Without alerting anyone, Bai Zemin activated his Invisibility skill and easily managed to evade the patrols of armed forces and soul evolvers that hovered around the residential area where the core members of the faction lived together with those who had managed to earn a comfortable living by collaborating in a variety of ways with the faction in general.
The stronger ones only felt a light breeze of wind pass beyond them but none of them gave it a second thought nor did they ponder too much on what happened. With the unnatural winds constantly changing their directions, and with gusts that in a moment were blowing at 10 km/h but in the next minute could go up to 80 km/h, it was nothing unusual for such things to happen.
Bai Zemin watched all this with a frown on his face as he disappeared beyond the walls and watchtowers of the base.
"Looks like I'll have to find some method to increase the security of the privileged areas or else an assassin-like soul evolver could easily bring on a disaster." Bai Zemin thought aloud as he exploded with over 600 Agility points, disappearing from his previous position as if he had teleported and appearing over 300 meters away.
As Bai Zemin kept the same constant speed and charged into the distance in search of some distant village, Lilith appeared floating a few meters away above the sky and reminded him: "Little brother, even though your soldiers are not as powerful as you are, they are not as weak as you think. The main problem is that you are comparing them to you. It's the most normal thing in the world that they don't notice you if you don't want to be noticed, on the contrary, you would have to worry about your ability if with all that pure Soul Power and with those skills you have you are discovered by them."
The reason why Bai Zemin had left without drawing anyone's attention and without telling anyone was because he temporarily wanted to keep the matter of the pagoda a secret as this was possibly his most important asset; even more than his own strength from a certain point of view. Only a handful of people had his trust enough to show them the power of the small wooden pagoda, and thus, he temporarily preferred to keep it in the dark until a better opportunity came along.
While Bai Zemin had confidence in his strength, it was not blind confidence. Even if a normal bullet could not kill him, he knew well that a cannonball could really hurt him badly if it hit him because although his external body would definitely come out unscathed his internal organs were another matter. Therefore, better safe than sorry; the power of the small wooden pagoda was definitely enough to make even the most devoted grow greedy.
"I guess you're right…" Bai Zemin nodded and a moment later sighed, "If only I had first-hand technology in my hands everything would be easier. The only things we've managed to acquire were a couple of night vision cameras and even fewer with infrared vision. If I got my hands on X-rays or motion sensors, even the strongest killer-type soul evolver on Earth at present would not be able to elude the detection of such devices unless it possesses a skill that allows it to confuse technological devices."
"Well, what did you expect?" Lilith chuckled and pointed out, "In this district surrounded by forests and relatively low population, you were lucky to find a military camp, moreover, your luck was colossal for having that girl with the surname Wu to show you the way or else your path would definitely have been a lot more challenging than it was."
"… That's true."
Once Bai Zemin and the rest of his troops began to move further into China, more towards the center of Beijing and not as far into the periphery as they were now, the number of military bases would increase and at the same time the quality of weaponry and technology would also improve.
With Wu Yijin by their side, many things would be easier.
"I only hope Wu Yijun manages to convince her family to surrender if they are still alive…. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will be hard…" Bai Zemin frowned sharply as he thought of something he had previously been delaying but now that the road to the south was open and clear needed to be considered.
"Mmmm…" Lilith's thoughtful voice reached him from above.
Bai Zemin did not interrupt her and instead kept running, only stopping when he found traces of roads or human civilization. At this point, it was not an easy task to find a village that had not been already explored by his troops, after all, even those villages or minor towns that were relatively far for normal human troops to venture into had already been explored and turned upside down by the soul evolvers of his faction.
Not to mention that there were other humans and soul evolvers on the loose as well; they also took advantage of the opportunities that came their way so Bai Zemin would not be so arrogant as to assume that everything had been taken over by him. In fact, there were more than a few times when his men returned empty-handed to report that the scouted site had already been looted by someone else.
At that moment, Lilith's voice rang out again.
"Even if Wu Yijun fails at convincing her family, she will definitely be on your side. This will be so even if her heart breaks in pain so you don't need to worry about this…. The problem will be in how you deal with her family. You can't assume that a family that has been in power for so long will give up so easily, can you?"
The Wu Family had been ruling over China and creating rules for many generations, even if the world had changed and the rules created collapsed, it would not be at all easy to make them obey someone else's reign and rules. It was the same as trying to make someone who was a millionaire all their life live in a dusty wooden hut full of bugs; as difficult as climbing to the heavens.
"How are you so sure Wu Yijun will be on my side regardless of her family's choice? We are talking about those who raised her and gave her love all her life, I don't think her infatuation for me is worth that much." Bai Zemin reasoned aloud.
In his eyes, family should definitely be placed first when it came to a crush that hadn't existed until a month or two ago. Father, mother, siblings, grandparents, etc; those who had been there forever would definitely have to take precedence when it came to someone who was practically a stranger.
However, that thought was Bai Zemin's biggest mistake in these cases.
"… Rascal, that Stone Heart skill really doesn't let you see things in depth." Lilith sighed and said softly, "Little brother, when a maiden falls in love for the first time, she will usually find herself willing to do anything to gain her crush's approval. However, this is especially so for that Wu Yijun girl…. In fact, if I'm honest with you, it may be that the feelings of that girl for you are so strong that even I can't comprehend them."
"…"
"You, who is under the constant passive effect of a powerful Third Order skill, will naturally see your family higher than a recent love. But for Wu Yijun, who believed that she would never fall in love in her entire life and only awaited to follow her family's arrangements, your existence became not too different from the ferryman who guides lost souls."
Bai Zemin's eyes flashed with complex light as he continued to zigzag through the giant trees that occasionally appeared in his path.
Wu Yijun was without a doubt an amazing woman, in fact, if it came to affection she was possibly the girl who appreciated him the most at present. Not only was she strikingly beautiful with a charming face and seductive body, but she was also caring, kind, talented, intelligent, hardworking, companionable, self-centered, mature, etc…. She was, without a doubt, a practically perfect woman that the past Bai Zemin could only dream to marry with.
Such a woman had been the dream woman of countless talented young men; young men to whom the Bai Zemin of two and a half months ago could not even compare in terms of appearance or family background. However, regardless of the means used or honeyed words she heard, Wu Yijun's heart always remained firm as an immovable mountain. Such a type of woman was not something a realistic Bai Zemin would even dare to think of as his possible match; the two lived in different worlds and played in opposite leagues.
But… Mysteries are always present and the impossible sometimes becomes reality.
Unfortunately, mind and reason could not make decisions or interfere when it came to matters of the heart. If such a thing were possible, Bai Zemin would perhaps take a chance and start a relationship with Wu Yijun, since logically, she was possibly the woman least likely to betray or hurt him; even Lilith herself had admitted this point.
'Forget it. Let fate take its course.' Bai Zemin refused to continue thinking about this matter temporarily.
He had done what could be done and had even advised Wu Yijun to give up once; more than that was not possible. But Wu Yijun was right about something she had said to Bai Zemin before and that was that fate and future were unknown.
Who knows? Maybe, as hard to believe as it sounded to Bai Zemin, Wu Yijun's efforts would pay off and she managed to get into his heart…. It could be tomorrow, it could be a month from now, a year from now, ten years from now…. Or maybe never.
Only the future and destiny knew the answer.
Now, the biggest problem was what he would do once his faction and the family of Wu Yijun met face to face.Bai Zemin was aware that his goal of wanting to turn all of China into a dynasty where his rule would become absolute rule would definitely touch the nerves of the old government, and in contrast to Wu Yijun, he was not particularly optimistic about the possible outcome of a conversation between the two parties.
Even if he exhibited overwhelming power it might not be enough.
"Lilith, can you tell me where the country's nuclear or satellite bases are? It should be easy for you with your power right?." Bai Zemin suddenly thought of an idea and quickly asked the question at hand.
However, Lilith shook her head and said in a clear voice, "You little scoundrel, I already told you. I can't interfere directly with those things. Giving you information that will sooner or later be discovered by you is not a problem but even then I'm already playing with my luck and a single mistake will cause the Soul Record to dismiss me. But giving you information about nuclear and satellite bases would be no different than a Higher Existence giving to a Lower Existence a divine sword considering that a 500 megaton nuclear bomb has the power to wipe out the life of a Fourth Order existence."
Before Bai Zemin expressed regret, Lilith emphasized, "Any kind of information that interferes with your future interaction with humans too much is forbidden. If you want to find something you'll have to do it yourself or else nothing would make sense."
"What a pity…" Bai Zemin sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
Now that he could charge south without any problems, if Lilith would give him the information about satellite and military bases then Bai Zemin could go take control of such locations around Beijing once he found his loved ones and secured their well being. Unfortunately but understandably, things were not as easy as they could have been.
Even then, Bai Zemin quickly shook off that feeling of disappointment. Lilith had already done so much for him and was helping him too much even now, he could not afford the luxury and daring to be disappointed by the fact that the rules binding her did not allow her to bestow him with a divine sword as she had exemplified.
Just as Bai Zemin was racking his brain thinking about what to do with Wu Yijun's family, Lilith's voice sounded again just above his head.
"While I can't give you the location of any nuclear, satellite, or military bases, I can give you some information that is definitely of interest to you."
"Oh? And what would that be?" he replied without much interest.
However, Lilith's next words chilled his blood.
"One of your future enemies has actually taken control over a nuclear weapons base."
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