under the pressure and been forced into submission.

At this thought, bitter and helpless expressions appeared on their faces.

“But… Celestial Hunter, why did he help us?” someone suddenly asked in confusion.

They had already looked into Celestial Hunter’s identity, yet they still couldn’t understand why this Dark Web legend was willing to risk offending the Clare People to take action. Hearing this, everyone’s expressions tightened as various speculations arose.

“Perhaps he had a commissioned mission to assassinate the Clare People?”

“How is that possible? Who would dare do such a thing?”

“Maybe he’s cooperating with our Alliance Country?”

A buzz of discussion broke out. The Superpower Team leaders talked over one another, engaging in fierce debate despite their heavy injuries.

Watching all of this, Lu Chao sat at the head seat, his expression as calm as ever. With his black trench coat draped over his shoulders once more, he suppressed all his exhaustion and the physical emptiness from draining his stamina. Using his perfect control, he forced his breathing to remain steady and sat casually, revealing no trace of abnormality.

In reality, at the very first moment after the battle ended, he had quietly swapped places with Ghost Element, who had been casting the illusion, and returned here.

“Inspector Chen, this is Special Envoy Zhu Chen from the Superpower Bureau. He made a special trip to support us.” Yue Zhenhong walked in from the corridor, taking the initiative to introduce the people following behind him.

All of them were Superpower Level experts clad in custom combat suits. The leading man, in particular, looked to be in his forties. He wore a silver-gray combat suit, possessed a lean and powerful build, and had a resolute face that exuded a sense of composure. His footsteps were incredibly light, making almost no sound against the concrete floor, yet every step carried an aura forged through thousands of trials. This invisible presence quietly settled the atmosphere in the command room. The Superpower Team leaders, who had just been talking over one another, successively stopped their arguments and looked at the newcomers.

[Carbon-based Human]

[Life Energy: 283]

The data from his intuitive sensing surfaced. This was a Peak Transcendence Level expert, vastly stronger than Lu Weilong. In terms of Life Energy data alone, he was almost on par with those Clare People.

However, Lu Chao’s eyes flashed, and he didn’t feel surprised. Earlier, during his battle with that Silver-armored Man, he had already detected this person’s existence using Life Sensing.

“Special Envoy Chu.” He stood up to welcome him and shook his hand respectfully.

“Inspector Chen.” The man named Zhu Chen approached with a smile, offering a firm handshake. “I am here on Mr. Ji’s orders to assist with Mountain City’s defense. However…” he added, looking slightly ashamed, “my strength was insufficient. I could only watch the great battle from afar earlier, unable to intervene. Speaking of which, I am truly ashamed.”

His tone was extremely polite, even quite respectful.

Lu Chao was a bit surprised but didn’t have time to delve into it. He shook his head and offered words of comfort, “You’re too modest, Special Envoy Chu. You all rushed all the way here and must be weary from the long journey. We will have to rely on you all for the subsequent defense of Mountain City…”

Both men maintained a courteous tone and chatted for a few more exchanges. Towards the end, Zhu Chen actually yielded the head seat, saying modestly, “Please make the arrangements as you see fit, Inspector Chen. Do not worry about us.”

His attitude appeared exceptionally respectful. Now, it wasn’t just Lu Chao; the others also sensed something unusual. Lu Chao’s heart stirred as a suspicion arose. He wondered, “Has my identity as Celestial Hunter been seen through?” Amid his thoughts, he didn’t pursue the matter on the spot. Instead, he simply pretended to accept it reluctantly and continued the previous meeting.

Damage reports were presented one by one by Yue Zhenhong, his assistant Ji Lanhua, and others. The number of injured Superpower Team leaders this time was not small. Including Brother Hao, there were fully five or six of them. Nearly seven armored vehicles had been completely destroyed, and over ten buildings had collapsed. The only fortunate thing was that not many Mountain City residents or ordinary soldiers had been injured.

Even so, a brief silence settled over the room as everyone recalled the Non-human Level battle from earlier that day. One was a Dark Web assassin who truly lived up to his legendary name; the other was a trial genius from an extraterrestrial civilization. Both possessed Non-human Level combat power. With both of them now vanished without a trace, everyone inevitably harbored some anxiety in their hearts, worrying that the combatants would make a comeback and drag Mountain City into the crossfire once again.

“Inspector Chen, what do you think? Regarding the Clare people and Senior Celestial Hunter…” Yue Zhenhong couldn’t help but ask. Although he didn’t finish his sentence, his meaning was crystal clear: with the whereabouts of the two Non-human experts unknown, how exactly should they handle the aftermath?

“Report it truthfully to Yao Capital,” Lu Chao said, glancing at the people from the Superpower Bureau with a calm tone. “As for the whereabouts of these two, there is no need to investigate further.”

Yue Zhenhong paused slightly, and the eyes of the people from the Superpower Bureau also flickered upon hearing this. No one objected; instead, they all breathed a quiet sigh of relief. After all, they simply didn’t have the guts to provoke Non-human Level experts.

The meeting lasted for a long time, only coming to an end when the sky grew late and the veil of night fell. Lu Chao stepped out of the command room alone.

Seeing this scene, a Superpower Team leader in a black combat suit approached Zhu Chen. Lowering his voice, with a puzzled look on his face, he asked, “Sir, why were you so polite to this Inspector Chen?”

The question wasn’t loud, but it caused many people to shift their gazes slightly and prick up their ears. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the Special Envoy’s attitude had been quite unusual.

“Yeah. Although he killed Lu Weilong and the Rebel Law Enforcement Officer, he is still only at the Exploration Level after all. It’s not like our Superpower Bureau doesn’t have examples like that… You’re at the Peak Transcendence Level, so it seems you don’t need to be so…” Another team leader chimed in, though his voice grew quieter and quieter.

In their line of sight, Zhu Chen shot him a glare. Then, sweeping his peripheral vision over everyone present, he tactfully reminded them, “I already asked Mr. Ji. Celestial Hunter has never cooperated with our Alliance Country.”

As his words fell, a brief silence swept through the command post. It wasn’t just the few from the Superpower Bureau; even Superpower Team leaders like Yue Zhenhong showed astonished expressions and blanked out for a moment. Their gazes shifted once more, instinctively looking toward the direction Lu Chao had left.

None of those who could break through to the Superpower Level were fools; they naturally understood the implication of his words. Celestial Hunter hadn’t had any contact with the higher-ups of the Alliance Country, yet he had helped the Superpower Bureau twice.

Subconsciously, a single thought popped into everyone’s mind. They wondered, “Does Inspector Chen know Celestial Hunter?”

…

At the end of the corridor, the room door closed. Lu Chao leaned against the door panel, listening to the commotion outside gradually fade away, and shook his head helplessly.

“So that’s how it is.” He had thought his identity had been seen through. He didn’t expect that people had mistakenly assumed he had a deep relationship with Celestial Hunter.

Shaking his head, Lu Chao was actually quite happy with this outcome. He had chosen to return to the command room to swap out Ghost Element specifically because he didn’t want his identity as Celestial Hunter to be recognized. In this way, it could be considered a good result.

“YOO~~”

A low hum sounded. Ghost Element leaped down from the windowsill and landed on his shoulder. Its ruby-like beastly eyes narrowed slightly, carrying a hint of wanting credit. Lu Chao smiled faintly and raised his hand to rub its head.

“You’ve worked hard.”

From the moment the Clare People appeared, Ghost Element had used spiritual power illusions to create a phantom of “Inspector Chen” in the command room. It was precisely because of this that he was able to fight the Clare People openly under the identity of Celestial Hunter.

At this thought, Lu Chao slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

“Phew…”

An intense feeling of emptiness surged from his limbs and bones. His breathing suddenly grew a bit ragged, and wisps of white sweat vapor seeped from his pores, dissipating around him. His muscles, which had been taut as steel cables, finally relaxed. Every inch of his meridians sent out signals of exhaustion.

This was the most arduous battle he had ever fought. The burden of activating his talents at full capacity was immense; almost every passing second had been frantically burning his stamina and Spiritual Power. Especially the piercing wound caused by that electromagnetic kinetic wave—it had consumed a significant amount of his body energy to allow the injury to heal back to normal in such a short time.

“Thanks to the High-Efficiency Skill.” Lu Chao caught his breath and slowly sat back down on the chair.

In the past, he might have already entered a weakened state, struggling to hold on for much longer. But this time, the high-efficiency energy utilization effect brought about by the High-Efficiency Skill had significantly reduced his consumption, which was exactly why his negative status was minimized.

With this in mind, Lu Chao began to review today’s battle. The strength of the Clare people far exceeded his expectations. Silver combat armor, Energy Lightsabers, gravity manipulation, electromagnetic kinetic waves… Every single method far surpassed Earth Star’s technological level. The foundation of a Starry Sky civilization was evident from this.

Furthermore, despite both being at the Peak Transcendence Level, the sense of danger Zhu Chen gave him was far inferior to that of the Silver-armored Man. This couldn’t help but remind him of a term the Clare people had mentioned during the battle.

“Combat power index, Ohe…” Lu Chao frowned and murmured to himself. He wondered, “Is this another standard used by Starry Sky civilizations to measure combat capability?”

After pondering for a few breaths, he found no answer. Lu Chao then shook his head, dropping the intention to delve deeper. There would always be opportunities to learn about these things once he grew stronger in the future.

As for now, he took out several vials of Strong Stamina Recovery Potion from the storage cabinet.

GLUG… GLUG…

As he swallowed the medicinal liquid, these potions he had concocted in the past proved useful once again. Under the augmentation of the Resilient Body, the nutrients were gradually converted into body energy, restoring his stamina and alleviating the negative effects of using his talents.

Lu Chao’s eyes gradually brightened, and his breathing steadied. Reflecting on today’s battle, although he had taken some risks and offended the Clare people, at least his public identity had not been exposed, making it difficult for the other party to track him down through Celestial Hunter.

Besides that, Lu Chao clenched his fists, setting down the empty potion bottles and feeling his stamina slowly recover. The several gravity impacts he had encountered today gave him new insights into the Qi Explosion Skill. The special technique of compressing, gathering, and detonating invisible power shared striking similarities with his Qi Explosion Skill.

He faintly felt that his Qi Manipulation Skill was about to take that final step. When that time came, he would reach the Transcendence Level.

“Soon,” he murmured.