Chapter 49: Time for the Feast

[Fate Point: 259.7.]

[You received a gift from another spacetime, reversing the tragic future where you were trapped and besieged by Abyss Lords.]

[Fate Point +250.]

Lin Xia looked at the rather sarcastic number before him, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Good grief!

Are they not even bothering to put up a facade anymore?

They directly handed him a two-fifty?

"Well, at least this rounds up a quarter of it."

Lin Xia picked up the water cup beside him and took a gentle sip.

He could tell that Fate really loved mocking him through Fate Points.

However, it would be even better if these Fate Points could be doubled, say, directly to two thousand five hundred.

Two hundred and fifty—how could it ever match the sheer mockery of two thousand five hundred?

That would be ten times two-fifty!

Besides, if Fate truly wanted to mock him, two hundred and ninety would have been far more stinging.

"Still, before all that, it is quite necessary to deal with the 12th Squad of the Jiangcheng Law Enforcement Team."

Lin Xia slowly stood up. In the second simulation, he had landed on the federal wanted list because he counter-killed the debt-collection team.

In the end, it was this very 12th Squad that hunted him down.

Perhaps the time was much earlier now, and the members of the 12th Squad might be different, but that germaphobic assassin should still be quite easy to find.

In the third simulation, he had poured all his energy into developing the Red-Heart Legion and had no time to spare for this germaphobic assassin.

A simulation was a simulation, but the present was the present!

He was a petty man!

After being killed once by someone, he was bound to exact revenge.

Furthermore, he now possessed the strength; why wait any longer to retaliate?

Most importantly, taking advantage of this assassination, he also wanted to see what kind of chain reaction wiping out a law enforcement squad would trigger.

And how many Fate Points would he obtain?

After all, the influence the 12th Squad exerted across various industries was far greater than that of the Red Raven Legion and the Dragon Fang Legion.

With that thought, Lin Xia activated a skill from the Thunder's Wrath armor set: Thunder Concealment.

Using the power of thunder, he masked his facial features and his entire aura.

As an epic-tier set, every component of Thunder's Wrath possessed its own unique equipment skills.

After all, even rare-tier equipment had set skills; wouldn't it be completely normal for epic-tier equipment to possess skills unique to themselves?

Epic equipment without skills would be the truly strange thing!

"Hum!"

A surge of thunder energy flickered around him, and in the next instant, Lin Xia's entire aura underwent a earth-shattering transformation.

Following that, a flash of light swept across the Thunder's Wrath boots on his feet.

Boots skill: Thunder Flash!

...

Jiangcheng Federal Law Enforcement Team, 12th Squad Garrison.

Today was a remarkably lively day at the 12th Squad.

Because the son of the 12th Squad's captain had awakened a gold-tier Mage talent.

With such a talent, coupled with the squad captain's cultivation, this boy was expected to enter a top-tier academy in the future!

Once he graduated from a top-tier academy, he would undoubtedly be recruited by major legions, becoming a prominent figure they could only look up to.

Therefore, the 12th Squad's garrison was decorated with lanterns and festoons today, welcoming a multitude of guests.

These guests were all good friends of the 12th Squad across various industries, the most numerous among them being the general managers of various loan sharking and predatory lending agencies.

After all, for these predatory loan companies to survive in Jiangcheng, they all had influential backers standing behind them to varying degrees.

If there was no one backing them within the law enforcement team, to say nothing else, they wouldn't even survive the monthly Grid strikes.

In many matters, having someone behind you versus having no one were two completely different concepts.

Consequently, as these general managers arrived, each of them carried various gifts in their hands—some brought divine bestowal crystals, some rare equipment, and others had prepared exceedingly expensive ornaments.

Deep down, they were well aware of why the squad captain was throwing this celebration banquet for his son; wasn't it precisely to bleed them for money?

Whatever they paid out now was entirely worthwhile.

After all, as long as the 12th Squad turned a blind eye within their jurisdiction, they could dispatch their subordinate debt-collection teams to harvest the souls of those low-tier awakeners who had defaulted on their debts for days.

A soul crystal condensed from the soul of an awakener was quite valuable.

"Such a lively scene!"

Lin Xia looked at the mountain of transcendental resources piled inside the room and chuckled softly.

Then, with a single step forward, arcs of lightning crackled around him.

When he reappeared, he had already arrived at the entrance of the 12th Squad's garrison.

"Those bringing gifts, come to my side first!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "The usual rules: pay your gift money first before coming in to feast."

Lin Xia looked at the middle-aged man who stepped forward and, without any wasted words, directly activated a skill from the Thunder's Wrath helmet: Soul Amplification.

Once this skill was released, it would substantially enhance one's own soul strength.

In essence, this skill originated from the Thunder's Wrath helmet to defend against soul-level attacks from Mages.

After all, the battlefield was extremely perilous; besides elemental skills, a Mage's soul and curse skills were equally impossible to guard against.

Thus, the soul amplification skill attached to the helmet appeared particularly crucial.

As for Lin Xia activating Soul Amplification, his purpose was to raise his own soul strength and directly subject the law enforcement team members to a crushing hypnosis.

"Tell me, who in your 12th Squad has a germ phobia? What are their levels and classes?"

Lin Xia looked at the other party and asked directly.

"Yes... our squad's deputy captain, Liu Chun, a level 16 Assassin, has a germ phobia."

The middle-aged man's eyes were dull and lifeless. "His student, our squad's candidate assassin, level 11 Assassin Ding Ziluo, has also developed a germ phobia under his guidance."

Hearing this, Lin Xia nodded and said, "Are the two of them here right now?"

"Yes."

"Point them out for me."

"Understood."

"..."

The unusual behavior at the garrison entrance failed to attract the attention of anyone else in the 12th Squad.

After all, it never crossed their minds that anyone would dare come to the Federal Law Enforcement Team's doorstep to commit murder.

Wasn't that slapping the Federation in the face in broad daylight?

Meanwhile, standing at the entrance, Lin Xia chatted amiably with the middle-aged man.

During this process, he learned the details of everyone attending the advancement banquet.

Not a single good person was among them.

Harvesting organs on the black market, reaping souls, refining bone marrow, extracting flesh and blood essence—the mastermind bosses of these integrated industrial chains could all be said to be gathered right here.

As for the loan institutions, their level was relatively higher, so only figures like general managers had been sent.

It was no exaggeration to say that every single person attending this celebration banquet today had, at some point, driven ordinary people or low-tier awakeners to financial ruin and utter destruction.

"Since your relationships are so good, why don't you all go down together and have a reunion?"

A warm, spring-like smile hung on Lin Xia's face. "Since you've all come, wouldn't it be rather impolite not to leave something behind before you depart?"

With that thought, lightning surged around Lin Xia.

The next moment, a terrifying barrage of lightning attacks burst forth across the entire 12th Squad garrison.

The devastating assault originating from epic-tier equipment began to ravage this land.

When the Jiangcheng Federal Headquarters received the news and rushed over at the first possible moment, the 12th Squad garrison had long since been reduced to ruins.

"What happened here at the 12th Squad?"

The chief commander surveyed his surroundings, his face so dark and gloomy it seemed water might drip from it.

"Was it a criminal seeking revenge?"

"Or is someone trying to use this incident as an excuse to provoke the Federation!?"

"Investigate!"

"Mobilize everything we can mobilize; we must unearth the truth behind this matter in the shortest time possible!"

Accompanied by the chief commander's roar, every awakener across the various departments of headquarters stood in apprehensive silence, seizing every moment to analyze the residual fragments of useful information left behind.

A moment later, the head of the identification department ran over in small steps.

"Reporting to the chief, through identification and analysis, the terrifying destructive force inflicted on the surrounding area was caused by thunder-attribute magical damage."

"Furthermore, within this region, we detected the residual aura of a B-grade Mage skill: Soul Amplification."

"Based on the incomplete playback imagery from the scene restoration, after this criminal destroyed the surrounding area, his departure was extremely rapid, accompanied by flickering electric arcs."

"From this, we deduce that this individual had prepared teleportation-type or velocity-enhancing items in advance, or mastered thunder-attribute movement skills."

Pausing for a moment, the head of the identification department continued, "Our preliminary assessment identifies this criminal as a Mage of the third transition or higher, wearing elite-tier Mage gear, and specializing in frontal assault as a Thunder Mage."