Charge

In barely ten-odd seconds, Andun had uncovered the origin of the residence and the sources of all the high-energy nutrient solution. "This house and the adjacent properties are illegal gang assets. Three years ago, this residence was leased to a citizen surnamed Li. He has a complicated background, having worked as both a commissioner and a mercenary. Records show he returned to the residence once a month, but there has been no word of him for over a month now, and no record of his whereabouts can be found. "The high-energy nutrient solution all originated from public procurement channels in other Center Cities. The buyers were all small firms registered for less than six months. The earliest traceable record dates back three years; accessing more detailed records would require inquiries in other Center Cities. It is inferred that this batch of high-energy nutrient solution was transported into the city in installments and hoarded here..." Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and instructed his subordinates, "Send people to haul all this high-energy nutrient solution away first, and seal off this place for now." Once things were dealt with here, barely ten minutes had passed before another warehouse was found. It had the same layout, was likewise crammed with high-energy nutrient solution, and had similarly been disturbed. However, there was one difference: fresh traces were discovered here, proving that the mother worm had stayed here recently—less than two hours ago according to the surveillance readings. In other words, it had only pulled back right as the security personnel entered the area. Chen Chuan immediately ordered the combat creatures to pursue it along the tunnel hole it had left behind. This modified creature could not erase its own tracks, so the probability of finding it this time was exceedingly high. And indeed it was. In merely half an hour, the combat creatures sent underground made contact and engaged in combat with freshly spawned larvae. From beneath the earth, feeds intermittently came up showing scenes of gnawing and thrashing. This meant the mother worm was not far. Yuan Qiuyuan and the others sprinted swiftly across the surface following the positions indicated by Andun. Though the larvae they encountered formed obstacles, they also clearly marked a path along which the mother worm likely traveled. The larvae were few in number after all, and having consumed little nourishment since birth, they stood no chance against the endless influx of combat creatures. Soon, the way forward was clear of obstruction. Yet as the combat creatures pushed forward, the visual feeds on their boundary credentials suddenly went pitch black. Not only the vanguard that had rushed in, but even those following behind vanished almost in an instant. Even so, the team members above could not help but feel energized. This indicated that their pursuit was working—this time, they had very likely found the real target. Following the information relayed through their boundary credentials, Yuan Qiuyuan and the two others finally came to a halt at a spot. "Right here." The three exchanged glances. Yuan Qiuyuan and Su Wei turned their gazes onto Qin Qingque. She raised an extra-long spear she had brought specially for this, reversed the spearhead to point at the ground, and drew a breath. A moment later, she drove the long spear downward into the earth. With a sharp hiss, nearly three-fifths of the shaft sank into the ground. Letting out a crisp shout, she gave the spear shaft a flick. The soil above cracked piece by piece and caved in, revealing an underground burrow, where the long spear was embedded into a creature roughly two meters long. Thick dirt covered the creature, obscuring its full appearance; only a section of smooth carapace patterned with spots was visible. Gripping the spear shaft with both hands, Qin Qingque stepped back two paces, shouted once more, and exerted the strength of both arms to wrench the creature clean out from underground! Once brought to the surface, as clods of dirt rained down in a clatter, the thing was finally fully visible. Its body resembled an inverted steelyard weight, clad in a smooth shell, with jointed, bent limbs along its abdomen and flanks, multiple compound eyes on its head, and what appeared to be retractable spikes along its back. Right then, as a bizarre hiss tore from its belly, the spikes shot out with a swoosh, curving backward to stab at Qin Qingque. Unfazed, Qin Qingque merely flicked her spear lightly, instantly neutralizing and dispersing its momentum. The incoming spikes went limp and powerless. She then spun to the side, flicked the creature upward, and slammed it down. With a heavy thud, she smashed it violently into the ground! The worm shrieked piteously and weirdly from the impact. Yuan Qiuyuan shouted, "Let me!" Raising the cudgel in his hand high, he abruptly brought it crashing down at the worm, the air howling with surging jin. If this strike landed, it would blow apart at least half the worm's body. Just at that moment, however, he sensed something amiss. Twisting his cudgel midair, he redirected it to smash toward the side. It instantly collided with an object, whose immense force jerked the tip of the cudgel along with it. Glancing over, he saw the trajectory headed straight toward Qin Qingque, and whatever was attached was likely to hurtle right into her. He frantically tried to pull back his force. But he was already exerting full power; being able to redirect his strike on such short notice already attested to his remarkable coordination, leaving him with little power left to rein it in. Watching from the side, Su Wei immediately threw out a lasso that looped around the end of the cudgel and yanked back. Even so, the sheer force dragged both of them several paces backward, their feet gouging deep impressions into the ground. Only after halting did they clearly see what had put them in such disarray: merely a throwing bola with several small metal balls attached to its ends. Shock struck their hearts. Judging by the situation, this object had been hurled from at least one or two kilometers away. To carry such tremendous power across that distance, the thrower had to be a top-tier expert! The instant that weapon had been cast, Chaoming let out a piercing cry in midair. Chen Chuan's eyes flashed. Despite the obstruction of buildings, through Chaoming, he immediately spotted the fighter who had thrown the bola. The man was clad in a gray cowl robe that draped him from head to toe. His build was exceptionally tall and broad, with stiff stubble of hair poking out from beneath the hood to obscure the upper half of his face, exposing only a sharply defined jawline. Notably, a blade was tucked at his waist. Judging by the scabbard alone, it was about a palm and a half wide—evidently broad, though not very long—and bore heavily worn carvings across its surface. The man stood on the rooftop of a tall building. Merely standing there, he exuded an impression of immense stability. Such an outward manifestation was rooted not only in his physical center of gravity, but also in a kind of spiritual presence. Chen Chuan fixed his gaze upon him. If he wasn't mistaken, this man should be the team captain mentioned by those three. Reasonably speaking, appearing at this moment was extremely unwise. By revealing himself, he had exposed his whereabouts; the Disposal Bureau would inevitably pursue him, or at least keep him marked for future attention even if they hadn't planned to before. However, considering how crucial the mother worm was to him, his presence here was not entirely surprising. Furthermore, Chen Chuan's purpose in coming here had been precisely to bait this person out. Hence, his own position had remained at least three kilometers away from the search perimeter. Perhaps seeing no sufficiently formidable figure on the scene was what emboldened the man to strike. Hearing the cry, the man looked up at the sky. But beneath the heavy rain clouds overhead, he caught only a faint silhouette. Yet realizing he had been spotted, he untied another weighted bola from beneath his lower back, twirled it twice in his hand, and hurled it violently toward the sky! With a whoosh, it shot into the sky, instantly shrinking into a speck barely discernible to the naked eye. Chaoming merely flicked its wings gently aloft to evade the incoming weighted bola. It was at least three to four kilometers above the ground; a surface attack could hardly strike even an ordinary bird at that range, let alone an avian possessing mutated tissue. Hitting it was out of the question. Seeing that, the man did not persist. He turned and leaped off the high-rise, moving at high speed down an alley filled with obstacles and cover. Chaoming immediately flapped its wings in pursuit. To maintain line of sight, it had to drop slightly in altitude. In a sudden instant, the man vanished from view—he had likely ducked into the interior of a residential building. Chaoming circled above the area, trying to spot his location. Just then, a skylight on a nearby high-rise shattered, and a weighted bola shot out from inside at blistering speed! This attack came with extreme suddenness—not only faster than the last, but launched from a far more concealed spot and at a higher elevation. Yet facing the danger, Chaoming suddenly tucked its wings, its body pulling taut and straight as an arrow. Rather than dodging away, it accelerated in a dive, shooting through the swirling loops of the cords by a hairsbreadth. Then, with a whoosh, it snapped its wings wide, veering behind another tall building while letting out a long, clear cry. The man had sought to use the buildings as cover to draw it down and eliminate the conspicuous aerial scout; Chaoming, in turn, had used itself as bait to lure him out. Both were taking risks, but Chaoming took the greater gamble. The slightest misstep would have tangled it up, and the jin carried by the bola could easily shatter its bones and tear its wings apart. Seeing that he had still failed to bring down Chaoming, the man seemed to abandon the attempt. Leaping from several dozen meters up the high-rise, he landed soundly on the ground with a thump, unscathed, before darting rapidly into the shadowed passages between the towers. Behind him, Chen Chuan moved like a fleeting shadow, closing in fast. Though a considerable distance separated them, guided by Chaoming's high-altitude surveillance, he kept advancing along the correct vector. Furthermore, through his boundary credential, he tasked Andun with analyzing and charting the target's probable escape routes and destination. As he ran, just as he entered a certain alleyway, a sudden warning bell rang in his mind. With a deafening boom, an enormous explosion tore through nearly the entire street in that exact instant, and the shockwave engulfed him in a flash. ... ...