Chapter 858: Resolving Disorder Through Intelligence

Along the way, the Tang Sect battle vehicle's disguise system activated, and the surface of the car took on a deep blue hue that appeared to be black under dim environments. Only under the direct sunlight would it shimmer like a sapphire. This type of blue was referred to as cavansite blue by the Tang Sect, and it was derived from a type of mineral. It was extremely resistant to corrosion, and could strengthen the structural integrity of metals. Some mechas also had this type of material applied to their surfaces.

Thus, the Tang Sect battle vehicle sped onto the highway and traveled toward Heaven Dou City again.

Driving a car and riding in a car were two completely different experiences. Not only was this Tang Sect battle vehicle extremely smooth to drive, it was also very easy to control and he familiarized himself with it extremely quickly.

Less than two hours later, Heaven Dou City was already looming in the distance. Tang Wulin wondered whether the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult had been captured, and a heavy feeling settled in his heart as he thought back to the ordeal he'd suffered in the abandoned industrial site. The more he learned about the Holy Spirit Cult, the more he realized how much of a threat they posed to society and the entire federation. These bastards had to be weeded out as quickly as possible!

After exiting the highway, Tang Wulin drove onto a familiar main road that led toward Heaven Dou City. The situation was much the same as it had been a few days ago; there were still many victims lining the streets, but their numbers had clearly decreased, so it could be seen that the government was working toward providing lodging for them.

The reconstruction project would most likely have to go on for a long time. After all, the scale of the damage was immense, and the nature of this incident was downright abhorrent. Hopefully, this terrorist attack would unite the entire federation against the Holy Spirit Cult.

Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, Tang Wulin drove into the city. There was better order being maintained in the city, but there were also clearly far more patrolling police vehicles here.

If the presence of police vehicles was truly effective, then the attack would've never happened. Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh. However, having police presence in the area was better than nothing as it could at least instill a sense of calmness into the hearts of the city's residents.

The blacksmith association in Heaven Dou City was the headquarters of the blacksmith association, and Tang Wulin drove his car into a nearby alley. He then stopped the car before stowing it away into his storage ring, then making his way toward the blacksmith association building.

However, he immediately stopped after arriving at the entrance. It wasn't that he didn't want to go in; the problem was that the entrance had been completely blocked by countless people.

"Hand over the perpetrators! Hand over the perpetrators!" There were at least 1,000 people yelling like madmen in front of the association building. Some of the more vehement ones were even hurling rocks at the building.

A yellow line had been drawn in front of the entrance, and there were police officers present to maintain order, but it was quite clear that they were struggling to hold back the riot.

Tang Wulin was quite stunned to see this, and only after asking around did he realize the terrible situation that the blacksmith association was in.

According to the surveillance records, prior to the terrorist attack, the last place that at least close to 20 of the terrorists responsible for the attack had visited was none other than the blacksmith association.

In a major city like Heaven Dou City, there were soul surveillance cameras present on almost all of the important streets, so the surveillance footage was very clear.

There was no concrete evidence suggesting that the blacksmith association was related to the Holy Spirit Cult in any way, but the footage had been intentionally leaked by those wishing to implement their own sinister agenda. As such, the furious residents of Heaven Dou City immediately swarmed toward the blacksmith federation as a scapegoat.

The association building had been surrounded and attacked for many days already, and they could only keep their doors tightly shut. It was undoubtedly the case that this incident had severely dented the reputation of the blacksmith association.

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed slightly. He had absolute trust in his uncle-teacher; how could the blacksmith association possibly be related to Evil Soul Masters? Furthermore, how had the surveillance footage been leaked to the public? At the very least, the footage shouldn't have been released before a verdict was reached.

It didn't take a genius to see that someone was clearly trying to drag the blacksmith association through the mud!

Tang Wulin could clearly recall the incident during which his uncle-teacher had almost been assassinated. It was undoubtedly the case that the Holy Spirit Cult was behind that assassination. As the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent, his uncle-teacher was most definitely a thorn in the side of the entire Holy Spirit Cult as he refused to join them.

The general public was filled with trend-following lambs, and it was especially difficult for them to control their emotions after losing their loved ones in the recent attack. To make matters even worse, the government building of Heaven Dou City had been razed to the ground, and almost all of the high-ranking officials in the city were dead. The newly assigned officials were far too busy dealing with everything else on their plates to step forward and restore the reputation of the blacksmith association.

It was exactly due to these circumstances that the pressure on the blacksmith association was continuing to mount.

What should I do? 

A contemplative look appeared in Tang Wulin's eyes. He had come here and been made aware of this issue, so he had to think of a way to help his uncle-teacher somehow.

He wasn't in a hurry to enter the association building. Instead, he ducked into an inconspicuous corner and continued to observe in silence.

There were over 1,000 people gathered outside the building, and all of them refused to leave as they'd completely lost their objective thinking abilities. Many of the windows of the blacksmith association building had been smashed, and it appeared that his riot had been raging for more than a day already.

So what were they trying to achieve through this riot?

In order to take care of an issue, the first step required was objective analysis; this was a lesson that had been taught to Tang Wulin by Old Demon Sloth. In his words, the smartest people in the world were all lazy as only lazy people would think of ways to conserve time and effort.

Those who rushed into matters headfirst and missed the point entirely would only be wasting their time and energy. Only after ascertaining the target could a fast and accurate strike be made, thereby saving time and effort. With that saved time, one could do something more worthwhile, like taking a good nap.

Tang Wulin didn't entirely agree with Old Demon Sloth's words, but it had to be said that the general gist of his teachings was very valid.

In the past, he would've had no choice but to seek out his uncle-teacher and ask him about the current situation in the blacksmith association.

However, he was a lot calmer than he was in the past, and he was standing in a discrete location while carefully observing the riotous crowd.

With his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, he was able to easily observe everyone in the crowd in great detail. The first thing he did was scour through the crowd for the presence of Soul Masters.

This search returned a negative result; all of the rioters were normal people, and there wasn't even a single Soul Master among them.

However, he didn't give up there. Instead, he continued to observe. After around 10 minutes, Tang Wulin discovered that there were several leaders among these rioters, and they were distributed extremely evenly in the crowd.

Whenever the riot began to taper off and the chants began to subside, they would always step in to inspire a new wave of unrest.

There were a total of 16 such leaders among this huge crowd, and upon closer inspection, Tang Wulin discovered that all 16 of them were wearing communicators. These were extremely advanced miniature earpiece communicators, and Tang Wulin knew how much those things cost.

At the very least, members of the general public wouldn't be able to afford them, and even if they could, there was simply no reason to spend such a large chunk of their savings for such devices.

These individual traits couldn't prove anything on their own, but when combined together, they shed light on many things.

Furthermore, Tang Wulin was only searching for circumstantial evidence anyway.

Thus, he departed and stepped into a dimly-lit corner of the street.

"Hand over the perpetrators and punish the blacksmith association!" the crowd chanted vehemently.

"The president of the blacksmith association needs to come out and give us an explanation!"

"All members of the blacksmith association should be executed! You damn Evil Soul Masters..."

All types of vehement chants were ringing out incessantly.

All of a sudden, a figure sliced through the crowd like a bolt of lightning. He was extraordinarily fast, and a burst of invisible power was erupting from his body, forcing the crowd to make way for him.

He wore a yellow cloak and a yellow mask with a yellow agent badge from the Tang Sect pinned in front of his chest.

He raised a hand and grabbed onto one of the 16 leaders of the riot.

Immediately thereafter, before the crowd could react, he suddenly roared, "You're not getting away!"

Soul rings emerged around his body as he spoke, and a total of eight appeared, consisting of two yellows, two purples, and four blacks. An extremely powerful aura erupted from his body, and a series of massive vines emerged like giant pythons, rising up into the air before plunging into the crowd to ensnare the other 15 riot leaders.

There were over 1,000 people present, but all of them had fallen silent in astonishment.

"There's no need to panic, everyone; I've been deployed here by the Battle Hall of the Tang Sect to capture these criminals of the Holy Spirit Cult!" Tang Wulin's voice was infused with a hint of spiritual intimidation from his Golden Dragon Roar, and it immediately drowned out everyone else's voices.

The police officers quickly flocked to the scene, but after witnessing Tang Wulin's attire and the badge on his chest, as well as his soul rings, all of them stopped in their tracks.