Analysis

In the parking plaza of Wansheng Financial Firm, Chen Chuan's gaze was calm. He clenched his fingers, and the white vapor between them abruptly dispersed before he slowly straightened up. Everyone on the scene who witnessed this was breathing heavily, their hearts pounding wildly. Within the Disposal Bureau, many of those observing through the field could not help swallowing hard—the spectacle before their eyes was simply too jarring. The female assistant, Yan Yi, had just retrieved some records on Feng Yaren through her boundary credential. Before she even had time to review them, she watched in utter astonishment as that body with its obliterated head crashed down. This time, Chen Chuan had not relied on sheer speed or strength. Instead, he had first affected his opponent with his own field, unnerving him for that split second and gleaning insight into his state before executing a reasoned counter. He had seen it clearly: the opponent's power was concentrated entirely upon a single point. Paired with a fine weapon, that would produce a slash nearly impossible to deflect or block. Yet such a distribution was extreme; it only allowed for continuous offense. If that strongest point was bypassed, everything behind it was completely hollow, leaving him entirely vulnerable to whatever his opponent chose to do. If this man's saber technique amounted to nothing more than that, he could never have made it this far, so Chen Chuan figured he must have had some way to redirect his jin. Chen Chuan's strategy had been simple: blunt the man's momentum through the collision of biological fields, head-on intercept and smother that single strongest point, and then use speed to shatter any subsequent realignment. Though he had employed furnace breathing just now, under the finesse of his technique it had been engaged and recalled in an instant rather than maintained continuously as before, serving only to seize the initiative. And when master fighters clashed, a single instant was all that was needed. In truth, once the information conveyed by the opponent's biological field was clearly perceived, all that remained was to respond accordingly. Such was the utility of a field. Feng Yaren had likely never undergone systematic training in this area, which put him at a disadvantage right from the start. Had he been able to mask it even slightly, he would not have been killed so effortlessly. So Instructor Jiang was quite right: those truly powerful... At that moment, he turned back to look at the group behind him and gestured forward. "Let's go." The security detail behind him had been frozen in place. Seeing his gaze turn their way, their bodies instinctively tensed. Only when they clearly heard his instruction did they hastily quicken their pace to escort Meng Shu forward, none of them able to resist stealing glances at Feng Yaren's corpse as they passed. The group soon arrived beside Meng Shu's extended armored vehicle. Personnel inside were already prepared and immediately opened the door for her. Several tall female guards shielded her on all sides, escorting her into the car. Chen Chuan glanced at their surroundings, and then his eyes fell upon the Glass Saber lying on the ground. Walking over, he gave a light flick with the instep of his foot, popping it up and catching it in his hand. The moment he held it, he could feel it: the weapon was both fragile and razor-sharp. Through the transmission of certain specialized jin, it was capable, to a degree, of piercing anything in its path. It made for a fine collectible. He picked up its scabbard as well, stowed it away, and then walked over to the armored vehicle and got in. Once the door closed, he withdrew his gaze from outside and saw Meng Shu sitting there, looking at him. Her emotions did not appear particularly shaken. He said, "You seem to be holding up well." Meng Shu said softly, "I saw plenty of scenes like this when I was young. Some I saw by accident; others I was intentionally made to see. I've gotten used to it." Chen Chuan gave an acknowledging hum. It was understandable. Born into such an environment, while enjoying all it had to offer, Meng Shu naturally had to endure things ordinary people never had to bear. Yan Yi spoke up to seek his input: "Mr. Chen, may we depart?" Chen Chuan said, "No problem. Let's move out." Yan Yi instructed the driver in front. The car smoothly started moving, waiting for the lead vehicle to pull out before heading onto the main road, followed one by one by the rest of the security motorcade. Not long after they left, Captain Guan arrived at the parking lot with his team. Looking at the headless corpse on the pavement and the shredded flesh and blood splattered across the ground behind it, he exhaled a breath in shock. At the same time, he couldn't help wondering: was this truly the Feng Yaren he knew of? He had just reviewed the man's past combat record—he hadn't been this fragile. Yet the facts spoke for themselves. It must be that Enforcement Officer Chen had grown even stronger. He remembered rumors circulating in the bureau that when Chen Chuan beat Wei Wusheng to death bare-handed, he had attained... Bending down, he carefully examined the corpse and compared it against various pieces of information. Finally, he stood up and contacted the bureau through his boundary credential: "Director Wu, identity confirmed. It's indeed Feng Yaren. Yes, that's right... Their vehicles have left... Understood." He said to the surrounding team members, "Have the city patrol come and take the body back." He glanced over toward Wansheng Financial Firm. Despite everything that had happened outside, there was no reaction from within. The security guards at the entrance stood completely motionless. Wansheng Financial Firm never concerned itself with external affairs; regardless of what tier of client you were, once you stepped beyond their doors, it had nothing to do with them. Meng Shu's motorcade did not head back to Convergence Boundary Company. That was Meng Huang's base of operations; now that he had made his move, it was best avoided. Instead, they drove directly toward the estate located on Mount Motie. Although staying away from the company at this time might seem like relinquishing the upper hand, Meng Shu couldn't intervene much in corporate affairs anyway, aside from managing the portion of assets and income her grandfather had entrusted to her. Chen Chuan said, "Though this is none of my business, I'd like to ask: if you don't return to the company, you'll never be able to participate in its affairs. How do you plan to turn the tables?" Yan Yi said, "Though Meng Huang acts on behalf of many company matters, he is only an agent. Meng Lai is the true head of the company. Even though he has stepped down now, the company's most vital financial power and its crucial R&D department remain firmly in his hands. "Furthermore, over sixty percent of the company's employees and management carry the company's implant components, enjoying corporate benefits and using company-issued pharmaceuticals. To this day, Meng Huang has not acquired the biometric cryptographic keys for those implants or the supply channels for those specialized drugs. "Meng Huang does have his own faction, but beyond surface operational authority, he essentially only holds the rights to research and expand into new markets. Even then, he hasn't fully opened things up. While he does hold a portion of the sales side, the company's longstanding cooperation with government military-industrial enterprises leaves him little room to expand." She stated with complete confidence, "Until Meng Lai formally decides who will inherit the company, nothing is settled. "Right now, Miss Meng is Meng Huang's chief obstacle. The simplest thing he can do is eliminate her. Only then will he have ample room to maneuver. "Therefore, keeping Miss Meng alive is more important than anything else right now." She looked at Chen Chuan and said with great earnestness, "Mr. Chen, Meng Huang is certain to continue sending people after us. Mr. Chen, Miss Meng's safety is in your hands." Chen Chuan said, "Since I agreed, I will honor my word." Meng Shu said solemnly, "And I will honor mine." Meanwhile, inside a conference room at Convergence Boundary Company, a massive light screen repeatedly played the scene of Feng Yaren being killed. A man sat upon a wide, luxurious sofa, watching the display. Standing before him was a tall, refined-looking man wearing glasses. He looked like an elite graduate fresh out of a prestigious academy, currently providing commentary for the man: "This fighter named Chen Chuan is very strong. I reviewed the footage of his fight against the wanted felon Wei Wusheng earlier. His speed was noticeably superior to Wei Wusheng's, his strength wasn't significantly behind, and technically, there was no fundamental gap between them. "So Wei Wusheng had little chance of winning from the start. Had the fight dragged on without a swift conclusion, and assuming no outsiders intervened, he wouldn't even have been able to escape in the end. "And judging by this recording..." He turned forward. "This fighter's physical conditioning hasn't significantly improved. That's entirely normal; it's only been about a month since that fight, so he couldn't have improved that much. "However, his grasp of combat rhythm is exceptional. He practically anticipated every single step Feng Yaren took." With that, he stepped back a few paces, swiped a finger across the light screen to rewind a portion of the recording, and reduced the playback speed slightly. "Look here. There is an extremely subtle pause when Feng Yaren draws his blade. But Feng Yaren never hesitates when striking, nor would such an elementary mistake occur with him. "Therefore, we believe his opponent must have utilized some biological field technique, exerting a slight influence on Feng Yaren. In a clash between fighters, a misstep at that level is fatal. It forced Feng Yaren onto the back foot from the outset, allowing his opponent to counter his every move thereafter. As a result, before he could even draw his blade, he was struck down bare-handed." The man seated on the sofa said, "Can you deal with him?" The tall man said, "While this fighter is strong, he isn't insurmountable. There is still a gap between him and top-tier experts. Especially since he is on his own, we can handle him." "Then I leave it to you." The man said, "I only care about results." With that, he stood up from the sofa. While seated, his stature had not been obvious, but standing up revealed a height of well over two meters, hardly any shorter than the tall man across from him. Furthermore, the latter sensed a faint, chilling presence emanating from him. After the man departed under the escort of several guards wearing protective goggles, the tall man tapped his boundary credential. "Boss, as expected, Feng Yaren failed. He went down fast. I've obtained the footage and reviewed it. The opponent is quite capable, but the client expects us to deal with it. I'm heading over now."