Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 65 - 64: Besieged City

Just a day later, Chen Xuan received a shipping notice from Walter’s arms company — the other party had packed all the guns into a truck as requested and parked it in a nearby park. They also scanned and sent over a property gift contract; the house was right next to the park, a dilapidated little villa that was uninhabited.

Walter specifically mentioned this issue, feeling that it was a bit degrading to give away such a shabby house; he could have prepared a better gift, like a luxurious apartment in the city center or a fully equipped deluxe villa.

But Chen Xuan declined them all.

He didn’t want a settlement; he was looking for a suitable location for a branch to transfer the goods.

Moreover, the branch was not fixed and could be moved. If there were multiple properties, he could open one here for a month and then switch to another the next month, with the only downside being the substantial costs incurred with each move.

After scanning the gift contract into the app, the option for ’branch’ lit up.

Chen Xuan pressed confirm, feeling a slight shake throughout the shop.

He then noticed an elevator door appeared on the side wall of the bar counter.

Not hiding it anymore, are we!

This elevator door wasn’t cold metal but rather an elegantly styled wooden panel, surrounded by a doorframe intricately carved with incomprehensible, yet artistic, patterns.

The doorframe had no buttons, just a wooden pull ring.

He gave a slight pull, and the door slid open.

Inside was exceptionally spacious, at least thirty square meters, enough to be a bedroom. Once the door closed, Chen Xuan saw a line of hand-carved words appear on the wooden panel to his right.

He found this place to be haphazardly constructed, yet meticulous in certain areas.

Pressing the characters "branch," a jingling sound came from above, and within less than a second, the door opened again.

Although it was the same bar counter and coffee machine, Chen Xuan knew he was no longer in Celestial Ridge District.

The new shop still had a faint smell of dust, as if it had just awakened from a long slumber.

The layout of the branch had distinct differences from the community shop, such as a smaller selection area and differently arranged display cabinets. However, it was equipped with all the main store’s facilities, though all the shelves were empty and needed him to restock them.

Standing by the window, Chen Xuan glanced around and noticed five container trucks parked in the nearby park lot.

In the interest of safety, he didn’t even step out of the door.

Returning the same way to the main store, Chen Xuan summoned a villager from Hot Pepper Village and explained the moving requirements. Soon, he led twenty partners from the village’s fishing and planting departments to the parking lot to start the busy transport operations. Meanwhile, Chen Xuan stayed inside the branch, watching the movements in the park.

...

Walter Vis stood on the rooftop of a hotel by the park, observing the situation with binoculars.

He was genuinely curious about why the other party insisted on buying a small house near the delivery location, while the delivery location itself didn’t need to be specified, as long as it was fairly secluded.

One must know that this place is a long way from the port, train station, and airport, seemingly rendering any method of transporting such a large amount of firearms out of the city useless.

Use them within the city?

Walter himself found the thought ridiculous; if the Dimensional Limit Mechanism dared to do that, they’d be public enemy number one by the next day.

Then he saw a group of "movers" emerge from the house.

They were wearing very... simple clothing, efficiently and quietly opening the unlocked truck doors and moving everything they could inside the house. The whole process was professional and silent, lasting from 4 PM straight into the night.

Once the moving was done, the house fell silent.

It’s impossible that Walter didn’t want to see what was going on, but considering that showing up rashly could disrupt the trade etiquette, he hesitated back and forth and finally decided to have his butler disguise as a tramp to sneak a glance at the old house.

Old butler George soon brought back astonishing news.

"Sir... There’s nothing in the house!"

"What do you mean nothing?"

"I saw no boxes, nor people. The house was empty, just like when it was purchased."

"Hahaha..." Walter couldn’t help laughing.

No wonder it’s the Dimensional Limit Mechanism; they exude magic everywhere!

When he purchased the house, he’d taken a look, and the previous owner hadn’t left a single piece of furniture. Besides dust and trash, there was nothing else inside, and the house had no basement. To think that five truckloads of goods could fit inside was absurd; it would have stuffed all the rooms to the brim.

Yet, the mechanism somehow made 3,000 guns and ammunition vanish into thin air in broad daylight!

No wonder top executives from major companies are wary of the mechanism; with methods like that, even though they might not overthrow the world, they could certainly disrupt it.

Walter’s awe for the mechanism increased yet again.

Fortunately, they seem to be a rather lawful group right now.

"Alright, let’s head back." He told the butler, "George, this matter stays between us; no one else should know... From today, we are part of this circle."

...

...

Chen Xuan and Lin Qing met Liu Shuyue again at the Liu Family Mansion.

It was clear she was a bit exhausted, but her spirits were decent.

However, Chen Xuan noticed a layer of unremoved white frost beneath her right ear and a fine cut.

"You got hurt?"

"You mean this?" she wiped her neck, "I was a bit careless, but it’s nothing serious."

Chen Xuan was aware of the healing properties of Blood Orange; for any marks to remain after application meant the injury was far more severe than she let on.

If the cut was any deeper, it might have directly endangered her carotid artery and spine.

"Did a powerful cultivator show up on the other side?"

"Not really." Liu Shuyue smiled, "It was just a rare move, my first time encountering it. I guess that person was an Evil Cultivator, using the Demon Fiend’s spell, but fortunately, he is dead now."

She then gave a brief recount of the events over the last five days.

On the day following her arrival at the Liu Family, she led the Hunting Team in a raid on the garrison outside the city. The preemptive strike was highly effective, catching the enemy off guard and forcing them to retreat over a hundred miles after losing most of their leaders.

The success of this ambush greatly raised the vigilance of the subsequent reinforcements. Not only did they set up mobile sentries, but even the Loose Cultivators began advancing to scout.

Judging by the flags raised at the camp, it seemed like the Vanguard Army from Bai State, Cangzhou, and the Royal City have gathered here. It could be said that the forces from the three regions bordering Yunzhou had already been deployed, with the total troop strength estimated to exceed 25,000.

King of Qi is really willing to go all out, Chen Xuan thought silently.

The neighboring countries are already amassing troops at the border, poised to invade Great Qi at any moment, yet he can still divert forces from the Three States to deal with Liu Shuyue. In a way, that’s quite impressive.

Of course, he understood why they would take such actions. Sister Lan Qin had already trained a special Cultivator unit for the Luo Kingdom, while they had to rely on recruiting Loose Cultivators here, which could easily make them anxious. If a real conflict broke out and disciples of the Lotus Cloud Sect joined the battle, Qi Kingdom’s chances of victory seemed slim.

Now, they could only continue to increase the pressure, forcing Liu Shuyue to turn back.

If there were radio waves in this world, it’s likely it would be filled with broadcasts denouncing Liu Shuyue as a treacherous traitor.

The troop reinforcement undoubtedly had an effect, especially with the increase of crossbowmen and heavily armored cavalry, putting enormous pressure on the Hunting Team’s ability to launch attacks. They have now been thoroughly suppressed within the city, losing the initiative in the conflict.

Moreover, there are more and more Loose Cultivators coming here to take a share of the spoils.

These Cultivators, boasting some degree of capability, often pass through Jiufeng City to raid the Liu Family. Just today alone, over a hundred Loose Cultivators appeared, and after several skirmishes, the Hunting Team suffered casualties as well.