Activation

Enforcement Captains Wang and Lü paid no heed to the two combat dolls, confident that Xu Chan would keep Tie Chengpeng contained. The two had been partners on missions in the Confluence, frequently confronting massive creatures as well as formidable opponents from the former imperial house, and their coordination was exceptionally seamless. Tie Chengpeng could not be said to lack experience, but he had clearly rarely encountered opponents of his caliber with such seamless coordination. Every time he moved to take on one of them, the other invariably stepped in to pin him down, breaking his moves halfway through. Although his Elephant Grappling jin minimized incoming damage, under their combined pins and entanglements, his power could never be fully unleashed, as if his limbs were bound by invisible cords. Though Xu Chan stood motionless, his sharp gaze periodically settled upon the crucial nodes of Tie Chengpeng's jin. Tie Chengpeng could not ignore this threat; he had to dedicate most of his focus to guarding against Xu Chan, which placed him in an even more defensive posture. After all, no matter how capable a fighter was, facing a coordinated siege from several skilled experts of the same limit level left them with few options; simply enduring without collapsing was already an outstanding feat. With the three men pinning him down, the surrounding biological combat weapons sprang back into action, pushing further into the building. Before long, the field signal outside was restored. Standing outside the building, the two Team One members from the pioneer team watched the scene inside through the newly delivered field organisms. One of them, a mustached man in a pioneer uniform, patted his chest pocket, took out a pack of invigorating custom cigarettes, tossed one to his teammate, and held one himself. Glancing at the situation displayed on the light screen, he remarked with certainty, "Won't be long now." His teammate caught the cigarette, blew lightly on it, and it ignited instantly. Putting it to his mouth, he took a drag; sparks flared across the cigarette, and the front portion instantly burned away into falling ash. He appraised, "The big guy has a solid foundation and good combat awareness. He looks like he has great potential—probably a talent Ferris Wheel was cultivating heavily. But what a pity." A single person was, after all, only one person. No matter how superior their jin techniques or combat prowess, there was no qualitative gap between them and the attackers. With the three inside working together, killing him was only a matter of time. And what was more... He added casually, "Old Xu hasn't even shown his real skills yet." The mustached man nodded. They knew Xu Chan's strength very well; he alone was enough to suppress this man, yet he was still fighting so conservatively... He said, "Old Xu has always been steady. He's probably saving his stamina to deal with that thing." His teammate nodded in deep agreement. "Indeed. That's the real tough fight. Even with several of us joining forces, who knows if it'll be enough..." The mustached man said, "The Defense Department's Watchtower evaluated earlier that as long as no other forces interfere, the five of us should be able to handle it. Besides, we have Andun's support. What higher-ups fear isn't being unable to deal with it, but letting it drag on. If that happens, things become troublesome... Well, it's almost over..." Inside the hall, unable to keep his composure any longer under the two men's restraint, Tie Chengpeng resolved to take some damage to eliminate one of them first. After all, Elephant Grappling jin belonged to a category of grappling jin; as long as he caught hold of an opponent, he could incapacitate them in a single clash. He had no choice; if he let things drag on, they would steadily compress his room to exert jin, until he might be beaten to death without having cleanly unleashed his power even once. Yet just as he made his move, Xu Chan suddenly appeared at his side. As if he had long been waiting for this moment, a slender, flexible sword appeared in his hand, thrusting smoothly into Tie Chengpeng's abdomen with a swish. The taut muscle and bone seemed to offer no resistance at all. The slender blade slid through the junctions of mutated tissue and the gaps between his jin, perfectly bypassing every obstacle along the way and stabbing straight into his heart. Tie Chengpeng's heart contracted into a tight ball, clamping onto the blade as his body instinctively recoiled. But this left defenses elsewhere weakened, and to prevent the jin on the sword from bursting outward, the vital essence accumulated within his heart could not be pumped outward at that critical moment. Simultaneously, Captains Lü and Wang struck. The former's fist slammed into Tie Chengpeng's ear, while the latter's four fingers drove straight into his back, both men's jin surging into his body at once. This time, having lost the central harmonizing hub, the mutated tissue could no longer mount a coherent resistance. Blood burst from his eyes, nose, and ears, his eyes rolled back, and his sturdy spine was severed by a sharp pulse of jin. Captains Lü and Wang did not stop. Seizing the moment when he had lost the ability to resist, they drove successive waves of jin into his body one after another. Tie Chengpeng truly lived up to being a talent handpicked by Ferris Wheel Company, possessing exceptionally robust potential and foundational strength. Even cut off from the supply of vital essence from his heart, his mutated tissue, bones, and muscles continuously regenerated at rapid speed as soon as they were shattered. This stemmed not only from his natural talent, but also from the copious amounts of special nutritional paste he had ingested earlier, providing an uninterrupted stream of energy to the mutated tissue inside him. Yet this only delayed the inevitable; it changed nothing about the outcome. Under the relentless onslaught of the two enforcement captains, blood gushed like a spring from his body, quickly pooling across the floor. He lost consciousness under the barrage, yet even so, he remained firmly standing where he was, his hands locked in a combat stance. This earned the admiration of both men. If this had been an ordinary sparring match, it would have ended here, and they would not have continued attacking. But this was a purge, and even for the sake of their comrades' safety, they could not afford to hold back in the slightest. Captain Lü leaped into the air and kicked Tie Chengpeng in the head. Jin exploded with a thunderous roar, reverberating through the entire hall. The kick obliterated his brain tissue and blew the upper half of his head completely apart. Yet even then, Tie Chengpeng's lifeless body remained standing, refusing to fall. Only now did Xu Chan take a step back and withdraw the slender sword from his body. From beginning to end, he had only made a single move, without even resorting to Mind Jin. He had simply seized the most opportune moment to strike at the weakest link in the man's jin circulation, thereby deciding the match. He glanced warily at the surroundings and instructed, "Continue the breach. And..." He looked toward several specific positions. "Shield all surrounding information fields." *** Meanwhile, on the surface, a communications team dispatched earlier by Ferris Wheel Company traveled underwater, bypassed the information shielding field, and successfully reached the shore. There were indeed modified organisms blocking the way underwater, but they had prepared well: one squad actively drew them off while the other used the opportunity to slip away. This squad consisted entirely of fighters who moved swiftly through the water, successfully reaching a location further south along the coastline. Yet even after making landfall, they could not immediately contact anyone in the city. Because of the fissure, Center City was severely disrupted; radios were virtually useless, and remote communications currently relied solely on field information transmission. Thus, they needed to find a way into the city proper, locate the field organism Ferris Wheel Company kept at a certain stronghold, and then proceed into Weiguang District. By contacting the councilors who routinely spoke for the company over a secret frequency, they could bring this matter before the Municipal Council and resolve the company's crisis. They walked several kilometers south and found one of the company's strongholds, intending to retrieve vehicles and equipment hidden there. However, as part of the personnel stepped inside, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from within. The entire building was blasted into the sky in an instant, and even the personnel standing outside were knocked to the ground by the shockwave. The man standing farthest away shook his head, trying to get up, when he saw people approaching in front of him. Through his blurred vision, he could barely make out a group wearing fedoras and trench coats. He opened his mouth, unable to make a sound. When the person leading the group passed by him, he drew a pistol and fired a shot into him at point-blank range. The man slumped and moved no more. The leader continued walking with his men, ordering them to inspect the area and finish off any survivors one by one. After a moment, a subordinate gathered back and reported, "All cleared." The squad leader said, "Leave two behind to guard the site. The rest, fall back." *** In the submarine beneath Ferris Wheel Company, the company's directors watched Tie Chengpeng's body fall on the screen, their expressions grim. They had hoped this man, nurtured with immense company resources, would hold out longer, but he had lasted less than ten minutes. Director Yingwei spoke once more. "More than two hours have passed since the battle began. The shore squad should have made landfall by now. If everything goes smoothly, they should be able to contact the Municipal Council within the next one to two hours, assuming they encounter no accidents. But..." He looked at the assembled directors. "Do we have two hours? Those modified creatures have already penetrated deep into every corner of the building." On the light screen, wherever the biological weapons passed, Ferris Wheel Company's staff and armed personnel were cleaved in two by sharp arm blades—a horrific, bloody scene. Then, with their antennae and compound eyes flickering, these combat bio-creatures darted toward other locations, seemingly searching for something. One director murmured, "They are looking for Wu Qi." "And they will find Wu Qi's location very soon," Director Yingwei said. "Even if we do not activate it, it will be discovered in less than half an hour. We must activate it!" He barked furiously, "Gentlemen, what are you still hesitating for?" Unlike before, no director stood up to object; all remained silent. After a moment, one director said in a solemn voice, "I agree with Director Yingwei." With one person speaking up, the others wavered as well. A moment later, another director hesitated, then said, "I agree as well." "...Agreed." "Agreed." As the majority of directors voiced their consent, the director presiding at the head of the table finally relented. With a grave countenance, he said, "Since that is everyone's will, then... activate it!"