Chapter 9: What Follows Is the Usefulness of Waste
The combat power of the third-tier operatives from the Bell Tower wasn’t just for show; every deployment came at a painfully high cost. So, generally speaking, if a local police station could handle a problem on its own, they preferred not to trouble the Bell Tower’s big shots. Only when things truly spiraled out of control would they reluctantly call them in.
Putting the Bell Tower aside, in this era, most supernaturals were motivated solely by profit.
Only students like Ye Sheng, who had studied themselves into a daze and were so pure-hearted it was almost pitiable, would join battles as volunteers.
Most normal people considered it a moral victory if they didn’t seize the chance to extort or blackmail a little.
In the world of supernaturals, profit was paramount.
In that regard, it was no different from any other human circle in the old days.
But on the other hand, when something threatened public safety, someone had to step up and solve it.
That was the very reason inspectors existed—to mediate between the authorities and the Bell Tower, preventing petty disputes between local police and the Bell Tower from escalating into disasters.
Take tonight’s situation, for example. The police had hoped that Ye Sheng, who happened to be passing by and willing to fight for free, could solve the problem. But it seemed he was still struggling.
At this moment, the inspector put on a serious expression. “No more delays. If the contaminated area spreads and someone dies, heads will roll—yours included.”
“Uh, uh… yes, sorry. Please be patient, sir. Let’s have the righteous Solar Knight give it a try.”
“My patience is limited, officer. There’s only Ye Sheng who can fight. If you throw in some connections into the squad, won’t that just be a waste…”
“He’s not a connection. The Solar Knight is truly powerful!”
Seeing the female officer’s full trust, the inspector was momentarily at a loss for words.
Well, it was useless to reason with a stubborn fool.
A zero-tier high school student, huh? A mortal who hasn’t even passed the awakening test. If he dies inside the fog gate, there’s no way to bring him back.
Anyway, if the Li family blames someone afterward, it won’t be the inspector—he didn’t give the orders.
...
“That’s great! The righteous Solar Knight is here! We’re saved!”
One sharp-eyed officer noticed a humanoid figure approaching from afar and immediately brightened.
The atmosphere on site lightened, even those officers who had been cursing and feeling queasy after dying several times showed relieved expressions.
The inspector glanced sideways.
The figure was clad in dirty, ragged thief’s garb, with torn knickerbockers, and wore a rust-streaked metallic sun mask on his face.
This outfit barely qualified as an ancient artifact with supernatural attributes—a typical off-the-books mercenary’s gear.
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But it was just too shabby. Though both were styles of the Sixth Era, the spiritual Bell Tower investigators looked like ancient nobles who had traveled through time, while this guy looked like a pure street thug.
He hadn’t even brought his own weapon.
The inspector couldn’t help but recall a classic online taunt used against a certain supernatural who looked like a low-tier grunt—
“Seriously, just a minion.”
“This is a mechanical boss. If you can’t figure it out, it’s understandable.”
The Solar Knight’s first words almost made the inspector lose his composure.
No, dude.
What’s with that high-and-mighty tone?
The inspector sized the Solar Knight up and joked, “Working hard, huh? Out here doing side gigs in the dead of night.”
“Not bad,” Li Xingming glanced at the inspector through his mask. He detected the sarcasm but didn’t quite grasp its target.
He was used to this kind of treatment. Every time he took on outsourced security tasks, he faced skepticism and ridicule from those unfamiliar with the Solar Knight—especially since this fight involved a zero-tier mortal challenging a mid-second-tier elite supernatural creature.
Li Xingming didn’t bother explaining to the inspector. Instead, he paid more attention to a tall young woman standing near the anchor point.
He had noticed Ye Sheng as soon as he arrived. Among the crowd, Ye Sheng’s figure stood out distinctly, and her calm, aloof demeanor was completely out of place amidst the anxious, disheveled people.
From angles others couldn’t see, they exchanged hand signals to communicate. Ye Sheng kindly promised not to expose Li Xingming’s identity.
Li Xingming had no idea how Ye Sheng recognized him—perhaps intuition? For supernaturals, intuition was a vital combat skill, especially when facing unfamiliar monsters; battlefield decisions often came down to a flash of insight.
Never mind that for now. The priority was to clear the contaminated zone, get paid, and leave.
Li Xingming laid out the contents of his backpack in a neat row on the ground, ignoring the inspector’s unfriendly glare as he began his pre-battle preparations.
Ye Sheng, intrigued, crouched beside him to watch.
Inspired by the expert, others also gathered around to observe.
The Solar Knight’s quick thinking and knack for clever tactics made calling him in a smart move. If they didn’t summon a third-tier Bell Tower expert for this contaminated zone, they’d probably have to resort to some dark arts.
“Bringing so many crack pots… looks like you’re preparing to make throwable weapons.”
“To defeat a stronger foe with the weak, you really do have to rely on projectiles.”
“But this monster’s defense is too thick. Will it actually work?”
“What’s in these bottles… holy crap, it stinks!”
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As Li Xingming twisted open a water bottle, a pungent stench burst forth, overwhelming the area and forcing the officers who had gathered close to retreat.
Li Xingming explained, “Concentrated rebuttal. On the way here, I stopped by a public restroom and bought this from the attendant. Perfect for making feces bombs.”
“Ugh… dude, feces bombs are poison-type, but this granite hellhound is immune to biological toxins. What’s the point?”
Others nodded in agreement and hastily put on their masks.
Feces bombs were a common throwable weapon among low-tier supernaturals. In polluted zones or underground ruins where modern tech often failed, they were a low-cost biological weapon.
The manufacturing was simple: fill an empty “crack pot” with filth, then seal it with runes that triggered upon impact.
As a zero-tier mortal, being able to skillfully draw basic runes and craft simple supernatural tools was impressive—mortals usually couldn’t perceive the flow of spiritual energy to prepare such items.
Even the inspector had to admit that solid foundational students were becoming rare. Not to mention zero-tier, many so-called awakened college students were useless—they struggled even to craft throwable bombs independently.
But was all this really going to help clear the contaminated zone?
It was a “Granite Mechanism Hellhound,” a stone dog! Immune to toxins, brother.
Li Xingming shook his head, choosing not to explain further, focusing instead on crafting.
Feces bombs weren’t convenient to carry long distances, best made fresh on site—and he still needed to add more ingredients.
He pulled out a few chocolate bars bought from a convenience store, tore open the wrappers, broke them up, and mixed the pieces into the half-finished feces bombs…
Damn, what kind of supernatural is this? Can I ask?
The inspector was dumbfounded.
“So, boss, this kid really is something special, right?” the female officer said proudly, as if showing off a hometown specialty to outsiders.
“Hopefully, he actually has a plan and isn’t just putting on a show… Wait, since when are you wearing a gas mask?” The inspector glanced suspiciously at the woman, who was now fully covered by a black military-grade gas mask.
“We’ve watched the Solar Knight’s fights several times on site. I had the gas mask ready when he accepted the mission in the group chat!”
“So, you mean his past fights were… uh, smelly?”
“Heh~”
Okay, that’s very Maple Syrup.
While everyone chatted away, Li Xingming finished making seven throwable bombs. He borrowed a tactical belt from the officers, hung the bombs around his waist, and borrowed a plain melee weapon.
Then, touching the fog gate, he stepped into the contaminated zone to begin a new round of challenges.
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