Book 4, Chapter 74: Seal Off The Path

If Chen Chuan threw a punch downward, the destructive power of his Heartborn Force could get rid of all the obstacles separating him from his target and clear up a path.

Then, if he jumped down, he could catch up to the captain, since Chen Chuan was faster.

But he had to consider a problem: There may be bombs below. It looked like the captain’s decision to go to the lower city district was spontaneous, since he hadn’t known that he would need to change his direction here ahead of time.

However, one didn’t have to know something to plan for it. All they needed to do was to set things up at a few crucial spots, and that would be enough. Besides, the captain gave a feeling that he was the type to prepare for everything. That was why Chen Chuan didn’t take the risk. However, there was no need for him to go along with the captain’s rhythm either.

Chen Chuan suddenly sped up and ran in another direction while ignoring the captain.

Aside from the hidden and deliberately dug out secret tunnels, the main tunnels leading to the lower city district were all on his Realm Pass. Based on the captain’s escape route, he would pass by a rather large intersection. If he didn’t change his direction, Chen Chuan could go there ahead of time and intercept him.

There was a chance the captain could backtrack, even if no one else would dare to do that. Chen Chuan wasn’t sure about the captain, so he couldn’t take that risk.

He sent a message to his teammates and asked them to follow him. They should bring explosives to seal off the area around the waterway.

At the same time, he had Safe Shield monitor the area above the captain’s route. If he got out halfway through, Safe Shield was to immediately notify him.

By the time Chen Chuan was done giving instructions, he reached an entrance to the lower city district and went inside. The City Patrol guard only sensed a powerful wind blow past him. It was followed by a loud whistle, as if a cannonball had shot inside, which alarmed him.

A long while later, he received a message on his Realm Pass that his higher-ups wanted him to lock the place down. He immediately got out of the guard post and dragged over the road blocks.

Upon entering the lower city district, Chen Chuan started rapidly going through the tunnels. In just twenty or so seconds, he reached a spacious spot and stopped.

A deafening explosion rang out, and it echoed nonstop in the tunnel. The ground and walls trembled ever so slightly, and debris fell off the damaged or loosened parts. It took a long while for the commotion to settle.

Chen Chuan looked ahead. No one on the surface had contacted him, which meant that the captain didn’t turn around. If the man wanted to go back to the surface or venture deeper into the lower city district, he had to come to the intersection.

All Chen Chuan needed to do was wait.

However, he heard scattered footsteps coming his way, along with cursing. The newcomers should be gang members in control of this tunnel, who had come to check on the commotion.

All tunnels leading up to the upper city district were in someone’s control. This allowed them to easily monopolize the resources from both the lower and upper city districts. Even the people from Clear Road Transport had to pay a transport fee to pass through the controlled tunnels.

Chen Chuan didn’t want these people to bother him, so he spread his mental energy, and an invisible shockwave spread out. The gang members collapsed on the ground and stopped moving.

All the domain entities in the area were affected, as if they were suffering from a domain interference attack. They were unable to pass messages for a moment.

After taking those people out, Chen Chuan stood at the intersection with his saber in hand. The Sun Vines had long since toppled over. While they hadn’t shrivelled and were still releasing bits of light, it was scattered and barely lit up the place. It caused his shadow to elongate.

Around two minutes later, he heard footsteps coming from the other end of the tunnel. They were really loud in a quiet tunnel. At the same time, he saw a figure in an overcoat in his head.

Chen Chuan stared at the deep tunnel ahead.

The captain noticed him and stopped three hundred meters away at a corner leading to the intersection.

After stopping for a while, the captain moved forward and came out from behind the corner. He immediately saw Chen Chuan standing across from him.

He stopped, but didn’t retreat. After a moment, he continued onward, because he had entered the area of Chen Chuan’s mental energy, and he could no longer run away. On the surface, he could use the buildings and other obstacles to slow Chen Chuan down, but he didn’t have those here.

He stopped again around forty meters away from Chen Chuan and praised him from the bottom of his heart. “You live up to your reputation, Lead Investigator Chen.”

The headquarters had given him some information about Chen Chuan, who had been tasked to keep an eye out on United Might. He was also the one who had captured all three of his teammates.

Chen Chuan was a capable lead investigator and a royal pain in the butt. If he kept up his investigation, the captain was going to have a hard time carrying out the company’s plans, so he decided to use the Tunneling Queen as bait and launch an ambush.

If he could get rid of Chen Chuan, most of United Might’s troubles would go away.

But the results were that not only was Chen Chuan completely unharmed, but he had also predicted the captain’s escape route and blocked his way. His professionalism was truly praiseworthy.

While the captain wanted to kill Chen Chuan, who was his enemy, he was impressed by Chen Chuan’s strength and judgment.

He removed his hat, revealing a firm, determined face. He had thick eyebrows and short, coarse hair. “Fan Mo.”

“Chen Chuan,” Chen Chuan returned calmly.

Fan Mo sighed. “Honestly, I was trying to avoid fighting you, since I’m sure that I won’t be able to kill someone as strong as you are without paying a horrible price for it. Even if I win, it’d be a pyrrhic victory.”

United Might had tasked him with entering the merged space and finding the artifact. This might require him to fight against Jibei Road’s government’s, the Union’s, and the Linacrox Union’s armed combatants. Before entering the merged space, he needed to remain in top condition.

Chen Chuan was not to be underestimated. Setting aside his past achievements, Fan Mo had gotten a glimpse of his power during the chase. Even if Fan Mo was somehow able to win, he had a feeling that someone else would swoop in and harvest the rewards of his struggle, and if he lost... He didn’t even need to think about the results. In any case, this was a lose-lose situation for him.

“It makes no difference to me. I’ll take all of you down. You’re all targets of the Resolution Departments,” Chen Chuan said.

Fan Mo could understand that. He grabbed the hilt of his saber and drew it with a loud whoosh. “No hard feelings.”

Chen Chuan grabbed the Frost King Saber’s hilt, but before he could draw it out completely, Fan Mo, who looked like he had been waiting for Chen Chuan to draw his saber, took a step forward and swung his saber down.

His hair danced back, and his muscles tensed. His expression became incredibly fierce. The slash went straight for the middle line of Chen Chuan’s body, and it was strong as well as fierce. All his mutated tissue gathered together, and with that uniquely wide saber, even the air looked like it had been torn apart.

Chen Chuan’s gaze sharpened. Regardless of whether he parried or dodged the attack, Fan Mo would have a second attack ready. Even though he had counterattacks planned, he didn’t choose them. Instead, he took half a step forward.

That half a step prevented Fan Mo from following through with his original attack. If he wanted to bring out his power, he would have to readjust.

This was what Chen Chuan had done to take down one of Fan Mo’s teammates. He had used his speed, domain, mind, and other strengths to change the rhythm of the fight and forced her into a passive position. He seized control of the combat rhythm.

But Fan Mo was much stronger than his teammate. While charging over, he acted like a pendulum that could move back and forth. With a slight adjustment of his mutated tissue and muscles, he found the angle to generate power again.

Chen Chuan switched tactics. He positioned the unsheathed Frost King Saber horizontally and pushed it against Fan Mo’s saber.

Even though Fan Mo also adjusted his saber attack after seeing Chen Chuan’s movement, he was a step too late. Besides, adjusting his attack twice prevented him from being able to generate enough power. There was no way he could bring out a powerful refined force.

As their weapons clashed, their refined forces rushed into each other.

Without a doubt, Fan Mo had learned the Heartborn Force. Unless a martial artist had learned a body hardening-type Heartborn Force, it was impossible for them to endure the power of the Heartborn Force solely through their physical bodies.

A clash between weapons was different. Since weapons could withstand part of the refined force, mutated weapons could join battles of this level, but only those who had reached a certain degree of strength.

Most of the Heartborn Force was borne by the two’s weapons. Tiny droplets of water appeared on Fan Mo’s saber, as if the mutated tissue inside was forcing out the refined force.

The Frost King Saber was still inside its sheath, but wisps of shining fog spilled out and surrounded it. Just like Fan Mo’s saber, it absorbed the refined force.

Chen Chuan had been ready to endure the Heartborn Force, but to his surprise, he wasn’t affected in the slightest. The Frost King Saber had completely absorbed Fan Mo’s Heartborn Force. It made him perk up, because it meant that the Frost King Saber hadn’t gained all those benefits from the spine-like bone for nothing. Now, it was showing off its value.

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.