Chapter 60: Searching Every Nook and Cranny for the Missing Boss
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The next morning, Fang Ning resisted the pain he felt as he compiled all the heart-wrenching novels in his collection together. After the final preparation task was done, the System immediately set off.
In a moment’s effort, Vigilante A had already arrived at their location yesterday – the riverside of Dasha River.
Fang Ning spoke up then, “Just as I expected, the monster’s escaped…”
Fang Ning caressed his chin, a picture of wisdom, but he was instead thinking that he was actually saved by the bell. There was no need to read heart-wrenching novels for three months straight anymore!
The System’s tone was calm as it ordered, “Find it…”
Fang Ning’s heart dropped, this situation seemed to be escalating, so he carefully suggested, “The Elder of the Bai family is apparently very good at concealing himself. He was waiting to in ambush for us yesterday and there were so many chances for him to land an attack, but I think that he definitely felt like there wasn’t a strong enough guarantee that he could nail us for good. He’s definitely waiting until the late stages of his development, where he can crush us properly. I think it’s better if we go farm some monsters to level up so that when the time comes, we can retaliate properly.”
“Disconnecting the Internet and electricity in 10, 9, 8…”
“Stop! I’ll immediately contact all the heroes I know and we’ll flush this old rat out!”
“Countdown stopped temporarily.”
Fang Ning anxiously typed away on the computer in the System Cyber Café.
Vigilante A’s message went out first, “Hey, is this Feng Niao? I’m offering a reward for the whereabouts of the Bai family’s Elder Ancestor, his death is necessary! The reward is once again two giant rats’ corpses! Perusal of the goods is available!”
Feng Niao answered, “Ah?! You are a brave one, great hero, I admire your courage. I heard that you recently killed his descendants, a family of five, and now you’re after him? From the looks of things, you are aiming to weed them all out. No, no, you’re aiming to eradicate all evil! You really are China’s blessing.”
“Haha, you speak well of me. Please hurry up.”
“Of course, of course. I’m sharing this to websites nationwide as we speak.”
After a brief moment, Feng Niao sent another message, “I apologize, great hero, but nobody’s come forward to claim the reward. A lot have either commented saying they didn’t know, or that they do but didn’t dare share the information.”
“A bunch of cowards! He’s just an old rat that’s escaped my clutches. China’s so big and yet nobody has come forth with any information?”
“They’re having doubts about you, great hero…”
“They’re all blind! I’ll go look for him myself!”
…
Vigilante A spoke, “Brother Qiao?”
To which Qiao Zishan answered, “What brings you, great hero? I’ve passed your letter of challenge, but there doesn’t seem to be any movement from the Bai family’s Elder Ancestor.”
“No, he has made some movements. He knows two people, Gui Er and Gui Qi, who had tried to ambush me under the guise of the night, but I managed to see them through.”
Qiao Zishan was shocked, “They’re from the Association of Spirit Kings! To think they’re plotting together! Did they hurt you, great hero?”
“Of course not, they wouldn’t dare to. But because I left an important weapon at home that night, I couldn’t immediately attack them. When I returned after getting the weapon from my home, they had all left. I’ve been looking for them for half a night, but to no avail.
“As for the pair of calculative b*stards, I accidentally let them slip through my fingers. But I’ll soon give them a taste of not being able to reincarnate.”
Boasting in front of people he knew was second nature to Fang Ning. Nobody could actually expose him anyways, and it was true that Bai family’s Elder Ancestor really hadn’t made a move.
His last statement wasn’t a bluff, though. He had to act like he hadn’t discovered the Elder Ancestor before, which was why he couldn’t do anything. Now that his preparations were complete, going after the Elder Ancestor was no problem.
The pair of anchovies that dared to plot against him should be taught the consequences of meddling in matters they had no say in! They must have thought that Vigilante A would never lay a hand on them since they hadn’t committed evil sins, so they plotted against him. What they didn’t know was that all who threatened the System’s survival were not protected by chivalrous virtue anymore. No matter who it was, complete elimination would be their end!
Hearing this, Qiao Zishan felt fear cloud his head once again. He knew just how ruthless Vigilante A was, which meant that once he had committed to something, he would fulfill that commitment to the end. Vigilante A’s words were always laced with fury, but his heart carried no emotion; however once he’s made a decision, nothing can be done to stop him.
Qiao Zishan then voiced out his worries, “That’s slightly troublesome. Nobody truly knows the exact whereabouts of that old man, and he has multiple identities too. Looking for him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Those two from the Association of Spirit Kings would be easier to locate, however.”
Suddenly, an invitation for a group chat appeared. When Fang Ning and Qiao Zishan both saw that the sender was Qiao Zijiang, they immediately accepted so that they could hear the opinions of the Female Zhuge Liang.
Qiao Zijiang then spoke up, “There’s another way: attacking what he must save.”
Seeing the message made Fang Ning slap a palm against his face, ‘Aiya, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. That stupid System must be giving me too much pressure, which is why I’m so tense all the time nowadays. That must be it. I really need to relax after this whole shenanigan.’
Qiao Zishan spoke after, “What exactly are you referring to? Although his foundation is the massive clan of giant rats, they’re scattered across the nation. Even if the Truth Department were to collectively conduct an operation on them, the damage they would actually suffer would be minimal. The higher-ups originally wanted to recruit the Association of Spirit Kings into helping us face them, but it never occurred to us that they would think of this earlier. They’ve instead went to cooperate with our enemy now. I must report this as soon as possible.”
Qiao Zijiang followed with, “I’ve heard through the grapevine recently that the only son of this Elder Ancestor has also recently descended into our world. However, this son of his is as weak as a baby and extremely kind, worlds different from his father. Apparently before the Elder Ancestor descended into our world, he was hurt terribly and therefore can no longer produce offspring, so he can’t lose this son of his no matter what. If we can find this son, then the Elder Ancestor will have no choice but to appear to save him. Nobody knows who this son is, but I have a guess.”
Vigilante A protested, “You’re taking advantage of someone’s pain by threatening them with their children. That goes against chivalry itself! Even if the Bai family are demons, I won’t allow you to do that! You mentioned that his son is extremely kind, so he’s innocent, which makes things worse.”
Fang Ning had spoken without discussing things with the System first; he knew that the System was chivalrous beyond belief, so it always did things according to chivalrous virtues. Things like eavesdropping, tailing someone, conning the conman, etc. were all small matters that could be overlooked. The System couldn’t even regularly ambush someone, so Fang Ning was clear where the System stood on the morality scale.
Fang Ning himself wasn’t exactly scrupulous to the core, but he wasn’t the type that would take on such a huge risk for a hidden Super Boss. What if it didn’t end well and he had to give up this blessing of a System given to him? He didn’t even want to think of that possibility.
Ever since he was taken over by the System, he’s never had to worry about anything. As long as he used his brain a bit, he had money to spend and time to play his video games and read his novels. In this dangerous era of Vitality Recovery, the System provided him with safety too. Where else would he find something as valuable as this?
Qiao Zijiang of course couldn’t tell Fang Ning’s true thoughts. She herself was thinking, ‘Pedantic! Stupid! Idiot! Dumb*ss!’. She would never say those thoughts out loud, though.
Qiao Zishan’s message carried his awe and respect, however, “You’re so just and open, great hero! Zishan is ashamed! However, I admit I wavered just now. It is undeniable that this Bai family is an extreme threat, if we could eradicate them completely, I would actually consider any kind of method to do so.”
“I could care less about whether or not he was an extreme threat. It would be best if he could appear, but if he didn’t, it doesn’t matter too! Even since ancient times, I’ve always believed that the brave have no fear, the wise have no confusion, and the benevolent have no enemies! I have all three characteristics in my body, so why should I fear this sneaky old rat!”
It’s not like bluffing could be taxed anyway. He wasn’t using his real identity, so Fang Ning really was letting go all his pent-up emotions.
On the other hand, the Qiao siblings were both stunned by Fang Ning’s words!
Qiao Zijiang thought to herself, ‘It really is my first time seeing such an arrogant person. Oh right, Vigilante A’s true body is that of a dragon, so it would make sense for him to be so arrogant, it’s no wonder he can boast so much! However, you must remember that arrogance brings you nowhere, great hero.’
Qiao Zishan was also thinking to himself, ‘Can I retract my compliment from just now? Although this hero is just and open, but he seems to carry no modesty. This boasting of his really does make him pale in comparison to a true great hero.’
Qiao Zijiang spoke up first, “Haha, with someone as brave, wise, and benevolent as you on our side, we really have nothing to fear, great hero. We thank you for providing us with such comfort, but I’m temporarily out of any more ideas.”
Qiao Zishan continued, “I’ll ask my brothers and see if they can find out anything, but I can’t guarantee it.”
Vigilante A’s dismissal was quick, “You both may leave now.”
Fang Ning was done boasting and felt only boredom and emptiness.
Nothing had come to fruition yet, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to read his novels and play his video games for a while. How could you blame him for feeling empty?
…
While Fang Ning searched every nook and cranny to look for the lost Super Boss so that the System could farm it, the Super Boss was giving a spectacular e-learning class in an underground room somewhere.
A frail and stout old man stood at the podium; his left hand held a laser pointer while his right hand gripped a wireless mouse.
The projection screen displayed a PowerPoint. The contents read, “Arrogance brings you nowhere”.
A bunch of students was seated in front of the podium; about 20 of them, which wasn’t a large number, but they were all dressed in suits and seated upright. Unlike normal students, they all carried a pungent air of bloodthirstiness.
Only a single student sat in the back. They were dressed in white and were completely absent of bloodlust. They were using their phones and not paying attention to the PowerPoint at all.
This frail and stout old man was the Bai family’s Elder Ancestor, who was currently hiding out underground. He was calm and collected, however, as if he had no idea that he was being tracked.
The old man flipped to a different PowerPoint slide, this time a video was embedded instead.
As he played the video, he spoke, “This happened a few days ago, where I was face-to-face with one of the strongest people in this world. I believe this will be extremely useful to everyone here.”
Nobody answered in lieu of paying full attention to the video.
The video began with Vigilante A’s silhouette appearing before he stopped to eavesdrop on Gui Er and Gui Qi’s conversation. He then moved towards them where they continued speaking. After he left, the Bai family’s Elder Ancestor appeared from his hiding spot to speak to Gui Er and Gui Qi before he too, left.
