Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1231 596: Which Side Is Huang Yuxian On?

"Huajia, keep an eye on all the windows, don't let them jump out and run."

"Light Bulb, if they do run, take your squad and bring them back."

"Chuuni, I'll assign you two people. If Light Bulb has trouble with the pursuit, take your men and assist with interception."

Chuuni wasn't sleepy anymore and immediately started discussing positions with Light Bulb.

They had to move fast; since Bureau Chief Li was here, it meant it was about to kick off.

The mission wasn't actually hard; what was hard was, if anything went wrong, who could take the heat.

Now the person who could take the heat had arrived.

Li Banfeng didn't use the door. He used the Unobstructed Technique and phased straight through the wall into the building; not only did the kidnappers not see him, even the Dark Star Bureau people didn't notice.

He followed the stairwell up, quickly reached the twenty‑fifth floor, and entered Room 2507.

From Room 2507 he phased through wall after wall until he reached Room 2528; Li Banfeng stood by the wall.

Guan Zhengyang was in the room next door; Li Banfeng could hear him crying.

Li Banfeng tapped the intercom switch twice—this meant twenty seconds to countdown.

Watching his watch tick past fifteen seconds, Li Banfeng stepped through the wall, drew his Sickle, and silently killed the two kidnappers beside the wall.

Then he triggered Short Step, moved to the doorway, and killed two more kidnappers.

This time, the kidnappers spotted Li Banfeng and all rushed toward him.

When the twenty seconds were up, Cone and Crabapple Fruit charged up from downstairs and used the hotel keycard to open Room 2529.

The room was packed with people; they were all fighting Li Qi.

Cone had only one task. He didn't need to help Li Qi; he only needed to rescue the hostage.

There were three guards around the hostage; Cone had to move fast.

He chopped through the handcuffs hanging from the headboard, grabbed Guan Zhengyang, and tossed him to Crabapple Fruit at the door.

Crabapple Fruit passed Guan Zhengyang off to his subordinates, then joined Cone to block the kidnappers from escaping.

Li Banfeng pulled out of the fight. This group of Lavsha People weren't terribly strong, but they were passable; although they had no clear layers or Taoist Sect affiliation, their combat power was roughly equivalent to Dark Energy Users between the Third and Sixth Layer—perfect for honing the Public Security Team's combat strength.

Under Cone and Crabapple Fruit's blockade, only three kidnappers managed to break out of the room; the rest were all captured.

These three had comparatively stronger combat power; one of them fought in a style close to a Martial Cultivator, with outstanding hand‑to‑hand ability, while the other two were close to Traveling Cultivators, with excellent mobility.

Dumpling, lying in ambush in the hallway, was ready and led her people to cut off the three kidnappers.

If at this moment Dumpling fired off a Searching Ink Technique, Li Banfeng would have Shen Jingye transfer her out of the Public Security Team.

Dumpling had over a dozen team members under her; with such an absolute numerical advantage, if she still went for indiscriminate attacks, then she really wasn't suited for front‑line work.

Thankfully Dumpling didn't make that ridiculous choice. She bellowed at the kidnappers, "No metal on your body!"

This Technique was very misleading; the kidnappers thought she'd used the Uniform Rule Technique, meaning both sides were going to fight bare‑handed.

But to a Martial Cultivator, "no weapon in hand" and "bare‑handed fight" are two different things; they can pick up any random wooden stick and turn it into a top‑tier weapon.

But these three kidnappers judged wrong. What Dumpling said wasn't "no weapon in hand," it was "no metal on your body."

What she used wasn't Uniform Rule, but Prophecy in One Word.

Ever since becoming a Literature Cultivator, Dumpling had become very adept with both Techniques.

Under the effect of the Technique, the belt buckles of the "Martial Cultivator kidnapper" and one "Traveling Cultivator kidnapper" both popped open, because their belt buckles were made of iron.

The belts fell, their pants sagged, severely hampering their movement; after a brief exchange, the two kidnappers were captured on the spot.

The remaining "Traveling Cultivator kidnapper" was wearing sweatpants with no belt. He rushed into the stairwell and, after a short fight, was captured alive by Cornbread.

From the start of the fight to the end, it took a little over three minutes.

Light Bulb was still complaining to Chuuni: "Told you you didn't need to fuss and worry. With Seventh Master here, there's no way anyone's getting out."

"Better prepared than sorry; we can't be the ones dragging the team down."

Li Banfeng stood by the window, quietly watching everyone's actions.

If the kidnapped person hadn't been Guan Zhengyang, then even without Li Qi, the Public Security Team could have wrapped up the operation quickly.

They'd grown. This wasn't just thanks to the support Li Banfeng provided, but also to the changes Shen Jingye had made—especially the adjustments between positions and Harmonizing Agent.

Yet even with them performing this well, there were still people dissatisfied. Guan Zhengyang was very dissatisfied, because he'd lost an ear.

The kid was pretty tough, able to endure pain. After a simple treatment of the wound, he didn't go straight to the hospital, but instead started cursing Shen Jingye out: "What kind of attitude is this? What kind of work style? What kind of competence? This is how you guarantee a hostage's safety? If I hadn't stayed calm and restrained the whole time, would I even be able to stand here talking to you?"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "As long as you can still talk, take him back to the Bureau for questioning."

Guan Zhengyang flew into a rage: "Question who? Me? What right do you have to question me?"

Li Banfeng said, "You have a residence in Yue State City; why are you staying in a hotel at this time? Can you give me a reasonable explanation?"

"I—I don't owe you an explanation. Who do you think you are?" This really was hard to explain; Guan Zhengyang's only move now was to throw a fit.

But Li Qi wasn't buying it: "If you can't explain it here, then you'll explain it back at the Bureau. Get him in the car."

"What right do you have? I'm the victim! I need treatment, I need a doctor! I need to have my ear reattached..."