After all, this is a world with extraordinary powers. Even though the country has enacted many policies to regulate lethal spells and weapons of mass destruction, incidents of people breaking the law with their powers are still inevitable.

Overall, public security is not as good as in China in my previous life.

The person ahead was running extremely fast—either a martial artist or someone with martial training, or at the very least, a fourth-tier cultivator.

The latter is much more dangerous than the former.

According to Yiguo’s police force standards, ordinary officers at least have a martial arts background and are usually equipped with riot guns that can fire electric bullets and shockwaves. That’s enough to maintain public order, but if they run into hardened criminals, they might not be able to handle it and would need to call for backup.

But that person only focused on running, not daring to fight back.

That was the right move.

As the country with the strongest overall national power in the world, even agents from Blue Country can only keep their heads down within Yiguo’s borders—no one can challenge Yiguo’s official forces.

Resisting would only escalate a simple pursuit into something bigger, which would do him no good—unless he was already doomed.

Under Grace Brooks’s gaze, the man ran toward Nanshan.

There are no roads in Nanshan, making it the best place to shake off vehicles.

After reaching the foot of Nanshan, the man looked back twice to make sure it was safe, then ran straight up toward the cemetery.

Grace Brooks found a place to hide and watched as he ran into District Three, reached a corner, then slipped into the woods and came down the mountain from another spot, only to be chased all over the place by the police cars that had arrived as backup.

“Personnel quality is really lacking...

“Brother Cat’s coolness just took a nosedive.”

Grace Brooks swaggered down, took the package, and put it into the crystal.

...

Carrying the lemon chicken he’d picked up on the way, Grace Brooks returned to the hotel and knocked on the door of Lily Carter and Sophie’s room.

“Knock knock.”

Lily Carter opened the door for him with a black facial mask on. She seemed to have just finished washing up, wearing a light, thin silk nightgown that showed off her figure even more than her usual clothes. A sash at her waist easily outlined her slender waist, and the fullness above always looked bouncy and soft. Her hair was fluffy from being freshly blow-dried, and her neck and collarbones were strikingly attractive.

“Why are you back so late?”

“I got hungry from running, had a late-night snack, and brought some for you.” Grace Brooks’s gaze dropped slightly. “Lemon chicken, it’s pretty good.”

“I already brushed my teeth.”

“Brush them again.”

“Oh.”

“We’re heading back tomorrow, so get some rest early.”

“Mm.”

“Qingqing, you’re not gentle at all.”

“What counts as gentle?”

“Say goodnight to me.”

“Goodnight.”

“Good girl...”

Grace Brooks watched as Lily Carter closed the door, then went back to his own room.

Only then did he take the package out of the crystal.

The package was just an ordinary one—a flat cardboard box slightly larger than a palm, wrapped in tape. After opening it, inside was a palm-sized, slightly curved, metallic-looking plate about 0.5 centimeters thick. There was nothing else.

This was a military-grade defensive insert.

In this world, almost all soldiers are martial artists—strong, fast, and agile, able to carry heavy equipment. When fully armed, they look much more imposing, and this gear gives them enough power to challenge cultivators.

This insert should be slotted into the chest area of protective armor. As long as it’s successfully activated, it can continuously provide the soldier with a protective divine light that only cultivators usually have.

If he could successfully analyze it, it would actually be a win-win. He really wanted to obtain this world’s most advanced protective divine light spell.

“Let’s begin.”

Grace Brooks checked it over first to see if there were any problems.

Good, no tracking runes or anything like that.

Next, he began the preliminary analysis.

Inside, there were some activation or other functional rune groups. These were designed so that non-cultivators could easily use the device, so he could just ignore them.

The remaining protective divine light was stored in the form of spiritual power, not as the rune structure of the divine light itself.

Restoring spiritual power into rune structures is extremely difficult, and even if you manage it, the resulting rune structure might not be something cultivators can directly study, because the rune groups on the production line are usually already adjusted versions of the original spell, meant to suit a casting environment different from the human body.

You need a deep understanding of spiritual power and rune principles.

And it’s a lot of work.

Normally, to do this kind of work, you’d need a professional team.

A big shot could do it too, but big shots wouldn’t bother.

And it can’t be a small country.

Small countries have backward education and a shortage of talent. If it’s not the official government, you’d have to find a team from a developed country to do it.

Mr. Cat was obviously not representing the government.

Grace Brooks patiently focused on the task.

...

The seventh day of May, on the high-speed train.

Lily Carter sat in the aisle seat, listening to music with her headphones on.

Grace Brooks sat in the middle, watching videos.

Sophie sat by the window, holding a bag of spicy turkey-flavored crisps, tilting her head and gazing intently at the scenery outside.

Classmate Ning’s popularity had pretty much peaked by today. This kind of hype never lasts long—everyone just enjoys the fun, and in a few days, they’ll have forgotten all about it.