212: Chapter 212 Dream

Earth, Star City.

A certain residential complex by the Qiujian River, just as dawn was breaking.

Four inconspicuous vans pulled up one after another in front of a storefront outside the complex. A group of people quickly got out and entered a certain shop.

These people looked like renovation workers, carrying various tools with them.

However, upon entering the shop, they immediately took out firearms from their bags and began assembling and checking them.

When an elderly man wearing sunglasses entered the room, everyone stood straight and bowed to him.

"Boss!"

The old man nodded. "Is the surveillance done? Are you sure he's there?"

A man with slicked-back hair hurried forward. "The target is in the building directly behind us, Unit 2, 101. Five days ago, he went to a nearby supermarket to buy daily necessities, and he hasn't left the house since."

"Tang Long is the number one Dark Walker, not some small fry. You'd better be careful."

"My four teams have been keeping watch in shifts. One of the thermal scopes can still see him now; there's no mistake. However..."

"However what?"

"Boss, he's been sleeping since the night before last and hasn't gotten up yet."

"Such a thing happened?"

"We find it strange too. Perhaps he drank too much before, or maybe he took a shot and we didn't see it."

The old man thought for a moment. "Something's wrong! He never drinks excessively, nor does he do drugs. The person in the room might have been swapped."

The subordinates looked at each other. "Boss, that shouldn't be possible, right? No one has entered or left his residence."

"Stupid! If you could see him, would he still be the world's leading Dark Walker?"

"Then... what do we do now? Is the operation still on? I've already had a group of brothers start a fire two kilometers away to draw away the local police. By now, it should have..."

The old man tapped his cane. "What was the failure contingency plan?"

"Impersonating the police. Everyone has fake police badges; there won't be any issues."

The old man sighed again. "Switch to tasers. Aside from the target, don't take any lives. Let's go see the answer together!"

A few minutes later, the group burst into the rented apartment through the front door and windows simultaneously.

Then, when they saw the person on the small bed, they were all stunned.

"It really is him. How can this be?"

The old man coughed twice, looked closely at Tang Long's face, then pulled a gun from Tang Long's hand under his arm and handed it to a subordinate.

In terms of professional standards, even a common thief wouldn't sleep soundly while being pointed at by so many guns.

But Tang Long had no reaction at all, as if he were dead asleep.

He checked the pulse; the heartbeat was slow and steady, but when he pried the eyelids open, the pupils were somewhat dilated.

"What's wrong with him? Dr. Gu, come take a look!"

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses from the back immediately stepped forward. After a brief examination, his expression became even stranger.

"Boss, to put it simply, he is now somewhere between a vegetative state and brain death. The cause could be a stroke or a brain hemorrhage. In short... if we had come a few days later, this number one Dark Walker would probably have started to rot."

"That's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible. Fate is unpredictable, Boss. This might be the retribution brought upon by his many misdeeds. Congratulations, you've finally caught this guy."

However, the old man felt no sense of accomplishment. Instead, he seemed lost for a moment, which then turned into a violent rage.

"How could his end be like this?"

"He stole my Tears of the Sea King, he stole my Gulun Sutra, he stole my Holy Grail. He even stole my daughter's heart! He made Vivian stop recognizing me as her father!"

"He toyed with me for so many years; how can he just rot here silently?"

"He should have been defeated by my own hands, and finally die while looking into my eyes!"

The old man grew angrier as he spoke. He picked up Tang Long's pistol and pulled the trigger.

The bullet entered Tang Long's forehead, but his body instantly exploded.

He turned into a flash of shining electricity, light particles, and even rapidly changing streams of data. After circling the room once, it returned to its original position and reassembled into a body.

Everyone was stunned by this scene.

The old man trembled all over. After a long pause, he finally gave the order.

"Take him away! Quick!"

Several subordinates immediately rolled Tang Long up in the bedsheets, then carried him on their backs and left quickly.

————

Tang Long's body jolted as he woke up from a startle, still feeling a dull pain in his forehead.

During that brief nap, he had actually had a strange dream.

He dreamed that an old enemy had found him and then shot him.

That old enemy... Heh, he could actually be considered one of his former fathers-in-law.

It was a pity that at his great age, he insisted on meddling in the business of young people, and his temper was so fierce. To hunt Tang Long down, he had actually died of exhaustion on the road, which made that woman become his enemy as well.

If she hadn't died in the Doomsday Era, she would probably have continued to hunt him down, right?

He had traveled through time and space from the Doomsday Era to get here.

In the time and space of that world now, would there be another version of himself?

The car came to a steady stop, and Principal Principal Wang Dong had already greeted them at the car door with a smile.

"Sir Tang, you've arrived so early!"

"Although the news came a bit abruptly last night, please rest assured. I have already mobilized the faculty and students overnight. The grand hall has been set up, and the ceremony can begin at any time."

"Security has been jointly taken over by the military and The Sect, and the observation representatives from both sides have already arrived."

"Representing The Sect is Bishop Shang. From the military, we have General Division Commander Song Yu, Commander of the First Defense Division, and General 3rd Division Commander Lei Jianming, Commander of the First City Guard Division. They are currently having tea in the reception room. Would you like to go over and say hello?"

Tang Long thought for a moment and asked, "Is Ye Qingzhou hosting them?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't go for now. Mad Dog, to the library."

Mad Dog gave a slight nod, and the car immediately headed straight for the back of the campus.

Principal Wang Dong was left stunned in place, and the several attendants behind him couldn't help but whisper.

"That's Bishop Shang and two generals, some of the most powerful Spirit Map experts in Song City."

"For such big shots, even if I wanted to attend to them, my rank wouldn't be high enough."

"They came early just to support him, and he actually won't see them? This Sir Tang really puts on quite the air."

"Who told him he's the star right now?"

Tang Long actually wasn't trying to act like a big shot.

Although he had already initially reached a transcendent position within The Sect, he still had to maintain a certain balance when dealing with the four bishops.

In his initial dealings with High Priest Shang Yuleng, there was no need to be very polite, nor could he show too much enthusiasm.

As for the two generals from the military, since he didn't know them yet anyway, there was no rush.

He went to the library first because there was a more important person there.

Elder Zheng.

Entering the library doors and seeing Elder Zheng still sitting on a certain bookshelf, he couldn't help but smile.

"Elder Zheng, I haven't seen you for the past two days. It seems you've been busy!"

Elder Zheng glanced down and gave a cold chuckle. "How could I be as busy as you?"

"Royal Knight, Academician of the National Academy, Consultant for the Divine Academy, Instructor for the Military Academy, and the undisclosed Holy Messenger of The Sect. In another hour or so, you're also going to take over as President of the White Clothes Society."

"Not seeing you for two days, you kid are truly not what you used to be."

"I'm just curious, why aren't you going to greet the VIPs? What are you looking for an old man like me for?"

Tang Long grinned. "Look at what you're saying. You are the leading Spirit Map powerhouse in this city; they all have to take a back seat to you."

"Stop right there. I've heard quite a bit about your nature, kid. Swindling, deceiving, and only caring about profit—you even put the Wuque Method up for sale. If I talk to you too much, I'm afraid you'll start plotting for my Tide Art."

Tang Long couldn't help but laugh loudly, and Elder Zheng also couldn't help but laugh loudly.

But as they laughed, both of them stopped laughing at the same time.

Elder Zheng asked in a deep voice, "What is it? With that look in your eyes, could it be that I actually guessed right?"