Chapter 381 323: Old Huo, Because Celestial Mandate Is on My Side

Two-headed Scale People: "..."

The Two-headed Scale People was momentarily speechless. Its expression shifted constantly before it finally gritted its teeth and accepted the crystal-like tear.

He got out of the car and scanned his surroundings. Seeing that the area was empty, it was clear Zhang Hai had prepared in advance. He no longer had any misgivings—

He gently placed the tear over his heart.

The next moment...

The tear trembled faintly, as if it had suddenly come to life. Soon, the rhythm of its pulsation perfectly synchronized with the heartbeat of the Two-headed Scale People.

An infinite, pure white light erupted, wrapping the Two-headed Scale People's body in a cocoon of light. At that moment, the cocoon seemed to become a heart, beating rhythmically... emitting a faint light and warmth.

"One, two, three..." Chu Bamboo counted silently.

After half a minute, the cocoon of light was torn apart.

An old man in a prisoner's uniform stepped out from within. His every gesture held an ineffable quality, as solid as a mountain and as vast as the ocean—surging and immense. Most importantly... his face was identical to that of the Fifth Apostle in his Hu Kaikang form.

"Five years! A full five years," Hu Kaikang said slowly, the two phrases spoken in two completely different tones of voice...

His left eye held both joy and sorrow, while his right eye stared at his hand, lost in a daze...

Chu Bamboo: "..."

'Seriously?! What is this?!'

Meanwhile, though Zhang Hai did his utmost to maintain his composure, his breathing hitched the moment he saw the old man's face. He quickly recovered, his expression returning to normal as if everything happening before him was to be expected.

"...Can you explain this!" Chu Bamboo's expression was a little strange.

"It's just a split personality. It's fine! I can control it." Hu Kaikang was calm and gentle. He knew what Chu Bamboo was worried about and continued, "Don't worry, it won't affect my combat ability at all..."

However, Hu Kaikang's tone quickly shifted as his other consciousness spoke up: "Alas, if this were just a simple mental illness... it could be cured by the great grace of the Pope! It's a shame, but this must be a manifestation of the contamination..."

After a brief pause, Hu Kaikang sighed and shook his head. "This is something beyond the reach of the Pope's great power!"

"All right! Next step." Chu Bamboo didn't dwell on it. As long as his strength was unaffected, it was fine. "Get back in the car... Nuwa No. 17, continue driving toward where Huo Qiming is under house arrest... By the way, Lao Hu, you can take Huo Qiming, right?"

"If you mean the Captain General of the Jinghai City Captain's Office!" Hu Kaikang smiled, his voice filled with lofty pride. At the same time, however, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly... Now that he was back to normal, he had also calmed down. Thoughts flashed through his mind, and he began to notice many strange things...

'This mastermind mentioned 'Nuwa No. 17'... Why does the name 'Nuwa' sound so much like the name in the Divine Language, 'Great Goddess Nuwa'? Is it another form of Divine Language?'

'So who exactly is this person...'

Despite his doubts, Hu Kaikang got back into the car.

...

「First District.」

「Inside a villa.」

Huo Qiming was practicing his calligraphy. His face was expressionless as his brush danced across the paper. He suddenly stopped and studied his work for a moment before looking at Captain Yang beside him. "What do you think of my writing?"

"The work of a grandmaster!" Captain Yang applauded.

"Too bad... I was just scribbling!" With a cold snort, Huo Qiming threw the brush onto the table. He knew Captain Yang didn't know the first thing about calligraphy and was just shamelessly sucking up to him. A faint gloom clouded his eyes.

Captain Yang's body tensed instinctively, his face a mask of conflict and indecision. He was thinking, 'If Huo Qiming really tries to leave, do I stop him or not?' To be fair, he had also participated in yesterday's plan to quell the chaos—

Knowing the inside story, he was disgusted by how the higher-ups had discarded them once they were no longer useful. But... as the captain of the Captain's Office's Zone Two, he had handled countless classified intelligence files. He knew exactly how powerful Daqian was... He didn't dare to resist.

Suddenly, a blinding Divine Light flared up outside.

Huo Qiming's pupils constricted. He looked toward the main gate in silence. Captain Yang's body went taut. Sensing something was wrong, he instinctively drew a large saber.

Clear footsteps echoed, accompanied by a dragging sound. They finally stopped just outside the door—

Then came a knock on the door.

'...Surprisingly polite.'

"Come in," Huo Qiming said, his face grim.

The main door opened.

Hu Kaikang opened the door with his elbow. He was dragging a man in a Flying Fish Suit with each hand. He tossed them into the room and dusted off his hands. "These two... were monitoring you from outside. I took care of them for you! No need to thank me."

A brief silence followed.

"...Hu Kaikang, you're not dead?" Huo Qiming stared intently at Hu Kaikang's face, his voice laced with shock and uncertainty. 'Thank him? What a joke.' How could Huo Qiming not know there were other people monitoring him?

To put it bluntly, putting Captain Yang here to watch him was simply a way to keep both him and Captain Yang in check... to prevent him, or Captain Yang, or both of them, from going to help *that* person...

Now this guy had shown up and taken out the other two! Proving his own innocence afterward would be even more troublesome. He might even get demoted... Or rather, if he was *only* demoted after something like this... it would be a sign of the Heavenly Monarch's profound affection for him!

"A lot has happened!" Hu Kaikang said with a sigh, but he didn't elaborate. In his own memory, he'd only met this man a few times; they weren't very familiar with each other. He had no idea what kind of relationship the imposter had with him!

Following Chu Bamboo's orders, Hu Kaikang took out his phone and dialed his number. "However, there's someone else here... who wants to talk to you!"

"It's me," Chu Bamboo's calm, composed voice came from the phone.

Huo Qiming flinched. After a brief silence, he sighed. "...How did you know?"

Huo Qiming found it all utterly ridiculous... At six o'clock this morning, just as he was getting ready for work, he was suddenly told he didn't need to come in and should rest at home—he knew it was house arrest!

Thanks to his long-standing network within the Captain's Office, he had managed to get snippets of information through back channels. By piecing them together, he had just barely managed to figure out what was going on... But how did Chu Bamboo know?

No... this was beyond just 'knowing'! It looked like... he clearly already had a solution—he'd even dragged the late Bishop Hu back from the dead! Regardless of whether Chu Bamboo's maneuver would ultimately succeed, Huo Qiming could only describe it as world-defying...

"Because 'Celestial Mandate' is on my side!" Chu Bamboo said, not directly answering the question. After a brief pause, he got straight to the point. "I'm guessing you've already figured out some of it... but let me explain everything now!"

After listening to the whole story, the most shocked person wasn't Huo Qiming, who had already suspected some of it. The most shocked person was Hu Kaikang...

'Wait, I've been dragged into a matter involving the Heavenly Monarch of the Imperial Capital? Can I even survive this... Oh, right. Chu Bamboo was the one who saved my life in the first place. Never mind then!'

Hu Kaikang pursed his lips, and a fierce battle lust surfaced in his eyes. He naturally had a seed of justice within him. Though he recognized the enemy's strength, the realization that he was standing on the side of justice... made him feel his long-dormant blood begin to boil.

"So, Old Huo, come help me!" Chu Bamboo's voice was sincere. "You should know... Nuwa is on my side! And look at everything the Heavenly Monarch has done... Isn't that enough to prove that Daqian has lost its way?"

He didn't directly say that the Heavenly Monarch was his own descendant... Saying something like that under these circumstances would have just sounded like a joke.

Chu Bamboo's initial goal was to persuade him... or at the very least, get Huo Qiming to remain neutral.

Then, by letting him discover that crucial point for himself... it might be possible to get Huo Qiming to truly stand on his side.