After bidding farewell to Lingxiu, Li Dong arrived at the Luoshen Building shortly after.
Before this, he had already restored his appearance to that of "Night," the appearance he had when he was Xue Tang's personal bodyguard.
For a martial arts master, making slight adjustments to one's appearance temporarily is not difficult.
As for his statement about not using his true identity, besides being able to better stay by Xue Tang's side using his previous identity as her bodyguard, it was also to avoid alerting the mastermind.
He knew that if his identity remained hidden, it would be a greater deterrent to the mastermind behind the scenes.
Although Sister Zhiran had not yet confirmed the identity of the mastermind,
during the last Straits crisis, the one who secretly delivered the fatal blow to him was the same source as the Blazing Yang True Qi.
In fact, in that incident, the initial strategic-level expert, whose name was unknown, was the one who was ambushed and killed.
Behind that event, the shadow of the Seven Deadly Sins loomed.
Following these clues, and with Zhi Ran's meticulous analytical skills, the hidden hand among the Seven Deadly Sins is about to be revealed—
It is greed.
Besides sloth, it is the most deeply hidden of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Based on the clues found, the hiding place of greed has been narrowed down to a very small area.
Right here in the chaotic city of Shen.
When he awakens from his years-long slumber and returns to Shen as Li Dong, his primary purpose, besides healing his injuries, is to use his status as the "Martial God" to expose the mastermind behind it all.
And then, it's also to free up another hand—Lan Yan.
You see, she had actually been hovering around the Lv5 level for a long time, just one step away.
Given the unique nature of the Enhancement type, purely in terms of individual strength, her combat power is top-tier among Lv5.
The reason she remains at Lv4, the Army-level, is purely due to the standards for classifying levels. The definition of Lv4 is military-level, encompassing everything from a special forces squad to an entire division/brigade-level combat group. Therefore, the combat power difference between Lv4 units is enormous.
Lv5, the strategic level, is not purely defined by individual combat ability.
It requires possessing a wide-ranging ability that threatens millions or even tens of millions of people to be classified as Lv5, like Shikishima's strategic level or Yoshihara Tsubaki's psychic abilities.
Leaving aside Sakurami's ability to instantly teleport between two locations, if she were to fully expand Sakurami, transforming it from illusory to real, even for just a moment, it would cause immense destruction.
Tilting an entire city to ruins is not a dream.
In game terminology, even the strongest single-target attack is not classified as strategic; only wide-ranging group attacks are recognized as strategic.
Therefore, on the surface, there is no strategic level among enhancement-type units.
However, in terms of actual combat power, an enhancement-type Lv4 with a steel body is almost equivalent to strategic level. Tang Lanyan stood atop the Lv4 Steel Body of the Enhancement type, the closest to the Lv5 Diamond Body.
As long as Tang Lanyan remained at the Guizhou base, she would deter the mastermind, preventing them from acting rashly.
Thanks to Zhi Ran's efforts, this peace had been maintained for several years, preventing the mastermind from taking advantage of his serious injury and slumber to eliminate him…
However, he knew this situation couldn't last forever. Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden attacks are hard to guard against. If he remained in the open while the mastermind remained hidden,
sooner or later, they would be caught off guard!
Furthermore, by staying by his side, Lanyan wouldn't have a chance to advance to Lv5, effectively tying one hand on her own.
Therefore, Lanyan's split-up actions were ultimately for two reasons: firstly, to seek an opportunity to advance to Lv5, and secondly, to give the mastermind an "opportunity."
This made him unable to resist taking action!
Once the mastermind reveals themselves, they'll inevitably slip up under Zhi Ran's watchful eye.
His return to Shen City and Lan Yan's trip to northern Myanmar were both for this plan.
Breaking the deadlock would be like throwing a boulder into a pond, creating ripples.
Zhi Ran was planning the backup from the rear, able to adjust the plan as needed… If everything went smoothly, he would regain his fighting strength, and Lan Yan could break through to Lv5 under pressure.
And it would be an unprecedented Lv5 for a strengthening type.
However, judging from the situation he grasped after his memories returned, the plan had probably completely spiraled out of control, even going wrong from the very beginning!
It had completely derailed, heading towards unpredictable darkness.
He now knew neither Lan Yan's current situation nor what had happened to Zhi Ran.
Therefore, there wasn't much he could do now; he could only stay by Xue Tang's side, protecting her while remaining calm and observing.
Having investigated Zhi Ran and Lan Yan's situation, and although he had lost contact with them, he believed that with their abilities, they would definitely not end up in the worst possible situation!
These thoughts flashed through his mind, strengthening his resolve.
Using his identity as "Night's" personal bodyguard, he smoothly entered the Luo Shen Building.
He quickly met Xue Tang's secretary, Luo Qin.
The young woman, barely in her early twenties, had long, flowing, jet-black hair. Her black women's suit jacket had a wide lapels, fastened only below her full breasts, revealing a white wool sweater underneath.
She wore a black short skirt, and below that, light brown, smooth stockings.
Her full, voluptuous thighs gave her a graceful, alluring gait.
Luo Qin brought him a cup of coffee, curiously observing him.
"Weren't you missing?"
Li Dong didn't say much, just shook his head slightly. He smiled at her, and seeing Luo Qin, he couldn't help but think of the scene he'd witnessed in the bathroom at the top of the Luo Shen Building.
Back then, Luo Qin was changing into sexy lingerie, and her body clearly bore many marks of lovemaking.
She had clearly just finished a passionate encounter…
More importantly, there were still heavy breathing and soft moans coming from inside the closed bedroom door.
That voice sounded so much like Xue Tang's…
He dared not think too much, but a faint pang of jealousy rose within him.
Luo Qin didn't ask anything, but a blush lingered on her face, and her eyes were slightly moist.
Of course, this didn't mean Luo Qin had fallen for him. In fact, before he even entered, he had heard some noise in the room.
It sounded like she was biting her lip, making muffled moans, somewhat like crying, yet even more captivating and alluring.
Then, as he knocked, something hissed out and fell to the floor.
There was also a faint rustling of vibrating utensils.
When he entered, the girl seemed slightly flustered as she hurriedly hid something in a drawer…
Perhaps while making coffee, Luo Qin tidied herself up; the slight fluster had disappeared, though a faint blush remained on her cheeks.
"Where…where is Miss Xue?"
He had already noticed Xue Tang wasn't in her office upon entering, unsure of her whereabouts, but as her personal secretary, Luo Qin must know something.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he went straight to the point.
As a bodyguard, this wasn't an inappropriate question.
Luo Qin sat down opposite him at the coffee table. Her skirt was quite short, and as she sat down, a glimpse of intricate black lace could be vaguely seen between her shapely thighs.
There was a slight wrinkle, as if it had been casually parted, and a noticeably darker stain of moisture clung to the crotch area.
"As for Miss, she's probably still out shopping with Florence. After what happened recently, she's not in a good mood…"