Hou Chengzu ordered, "Once our people cut off the power, we'll infiltrate."
More than ten minutes later, the brightly lit Hope City suddenly plunged into darkness.
"Go."
Hou Chengzu's subordinates immediately took out grapple guns and shot ropes towards windows twenty to thirty meters away.
With a *whoosh*, the iron hook at the end of the rope deeply embedded itself into the wall.
The group quickly climbed into the room along the rope.
At this moment, the room's owner had just found a candle and lit it. He looked up to see seven or eight more people in his room.
Before he could even ask a question, he was killed by Liu Ying's sword.
After a simple cleanup of traces, Hou Chengzu and his men opened the door and headed towards the building where Qin Shilei lived.
Occasionally, they encountered family members of the Boulder Battle Group members, whom Hou Chengzu pacified with his soul-confusing technique.
Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the passage for vehicles to enter and exit the basement.
However, they found the passage completely sealed with concrete.
"Do they think this can stop me?"
At Hou Chengzu's signal, a middle-aged man in his thirties stepped forward and casually released a pangolin-like pet.
The pangolin rapidly began to dig into the concrete.
Before long, a hole wide enough for one person was dug.
Passing through the hole, they entered a spacious basement.
In the distance, they saw a phantom image of a city wall suspended about a meter above the ground in the center of the basement.
Liu Ying exclaimed excitedly, "Sect Leader, this must be the artifact that forms the city wall."
The group quickly rushed to the phantom image.
Hou Chengzu's eyes gleamed as he saw a palm-sized stone tablet, a small section of which was inserted into the ground beneath the phantom image.
Focusing his gaze, the attributes of the City Guard Tablet appeared in his vision.
Hou Chengzu laughed heartily, "Haha, heaven truly blesses me."
Liu Ying echoed, "Sect Leader's fortune is boundless. Such a peerless treasure is only fit for the Sect Leader to possess."
He paused, then added contemptuously, "This Qin Shilei is truly foolish. He couldn't even spare someone to guard this place. Did he really think Emerald Jade Garden was a dragon's lair that others couldn't enter?"
Hou Chengzu smiled, "Perhaps he feared internal theft."
He then reached out to grab the stone tablet.
Liu Ying saw that his Sect Leader was holding the stone tablet but not taking it away, and asked, "Sect Leader, is there something wrong with the City Guard Tablet?"
Hou Chengzu did not answer but instead roared, "Lift!"
Veins bulged on his right hand, clearly indicating he was exerting extreme force.
Unfortunately, the City Guard Tablet didn't budge.
Hou Chengzu nonchalantly retracted his right hand and said calmly, "You all try to take the City Guard Tablet."
Several subordinates stepped forward, attempting to pull out the City Guard Tablet, but none succeeded.
Liu Ying's eyes darted around, and he suggested, "Sect Leader, why don't we dig out the entire ground beneath the City Guard Tablet? I don't believe that won't work."
Hou Chengzu nodded, "Good."
The same person summoned his pangolin pet again.
The pangolin, which had easily dug through the half-meter wide concrete wall moments before, now couldn't budge the ground even half an inch around the City Guard Tablet.
"The city wall has expanded twice, indicating the City Guard Tablet can be changed. Why can't it move now?" Liu Ying asked, puzzled.
Hou Chengzu and the others were also full of confusion.
They had not noticed that the "Whimsical" attribute on the City Guard Tablet had been replaced by the "Rock-Solid" attribute.
Rock-Solid (Red): The formed city wall's durability is doubled, and the City Guard Tablet is as unyielding as Mount Tai.
A few days ago, Qin Shilei felt that Hope City was his base and didn't bother taking the City Guard Tablet elsewhere, so he re-fixed this attribute.
Hou Chengzu and the others then tried countless other methods but were still unable to move the small City Guard Tablet.
Not only could they not take the City Guard Tablet, but they couldn't even damage the city wall through it.
"No wonder no one was guarding it. It turns out the City Guard Tablet can't be stolen at all," Liu Ying gritted his teeth and said.
"I refuse to believe it," Hou Chengzu said fiercely. "Immediately go and capture Qin Shilei's father-in-law and mother-in-law. I will make them obediently deliver this City Guard Tablet to me."
With that, he led the group towards the top floor of the building.
He had already investigated and knew that An Qian's mother and the Zhang Cheng couple lived in the duplex suite on the top floor.
By now, the power had been restored.
Taking the elevator, the group quickly reached the top floor.
At Hou Chengzu's signal, a subordinate stepped forward and kicked the door open.
"Who?"
Zhang Qiang immediately stood up, blocking the door that was about to hit Kong Zhendong.
"Heh heh, they're all here. That's good, no need for me to find you one by one," Hou Chengzu sneered.
At this moment, the main members of the Boulder Battle Group were all in this room.
"It's you," Zhang Cheng asked, "Hou Chengzu, what do you want?"
Hou Chengzu waved his hand and released his pet, a huge golden python.
Suddenly, the spacious room became incredibly cramped, with half of the space occupied by the python.
Zhang Qiang's face darkened as he berated, "Hou Chengzu, if you don't want to die, get out of here immediately."
If he hadn't been afraid of accidentally harming He Yuyao and the unconscious An Qian and the others in the room, he would have immediately stabbed the opponent to death.
"Haha, guests are here, is this how you treat your guests?" Hou Chengzu said with a smile.
"Uncle Zhang, you and Aunt Zhang, go back to your room and protect An Qian and the others," Zhang Qiang said softly to Zhang Cheng.
He winked at Zhang Cheng, signaling him to send a signal to the members of the Boulder Battle Group.
"Everyone, don't move!" Hou Chengzu shouted. "If anyone moves again, I'll have the Yellow Dragon level this place, and you'll all be smashed to death."
Zhang Qiang said in a deep voice, "What do you want?"
"As long as you deliver the City Guard Tablet from the basement, we will leave immediately," Hou Chengzu stated his objective.
"So, you have your eyes on the City Guard Tablet," Zhang Cheng said with sudden realization. "Then let me see if you are qualified."
With that, he took a step forward and lunged at Hou Chengzu, his dagger thrusting towards the opponent's throat.
"In such a hurry to die?"
Hou Chengzu sneered, then unleashed a mental shockwave towards Zhang Qiang.
Zhang Qiang felt a sharp pain in his head and lost control of his body. Immediately, a colossal figure pounced towards him.
The slavering mouth of the great python was about to bite Zhang Qiang's head.
At this moment, an arrow shot out rapidly, aimed directly at the python's open mouth.
The python was forced to close its mouth, directly crashing into Zhang Qiang and sending him flying into the wall behind him.
He Kaige and the others immediately drew their weapons and charged forward.
The golden python swung its body, creating a gust of wind that swept towards the group.
Various furniture within the room splintered and flew.
Liang Xinhua and others, who were weaker, were swept away and slammed against the wall behind them.
Even He Kaige, a master at Black Iron Rank 9, was forced to retreat repeatedly.
"If you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me for being impolite," Hou Chengzu said sinisterly.
Liu Ying added, "Although our Sect Leader isn't on the rankings, his pet is a Yellow Dragon that has already advanced to the Silver realm. You'd best surrender obediently."
"Silver realm?" He Kaige and the others' faces changed drastically.
No wonder a Black Iron Rank 9 expert like him couldn't even withstand one blow from the python.
If the opponent's pet was truly in the Silver realm, then everyone present would likely be doomed.
The gap between the Silver realm and the Black Iron realm was simply too vast.
Although Zhang Cheng and the others were strong, they stood no chance against a Silver realm exotic beast, even if they attacked together.
"If you don't want to die, go and bring me the City Guard Tablet from the basement, or I'll have the Yellow Dragon eat you all." Hou Chengzu threatened again.
"A mere little snake dares to call itself a Yellow Dragon?"
Suddenly, a cold snort echoed in everyone's ears.