After driving Peng Shirley home, the guards had already arrived. Xiao immediately stepped forward and asked,
"How's the investigation going?"
"They're all well-known local thugs. None have had contact with foreign forces. Do you want to interrogate them?"
The guard handed over the report.
"No need. They're just pawns," Xiao said, shaking his head, tossing the report into the trash. With Peng Shirley's beauty, it was far too easy to deliberately attract a few local ruffians.
"How do we deal with these gangsters?" the guard asked.
"What do you mean, 'how'? Handle them strictly according to the law! Whoever is behind them or whatever their background, send them to dig coal for three years for labor reform. And as for molesting women in public… there's no leniency. Even if someone pleads for mercy, the people behind them will also be investigated. One less person on the streets!"
Xiao slammed the table and scolded loudly. This young comrade's awareness was too low. Anyone bold enough to chase or intercept a beautiful woman like Peng Shirley had probably bullied others frequently in daily life.
"Yes!" the guard responded helplessly and retreated. He clearly had no stomach for such enforcement.
In the following days, Xiao visited Peng Shirley whenever he had the chance.
Their relationship grew quickly—though each harbored their own ulterior motives—but every time Xiao tried to take a step closer, Peng Shirley would skillfully avoid it.
As the saying goes, "those who cannot eat are the hungriest, while those who have eaten don't care." Peng Shirley's method of keeping Xiao interested without giving herself away was flawless.
Xiao not only didn't take advantage of her, but he also gathered a wealth of intelligence through her, quietly passing it along to the higher-ups. Unbeknownst to her, this information had been deliberately planted and filtered by Xiao in advance.
Whenever Peng Shirley shared her findings, she needed to offer substantial benefits to China, reducing suspicion. Over time, China gained enormous profits, uncovering hidden agents embedded deep within their own territory—nails long buried, now unearthed.
The higher-ups didn't act rashly to arrest anyone. Many "spies" were actually useful tools. If needed, feeding them false information could cause major losses to their original handlers.
And the secret behind this smooth intelligence operation? Dimensional warriors trained by Xi Hanmei.
These ghost-like warriors had become the most formidable force in China. After Xiao delegated military power to Xi Hanmei, he became a hands-off commander. Training and reorganizing the army were all left to her.
Yet Xiao had poured great effort into cultivating these soldiers. They were his private army, and he could mobilize them at will.
He provided them with two essential tools:
Dimensional Key – allowed travel between reality and dimensional space.Dimensional Vision – could observe the essence of things from a higher-dimensional perspective and monitor outside the dimension invisibly.
Those being observed couldn't detect the observer, since they existed in different time-spaces. Xiao only granted the secondary observational ability, stripping away high-dimensional powers.
After months of refinement, Xi Hanmei and her team combined the dimensional key with coordinate-based observation, creating a secret force: the Mengji Army.
Primary warriors: Fixed-point observation of coordinates, like stationary drones.Intermediate warriors: Move coordinates to observe multiple locations. Flexible, nearly invisible.Senior warriors: Can teleport between coordinates, perform precise strikes.Top warriors: Must manage multiple coordinates in one second, rivaling the Flying Thunder God technique. They can open space doors for remote transmission—true elites.
Even with extensive investment and a year of training, only a few could reach top-level status. Each was a national treasure, rarely deployed.
Once in action, they became death gods harvesting lives. The highest recorded feat: over 300 enemy soldiers killed in a single night.
On the day the army was officially formed, the president himself personally named them the Mengji Army:
Mengji: a legendary leopard-like beast, white with forehead patterns, expert at lurking and hiding.
Their duties were clear: lurk, hide, steal, assassinate, constantly monitor the capital, and maintain national stability.
Even with dimensional powers, tracking a mortal was not easy. You might be stabbed without ever knowing who did it.
Just as Peng Shirley smiled triumphantly, imagining the glory of completing her mission and returning home…
The bad guys obtained the information they wanted, yet still craved more: divine blood, eternal life, power.
These words constantly weighed on the upper management of Mufang, making them breathe heavily. Even the most powerful people were still mortal—long life and more power were their ultimate desires.
Peng Shirley was issued a death order: she was to become the mother body of divine descendants, ensuring the retrieval of one at all costs.
The moment this new order was given, her triumphant smile froze—but it didn't vanish. Instead, it shifted. Now, it was Xiao's turn to smile.