Chapter 113: Mutation of True Qi

General Lucas, the commanding officer of the border planet military district, looked with absolute helplessness at Zhao Li standing rigidly at attention inside the communicator. When Zhao Li had originally requested permission to launch the attack, Lucas had never imagined that Zhao Li would carry it out so thoroughly.

He was well aware of the actual combat capability of those two hundred troublemaking soldiers. Even after Zhao Li's short-term disciplinary training, in Lucas's eyes, they would at best look somewhat orderly in military appearance and discipline, while their true combat effectiveness could never be very high.

That was precisely why he had agreed to Zhao Li's request in the first place. Letting Zhao Li make a fuss would help reign in the lazy attitudes of those unruly soldiers, and it could also serve as a reward for Zhao Li. After all, Zhao Li had provided a solid two billion purple crystals and was, strictly speaking, his direct subordinate; it was only proper to look after him.

To ensure that Zhao Li would give up after experiencing a harsh reality check, General Lucas had even purposely approved Zhao Li's request to use a tier-one weapon from the armory. In his view, Zhao Li would never casually deploy those weapons, and those rowdy soldiers would only suffer a humiliating defeat. Afterward, Zhao Li would quietly hunker down in Golden Five-Star and wait for the spotlight to fade before being reassigned.

Yet, it was precisely these troublesome soldiers who delivered a massive surprise to General Lucas. The Black Prison mercenary organization, ranked third in Golden Five-Star, had been launched against twice and practically swept completely clean. Not only that, but Wen Tianming, a major drug lord, had also been captured alive and was currently detained right in the Golden Five-Star military camp.

Five soldiers had sacrificed their lives, but to someone of General Lucas's high rank and heavy authority, that was merely a casualty statistic. Compared to the bountiful results achieved, it was simply not worth mentioning.

However, although these achievements looked impressive on the surface, General Lucas knew that any casually dispatched squad of special forces could have accomplished the exact same thing. The real issue was that the results Zhao Li had secured directly contradicted the military's established policies and attitudes toward the border planets.

If things were allowed to develop this way, the Golden Five-Star region would soon shake off its chaotic state, which ran counter to the original intention of using the borderlands to forge elite troops and seasoned commanders.

At the same time, the enthusiasm of a subordinate like Zhao Li could not be crushed. If he praised him, this matter would require considerable effort to clean up afterward. If he didn't praise him, this kid had actually used a bunch of stragglers to achieve extraordinary military exploits. It left General Lucas in a very difficult position.

"I believe I specifically explained the unique nature of the border planets to you, am I correct?" On the screen of the communicator resting on Zhao Li's desk, General Lucas wore a stern expression.

"Yes, General!" Zhao Li maintained his posture of attention and answered earnestly. He had already drafted the report according to his own intentions and transmitted it to General Lucas via the military network. The fact that Zhao Li could contact General Lucas directly was a privilege he had earned only by giving up at least one billion purple crystals.

"Then you should also be very well aware of what kind of impact the consequences of your actions will have on the entire border planet! Am I right?" Another heavy-toned question was thrown squarely at Zhao Li.

"Yes, General!" Zhao Li offered no useless pretexts and admitted it directly.

"Then tell me, how are we supposed to clean up the mess created by this current situation?" Hearing Zhao Li confess immediately without even offering an explanation, General Lucas couldn't help feeling a surge of irritation. "How are we supposed to deal with those politicians in the local government when they come out to cross-examine us?"

"Reporting to the General!" Hearing that, Zhao Li realized the General hadn't carefully read his report yet. "When we launched our final assault, aside from bringing back the drug lord Wen Tianming for detention, we handed everything else over the local police. This was a successful anti-narcotics operation conducted by the local police force. They apprehended hundreds of drug traffickers and eliminated hundreds more. The local anti-narcotics police took the leading role, while the military merely acted in a supporting capacity."

As soon as Zhao Li said this, General Lucas already understood what he was trying to say, and when he replied, a trace of a smile inadvertently crept into his tone. "You rascal, you gave away a massive merit to the local police for free. With such prominent political achievements, of course no one would be foolish enough to make things difficult for you. But everyone knows what really happened—do you really think you can muddle your way through?"

"Everyone understands, but no one will say it out loud, General!" Zhao Li had already figured this out long ago. When it came to their own political achievements and benefits, no one would make things hard for themselves. Since the military had so proactively relinquished the credit, those politicians would be rushing to grab it; how could they possibly expose the military? Zhao Li understood this point clearly, and the General understood it even better.

Moreover, the clever part was that Zhao Li's report explicitly stated that the final assault was a joint operation launched by the local police and the military. The truth as the General imagined it was that only the military had struck, while the local government believed the exact same thing. As for anyone else reading this report, they would take the document at face value, completely masking Zhao Li's "heroic feat" of single-handedly storming the enemy camp.

"General, if the local government doesn't want this major credit, then it won't hurt for us in the military to step forward and take the spotlight," Zhao Li continued, following the General's train of thought. "Cracking down on drug traffickers and maintaining regional peace are inherently the duties of us soldiers. Our troops successfully completed their mission and deserve to be commended and rewarded."

"Lieutenant, I have never once told you about the military's guiding principles for handling the border regions, have I?" Suddenly, inexplicably, General Lucas asked Zhao Li such a question. Zhao Li froze for a second before instantly reacting.

"Yes, General, you have never told me about the importance of the border regions or the military's deployment intentions here. As a mere lieutenant, I wouldn't know about these top-level military secrets either. All of this was simply a normal military mission, and higher authorities cannot use this excuse to find fault with me." He spoke utter nonsense with his eyes wide open—having just implicitly acknowledged that the General had indeed told him about the military's policies regarding the border regions, he now flatly denied it. The General naturally understood what he meant, smiled, and nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

"Regardless of anything else, two soldiers were attacked during their leave, resulting in one death and one critical injury. The Black Prison mercenary organization has already taken responsibility for this. They confessed to it themselves, and there is video evidence broadcasted on the Golden Five-Star city television station—the ironclad proof is undeniable!" Zhao Li stood ramrod straight as he quickly recounted the events.

"If an incident happens to our military personnel and we turn a blind eye, condoning and harboring the murderers, then as the local military commander, I would end up facing a military court, General!" It seemed Zhao Li had laid out all the justifications for his actions beforehand, making it clear that he was merely forced into self-defense.

Under these circumstances, even if the upper echelons of the military wanted to target Zhao Li over this incident, they couldn't find a suitable excuse. Everyone present commanded troops and naturally knew the correct way to handle such matters; furthermore, Zhao Li had sought General Lucas's consent beforehand. If anyone insisted on holding someone accountable, the blame would fall squarely on the General himself. By speaking this way, Zhao Li practically dragged General Lucas down into the water with him.

"Very well, Lieutenant. I hope you maintain this exact reasoning for your actions in front of anyone!" General Lucas nodded, praising Zhao Li's explanation as if he completely overlooked Zhao Li's ultimate objective. Aside from the fact that Zhao Li's operation disrupted the military's consistent principles regarding the border planets, from every other perspective, Zhao Li's merits far outweighed his faults. To find a legitimate excuse to punish him would be nearly impossible. Besides, as the commanding officer of a military district, taking responsibility for minor matters like this was well within his capabilities.

"How do you plan to handle the other factions?" The General seemed extremely well-informed about the intricate and complex local powers. "It seems they also admitted that their organizations were involved, didn't they?"

"I want to use this opportunity to sort out the various factions in Golden Five-Star." Facing the General, Zhao Li voiced his true thoughts. "Perhaps this can help re-establish the military's image in the border regions!"

The General began to ponder slowly in silence. Zhao Li didn't speak either, waiting quietly for the General's verdict. In reality, Zhao Li had already discussed these points with Kang Hongyuan beforehand, and their subsequent action strategies had been meticulously analyzed by the old man Kang Hongyuan. They were by no means shooting in the dark.

Kang Hongyuan believed that under the current circumstances, the rebel forces had occupied two immigrant planets, and the places used by the military to train soldiers could now be arranged directly on the actual battlefield; there was no longer any need to persist with traditional training doctrines in the border regions.

Secondly, the military's operations on the battlefront against the rebels were not going smoothly, and public opinion regarding the military was largely critical. Although no one believed the military was intentionally holding back, most media outlets still felt that the military's attitude was perfunctory and that they were merely going through the motions.

A succession of failures certainly wouldn't foster a good image. If the military could sweep through and clean up the border regions in one fell swoop, it would also serve as a positive publicity campaign for the military's reputation.

Thirdly, while the rebels were still running amok, if certain figures on the border planets couldn't help jumping out to form another force that threatened the government and the people, it would not only cause the military to lose face, but the ruling government wouldn't have an easy time of it either. Therefore, the government would never allow such a faction to emerge.

That being said, sanitizing the border planets might very well be put on the agenda. Even if it didn't lead to large-scale military operations, replacing the previous lax control with a firm grip over the entire region was entirely possible. In that case, Zhao Li could completely leverage this opportunity to eradicate the underground syndicates in the Golden Five-Star region once and for all.

Sure enough, as soon as the proposal was raised, General Lucas hesitated slightly, as if he hadn't yet made up his mind—perhaps waiting for instructions from even higher levels. But regardless, it seemed his gamble hadn't missed the mark.

"Do you have any certainty of success?" Curiously, the General asked such a question.

"No, General!" Zhao Li answered honestly. No matter what, the government forces were still too few in number. Black Prison had suffered a massive defeat because they were caught off guard. Trying to replicate that success against the Black Dragon Society and the Fierce Tigers wouldn't be nearly as easy now that they had been put on guard. According to intelligence reports, those two organizations not only had greater numbers, but their equipment was also far superior.

"Hmph, I don't care what kind of actions you plan to take, but remember one thing: report to me before you take any action. I do not want to see a situation where you carry out unauthorized military operations!" General Lucas was also astonished that Zhao Li had managed to accomplish the mission of eliminating the Black Prison mercenaries using those two hundred unruly soldiers. While reassessing Zhao Li's capabilities, he also tightened his constraints on him.

"Yes, General!" Zhao Li responded immediately to the General's command without the slightest bit of hesitation.

"In addition, you didn't hand Wen Tianming over to the local police—how do you plan to handle him? He is the number one criminal ringleader. Without him, the credit will be reduced significantly, and the local government will likely come asking you for him." Having settled those matters, the General's topic shifted to the prisoner.

"I detained him back in the military camp on the grounds that Wen Tianming possesses and has attempted to leak classified military secrets. For a short time, the local government shouldn't raise any objections." Zhao Li had given serious thought to this matter and responded quite naturally.

"However, if time drags on, the local government will undoubtedly demand this drug lord boss for trial and sentencing. Anti-narcotics enforcement falls under civil jurisdiction, and it's inconvenient for the military to interfere. I would like to request that the General dispatch a few interrogation specialists over here. After all, he is a very wealthy drug dealer." When he said this, Zhao Li heavily emphasized the word "wealthy."

Of course, this wasn't to say the General couldn't think of this himself; rather, it was a reminder to the General not to hand these benefits over to the local government. Due to the rebel situation, the military's budget had been somewhat constrained lately. If they could acquire some funds through such informal channels, it would help alleviate the military's current predicament. As for how to convert this batch of illicit funds into normal military spending, that would depend on how the upper echelons of the military operated. Zhao Li couldn't express any opinions on that matter. Zhao Li didn't spell it out too clearly; he merely highlighted Wen Tianming's characteristics. The General was an old hand and naturally understood his meaning—he had even been deliberately testing Zhao Li regarding the disposal of Wen Tianming. Listening now, this little fellow Zhao Li was not only politically savvy, but also extremely sharp.

Giving Zhao Li an appreciative look, General Lucas was thoroughly satisfied with his perceptiveness. Bringing up the disposal of Wen Tianming was done with the hope that Zhao Li would use a reasonable excuse to detain him beforehand, and once they got what they wanted from him, it wouldn't matter how he was handled afterward.

"The interrogation specialists will arrive tomorrow. Tighten security over the next few days and do not plan any external military operations for the time being." Finally, the General issued specific commands, which Zhao Li naturally obeyed.

Hanging up the communicator, Zhao Li pulled his fist downward and whispered, "Yes!" He had successfully muddled through and even left a good impression in front of his commanding officer. Old man Kang's idea was truly extraordinary. However, would he, as a leader, tolerate his own subordinates using such deceitful tactics to fool both superiors and subordinates? He would definitely have to ask about that when he got the chance.

However, Zhao Li soon discovered an awkward reality that left him unsure of how to evaluate it. The refined true qi mass was circulating smoothly through the meridians of the nameless technique. Yet just a moment ago, it seemed to have suddenly returned to the Dantian, automatically flowing along the meridians of the basic body-tempering technique within the Ren and Du channels. Meanwhile, the meridians of the nameless technique were now filled with an entirely different strand of true qi. That strange true qi was extremely weak; to Zhao Li's senses, it felt as weak as the true qi he had when he first began practicing combat techniques.

This true qi neither repelled Zhao Li's meridians nor the refined true qi mass. It flowed quite naturally through the meridians of the nameless technique, and aside from its extremely low intensity, there were no abnormal sensations whatsoever.

When he actively attempted to invoke the refined true qi, Zhao Li was stunned to discover that the refined true qi completely ignored his conscious control and refused to flow into the full-body meridians of the nameless technique. However, when he switched back to the basic body-tempering technique, he could control it effortlessly, smoothly and fluidly.

What was going on here? Zhao Li couldn't help feeling a sense of bewilderment. After experimenting repeatedly, he finally confirmed that the refined true qi mass could no longer enter the meridians of the nameless technique at all. The current nameless true qi was reduced to nothing more than that single, feeble strand.

Realizing this fact, a roar echoed in his mind, and Zhao Li turned pale with shock. Could his cultivation have been completely crippled just like that?