Book 4, Chapter 248: Crisis Over. Time To Hold People Accountable

Once the pillar of snow shot up, a shockwave spread outward. The trees around them swayed and rustled like waves. The two airships floating in the air swayed as well and were forced back quite a bit.

However, neither side knew the results of the fight, because Chen Chuan and Qi Huishi moved too quickly. They only managed to see one of them lift the other up at the end. Then, it was followed by an explosion that shook the entire place.

Bao Ning saw the airship across from them reposition itself and turn its gatling guns. He immediately ordered, “Get ready. If the other airship fires, we’re firing too.”

While both sides were wary and had their guns pointed downward, neither actually fired a single shot. They simply stayed away, because everything depended on the results of the fight underneath.

After a while, the snow landed, and they were able to see what was going on. Bao Ning observed the place for a bit, and delight broke out on his face.

A large, shallow pit was where the two men had fought. Chen Chuan was standing in it, while Qi Huishi was lying before him.

The victor was clear.

Qi Huishi’s chest heaved. Wisps of white light rose from him. Refined force had invaded all his mutated tissue, and he couldn’t move.

He knew that Chen Chuan had held back, or that hit just now would have killed him. He wouldn’t have come off as uninjured as he was right now.

Qi Huishi spat out some dirt and said feebly, “You won, Director Chen. I’ll step back from this. Take the woman and the key.”

His heart bled. He had spent a long time gathering the food and medicine, especially the medicine, since it was only provided in limited amounts. He couldn’t get them whenever he wanted. However, he hadn’t been fighting for himself, so he was going to get compensated severalfold after he got back.

Chen Chuan turned to the side, and the key flew out from a pile of loose dirt to him. He grabbed it and said, “Let’s spar again if we have another chance, Mr. Qi.”

He then went back to the white-haired woman and picked her up before walking back to the airship.

The Air-Walking Pearls were pretty good and would be perfect for his collection. It was unfortunate that this was just a spar, so he couldn’t take them.

When Enclosed Shore saw him walking back, the airship descended close to the ground. The platform came down, and Chen Chuan got on it. Then, he turned around and watched as the other airship flew to where Qi Huishi was.

As the platform rose and gradually cut off his vision of the world outside, he returned to the airship, and the hatch closed with a click. Bao Ning walked over. “Director Chen, are you okay?”

“It’s nothing. It was just a simple spar,” Chen Chuan assured him.

Bao Ning stared at him for a bit and gulped. Even though they caused such a major commotion, Chen Chuan said that it was just a simple spar? What would have happened if they had actually fought to kill?

Chen Chuan put down the white-haired woman. With a gesture from Bao Ning, a person came forward to secure her. Bao Ning then took a few steps forward and whispered, “Mr. Chen, do you think that the Chaotic Land and Haixi Road are involved?”

“Yes,” Chen Chuan answered. The destroyed airship belonged to the Chaotic Land, which had an ambiguous relationship with Haixi Road. Some people or organizations in Haixi Road were likely the masterminds. If not, they were at least participants.

If they managed to send a martial arts master over, even the government might have been involved.

However, there was no need for him to look into this any further, not that he could. Besides, he wasn’t interested in it. Once he brought the woman back, the matter was closed.

“It’s settled, then,” he said.

Bao Ning nodded. He wouldn’t be able to handle this on his own. The people from the headquarters would have to step forward. All he needed to do was submit a progress report.

***

After the airship left, Qi Huishi lay still for a while. The people from his airship came down to him. “Are you okay, Mr. Qi?”

The snow on Qi Huishi’s body fell down as he stood up from the pit. In truth, he had recovered some time ago. He simply had felt too embarrassed to get up while Chen Chuan was still around.

As he recalled the fight, the strength and speed Chen Chuan displayed weren’t that much different from his. His technique didn’t stand out either, but he was simply outstanding at creating and seizing opportunities.

Also, the youth’s true power left a deep impression on him. With such a foundation, Qi Huishi wouldn’t have lost so easily either. Still, he had even taken out his weapon, so he shouldn’t complain about it. There was no such thing as a fair fight in the world, anyway.

He would even go as far as to say that he was soundly defeated.

“Let’s go,” he said and started walking to the airship.

The airship crew member followed him and asked, “What about those things, Mr. Qi?”

That earned him a cold glare. The airship crew member felt his heart freeze, and he didn’t dare say another word. He simply followed quietly.

***

Back in Enclosed Shore’s airship, Chen Chuan went back to his cabin to clean himself up a bit. After coming out, he went to the main cabin. The white-haired woman was placed there. When she saw him, she whipped her head toward him and trained her blue eyes on him. “You’re strong.”

Chen Chuan stopped walking and looked down as the white-haired woman continued, “I saw you fight against the other warrior. If I regained my strength, you wouldn’t be able to win against me.”

Chen Chuan could tell that she wasn’t boasting or being arrogant. That was truly what she believed, which gave her the confidence to say it out loud.

By now, he had figured out how to talk to such people. “There’s no fairness when it comes to martial fights. You’ve lost, and as the victor, I can decide what will happen to you.”

The white-haired woman immediately slumped. Clearly, she agreed with Chen Chuan’s words, and she said sternly, “Are you planning to take me in as a slave? I’m a hunter. I won’t ever become a slave, but you can take my life and possessions.”

“I don’t want your life. Just hand over what you’ve taken from us,” Chen Chuan stated.

Upon hearing this, the white-haired woman became worked up and shouted, “That’s our spoils of war! It carries the tribe’s honor and hope. I can make it up to you with our livestock and tribesmen.”

“It’s been several centuries since your time. I’m pretty sure that your tribe is gone by now. Besides, your spoils are mine now. You have no right to negotiate,” Chen Chuan pointed out.

The white-haired woman’s face turned bright red, a clear sign that she was furious, but she couldn’t argue back. All she could do was sit there without a word. Silent treatment was her way of fighting back.

Nothing else happened on their way back. A day later, the airship returned to Yangzhi City. This time, they didn’t go to the Department of Administrative Affairs. Instead, the airship landed at Enclosed Shore.

It was built where Black Orchid Co. originally was. The building’s layout hadn’t changed much, but everything within had become different. When Chen Chuan looked down, he found that the building’s shape itself looked familiar, but the paint, logo, and other details were no longer the same.

Once the airship stopped and they got out, a group of people were already waiting for them. The leader was a man in his fifties with a gentlemanly appearance. When he saw Chen Chuan, he came forward and greeted him politely. “Director Chen, I’m the administrative officer from Enclosed Shore’s headquarters sent to be in charge of this incident. We thank you for your help. We’ve heard that you fought against a martial arts master from Haixi Road while retrieving the female martial arts master. Please be rest assured that we will compensate you for all the energy you spent during this process.”

Since Bao Ning was just the director of the branch company, he didn’t know what martial arts masters needed. Most of the time, he simply treated Chen Chuan as the director of the Defense Bureau, which led to him being unable to promise him any compensation. The headquarters knew about this, so Liao Donghai had immediately come over to state the company’s stance.

“I’m the director of Jibei Road’s Defense Bureau. Since this happened in Jibei Road, I need to oversee it. How do you intend to resolve this matter?” Chen Chuan asked.

Liao Donghai answered sincerely, “We hid the results of our excavation because we wanted to conduct private research, but what happened only showed that we were wrong in this. The headquarters has reported this to the state, and they will soon send someone to our company to monitor us while we settle this issue.”

This was a smart move. Once Chen Chuan got involved, there was no way they could continue hiding it. After he went back to Central City, he was bound to write a report to his superiors. Hence, instead of waiting for him to submit it, it would be better for Enclosed Shore to admit to their mistakes ahead of time. No matter what, they were still a state-owned enterprise.

Just then, the telegraph clerk on the airship ran over and shouted, “Director Chen!”

Everyone, including the security guards and the other executives of the company, looked over. Having so much attention trained on him made the clerk flinch, but he composed himself, lifted the paper, and forced himself to say, “The National Security Ministry sent a telegram over.”

Everyone fell silent, even Liao Donghai.

Chen Chuan went over to him and took the telegram.

The National Security Ministry was the Defense Bureau’s superior. While the National Defense Ministry was mainly in charge of defending the World Ring and dealing with external threats, the National Security Ministry was in charge of maintaining domestic security and monitoring all the companies, domestic and foreign alike.

After skimming through the telegram, Chen Chuan learned that the National Security Ministry was requesting him to continue following up and taking part in overseeing how Enclosed Shore was going to handle the matter. He was then to submit a detailed report to the ministry. There was also a postscript stating that the ministry had already communicated this with Enclosed Shore’s headquarters.

Chen Chuan looked up. “Mr. Liao, according to the National Security Ministry, I will be following up on this matter. I hope that you will cooperate.”

Mr. Liao also received a telegram from his assistant. After reading through it, he looked up and said sincerely, “We will cooperate with you fully, Director Chen.”

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