Recovery

Before long, Chen Chuan walked back into the tunnel he had traveled through earlier. Emerging from the narrow passageway, he saw the car that had brought him here still parked in place, while Lan Xinnan and the others had already departed ahead of time. This was because they had followed his instructions from when he arrived. The matter of the Fumu split sub-body was exceedingly sensitive. Whether carrying it with oneself or disposing of it afterward, those uninvolved were best kept at a distance; getting entangled in it would bring nothing good. He opened the car door, climbed inside, set the briefcase aside, and drove back. Fighters possessed excellent memories; he remembered every detail of the route from earlier. Moreover, only Lutong Logistics personnel knew this path, so he met virtually no obstacles on the return trip. After driving for five or six minutes, he sensed he had roughly reached the urban district boundaries. Stopping the vehicle, he took the briefcase out. Opening it, he withdrew a box sealed with a heavy metal. Exerting jin through his fingers, the box shattered in his grasp with a crisp snap. The split sub-body emerged surrounded by a hazy halo of light, drifting into midair. After a moment, it slowly floated upward, seemingly wanting to return to the surface. Chen Chuan glanced at it, turned back to retrieve the containment box from the car, and shone its beam up at the sub-body; it froze instantly in midair. He slowly drew the Xuejun Saber. Stepping up to it, he raised the blade and slashed. In a flash of saber light, the sub-body was sliced in two, its severed remains tumbling down from midair. He had thought the Xuejun Saber might react again, which was why he had chosen to deal with it here in this deserted tunnel. Yet this time, no strange light manifested. It seemed the Xuejun Saber was full and no longer cared for this sub-body. Seeing this, he took out the disposal solution and poured it over the split sub-body's remains. Before long, the creature completely dissolved away. Meanwhile, in the area where he and Xiang Tiancheng had clashed just moments before, Zhen Ping and Guan Xiaohui were hiding with utmost caution. Earlier, they had heard thunderous rumbles from outside. Guan Xiaohui had sensed that people were fighting there, and upon probing with her perception, she had nearly fainted from the shock. Consequently, they had hurried further away, returning only after all commotion died down completely. Now they worried whether someone from headquarters had been among those fighting, and what the final outcome had been. Looking at the pitted ground before them—which looked as though it had been plowed by artillery shells—nothing remained except large pools of blood. "Hey, you two." A call came from not far away. Startled, Zhen Ping quickly spun around, shielding Guan Xiaohui behind her in a defensive stance. She saw a figure standing in the distance, but in the next instant, he appeared right before them, as though he hadn't crossed the intervening space at all. Shock rippled through her. *With speed like that, no wonder Xiaohui couldn't react in time...* Seeing their vigilance, Xiang Tiancheng halted without drawing closer, opening his hands in a placating gesture. "Don't be nervous, you two. I'm Xiang Tiancheng, sent from above to make contact with you." As he spoke, he unfastened an item hanging around his neck and tossed it toward them. "Take a look." Zhen Ping caught it and opened her hand. It was a torch-shaped metal token piece. Pulling an identical token piece from her own person, she fitted them together and found every minute notch aligned seamlessly. Furthermore, he had stated his name outright, matching what Team Leader Yu had told them. It was essentially confirmed that he was indeed the contact sent from above. Her expression relaxed slightly. "Mr. Xiang, did you come from headquarters?" "Yeah. Just call me Officer Xiang," Xiang Tiancheng replied. "Did you bring the goods?" "We have it. Xiaohui, bring it out." Guan Xiaohui nodded, stepped forward, and handed the package to Xiang Tiancheng. "We haven't opened it since we got it. The item should be inside." Xiang Tiancheng touched it and sensed a peculiar field. He didn't know whether this was truly what the organization needed; he only knew his job was to deliver it back. He patted it and gave a dry chuckle. At first, he had genuinely believed what Che Gaoyi held had been seized by their resistance organization, but now it seemed to have been a sheer coincidence. What a damn coincidence. Thinking back to the situation earlier still left him with lingering dread. He had been a hair's breadth from being killed. Fortunately, the opponent seemed only interested in recovering the item and had no intention of slaughtering everyone, or he never would have escaped today. If it was already this perilous outside the city, who knew what chaos was brewing within? He had heard that to seize this item, the higher-ups had dispatched a senior expert, along with numerous organization members infiltrating Center City disguised as mercenaries to support the operation. According to plan, to cover the item's extraction from the city, they would actively draw hostile fire. Who knew if they would make it back alive? He looked up and said to Zhen Ping and Guan Xiaohui, "I've got the package. Your mission is complete. Keep that half of the token; when your superior asks, it will serve as your proof." With that, he took two steps away, then turned back. "I advise you two not to return. The situation in the city is extremely dangerous." Zhen Ping nodded. "Thank you, Senior Xiang. We understand." The higher-ups had given instructions for this operation: if the handover succeeded, they were to hide outside Center City and refrain from entering for the time being. "I'm off, then. Take care of yourselves." Xiang Tiancheng waved a hand and left with the package. Mid-stride, he glanced into the distance. Someone was watching him from afar—he knew that was the operative dispatched by higher-ups to document the operation and clean up after him. If that person hadn't thrown the flying knife earlier, he would likely have perished right there. Theoretically, this person was not supposed to be exposed, so he merely gave a brief wave in that direction before swiftly departing. At the same moment, inside the Defense Department Command Center. Commissioner Liang stared somberly at the light screen. Below him, the Defense Department members and liaisons were dead silent. The screen displayed a scene from Center City's Fengde District. The streets were in utter ruins. Roadside buildings and pavements were heavily devastated, cars overturned and crushed like toys—one vehicle was even embedded directly into the wall of a skyscraper. Debris and gravel tumbled down intermittently from flanking structures, and the ground was strewn with the corpses of security personnel and mercenaries. Through the wall of one tall building, a massive hole punched cleanly from front to back, nearly blasting through the entire structure. Ordinary people could hardly imagine that this was merely the result of two fighters colliding during mortal combat. Right in front of the gaping hole stood a towering figure. Standing around two point three meters tall, he looked extraordinarily burly, but he was completely motionless now. Hardly an inch of his body remained intact. Strips of flesh and skin had peeled away from his exterior, coated in a slurry of blood and grime. Half of his head was gone. Of his two standing legs, one still retained some flesh, while the other was supported entirely by its thick, bare skeleton. Yet just half a minute ago, despite such horrific injuries, this man had still been fighting the operatives sent by their side. And it was this lone individual who had tied down most of the high-end combat forces from both the Disposal Bureau and the Defense Department in this region. The Disposal Bureau had even deployed two enforcement captains, while the Defense Department had dispatched members of Team One. Four of them had joined forces to besiege him, fighting for over half an hour before finally killing him. Several rapid response team members could be seen cautiously approaching to inspect the body. After a moment, a voice sounded through Commissioner Liang's boundary credential: "Reporting, Commissioner. We've conducted an inspection. We found no split sub-body on this individual or his nearby accomplices. It seems to have been transferred away in advance." Commissioner Liang had already anticipated this. This faction had acted so conspicuously precisely to draw fire, creating an opportunity for the split sub-body to be moved elsewhere. Yet their destructive capability was too immense, and they had even attempted to seize split sub-bodies in other locations. Neither the Disposal Bureau nor the Defense Department could simply turn a blind eye. At that moment, the voice of the Watchtower suddenly chimed in: "Emergence of split sub-body detected. Field signature vanished. Confirmed neutralized. Neutralizer identity matching... Identity matched: Disposal Bureau Enforcement Captain Chen Chuan." Commissioner Liang asked, "Confirmed?" "Confirmed." Commissioner Liang nodded. Sealing a split sub-body and disposing of it were two different things. After sustaining destruction and chemical treatment, the sub-body emitted a distinct field right before death—a signature impossible to counterfeit. The personnel below felt their spirits lift slightly, murmuring to one another: "Thank goodness Captain Chen succeeded." "Captain Chen's efficiency has been the highest in this entire operation." "Indeed. Captain Chen has already neutralized three sub-bodies in a row. So far, the others have retrieved at most one." "And Captain Chen fought the toughest battles. Take Chen Bitong alone—Team Two was wiped out there. Luckily we had Captain Chen, or that might not even be settled by now." "That's because that gang tied down too much of our forces." Standing before the second-floor railing, Commissioner Liang remained grave. While Chen Chuan securing another was good news, three split sub-bodies were still loose, currently subject to active interception and search operations. Just then, the female assistant seemed to receive a transmission. She looked up and reported, "Commissioner, verification indicates the deceased is suspected to be a senior inspector of the Resistance Alliance Front. His exact identity is still being confirmed." Commissioner Liang said, "The Resistance Alliance Front... It must be them. Order the teams below to continue the search. Also, remind Old Xu not to slack off. I don't want him meddling anywhere else; I just need him to keep his position locked down tight." "Understood, Commissioner." Commissioner Liang looked at the projection of Center City. According to intelligence, Lianwei Heavy Control's convoy had split into two groups. Chen Chuan had dealt with one of them. As for the other, he had already roughly deduced its destination and had deployed personnel there well in advance, more than sufficient to intercept them.