204: Chapter 204 The Rise of the Jianghai Region

Jianghai City, deep in the night.

At the southern Jianghai docks, a sea wind carrying a briny, fishy scent howled past.

A slender, graceful figure stood silently within the shadows.

Su Qingxue wore a set of black tactical gear that clung tightly to her, accentuating her tall and curvaceous figure to perfection.

A half-silver mask covered her face, revealing only a pair of eyes as cold and clear as winter stars, vigilantly watching the sea's movements.

As the favored daughter of the Su Family, she should have been secluded in the family's cultivation chamber, attempting a breakthrough in her cultivation.

But tonight, she had received a message from Lin Fan, transmitted from the capital.

To rendezvous with reinforcements.

Thinking of that guy far away in the capital, a trace of imperceptible softness flickered through Su Qingxue's originally icy gaze.

That smooth-talking, money-grubbing fellow must be stirring up quite the storm in the capital by now.

Just at that moment.

On the distant sea, a dilapidated fishing boat extinguished its lights and, under the cover of night, silently approached the shore.

Su Qingxue's heart tightened. The frigid spiritual energy within her body instantly began to circulate, ready to strike at any moment.

Although Lin Fan had said they were reinforcements, in these extraordinary times, even the slightest oversight could lead to utter ruin.

The fishing boat steadied, and several shadowy figures leaped down from it like ghosts.

By the faint moonlight, Su Qingxue finally got a clear look at these so-called reinforcements.

Leading them was a short, sharp-featured man with a furtive, shifty-eyed look around him. His sleazy aura made him seem like a rat that had just crawled out of a sewer.

Following him was a giant over two meters tall, his muscles knotted like a moving iron tower, holding a massive iron axe in his hand.

Further back was a drunkard swaying as he walked, a sniper rifle slung over his back. The pungent smell of alcohol could be detected from a distance.

There was also a fat Taoist priest in robes but with a lecherous grin, and a pale-faced, cold-eyed man idly twirling a scalpel in his hand.

Looking at this motley crew, Su Qingxue couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.

These are the elite forces Lin Fan talked about?

This is clearly a bunch of hardened criminals just released from prison!

"Heh heh, you must be the boss's lady?"

The sleazy, scrawny man was the first to scurry over, rubbing his hands together with an ingratiating smile.

Su Qingxue frowned slightly, sweeping a cold glance over him.

"I am Su Qingxue."

"Oh my, so it's Miss Su! My apologies, my apologies!"

The scrawny man immediately bowed and scraped, introducing himself.

"This lowly one is called Hou San, known in the Jianghu as the 'Divine Thief'. These few are all talents... uh, carefully selected by the boss."

Hou San pointed at the people behind him.

"That's Iron Ox, that's Old Drunkard, that's Yellow Great Immortal, and that's the Doctor."

"We're here on the boss's orders to... loosen the soil for the Zhao Family."

Suppressing the discomfort in her heart, Su Qingxue swept her gaze over the group.

Although these people looked utterly unreliable, her keen senses told her that their auras were not weak.

Especially that drunken Old Drunkard and that cold Doctor; they exuded a dangerous aura that even made her heart palpitate.

Since Lin Fan sent them, they must have their own unique strengths.

Su Qingxue took a deep breath, pushing down the doubts in her heart.

"I've already scouted out the Zhao Family's situation."

She pulled out an electronic map from her bosom and unfolded it in the air.

"The Zhao Family has three main raw material warehouses in Jianghai City, located in the east, west, and north of the Jianghai respectively."

"These three warehouses hold the Zhao Family's medicinal herbs and forging ores for the next half year. They are heavily guarded, with at least two high-level Martial Masters stationed at each location."

Su Qingxue pointed at the red dots on the map, her tone serious.

"Our mission is to destroy these warehouses and cut off the Zhao Family's supply chain."

"However, the Zhao Family's defense system is comprehensive. They have not only high-tech surveillance equipment but also protective formations. A direct assault would be difficult."

Hou San leaned in to look at the map. Suddenly, a greedy gleam appeared in his beady little eyes.

"Direct assault? Why would we do a direct assault?"

He gave a weird laugh and pulled out a metal wire as thin as a hair from his bosom.

"The boss taught us that waste is shameful."

"Since it's raw materials, destroying them would be such a pity. How about... helping them move house?"

Su Qingxue was taken aback.

"Move house? Those are three large warehouses. The cargo alone amounts to thousands of tons. How could you possibly move it?"

Hou San chuckled but didn't explain. He just turned to look at Iron Ox behind him.

"Big oaf, take out that 'good thing' the boss gave us."

Iron Ox scratched his head dopily and pulled out over a dozen black cloth bags from his bosom.

These bags looked utterly ordinary, like the burlap sacks used to carry potatoes at the market.

But Su Qingxue keenly sensed strong spatial fluctuations emanating from them.

"Spatial storage bags?"

Su Qingxue's pupils contracted slightly.

Such items weren't exactly rare; anyone who awakened spatial talent could make them, but they usually only had a few cubic meters of space at most.

To hold the cargo from three warehouses, you'd need at least several hundred such bags.

"Miss Su, just watch and see."

Hou San took the bags, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Tonight, I'll show the Zhao Family what it means that 'a thief never leaves empty-handed'!"

...

Two hours later.

Zhao Family's East Jianghai Warehouse No. 1.

This was the Zhao Family's largest medicinal herb storage, holding rare herbs worth hundreds of millions.

Outside the warehouse, two squads of fully armed guards patrolled back and forth with hounds.

Searchlight beams continuously swept over the walls, leaving no blind spots.

A shadowy figure clung to a warehouse vent like a gecko.

It was Hou San.

Looking down at the tight defenses, the corner of his mouth curled into a disdainful sneer.

Compared to the setups he'd seen in the capital's dungeons, these defenses were child's play.

He pulled out a spray bottle from his bosom and gave the vent a few gentle sprays.

A colorless, odorless gas drifted into the ventilation ducts.

This was the Doctor's specially formulated "Drunken Dream Powder". Even a Martial Master-level expert would fall into instant slumber with just one whiff.

A moment later.

Several hidden sentries inside the warehouse suddenly went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Hou San's figure flashed, slipping into the vent like a ghost.

He landed without a sound.

Looking at the mountain of medicinal herb crates before him, Hou San couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

"Strike it rich, strike it rich!"

"If we move all this back, the boss will definitely give us a huge reward!"

He didn't dare delay, quickly opening the black cloth bag in his hand.

This was no ordinary storage bag. This was a "Sumeru Bag" that Lin Fan had obtained from a blind box! Each one had an internal space of over a thousand cubic meters!

Hou San's hands flew. Wherever he passed, those heavy herb crates vanished into thin air like magic.

In just half an hour.

The originally packed warehouse had become completely empty, not a single hair left behind.

"Huh? This floor seems to be paved with high-quality Azure Goldstone too?"

Having emptied the cargo, Hou San's gaze suddenly fell on the floor.

He remembered Lin Fan's teaching: We must be like locusts, leaving nothing but barren land in our wake.

"Dismantle it!"

Hou San pulled out a specially crafted pry bar and began frantically prying up the floor tiles.

Another half hour passed.

When Hou San crawled out of the vent, thoroughly satisfied, the interior of Warehouse No. 1 was not only devoid of goods. The floor tiles, light bulbs, and even the two massive alloy doors had been removed and packed away by him.

All that remained was a bare concrete shell.

At the same time.

The warehouses in the west and north of the Jianghai suffered the same plunder.

With Iron Ox and Yellow Great Immortal cooperating, the Zhao Family guards didn't even see a shadow of the enemy before being knocked unconscious by the powder.

By the time the first light of dawn tinged the horizon.

The villainous squad had returned fully laden to the safe house arranged by Su Qingxue.

Looking at the room piled high with loot.

Even the perpetually aloof Su Qingxue was utterly stunned.

Watching this group of excitedly dividing the spoils, only one thought remained in her heart.

Just what kind of monsters did Lin Fan have under his command?

This wasn't coming to cause destruction!

This was clearly coming to stock up on inventory!

...

Zhao Family Mansion.

The morning tranquility was shattered by a shrill roar.

"Bastards! Bastards!"

"Who did this?! Who on earth did this?!"

Zhao Tianxiang, the current head of the Zhao Family, stood before the empty Warehouse No. 1. Seeing the scene that looked as if it had been licked clean by a dog, he trembled with rage, his vision darkening as he nearly fainted.

Not only were the herbs gone.

Even the damn doors were gone!

This was a blatant humiliation to the Zhao Family!

"Family Head, the warehouses in the west and north of the Jianghai... are... are gone too..."

An old man who looked like a steward came running over, trembling with fear on his face.

"All gone?"

Zhao Tianxiang grabbed the steward by the collar, his eyes bloodshot.

"The surveillance? The guards?! Are they all dead?!"

"The surveillance was jammed. The guards are... are all unconscious..."

The steward looked like he was about to cry from fright.

"No traces were left at the scene. The other party... they were too professional."

"Pfft!"

Fury surged through Zhao Tianxiang's heart, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"Investigate! Investigate for me!"

"Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, find those thieves!"

"I'll tear them to pieces!"

However, what Zhao Tianxiang didn't know was.

This was only the beginning.