Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

"Recently, Kabia’s opposition forces stormed the capital. The leader of the armed group, Nesri, has been sworn in as the new Grand Commander."

"The Kabian opposition forces have temporarily detained several hundred of our workers in an industrial zone within the country. They’ve signed a document demanding the repossession of ownership rights to our thirty-four mining sites in Kabia."

"Our relevant departments have expressed grave concern over the matter."

The news didn’t get much traction. After all, Kabia was on the other side of the world, and there were always more sensational stories happening at any given moment. If Gu Zhao hadn’t specifically searched for it, he might not have even come across the story.

To be honest, even if he had seen it, he might not have paid it much mind. Even Gu Zhao didn’t believe this so-called Kabia would dare to harm the several hundred of our workers in the industrial zone.

But seizing the mining resources was another matter entirely.

Signing contracts to trade infrastructure and factories for mineral resources was supposed to be a win-win partnership. However, if the other party had ill intentions, they could just seize everything after the projects were completed. In a situation where our military couldn’t intervene, it was a truly difficult problem to handle.

Especially when you genuinely needed their mineral resources.

In the related articles, there was another piece about some country expelling several Celestial Xia corporate executives, but the specific details weren’t provided.

At the same time, other news reports said that different countries were also considering revoking state-owned mining rights. It had the feel of a good deal having run its course, and now it was time to cash in.

"Hmm, that has an Ah San feel to it," Gu Zhao nodded.

He wasn’t some naive kid anymore. He knew this was actually standard procedure between nations. When you held the cards, you cooperated normally. When you lost your hand, a new balance naturally had to be formed.

It was just that the Celestial Xia People had always held themselves to a high moral standard, so they weren’t used to this sort of thing.

...

While eating hotpot with the two women, Gu Zhao used the Five Thunders Order to telepathically contact Taoist Yan Song. He asked him to check with the Taoist Office if they needed help rescuing the detained workers.

To be honest, if it were merely a matter of state, or a corporate issue—official business—Gu Zhao wouldn’t have gotten involved. But since people’s lives were at stake, it was a different story.

Taoist Yan Song had only just learned about the situation himself. After a quick online search, he called the office.

"Huh?" Zheng Hongsheng, who answered the dedicated line, was a bit stunned.

In the few collaborations between the Taoist Research Institute and the office, the drought and rainfall incident involved the Institute asking the office for drought maps. For the Mongolian Mine Disaster and the passenger plane malfunction, however, it was the office that had actively sought their help.

This was the first time the Taoist Research Institute had ever called the office to ask if help was needed, handing the initiative over to them.

But this put Zheng Hongsheng in a difficult position, as he wasn’t sure if the Institute’s intervention was needed. He immediately made some calls to get more detailed information.

"It’s true that Gaul is backing them, and they want to reclaim the mines in West Africa."

"Gaul can no longer control that region overtly with military force, but they can still exert influence through financial means. This is a new attempt on their part."

"Our side is currently negotiating with Kabia, and we’ll definitely be able to sign a new agreement. In the short term, we’ll certainly have to make some concessions compared to the original deal, but we have other ways to make things difficult for them in the long run. We’re not just pushovers."

"But this way, we can’t rule out other countries following their example, which would make handling future situations more complicated. However, we’re confident we can manage it properly without compromising our national interests."

"As for the several hundred workers at the factory, they don’t seem to be in any immediate danger. But they are trapped inside the compound, so you can’t say for sure that nothing unexpected will happen."

Zheng Hongsheng nodded. He understood.

"Please, ask the Daoist to take action!"

...

WHOOSH—

In the security booth of the Taoist Research Institute, the security captain and a junior guard watched as Taoist Yan Song shot up into the night sky. In a flash, he vanished over the horizon without a trace.

"Is the Daoist planning to fly there?" the junior guard asked, stunned. "That’s so far."

"Did you forget about that passenger plane incident a while back?" the security captain scoffed.

"But that was domestic, this is international!" the junior guard said.

"Then have you forgotten the Berkeley incident?" the captain asked.

The junior guard thought for a moment, still unable to shake his confusion. "The Daoists fly faster than the speed of sound, so why isn’t there a sonic boom? That’s not scientific!"

"If you want to talk about science, shouldn’t you first be asking how they can fly at all?" the captain replied, speechless.

The junior guard scratched his head. "I forgot."

And in the time it took for the captain and the junior guard to have this conversation, Taoist Yan Song had not only crossed the national border but had also ascended to an altitude of tens of thousands of meters.

The freezing temperatures and thin air had no effect on Taoist Yan Song. In fact, they allowed him to see the terrain below with perfect clarity, ensuring he wouldn’t lose his way.

Below him, night had already fallen over the Asian Continent. Pinpricks of light outlined sprawling city clusters. But as Taoist Yan Song looked to the West, he could still see vast yellow sands, high mountains, and plains illuminated by sunlight.

WHOOSH—

Taoist Yan Song rode the wind. Propelled by the Taiyi Divine Wind, he had long since broken the sound barrier, streaking over the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia, the great plains of South Asia, across the sea, and then over a large, desertified peninsula.

Then, he saw several drones and missiles launch from the western corner of the peninsula, striking a cargo ship that was floating silently on the ocean, its crew having already been driven off.

BOOM! The cargo ship capsized.

Taoist Yan Song glanced at the flag hanging from the cargo ship, shook his head, and then flew on toward the African Continent ahead without a backward glance.

...

"How long are they going to keep us trapped here?"

"They said this place is their property now, and they’ll only let us go after we sign an ownership transfer agreement."

"Bullshit!"

"Supervisor, Yong Jun and Qiao Yun are very sick. If we don’t get them to a hospital soon, their lives could be in danger."

"They’re refusing our request to even send the sick to the hospital?"

"The general manager went to argue with them, but it was no use. They said that under orders from their superiors, no one is allowed to enter or leave the factory grounds."

"I’m going too!"

The slightly overweight, middle-aged man stormed angrily to the factory’s main gate. He saw military vehicles and soldiers blocking the exit completely. Not far off, a crowd of locals had gathered to watch the spectacle.

Three or four soldiers surrounded a commanding officer at the main gate. Beside him stood the factory’s general manager.

The middle-aged man saw the general manager negotiating with the officer through a translator. But judging from the anger and helplessness on his face, the situation was clearly not optimistic.

The middle-aged man hurried over and quickly explained the situation. The general manager became even more anxious and furious. After the translator finished speaking, he looked at the commanding officer and said, "Let me ask you! If our workers die because you’re detaining them, can you bear that responsibility?"

After hearing the translation, the commanding officer hesitated for a moment. Then he saw a large group of Celestial Xia workers emerge from behind them. Two people were indeed being carried on stretchers, looking extremely weak.

"Let us leave! We demand free passage!" the crowd shouted. "You have no right to blockade this factory!"

Seeing that the workers were enraged that even the sick were being denied passage, a flicker of fear crossed the commanding officer’s eyes. He licked his lips. "I need to report this to my superiors."

But just then, he noticed the soldiers behind him letting out gasps of alarm.

"What is it?" The officer turned around and saw his soldiers staring fearfully at the sky, all with shocked expressions. Some of the bolder ones raised their rifles, while the more timid ones looked like they were about to fall to their knees.

The officer followed their gaze and looked up, only to see a figure floating in the sky!

Against a backdrop of a clear sky and drifting white clouds, a plainly dressed old man was hovering in mid-air, looking down at them dispassionately, his face expressionless.

The officer couldn’t help but rub his eyes, but he found the figure was still there.

"WTF!" the officer couldn’t stop himself from swearing.

Meanwhile, the workers from the factory were also stunned, because the image of the figure floating in the sky was all too familiar to them!

They had seen this kind of figure everywhere—in real life, in TV shows and movies, and in novel illustrations.

A sky-blue robe, a Primordial Daoist Hat, a white beard and white hair—the very image of an immortal sage.

A Daoist!