Book 4, Chapter 83: Hunter

Gao Yanjun wrote and sent the telegram. After she came back, she said, “Lead Investigator Chen, Mr. Chang, I’ve submitted all the information we’ve gathered.”

Chen Chuan and Chang Dong exchanged glances. All that was left was to wait for news from the headquarters. Since this might involve a martial arts master, it was incredibly complicated. The headquarters would need to discuss things thoroughly to decide how they were going to deal with the matter.

“Before the headquarters sends word, we can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Chen Chuan said. “According to Tian Rui, Qi Qianyang has been following the target and is one of the two instructors of Swamp Training Camp. He’s really strong.

“He showed up three days ago, but I did not receive any report, which means that Qi Qianyang didn’t come to Central City through the tunnel watched by the Resolution Department.

“I suspect that someone let him through another tunnel. It doesn’t matter who it is, but it means that someone is helping and supporting either the training camp or Qi Qianyang himself.”

“That makes things really complicated,” Chang Dong commented.

They weren’t just up against Swamp Training Camp. Other organizations were involved.

The truth was that they had expected this. The target would have needed quite a lot of resources to set up Swamp Training Camp in the merged space, and it would have been impossible for him to do so without an organization supporting him.

Chen Chuan took out a few hand-drawn pictures from his pocket and spread them out on the table.

Each of them had a portrait of one of the main martial artists in Swamp Training Camp. A professional artist in the department had drawn them based on Qu Tianli’s descriptions. They might not be completely accurate, but they were definitely more than 90% true to how these martial artists looked.

Chen Chuan pointed at the younger-looking instructor and said, “Based on his age, this instructor should be the one Qu Tianli praised to high heavens.”

Chang Dong took a look at the picture. Even though the artist had only gotten verbal descriptions, they were really good at portraying demeanor.

The person in the picture wore a cloche hat. His gaze was so sharp that even through the paper, Chang Dong felt attacked.

While staring at the picture, Chen Chuan said, “He seldom appears in Central City, but now, he’s here, and I’m pretty sure that he’s here for us.

“What I’m thinking is that before the headquarters makes their decision, we should solve this problem to the best of our abilities. Instead of wasting time, we should take action to get rid of the threat before us.”

If they didn’t solve this problem properly, they wouldn’t be able to guarantee their own safety, much less expand the branch and recruit more members.

But they couldn’t just wait for the headquarters to send reinforcements, because they had no idea how long they would take. The headquarters wasn’t their nanny. They needed to think of a way to move this stumbling block out of their way.

“What do you intend to do, Lead Investigator Chen?” Chang Dong asked.

“I can try sniffing him out. Since he came for us, I’ll create a chance for him,” Chen Chuan said. Then, he looked up from the picture to face Chang Dong and Gao Yanjun.

“You should stay here. Majestic Light District has tight security and powerful martial artists guarding the area. He won’t be able to do anything here. Meanwhile, I’ll step out and give him a chance to find me.”

Gao Yanjun gathered the pictures, organized them, then stuck them to the presentation board before them. Once she was done, she used a red pen to draw a line under Qi Qianyang’s picture.

After taking a look, Chang Dong said, “Now that you’ve displayed them on the board, I really want to draw an X on all of their faces.”

As Chen Chuan stared at Qi Qianyang’s gaze, he had a feeling that the man would approach him on his own.

But the positions of the hunter and the hunted could change at any moment.

“Sure. I’ll let you draw those Xs once I’ve taken them out,” he said.

“That’s a deal,” Chang Dong replied with a laugh.

The next day, after Chen Chuan got off the airship, he didn’t go back to Martial Valor University. Instead, he went to the Resolution Department to get some things sorted out.

The officers in the building were moving around in a hurry, busy with their tasks. All the main senior leaders were missing as well.

This was due to the Union and the Linacrox Union’s arrival. It led to the Resolution Department being forced to put most of their attention on these two groups.

Both of them had great influence and power, and both were in Central City right now. Hence, plenty of things were tied to them right now.

Besides, the artifact was at the center of it all, so all those related were so busy that they didn’t even have time to sit down.

Ni Qianqian contacted him via the department’s platform. Once he answered, she greeted him before saying, “Lead Investigator Chen, Liu Yin mentioned that he wants to join your team. Are you aware of this?”

“Yeah. I said yes,” Chen Chuan answered.

“Well, then. His family came to me and asked me to thank you. They said that they’d like to treat you to a meal if you have time,” Ni Qianqian explained.

“I don’t have time for it now, but we can talk about it once I’m free. I’m actually surprised that his family didn’t go against it,” Chen Chuan said.

“That kid is the most talented of his batch, and all his elders have seen his growth. As long as nothing happens to him and he gets enough resources, he won’t have much problem reaching the Third Limit. That’s why his family respects his decision.”

Chen Chuan nodded. He could tell that Liu Yin’s mutated tissue was already close to the peak of the Second Limit, so it would take him at most a few more months to reach the Third Limit.

His family should be able to see it too, and no one should try to limit the life of a Third Limit martial artist, not that they could. After all, Third Limit martial artists could break free from any organization and become independent whenever they wanted.

“Besides, why should they complain about him joining your team? You’re the youngest lead investigator in the department, and anyone with eyes can tell that you have a bright future ahead of you. Those old coots wouldn’t be able to say anything about Liu Yin joining you.”

Chen Chuan laughed at that. “My door will never close. If anyone else wants to join, they can come find me.”

He had seen the disciples from the martial arts families before. All of them went through strict training and only joined the Resolution Department for further training. The moment they entered, they were practically guaranteed to become powerful assets.

Ni Qianqian giggled. “I’ll tell them, then. By the way, there’s one more thing I have to tell you. The lecturers and students from the Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation had multiple friendly matches with us. There were wins and losses on both sides.

“It was clear that while they said that they’re from the same university, they’re actually elites gathered from various places, so we lost more matches than they did.”

“If we learn what our weaknesses are from the friendly matches, I don’t see it as a bad thing,” Chen Chuan offered his opinion.

“That’s what I thought too, but the university cares about its dignity. After Ferris Wheel’s destruction, the Linacrox Union lost its island nation spokesperson, so they came here to reclaim their dignity. We can’t let them walk all over us. That’s why the university suggested the lecturers fight them in another friendly match, and they asked me to call you about whether you’re willing to represent the university.”

“Did Mr. Ling put you up to this?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Mr. Tan, actually. The vice chancellor only wanted me to ask, though. If you’re not free, forget it,” Ni Qianqian added.

“Please tell him that I’m not free, then,” Chen Chuan requested.

“Gotcha,” Ni Qianqian agreed to it readily.

Once the call ended, Chen Chuan mumbled, “Mr. Tan, huh?”

That was Ling Jianxing’s direct superior and the man who pushed for the tournament. The moment he took office, he got a lot of funds for the university, so he had plenty of deciding power.

While Chen Chuan was a lecturer, he only became one to use the university’s resources. His position as a lead investigator made it so that he was only half a rank lower than Tan Weixing. Since Tan Weixing wasn’t his direct superior, Chen Chuan didn’t have to play nice with him.

Right now, all his attention was on improving his mental energy, and he had no interest in any friendly matches.

Once he left the Resolution Department, he got into his limousine and prepared to head to Roaring Victory District to see whether he could draw Qi Qianyang out.

When the motorcade was about to enter Roaring Victory District, Safe Shield said, “Lead Investigator Chen, there’s a car following us, and the owner has monitoring immunity. I can’t check his identity, but his car plate shows that he’s from the Linacrox Union.”

Surprise flickered in Chen Chuan’s eyes, and he immediately put his hand on his Realm Pass to make a call. “Wu Bei, could you look into the person behind me? Be careful, though.”

Wu Bei patted his chest and said, “Just leave it to me, sir. I’ll get it done in a minute.”

He wasn’t lying. In just a short while, Chen Chuan received all the information regarding the man.

Just as Chen Chuan expected, the person was part of the Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation by the name of Percival Haverford. He was twenty-seven years old and was a lecturer from Universal Sword University, a university within the Linacrox Union.

Universal Sword University was the same as Martial Valor University. Both were national institutes used to train martial artists, but Universal Sword University also had plenty of students from other countries and regions.

After reading through the information, Chen Chuan considered some things and looked up. “Stop.”

The motorcade stopped by the road.

The car behind them also stopped. The car door swung open, and out came a young, smiling foreigner.

He had black, curly hair, deep-set blue eyes, a square face with a gentle softness to it, tanned skin, and a bluish-gray martial arts uniform. He gave off the air of an elite martial artist.

The logistician opened the door for Chen Chuan. Once he got out, he said, “Mr. Haverford, since you’re part of the diplomatic delegation, I need to tell you that what you’re doing is really rude and dangerous.”

Percival shrugged and said in the most basic form of the national language, “Sorry. I apologize. Please forgive me.”

After that, he spoke in the Linacrox Union’s common language. “I heard from your university that you’re the strongest lecturer there, and I couldn’t contain my curiosity.

“I’ve already defeated two of your lecturers, but my leader said that we need to show your university respect, so I had to step down. I still think that I could fight two more, though.”

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