Missing

On Gong Zhanyi's side, seeing the people from the Disposal Bureau approach, he got back into his car and left the steward to handle the contact. After waiting for more than ten minutes, the steward returned, got into the car as well, and said to him, "Young Highness, they indeed only came for Xiong Jianyi. Your subordinate already told them that we had no idea such a wanted fugitive was here, and later, fearing he might harm Your Highness, we chose to shoot him dead." Gong Zhanyi said, "As long as it's been explained. Let's keep moving." Once the convoy was back on the road, a few minutes passed before he spoke again: "Who shot Xiong Jianyi dead?" The steward was checking something on his boundary credential and answered a moment later, "Young Highness, it was Zuo San. The shot to Xiong Jianyi's head was his." Gong Zhanyi said, "Good. That's fine, as long as it was one of our men." His expression relaxed slightly. "It's not a bad thing that Xiong Jianyi is dead now either. They shouldn't pay any more attention to us." The steward said, "The Disposal Bureau might still keep an eye on us. Just now, their people told us that when we opened fire and killed Xiong Jianyi, there was also a suspicion of attempting to harm their operative. They want us to take responsibility for this." Gong Zhanyi thought for a moment and said, "Give the Disposal Bureau some compensation to suppress the matter, so they won't use this excuse to keep tabs on us. Go talk to them later." The steward respectfully assented. Meanwhile, Ni Xixi soon received the news. She immediately contacted the bureau and said triumphantly, "Little Brother Chen completed the mission smoothly this time! How about that? I told you he could do it." The person on the other end said, "Take a look at this first." Ni Xixi looked at the images transmitted over and saw that they were all explosive, potent stimulants—and every single one had been consumed. She was astonished. "Could it be that he..." "Yes, he took them all." Ni Xixi said in surprise, "But he looked completely fine to me." The person on the other end said, "For now, he seems fine. That only shows his physique can tolerate these drugs, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Being fine now doesn't mean there won't be consequences later. You need to remind him to be careful in the future and not push himself so recklessly." "Oh? Has the sun risen in the west? Since when did you start caring about a rookie?" The person on the other end said in a low voice, "The fact that he was willing to go all out like this shows that in his heart, he identifies with us. That makes him an ally—a comrade. Of course we should look out for him." Ni Xixi said, "So does that mean he passed the bureau's evaluation?" "Although I couldn't see his specific performance due to field interference, looking at the outcome, it can well be considered outstanding." Ni Xixi gave a couple of pleased hums. "I told you he was more outstanding than the other two students we invested in, but you wouldn't believe me. If you ask me, going forward, the bureau's primary focus should be on him. The other two students haven't shown anything nearly as dazzling as Little Brother Chen." The other person didn't take the bait and merely said, "Brief him on the follow-up matters. Let's leave it at that for now." After departing from the ambush site, Chen Chuan was also reflecting on the fight just now. In terms of pure strength, Xiong Jianyi was actually inferior to Instructor Wu; he had likely entered the third limit not long ago. That being the case, with Chen Chuan bursting out at full power, it was feasible to overwhelm and kill him within a few moves. However, during the clash just now, he had felt something slightly off. It seemed Xiong Jianyi was carrying an injury, which had kept him from fully cutting loose. Even without an injury, the outcome wouldn't have changed, but his counterattacks might have been far fiercer. The question was, for a third-limit fighter, ordinary injuries wouldn't have much of an impact. Even if he had only recently broken into the third limit, the injury had to be severe to a certain degree to impair his combat prowess. Yet Xiong Jianyi had clearly looked intact on the outside. Was it an internal injury? Or was it related to that faint sign of fading he had felt at the very end? As he pondered, a chime sounded. Perhaps because he had walked out of the interference zone, his boundary credential had returned to normal, and both Wu Bei and Ni Xixi were trying to contact him. He gave Wu Bei a quick greeting first, then connected Ni Xixi's call. In a praise-filled tone, Ni Xixi said, "I knew you could do it, Little Brother Chen! Disposing of Xiong Jianyi in such a short time—splendid work!" Chen Chuan said, "In the end, Xiong Jianyi was shot dead by the Gong family." Ni Xixi said, "I already know. The Gong family just took the finishing shot; they were eager to clear their ties. They fired at you too, didn't they? Just you wait, the Disposal Bureau will make them give an explanation... Mmm, here's a bureau document, accept and confirm it..." Chen Chuan saw a document appear on the communication interface. It displayed that the mission target had been eliminated, with his name listed as the operative, awaiting his confirmation. He confirmed it immediately. An internal notification followed, informing him that the mission had been completed and, according to standard regulations, directing him to return on standby and await routine debriefing in the near future. Ni Xixi said, "Alright, no need to read the rest; it's just standard protocol. The follow-up has nothing to do with you anymore. By the way, we previously recommended several skill instructors to you—have you chosen one?" Chen Chuan said, "I'll decide today." The academy had given him three days to choose an instructor to refine his saber techniques, and today was the deadline. However, he had already weighed his options carefully and decided on which instructor to study under. "All right, you do as you see fit," Ni Xixi said. "Also, when you have time in a few days, you can go to this place." As she spoke, she sent over an address. "This is an instructor we've arranged for you. They will guide your cultivation in all aspects. It's best if you step into the third limit as soon as possible. Even if you can endure taking drugs every time, you can't rely solely on them." Chen Chuan thanked her and ended the call. He knew the drugs he had intentionally left behind had been seen by the Disposal Bureau's people, which would provide a plausible explanation for his strength. However, he felt that the matter with Xiong Jianyi might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface. Especially... Just as he was thinking about this, a familiar car pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down, and Old Qi greeted him from inside, "Little Brother Chen, Little Brother Wu told me to pick you up." Chen Chuan immediately contacted Wu Bei and said, "Thanks, Little Brother Wu." Wu Bei chuckled. Because of the field interference earlier, he hadn't been able to see the specific fight, nor had he managed to trade blows with the opposing technicians, leaving him a bit disappointed. But thinking that he was working with Chen Chuan and there would be no shortage of such chances in the future, his spirits lifted again. After getting into the car, Chen Chuan thanked Old Qi, who replied, "What's there to thank?" He then started the engine and drove toward Wuding District. Chen Chuan asked, "Old Qi, has your daughter started school yet?" "She has." A smile appeared on Old Qi's face. "It's all thanks to the money you gave me, Little Brother Chen, that I was able to pay the tuition on time." "That's good." Chen Chuan now looked at his boundary credential, connected to the academy's platform, and located one of the instructors—one of those the Disposal Bureau had recommended to him earlier. He asked, "Is this Instructor Zheng? I'm student Chen Chuan. I'd like to learn saber techniques from you." Before long, hearty laughter came from the other side. "Student Chen! I heard you completed a bureau mission today, and carried the whole load all on your own without any backup. Good! Well done! We who practice the blade need precisely this kind of courage! I accept you as my student. I won't hold anything back, and I hope you can master everything I have as quickly as possible." Reassured, Chen Chuan immediately confirmed it on the academy platform interface. Then he asked, "When is Instructor Zheng usually available?" Instructor Zheng said, "If you have time, you can come over right now... Well, you just finished a mission, so let's skip today. Get some proper rest. I'll send over a demonstration so you can try to study and grasp it on your own first." Chen Chuan said, "Alright, thank you, Instructor Zheng." The Disposal Bureau had initially recommended four instructors to him. When reviewing their profiles later, the others had all demonstrated various exquisite techniques, but this one had merely delivered a single slash toward the boundary credential. Just that one direct strike made him feel as though the blade were about to cut through the boundary credential and land on his own body, even giving rise to an urge to step back and dodge—no matter how many times he watched it. The others clearly lacked that sense of menace. That was why he had decided to choose this one. Whether or not the other instructors possessed similar means, at least this one had been willing to show it to him. He glanced at the transmission from Instructor Zheng, which also included a Wuyi emblem. The usage here seemed to be... Meanwhile, the Gong family convoy had arrived at the Ferris Wheel Company. In a luxurious guest room, Gong Zhanyi cried out in shock and fury, "What? Nothing?" He glared at the steward. "What happened? How could there be nothing?" "That thing was clearly on Xiong Jianyi before! If our men killed him, it should be on our men! How could it have run off on its own?" How much preparation had they made this time just to bypass Center City's surveillance? They had even used the wanted fugitive Xiong Jianyi as a carrier specifically to smuggle this object into Center City! It was a crucial link; without it, many subsequent plans could not be carried out. The steward asked, "Young Highness, could it be that person from the Disposal Bureau?" "Impossible!" Gong Zhanyi said, "Xiong Jianyi clearly wasn't dead yet back then! How could the item have gotten onto him?" The steward thought for a moment and said, "Young Highness, after disembarking, Xiong Jianyi met with his senior martial brother, Wei Wusheng from the Tianshu Gang. Could the slip-up have happened then?" "The Tianshu Gang..." Gong Zhanyi knitted his brows. Indeed, that was the only place prior where a slip-up might have occurred. He said in a deep voice, "Go investigate this man. Remember to be discreet and don't leak any word of this." After taking the car back to the Xuan Palace Building, Chen Chuan bade farewell to Old Qi and took the elevator up to his dormitory. He freshened up first, then walked into his private training room, his gaze focusing through the boundary credential onto the emblem. Before long, Hongfu's voice sounded by his ear: "Student Chen, instructional simulation is currently being initiated. Based on your student evaluation rating, you are allocated one hour of daily usage. Do you wish to activate it?" Chen Chuan said, "Activate." As his voice fell, viewing through the boundary credential, Instructor Zheng's figure appeared in front of him, demonstrating saber forms right there as if the man himself were truly present. He couldn't help nodding. This kind of instructional demonstration was far more intuitive than static images or video recordings; even if the instructor wasn't physically present, he could observe the subtle variations in power and rhythm. He reached out to take the Xuejun Saber and stepped to the side, preparing to practice. This time, however, the moment he drew the blade just a fraction from its scabbard, the figure ahead flickered slightly, as though affected by some kind of interference. Quick to react, he immediately shoved the saber back into the scabbard, and the trembling projection returned to normal once more. Sensing carefully, there seemed to be something foreign attached to the Xuejun Saber now—and it had appeared at the exact moment Xiong Jianyi died. What could it be? He gripped the hilt and slowly drew it once more.