Disposal

Failed? Zhao Qian's face darkened. Youxing had boasted a one hundred percent success rate in the past. Zhao Qian also knew that this assassin had once worked for the company and had executed tasks with equal efficiency, which was why he trusted the man's capabilities. Yet someone like that had actually failed? What could have caused it? Because this cleanup had been brokered through a platform, it guaranteed that Youxing had no idea who the client was. But by the same token, Zhao Qian had no way of knowing the exact details of how Youxing had carried out the job. He didn't believe Chen Chuan could have achieved this on his own ability. Was it due to protection from the Disposal Bureau or Wuyi Academy? Or had some power he knew nothing about intervened? If it was an unknown power... He had once assumed that when it came to dealing with the Mutual Aid Society and Molan Company, Chen Chuan was merely a pawn pushed forward by the government—and pawns were just pawns, usually discarded once used. Yet what if the pawn wasn't merely a pawn, but had already been inducted, or had been one of them all along? In that case, Youxing's failure made complete sense. Furthermore, he had to consider the possibility that this incident might have already raised alarms in certain government departments. He took a deep breath and decided to bide his time. Because of his Zhao family background, government agencies had investigated him multiple times in the past. Although he had narrowly scraped through in the end, there were plenty of people in the company dissatisfied with him, including several rivals. If his personal actions ended up compromising the interests of his department or the company, those people wouldn't hesitate to jump out and tear into him. Even the most trivial matter could be blown completely out of proportion. Right now, he couldn't afford to hand them any more excuses. He knew full well that in Center City, the company was the fountainhead of his greatest interests. Only by wearing the mantle of the company could he preserve everything he had. Regardless, he was operating from the shadows, and he still had time. Better to figure out the situation first. Having weighed these thoughts, he said to the other end, "Not for now." "Understood. Your response has been logged. Should you require cleanup services again, the platform welcomes you at any time. The returned deposit will be credited back to your account within three days." Zhao Qian ended the transmission and wiped the logs. Standing up, he walked over to the window and used his boundary credential to contact someone. After a brief wait, the call connected, and a stiff, monotone voice came through: "Boss, what do you need me to do?" Zhao Qian said, "I need you to look into something for me, as well as a Wuyi Academy student. Make sure not to alert anyone. Do not route any gathered intelligence through the platform—deliver it to me in person." "For you to be this cautious, boss, the target must have some background. How much time do I have?" "I want results within a month." "Mm, what about the matters on the other side?" "Leave that aside for now. This takes priority." "Understood, boss. Wait for my word." After hanging up, he remained standing there, lost in thought. Footsteps sounded behind him. A petite girl of fourteen or fifteen walked in from outside. Distinct seam lines ran along her neck, faint bursts of bio-electric light flickered over her cervical vertebrae, and everything below her thighs was visibly comprised of implant limbs. She poured a cup from the beverage carafe on the desk, cupped it in both hands, and approached Zhao Qian. Slowly dropping to her knees, she offered the drink upward. Zhao Qian took it and had a sip. Looking down at her pure, delicate face, he said, "Every time I look at you, the resemblance strikes me anew. Very good. Stay on your knees like that." The girl said nothing. Zhao Qian turned and walked away, leaving the petite figure kneeling there, reflected against the glass curtain wall. *** Outside the Center City North Channel Checkpoint, Chen Chuan arrived behind the wheel of the Jiade car and pulled over slowly by the curb. He gazed at the wide road ahead and the city patrolmen patrolling back and forth. This was one of the primary entry corridors into Center City. When he first arrived, the road had been blocked off, so he hadn't entered through here, choosing instead to skirt around from the flank. Such occurrences were actually quite common. Center City was so massive that it was impossible to watch over every inch; most undocumented people made their way into the city through the outlying fringe districts. In those areas, smuggling operations ran rampant, and violent clashes were practically inevitable. Let alone those places, even formal checkpoints had been subjected to ramming attempts and violent assaults. Thus, his coming to meet Gao Ming was largely to look after his cousin's safety. After waiting only a short while, he spotted an off-white sedan driving toward the checkpoint. It underwent a tedious inspection procedure, and more than ten minutes later, the car slowly rolled out from the gate. The overcast, rainy weather of the past few days had finally begun to disperse, and sunlight broke through the clouds, spilling across the road. Chen Chuan opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle. The other car also slowed to a stop. Its door swung open, and Gao Ming stepped out from the back seat. Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses and smoothing down his tailored, dark-brown gentleman's suit, he walked toward Chen Chuan. Chen Chuan smiled faintly and walked up to meet him, halting where the sunlight streamed down. The two clapped hands in greeting. "Gao Ming, smooth trip?" Gao Ming said with a smile, "Just had to wait a bit longer at the inspection station, that's all." "Found a place to stay?" Chen Chuan asked. "The firm arranged an apartment. I'll be staying there for now." "That's good," Chen Chuan said. "Once you're settled in, I have a matter to discuss with you." Gao Ming pushed up his glasses and said, "Cousin, you're my primary client. Whatever it is, you can let me know right away." Chen Chuan gave an affirmative nod. "We'll talk more once we get back." Chen Chuan was well aware of his driving skills at this stage, and besides, he was only using a temporary transit pass. So he had Gao Ming get back into his original car while he simply tailed behind. After seeing Gao Ming to the firm's apartment and helping him settle in, once everything was unpacked and tidy, they finally got down to business. Chen Chuan told him about Zhao Qian. "This man was also once a member of the Mutual Aid Society and one of the main planners behind Senior Shen's incident. Wei Jun's later actions were merely an imitation of his. But although Molan Company collapsed and the Zhao family fell along with it, he managed to dodge the reckoning." Gao Ming said, "Cousin, based on the information you've given me, this man has the backing of a major corporation. If we want to deal with him, regardless of what method we use, I'll first need to gather some essential, detailed intelligence. That will take some time." Chen Chuan nodded. He knew this couldn't be rushed. After all, what they were up against this time wasn't a solitary operator like Youxing, but a mid-level manager in a major corporation, someone who could mobilize resources far beyond what an ordinary fighter could match. With official business concluded, he and Gao Ming chatted about Yangzhi and matters back home. After sharing a meal together, Chen Chuan left the apartment and drove the Jiade car back toward the academy. While still en route, an incoming contact flashed on his boundary credential. Seeing that it was Old Qi, he connected the call. Old Qi's voice came through: "Brother Chen, I've bought the materials you asked for in the exact quantities you needed. They're all stored in the warehouse." Chen Chuan asked, "Old Qi, you didn't run into any trouble, did you?" "None at all, none at all." "Good. Thanks for your trouble, Old Qi." "No trouble at all." Chen Chuan thought it over, turned the steering wheel, and headed toward the warehouse. The civet stone carving had to be dealt with as soon as possible. Even though the urban legend had been fed to satisfaction by Youxing for now, according to Chen Chuan's deduction, if no ritual activities were conducted for an extended period and the urban legend went unsatisfied, it might break out on its own to fulfill its needs. By then, the original containment might no longer hold. This was why he had brought the object back instead of simply abandoning it where it lay. He drove all the way to Wu Bei's warehouse, located the esoteric cult materials, and inspected them. Both quantity and quality were sound; Old Qi was indeed dependable when it came to these matters. Next came conducting the ritual. However, there were many valuable goods stored in the warehouse, so the ritual couldn't be held here. Fortunately, there was a very suitable place. Leaving the Jiade car behind, he borrowed the small truck from Wu Bei, hoisted the stone carving onto it, drove out, and headed straight to the wasteland where Instructor Wu had previously resided. This location wouldn't disturb anyone, and the field surveillance seemed weakened here due to the anomaly of the area, making it very convenient for handling certain business. Once there, he scouted around and eventually located a spot that looked appropriate. Pulling up, he unloaded the civet stone carving and set it in position. He then turned back, set down the duffel bag holding the ritual materials, found a spot shielded from the wind, and took out the items one by one. Finally, opening the reference booklet Bureau Director Lei had given him, he carefully began sketching the binding ritual around the area according to the diagrams inside. This time he drew two consecutive ritual patterns. The first was a simple containment boundary designed to prevent the urban legend from fleeing; the second was the crucial binding ritual. Having practiced the procedure once before, he felt much more confident this time. In under two hours, he had finished setting up both formations. After checking everything over to ensure there were no omissions or errors, he walked over, stood before the civet stone carving, and looked up at it. This civet stone carving was ancient. He deduced that its original form had only been sculpted to make it convenient to place offerings and kowtow in worship; in truth, urban legends possessed no fixed shape. Yet precisely because of the statue's antiquity, it had long since become a vessel capable of anchoring an urban legend, which meant it could later be repurposed. He reached out and pressed his hand onto the head of the civet stone carving. His gaze narrowed, and a surge of jin instantly penetrated inward. The stone carving jolted, and fine cracks webbed across its surface at once. At the same time, a violent roar tore past his ears, and the Second Self simultaneously showed signs of blurring into translucency. After the battle with Youxing, his overlap time had reached two days and ten hours, and the power possessed by the Second Self had edged even closer to his main body. Even so, as this urban legend was gradually released, the overlap time began to deplete at a staggering rate—an intensity of encroachment greater than anything he had encountered to date. Yet at the same time, even as the urban legend encroached upon him, it relentlessly stimulated the mutated tissue throughout his body. Accompanied by clicking fractures from the statue, fragment after fragment of stone chipped away and fell, before finally collapsing into a heap of rubble on the ground with a loud clatter. In that very instant, a screech capable of tearing right through a skull echoed in his ears.