Assessment

The Disposal Bureau moved quickly. Just a day later, Ni Xixi arrived at Chen Chuan's dormitory accompanied by bureau personnel. After confirming the details, they signed the paper agreement. Chen Chuan had no reservations about this. He had already gone through the clauses one by one with Gao Ming beforehand, and there was nothing objectionable in them. Studying at the Main Academy without this kind of resource investment backing him would make completing his studies an excruciating ordeal if left entirely on his own. He would have to scrounge up funds to purchase courses while finding ways to stockpile medicines. Most of his time would probably be wasted on those burdens, leaving him unable to concentrate on his fighting cultivation. Other students, by contrast, could devote themselves wholeheartedly to it. The disparity was obvious at a glance. More critically, without this level of resource support, higher channels would naturally never open to you, many crucial pieces of information would remain out of reach, and you would miss out on countless opportunities you never even knew existed. Once the agreement was signed, Ni Xixi transmitted the digital copy directly back through her boundary credential. "Alright, let's talk about what comes next. "Student Chen, you've reviewed the general briefing. Right now, the Disposal Bureau has an operational mission that requires your cooperation. Do you think you can handle it? Well, you're free to decline, but that will lower your evaluation, you know." Chen Chuan understood. To receive, one had to give. Sending him on a mission right after signing the agreement—was this meant as another assessment of him? Without hesitation, he said, "I agree." "Decisive," Ni Xixi said, immediately transmitting a dossier over via her boundary credential. Chen Chuan took a look. It was a request to cooperate with the bureau in apprehending a rogue fighter. For operational security, the preliminary briefing offered only a brief profile of the criminal; the detailed contents would only unlock once he agreed. Ni Xixi spoke up again. "Let me remind you once more: once you decide, you cannot hesitate or shirk responsibility, or your evaluation will drop even lower." Chen Chuan said, "Thank you for the reminder, Officer Ni." He signaled his consent on the interface, and detailed information promptly unfolded across the light screen before him. The target of this apprehension was named Xiong Jianyi. His father hailed from Yi Island, and his mother was from Great Shun. He had spent his youth in Center City, where he had studied fighting arts. Five years ago, a group of students had caught him attempting to kidnap a young woman. Finding his crime exposed, he slaughtered both the young woman and the students. When the city patrol reached the apartment he rented, they found that every resident in the entire building had been murdered. The doors had been battered open with bare fists, and all the victims shared the same cause of death: broken necks. Recognizing this as a fighter crime, the patrol immediately escalated it to the Disposal Bureau, which subsequently issued a wanted notice for him. Xiong Jianyi fled the city and was said to have hidden away on an overseas island. Now, five years later, the bureau had received intelligence that Xiong Jianyi had been invited by the Swordfish Gang, based in Yinglu District, to serve as their fighting instructor. Word was that the gang had already retained a team of solicitors through their corporate backer, the Ferris Wheel Company, preparing to clear him of his past crimes. A photograph was attached to the screen. Chen Chuan glanced at it, and his first impression was of an exceptionally brutish, imposing man. A tight undershirt strained against his thick chest muscles, while the muscles across his hips and legs bulged tight and corded, brimming with explosive force. His hair was shaved around his temples on one side, but left long at the back. His eyes carried an extraordinarily ferocious gleam, and his knuckles were thick and knobby—clearly a seasoned expert in grappling and capture techniques. As he was examining the file, Ni Xixi spoke. "See him? Your target this time is this man. Reliable intelligence indicates he will arrive at the external port in Jiyang District within three days. "The objective is to deal with him before he meets up with the Swordfish Gang and the Ferris Wheel Company's legal team. "However, the Disposal Bureau is currently short on hands. Center City is enormous, and there are many places we simply cannot cover, so there will be no on-site backup for this assignment. That said, you can draw support from the information service platform. "We will also recommend several field technical experts to you. Of course, if you feel they aren't suitable, you can find someone yourself. We will reimburse the expenses, but you will also bear personal responsibility for any complications arising from technical failures. "Well? Any questions?" Chen Chuan looked down at the bureau's strength evaluation for the man: between the Second Limit and the third limit, with an added note that further confirmation was required. He looked up and said, "No problem." Ni Xixi tapped her boundary credential. "Very good. Now... log into this." Chen Chuan glanced at his boundary credential, where a communication platform had appeared. Entering it, he found it to be the Disposal Bureau's internal dispatch channel. The moment he logged in, a form was laid out before him. Ni Xixi explained, "This is the mission verification form, accessible through the platform. Before every mission is executed, it is reported to headquarters via telegram and filed in their archives. "Once you confirm, a receipt will be transmitted back to you in telegram format as well. Make sure you receive and keep it. This thing is very important—it is one of your proofs of acting under official orders." Chen Chuan said, "Thank you for the reminder, Officer Ni." Having gone through the briefing, Ni Xixi relaxed visibly. "That's everything I need to explain. If there's anything you need to tell us, just contact me directly through your boundary credential. That's all." With that, she stood up, gave Chen Chuan a brief wave, and left with her escort. After she departed, Chen Chuan continued reviewing Xiong Jianyi's detailed profile. He discovered that the man had originally learned his fighting arts in the Tianshu Gang. Center City was home to numerous criminal organizations and gangs formed by fighters, the largest of which was the Tianshu Gang, whose core members consisted entirely of elite fighters. The gang operated numerous martial arts academies below it, teaching various combat skills year-round while actively scouting talented individuals from the Lower District to cultivate. Xiong Jianyi had been scouted in precisely that manner. He had formally apprenticed under an elder of the Tianshu Gang, officially taken in as an indoor disciple, which meant he had undoubtedly inherited a substantial portion of true martial teachings. Below that were several brief video recordings of his past fights. However, the footage was extremely sparse, consisting only of fleeting fragments, because the bouts had invariably ended in mere moments. Moreover, all of this dated back five years. While it had reference value, five years was a significant span for a fighter; relying on it blindly could lead one miles off the mark. He pondered the timing. The ferry the man was taking would arrive the day after tomorrow, which meant he had only one day to prepare. This seemed a bit tight, but matters involving rogue fighters were almost always sudden and unpredictable, rarely leaving anyone much preparation time. If this was an assessment, it fell well within reasonable bounds. After reviewing all the documentation, he used the bureau's internal platform to reach out to the field technical experts Ni Xixi had recommended. However, upon contacting them, he found that the assistance they could offer was very limited. They could only provide him with the target's probable routes, unable to maintain real-time surveillance. It was not that they were evading work; they were simply tied up tracking much larger cases and could not dedicate themselves exclusively to a single reserve recruit. In that case, he might as well go straight to Wu Bei. The bureau would reimburse the expenses anyway. When Wu Bei heard that he was being asked to assist in law enforcement, he grew instantly excited. Cracking down on criminals was what he yearned for most; he would have leaped at the chance even without pay. He said enthusiastically, "Brother Chen, I guarantee I'll get this done right for you. Just watch!" Chen Chuan nodded. Setting aside whether Brother Wu's technical skills were top-tier, his wholehearted, passionate dedication was rare and valuable in itself. Some people were technically proficient, yet performed their duties perfunctorily, which was useless. When it came to apprehending a wanted fugitive of this caliber, the slightest oversight in detail could cause disastrous complications. After leaving the Xuan Palace Building, Ni Xixi headed toward her car in the plaza while opening a line to her superior at the Disposal Bureau. "Say, isn't estimating Xiong Jianyi at the Second Limit a bit low? The guy has talent—otherwise old man Yu from the Tianshu Gang wouldn't have taken him on as an apprentice back then. And that was five years ago. He might well have reached the third limit by now. Can Brother Chen handle that?" The voice on the other end responded, "His record clearly shows Student Chen Chuan once faced and captured the Third Limit fighter Tan Wang single-handedly. If so, he should be able to deal with Xiong Jianyi." "That was different. Maybe he took medication back then. I saw the file, you know! Before the fight, most of Tan Wang's implants had already been wrecked by someone else. His primary combat power came from those implants, so how much strength he could actually exert was very questionable. If Student Chen used drugs, plus a stroke of luck, winning was plausible. "But a fully intact third limit fighter? That's not something a freshman who just entered the Main Academy can resolve." The voice replied, "We don't joke around with a promising student's life, nor are we placing the entire burden on his shoulders. If he can't handle it, someone will be behind him to clean up the mess." "Mm-hmm. Just a test, right?" Ni Xixi opened the door of a red sports car and slid inside. "Still, I have a feeling Brother Chen will definitely handle it well this time. My reason? The intuition of an intuitive school practitioner." The car door clicked shut. With a roar of its engine, the vehicle shot forward. Back in his dormitory, Chen Chuan maintained regular contact with the bureau while making his preparations. Because this was an apprehension mission representing an official operation, he could not simply do whatever he pleased. Everything had to be coordinated according to the framework provided by the bureau. He would only step forward in the final capture phase, which required continuous back-and-forth communication. The bureau personnel knew he was a subject of high priority for the organization—and potentially a future colleague—so they treated him with considerable patience and courtesy. Since Xiong Jianyi was well aware that Great Shun had a standing warrant out for him, returning to the country meant an apprehension attempt was very likely, so he would surely come prepared. Under normal circumstances, he would have the Swordfish Gang and the Ferris Wheel Company meet him at the port. Therefore, the Disposal Bureau planned to deploy personnel at key intersections for routine vehicle inspections to delay the gang's reception party, giving Chen Chuan a window of time to carry out the arrest. Timing would be tight and the difficulty high, but if no viable opportunity presented itself, he could temporarily abandon the attempt and wait for the next chance to apprehend him. Yet Chen Chuan knew that if he failed to seize this opportunity, even if he captured the man later, his evaluation score would never be as high as it could be now. It was best to resolve this in one stroke. And it was far from impossible. The planners had formulated their strategy entirely around his recorded assessment scores, whereas his true capabilities extended well beyond that. When the time came, he intended to explain any discrepancy away with performance-enhancing drugs. After all, he truly intended to take medicine before the operation anyway, just to ensure nothing went awry.