Inside the skyscraper, the clash between Xu Chan's team and Wu Qi dragged on. Drawing on their wealth of combat experience, they had already devised an effective tactic to counter the creature.
Xu Chan split the team into two groups. He and Captains Wang and Lü covered the front and flanks, while the two pioneer team members in the rear focused on throwing weapons and tools, harassing the beast and plugging any gaps.
Whenever Wu Qi attempted to break out in a particular direction, Lü and Wang would raise the specially made shields newly delivered from behind and charge forward, crashing into it like cannonballs to halt its momentum.
This approach required little technical finesse; it was a matter of pure speed.
Nimble as Wu Qi was, its sheer size worked against it—it could not outpace them over short distances. Even though its mass vastly exceeded that of any single fighter present, the squad operated in tight coordination; the instant one surged forward, the others harassed and pinned it from different angles.
Almost every time it accelerated, they forced it to an abrupt stop. At that precise juncture, short spears trailing binding cords or heavy nets would come hurtling from behind, compelling it to retreat or dodge.
Xu Chan played the pivotal role here. He personally absorbed over sixty percent of the pressure, pinning Wu Qi firmly in place. Whenever Wu Qi unleashed sweeping torrents of mental energy that battered the rest of the squad, Xu Chan stood firm alone at the front, weathering the burst until the wave subsided.
Earlier, they had received orders from the Defense Department to drive Wu Qi out of the skyscraper and force it onto the open ground behind the structure. They did not know the true motive behind the directive, but since it came from high command, they executed it with everything they had.
Still, they were not charging blindly. Seasoned veterans all, they understood that achieving their goal required patience rather than haste, advancing one deliberate step at a time.
All they needed to do was firmly block Wu Qi from breaking outward, denying it passage and steadily compressing its maneuvering space. Given enough time, Wu Qi would choose to break through along the only viable avenue left to it, even without them forcing it.
Though this method consumed time, high command had not imposed a strict deadline. They believed that as long as they did not exceed the window of the Fumu fission, everything would be fine—and Wu Qi would never hold out until then.
Their judgment proved entirely correct. Under relentless pressure, Wu Qi sustained an increasing number of wounds, and its movements grew steadily more restricted.
Feeling increasingly hemmed in, it had no choice but to fall back. Crashing through wall after wall, it finally broke through the rear of the skyscraper and burst out into the open.
From this position, a single glance took in the towering, turning Ferris Wheel erected nearby, while further out stretched the open sea with rolling swells.
Xu Chan and his four teammates pursued it out in close succession. Maintaining their formation, they took up separate positions, continuing to seal off every route for an outward breakthrough.
At this point, unless Wu Qi leapt into the sea, breaking out of their encirclement was all but impossible.
Yet the Defense Department already knew from Andun's analysis that while Wu Qi could enter the ocean, it possessed little combat effectiveness in seawater. Worse, it would likely face coordinated attacks by the modified aquatic organisms deployed by Canglong Company. It would not choose that path.
Indeed, Wu Qi would never do so, because the board's orders forbade it from leaving, commanding it instead to do everything it could to kill the five humans.
Down in the vertical shaft, Director Yingwei remained standing, his peculiar gaze fixed on the space above. One half of his face caught the illumination from overhead, while the other remained submerged in darkness.
Behind him, the shadow on the wall twitched and writhed continuously, almost as if it could hardly wait.
Yet he knew the timing was still just a hair away.
An active conscious entity possessed its own energy-storage organs. High-energy nutrient fluid merely served to kick-start its activation; once shifted into combat mode, it drew upon the energy stored during normal times.
According to the Ferris Wheel Company's projections, even under heavy exertion, Wu Qi could fight non-stop for roughly two days. Up to this moment, the entity's fighting capacity had barely degraded.
Yet Yingwei had no intention of waiting that long. What he needed was for the fighters outside to help him deplete Wu Qi's mental strength.
An active conscious entity possessed an extraordinarily cohesive psyche. In particular, one like Wu Qi—specializing in precognitive calculation—received early warnings against threats to its own existence. It could not be easily invaded; even if taken by force, it would mount fierce resistance and rejection.
Were it not for this, Yingwei would have invaded and seized Wu Qi while it was still resting inside the company. Because that was impossible, his only option had been to drive Wu Qi outside to clash with the humans.
Under these conditions, Wu Qi's biological functions shifted fully into a combat state, its precognitive foresight vanished, and its mental power was bound to drain away steadily.
According to his estimates, high-intensity exertion could last roughly thirty to forty minutes. The instant it reached its most feeble state would be the moment for him to strike.
At that very moment, the airship carrying Chen Chuan had arrived directly above the Ferris Wheel. He checked the time: eleven forty.
As the one delivering the final blow, he needed to await the opportune moment.
No one rushed him. Since the task had been entrusted to his hands, they placed absolute trust in him; there would be no second-guessing or badgering.
The power Hongfu could transmit consisted primarily of field and mental energy. If too much power was transferred at once, the entity below might detect it prematurely.
In truth, the power that could be relayed through the field was limited, but even a portion was already a tremendous force. Had his own foundation been insufficient, he would never have been able to endure it, let alone unleash it.
In the final analysis, his own strength remained the fundamental anchor for this strike.
Looking down from above, although the dense mist obscured a clear view of the scene, he could gauge the situation below through the faint mental pulses wafting upward.
He could confirm that his comrades on the ground had successfully flushed Wu Qi out of the skyscraper, fulfilling the prerequisite condition.
What followed depended entirely on him.
According to the plan, he had to act the very instant the entity invaded the active conscious entity. At that exact moment, the esoteric rituals below would trigger simultaneously, coordinating with him to land the blow.
Their current altitude was more than three kilometers above the ground. If he jumped straight down in a free fall, it would take roughly half a minute to reach the target—far too long, squandering the best possible window.
Though he could leap downward to accelerate his descent, that alone was still not enough.
Fortunately, he had another condition he could exploit.
Numerous fissures still hovered in the surrounding space. He had previously acquired Chen Bitong's Flying Dragon Fist Jin, which included modified applications devised by Chen Bitong himself, among them the method for traversing fissures.
To achieve such a feat required first a stable, fully formed fissure, as well as a sufficiently powerful and unique mental force. Chen Chuan could not accomplish this on his own, but with Hongfu's backing, he could draw upon her strength to execute the move.
Doing so would not only allow him to cross an immense distance in an instant, but also enable him to materialize beside the enemy in an entirely unexpected manner.
Sensing the pulses rising from below, he determined that the Ferris Wheel's active conscious entity still had some strength left. The invading presence had not yet reached the moment to make its move.
Thus, he needed to wait a little longer.
Time ticked by slowly. Nearly twenty minutes passed, and the battle beneath the Ferris Wheel grew increasingly violent. Under successive releases of mental power, Wu Qi's psychic reserves declined at an unmistakable rate.
Yet it had no alternative. Without the deterrence and support of its psychic power, the attackers' assaults would grow even fiercer and more fluid, rendering it utterly unable to hold out. It had no choice but to grit its teeth and endure.
Inside the Defense Department command center, the voice of the Watchtower sounded:
"Notice from Andun: Wu Qi's overall condition is dropping across the board. Its biological field has weakened significantly, and an unexpected situation may occur at any moment. Please prepare..."
Commissioner Liang's expression turned intensely solemn. He knew the opportunity they had been waiting for was about to arrive.
He raised his wrist and checked the time: eleven fifty-eight.
Then he silently turned his gaze to the airship hovering motionlessly on the light screen.
In all honesty, carrying the expectations of so many departments and bearing such a monumental responsibility would place immense pressure on anyone; not even a fighter could remain indifferent.
A heavy psychological burden severely hampered performance.
Now, it remained to be seen whether this young man could shoulder it all and fulfill the expectations placed upon him.
Aboard the airship, Chen Chuan had been standing with his saber resting against the deck, his senses fully tuned to the movement below.
The alert from the command center came through the boundary credential at his ear, and he too could sense the active conscious entity's psychic power steadily waning.
He glanced at his second self. A faint blurring had begun to appear across it, indicating that the entity's power was dispersing outward—it was preparing to make its move.
With that, he lifted the Xuejun Saber across his chest. Slipping the scabbard off, he let it fall onto the deck, his gaze narrowing onto the gleaming blade.
This was likely the strongest opponent he had faced to date. He needed to focus every ounce of his power.
As if responding to his will, the blade began to hum and vibrate before long. Wisps of luminous mist drifted from the steel, and the crimson line along its spine turned a vivid, bleeding red.
Strong gusts swept past, catching his military greatcoat and whipping his scarf out behind him.
Drawing a deep breath, he exhaled as white mist billowed from his body with a muffled roar.
The instant he did, Hongfu, standing behind him, abruptly dissolved into a cloud of red light that clung to his form, transforming into a wisp of scarlet haze coiling around the white mist.
At the same moment below, facing the advance of Xu Chan and the others, Wu Qi unleashed another burst of intense mental pressure.
Yet this time, everyone present could feel that the shockwave was nowhere near as intolerable as before—it could even be called feeble.
Their spirits surged. Just as they prepared to charge once more, the ground shook violently beneath them, throwing them off balance and forcing them to leap back. A massive swathe of shadow surged from the earth like a tidal wave, sweeping over Wu Qi's body and encasing it tight in an instant.
Almost simultaneously, an invisible force of corruption rippled outward, draining the surrounding world into shades of stark black and white.
In that breath, an unspeakable dread and terror rippled across dozens of kilometers around the Ferris Wheel skyscraper. The slowly turning Ferris Wheel underwent a sudden transformation, seemingly twisting into a colossal vortex fissure from which blinding, searing light poured forth.
Aboard the airship, Chen Chuan cast his gaze downward. His eyes pierced through the heavy fog straight to the epicenter below. Gripping his saber, he lowered his stance, planted his feet, and leapt down into the void.
Chapter 590