The Garden of Red, as far as he knew, didn’t have an official name. It was merely one of the names people from the Nether Lotus Sect called it. The little man he had killed in the floating fortress had called it the Garden of Red, but it also had names like the Red Plains and the Sanctuary of Blood. Some even said it was merely a Coral Island or Red Island.

  Liu Xing observed that the island—where the nearby water was coated red as if the island itself was bleeding—was flat. There were no mountains on it, nor any building so big that it could be a landmark, though he could make out some walls and buildings in the distance. What he could see clearly, however, was that the island’s security was indeed tight.

  Around the island, silhouettes of ships circled like sharks smelling blood. To see them more clearly, Liu Xing stood at the edge of the ketch and cupped his hands around his eyes. He counted at least fifteen ships patrolling one side of the island. Each was as big as a vessel that could accommodate a thousand people. They were wooden ships that looked shining and brand new even from afar, with their purple sails catching not only wind but also qi, making them shine with a purple hue.

  Their movement pattern was obvious. They circled the island clockwise, with a gap of perhaps a kilometer between them. While the gap was quite wide, he could imagine that if a small, foreign ketch came closer, the patrolling ships would attack it without hesitation.

  Liu Xing closed his eyes and focused his qi sense. The qi around the island scattered in a strange pattern, as if the island were covered by a bird cage. While some qi could move into and out of the island, some clumped together in certain places, as if held by invisible walls. Not only that, but each ship also siphoned ambient qi to its sails while scattering qi all around it. It was as if each of the ships’ sails was a relay casting a wide, invisible net made of qi.

  Sensing this, Liu Xing opened his eyes and pinched his chin. While his qi sense was sharp, it was not better than that of others who specialized in it. If he could sense this net, it was either so strong that its detection didn't matter, or it was merely a decoy, and the real defense mechanism was another, more subtle barrier. He suspected there must be other defense mechanisms installed on the island that he still couldn't sense.

  Liu Xing closed his eyes again and tried to sense more of the qi around the area. He sensed two peculiar qi signatures. One was the red water around the island. It turned out it was not merely blood dumped from the island. It was also filled with qi that felt ominous and nauseating. Not only that, but the red water also moved in a rippling pattern, as if rocks were continuously thrown into it, creating continuous ripples. Liu Xing suspected that it was also a mechanism to detect intruders.

  Aside from the water, Liu Xing saw one other notable thing, this time not in the water, but in the air. Atop the island, hundreds of birds flew about. He didn't know their type—he knew nothing about birds—though he could see that each bird was black with red feathers along its back, and its beak was the color of gold. At first, Liu Xing thought they were normal birds, but he soon noticed they were spirit beasts. And while at first they looked to be flying randomly, a little observation revealed they were actually following a specific pattern.

  Compared to the communication relays, this Garden of Red had lavish security. He wondered how much this island was worth to the Nether Lotus Sect, and a desire to destroy it surged inside his heart. However, Liu Xing crushed his desire. He needed to be realistic. After all, while the security itself was impressive, the most dangerous thing was not the security but the people residing inside.

  "Should we move on, Liu Xing?" Yu Heng’s voice sounded from behind him. Then, he added, "You're confident in your invisibility, right?"

  The way Yu Heng said it sounded genuine and normal, like a friend asking an honest question, yet Liu Xing detected something in his voice. It was not quite a ridicule, but close to it. Liu Xing ignored it, though. He was indeed confident in his invisibility and would have flown to the island on his shark if not for Yu Heng and Mi Lian.

  Liu Xing didn't answer Yu Heng's question, but Yu Heng stopped the ketch.

  Liu Xing didn't mind. He was quite troubled by the situation.

  He felt he had only two options. He could either bring the ketch to the island or leave it behind while he infiltrated it. Both options were risky, though he realized the first one was borderline foolish. The second plan was not better, though. While it was true that the ketch could submerge, it could not do so for too long. What if the ketch needed to surface while he was still on the island? The Garden of Red's myriad security measures would likely detect the ketch and attack it promptly.

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  It seemed the best option was to turn around and sail far away from the Garden of Red. Then, Liu Xing would return to the island alone. This time, the ketch would be safe. However, as he thought about it, he realized the area was dangerous, not only because it was deep in Nether Lotus Sect territory but also because it was teeming with spirit beasts. They had not been attacked during their travel because they were invisible and hard to detect most of the time. The ketch was only visible when Liu Xing attacked Nether Lotus Sect bases, and even then, not for long.

  "Hmm, what to do, what to do?" Liu Xing muttered, trying to come up with a better solution. And indeed, one idea came to his mind.

  What if, instead of him infiltrating the Garden of Red, the gun infiltrated the island alone? Using the Eye of Lightning, he could steer the gun himself. However, he soon faced another problem. His range of control over the Eye of Lightning was wide, but he could not be too far from the island. And since the gun would be away, the ketch would become visible. If it was detected, people would promptly attack them, as in the first scenario, albeit with Liu Xing on the ketch.

  He thought for a whole five minutes. The ketch floated atop the sea, the gentle waves rocking it. In the end, he explained his thoughts to Yu Heng and asked for his opinion. Yu Heng thought for a while before he answered. "If you could infiltrate the island without taking a step there, I think it would be the best option."

  Both of them were invisible, so Liu Xing couldn't see his expression and could not glean more information from it. But he thought that while the advice was logical, he wondered whether it was also based on Yu Heng's desire for his own safety.

  "Hmm," Liu Xing pinched his chin.

  He was still not quite satisfied with his options. Idly, he thought it was because he needed to protect Mi Lian from the Nether Lotus Sect. Indeed, when he decided to take people under his wing, he needed to protect them and consider them when taking action. When he was alone, he was freer. He thought this situation validated his decision not to take the Mirror Tide Empire's offer, since the more people with him, the more he needed to consider them. However, he soon thought that perhaps working with the Mirror Tide Empire would improve this situation. He could put Mi Lian and Yu Heng under their protection.

  "Should I contact them?" Liu Xing wondered aloud.

  "Who?" Yu Heng said.

  Yu Heng must have known Liu Xing had not been talking to him, but it seemed that since it concerned him, Yu Heng had decided to ask.

  "The Mirror Tide Empire." Liu Xing answered. "I have a bit of a connection to them. They wanted me to join, but I refused. I'm wondering if now is the right time to accept their offer."

  "You should not," Yu Heng replied instantly. "They are a bunch of traitors. It was them who made my ancestors perish in the first place. I would rather be moving in the middle of enemy territory than joining them!"

  Liu Xing raised his eyebrows.

  "I am serious," Yu Heng said as he growled. "Never consider doing that!"

  "Even if it means endangering Mi Lian?"

  "In this world, there are some things that are nonnegotiable. For me, this is one of them."

  Liu Xing narrowed his eyes. He could perhaps force Yu Heng, but in doing so, he would make Yu Heng dislike him more. Not only that, but there was a chance Yu Heng would try to escape. If he failed, it would be all right, but in the off chance that he succeeded, it would only complicate matters.

  "All right," Liu Xing finally said. "I've decided how to approach this situation. I will infiltrate that island myself."

  In the end, he realized that using his gun to infiltrate the island was not a perfect plan either. He remembered on the island where he had met Bewitching Princess, Soft Oracle, and even Yu Yongrui, he had initially attacked merely using his gun. However, since there was a thread that connected the gun to him, an enemy located him, and in the end, he had fought alongside his gun.

  Of course, the purpose of that thread was so that he could reload the gun or absorb the bullets. Without a thread, the gun could likely travel farther. However, the problem is that the Eye of Lightning has a shorter range. Not only that, but without the thread, he could only send his gun without sending more bullets. While this was an infiltration mission, he was unsure if he could complete it with only six bullets.

  It seemed the only choice he had was to infiltrate the island while leaving Yu Heng and Mi Lian alone.

  When he explained it, Yu Heng initially argued that Liu Xing should stay, saying that the island was dangerous. However, since the man didn't want to ask the Mirror Tide Empire for help, he could only accept Liu Xing's decision. Still, Liu Xing appeased him by deciding to leave Tide Walker with him.

  Once the plan was formed, Liu Xing ordered Yu Heng to move away from the island. When the distance was sufficient to the point that they could not see the island, Liu Xing jumped into the air with his gun, making the ketch visible. But then, the ketch began to dive into the sea while activating its concealing function.

  Liu Xing left an Eye of Lightning inside the ketch, hoping the distance wouldn't be too great for him to see from it so he could monitor Yu Heng. Additionally, Liu Xing told Yu Heng one important thing. "Don't try to communicate with Mi Lian. That blue gem contains a lot of qi and could be detected by a strong enough sensor."

  Yu Heng replied with a flat expression and a simple, "Yes."

  When the ketch truly submerged, Liu Xing looked in the direction of the Garden of Red, inhaled deeply, willed his gun to make him invisible, and began to move.

  His mission to retrieve his belongings and find out about the Purple Moon Sect elder who was backing the Nether Lotus Sect had finally begun. Liu Xing wanted the mission to be clean and short, but he needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario too.

  joining us!