Chapter 188: Hunting Down The Mercenaries (1)

Lee raised his eyes to the sky and took a moment to think about the condition of the ports.

"The second quake was small compared to the first one. But it had shaken the seabed near the port deeply. As a result, an immense amount of stagnated toxic gases trapped underground for years have been loosened, and have surfaced. Almost half of the marine animals have died from the exposure. The ships showed rapid corrosion within a few hours of the incident.

Now, the ships are all in the docks. Sea is chaotic these days. The deep water beasts have surfaced and a good number of cultivators are doing the subjugation missions. Some experts have announced that the time of chaos has passed, and that there will be no more earthquakes in the future."

Mia was surprised to see how Lee had described times of distress in a few words. Her reaction was normal. As a port city, the Piscerent city had sustained heavy damage. Maritime voyage was a major part of the city's trade relations. The city did not have the luxury of any flying transport. Because ships were cheap and easy for maintenance when compared with aerial transport.

"Then joining the academy is beneficial. Since we have quite some time before the ships are back on water, I suggest joining the academy."

Ruella tried to keep a poker-face, but her intentions gave her away. From the moment she heard about the academy where Mana and Magic are taught, her heart was showing excitement to be there. It has only been a few hours since she had known Hudson, and he started to teach her a few advanced basics. Her mind picturised herself in the academy among a bunch of other students, and practicing magic.

D and Lee spoke through their minds as they saw her concealed excitement. Since she had not been in such an atmosphere, D also supported her suggestion. Lee conveyed the opinion to Gauthama via Telepathy, and he was glad to be supportive.

"She has a point. Also, it will allow all of us to make some new friends."

Gauthama gave his opinion and Ruella was happier than ever. She tried to hold back her joy upon hearing this, but her head moved on its own, and nodded vigorously at his comment.

Without further ado, Lee finalised the meeting, and said that he needed to find that bunch of mercenaries that handed him over to the Moon Water sect. He recollected his memories and counted four Orcs, five Elves, three Goblins and six Beastfolks. Their silhouettes were enough for him to identify their races, but he could only recognise three faces at the most. Imprinting the faces of two elves and one beastfolk, he asked D to commence a widespread facial recognition scan. Though the sovereign replied with the demand of hundreds of thousands of Essence, Lee was fixed on his decision.

D immediately began the process. For each individual around him, the cost was 34 Essence. The cost was justifiable, as it was an exhausting task to correct the Map with accordance to each individual's elevation and direction.

"We are also coming."

Lee looked over his shoulder and saw An, Mia and Tera with their weapons. Their determination was evident from their stance, and Lee did not deny their presence. Nodding in appreciation, 

Within a minute, the scan results of about 1,809,700 people were ready. One of the elves and the only recognisable beastfolk was spotted far north from the inn's position. They were almost 9 kilometers away.

The elves were particularly difficult to find as their facial features attributed by their race resembled each other. But each one of them have their own distinct individual facial flair which Lee was able to identify from that glimpse. The beastfolk was a catman, so he was not difficult to trace, as there are only a handful of them in the city, and they differ from each other in height and colour.

The Foresight was activated, and Lee received a notification that the target's positioning will be available to him when returning to reality. Promptly, Lee tore the space, and exited with Tera, Mia and An. Ruella, a druid, was not durable for prolonged movements at high speed, and also was more suitable with wizardry.

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3 P.M.

32655 Essence harvested.

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The daylight was bright and warm. The twin stars had barely started their descent to hide beyond the horizon. Lee raised his hand and blocked the daylight from falling right onto his face. He moved to the shadows of the building, and the women followed his lead.

The traces of thugs' activities have been erased by someone. Lee took a closer look and saw many footwear prints on the dirt. It did not take him long to deduce that the lackeys of the Typhoon Clan had come here when Lee was in the System Space.

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Targets 9.33 kilometres away.

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The Foresight came up with its visual interface and the sight was colourful. There was a blue arrow pointing upward and Lee raised his head. The arrow pointed towards the roof. Lee understood that the system was giving its suggestion that the roads are troublesome, and taking the roofs are faster.

"Lets climb."

The necessity of Flight was non-existent as his leg strength was more than enough to reach the roof. Hearing his words, the women followed Lee.

Reaching the roof, Lee Shen stood looking in the north direction. The interface was precisely pointing out the target's location from far away.

Turning around, he had a faint smirk on his face.

"Dnekewy told me that you three were undergoing some real training. Show me how good you have become."

Lee took a step backward, and his figure faded like a smoke screen. A gust of wind hit them and they were astonished with his unnatural speed. They could only stand with jaws dropped as Lee was no longer in their visual range.

"We need to catch up."