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

Chapter 142, codenamed "Vermilion Bird"

"Secretary-General Sambu!"

Cui Jiuyuan, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and said, "When we entered the city just now, we saw some very interesting sights."

Sangbu, who was leading the way, stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment, but quickly recovered. He turned around, his face still bearing a warm smile: "Oh? Is that so? I wonder what Director Cui is referring to?"

"The people of your country seem to have a very unified spirit."

Cui Jiuyuan chose his words carefully: "Everyone is full of—well, positive energy. That's rare in today's chaotic times."

Sangbu laughed heartily, seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm in Cui Jiuyuan's words.

"Director Cui, you flatter me. Our Xiangxiong Kingdom has just undergone a tremendous transformation. The people have abandoned their corrupt past and are embracing a bright future with a completely new attitude. It's only natural that they're full of energy."

His words were impeccable, effortlessly explaining what was a bizarre horror show as "a sign of good morale among the people."

Cui Jiuyuan didn't press the matter further, but simply smiled and said, "Is that so? Then we should certainly learn from your country's advanced experience."

The group was taken to the top floor of the hotel.

The entire floor was cleared out specifically to accommodate them.

The room was furnished with extreme luxury, and from the window, one could overlook most of the capital city.

"Please rest first, everyone. We will host a simple welcome dinner for you later." Sangbu escorted everyone to the door of the room, bowed, and then left with his men.

The moment the door closed, Lin Yue felt as if all her strength had been drained, and she slumped into a chair.

"I—I feel like I'm suffocating." She gasped for breath, her face as pale as a sheet.

Wang Hu glanced at the girl with a puzzled look, a hint of doubt flashing across his face. He couldn't understand why Cui Jiuyou would bring such a girl with such poor mental fortitude.

The guard who had been following Cui Jiuyou immediately began to use his equipment to check the entire room after entering it.

Cui Jiuyuan ignored their reactions. He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the room, lowered his head and silently looked at the city outside, his eyes becoming deep.

Wang Hu followed closely behind, and with a light leap, he landed next to Cui Jiuyou, his eyes gleaming with golden light as he stared at the street scene outside.

Outside, night has fallen and the city lights are just coming on.

The eerie city of puppets that existed during the day now seemed to be draped in a magnificent coat.

Looking down from the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of the hotel, the city streets are bustling with traffic and flashing neon lights, a scene of prosperity.

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would never believe that just half a month ago, this place was a war-torn wasteland.

"What exactly is the mainframe?"

"How exactly did it manage to restore this city to its current state in such a short time?"

Lin Yue also came to the window at this moment. Looking at the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but sigh.

This exclamation contained three parts amazement, three parts fear, and four parts a complex mix of emotions that were difficult to articulate.

"This is nothing but a castle in the air."

Cui Jiuyuan's voice sounded beside her: "It just doesn't want to anger us at a time like this, it's just putting on a show for us. If Xiangxiong Kingdom weren't a neighbor of China, this place would probably be a completely different scene."

"After all, maintaining such a scene requires a huge amount of energy."

"As a powerful and efficient artificial intelligence, the main brain will never waste energy on these superficial things unless necessary."

"If humanity on Earth is ultimately defeated by the mainframe, then this place will eventually become like another world, controlled by regional mainframes, leaving only first-tier light-absorbing bodies on the ground."

Cui Jiuyou paused for a moment before looking at the people in the hall and saying in a slightly enigmatic tone, "Xiao Lin, Big Cat, we should have a decisive battle with the mainframe soon."

"And the signal for the final battle is—whoever gives birth to a fourth-tier transcendent being first—."

""

Hearing Cui Jiuyou's words, Lin Yue looked blank, completely unable to understand why Cui Jiuyou would say such a thing to her. Wang Hu, however, had a glint in his eye. He realized that Cui Jiuyou also had expectations for him!

However, he couldn't help but glance at Lin Yue again. Judging from Cui Jiuyou's attitude towards this girl, she was probably not simple at all!

Time flew by, and after they had rested for about half an hour, an envoy from the Kingdom of Xiangxiong came to knock on the door. Sangbu himself came to invite them to a banquet.

"Big Cat, come with me tonight!"

"It's a good opportunity to let them see the might of the White Tiger, the national guardian beast of our nation."

Cui Jiuyuan spoke with a smile.

"Meow?" Wang Hu raised his head, his expression somewhat puzzled. He thought to himself, "Are we going to start fighting so soon?"

However, perhaps because he has shrunk, his facial expression looks rather cute.

His appearance caught Lin Yue's eye, who didn't know much about him, and she reached out and hugged him.

"Little kitten, are you the extraordinary individual from the Nine Cauldrons Division who obtained the White Tiger title?"

"I'm Suzaku, so we'll be colleagues from now on."

As she spoke, Lin Yue rubbed her face against Wang Hu's head!

"Holy crap, Suzaku?"

Wang Hu was shocked.

He knew how difficult it was to obtain the title of Nine Cauldrons Division. Previously, there seemed to be only the Azure Dragon title of Lord Long, his White Tiger title, and a mysterious Taotie title. He did not expect that there would be another Vermilion Bird title now, and it was given to such a silly-looking girl!

He couldn't help but look at Cui Jiuyou, who chuckled.

"That's right, Kobayashi's code name is Suzaku. I'm counting on the two of you for this trip to Xiangxiong Kingdom."

Cui Jiuyou said with a smile on his face.

He didn't know before that Wang Hu could change size, perhaps it was a new ability he had gained during his training. But to be honest, now that Wang Hu has gone from fighting tigers to becoming kittens, his imposing presence has diminished considerably, making him seem much easier to get along with.

Seeing that the old man wasn't planning to explain in detail what abilities this Vermilion Bird possessed, he wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, he was bound to face off against mutants after coming to Xiangxiong Kingdom, so he would just have to wait and see.

Thinking of this, Wang Hu nodded slightly, giving the impression that they should handle it themselves.

He just wanted to be a heartless thug.