Reborn as a tiger, he was chosen by the nation as its guardian beast.

Chapter 140: Are they all imposters?

Upon hearing Cui Jiuyuan's words, Wang Hu's heart stirred.

The situation in the Xiangxiong Kingdom and the conspiracy of the mastermind—to him, these things didn't really cause much of a stir.

Even if the sky were to fall, with his current strength, no one could stop him from running away if he wanted to.

But what Cui Jiuyuan mentioned at the end immediately piqued his interest.

Lord Long.

An opportunity for fourth-order transcendence.

These words were like a boulder crashing into Wang Hu's calm heart.

What is his current strength?

According to the old Taoist Zhang Shouzhou, after his Qi Sea opened, he underwent another inexplicable expansion, which at most put him at the second level.

But his physical strength is increasing every day, just like eating and drinking. What level should that be considered?

Originally, there was a period of time in China when the concept of "supernatural organs" was popular, and the number of supernatural organs one awakened determined one's level.

If we follow this ranking system, then Lord Long, who has already awakened his internal organs, would probably be a level 10 transcendent being by now.

In contrast, Wang Hu, who has not awakened a single extraordinary organ, is he just a nobody?

Wang Hu thought to himself that although he hadn't awakened any extraordinary organs, he did have three innate supernatural abilities, and his physical strength was far beyond that of ordinary superhumans. So, in terms of physical strength alone, he could be considered a third-tier being.

It wasn't until recently, as China had more contact with the other world's mastermind and obtained some of the other world's research results, that China finally understood that the other world didn't use the number of extraordinary organs in your body to classify your level; they looked at your gene lock.

Gene locks may sound mysterious, but they are actually a series of hurdles in the evolution of life forms.

Once you unlock a new level, your strength will experience a qualitative leap.

Wang Hu had previously obtained the method to sense and probe the gene lock, and secretly tried it out.

As expected, three gates were clearly open within his body, making him a true third-tier transcendent being.

Moreover, as far as he knew, the strongest known being in the entire world, including that arrogant alien mastermind and Lord Dragon, was only at the third rank.

Everyone is groping their way along this path, but no one can unlock the fourth genetic lock within their body and see the scenery beyond the fourth door.

But now, Cui Jiuyuan says that Master Long has reached the threshold of the fourth rank?

This made Wang Hu very eager to try it.

He was very eager to see just how strong a fourth-tier superhuman could become.

As soon as this thought crossed Wang Hu's mind, he felt his originally lazy tiger heart begin to stir. What if Lord Long succeeded?

Could I find a way to break through from him?

Thinking of this, Wang Hu could no longer sit still. He jumped off the table, walked to Cui Jiuyuan's side, pointed his phone screen at Cui Jiuyuan, and two lines of text quickly appeared on the screen.

"Let's set off as soon as possible!"

"I will do my best."

Upon seeing these two lines, Cui Jiuyuan immediately revealed a knowing smile.

With Big Cat's words now in mind, their operation was now considered completely foolproof.

And that's how it was settled.

Cui Jiuyuan didn't linger in Banyan Town. His main purpose in coming was to persuade Wang Hu to come out of seclusion. Now that Wang Hu had agreed, the rest became simple.

The next morning, before dawn, an inconspicuous convoy quietly drove away from Banyan Town.

To maintain secrecy and avoid unnecessary trouble, they chose not to fly again. The iron bird in the sky was too conspicuous; in the present-day Xiangxiong Kingdom, no one knew if it would be used as a target and shot down by some faction.

The convoy sped along the rugged mountain road toward the capital of the Xiangxiong Kingdom.

Wang Hu was placed in Cui Jiuyuan's private car. Besides the driver and a bodyguard, there was also a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties.

The young woman, Lin Yue, was a newcomer to the diplomatic service. She had been assigned to serve as Cui Jiuyuan's translator and recorder. She seemed quite nervous throughout the journey, clutching a folder tightly in both hands, sitting upright, barely daring to breathe.

Wang Hu lazily sprawled on the leather seat in the back, squinting as he sized up the young girl. He could sense that she possessed an extraordinary aura, but he wondered what kind of extraordinary ability she had that led her to complete such an important mission with Cui Jiuyuan.

"Kobayashi, don't be nervous."

Cui Jiuyuan seemed to sense her unease and said gently, "Just treat this mission as a special learning and training opportunity."

"Yes, Director Cui!" Lin Yue immediately sat up straight, her voice trembling slightly.

Cui Jiuyuan smiled, shook his head, and then turned his gaze to the window.

The convoy sped along, and the closer it got to the capital, the more eerie the surrounding scenery became.

When Wang Hu and his group broke out of the airport, the entire capital was still a scene of chaos and war. Gunfire and explosions were everywhere, and the city was in ruins and devastation.

But now, what is presented to them is a completely different scene.

The city seemed to have been restored overnight.

The streets were swept clean, and the ruins of buildings destroyed by artillery fire were neatly piled up along the roadside. Even some of the flowerbeds along the roadside had been replanted with new flowers and plants.

There were more people on the street.

They were dressed in various colors, walking in a hurry, looking just like residents of any normal city.

But Wang Hu sensed something was wrong after just one glance.

Those people walked with an astonishingly uniform gait and arm swing, as if they were dancers who had rehearsed countless times beforehand.

Their faces all wore the same stiff smile. The curve of their lips was perfect, as if measured with a ruler.

The strangest thing was that Wang Hu stared at them for a full three minutes and didn't see anyone blink.

This strange scene was naturally witnessed by the other people in the car.

"My God—" Lin Yue covered her mouth, her face turning deathly pale instantly: "They—they—"

She wanted to say they weren't human, but the three words stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say them.

The atmosphere inside the car suddenly plummeted to freezing point.

Even Cui Jiuyuan's bodyguard, who had been expressionless the whole way, gripped his gun tightly, his palms sweating profusely.

Cui Jiuyuan's expression also turned serious. He stared at the strange scene outside the window for a long time without saying a word.

Wang Hu stood up from his seat and looked outside, a strange light flashing in his golden vertical pupils.

He knew without even thinking that there were probably not many living people left in the capital now; instead, they had all become fake people created by the regional mastermind.

>