Chapter 17: Evil Wind Visitor

Ji Xinghuo sat in the cockpit of a sky battle plane.

Two swordsmen from the Sword Bureau sat beside him, staring intently at him every second.

The body of Ji Zongbang lay on the floor in front of him while Min Chongwu squatted there, inspecting the body with interest, occasionally clucking his tongue.

He stood up and pulled an arrow from Ji Xinghuo’s quiver, glanced at the not-so-sharp arrowhead, and shook his head.

“Did you kill Ji Zongbang with this kind of training arrow?”

Ji Xinghuo remained silent.

“I still can’t believe it without seeing the surveillance myself,” Min Chongwu seated himself across Ji Xinghuo on the other side of the cabin, “Just looking from the body, if you told me a Super Ranger killed him, I wouldn’t have doubted it.”

Ji Xinghuo still had no reaction.

“When did you become a mutant?” Min Chongwu asked, then suddenly turned his head cursing, “What are the folks at the information department doing? How come they haven’t transferred the documents yet?”

A swordsman replied, “They just got the authorization and are pulling up the files.”

Min Chongwu turned back, “Hey, why don’t you talk?”

“Didn’t you just say to be careful with our words?”

“That was for others.”

Min Chongwu slapped his hand and, changing his gaze, took out an alien species stored in a refrigerated tube, smiling, “I know you’re upset. But if you want your rotating magnetic field back, you have to be nicer to me. Whatever I ask, you answer.”

Ji Xinghuo nodded slightly but still emphasized, “The ownership of this alien species is mine, even if you are from the Sword Bureau, you have no right to confiscate it.”

He dared to say this because of the “Spoils of War Principle.”

This principle first formed among the stargazers.

The star realms are very dangerous, but people must venture into them to collect various precious resources, working together in weaker moments or against unbeatable foes alone.

How to distribute the spoils of war gradually became a rule.

It can generally be summarized as: the person who contributes the most in battle has the right to distribute the spoils.

If it’s a solo kill, even if the target was weakened by others without their knowledge, it still counts as a solo kill and they can take all the spoils.

This principle has also been introduced on Earth.

Nations are never harmonious, always engaging in competition and hostilities, and activities like infiltration, spying, and assassination never cease.

When mutants with great power do these dirty deeds, vigilance becomes exceptionally difficult.

Thus, unofficial mutants are involved, collaborating together.

To encourage action, most countries have adopted the “Spoils of War Principle,” applicable to spies, assassins, and criminals killed within their borders.

The Asia-Pacific Community follows this as well.

Since Ji Xinghuo killed Ji Zongbang alone, according to the spoils principle, he owns everything on Ji Zongbang’s body, including the corpse!

Of course, this is just a principle, not the law.

Principles have to give way to the law, like when something is critical evidence in a case, it must wait until the case is concluded which could take a long time.

Or if it originally didn’t belong to the deceased and was stolen or robbed, then it must be returned to its rightful owner.

The first point worried Ji Xinghuo.

As for the second possibility, judging by Min Chongwu’s reaction when he saw the alien species, he didn’t know about the rotating magnetic field before. It was likely Ji Zongbang’s own.

Unless someone claims it.

“That said, rules are dead and people are alive.”

Min Chongwu played with the refrigerated tube, “If someone bypasses the rules and steals the alien species, what can you do about it?”

“Who would dare to steal?”

Ji Xinghuo, having picked up on some clues before boarding the plane, provocatively asked, “Chief, do you have any ideas?”

“Of course not me,” Min Chongwu snorted disdainfully, “I’m a Halo Warrior. Even the strongest rotating magnetic fields are useless to me.”

Halo Warriors’ astral powers are all converted into light energy, which has a very strong repulsive nature.

It repels not only other energies but also most mutant abilities.

Thus, Halo Warriors can merge with very few mutant abilities. Any that cause physical transformations are incompatible.

Rotating magnetic fields are such mutant abilities. Halo Warriors have no use for them.

However, being unable to fuse doesn’t mean it can’t be sold.

Ji Xinghuo didn’t know how much the “rotating magnetic fields” were worth as the alien species had never been traded in the market and was intercepted or traded before it got to that stage.

If one had to guess a price, at least fifty million to start!

Even super mutants would be tempted.

However, Ji Xinghuo saw that Min Chongwu genuinely had no schemes for the rotating magnetic fields. This person, though outwardly frivolous, had a solid line of integrity and was fairly straightforward.

At least that was the impression from their current interactions.

“Would you like to know who’d covet ‘your’ rotating magnetic fields?” Min Chongwu emphasized “your” as he spoke, adopting an attitude of one seeking favors.

Ji Xinghuo softly said, “Some Evil Wind Visitor?”

Min Chongwu was taken aback.

The faces of several swordsmen in the cabin changed, no longer underestimating Ji Xinghuo, their expressions showing a touch of wariness.

It was Min Chongwu’s turn to be silent.

But after a few minutes, he couldn’t hold back and asked, “Why would you guess that?”

Ji Xinghuo glanced at the body.

It was quite obvious. He had already found the clue before he shot Ji Zongbang.

Ji Zongbang was hiding under a bridge pier, already seriously injured, with long, thin wounds on his body hit by a toxin that paralyzed nerves, reducing his strength to less than a third of his peak.

The blade that caused these injuries was very thin and the attacks extremely frequent.

Added to that was the nerve toxin.

Anyone with good eyesight could guess that Ji Zongbang most likely encountered an “Evil Wind Visitor.” Their core mutant ability is “air manipulation” combined with the “Green Mamba poison gland.” Their own respiratory system secretes a deadly poison that spreads in the air and is hard to defend against.

Evil Wind Visitor is a very powerful job, but has a terrible reputation, especially among ordinary people, genuinely terrifying.

Min Chongwu suddenly regarded him with new respect.

Several minutes later.

The sky battle plane entered the Qinling Mountains south of Chang’an and descended towards a hidden valley.

Ji Xinghuo’s gaze passed through the porthole, scanning the mountain ridges. In a few seconds, he spotted several camouflaged dense formations and cannons, as well as dozens of bases forming a “superconducting shield array.”

A patch of open ground in the valley cracked open, the gates slid aside revealing a landing platform.

The battle plane landed on the platform.

Boom!

A muffled sound as the wide platform sank into the ground, rapidly descending down a vertical tunnel. After several seconds, the view suddenly cleared.

A vast bright underground space unfolded before them, divided into several floors like the decks of a warship.

“This is just one of the Sword Bureau’s sub-bases.”

“Let’s go down.”

Min Chongwu got up, instructing his subordinate swordsmen to lift Ji Zongbang’s body. As he passed Ji Xinghuo, he suddenly reminded, “Be careful of Yan Xiao. He’s not as easy to talk to as I am.”

Ji Xinghuo felt a chill in his heart.

This “Yan Xiao” must be the Evil Wind Visitor who seriously injured Ji Zongbang. Judging by Min Chongwu’s tone, Yan Xiao held a not insignificant rank in the Sword Bureau, at least equal to Min Chongwu.

And Ji Xinghuo had just snatched Yan Xiao’s spoils.

Surrounded by two swordsmen’s “escort,” Ji Xinghuo left the cabin, turning his head to survey the surroundings. There were a dozen more sky battle planes around, and outside the cabin doors, more mutants in black combat suits sporting the “Sword” insignia were already waiting.

He spotted the lead swordsman immediately.

A tall, thin man clad in an ancient-style cyan robe, his appearance slightly odd, particularly his green vertical-pupil eyes—just one look could make one’s hair stand on end as if targeted by a venomous snake.

Not only his eyes resembled a snake; his skin also hid a layer of blue, scale-like patterns which, if they emerged, would make him appear like a large upright serpent.

These physical traits all indicated his job template.

Evil Wind Visitor!

Many job templates reach a certain level—physical traits begin to manifest, such as the bald heads of Halo Warriors.

And for an Evil Wind Visitor, the vibe is very much that of a venomous snake!

“Min Chongwu, you’re in luck.”

As the Evil Wind Visitor spoke, a chill and sinister air emanated, his speech unclear, each word vibrating with a slight tremor, hissing as if a snake’s tongue flickered in his mouth.

His green eyes fixed on Min Chongwu as he extended a pale palm, “The alien species?”

“What alien species?” Min Chongwu furrowed his brow.

“Ssss…” Yan Xiao sneered, “Your mind isn’t bright at the best of times, and now you’re playing dumb? What’s the use?”

Min Chongwu’s expression darkened, glancing back at his own swordsmen.

He hadn’t reported the alien species yet, but Yan Xiao mentioning it meant someone on his team either reported up the chain or was a spy for Yan Xiao.

“The alien species is none of your business,” Min Chongwu ignored Yan Xiao’s hand, “It belongs to Ji Xinghuo.”

“Who is Ji Xinghuo?”

Yan Xiao’s gaze swept over, finally noticing the outsider, but he looked away after just a glance, disdain in his voice, “A junior ranger killed Ji Zongbang? You believe that? I’ve already checked his file, he became a mutant just three weeks ago.”

“The surveillance will show who the spoils belong to,” Min Chongwu did not want to waste words, “I’ll report to Director Zhou.”

Then, turning to a female swordsman, “Xinfeng, take Ji Xinghuo to the interrogation room to prepare for his statement.”

With that, Min Chongwu left.

Yan Xiao watched Min Chongwu’s back, green light flickering in his eyes, then he too followed with his team.

From start to finish, he never regarded Ji Xinghuo as worth consideration.

“Mr. Ji, please follow me,” the swordsman named Xinfeng led Ji Xinghuo through a long corridor, past several metal gates, into a room that was bare on all sides.

This was the interrogation room.

But at the Sword Bureau, an interrogation room could sometimes also serve as an interrogation chamber.

Xinfeng left after bringing him in, leaving Ji Xinghuo alone to sit at the table. He scanned the room, a camera installed in a corner overhead, one wall being one-way transmissive—he couldn’t see outside, but those behind the wall could see him.

Ji Xinghuo was not panicked, having anticipated this since he was on the way here.

He sat composed, head bowed, eyes closed.

His vision flashed, the interface of the All-Seeing Star Pupil appeared, focusing on 【Spiritual Source Energy】, its value changing from 0 to 137.

Ji Xinghuo thought, “Now I can explore what use spiritual source energy has.”