Lantern Sister is still very capable.

Chapter 170 Going to Beijing

"I heard you have a space-type crystal core?" the uninvited guest asked presumptuously.

Chu Deng wasn't too surprised to hear this. "Yes, level three. What's wrong?"

"Trade with me, I have a level three fire element crystal core."

Chu Deng smiled and said, "Dream on, I'm not trading."

This person clearly thought she was clueless and wanted to exchange an easily obtainable fire-type crystal core for a rare space-type one.

"Alright then." Seeing that he hadn't fooled Chu Deng, Xiao Yuan seemed to give up. "Xiao Yuan, Level 3 Space System, a member of this transport mission."

As he spoke, he extended his hand and smiled at Chu Deng in a seemingly friendly manner.

"Chu Deng, level four fire element." Chu Deng blinked and seemingly without any suspicion, grasped Xiao Yuan's hand.

Xiao Yuan's expression changed, his lips instantly turning pale from tension. The next second, he gritted his teeth and uttered a sentence, "Let go."

"If you misuse your abilities again, you won't be so lucky," Chu Deng warned, then let go of his hand without further trouble.

Xiao Yuan, who had just met the captain and was reprimanded, shook his reddened hand, the burning pain still lingering in his palm.

He had just planned to use his superpower to secretly transfer the space-type crystal core from Chu Deng's body, and then compensate him with a few fire-type crystal cores. In any case, he couldn't lose out by keeping the space-type crystal core in his own hands.

Unexpectedly, Chu Deng was a tough opponent. He was detected as soon as he made a move, and Chu Deng countered fiercely with his fire-type ability.

"As expected of the first Level 4, he's not someone to mess with," Xiao Yuan thought to himself, his eyes darting around as he looked at Chu Deng beside him, his heart pounding.

Chu Deng looked at the messages on his personal terminal and replied to a few messages to his family members who cared about him. Jin Xiaoyue was playing in a competition and couldn't contact him. The last message was a message of condolence from Chu Deng when he first arrived in Guangdong Province more than ten days ago.

Chu Deng looked into the provincial competition and found it to be one of the most prestigious events for superhumans in the country. The top performer from each province would advance directly to the national competition, where over thirty superhumans from each level would compete to determine the top three. It was not only a symbol of honor, but the prize money was also incredibly generous, which made Chu Deng quite tempted.

Unfortunately, there are no Level 4 competitions.

This is understandable. The highest level is five, and level four is considered a high level among superhumans. The battle scenes are also difficult to control. In the competitions that Chu Deng watched, level four people mostly acted as referees to organize the superhumans who went berserk in the competitions of level one, two, and three.

However, besides the Superpowered Individuals Competition, there is another well-known selection process popular among Superpowered Individuals—the Dragon Group Selection.

I heard that it's not part of the same system as the competition. The provincial and national competitions for superhumans are organized by the superhuman bases in each province, but the Dragon Group selection is organized by the military.

Most of the selected experts do not show themselves directly; many are on secret missions. Moreover, once they join the Dragon Group, they cannot leave within five years.

“Now, apart from the provincial level four directors who have left the Dragon Group and come out into the public eye, there are still more than thirty level four ability users in the country who have stayed in the Dragon Group to carry out missions. Even those level four directors have been in the Dragon Group.”

Jiang Guoqiang's words echoed in his ears. Upon closer reflection, they seemed to have another meaning. All the Level 4 members had served in the Dragon Group, and Jiang Guoqiang still held a military rank, indicating that he was still responsible for the Dragon Group. Chu Deng roughly understood what the Dragon Group's responsibilities were.

Aside from some classified missions, it should include the supervisory and judicial responsibility of handling abnormal individuals with special abilities.

"If possible, I would still like you to join the Dragon Group... The Dragon Group is currently investigating Pei Hanxing's matter. If you'd like, I can put you into this investigation mission after you join."

A blatant and overt conspiracy.

Chu Deng's heart skipped a beat the moment she heard that name. She touched the metallic card in her pocket with her fingertips, lost in thought.

"Knock knock knock—" The doorbell ringing from the simulator interrupted Chu Deng's thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm a little late."

As soon as the door opened, Chu Deng heard a familiar voice.

She silently looked at Jin Dahai in front of her, and Jin Dahai also looked at Chu Deng in surprise. When the two looked at each other, Xiao Yuan stood up.

"Uncle, you're so slow! You're finally here."

"Uncle Jin?" Chu Deng had no choice but to greet him.

"Chu Deng, what are you doing here?" Jin Dahai asked in surprise, then turned to Xiao Yuan and asked, "Could the bodyguard you mentioned be Chu Deng?"

"You two know each other?" Xiao Yuan asked, tilting his head.

After communicating with Jin Dahai, Chu Deng understood the situation.

Jiang Guoqiang was treating her like two people, not only making her responsible for transporting the Fire Tree, but also escorting Jin Dahai and Xiao Yuan to the capital.

Xiao Yuan wanted the Level 3 Space System Crystal Core because he was injured in Shantou and urgently needed the crystal core to help him heal. He was investigating the lack of support for the space barrier in Shantou when he was ambushed by Hong Shang's men and seriously injured. He will not be able to use his teleportation ability extensively in the near future.

Chu Deng's trip to Beijing required her to take an elderly, infirm, and disabled person with her, traveling by sea to Shanghai, then by high-speed rail, and finally by plane to Beijing.

"There's no other way. Someone's watching us secretly, so we have to take turns traveling, and we have to change our identities along the way." Xiao Yuan tossed an identity document to the two of them, and as he raised his hand, a suitcase fell in front of him.

Teleportation space system. Chu Deng determined Xiao Yuan's attribute from the fluctuations in his supernatural power.

Jin Dahai was already used to Xiao Yuan's actions. He took a lump of black mud-like substance from Xiao Yuan's hand and skillfully smeared it on his face.

The black mud film clung tightly to Jin Dahai's skin, constantly changing color, becoming closer and closer to the skin tone on Jin Dahai's neck, finally settling on a face completely different from Jin Dahai's.

Chu Deng understood the whole process and followed suit, sticking a sticker on her face.

Xiao Yuan tossed two more personal computers to them and said to Chu Deng with a grin, "This time, Uncle is our uncle. I'm the older brother, and you're the younger sister. Uncle adopted us two siblings, but he suddenly fell ill and needs to go to Beijing for treatment. I'll take you with me to Beijing to see a doctor for Uncle."

After explaining the setting, Xiao Yuan said to Chu Deng, "Come here, little sister, call me brother."

"Childish," Chu Deng replied, ignoring Xiao Yuan who was trying to take advantage of her, and put the pink quantum computer on her wrist.

"We're all family," Jin Dahai said with a smile, trying to smooth things over. "By the way, what illness do I have?"

He works in the medical field, and he's confident he can convincingly portray any illness.

“Infertility,” Xiao Yuan said.

"Huh?" Jin Dahai was stunned. How was he supposed to act this out?

While the three were still getting to know each other, Jiang Guoqiang went to visit Wan Hongdong.

"Don't you think Chu Deng's rise was too fast?"

"I don't think so." Jiang Guoqiang's words silenced all of Wan Hongdong's suspicions.

"No, I, Lao Wan, am not the kind of person who repays kindness with enmity. It's just that I've been watching the surveillance footage repeatedly these past few days and I've noticed something strange," Wan Hongdong said.

"what?"

“Chu Deng is too calm.” Wan Hongdong scratched his head. “Too calm. Even Bai Mei couldn’t accept the death of Yu San. She’s just an eighteen-year-old girl, yet she managed to defeat two already famous masters against such a powerful enemy…”

“Sometimes geniuses are just unreasonable,” Jiang Guoqiang said slowly.

Wan Hongdong was speechless. Recalling his experience of being crushed by Jiang Guoqiang back then, he slowly accepted it. "Alright, as long as you know what's going on."

Jiang Guoqiang thought to himself, "If I know, how could I not know? But Chu Deng can only be one of us, not an enemy."

Fortunately, Chu Deng is not a true lone wolf. He deliberately combined the two tasks in order to strengthen Chu Deng's anchor point, and Jin Dahai was just one of them.

"By the way, Jin Laicheng is dead this time. I'd like to ask for a few days off to go back to west Province to tell my old friend," Wan Hongdong said.

Jiang Guoqiang had no objections. Back then, Wan Hongdong also wanted to give an explanation to his friends who were tortured and killed by Jin Laicheng.

"By the way, I remember you investigated the Kim family back then?" Jiang Guoqiang suddenly thought of the recent news from South Korea.

"You still remember, old captain? It was my fault for breaking the rules back then, and I was only spared punishment because you turned a blind eye." Wan Hongdong smiled, feeling a little embarrassed as he recalled the past. He had caused Jiang Guoqiang a lot of trouble back then, and he still hadn't repaid the favor.

"If you still have the documents, give me a copy. The Kim family in South Korea has been acting strangely lately." Jiang Guoqiang thought of the gloomy heart he saw in the Kim family documents and hoped it was just his imagination.