...…
Shin and Leonard quickly headed back to the place they were currently staying to take a couple of things that they needed for the mission. The two possessed some spatial pouches that could hold at least three cubic meters worth of baggage.
It might not be much, but it was more than enough to hold the necessities for the special mission.
They could not complain about the spatial pouch being too small since such things were still quite rare. Making one would require an expert Mentalist Craftsman at Exalted Realm or at least someone in the Peak of Ruler's Realm who also specialized in spatial techniques.
The two then walked out of the resort and headed over to the place that the military had indicated.
It was a hotel at the center of the Ace City. Shin and Leonard entered the room indicated in the instruction before using their respective techniques to change their appearances.
Shin used the combination of the bone manipulation technique that he learned from Professor Plum and the illusion technique under his Heavenly Black Turtle Method. His body shrunk a little while his face turned into an average-looking man.
After that, he changed into the set of clothes that he had prepared. Before walking out of the bathroom.
When he stepped out, he quickly saw someone who he was unfamiliar with. It was a guy with an average height and stern-looking appearance.
That person was already fixing his clothes in front of the mirror when Shin walked over. He looked closely at the face of the guy before commenting. "Amazing! Even your pupils changed. And your hair color too!"
Leonard, who was currently in disguise rolled his eyes before pointing at Shin's head. "Even you can change the color of your hair as well as your eyes. What is so special about this?"
Shin waved his index finger in front of Leonard. "Ah-ah! There is a difference. Mine is just an illusion technique while yours is basically changing your genetics. They are way different!"
The corner of Leonard's mouth suddenly twitched as he said. "You don't know what kind of torture I suffered just to achieve this basic level of shapeshifting."
"That is just the basic level?" asked Shin, furrowing his brows.
"When you reached the highest mastery of this technique, you can basically change your gender to a certain degree as well as manipulate your age," said Leonard before adding. "My master is at that level, which makes me doubt whether the appearance that I know is his real appearance."
"Even your gender?" asked Shin in disbelief. Mentalism could also achieve such a thing, but that was only limited to outer appearance. Changing one's sexual orientation was a completely different matter.
Leonard knew what Shin was trying to say, so he fell into deep thought before saying. "I am not that sure, but that is what I know. I don't ask Master about it since I feel that it will be weird."
"Right?" muttered Shin before turning around and packing up his belongings and throwing them in the closet. He then proceeded at checking everywhere and made sure to lock the room thoroughly before heading to the balcony of the room.
He looked down before signaling to Leonard. "Let's move. We still have to head over to the main location before starting our investigation."
Leonard quickly followed and looked down before pursing his lips a little. After that, he quickly jumped down without any hesitation, jumping from a balcony one after another like an agile monkey. It did not take long for him to reach the bottom of the building.
Shin smiled bitterly and shook his head before jumping down and following Leonard, mimicking what the latter had done.
Ta-ta!
Right after he reached the group, he walked in a casual manner, treating it as if nothing had happened. He then raised the key in his hand before pressing it.
Tu-tut!
A car in the distance suddenly lighted up, signifying that it was the car that they were looking for. It was a car that was provided to them by the military for this particular mission. And since it was meant for them to be the bait to pull out the opposing side from their hiding place, the car was very lowkey.
It had a very ordinary design that most people could see on the road. Even though the model was very average while its color was black, which would help it blend with the others easily.
Shin and Leonard quickly entered and took the diver and passenger seats respectively. There was a pair of tablets stacked on one another on the passenger seat, which Leonard took before passing one to Shin.
The two turned on their respective tablets and saw the details of the mission on them. They read the information written on the tablets in complete seriousness. They read it at least twice and made sure that they had memorized everything.
Shin turned off the tablet and passed it back to Leonard before fastening his seat belt. Leonard put the tablets on his lap as he did the same.
"Are we heading there immediately? The military have already prepared everything, what we need to do right now is to show up there and act as if we are investigating the disappearance of our seniors," asked Leonard while leaning back on his seat.
Shin knitted his brows deeply before. "This is much more serious than we thought. If the seniors from the elite clubs indeed got abducted by that mysterious group, then our strengths are not supposedly that helpful in this case."
"If not for our special disguising techniques, we are most likely not be considered a choice for the mission," he added.
He paused and tilted his head before shrugging his shoulders. "But since Uncle Nathan is confident about this, I am sure that he has considered everything already."
After that, he started the car and started driving it toward their destination, a city on the outskirts of the Eastern Sea Region.
"Mountain Sea City?" muttered Shin as he looked at the destination indicated on the map.
Leonard, who stayed in the region during his special training, explained. "It is a traditional and primitive city within the Eastern Sea Region. Since it is positioned at the outskirts and pretty far from the rest of the cities, that city is not very advanced compared to the others."
"In fact, most of the people living there are not using any kind of advanced technologies aside from their means of transportation. But even those vehicles are also quite outdated," he added.
Shin raised his brows. "That explains another reason why the military gave us such an outdated car."
He then paused for a moment before continuing. "This also explains why that organization chose that place to be their main base of operation."
"Are there any more things that we have to take note of that place? The natives, in particular," asked Shin further.
Leonard thought for a moment before answering. "There is nothing, really. But if you ask me, then just remember to not ask the people there about directions."
Shin could not help but give Leonard a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the road. "Ask about directions? What about it?"
"As I said that place is pretty primitive. Most of the people believe in superstitious beliefs," said Leonard before adding. "The city is very close to the mountain range behind it, which is where it has gotten its name."
"The people there believe that the mountain range is being protected by an ancient spirit or a god. And the spirit of the dead will climb to the peak of the mountains to ascend to heaven or something."
"The reason why you can't ask any direction from the natives there is that they don't want those spirits to lose their way and wander around the city or anywhere else."
Shin found it rather interesting and asked. "Then what if someone who is not aware of suddenly asked for directions unaware."
"Well, there are only two outcomes for that," Leonard trailed his words a little before continuing. "It is either you are treated with a cold shoulder or asked to head over the mountain range."
"The former is the response that you will get from the people who are living there alone while the latter is what the people who lose their loved ones there – it is to make sure the spirits will head to the right direction," he added.
"Interesting! Is there anything else? We are going to stay there for a few days. It will be better if I know more about their customs and others," asked Shin. "Even though we're acting as bait, we still have to act as normal as possible so that we can look less suspicious."
"It will be better if we can act as if we are returning natives of that place," he added as plans started to formulate inside his head. "We can even use this to identify our opposing camp from the people there."
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