Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 160: Chapter 126: Stealing Celestial Secret, Forging My Law

Zhai Jia struck at the same instant. He covered the other man’s mouth and slammed his fist into the back of his neck.

The two bodies were then gently dragged into a nearby utility closet.

Wan Ze crouched down, flipped open the man’s collar, and carefully examined the number on his chest badge.

”This thing seems important,” he whispered.

Zhai Jia craned his neck for a look and nodded. ”Must be for ID. If you’re not one of them, you can’t get into the Core Area even with a work uniform.”

Wan Ze stripped the work jacket off the man and tossed a set to Zhai Jia.

The two quickly changed, pinning the badges to the left side of their chests.

Wan Ze glanced at the sign on the door: [Warehouse C-Sector].

They exchanged a glance and walked down the corridor, one after the other.

They passed through two access-controlled doors, which Zhai Jia swiped open each time without batting an eye.

The last door.

Zhai Jia swiped the card. A green light came on.

The door slid open.

They had finally reached the warehouse.

Wan Ze stood at the entrance, his gaze sweeping over the interior. At least a hundred old artifacts were neatly arranged on shelves.

There were pottery jars, bronze vessels, over a dozen scrolls, and two iron plates... Every piece exuded an earthy smell, looking as if it had just been dug out of the ground.

Zhai Jia resisted the urge to whistle and winked at Wan Ze. ”This Secret Palace is hidden pretty deep... I wonder whose ancient tomb they plundered.”

Wan Ze chuckled softly.

He walked in first, his footsteps echoing faintly in the spacious warehouse.

His eyes scanned past the artifacts one by one, finally settling on an inconspicuous small bronze tripod cauldron in the corner.

He reached out his hand.

The moment his fingertips touched the cauldron’s cold surface...

A line of text, invisible to others, suddenly materialized in his vision.

Stealing Celestial Secret triggered successfully!

[Stealing Celestial Secret: Spiritual Form 5%]

Wan Ze’s eyes lit up.

He let out a slight sigh of relief.

’He wasn’t afraid of the Perception being cold, just of getting no response at all.’

He pulled his hand back, his gaze once again sweeping over the hundred-plus artifacts.

The corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

’This time, I really came to the right place!’

...

After leaving the warehouse, Wan Ze and Zhai Jia spent less than three minutes in the utility closet.

They changed into new work uniforms, swapping their badges for 0741 and 0742—the numbers of the two unlucky bastards they had stripped bare earlier.

The bodies were stuffed into a pile of scrap in the corner and covered with a few old wooden planks. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be found until dawn.

Zhai Jia wiped his hands and cursed with a low laugh, ”This job makes me feel like a thief... but damn, it’s exciting.”

Wan Ze ignored him, tilting his head to listen for movement in the corridor. ”The convoy is about to leave,” he whispered.

They looked at each other and moved in perfect sync.

When they blended into the transport crew, they caught the last wave of vehicle loading.

...

「15 minutes later.」

In the warehouse’s west sector, the door to the utility closet was suddenly pushed open.

A flashlight beam swept over the scrap pile. The crisp sound of footsteps echoed inside the closet, and then the beam abruptly froze on a corner.

Seemingly uncertain, the person hurried over.

And then...

”Fuck!”

”Something really happened!”

A few minutes later, when the two bodies were carried into the outpost director’s office, they were already completely cold.

Old Ke squatted down and lifted the cloth covering a face. The corpse’s neck was twisted at a bizarre angle, limp as if it had no bones.

He reached out and pressed the pads of his fingers against the corpse’s cervical spine.

”Broken neck...” He stood up and gestured to the person beside him with his chin, his tone calm. ”You take a look.”

Black Panther squatted down, his hands expertly feeling the dislocated vertebrae.

After a moment, he looked up.

”A single, fatal blow. At least five years of combat experience. The strike was steady, precise, and ruthless, giving the victim no time to react.”

The man in glasses standing by the window pushed them up the bridge of his nose and squinted at the two bodies. ”It definitely wasn’t an inside job.”

Old Ke looked at him. ”Reason.”

Infighting wasn’t unheard of here. As long as it didn’t affect the bigger picture, everyone turned a blind eye.

The man in glasses shared the news he’d just received. ”My men said a hidden sentry in the warehouse sent a suspected warning 15 minutes ago, but by the time they got there, the person was gone. Someone tampered with a few of the hidden posts in the west sector...”

Old Ke was silent for a moment. ”Is anything missing?”

The man in glasses nodded. ”We’ve taken inventory. One item is gone.”

He paused, his expression a little strange. ”The Western Zhou Bronze Small Tripod Cauldron. It’s a Class-2 artifact.”

Black Panther frowned. ”Class-2? How much is it worth?”

”Market price, one hundred and fifty thousand, tops.”

Black Panther sneered. ”A hundred and fifty thousand? They’d risk this for that?”

But Old Ke narrowed his eyes. ”The hundred fifty thousand isn’t the point. The point is that thing has a ’special purpose.’ The higher-ups just sent word three days ago for us to move this entire shipment to the new site. And today, something happens.”

Black Panther’s expression changed slightly. ”Could it be... there’s really a mole?”

Old Ke didn’t speak.

His gaze fell on the badges on the corpses.

0741... 0742.

With the small cauldron missing, it was hard not to suspect this was a dog-eat-dog fight where both ended up dead.

The man in glasses said thoughtfully, ”These two were transferred from the south last month. I’ve seen their files—clean backgrounds, nothing unusual.”

”Clean files don’t mean clean people... Or, outsiders could have infiltrated and replaced these two. I certainly hope it’s the latter. If this was a case of thieves falling out, it means the three of us are pretty damn pathetic managers.” Old Ke turned and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the loading crew had finished and the vehicles were driving out the main gate.

The trucks’ headlights brightly illuminated the courtyard, casting moving silhouettes.

”Something just happened with Sun Weilong, and now someone has snuck in here... This is no coincidence.”

Black Panther took a step closer and lowered his voice. ”Sun Weilong was killed by people from Tie Shizhe. If these two groups are related...”

Old Ke cut him off. ”Have you confirmed that?”

The man in glasses shook his head. ”Someone got into the warehouse; their methods were very professional. But the hidden sentry at the main gate said... 15 minutes ago, two people in our work uniforms walked out from the direction of the west sector. They swiped through three access points using the cards for 0741 and 0742... I agree with Old Ke. It’s possible outsiders deliberately staged a dog-eat-dog scene as a cover for their infiltration.”

Black Panther’s expression changed. ”Then the current 0741 and 0742—”

Old Ke turned back, his voice grim. ”Worst-case scenario, they’re in our convoy right now.”

The man in glasses looked up sharply. ”But the convoy has already left!”

But Old Ke smiled.

It was a sinister smile that sent a chill down one’s spine.

”Let them go,” he said.

He turned around, watching the taillights of the convoy recede into the distance.

”The new site... is short a few ’test subjects’... Of course, if it turns out to be a false alarm, no harm done.”

...

The convoy was on its way.

Wan Ze and Zhai Jia were in the second truck.

The cargo compartment was packed with eight guards, all unfamiliar faces.

A dim, explosion-proof lamp hung on the iron wall of the container, swaying gently with the truck’s jolts.

The two had changed into new uniforms. Their badges read [0666] and [0667].

They had taken off their masks. In a crowd like this, wearing one would only make them stand out.

Wan Ze leaned in a corner, the brim of his baseball cap pulled down low.

His gaze swept out from under the brim, taking in the position of everyone in the compartment.

’The one on the left has his hand resting on the collapsible baton at his waist. His knuckles are thick; he’s practiced some kind of hard-style martial art.’

’The one diagonally opposite has his arms crossed, feigning sleep, but his breathing is shallow. He’ll wake at the slightest disturbance.’

’The youngest one, in the back, is secretly playing on his phone with the screen brightness turned way down.’

’Strictly speaking, none of them are experts.’

’But if a fight breaks out, eight people would be a lot of trouble... It would be impossible to end it quietly.’

Just as he was thinking this, someone nudged his arm.

It was the young guard, in his early twenties, with a curious look on his face.

”Hey, buddy.”

Wan Ze turned his head.

”Which district are you from? I haven’t seen you around,” the young guard asked in a low voice.

Wan Ze didn’t answer.

Zhai Jia, beside him, chimed in, his tone casual as if making small talk. ”Transferred from the south, just got here last week. What about you guys?”

The young guard grinned. ”We’re all from the North District, temporarily assigned. Did you guys hear? Something happened in the west sector. I heard a couple of our guys died. Old Ke was furious, chewed out everyone on duty.”

The older guard who had been feigning sleep opened his eyes and snorted. ”It’s good that something happened.”

His voice was hoarse, as if ruined by years of smoking. ”If nothing happened, how would we get the chance to enter the ’new site’?”

Zhai Jia’s eyes lit up slightly, but his expression remained impassive. He asked casually, ”New site? What’s so great about it?”

The older guard glanced at him, his gaze sharp and appraising.

”Just transferred?”

”Yeah.”

The older guard looked away and lowered his voice. ”Heard it’s the new ’Core Area’ the higher-ups set up.”

He paused, a suggestive smile playing on his lips. ”Food, drinks, women. And...”

He trailed off, abruptly closing his mouth.

The young guard grew anxious. ”And what?”

But the older guard said no more. He leaned back and closed his eyes again, as if nothing had happened.

The young guard scratched his head, figuring it was best not to press further.

Wan Ze and Zhai Jia exchanged a look in the dim light.

’The Core Area... there’s a big fish to catch!’

Wan Ze took a silent breath and looked at his data panel.

[Stealing Celestial Secret 1: Magic Sense 28%]

[Stealing Celestial Secret 2: Tiger and Wolf Momentum 80%]

[Stealing Celestial Secret 3: Sword Momentum: Splitting Mountain 100%]

[Stealing Celestial Secret 4: Spiritual Form 33%]

[Stealing Celestial Secret 5: Danger Prediction 100%]