The Pursuit

The explosion came with shocking suddenness. Even people quite far from the street felt the rush of blistering heat and the concussive blast wave. Ears rang with deafening roars and sharp, splitting cracks. Even the surrounding buildings trembled under the shock of the blast as all manner of debris rained down in a clattering barrage. At the very center of the detonation, the smoke and dust parted, and Chen Chuan walked out completely unscathed. Only a scattering of pitted marks marred his mask, and his coat hung in tatters. With a single tug, he tore off the ruined coat, pulled off the mask, and tossed them both to the ground. Small fragments and miscellaneous debris were still drifting down from above, but anything landing on him was jolted and deflected away by his force, leaving the circle of ground beneath his feet distinctly different in color from the ash-covered surroundings. A rustling static crackled from his boundary credential. Both audio and visual feeds had blurred, shaken by the impact of the explosion. Still, boundary credentials were self-restoring. His supervisor credential was a custom model built to withstand blast impacts of considerable violence; though temporarily disrupted, it would recover shortly. He cast a glance at the ground. Those larvae earlier had likely not dug tunnels merely to move around, but also to carve out underground pockets to bury explosives. It was clear this ambush had been carefully premeditated, and evidently aimed straight at him. Rigging an entire street with explosives was quite an extravagant measure. Even a powerful fighter who stepped into the zone would have had no way to evade it, and taking the full brunt of such a blast would leave them gravely crippled if not dead. Against him, however, things were different. Even without his second self, he could endure it through the Mind Jin of his external conditioning alone. Just as he had done a moment ago. In truth, precisely because the explosion posed a threat to him that was not truly lethal, his mental warning had come slightly late. Had it been a danger that could genuinely cost him his life, he would have sensed it before he ever set foot in the area. Yet who knew how many residents lived along this street; in a blast like this, scarcely anyone could have survived. Even so, search and rescue were still necessary. Having stepped clear of the blast zone, he glanced up at Chaoming circling in the distant sky. Seeing that the bird seemed about to fly down to check on him because of the explosion, he waved a hand, signaling for it to keep going. Chaoming let out a shrill cry and resumed the chase ahead. At the same time, fragmented visuals—a blend of static and clarity—surfaced on his boundary credential. Through the feed, he could faintly make out the hooded figure pausing to confirm the situation here. Casting one last glance upward, the man sprinted forward once more. The man could not see Chen Chuan directly, but from Chaoming's movements, he could deduce Chen Chuan's present condition. Chen Chuan's gaze sharpened on the road ahead. His figure accelerated in an instant, darting forward in pursuit. Moments later, the boundary credential cleared up considerably, and incoming transmissions arrived from the rear. Clearly, the squad stationed back there had also been startled by the roar of the blast and was urgently asking for a status report. He replied briefly to let them know he was unharmed, instructed all squad members to proceed according to the established plan, and then spoke to Andun: "Andun, have the City Guard move in to clear the rubble and evacuate any survivors for treatment." "Understood, Supervisor Chen. However, a reminder is required: scans show the residents of this area are predominantly non-citizens, and they are ineligible for Center City medical services." Chen Chuan replied calmly, "Classify them as having assisted in this operation, and charge their medical expenses to the operation's budget." "Andun understands." By this point, the man ahead seemed certain Chen Chuan had emerged from the explosion unharmed, and he pushed his speed once more to flee onward. He appeared intimately familiar with the surrounding terrain and residential clusters, weaving back and forth through the narrow alleys and occasionally cutting straight through houses. When his form vanished from sight for stretches at a time, it created major difficulties for both Chaoming's aerial view and Chen Chuan's pursuit. Furthermore, this residential quarter was congested with pedestrians, makeshift illegal structures, and countless obstacles, preventing Chen Chuan from opening up into full sprint. The quarry, on the other hand, had no such reservations. It was only thanks to the immense advantage of Chaoming's airborne surveillance that Chen Chuan had not been shaken off. Yet if the man kept weaving through this quarter, once the personnel from the rear caught up and sealed the perimeter, he would soon lose that edge. Chen Chuan kept his eyes pinned to the figure displayed on his boundary credential. Despite the numerous obstacles, Andun provided varied analyses and advance alerts, enabling him to pick the most rational, optimal route. Gradually, he began closing the gap. If he could only narrow the distance between them to within one li, his mental power could reach the man, and shaking him off would become impossible. Right then, he suddenly saw the man press a hand against a spot on a building. It was an odd, fleeting gesture—perhaps a signal, or perhaps priming a trigger. It could not help but bring the earlier explosion to mind. Chen Chuan considered the possibilities. The runner might be bluffing, or something might truly be rigged there. With the triggering mechanism still uncertain, if his arrival triggered another explosion, that would be the last thing he wanted. He immediately chose to detour. While this allowed the target to pull ahead a bit, catching up again later would not be difficult. Afterward, he watched the runner reach out and touch the buildings flanking his path in the exact same manner from time to time, clearly attempting to stall him through fear of further traps. Though Chen Chuan could not discern the truth from afar, Andun provided predictive assessments ahead of time. When there was a notable probability and likelihood of explosives, he detoured; when the probability was negligible, he ignored it. Seeing that this trick could no longer disrupt Chen Chuan, the runner abandoned it. By that time, he had bolted out of the sprawling residential quarter and emerged onto the wide avenue outside. Yet he did not linger or open into a full sprint along the street; instead, he darted across the roadway and vanished into the high-rises on the other side. Chen Chuan looked ahead. Anywhere else, he would have had combat creatures and security personnel deploy roadblocks at potential exits and across the avenue well in advance, sending combat creatures to intercept. But this was Hongsheng District—the most backward, run-down area in Center City, with the poorest security infrastructure. None of those measures existed here. Even the local City Guard dragged their feet due to poor pay and had yet to get into position; counting on them was completely out of the question. Hence, he had to rely solely on persistent tracking. Just as he stepped out from the settlement onto the street, he sensed something, tilting his head aside to dodge a bullet. His hand flicked several times, batting away the barrage of bullets that followed. Over on the opposite building stood a long-range marksman whose shooting was exceptionally sharp, every single round aimed right between Chen Chuan's eyes. This showed that the fleeing man had planned his escape route well ahead of time, arranging an ambush here as well. He would need to exercise caution moving forward. In the space of a thought, Chen Chuan casually plucked an incoming bullet from the air, whipped his hand back, and flung it straight in return. The marksman was clearly a fighter injected with stimulant boosters, which was why he could barely catch Chen Chuan's silhouette and fire off those remarkably precise shots on instinct. The instincts he had honed over long years on the battlefield warned him of imminent danger, and he immediately tried to dodge aside. Yet the distance separating them was merely three to four hundred meters. Flung back, the bullet flew even faster than when fired from a barrel, boring dead-center into his forehead. His entire body snapped backward as the back of his head burst open in a gaping hole. The bullet's momentum unspent, it blasted a shallow crater into the concrete wall behind him. Having dealt with the marksman in passing, Chen Chuan kept hot on the trail of the fleeing target. But barely several hundred meters later, the figure rounded a street corner and vanished, seen no more. Only two or three seconds later, Chen Chuan reached the spot. A sweep of his gaze quickly located an abandoned drainage conduit leading downward. Looking down into the hole, he had no intention of following him in. Judging by the man's earlier actions, he was someone who calculated every contingency. If Chen Chuan were in his shoes, he would likely have planted explosives down there to guarantee his escape. With any luck, it could bury Chen Chuan beneath the rubble; failing that, it would still block the pursuer's way. If that were the case, under normal circumstances, the man truly would have slipped away. However... Before his eyes flickered a graphic displaying a dense underground sewer network, complete with a marker indicating his current position. He was backed by Andun's informational resources, which provided formidable support. Moreover, the terrain here was vastly more open; there was no longer any need to rein in his speed as he had earlier. After merely a glance, he accelerated abruptly, racing along the route charted by Andun. Another two or three seconds later, his mental perception detected a potent presence beneath the ground. The master of this presence seemed to sense something as well and immediately reined in his field. Yet while a field could be retracted, the instantaneous psychic contact could not be severed, forcing him to sprint even faster. Yet he could feel that no matter where he turned, Chen Chuan remained directly above his head, impossible to shake off. Thus, after a brief pause, he suddenly pivoted onto another path, instantly opening up distance between them. Chen Chuan immediately recognized that this turn had to be leading deep underground—only there could such depth be achieved so quickly. Ordinary sewers were never that deep; the man had to be taking a route leading down into the Lower District. The Lower District, was it...? He tapped his boundary credential, and a light screen appeared before his eyes, displaying the passages of this section of the Lower District. Because he had passed through this area when rescuing Fang Zhixin, it had undergone a prior sweep. The data had just been updated, thoroughly detailed with various branching passages and man-made tunnels. After studying it for a few moments, he made an instant decision.