“But Sir, the evidence speaks for itself! Why are you letting this high ranking gangster be resurrected! Do you know how many crimes he has committed? We should thank that little kid for stopping him, but no! You even wanted to incarcerate him longer if not for the higher management. With all due respect, I have to ask you. Are you in cahoots with Ruby Rat? Why are you doing this?!” Inspector Lee An slammed the desk of his District Police Captain, Mao Pai Huo and demanded answers.
“ENOUGH! You should know where you stand Inspector Lee! Get out or suffer the consequences yourself! Do not expect me to protect you in the future!” Pai Huo did not reply any of his questions but shouted at Lee An instead.
“I have no regrets. You have never protected any of us before.” Lee An turned his back as he bluntly replied to Pai Huo and slammed his office door on his way out, only to watch a small entourage of black suits walking towards his District Captain’s office as he passed through the corridor.
Lee An then caught a glimpse of Wo De Tian, the Ruby Rat Triad Leader himself, blatantly walking into the police station. De Tian caught Lee An’s controlled expression and smirked at him before the black suits of his opened the door to the District Captain office for him and he entered.
The District Police Captain himself stood up and closed the blinds in his office and locked the door. “Mr Wo, I believe this isn’t the best time for you to come in. Especially when your group is in the midst of an investigation.” Pai Huo sat down as he advised De Tian, who did not give a single shit, as he placed his legs on Pai Huo’s table. It looked like De Tian was the one in control, not Pai Huo in this particular office and the latter could not say a single thing.
“Why is that kid not in your custody?” De Tian lit a cigar in the office and blew it at Pai Huo’s face.
“The Royal Zodiac Tiger and the Tiangong District Guardian pulled favours from the higher management. It was not within my control.” Pai Huo was not intimidated by De Tian but neither did he stop De Tian’s behaviour.
“Tsk, the Tigers.” De Tian was obviously furious, but he could not do anything since it was beyond his sphere of influence. He maybe the head of the Triad, but only a Royal Zodiac could deal with another Royal Zodiac. De Tian would need to report it to his own superiors if he wanted to override the Tiger’s favours but this will indicate weakness on his side and he would never do that.
“So? Where’s Ong now? Have you resurrected him yet?” De Tian changing the topic, and Pai Huo sighed before he got up.
“Follow me.” Pai Huo instructed as he opened the door and the rest of the entourage followed him to the bas.e.m.e.nt of the police station where one of the resurrection ritual stations was being maintained. The other police officers saw the entourage going to the bas.e.m.e.nt and focused on their own work, knowing that going against them was courting death. Hence they restrained themselves just to save their own skins.
“Sir, as per request, it arrived not too long ago.” A senior police technician showed Captain Pai Huo the Dantian core that was retrieved by the Criminal Forensic Labs and their Clean-Up Crew. Pai Huo then asked the Ruby Rat Triad Leader to confirm the existence.
De Tian casually observed the Dantian Core by inserting some chi into it and felt the familiar aura of his gangster Ong oozing out of the Dantian core. “No mistake, the aura is without a doubt his. Proceed with the resurrection then.” De Tian commanded by Pai Huo refused to do so immediately.
“Pay the bail and the resurrection fee first, before I allow him to be resurrected.” Pai Huo demanded, and it was done with a cleary authoritative tone.
“Huh? Did I hear wrongly?” De Tian looked at Pai Huo once more, and this time De Tian unleashed his chi presence to everyone at the bas.e.m.e.nt. Suddenly, every police officer, not just the bas.e.m.e.nt but the whole police station felt a dull black aura that was extremely heavy. Even inspector Lee who was at the third floor of the police station experienced a choking sensation. Strangely, Inspector Lee and Inspector Xue Ping were handling it better than the rest of the police inspectors and officers, who soon fell to the ground trembling, with some even showing signs of having fits. The training in the instances from Jin’s dungeons had paid off, allowing them to resist strong, intense auras better.
The only one who was able to withstand the intense aura was Pai Huo himself which made De Tian smirk and stop releasing his aura. “Is that all you’ve got?” Pai Huo dared to ask, even though he knew that his supposed self confidence was only a facade. His legs were about to give way if he moved an inch in any direction. Had De Tian not stopped the emission of his intense black aura, he might have lost control of his body.
Separately, the rest of the policemen in the police station were panicking, trying to aid those who could not handle the intense aura. Some had to perform emergency CPR due to sudden cardiac arrest, others vomited horribly, and many were unable to maintain their balance. Inspector Xue Ping and Lee An now understood the meaning of that aura emission. It was to give a clear message to the police here not to f.u.c.k with the Ruby Rat.
“Very good. At the very least you are still capable of acting as a police captain.” De Tian looked backwards, and with an upward nod, one of the black suits came forward and threw three suitcases in front of him.
“I hate to do the paperwork. Keep the change and go resurrect Ong.” De Tian ordered as he looked for a place to sit outside the Resurrection Ritual Department and started to browse his phone.
“Then what about the rest of your Ruby Rats?” Pai Huo inquired as he followed him out.
“Let their Dantian core rot in the burning cauldrons of ‘Justice’ for being so incompetent. Hahahaha!” De Tian answered as he waved his hand to signal Police Captain Pai Huo to start doing his job.
“Sir…” The senior police technician trembled as Pai Huo went back into the Resurrection Ritual department.
“I understand. You do not wish to give in to this kind of evil, but this world is bigger than we are. Concentrate on doing your job, and you will live another day.” Pai Huo understood the technician’s helplessness. He too conceded to the frustration of Inspector Lee who had been earnestly fighting crime.
“But Sir!” The senior police technician tried to voice his opinion but later realised it was useless. Pai Huo also sighed at his inability to do anything much, but then an idea struck him.
“Lee, while I cannot stop the resurrection but there is something we can do as workers of Justice.” Pai Huo thought to himself as he gave a set of instructions to the senior police technician.
“Sir, you sure? I mean he paid for the full resurrection. If you mangle the settings of the ritual, it might screw up the resurrection process… and Chief is on leave.” The technician swallowed his saliva.
“That is the only way we can keep tabs on them if necessary. This is an order. I shall take full responsibility if anything happens.” Pai Huo instructed.
“We will get it done.” The senior technician called his other team members, and they started cracking on initialising the Resurrection Ritual station.
A ritual circle would be automatically drawn by the Resurrection Ritual station as technology had come to the point where its precision was unmatched. And precision was needed because the ritual must not go wrong at all cost or else the dantian core might break.
In order to prevent the dantian core from breaking while preserving its integrity and recreating the human body at the same time, top quality grade precious metals, herbs and meat were used to substitute the regrowth of a human body.
The reason to preserve the dantian core was also because memories of the mind were sealed within it as well as the overall structure of the person being resurrected. Despite the use of substitute materials, the dantian core will also transmute those materials into human flesh and bone.
Like a data backup server, the dantian core can only update once every 24 hours, anything that happened within the past 24 hours before the victim died would be considered null. That memory of the dantian core included the condition of the person. Assuming the person is all healthy but fell into a dangerous situation that caused them to lose their lives, as long as 24 hours ago the person was still in tip top condition, they could still be resurrected.
Inspired by this rule, the Royal Zodiac Rat and Snake managed to create a poison that worked precisely at 24 hours and 1 minute later to cause the death of the Yakuza Bosses. How those two clans managed to make it work with that precision or built it was another story.
Aside from that, the dantian core would not break in any circ.u.mstances unless it was exposed to the resurrection ritual. They even tried using a nuclear bomb as a test, and the dantian core survived the blast. Until the death of Yun, the dantian cores were known to be indestructible. Only then did the government and police learn that there was a method to destroy it after all.
However, resurrection has always been a stringent procedure, since its inception. If the core ever disintegrated during the ritual process, the memory of the person would be impaired, or it will affect the condition of the body.
That was why it required top quality precious metals to preserve the dantian core while the herbs and meat are used to grow the body back. In the meantime, a massive amount of electricity would be converted as a substitute for magical/chi energy to keep the ritual going. Back in the days when there were no such resurrection ritual stations, many cultivators nearly lost their lives or had their cultivation crippled while performing the resurrection process.
Also, this was not meant to say that partial resurrection was not possible. There were black market resurrection rituals boasting low prices, but the results of the resurrected would result in either severe memory impairment, crippled body or loss in cultivation.
Despite the delicate procedure in recreating Ong’s body, the senior police technician inserted an additional catalyst as requested by Pai Huo. An inscribed listening crystal which was produced on the spot by the other police technicians who made sure that the dimensions and properties were right before placing it along with Ong’s regrowth.
Pai Huo saw that the crystal was safely infused into the body and the entire Resurrection Ritual department managed to keep the numbers of the Ritual station within its parameters, and Ong was recreated, even with the rat tattoos intact.
Once the ritual was completed, the floating Ong shook his head a bit before sitting up from the couch he was being recreated from.
“Where am I….? Where is this…?” Ong asked as his head was all fuzzy before he suddenly felt his hands were pulled back behind him and handcuffed.
“You are under arrest, Ong for the possession of drugs and other illegal substances.” Pai Huo personally cuffed him and the other police technicians assisted in carrying the confused newly resurrected Ong to a temporary holding cell.
“What are you doing?!” De Tian was shocked when he saw Pai Huo bringing Ong away.
“You said you hate to do the paperwork. The police department will do the paperwork for you. But you have to wait till we are done. Only then, will we be able to release him.” Pai Huo explained as he pushed Ong forward.
“You!” De Tian got up mad, but he held back his fury.
“Don’t ‘you’ me. We are after all still the police.” Pai Huo for once managed to look down at De Tian and returned to his office while calling Inspector Xue Ping and Lee An in.
“Sir?” Both of them heard some rumours of the commotion as they went into Pai Huo’s office. De Tian apparently left in a frenzy. His wrath visibly showing on his face without Ong.
“You two are very interested in helping that Dungeon Supplier kid, right? Against that Ruby Rat Asshat, he is going to need every help he can get! I can only buy you that much time to interrogate that criminal. While the paperwork is being done in accordance with our protocols. Go.” Pai Huo gave his orders.
Both Xue Ping and Lee An could not help but gain a bit more respect for their captain and saluted right in front of him. “Sir, Yes Sir!”
“Oh and before you two leave. There was some erm money lying around the bas.e.m.e.nt when De Tian paid his bills. Take that money and do something good for the police station. I won’t say no to extra budget for equipment and training.” Pai Huo smirked as he continued to do his paperwork.
“I will not let this kind of sc.u.m control me.”
