Chapter 249: Chapter 14: This Is a Legal, Reasonable, and Justified Retaliation
CRACKLE! A flash of Thunder Light flared and vanished. The overwhelming Spiritual Power reaction startled the nearby armed forces on alert. The crews of several armed helicopters found their communications jammed by powerful electromagnetic interference. Streetlights and electronic devices closer to Su Zhou fared even worse; their screens flickered erratically as violent sparks erupted from within.
"We’ve been hit by an EMP! Repeat, we’ve been hit by an EMP... What? It’s Professor Su?"
"Increase altitude! Pull back! Don’t get any closer!"
"Dammit. Next joint operation, we’re requesting EMP hardening."
WHIRRRR. With their rotors spinning, the helicopters closest to Su Zhou quickly banked and pulled away, putting distance between themselves and the man who had effectively become a human-shaped EMP bomb. At the same time, vast swathes of the black, thread-like Spiritual Qi that signified the Heart Demon Disease were obliterated by the Thunder Domain surrounding him, as if scrubbed away by an eraser.
"Professor Su, what are you...?"
"Get everyone away from those mutated Hungry Ghost corpses! I’m going to use my Thunder Light to purify these sources!"
The male voice from the earpiece—which apparently didn’t rely on electromagnetic signals—was clearly aware that lightning countered Heart Demon Spiritual Energy. Even so, he hadn’t expected Su Zhou to be this powerful, nor that he could apparently perceive the Heart Demon Spiritual Energy directly.
"Understood. I will have the security forces stand down," it said, its tone laced with unprecedented caution. "Professor Su, be careful not to waste your Spiritual Power. There may still be members of the Spirit Summoning Association lurking nearby. It’s unlikely, but you must be wary of a sneak attack."
"Your value is far greater than you imagine!"
Su Zhou heard the warning but paid it no mind—after all, he wasn’t even using his full Spiritual Power.
Not to mention the terrifying recovery rate his Innate Divine Technique, Celestial Human Cycle, granted him in the current high-concentration environment of the Spiritual Qi Burst.
In the locked-down South Sea City, anxious and worried citizens could all see a cyan sphere of light trailing crackling Thunder Light as it zipped back and forth through every corner of the city... like an eraser wiping away some unseen filth.
Wherever he flew, the air seemed to turn fresh. The once heavy and somewhat gloomy atmosphere returned to the crispness that follows a rainstorm, and even the dust was seared away, turning into tiny sparks.
"What is that thing?!"
"Ball lightning? I mean, I get the concept, but why is it so huge?"
"Wait, there seems to be someone inside... It’s a person!"
"Is that even a person anymore? Whoa, is that the Flash?"
"No, that’s gotta be the Thunder God."
Setting aside the exclamations of onlookers, the citizens living near the sources of the Heart Demon Spiritual Energy experienced it firsthand. The instant Su Zhou flew past, they felt exaggerated effects like their scalps tingling and the hair on their bodies standing on end. Furthermore, any lights and appliances still on in their homes immediately short-circuited, blowing their fuses and cutting the power.
’Sorry about that,’ he thought, ’but compared to getting infected by a Heart Demon and who knows how much effort it would take to cure and expel it... this barely counts as a loss, right?’
In just a few dozen minutes, Su Zhou had already pinpointed and eliminated the vast majority of the most severe sources of Heart Demon Spiritual Energy infection. He even made a special trip to several hospitals housing patients, carefully controlling his power to "enthusiastically" provide corresponding Spiritual Power shock therapy services to those in the quarantine zones at top speed. Everyone smiled so happily that their eyes rolled back in their heads and they started to drool.
Though he might earn some strange titles like "Thunder King" or "Electric Therapist," the ever-helpful Su Zhou didn’t have any extra time to listen to the patients’ gratitude. He had more important things to do.
Meanwhile, in South Sea City, having lost its source, the bizarre Heart Demon Spiritual Energy became like rootless duckweed. It lost the foundation needed to sustain itself in the natural environment and was slowly beginning to dissipate.
"The alien Spiritual Qi concentration is dropping!"
Next to the corpse of a mutated Hungry Ghost, a technician in a hazmat suit holding an instrument that looked like a Geiger counter shouted with delight, "After dropping to a concentration of 10.7%, the Heart Demon Spiritual Energy has begun to break down on its own! It no longer has the ability to spread and infect others!"
At the same time, the voice came through Su Zhou’s earpiece again.
"A highly effective treatment, Professor Su. Your Purification method is exceptionally effective. The other southern coastal cities have also stabilized now."
The male voice continued, "Casualties and infection numbers have been reduced to a minimum, all thanks to your efforts."
"Can I ask who you are?" Even though the voice in his earpiece remained as calm and toneless as ever, Su Zhou still enjoyed the compliment. However, he pressed on, "Is there anything else that needs to be done in the city?"
"I am a part of the twenty-second generation ’Artifice Sage.’ I am Intelligent Exchange Platform Number Five, a communication port designated solely for intelligence exchange with you."
The male voice remained calm; the Artifice Sage’s tone was always this crisp and efficient. "Next, there will be an official press conference in South Sea City. The general content will be to condemn the atrocities of the Spirit Summoning Association, announce a global kill-on-sight order for them, and declare that the South Sea region is stable."
"The Central Committee believes that you are the most suitable person to host this press conference."
The underlying meaning of these words was glaringly obvious. The Zhengguo Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee intended to take advantage of this crisis and Su Zhou’s performance to elevate him directly, making him the ’banner’ for a new generation.
And whether it was his power, his character, or the calmness and crisis-management skills he had displayed during this sudden chaos, Su Zhou was without a doubt worthy of the title.
"No." Su Zhou refused decisively. "I’m not going."
At that moment, Su Zhou was standing in a hotel. Before him lay the corpse of a woman who had turned into a Hungry Ghost. Beside it was the body of a man, his chest and abdomen gnawed hollow.
Blood soaked the hallway carpet where two lives had been lost. Su Zhou stared at the two corpses before him. He could see faint, misty streams of light rising from them, flying toward the far side of a distant sea.
Across the entire city, and indeed the entire southern coast, similar streams of light were rising from the hundreds upon thousands of Hungry Ghost corpses, as if drawn by some unseen force toward that distant shore.
’See? I knew choosing my eyes as the second Spiritual Power Organ for Enhancement was a good idea,’ he thought.
With that thought in mind, Su Zhou spoke seriously to the Artifice Sage on the other end of the line, who seemed to be waiting for his reasoning. "I think I can find those Spirit Summoning Association bastards."
"So, until I’ve taken them out, I’m not doing anything else."
For some reason, an image surfaced in Su Zhou’s mind: the yacht he had seen on the beach a few days ago, and the two secretive Awakeners on board.
’Is there a connection?’ He didn’t know, but Su Zhou was certain of one thing: on the other side of the sea, the Spirit Summoning Association must have an Orbit Array to collect the Evil Demon Factor. That was the ultimate goal of their operation.
BOOM! Transforming into Thunder Light once more, Su Zhou rode the Gale, bursting straight through the window and soaring into the sky!
The forty-four Gale Seeds all over his body commanded nearly forty-four tons of wind force, propelling his mere 130-kilogram frame through the air in a long arc. In less than ten seconds, Su Zhou had plunged deep into the dark rain clouds, following the misty streams of light as he sped into the distance.
"Professor Su? Are you serious?"
"I can see them. Don’t worry. I’ll send you the coordinates when I find them."
Su Zhou’s reply was simple, with no wasted words. This time, however, at the thought of finally finding the masterminds behind all this, his tone was tinged with a bloodthirsty viciousness. "Can I kill them?"
"..." On the other end of the line, the Artifice Sage was thinking.
Theoretically, they should be taken alive to be interrogated for useful information, maximizing the benefits. But everyone knew that was just a theory. The members and Leader of a large, multinational Mysterious Organization would always have ways to avoid leaking secrets. And no one could guarantee that Su Zhou would be able to hold back against such an enemy.
Besides, it could sense Su Zhou’s mood and guess what he was thinking.
"You may," the Artifice Sage therefore replied. "In the name of the Zhengguo Thirty-Six Saints Committee, the South Sea Fleet will coordinate with your operation."
"This is a legal, justified, and reasonable armed retaliation."
"Well, that’s just fantastic."
Laughing loudly as he crisscrossed through the rain clouds, trailing bursts of Thunder Light, Su Zhou lowered his head and locked onto the converging streams of light. The light of a burning fire glinted in his eyes.
"They’re as good as dead."
