16
Zhou Huai felt a secret thrill in his heart.
He really liked watching the Old Marshal, whose emotions were always so stable, wear such a wonderful expression on his face.
As a long-established, veteran SS-Rank Professional...
Zhao Qingcang perceived the equally powerful aura on the other party the moment Moria appeared.
This Puppet.
No, this Avatar was actually also an SS-Rank!
Zhou Huai's consciousness completed the transfer instantly, moving from Gandalf's body into Moria's body.
He manipulated Moria, slightly bowed toward the astonished Zhao Qingcang, and greeted him very politely.
"Marshal Zhao, this is also one of my Avatars, named Moria."
In fact, it wasn't just Moria.
Over the past two days, Zhou Huai had already quietly transferred his two other Avatars, Yasuo and Caesar, to the Imperial Capital.
If he were to summon all three SS-Rank Avatars right now and line them up in front of the Old Marshal.
Zhou Huai was certain.
This old man, who had spent his life in military service, would definitely be so shocked that his jaw would drop to the ground.
However, this was the Central Military Department after all.
The place with the tightest defense and strictest security in the entire Great Xia Nation.
Wanting to quietly bring the other two big guys in as well was basically impossible.
It would definitely cause a huge commotion.
Therefore, he could only let Moria, who was best at stealth and concealment, come out and show his face.
Zhao Qingcang was stunned for a dozen seconds before he finally snapped out of his extreme shock.
He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressed the stormy waves in his heart, and asked the question he most wanted to know right now.
"You just said... you have several more Avatars like this?"
"I want to know, just how many... SS-Rank Avatars do you have?"
When this question was asked from Zhao Qingcang's mouth, even he himself felt a sense of absurdity.
An SS-Rank Professional was already a nation-guarding existence, a Peak that countless Classer could never reach in their entire lives.
Yet now, someone was telling him that he could pull several Avatars of powerhouses of this level out like magic tricks?
How could this be possible?
Yet the facts were right before his eyes.
Two genuine SS-Rank Avatars were standing straight before him just like that.
He couldn't afford not to believe it.
Zhou Huai thought about it and decided to administer another heavy dose to the old man.
He manipulated Moria, extended a palm, and gave an ambiguous yet shocking answer.
"At least... more than five."
"I believe it should be able to help you, Marshal Zhao, right?"
"What?!"
Boom!
Zhao Qingcang only felt as if his brain had been heavily struck by a bolt of thunder; with a buzzing sound, it went completely blank!
He could no longer maintain his composure, and with a whoosh, he stood up from the sofa!
Those deep, tiger-like eyes widened into round circles, staring fixedly at Moria, his voice beginning to carry a trace of trembling due to extreme agitation.
"More than five?"
"All... all of them are SS-Rank?"
Zhou Huai manipulated Moria and nodded very affirmatively.
"This... how is this possible?!"
"In this world, how could there be such an outrageous profession?"
"To actually be able to create so many SS-Rank Professional Avatars?"
Zhao Qingcang felt that his worldview was completely subverted at this moment, and then crushed to pieces.
Having lived for nearly a hundred years, he had never heard of such an inconceivable matter.
He looked at Moria, then glanced at the silent Gandalf beside him, and a guess that was bold to the extreme frantically sprouted in his mind.
He suddenly raised his head, staring burning-eyed at Moria, and asked with a trembling voice.
"You... you..."
"Your original body... could it be... an SSS-Class Professional?"
Only this explanation could make sense.
Only the legendary SSS-Class Professional, who existed like a deity, could possibly possess such heaven-defying abilities!
However, Zhou Huai shook his head.
"My original body's situation is a bit complicated."
"But indeed, it is not SSS-Class."
Hearing Zhou Huai say that he was not an SSS-Class, the Old Marshal's eyes, which had just ignited with flames, suddenly dimmed a bit more.
Clearly, there was a little disappointment.
Zhou Huai actually really wanted to say, although I am not an SSS-Class, I have an SSS-Class Avatar.
But after thinking about it, he still forced those words back down.
Although Marshal Zhao Qingcang was trustworthy.
Zhou Huai still instinctively wanted to leave a final trump card for himself.
He couldn't just spill his guts and tell everyone all his strength right off the bat.
However, Zhao Qingcang quickly walked out of that trace of disappointment.
On his weathered face, a heartfelt smile slowly bloomed.
"Good, good, good!"
He said the word "good" three times in a row, his voice resonant and full of breath.
"Even if it's not SSS-Class, it doesn't matter!"
"To be able to create so many SS-Rank Professionals, even if it's not SSS-Class, it won't be much worse than an SSS-Class!"
Compared to the lingering sense of vicissitudes and exhaustion on him when Zhou Huai first entered the door.
The Old Marshal at this moment looked much more energetic and refreshed!
Zhou Huai understood.
This old man saw hope in him.
A hope sufficient to pull the entire Great Xia Nation out of the current quagmire of internal and external troubles!
This feeling was like, even if Zhao Qingcang were to suddenly drop dead at this moment and perish together with the enemy country's powerhouse.
The Great Xia Nation wouldn't perish just like that.
Because Zhou Huai was here.
He would shoulder the flag of the Great Xia Nation that was about to fall once again!
Zhao Qingcang sat back down on the sofa, looking at Moria, his gaze becoming earnest like never before.
"Next, what are you planning to do?"
Zhou Huai manipulated Moria, and a trace of icy confidence flashed through those abyss-like eyes.
"Since they want to kill Gandalf, then just let them come."
"Gandalf is the bait I let out!"
"At that time, I will use Gandalf as bait to clear out all those tumors growing on the body of the Great Xia Nation, one by one, completely!"
Meanwhile.
In an inconspicuous hotel room in the Imperial Capital.
Caesar, who had been in standby mode all along, slowly opened his amethyst-like compound eyes.
With a thought in his mind.
A pitch-black spatial rift quietly opened before him.
Hundreds of Information Bugs, about the size of mosquitoes and pitch-black all over, buzzed and flew out from the boundless Zerg Space.
Caesar walked to the window and pushed it open.
The Information Bugs flapped their silent wings, like dust blending into the night, and quickly vanished into the bustling yet undercurrent-churning night of the Imperial Capital.
Soon, Gandalf returned to that cold prison cell once again.
No one knew what Marshal Zhao and Gandalf had actually talked about in the office.
They only knew that not long after the conversation ended, news spread from within the military department.
Marshal Zhao flew into a rage over Gandalf's unauthorized departure from the team, which led to the entire exploration squad being wiped out.
Right in front of all the high-ranking military officials, he severely scolded Gandalf.
Afterward, he had him re-imprisoned in the solitary confinement cell deep inside the military department, awaiting subsequent trial.
Over the next few days, Chen Huaishu would still come over to interrogate a few times as per routine.
Although he still couldn't ask anything of valuable results.
Yet everyone could see that this Old General Chen seemed to have also lost patience with Gandalf.
Every time he came out of the interrogation room, his complexion was so gloomy that water was about to drip from it.
Until late at night on the fourth day.
A figure silently appeared outside the thick alloy floodgate of the solitary confinement cell.
He skillfully entered a complex string of commands on the password lock beside the floodgate.
The thick alloy floodgate slowly opened without making even the slightest sound.
That figure silently arrived before Gandalf's cell.