Douluo Jueshi: Picking up Firefly at the Beginning

In the Ming capital, the night was deep and everything was silent.

However, on this seemingly peaceful night, a series of dark shadows flashed by like ghosts, cutting through the night sky, silently falling from the sky, and finally landing in a courtyard next to the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy.

The turmoil in the palace had just subsided, and the high-level soul masters who were responsible for guarding the key places in Mingdu rushed back in a hurry.

After all, the place where they are stationed is also of paramount importance and cannot afford to make any mistakes. Once a problem occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable.

There are a total of eight high-level soul guides stationed here, led by an old man. He is tall and straight, but a little thin, and looks quite haggard.

His sunken eye sockets were like two deep black holes, and his dark skin revealed that he had some royal blood.

In today's royal family of the Sun-Moon Empire, that dark skin feature has gradually faded with the passage of time.

Take Xu Tianran and Xu Tianzhen for example, they no longer have this obvious appearance feature.

The old man in front of him was named Xu Guozhong. As a member of the royal family, he was not only a powerful ninth-level soul mentor, but also a staunch supporter of the current emperor.

Looking back, during the turbulent period of the succession of the throne, he was the first person to stand up and take the lead in betraying the previous emperor.

Because of this, he is highly respected and trusted by the current emperor and occupies an important position in the emperor's heart.

Even the ambitious Crown Prince Xu Tianran had to win him over if he wanted to ascend the throne smoothly.

The place guarded by Xu Guozhong was a vital military warehouse in Mingdu.

This warehouse is not simple. It can be regarded as one of the strategic reserve cores of the Sun-Moon Empire. It even contains the ultimate killing weapon of the Sun-Moon Empire - the ninth-level fixed-type soul guide artillery shells.

This military warehouse is like a treasure trove, storing all kinds of precious high-grade metals accumulated by the Sun-Moon Empire over the years, as well as a wide variety of high-grade soul guides.

Every item here carries the empire's technological achievements and strategic foundation.

Moreover, without a personal order from the emperor, even Xu Tianran, the crown prince, had no right to use any of the resources there without authorization.

Guarding such a priceless treasure trove, one can imagine how great the temptation of benefits is.

Xu Guozhong relied on these precious resources in the warehouse to continuously improve his strength, and finally successfully broke through to the realm of Titled Douluo.

The detailed inventory records of rare metals in the warehouse and the precise storage quantities are all firmly in his hands.

With this unique advantage, he occasionally smuggled some rare metals out, and the wealth he brought in was simply astronomical.

As a prince of the empire, Xu Guozhong holds a high position of power in the court and is a genuine powerful figure.

He also has extensive connections in the military and has many relationships.

Coupled with his lofty status as a ninth-level soul mentor, he became a truly important figure in the Sun-Moon Empire.

In recent days, Xu Tianran has been trying his best to win him over, but Xu Guozhong has never made a clear statement.

He had his own wishful thinking in mind and was still looking forward to gaining greater benefits.

After all, with the power and influence he possessed in the empire, even if Xu Tianran successfully ascended the throne to become emperor, he would inevitably need his support and assistance.

Xu Guozhong was also involved in the incident that occurred in the palace. He was one of the nine-level soul mentors who was secretly responsible for guarding the palace.

However, throughout the entire development of the incident, he never had the opportunity to take action until the very end.

In fact, deep down in his heart, he didn't want to take action. After all, whether it was the ruthless evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Sect or the Titled Douluo of the Body Sect and Shrek Academy, each of them was a powerful person with extraordinary strength.

Compared with them, Xu Guozhong knew clearly that he, a Titled Douluo who had improved himself by taking drugs, was really pale in comparison.

If a fight really broke out, he would likely be instantly crushed by the opponent's powerful strength, and even risk being beaten to death. The reason he rushed back in such a hurry was not only because he was deeply worried about the safety of the place he was stationed, but more importantly, it was out of consideration for his own safety.

This incident tonight allowed him to witness for the first time in his life so many Titled Douluo-level experts gathered together.

The shock and fear still linger in his heart, leaving him with lingering fears.

The situation in Mingdu became complicated and confusing overnight, which made him feel uneasy.

So, he rushed back as soon as possible without stopping.

In his eyes, only this warehouse hidden a hundred meters underground can give him enough sense of security.

He felt that no matter what the situation outside Mingdu was like, as long as he hid in this sturdy warehouse, it would have nothing to do with him.

Xu Guozhong and his group hurried into the courtyard. As soon as they stepped in, he couldn't wait to call his confidants.

The shouts echoed in the silent courtyard, but there was no response.

Xu Guozhong had been in the officialdom of the Sun and Moon Empire for many years and was quite experienced. When he saw this situation, alarm bells immediately went off in his heart and he keenly realized that the situation was not good.

His eyes suddenly became stern, a trace of panic and vigilance flashed across them, and then he shouted in a deep voice: "Be alert!"

The seven soul masters following him are all high-level soul masters, and three of them are extraordinary eighth-level soul masters.

After receiving the order, no one dared to slack off and instantly used their most proud soul guide.

In an instant, light flashed, and the soul guide shields opened one by one, emitting a cold metallic luster, protecting everyone tightly.

The eighth-level soul masters flashed and quickly ran towards several rooms to start searching.

However, after a careful search, they found nothing and did not find any trace of Xu Guozhong's confidant.

Xu Guozhong's expression instantly turned extremely ugly, and after several changes, he finally shouted in horror: "Oh no, the warehouse!"

At this moment, he had a bad feeling in his heart, realizing that something might have happened to the warehouse.

Before he finished speaking, he hurriedly activated his soul guide shield and rushed to the middle room like a gust of wind.

After entering the room, he quickly opened the cabinet, skillfully pressed the password, and prepared to take the elevator to enter the underground warehouse.

Soon, the elevator slowly rose. At first glance, everything seemed normal. Seeing this, Xu Guozhong hurriedly walked into the elevator with his group of senior subordinates.

After entering the elevator, a seventh-level soul engineer tapped rhythmically on the elevator wall according to his usual operating habits.

Just as everyone was preparing to take the elevator down smoothly, the elevator suddenly moved.

Immediately afterwards, a strong feeling of weightlessness hit them like a surging tide, causing everyone's bodies to shake violently.

"Idiot, what did you do?"

Xu Guozhong suddenly became furious and shouted loudly. He was very familiar with the feeling of weightlessness. This was clearly the state of the anti-theft mechanism in the elevator being activated.

Although there is more than one entrance to this underground warehouse, this elevator is the only entrance to where they are. In order to ensure safety, strict anti-theft measures are naturally set up.

If there is an error in the knocking, the elevator will instantly slide down rapidly and then get stuck in the middle of the downward passage, while sounding an alarm.

Moreover, the elevator itself is made of a special alloy that is one foot thick and is extremely tough. Once a thief is trapped in it, it will be like a turtle in a jar, unable to escape even if it has wings.

It wasn't like there hadn't been instances of his own people being trapped inside due to operational errors before, but the people following Xu Guozhong were all veterans who had worked in the warehouse for many years and were very experienced. They actually made such a low-level mistake at this critical moment. How could he not be furious? (End of this chapter)