Number One Dungeon Supplier

The evacuations were going apace and there was another small team of soldiers that had been dispatched to Qian Liu Town to reinforce the area since they thought that Hong and his partner were not sufficient to deal with the situation at hand.

"Any new details?" Jin initiated a long range telepathy that made Hong surprised for a moment but the answer was not exactly encouraging. The monsters were not in sight in the other towns as well and despite going on full alert sweeping the area as per protocol, the soldiers were not able to find anything that indicated their presence. 

"There were no tracks after they broke through which caused us to deduce that they had decided to move through via the trees instead. The incoming team did not have much information as well." Hong replied and Jin thanked him.

"It would be a faster and more efficient use of time if User sent out scouts to find the monsters and be done with it." The System stated but Jin reiterated that this was something he still had to do. 

"Besides, this gives me some time to skive a little. I had been working too hard, no?" Jin teased the System. "And I also looked kind of cool, sitting up on a branch waiting for the enemy to come down? That's like a cross off the bucket list of mine when I'm younger." 

"Who do you want to look cool at?" The System Channel lit up as a brand new voice came up yapping between the System's conversation with Jin.

"Oh, Qiu Yue. Have you heard the news? I did not get the basement." Jin found this as a good opportunity to waste time while waiting for the monsters to appear (if they ever do.) 

"Yeah. I did. Guess my prayers worked after burning a lot of paper money right in front of the Panda God statue in the middle of the tree mall." 

"Did you really do that? You do not strike me as a religious person. Also, why did you burn paper money, it's not even like god needs money. Don't you need to offer incense instead?" 

"I was joking. How the hell did you even take it so seriously? Are you really that bored to elicit a response from me?" Qiu Yue asked and Jin smiled.

"Sadly, yes. I had forgotten how boring it was to just wait and do nothing. My mind tends to wander when I am waiting."

"Well, at least you have the System to accompany you while you are at it. Anyways, yes. I did receive the news. I am glad, to be honest as I really think that basement deal was extremely bad. But in retrospect, seeing how it all went too smoothly and even such an early date for auction did mean there were hands at the back of the scenes trying to move the pieces fast. It's just that I did not expect the Royal Horses to have their hands dipped in so deep in this." 

"They earnt a shit load of money though. I do not understand why IFC Holdings wanted that basement so hard." 

"It will affect their image since IFC Holdings practically has a foothold there. Imagine having a land underneath them being owned by someone else, even if a person who did not study or believe in Feng Shui could see it looks bad for them." (For those who do not know, Feng Shui is the Chinese art or practice of creating harmonious surroundings that enhance the balance of yin and yang)

"In that case, they do not have a foothold, they were standing on someone else instead, and their 'foundation' had been stolen by someone else," Jin remarked and Qiu Yue nodded her head.

"But I heard from Kraft you bid high. That was such a risky move." 

"Nah, the moment I proposed 88 million Yuan to take the basement, I figured that they would have prepared a similar figure or higher. It would be stupid to go in a fight unprepared." Jin replied. 

"Regardless, the basement is their problem now and I also received word that they had made an offer to us through our official email." 

"To rent their basement or the store beside Huawee?" 

"Both. They asked us to consider it. I think they want to gloat at us for not being able to get the land auction." Qiu Yue deduced.

"Nah, now that we have two lands at our disposal, we should focus on growing those two places first."

"Is that why you are there right now to act as the hero?"

"That is assuming the monsters would come out for me to act as a Hero. Otherwise, I am just a philanthropic guard on duty." Jin laughed as he looked at the surroundings once more until he witnessed a glimmer of activity at the far edge of the forest with his Inverse Eyes.

"System. Can I have a magic eye in that area?" Jin asked and apologised to Qiu Yue that he might have found something.

"Sure, sure. Still, this call is to congratulate you for getting that land. As part of the operations team, I approved of that move even though things might have gotten awry. Thank you for not spending the money we earned unwisely."

"Heh. Thank you for being my second in command. It is good to have a rational person with me at the helm of this business." 

"User, it has been confirmed, it's the monsters as described by Soldier Hong." The System replied as it gave a positive imagery of the monster group to Jin. It was at that point, Jin whistled loudly, attracting the attention of the soldiers who were still evacuating the remaining population of Qian Liu Town. The rest who did not know of his presence started to stare where the soldiers were looking.

At the same time, Jin was using hand signals which he had learnt from his grandpa to indicate that the enemy was coming from the Northeastern direction. "Alright people, hurry your pace a little more! The monsters might be coming in this direction and even though the Demon Exorcist would take care of it, it's better to be safe than sorry!" Hong shouted and the soldiers picked up their pace, using their chi to power themselves up so that they could move faster to aid the older population.

At the same time, one of the soldiers made a phone call to their superiors telling them of the newly updated situation but they already saw Jin jumping from one house roof to another, moving towards the direction of where the monster group was coming. 

"Please remind me to control my strength. I need evidence that they are dead." Jin asked the System.

"If you really want evidence, you should allow them to come closer and do some damage to the town. Besides, you are going to renovate the town and those houses need to be demolished as well." 

"Wow, you start to think like Kraft… but nah. These are still homes of families who suffered to get to this part of their lives… Unless you have some knowledge that they had been insured?" 

"The System does not have such advanced detection and search features." 

"Lies, it's more like you do not want to do any of those." 

"Touche. But it is not worth the system's resources. On the other hand, the System could direct you to a clearing that the User can use and display your strength while still within the partial view of the evacuees at Liu Ah Liu Hotel."

"Sounds good. Where is it?" Jin asked and the System immediately gave the coordinates. "Alright. Time to attract their attention then." The Panda Cultivator took out their Bam and Boo but instead of dual swords, it changed shape into a drum and gong. 

He started to bang the gong as he moved towards the clearing and the townsfolks knew that he was doing this to get the attention of the monster group. It did not take long for the monsters to take notice and the group did follow the sound of the gong to the clearing. 

And only at the clearing, Jin could finally see who the opponents were. Varying grades of Monster Apes and a few huge mutant dogs were following them. But what he did not expect was a high grade Monster Ape. Possibly a Grade 12 Monster Ape judging from its appearance and chi. 

Hong who went ahead to check on the situation could confirm that as well and he quickly phoned his superior. "Sir! It's a Grade 12 Monster Ape as part of their group. The Red Cross Ape that the Mongolians had talked about."

"Are you able to confirm that?" The superior could not believe his ears as the current military guard did not have the appropriate grades to fight against a Grade 12 Red Cross Ape. He could activate the Elite Guards or even a Royal Zodiac Clan Elite Cultivator but that would take time.

"Yes. Sir. There is no doubt about it, the Cross at its back is extremely evident. The were other ape monsters and mutant dogs with it too." 

"…" The supervisor knew that if he were to ask the soldiers to intercept them, it would be a suicide mission. "I would not blame you if you ran but there would be consequences for you if you manage to survive. Yet, there would be better than death." 

"Sir… I do not think that might be needed." Hong reported back.

"Why?" 

"The Demon Exorcist that I made report earlier had enclosed himself with an unescapable barrier. A do or die barrier." Hong reported and the supervisor was astonished by it.