Edited by Aelryinth

After finally crossing the Jingzhou straits, everyone felt relieved inside.

Although they didn’t encounter anything really dangerous on their way, the waters were an unknown factor. Who could say for sure that there wouldn’t be anything dangerous appearing any moment?

“It’s getting late. Follow me closely and be on guard. Although there won’t be any powerful exotic beasts appearing after we crossed the waters, we’re close to a large city and can be easily discovered by the military. We mustn’t let our guards down.” Yang Sen threw them a wet blanket when he saw everyone else showing looks of excitement.

They couldn’t assume they were completely safe just because they crossed the waters. They still had some risks to take on their upcoming journey to their headquarters.

At present, both the Hua Xia military and government were putting all their efforts into combating the cults. Given how big their group was, in addition to them moving around stealthily, it wouldn’t be easy for them to get through the military’s questioning if someone discovered them!

“We understand, branch chief. We’ll be more careful.”

“Branch chief is right. We have to act more cautiously going forward.”

Everyone echoed their agreement one after another, their expressions much more serious. It went without saying that they knew what Yang Sen said was the truth. It would be tragic if they ended up in the military’s hands after crossing the waters after so much difficulty!

The terrain on this side of the coast was rather rough. They found a hidden corner and quickly ate some food, a few of them standing guard.

Although they didn’t use much time to cross the waters, they were tense the whole time and experienced a few intense encounters. Their bellies were rumbling in protest. It was impossible for them to hold out until they arrived at the headquarters.

Their food was all in Yang Sen’s spatial storage, since such stuff wasn’t easy to haul around. Using a storage-type beast card to store them was the best option.

-Really, the most fearsome thing in this world is comparing yourself with others. These things are really bad compared to what I usually eat. Luckily it’s only for a few days, or I’d probably go crazy from hunger…- Zhang Che complained endlessly inside as he held his share of food in hand and chewed on it like he was eating wax, trying not to taste it.

In the past, he didn’t feel like the food he usually ate was very good, but after following the cult members around these few days and eating this simple food, he finally realized how true the old saying was.

It was easy adapting from poor to rich, but difficult adapting from rich to poor!

Back in the days, he could even eat a few kilograms of these tough-to-swallow compressed biscuits, but now he had become incredibly picky about his food. He would find any food not made from exotic beast meat to be very unpalatable.

Indeed, enjoyment would corrupt people!

——

The group ate very quickly, finishing their own shares of food swiftly.

Yang Sen summoned out a scouting-type flying subdued beast to survey the situation around them, then waved his hand and said, “Let’s go. It’s not dangerous around here. We’ll set out immediately!”

The others didn’t say anything. They quickly packed their belongings and followed Yang Sen inland.

Everyone had their own flying-type subdued beasts. Their travelling speeds weren’t slow. Even though they had guilty consciences and didn’t dare to act too flashily, they quickly flew past mountains and rivers, even passing by a few cities.

Fortunately, those cities weren’t very big. Obviously they weren’t where the Freemasons’ headquarters was located. Yang Sen led them around the cities, with no plans of entering any of them to reorganize themselves.

—

Zhang Che grew increasingly excited inside.

He knew he was getting closer and closer to their headquarters. He wanted to see who exactly was the brains behind the Freemasons, actually expanding an evil cult to such a huge scale in such a short period of time! Not only that, its secrecy was maintained so well that they weren’t taken down by the government and the military, despite their focused efforts.

It was precisely because he thought of this that Zhang Che kept warning himself that he must not get careless on this operation. The consequences would be troublesome if the Freemason headquarters actually turned out to be powerful and he accidentally exposed himself!

Although it should be impossible for an evil cult to have a divine-tier beastmaster among them, Zhang Che wouldn’t be able to handle it if they had too many high-tier beastmasters with epic-quality subdued beasts,either.

——-

Seeing the sky was about to turn dark, the group’s journey to the northeast finally came to a stop to rest near a large city.

Yang Sen signalled for everyone to stop at the woods outside a city, then said softly, “Let’s rest here for a while. We’re not familiar with this area and it’s very easy for us to draw the attention of the military. Let me send a signal to headquarters; they’ll send someone here to receive us soon.”

In the midst of his sentence, Yang Sen opened up his personal terminal and sent out a message, while the others waited.

—

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Che suddenly sensed the faint vibrations of engines from the simple roads outside the woods. His eyebrows jumped. The Freemason headquarters were indeed efficient. The local staff had actually arrived so soon!

It went to show how widespread the Freemasons’ influence in this large city was. Not only that, this was under the circumstances of them hiding their strength! If they revealed everything, they would surely cause a huge sensation!

Immediately after Zhang Che heard the approaching engines, Yang Sen’s expression brightened slightly. Obviously he had also heard the commotion and knew the headquarter’s staff had come to receive them.

Just by comparing this point between the two of them, Zhang Che knew he was much stronger than Yang Sen. Although the two of them were both Tier Seven beastmasters, Zhang Che’s senses were obviously much sharper!

After a short while, the noise from the car engines grew increasingly clear.

At this moment, everyone hiding in the woods took notice of the noise, smiles appearing on their faces one after another.

-Headquarters has sent people here to receive us!-

However, no one made any move or sound, waiting for Yang Sen to contact headquarters through his personal terminal. After he confirmed the fleet of vehicles was indeed here to pick them up, he waved his hand, signalling everyone to make their way out of the woods and down to the road below.

The fleet of vehicles was huge; they were all modified off-road vehicles, with savage appearances. One look and you could tell they were made to guard against exotic beast ambushes, with many steel plates added on the outsides.

The fleet of vehicles stopped one after another when they saw Yang Sen’s group. A few men jumped out of the vehicles, every one of them burly men close to two meters tall, and approached the group. Their rough appearances drew a contrast with their smiles. One of them said out loud from afar, “Old Yang, it’s been two months. We finally met again, hahahaha…”

Yang Sen went up and hugged the man hard, then said bitterly, “Ai, don’t mention it. This brother is like a stray dog this time, kicked back here by the military. Who knows how the President will punish us when we get back…”

It was indeed as he had said. He was forced to give up on the Xinjing branch, which he had spent so much effort developing, and was returning to headquarters pathetically. Punishments were inevitable.

Tian Gang laughed heartily, “Haha, don’t worry so much. It’s not only your branch that was hit. The military went raiding everywhere. Many branches were also struck severely. I presume the President won’t give you too hard a time since you managed to bring back so many elite brothers.”

The two chatted for a while, before Yang Sen looked back and waved to his men, saying, “Come, get into the vehicles. We’re returning to headquarters.”

Everyone got into the vehicles quietly. The fleet slowly reversed direction and drove out of the woods along the mountain road, then headed straight towards the large city ahead.

This large city was a new city, built upon the ruins of the original city after the arrival of the new age. Its population was a few million; it was the biggest city within thousands of kilometers, known as Xinfan City.

When the fleet was entering the city, they weren’t checked by the security. It seemed the Freemasons had taken deep roots in this city. Their strength was definitely not simple!

-So the Freemason’s nest is here. Should I send this information to future father-in-law right away?- Zhang Che observed the outside carefully as he was squeezed in the vehicle with a few other companions, wondering if he should inform Huang Juyun now.

After thinking for a while, he decided to put it on hold. He’d make further plans after arriving at the Freemasons’ headquarters and getting a better understanding of their strength.

Naturally it’d be best if the Freemasons weren’t as strong as he had imagined. He could find a chance to destroy them by himself!

If the Freemasons’ headquarters had many experts and he couldn’t take them on alone, then he’d find an opportunity to relay the information. At that time the military’s forces would join him in large numbers and get rid of the largest evil cult in all of Hua Xia in one go!

After the fleet of vehicles entered Xinfan City, they continued driving east along the streets. After passing through the whole city district, they finally arrived at a densely populated residential area.

This area was obviously a poor district in the past. The buildings were a mess, the people in poverty. Hiding their nest here was indeed an extremely good choice!

The fleet drove through streets and alleys, and soon stopped outside a huge courtyard. This was the Freemasons’ headquarters!