Outside the Sentry Post, a team of Patrol Officers from the Patrol Bureau began advancing up the ramp. The gunfire from above had ceased for a while, so they moved under the cover of sporadic fire from below.
They were now about halfway up, having reached the second bend in the path.
This was an extrely dangerous maneuver. If even one person rushed out from the Sentry Post and opened fire, they could kill or injure the entire team in an instant.
After all, they were on an open ramp. Even though the officers at the front wore Protective Clothing and steel helts, a shot to the limbs or face, or even a fall from that height, could be fatal. Moreover, there was no room to retreat.
If it had been agents from so other commissioned company who had stord the Sentry Post, the officers would never have taken such a risk. They would have waited for a definitive outco. But the one who went up was Chen Chuan, one of the Patrol Bureau’s own. They couldn’t live with the sha of cowering in the back.
Just then, they saw sothing fly out from the Sentry Post. Their faces paled, and they all ducked for cover. But after a mont of silence, they looked up and saw that it was a human head.
The head landed on the outer platform. Due to the slight incline, it soon began to roll again, tumbling off the edge and bouncing gruesoly down the steep slope until it ca to a rest at the bottom.
Seeing this, Wei Oldhu nudged his cap with the muzzle of his gun. "Go identify it," he ordered.
A Patrol Officer imdiately ran over. A mont later, he returned. "Captain, it’s Tong Qianjiang!"
Wei Oldhu’s spirits soared. "Are you sure?"
"No mistake! It’s smashed up in so places from the fall, but you can still mostly tell who it is!"
Wei Oldhu was overjoyed. "Beautifully done!" He pointed his gun to the sky and bellowed, "Get up there, now! This ans Xiaochuan has the upper hand! We can’t just stand here watching!"
"Wait."
He stopped them again, his face a mask of ferocity. "I’ll lead the charge myself!" With that, he flung his cap to the ground, raised his pistol, and sprinted toward the ramp.
After killing Tong Qianjiang, Chen Chuan flicked his blade clean and turned around. His gaze swept upward, eting the eyes of the spider-like man. The man, however, seed terrified. He imdiately scrambled away across the ceiling and vanished into a crevice.
Chen Chuan looked forward again. Now, only Fang Dawei was left standing before him.
He didn’t know what kind of Implant this man had, but his blade had been almost useless against it earlier. Not only that, but he had also struck with his Power, yet the point of impact had felt slippery, as if the attack had no effect whatsoever.
Fang Dawei stood his ground, seemingly unfazed. He spoke up. "Hey, young man. Is this enough?" Seeing Chen Chuan’s gaze fix on him, he repeated, "This should be enough for you to report back to your superiors, right?"
Chen Chuan stared at him, saying nothing.
Seeing his silence, Fang Dawei slowly spread his arms. "To be honest, this Implant has severely limited my true strength. The Power I spent twenty years cultivating feels like it’s completely gone. But on the other hand, it makes impervious to weapons. Your blade can’t cut , and even bullets are useless against ."
At that mont, Doctor Lin, who had been leaning to the side with an almost non-existent presence, suddenly spoke up. "You’re only in the adaptation period. Once you’re past it, your strength will gradually return. Tong Baitao adapted much faster than you, but that’s because his Implant is a finished product, whereas yours is just a prototype."
Fang Dawei said, "Even if it returns, that will take ti." He turned to Chen Chuan. "Frankly, it’s easier for to escape alone now that my brothers are gone. If you let go, I won’t seek revenge in the future. I won’t have the ability to, anyway. I need to hide from certain people, so I’ll never appear in Yangzhi City again."
He could tell that Chen Chuan was incredibly fast and powerful. Even if Chen Chuan couldn’t kill him, he could easily stall him. Once reinforcents arrived, they would have plenty of ways to deal with him—even a simple net might be enough to capture him. But if Chen Chuan let him go, he was confident he could break through the unprepared Patrol Officers below.
He added, "Young man, we robbed a bank earlier and got away with a lot of cash. It’s all buried in a safe place right now. I can tell you the location, or even take you there later to get it. You could take that money and live whatever life you want. You don’t have to worry about the bills being marked; who’s going to care about that in another city?"
At that mont, he heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching from outside. "Sounds like the n from below are coming up," he said. "So, what do you say? Have you thought it over?
"If you really insist on stopping , it will be a fight to the death where we both lose. I’ll make sure to take so people down with before I die. Hmm? You think I an with force?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "No, that’s too crude. I’ll simply reveal a secret in front of everyone here—a secret the Molan Company doesn’t want anyone to know. When that happens, what do you think the Molan Company’s reaction will be?"
Chen Chuan turned his head and shouted to the outside, "Don’t co in!"
The sounds from outside paused. After a mont, Wei Oldhu’s voice called in, "Xiaochuan, is that you? What’s the situation in there?"
Chen Chuan replied, "The situation is under control, Uncle Wei. Trust , don’t co in yet."
Wei Oldhu’s voice ca back imdiately. "Alright, Uncle Wei trusts you. Xiaochuan, just give us a shout if you need anything. Whatever happens, your brothers at the Patrol Bureau will face it with you!"
A smile touched the corners of Fang Dawei’s mouth. He looked at Chen Chuan. "It seems you’ve seen the light. Good. I’ll keep my promise and tell you where the money is hidden. You have to understand, as long as I’m alive, the Molan Company won’t do anything to you. Killing you wouldn’t stop the secret from getting out."
Chen Chuan spoke slowly. "I was just thinking about sothing."
"What is it?"
Fang Dawei was a little surprised. "I have to remind you, people from the Molan Company are on their way. I don’t have much ti to waste here. If you have questions, ask them quickly. Hmm? You don’t want to know the secret, do you?"
He smiled. "If you really want to know, I can tell you."
Chen Chuan said, "I was thinking that while your Implant is impervious to weapons and covers your whole body, it can’t possibly maintain that state twenty-four-seven. After all, you have to breathe."
Fang Dawei’s expression flickered, and his gaze turned cold. "What are you getting at?"
In the corner, Doctor Lin looked over, his interest piqued.
Chen Chuan continued, "I observed you while you were talking. The Implant is attached to you, but it requires a degree of conscious effort to activate its functions.
"When you need to breathe, you have to force it to expand, opening up small gaps to let oxygen in. In that mont, it becos relatively weak. Only when you hold your breath and contract it does it beco difficult to penetrate."
Doctor Lin clapped his hands softly. CLAP, CLAP. "Well said, well said," he praised. "You’re a very keen observer, young man."
Fang Dawei’s face went completely cold, and a chill rose from the bottom of his heart. "So what?" he said.
Chen Chuan gripped the hilt of his blade, slowly raised his arm, and pointed the tip at Fang Dawei. "It ans your Implant’s defense isn’t flawless," he said slowly. "So don’t talk about being impervious to weapons."
Fang Dawei sneered. "Then it seems we have nothing to discuss. I may not be able to beat you in a fight right now, but it’s still easy enough to say a few words. I guess you don’t care about the lives of those Patrol Bureau officers after all?"
Chen Chuan said calmly, "You won’t get the chance." With that, he strode forward, raised his Snow Monarch Blade, and slashed at Fang Dawei.
Fang Dawei retreated quickly, but the experintal nature of his Implant was like a straightjacket. While it protected him, it also made his speed and reflexes far slower than they were before the procedure. At this mont, his strength wasn’t even thirty percent of its normal level. His only option against Chen Chuan’s attack was to take it head-on.
He had claid he could reveal the secret, but in reality, Chen Chuan was right. Once the fight began, between his own desperate movents and the flurry of blade strikes, it was impossible for him to speak a complete sentence.
As the blade flashed around him, he instinctively held his breath to maximize the Implant’s defensive power. At the sa ti, he watched for a lull in the attacks, a chance to gasp for air.
But he quickly realized sothing was wrong. Chen Chuan’s attacks were sotis fast, sotis slow, following an indescribable rhythm that always struck him at the most awkward monts. Under this pressure, he couldn’t find a single opening to catch his breath.
His only choice was to dodge as best he could, hoping to create an opportunity.
But it was useless. Chen Chuan’s speed and strength far surpassed his own. Every ti he tried to disengage, the blade followed like a shadow, as if it were glued to him.
The intense exertion was depleting his oxygen even faster. After holding his breath for a long ti, he realized he would suffocate if he kept this up. He had no choice but to try expanding the mbrane to take a breath.
A glint flashed in Chen Chuan’s eyes. The very instant Fang Dawei inhaled and the mbrane expanded, the tip of his blade shot forward, piercing Fang Dawei’s shoulder. Fang Dawei involuntarily stumbled back several steps. He reflexively touched the wound and found his hand covered in blood, his shock quickly turning to fury.
Chen Chuan nodded. "So it does work."
Fang Dawei turned and tried to run up to the second floor, but Chen Chuan closed the distance in a single step and slashed him across the back of the knee. Fang Dawei imdiately staggered and pitched forward onto the ground. He crawled a few steps, fumbled for a gun on the floor, and turned to fire two shots at Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan could see clearly that Fang Dawei’s control was terrible; the muzzle wasn’t even aid properly. So, he didn’t bother to block or dodge. The bullets flew wide, ending up who knows where.
He walked forward, raised his blade, and chopped down. Again and again. Every ti Fang Dawei managed to struggle up, another slash would send him crashing back to the ground.
And whenever Fang Dawei tried to take a breath, a blade would co down with lightning speed, slicing open the mbrane. Before long, he was drenched in his own blood. His clothes and the scales of his Implant were shredded to pieces. He could no longer even crawl, rely lying there, panting ceaselessly.
Chen Chuan took two steps to the side, used the tip of his blade to pick up a length of rope from the floor, and walked over. He knelt on Fang Dawei’s back, which was still sowhat slick.
He first looped the rope once under the man’s crotch and once under his armpits, then wrapped it several tis around his neck. After that, he stood up and began dragging Fang Dawei toward the second floor.
Fang Dawei seed to realize what he was about to do. A look of terror filled his eyes. He clawed at the rope with his hands and kicked wildly with his feet.
Once on the second floor, Chen Chuan tied one end of the rope to a heavy box filled with junk, then kicked Fang Dawei over the edge.
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