Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 656 - 526: Paranoia

The supreme presence appeared for just a moment, lasting less than two seconds.

After that, there was nothing more. Qu Jianlei waited for another five minutes, not daring to linger any longer.

Waiting too long could cause trouble when daylight breaks.

He struck the man again with his palm, ensuring that the person wouldn't wake for the next two hours, put down the identity token, closed the car door, and left.

For someone so brutish and unreasonable to provoke him, he didn't mind killing and robbing.

However, considering the opponent's wood attribute, he decided to spare him. As for being exposed? That didn't matter.

After getting out of the car, he hesitated for a moment about whether to pass by the vicinity of the supreme presence.

In the end, he opted for caution: not revealing any information all night, and only causing a stir when dawn breaks?

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like a trap, and others had warned him many times about the traps here.

Doing something knowingly wrong was unwise, so he waited for a bit before turning around and leaving.

It was later that he realized it wasn't a trap; the opponents had figured out a pattern that Panda's group rarely caused trouble during the day.

So, the waiting supreme presence let his guard down when dawn broke, a small oversight.

Qu Jianlei didn't even rob the luxury car; he could only choose to jog, pretending to be doing a morning workout.

While passing by a training ground outside the Fourth War Zone, he noticed squads of soldiers running as well.

It's natural for soldiers to train their bodies, and exercising outdoors instead of inside a training room is also normal; after all, closed spaces and open air are different.

But such a large training ground, and still, some soldiers ran outside onto the streets—was that necessary?

He was puzzled, but his expression didn't betray it, as he silently focused on running.

Soon after, he noticed a familiar face... Do I even know any female soldiers?

Thinking briefly, a name surfaced from the depths of his memory: Light Attribute Awakened Koplin!

But wasn't she part of the Third War Zone exchange group? Why hadn't she left yet?

Then... should there also be a Spiritual Attribute Awakened named Conwell?

Kidnap this woman? Qu Jianlei's eyes shifted; she hadn't offended him, but the Third War Zone had greatly provoked him.

However, by her side, there was a unit of over a hundred soldiers, including Conwell, and there were other squads running in front and behind.

Even if successful, one would need to escape first.

He really wanted to divert the opponent's attention, but kidnapping near a military training ground was too provocative.

He needed a solution that would satisfy both sides, so he pondered carefully while running further away...

Two hours later, a luxury car owner was woken up, looking bewildered, "What time is it?"

This unusual news quickly caught the attention of the Fourth War Zone.

They immediately realized that Panda's group had come, likely that Electromagnetic A-level.

Few people excel at transformation techniques; this individual was clearly watching stealthily, seeking an opportunity.

As for why they didn't kill to silence... luxury car control systems are difficult to handle.

The key is, the victim was a wood attribute... Panda's organization couldn't afford to offend the wood attribute anymore.

But not killing to silence implies being exposed as a stalker?

The reason behind this is complex, seemingly unrelated to benevolence—it could be that they're not afraid of the military finding out?

More likely, the opponent assumed the luxury car owner wouldn't make a fuss after waking since nothing was stolen.

If there was any fuss, consequences would have to be considered. The first encounter didn't result in killing; the next might not spare them.

Regardless, according to surveillance, the person entered a blind spot at night and didn't leave until dawn.

"Perhaps it's a show of strength?" someone cautiously speculated, "Telling us they're determined to eliminate Fahim?"

This possibility wasn't small; displaying the courage to chase down a supreme presence would intimidate anyone.

However, others had different opinions, "If it's a show of strength, does being so secretive work?"

"If it was us discovering him instead of him waking up on his own, wouldn't that be a waste?"

Some also suggested, "Could be that they're too arrogant to care about our discovery."

"Yes, if they're bold enough to chase down a supreme presence, what would they care for? Gathering intel is just to minimize losses."

This speculation garnered unanimous agreement. The new question was: Should the ambush continue?

For the traditionally tough military, the answer was yes—quietly reinforce with some experts, equipment, and heavy weaponry.

The focus of the debate was: To better bait them, should the life support pod's location be leaked?

Among those involved in the ambush, few knew the exact location of the life support pod.

Even fewer knew if Fahim was in the pod.

While discussing plans, the luxury car owner was temporarily detained.

This person had a notoriously bad temper, shouting about planning to sue them—arbitrarily detaining superpower warriors, was that allowed?

Finally, the military had no choice but to sternly inform him: Do you know who you provoked yesterday?

In their hands, there's a poison targeting you Wood Attribute Awakened ones!

It's quite lucky you survived yesterday, now detaining you temporarily is also for your protection!

Believe it or not, if we let you out now, you'll be silenced immediately?

This statement seems unreasonable; if they could silence you, why not do it earlier, and instead do it afterwards?

But for the person involved, it won't be thought of this way, the reason is three words: what if? 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Theoretically, the chances of silencing aren't great, but when it concerns one's life, no one dares to take risks easily.

The car owner indeed stopped fussing, hearing that those people he offended were formidable, cold sweat came down.

Yet he still grudgingly expressed, "Don't tell me those things, who knows if you want to use me as bait?"

These disputes won't be raised again; soon, new situations were discovered from the path Qu Jianlei took when leaving.

"This guy actually left running, even passed through our training ground...What is he trying to do?"

"Fourth War Zone also retained a batch of warriors for exchange...Would he act against warriors from other war zones?"

"If he hasn't completely lost it, this possibility isn't very high."

"But there are still warriors from Third War Zone, Panda's relationship with them is unusually bad, he was once restricted from leaving the country!"

"Then could we use warriors from Third War Zone as bait, to lure out those people?"

"This is a terrible suggestion beyond terrible, using whom as bait... Koplin or Conwell?"

As long as these two advance to B-level, their importance will exceed that of ordinary A-levels.

"Anyway, reinforcing protection for these two is really necessary; if something happens, Third War Zone will go crazy."

"We must have Third War Zone send people; now our manpower is already struggling."

Enemies lurk in the dark, our side's protective forces must cover more key areas; though Fourth War Zone has many people, capable ones are limited.

Qu Jianlei didn't know how much impact he caused to the other side after leaving.

In a safe place, he began to ponder carefully on how to get Koplin and Conwell in his grasp.

He wasn't considering kidnapping hostages or anything; that wouldn't work in Imperial society.

As long as he does something targeting these two, distracting the military's attention again, it would be easier to move against Fahim.

The gunfights of the past few days were mere fringes; eliminating that half-dead Supreme is the main focus.

Yet, Qu Jianlei thought for a long time but couldn't figure out a way to act against these two.

Xiao Hu invaded the control center of the Fourth War Zone, obtaining travel trajectories of the two through tracking.

Regrettably, these two basically don't leave the war zone.

The Fourth War Zone is large enough, everything is within; as military's prized trainees, there's no need for them to venture out.

However, at noon, Xiao Hu provided a piece of information.

In the Customs Enforcement Team, a guy named Elvin is also a lookout for Star Thieves.

This person is a Gold Attribute C-level, previously known as Basam; he was a captain of a cargo ship, registered on Star of Hope.

His connection with Star Thieves was formed during the cargo transportation process.

Later, Four-Star's Customs Enforcement Division recruited Superpower Warriors; Basam succeeded in applying due to his rich interstellar navigation experience, renamed Elvin.

Changing names for Imperial people isn't hard; the challenge is erasing past information after the name change.

Customs Enforcement Division members are exceptions, as the risks of smuggling enforcement are high, and some smugglers are extremely vicious.

Therefore, after Basam changed his name, his previous information was shielded, only those with high clearance could access it.

Because of this, initially Qu Jianlei didn't notice this person at all.

In fact, although he possessed lots of intelligence on Star Thief spies, he hadn't gone around arresting them.

Star Thieves are indeed reprehensible, but Qu Jianlei's own life hasn't stabilized, where's the energy for meddling?

Striking against Star Thieves was originally not his duty either.

This time, he extracted an intelligent terminal from the Customs Enforcement Division, containing lots of information.

Besides records of starship entries and enforcement inspections, there were also basic details of enforcement team members.

Xiao Hu compared with the Star Thief list obtained from the Garden Department, finally confirming this guy is indeed Basam.

However, to Qu Jianlei, this information was somewhat insignificant.

Basam was a Star Thief insider previously, whether he still maintains contact after joining Customs Enforcement Division, Qu Jianlei lacks evidence.

But Xiao Hu is disdainful of this, "Once a Star Thief, always a Star Thief, no need for evidence!"

"You've learned to be unreasonable," Qu Jianlei laughed and shook his head, "For a mere C-level, it's really a bit..."

The next moment, his brows furrow slightly, "But this matter, I can ask someone about."

He almost forgot, the forces he's involved with extend beyond these current ones.

Wondering if the renamed professor's Fourth Master is informed about these matters?