Online: I Can See Health Bars-Chapter 1228 - 542: 10 Pillars (Part 2)

"Blue Blood Disease..."

Fang Yu’s expression was peculiar.

"It’s your kin, they’ve been causing too much trouble, catching the attention of Thunder City’s authorities early on, leading to a large-scale crackdown, but..."

Ding Hui sneered, "What those high-ups truly want, who doesn’t understand? Isolating patients and preventing the plague are just excuses. Taking this opportunity for a wave of purges and reorganization is their real goal."

Fang Yu frowned.

He had actually already searched for keywords about Thunder City on the forum.

According to posts there, Thunder City is comparable to a game like Huangpu Military Academy.

NPCs in the city would directly shut down players who didn’t perform well, leaving no room to live.

So any player who could make it in Thunder City could generally disguise themselves quite well.

Once they gained a bit of fame on the Thunder City forum, some players even expressed willingness to go there specifically to hone their acting skills.

But these are just opinions and impacts on the player level; Fang Yu isn’t very clear about the specifics of Thunder City’s internal situation.

Now, judging from Ding Hui’s words, it seems the Thunder City authorities have big plans.

"No wonder someone was trying to escape the city at the city gate..."

"Strict in and out policies mean that until the reorganization is complete, it should be hard to leave Thunder City."

Though there’s some chaos in Thunder City now, it doesn’t really affect the two of them much.

"Initially identified as Blue Star Demons, then to Blue Blood Disease, and the Blue Blood Plague, Thunder City has been reacting internally, but at its core, nothing has changed: it’s the Ten Major Families at the peak of Thunder City’s power doing the reorganization below. And what we need to do is to get our business done while avoiding conflicts with the Ten Major Families as much as possible."

Ding Hui lowered her voice, "But given our current situation, taking action isn’t convenient."

"What do you mean?"

"I was being followed when I left."

Fang Yu frowned, but before he could ask, Ding Hui continued.

"It’s the people from the Foolish Underworld."

Foolish Underworld??

Fang Yu felt a stir in his heart.

"Could it be they recognized..."

"No."

Before Fang Yu could finish speaking, Ding Hui interrupted him.

"If they knew our identity, they wouldn’t just send someone of that skill level to surveil me. It feels more like they’re keeping an eye on everyone entering and leaving the inn, as well as any newcomers to the city. You used to be one of the Foolish Underworld, you should be familiar with this kind of surveillance."

These words left Fang Yu a little embarrassed.

When he was in Tianyuan Town, he was indeed part of the Foolish Underworld, and he even held a high position, but he had never personally undertaken such low-level surveillance tasks.

Fortunately, he had his subordinates do similar things, so he had some idea.

If, as Ding Hui said, someone was surveilling, then perhaps they were in a simple observation period.

For an outsider, there would be a period of observation, and if nothing happens during that time, then no one would be tailing them after that’s over.

The person responsible for surveillance at the inn’s entrance might not leave, but the next time Ding Hui went out, there wouldn’t be someone specifically following her to record her movements.

Simply put, it’s a low priority, low threat level, and with plenty of manpower, they send someone to keep an eye casually.

"So it seems, the Foolish Underworld’s influence in Thunder City is developing quite well?"

Fang Yu tilted his head and said.

Because in Tianyuan Town, this level of surveillance would also be considered a waste of manpower, unless there was a specific order, otherwise with so many people coming and going in Tianyuan Town, sending people to keep watch would be a waste of manpower.

Thunder City being strict on exit and lenient on entrance, the flow of people is incredibly high, and being able to specifically send people for surveillance means that if the scale of the Foolish Underworld is insufficient, they couldn’t manage such a thing.

"Diao Deyi, I find you’re underestimating the Foolish Underworld a bit too much."

Ding Hui blinked her eyes.

"Leaving Sunset City aside for now, in some places it’s true that the Foolish Underworld isn’t doing well, but in large townships like Tianyuan Town or Thunder City, the official forces like the Foolish Underworld generally develop quite well."

"The Foolish Underworld represents the official office, an extension of the Da Xia Dynasty’s authority, whereas local forces are like local tyrants. It’s said that a powerful dragon can’t suppress a local tyrant, but that’s because the local tyrant is too strong, not because the dragon is weak."

"But relatively speaking, if the Foolish Underworld develops well in any township, it means... the Foolish Underworld and local gentry have very close ties. Even in Tianyuan Town, this is unavoidable."

Fang Yu thought of Ming Hall.

The Foolish Underworld in Tianyuan Town is divided into five halls, with Ming Hall being specifically filled with members of the Five Great Families, symbolizing the close relationship between the Foolish Underworld and the Five Great Families, or in other words, representing them becoming the mud legs for the Five Great Families...

At least on the surface, the Foolish Underworld wouldn’t dare to go against the Five Great Families.

Fang Yu thought of something.

He looked towards Ding Hui.

"Ding Hui, if the Foolish Underworld in Thunder City develops so well, do you think we should..."

"I understand what you mean, and I indeed considered it on my way back. But whether the Foolish Underworld in Thunder City will accept you, whether Thunder City recognizes you but the Foolish Underworld doesn’t, and whether we can leverage their power to achieve our own goals all remains uncertain, posing certain risks..."

In essence, it’s the difference between being in the open and staying in the shadows.

As long as Fang Yu doesn’t reveal his identity, given the relatively slow spread of information in this world, the Foolish Underworld in Thunder City would have no way of knowing Fang Yu is actually one of the deputy captains in Tianyuan Town’s Foolish Underworld.

This allows Fang Yu to operate in the shadows, conducting various activities and investigations.

However, without the support of a large force like the Foolish Underworld, anything they want to achieve would require a significant commitment of time and energy.

If he publicly discloses his identity and returns to the embrace of the Foolish Underworld family, leveraging their resources, then whatever Fang Yu wants to do would become much more efficient.

"We could take it slow, I’ll first try to contact some former friends to see if they can dig up clues regarding your brother Diao Ruonian or traces of human trafficking, like the [Jiuyao] Organization. If I can’t manage here, it’s never too late for you to join the Foolish Underworld." Ding Hui analyzed.

Fang Yu naturally understood this logic too.

However, just waiting was indeed somewhat agonizing.

Moreover, with Thunder City currently in a high-pressure state and everyone on edge, Ding Hui’s frequent activities under these circumstances are actually quite risky too.

"Tomorrow, I’ll go in and out with you."

The corners of Ding Hui’s mouth lifted.

"Worried about me?"

"..."

Fang Yu turned his face away.

Where Lian Xiaoya was hiding, whether Sister Jin could be rescued, his brother’s life or death, the success rate of separating Bloodline Spirit, Thunder City’s high-pressure search for players... All these things weighed heavily on Fang Yu recently.

Yet, there wasn’t much he could do.

Improving his strength was the only solid solution.

"Come to the bed, today’s body hasn’t been checked yet."

Ding Hui beckoned him with her finger.

Fang Yu naturally had no choice but to comply.

Ever since gaining the Bloodline Spirit ability, Ding Hui had been checking his body much more frequently, but it seemed the progress toward absorbing new spirits was still far off.

Because Bloodline Spirit is something developed, not part of any existing martial arts system.

It’s like the blind men touching an elephant; even a genius like Ding Hui has to go step by step slowly.

"Oh? You seem to have gotten stronger again?"

Ding Hui touched the solid muscles on Fang Yu’s arm, feeling them like a rough texture back and forth.

Did you really notice that?

Fang Yu glanced at his attribute points.

Though he had accumulated quite a few attribute points along his journey of slaying demons, they were just sitting there, he hadn’t allocated them yet.

"Focus your Qi, and then activate the power of the Bloodline Spirit."

Ding Hui began her routine check-up, at which point Fang Yu gathered his thoughts and followed her directions, cooperating with her.

...