Chapter 119 - Snake Instructor

"Cheers..."As the people in the small Scrap Iron City Environmental Protection Base raised their glasses in excitement, inside the Spiritual Barrier of the First City Defense Line, in a building disguised as a high-security company, a floor-to-ceiling window shattered. A massive creature covered in black scales slid into the room, its body coiled around the building. It slowly crawled through the broken window and into the floor.The clerks nearby turned pale and stood against the wall, frightened. The creature was a gigantic serpent with scales, its eyes fierce and one of them blind. Its head was scarred, and it wore a beret, along with a military green vest with a formal ID clipped to the pocket.The hallway was spacious, but the serpent's massive body still seemed cramped as it moved. The lights flickered with each movement, casting a terrifying atmosphere over the quiet building. Armed personnel stood guard in the hallway, but they ignored the serpent, pressing themselves against the wall with their eyes closed, listening to the sound of its scales scraping against the floor.At the end of the hallway, a thick black wooden door was tightly shut. The serpent blew a breath, and the door splintered into pieces."When did your trainees start making plans without telling me?"The serpent slid past the door into a spacious, high-tech office. Its one eye fixed menacingly on the woman sitting in a swivel chair, her hair tied up. The serpent's movement seemed as if it was about to devour her.A secretary with black-framed glasses looked up from her desk beside the office."You may be a top investigator for the Foundation, but you should follow some rules," the woman in the swivel chair said calmly, turning to face the serpent. Despite its intimidating appearance, she showed no fear. "Why not transform into human form and take the elevator?""It would make others think our containment measures have failed again," she added.The secretary nodded and returned to her work, her eyes downcast."Isn't the Foundation's containment failing quite common?"The serpent coiled its body, its head held high, and spoke in a human voice: "I need an explanation.""What explanation?"The serpent's tone was harsh. "When you were still stealing your mother's high heels to pretend to be an adult, I was already betraying people. You said the Rose Plan was just to send him back and help us lure out the God's Death Knell, promising his safety no matter what.""Didn't we keep him safe?"The woman smiled faintly. "As far as I know, he is safe now.""Don't lie to me," the serpent retorted. "Even if I didn't realize it at first, can't you see now what your true intentions are? If you really wanted to retrieve the God's Death Knell, why send Qing Niao? She's my student; I know her nature. If you truly wanted to contain it, why did it escape?"The woman fell silent for a moment before responding, "You're right. Initially, we did plan to use him to retrieve the God's Death Knell.""From the day he entered the training camp, no, from the day we brought him back, we knew his power was connected to the Scarlet Demon. The Scarlet Demon's power was sealed within the God's Death Knell, proving he had an inseparable relationship with it... and that the God's Death Knell was definitely in Scrap Iron City.""Unfortunately, we spent three years researching and still couldn't understand how he, an ordinary person, could bear the most destructive Scarlet power. He wasn't a follower of the Scarlet Demon, yet he could control its power so freely.""Of course, that's not important. What matters is that he can bear the Scarlet power.""We knew that because of the same power source, the God's Death Knell would react when he returned. It would be driven by instinct to extract his Scarlet power, unifying the two. Since we were certain it would do so, wasn't this the perfect opportunity to use his body to truly retrieve the God's Death Knell?""The God's Death Knell wanted to reclaim the Scarlet power, and we wanted to use his body to seal it.""Unfortunately..."She shook her head. "The retrieval failed due to certain reasons.""The God's Death Knell spared him, which I didn't expect.""In our calculations, the God's Death Knell shouldn't have had such strong willpower at that time; it should have been driven solely by instinct."The serpent instructor couldn't help but laugh coldly. "Serves you right!""It doesn't matter if the plan was insufficient," the woman sighed. "We can't fully grasp the Scarlet power now.""Why must you fully grasp it?"The serpent pressed on. "After he helped you with the Scarlet weapon experiments in the training camp, you already had enough data. If the retrieval had succeeded, would he still retain his current will? He might have become a completely different person, fully taken over by the Scarlet will..."The woman didn't respond to this question, simply maintaining eye contact with the serpent.After a few seconds, the secretary looked up again."You!"The serpent's tail pointed at the secretary. "Look at me again, and I'll kill you."The secretary gripped her pen tightly."Leave now," the woman ordered, turning to the secretary. "Treat the Soaring Snake Instructor with respect.""Yes," the secretary replied, bowing slightly before leaving the office."I know you're angry, but this isn't the first time the Foundation has done something like this," the woman said, finally looking up at the serpent."Having a suitable vessel to seal the God's Death Knell is very important.""Important enough to surpass the life of a trainee."The serpent's eyes narrowed, and the office seemed to grow colder."I understand your intention," the woman said softly. "You're warning me not to do this again."She pulled out a file from her drawer, opened it, and showed the first page, which had a photo of Wei Wei. She fed the file into a shredder, watching as it was torn into pieces."So, I can assure you that the retrieval plan failed, and we won't try to use him again. We've recorded the Scarlet data, and the Scarlet series weapon prototype has found a new host.""So, you can rest assured now."She sighed. "Since last year, when he was about to graduate, you've been asking for his freedom.""Now I can tell you he has it."The serpent was taken aback, unsure of what to say.This woman had a terrifying ability to read people's minds. She had indeed given him what he wanted, but he had expected to make a scene to get this promise. Instead, she offered it freely, leaving him feeling somewhat deflated. He shook his head and suddenly laughed coldly. The room's electricity seemed to go haywire."If there's a next time..."The serpent glanced around, then used its tail to lift a coffee cup from the woman's desk. It drank the coffee, crushed the cup, and swallowed it."I'll devour you like this coffee cup," it said coldly."That was my favorite cup, signed by the famous actor Zhou Mu Hua..."The woman sighed, watching as the serpent left the office."By the way, I'll let the matter of you secretly hoarding military supplies slide this time, as an apology for this incident.""Supplies?"The serpent stiffened, insisting, "What supplies? Just a few bullets..."The woman didn't respond, simply watching the serpent."So, this time doesn't count. You owe me one favor!"The serpent's face turned red with embarrassment as it argued, then lowered its head and slid out of the office. It transformed into a man wearing black combat gear, with one eye blind and covered by an eyepatch. He adjusted his uniform, put on his badge, and walked out with confidence.In the corridor, he met the secretary with black-framed glasses and smiled. "Don't be angry, Xiao Xin. I was just putting on a show for your leader."The secretary looked at him coldly, expressionless."Don't look at your elders like that," the instructor said, his face stern. "I was thinking of introducing you to someone. I have a student who's very enthusiastic about everything, especially persuading people to do good.""How about I introduce you?"The secretary's expression remained cold for a moment before responding, "I am of age, so yes."As she turned to enter the office, she glanced back and said, "Don't deceive me."The instructor was taken aback, thinking to himself, "I've really done a lot for you, Wei... Not only did I get you bullets, but I also found you a match..."As the secretary entered the office, the woman pulled out another coffee cup, identical to the one destroyed, also signed by Zhou Mu Hua. She handed it to the secretary to refill it with coffee.Meanwhile, she opened a new file on her computer. The file was created just an hour ago and had an S-level security clearance. She began typing:"The God's Death Knell has been sent to the designated location. The first step of the Rose Plan is complete.""We have confirmed that the former high priest of the Twelve Gods Sect, Bai Li, who was hiding in a Life Cage in Scrap Iron City, is now dead.""We have confirmed the presence of the Rose Sect in Scrap Iron City and speculate that they have begun a new phase of their plan.""Recommendation: Initiate the second phase of the Rose Plan!"