Lantern Sister is still very capable.

Chapter 162: Hot

It was impossible to expect the umbrella to prostrate itself and shout "Welcome, Level 4 Fire Element Venerable!" The umbrella stared at Chu Deng expressionlessly, its emanating cold air capable of freezing people.

Chu Deng saw that she didn't seem like someone who could joke around, so she had no choice but to obediently follow the people to Shantou. On the way, she saw the Fire Tree standing in an open space, with its flickering sparks coming into view.

"So beautiful," Chu Deng said with a smile.

As if in response to her praise, the fire tree suddenly stretched out its branches and leaves, and the crimson-gold leaves fell like rain as the branches trembled. The leaves burned like shooting stars as they fell, a magnificent and spectacular sight.

Jiang Guoqiang, standing under the tree, pressed his palm against the trunk, trying to sense the emotions of this divine tree that had appeared out of nowhere. He saw the falling sparks, opened his palm to catch them, but only felt a little heat, which could not burn his skin.

It's like the giant tree putting on a show of ironwork for everyone; it's only for viewing, not the merciless, bone-burning heat of killing the parasitic sea monster.

Alpha Bug King is dead, and the rest are just small fry, but the entire cleanup process still lasted a whole week. During this time, Chu Deng took over Zero's command and was responsible for leading the patrol around the space established by Cai Zhizhi.

"Young and promising, do a good job." Jiang Guoqiang had a long private talk with Chu Deng about commanding the southeastern sea front, and patted Chu Deng on the shoulder earnestly.

"Yes." Chu Deng looked thoughtfully into Jiang Guoqiang's eyes.

"If you ask me, we should just transfer Chu Deng to our Guangdong province. That way, if that parasite Ah Fa reappears, we'll have someone who can handle it," Wan Hongdong said bluntly to Jiang Guoqiang in a private conversation.

"With the divine tree protecting you, what are you afraid of?" Jiang Guoqiang remained unmoved.

"The tree is dead, but people are alive. I'm afraid that tree might cause me some trouble!" Wan Hongdong expressed his concerns.

Jiang Guoqiang didn't care about this shrewd old man's goods. "If you don't want them, I'll just have someone ship them to Beijing. They won't mind them there."

"Go away, go away!" Wan Hongdong was furious. "You're supposed to be my old captain, and you don't even know how to care for people!" He rolled his eyes. "If Chu Deng asks to be stationed in Guangdong Province, you can't hold her back!"

"Okay, got it." Jiang Guoqiang frowned when he saw the message on the personal terminal, hung up Wan Hongdong's call, and answered the communication request from He Jixian, the director of the Beijing Research Institute.

After the conversation, Jiang Guoqiang was furious, but he didn't immediately lose his temper. Instead, he suppressed his anger and asked, "Is this his idea or yours?"

“You know our difficulties. Now that we have a level four fire-type ability user who can support Guangdong Province at any time, I don’t think the divine tree needs to stay in the south.” He Jixian smiled and did not answer Jiang Guoqiang’s question directly, but spoke slowly and deliberately.

Jiang Guoqiang had anticipated that Beijing wanted to study the Divine Tree, but Guangdong Province had just suffered a calamity. His idea was to send researchers to Guangdong Province on a business trip, but it was clear that they didn't think that way.

"Beijing has the most complete and top-notch equipment and personnel. Rather than letting the treasures gather dust, we should maximize the benefits. Our Beijing Research Institute is most eager to produce results. If we can discover a method to promote the upgrading of exotic plants through the study of the Divine Tree, we will definitely give priority to supplying it to Guangdong Province."

This is just a pie in the sky for him.

Jiang Guoqiang wasn't buying it. "You can contact Wan Hongdong about the sacred tree in Guangdong Province, but you can't use Chu Deng as a condition. I'm making this clear in advance."

The importance of a Level 4 fire-type ability user is self-evident, but He Jixian had no leverage to negotiate with Wan Hongdong. Before he could say anything more, Jiang Guoqiang abruptly hung up the phone.

Chu Deng rubbed her itchy ears, feeling like someone was plotting against her, but the commotion coming from the cruise ship at the dock quickly distracted her. She spoke into her earpiece, "Wind element, keep an eye on things, seal off the sky, Water element, make your move!"

After saying that, Chu Deng strode over to the group of people lurking around the dock, and quickly knocked them to the ground. Without even using his special abilities, he administered a few injections of anesthetic, causing the target to fall unconscious.

The main problem is that there are currently few ways to deal with people with superpowers. Superpower attacks are hard to defend against, and using handcuffs, the same method used to deal with ordinary criminals, is very likely to backfire. Usually, they are simply drugged and overpowered.

However, each time a special anesthetic for superhumans is applied for in advance, the raw materials are difficult to obtain, so they have to use them sparingly.

Chu Deng immediately delivered a physical knockout with an elbow strike, saying, "Use half of it, save the rest."

"Yes." Li Shengtian removed the needle, but kept the medicine tube.

"Captain, one of them escaped into the sea from under the ship."

Chu Deng clicked his tongue. Before he could ask his subordinates how the water-type ability users were doing their work, he flashed to the edge of the dock. His excellent night vision allowed him to carefully distinguish the ripples in the seawater, and he raised his hand and whistled.

"call out--"

"Gah gah gah!" A fireball from the dark cloud that was on guard in the sky hit a spot on the water and pointed Chu Deng in the direction where the people who had escaped were.

A flame cleaved the sea, and as the sea surged, it shimmered in the firelight. The firelight illuminated the person hiding underwater, almost allowing that person to experience the miracle of being burned to death in the water.

Chu Deng threw the anesthetic straight at the man like an arrow, but the anesthetic needle did not stop in the slightest despite being blocked by the wind.

Under the cover of the sound of the waves, the man could only see Chu Deng make a throwing motion, then a needle was inserted into his forehead, and he lost consciousness completely the next second.

"Wow!" The onlookers gasped in surprise after everything had settled down.

"That's a wrap." Chu Deng clapped his hands. "Arrange for someone to clean the warehouse."

This mission stemmed from a tip-off from the public that someone was smuggling at the dock. After Chu Deng came to investigate, she discovered that the smuggled goods were actually hosts for Alpha's parasites. This matter was too sensitive, and even she had to take it seriously. She and her team spent two days and one night staking out the place before they finally apprehended all the perpetrators.

"Captain, confirmed. All Alpha parasite hosts in the cargo hold have been frozen."

Chu Deng said they should all be burned to death, but without understanding the enemy, there is no way to defeat them. The Alpha parasites are not extinct. If we study them thoroughly in advance, we can deal with them better next time. The smuggled alien beast corpses that were cleared this time must be sent to the Guangdong Provincial Research Institute.

"Mm." Chu Deng nodded. After completing the mission, she had someone escort the smuggled goods back to the base. She then went to check on the Fire Tree and replenish its fire-type abilities.

It was Wan Hongdong, the director of the Guangdong Provincial Ability User Base, who took the initiative to bring this up. He said that the environment was not conducive to the growth of the divine tree, which was obviously of the fire element, and asked Chu Deng, who was also of the high-level fire element, to take better care of it.

Chu Deng was naturally more than happy to accept it. She reported herself as level four, but she was actually level five. She had too many supernatural abilities and nowhere to use them, and it would be easy to expose her. It would be better to feed them to Huo Shu.

"quack!"

While Chu Deng was thinking about the Fire Tree, Wu Yun was also trying to curry favor. Chu Deng raised his arm and let Wu Yun land on it. He then placed his other hand on Wu Yun's little head. Wu Yun rubbed his head against Chu Deng's fingers, and the fire element flowed into its body through Chu Deng's fingertips, making it feel warm and cozy, which made it tremble its wings.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'm leaving the guard duty to you," Chu Deng said in a low voice.

Chu Deng had troubled Wu Yun a lot with patrols. Wu Yun was an extremely ambitious person who was also building up territory and recruiting underlings during patrols. Chu Deng could only be a strong supporter and help Wu Yun recharge whenever he had free time.

While transmitting energy, Chu Deng browsed the messages that came through. Jiang Guoqiang had already approved them. She carefully analyzed Jiang Guoqiang's handling of the situation, noting down anything she didn't understand so she could ask him about it next time they met.

It was said that she was to replace Zero, but she was only to play a supporting role. How could a novice like her really take over the entire Southeast Sea Front? Although she couldn't approve documents, Jiang Guoqiang gave her the highest access privileges so that she could study hard. She couldn't be ungrateful, so she had to temporarily put up with the task.

The dark cloud rested for only a short while before going off to fight with nearby birds and beasts, determined to conquer the territory.

On the other side, the man responsible for carrying the unconscious smuggler watched the dark clouds fly away with envy, saying, "I also want to have a strange beast as a pet."

"Wait until you have Captain Chu's skills before you talk." Another person pointed to the last unlucky guy who had been personally stabbed in the forehead by Chu Deng. "See that? Hit the brow from 800 meters away, but no blood. The needle went in less than a centimeter. That accuracy, that force—tsk tsk tsk, it's more than just impressive." It was terrifying.

The two looked at each other, and both couldn't help but shiver. They fell silent and continued carrying the load.