Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

In fact, with Hong Dali’s superior luck, he thought that there might be an alien spaceship, perhaps an entrance to some ancient high-tech civilization, or at the very least an ancient tomb that he could explore! Why else would there be such a huge pangolin guarding the entrance of a place with such high standards? In the end, the only thing here was a lonely broken stone. What was so interesting about that?

So, Hong Dali pouted and sat down, disheartened. “It’s just a broken thing. I thought it might be something fun… Eh?” He felt something strange as he sat down—there was something hard under his butt…

“What’s this?” Hong Dali got up and felt the ground. He found a small ring-like object. The object was made of neither gold nor jade. It looked more like just stone. Its shape, however, was very interesting. It was covered with unidentified carvings, with a circular hole in the middle. The shape was not unlike thumb rings worn by dignitaries of old.

“This is good!” Hong Dali’s eyes lit up.

It was impossible to gauge the quality of such an object, but he felt that it was solidly made. He had no idea how such a thing might be made. It looked like it might be completely formed by nature, which would make it somewhat of a miracle.

“Yes, who should I give this to?” Hong Dali scratched his head. “I think I should give it to Chuyin. She almost jumped down here just now. She should be rewarded. No matter what, she is a loyal companion who has colluded with me on many occasions. Hehe.” Once he had decided, Hong Dali promptly picked up the thumb ring-like object and kept it.

“Rascal, what are you doing?” Right then, the Bureau Chief’s voice rang out. “What is in the middle of the meteorite crater? Why are you silent? That looks like a meteorite?”

“It’s just a rock,” Hong Dali replied listlessly. “It’s just a broken bit of stone. There’s nothing interesting here. I thought there might be an extraterrestrial ship, perhaps an ancient high-tech civilization, or at least some underground tombs. Turns out it’s just a broken piece of rock. Disappointed!”

“Broken rock?! You actually said that it’s a broken rock?!” The Bureau Chief was so angry that he yelled. “Where are you? More than a hundred meters underground! How can meteorites found here be just broken rock?! Do you not wonder how the meteorite got there? How the underground cavern was formed?!”

The Bureau Chief was not wrong. They were more than a hundred meters underground. Even if the meteorite’s impact had been extremely strong, no one had ever heard of any meteorite that could drill itself so deep. What was around here? Jade trees. It was possible that this was a forest long ago. There was also the magical Dali beans. Although they were not sure what it was, it was probably something uncommon. How could a meteorite which appeared in such a place be just broken rock?

“Eh? Uncle Chief, what you said makes sense!” After hearing what the Bureau Chief said, Hong Dali thought about it and jumped up decisively. “Let me take another look?”

“Hurry up and see what the meteorite is made of!” The Bureau Chief raged. “I have seen many ungrateful people, but never one like you! Go look, quickly!”

“Don’t be impatient, don’t be impatient…” Hong Dali approached the meteorite again slowly. “Let me take a look…”

He reached out and touched the meteorite as he approached it. The meteorite had been in there for a long time and had accumulated a thick layer of dust. Hong Dali brushed it gently and the dust on the meteorite quickly fell off to reveal the inside. It was a blue-gray rock with a faint metallic sparkle inside.

“Uncle Chief, this meteorite looks like some kind of mineral ore,” said Hong Dali through the plane’s communication device. “No matter how I look at it, it looks like a piece of ore. And it’s metallic.”

“Metallic meteorite?!” said the Bureau Chief’s surprised voice. “Are you sure?”

“I just said that it’s possible.” Hong Dali shone the illumination device on it carefully. This time, the Bureau Chief was able to see it clearly. “It really is a metallic meteorite! Dali, hahaha, you brat, I was right to bring you along today! Metallic meteorite! Such a big metallic meteorite! It’s a world record, hahahaha!”

“Just this size and it’s a world record?” Hong Dali took another look at the meteorite.

The meteorite was about four meters high and three meters wide. It looked like a huge egg. Based on the size and weight of commonly seen metals, the weight of this piece of meteorite was definitely record-breaking.

All right, even if it was a record-breaker, this huge thing was not edible…

“I think I will take the Dali beans. They are really quite tasty.” Dali sat down heavily and stuffed a Dali bean into his mouth. “I have no use for such a big piece of meteorite…”

“Rascal, go look around the area and see if there are any other caves. If there’s nothing else around there, think of a way to placate the pangolin so I can send some people down to rescue you!” The Bureau Chief’s voice said, “Remember, safety first!”

“Okay, I know.” Hong Dali mimicked the Bureau Chief’s tone of voice. “Remember, do not harm my Dali beans. The stuff is pretty tasty, they taste like fried peanuts…”

“You brat, you only think about food!”

Soon, Hong Dali completed one round around the cavernous cave. He did not find anything else other than the jade trees and the metallic meteorite. When he completed the round, he returned to the giant pangolin and patted its huge head. “Brother Pangolin, some people are coming here later. Don’t attack them, okay? They are here to rescue me.”

The title Animal’s Best Friend was not without its benefits. The pangolin rubbed his huge head gently on Hong Dali, laid down on the ground, and continued sleeping.

“Okay, there is no problem now.” Hong Dali said, “Oh. By the way, Uncle Chief, Brother Pangolin is very friendly. Don’t bully him!”

“I know you are an animal lover. Don’t worry.” The Bureau Chief nodded and started instructing his men. “Get some ropes immediately—make them two hundred meters long each. Everyone, get ready to descend. Make sure the ropes are sturdy! Make no mistakes!”

Here, the men started connecting the ropes and getting ready. On the other side, Little Mo Mo’s remote-controlled plane had been reconfigured. They were able to see the video of the surroundings. Speaking of which, the Bureau Chief had made the right decision to bring Hong Dali along. The little cave into which Little Mo Mo’s remote-controlled plane went into was empty. It was separated from Hong Dali’s side of the cave by a mountain wall less than a foot thick. If Hong Dali had not come along, this huge treasure might never have been found…

…

Shanghai Tianhai, in Shiroishi Kazuma’s secret apartment.

Shiroishi Kazuma laid on the bed, speaking to Tarō Gohon in Japan on an encrypted handphone.

“Company President, how is the red alert getting along?” Shiroishi Kazuma viewed Hong Dali as a mortal enemy and was adamant that he had to be exterminated. That was why all he thought of every day. “Hong Dali’s basketball team played another two matches these few days. Their popularity is at an all-time high and the value of the players have risen past a hundred million US dollars! If we allow him to go on… Furthermore, he has a toy factory which is capable of producing motor cars!”

“I know that.” Tarō Gohon, too, felt extremely conflicted.

The more he learned about Hong Dali, the more fearful he became. From reading websites to entertainment stars, online gaming, and now basketball, everything Hong Dali dabbled was successful.

If he were to start dabbling in motor cars, he could be serious competition for the Toyoda Conglomerate, whose primary business was motor cars.

Tarō Gohon said slowly, “I have sent Hattori Jiro and his subordinates to the Heavenly State. Based on reports from that side, we have more than a hundred men there. Even if Hong Dali is invincible, he will still die! I have ordered a death strike this time. If Hong Dali does not die, they will not be allowed back. I have also contacted Sand Eagle. If we work together, I think there will not be any unexpected accidents.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Shiroishi Kazuma felt better after hearing what Tarō Gohon said. “No matter the price, we have to kill Hong Dali as soon as possible so as to get rid of any future cause for concern!”

Just as he said this, Tarō Gohon voice on the other end of the line shouted, “Idiot!”

“Company President, what happened?” Shiroishi Kazuma was shocked. Could something have happened again?

All he heard was Tarō Gohon’s exasperated voice saying, “Two of the ninjas we sent are dead. One was killed by a flower pot falling from above and the other drowned after falling into the sewers! This bunch of useless people! Useless!”

“This…” Shiroishi Kazuma was completely stunned.

The Ninja Soldiers working for the Company President, Tarō Gohon, were all very skilled. How could such accidents happen? A flower pot fell from the skies, falling into the sewers while walking?! Were they there to assassinate Hong Dali or to enact novel ways to die?

“An accident, this must be an accident!” Shiroishi Kazuma wiped the sweat off his head vigorously. “Company President, there seems to be a very high chance of accidents happening in the Heavenly State. We must not be impatient!”

…

While Shiroishi Kazuma was at his wits’ end, the Angel of Misfortune, Vincent Iverson, had just won a great victory at the other end of Tianjing City. He took a contented sip of his beverage and started a Weibo post as he hugged the beautiful woman on his lap. “I’m in a rather good mood these few days. I’m actually rather proud that a beautiful woman is willing to support me. Yes, I feel I should slow down a little now. Oh, I wish Miss Chuyin all the best. Of course, if that annoying fellow is still alive, I hope he has a hard time.”

The beauty in his arms smiled and kissed him. “Darling, are you done with your Weibo post? Shall we play a game?”

“Of course!” Putting down the specially encrypted handphone, Vincent Iverson smiled and said, “I will play the middle this time. What about you?”

“I’m going to play jungle and support you, of course!”