Guarding

Having finished speaking, Chen Bitong stood there calmly, waiting for Chen Chuan to make his decision. Chen Chuan pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Teacher Chen, I need to go deal with the split sub-body. That is the primary mission given to me by the Defense Department. During this time, I hope you can keep the people from the former imperial house from crossing through the fissure." Chen Bitong looked back at him, his gaze holding both gratitude and relief. "Captain Chen, I will stand guard here and fight until the final moment. Go fulfill your duty." Chen Chuan said nothing more. Grasping the Xuejun Saber, he turned and walked outward. After some twenty paces, as the smoke, dust, and intense light receded behind him, he emerged outside the fissure. Outside, the rain had ceased, though the bright red glow across the sky had yet to fade. Gusts of powerful airflow surged from behind him, sweeping into the open plaza ahead. And out there, Fang Zhixin and Yu Lie were waiting. Seeing him emerge alone, Yu Lie's expression was conflicted, and he hesitated to speak. Fang Zhixin gave a start and took several steps forward, asking, "Captain Chen, the teacher...?" Chen Chuan replied, "You should know Teacher Chen's choice." Fang Zhixin's heart trembled, and he pressed no further. Chen Chuan walked across the plaza to the car that had brought him here, retrieved a briefcase from the trunk, and walked back to the fissure. He waited there for a good while until a faint light illuminated on the briefcase, and only then stepped inside. This time, he did not head toward the side connected to the Confluence, smoothly entering an area identical to the fissures he had traversed before, where everything in sight was a vast expanse of white. The indicator light on the briefcase grew brighter now. He swayed the briefcase back and forth, tracking the shifts in light to pinpoint the location of the split sub-body. He walked over, and after half a minute, located the split sub-body floating in midair. Only, unlike the split sub-bodies he had encountered before, this one seemed to emanate a hazy luminescence. He wondered what caused it. Was it because it was connected to where the "pure substance" resided? He set down the briefcase, drew the Xuejun Saber, and stepped forward. After gazing at it for a moment, he brought his blade slashing down! The instant the blade sliced through, a brilliant light erupted at the point of contact. The Xuejun Saber, which had previously fallen dormant, began to vibrate as luminous mist drifted out from within, enveloping the bisected split sub-body just as it had done before. After several breaths, the glowing mist receded, and the shriveled, withered-looking split sub-body dropped to the floor. He glanced at it, then at the Xuejun Saber, which had returned to its original state, and sheathed the weapon. Next, he took out the disposal agent from the briefcase and poured it over the split sub-body. Before long, the creature dissolved completely into nothingness. Inside the Defense Department command center, the sounds of messages being passed back and forth echoed everywhere. Many dispatchers were clearly at their wits' end, for after Fumu's sixth wave of division began, the situation had grown far more complex and increasingly difficult to handle. Just then, the voice of the Watchtower sounded: "Report. Field reaction of the split sub-body in Hongsheng District has vanished. Confirmed neutralized." Commissioner Liang could not help looking up. Gripping the railing in front of him, he asked in a grave voice, "Confirmed?" "...Field reaction has completely dissipated. Confirmed destroyed." The dispatchers below exchanged glances, and low cheers broke out from several corners. The furrow in Commissioner Liang's brow relaxed slightly. The sixth wave of division was currently encountering numerous complications, and by all appearances, the seventh wave might arrive ahead of schedule. The pressure on him was immense. Furthermore, up to this moment, that entity had still not exposed itself. The later it showed itself, the more likely it was to engineer some major crisis at the crucial juncture. If that erupted in tandem with the previously uncontained fissures, the consequences would be catastrophic. Yet he truly had not expected that Chen Chuan would actually crack Chen Bitong, the toughest nut of all. This would allow more forces to be freed up and redeployed elsewhere. This was unquestionably worthy of major merit. One dispatcher spoke up to remind him, "Commissioner, although the split sub-body there has been dealt with, the fissure still remains, spans a wide area, and forces from the former imperial house have emerged from it. If the former imperial house refuses to give up, that place could become a breach. Captain Chen just fought Chen Bitong, so he likely has little combat strength left. I fear he won't be able to hold them off." Commissioner Liang considered it, then asked, "Have the two response teams sent to Shenwei District returned?" "They are already on their way back." Commissioner Liang gave a decisive order: "Reroute them to Hongsheng District." Matters were strained everywhere, so all he could deploy were ordinary response units. Realizing that was indeed insufficient, he turned to his female assistant and said, "Tell Captain Chen to find a way to hold out a little longer." He paused. "Send another recovery vial to Captain Chen as well." The female assistant said, "Captain Chen should have already taken one. Taking another within such a short window might cause some harm to his body." Commissioner Liang said, "You can truthfully explain the drug's effects to him. Tell him not to worry—I will find a way to compensate him after this is over. For now, I need him to stand firm there." "I'll arrange it right away," she said. Commissioner Liang added, "Watchtower, report on the current status of all split sub-bodies." The Watchtower immediately reported the containment status across each district. Despite their efforts to intercept and surround them, four split sub-bodies had still been lost. He stared fixedly at the light screen. Even though the fields of the split sub-bodies were masked, it was impossible to transport them out of the city in such a short time. They were either hidden somewhere or being smuggled out through secure channels. If they were merely hidden, that would be manageable; they could ignore them for now, as they had ways to track them down later. But smuggling them out was absolutely intolerable! With the entire city under lockdown, a transport convoy could not possibly leave without alerting anyone. That left only one route. He looked beneath Center City, where a dense network of tunnels was displayed. Through the Lower District. That was where Center City's control was at its weakest, and the best place to conceal and move goods. Although the Municipal Administration had long positioned interception teams at the mouth of every tunnel, there was no guarantee nothing would go wrong. Not only had the people of the Lower District created concealed passages over the years, but even the current interception teams were hardly infallible. Thus, the Municipal Administration's other arrangement regarding this matter had been to entrust several Lower District commissioners to organize personnel for the blockade. These commissioners had intricate ties with Lower District gangs, major factions, and mercenaries; at times, their word carried more weight in the Lower District than the Municipal Administration's. If they truly set their minds to the task, it was genuinely possible to seal the exits. Yet, by the same token, they were deeply entangled with the various corporations, making it hard to tell which side they would choose. Commissioner Liang did not actually trust them. But as a commissioner dispatched from above, he could not meddle in Center City's internal affairs beyond the Defense Department. What was more, manpower was in short supply everywhere at this moment; all he could do was intensify the containment along the outer perimeter. Fortunately, due to special conditioning, Fumu's split sub-bodies would only appear on the city's surface; otherwise, the situation would be even harder to manage. At that same moment, in the branch office of Lianwei Heavy Control Company, the director, Che Gaoyi, was listening to the report of an inactive conscious entity. Exactly as he had anticipated, someone had commissioned them with transferring a split sub-body. The client needed them to transport the cargo out of Jibei Circuit to a designated area, promising that once delivered, in addition to the service fee, they would cover all associated compensation and reputational damages as agreed. However, the entire perimeter of Center City was blockaded. Forcing their way through head-on was virtually impossible. So this time, they took an alternative path. Lianwei Heavy Control had once acquired a company named Jinyu, which had formerly backed the Iron Fist Society, a gang in the Lower District. The Iron Fist Society, in turn, maintained close ties with an underground logistics firm named Lutong Logistics. These people still held certain underground channels and personnel to this day—assets prepared long ago for an occasion like this. After listening to the report and weighing information from all sides, Che Gaoyi confirmed that neither the Municipal Administration nor the Defense Department currently had the manpower to intercept them, giving them an exceptionally high chance of success. He said, "Assemble the convoy and set off immediately. I will personally escort the western route." This commission came from two separate companies, involving two split sub-bodies. Due to staffing constraints, he had to personally escort one of the routes. He came downstairs, and once he boarded an armored vehicle, the convoy rolled out. Emerging from the company compound, he glanced toward the distant sky, where an airship hovered. Because the overarching information field no longer existed, communications across the city now relied entirely on these airships. As long as they jammed them to a certain degree and took detours through concealed streets, they could ensure their convoy remained undetected for a short period. Once they entered the Lower District, no one would be able to stop them. Meanwhile, having disposed of the split sub-body, Chen Chuan walked out of the fissure. He took off his hat, patted off the dust, put it back on, and turned back with saber in hand once more. With the split sub-body gone, the path ahead now led solely toward the Confluence. When he reached deep inside, he saw Chen Bitong with a spear thrust into the ground. In just this short span of time, numerous grotesque corpses had accumulated across the ground. Hearing footsteps behind him, Chen Bitong looked back, somewhat surprised. "Captain Chen, why have you returned?" Chen Chuan walked up beside him and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Feeling the powerful airflow sweeping past them, he looked toward the outside of the fissure and said, "Teacher Chen, as an enforcement captain, guarding this place is my duty as well."