Upon spotting the figure, several fixed machine guns inside the monitoring area immediately opened fire with a frantic, chattering roar.
Yet as the bullets struck the figure ahead, they all dropped one after another, clattering noisily onto the floor.
The silhouette made no visible move beyond a slight twitch of his hand. Suddenly, several gunners—all wearing heavy protective suits and equipped with spiritual wards—shook violently, their heads bursting open in an instant.
The roar of machine guns ceased at once, leaving only fading echoes lingering in the air.
Yet the security guards outfitted with spiritual wards were all well-trained elites. They did not halt their assault just because the machine guns had stopped. Drawing their sidearms, they aimed forward and fired continuously, filling the hall with a cacophony of gunfire.
Yet in a fleeting blur, the figure abruptly vanished from the doorway. The very next instant, the guards felt their bodies lift into the air. Not just them—every armed person in the entire space went airborne.
Chen Chuan came to a sudden halt, his outer coat and scarf snapping sharply forward. The moment he stopped, the surrounding metal wall panels shuddered violently with a booming rumble, while behind him, the airborne guards crashed down one by one.
He had done nothing elaborate just now—merely crashed into where the crowd stood at blistering speed. The sheer force stirred by his charging body alone had swept everyone in his path into the air.
Once the thuds of bodies hitting the ground subsided and no further sounds followed, he glanced ahead. This was a three-story structure, but most of the personnel were not aboveground; they were in the subterranean level.
He walked slowly down the metal stairs. Just as he reached a turn, armed guards on either side, already jacked up on stimulants, whipped around and tried to unleash their flamethrowers.
Yet they were far too slow. Every twitch they made fell within the reach of his spirit and field. Just as scorching flames filled the entire corridor, his figure seemed to flicker, and he was already behind one of them.
Pressing a pebble in his palm, he slapped the back of the man's head. Instantly, both men's heads exploded in a straight line, and they collapsed to the floor as rolling flames continued shooting upward for a few moments longer.
He spared them no second glance and continued toward the next level down. But upon pushing open the door, he found a small-caliber cannon aimed straight at him. With a deafening boom, it spat a flash of fire, the weapon jolting off the floor from the recoil.
Still, it was the same story—cumbersome and useless. In Chen Chuan's perception, everyone moved sluggishly. Before the muzzle even vibrated with the blast, he was already at the gunner's side. With a casual punch, he slammed the bouncing cannon back down. Amid a crashing reverberation, it crumpled together with the gunner, embedding into the reinforced flooring below.
Once the echoes died down, the entire subterranean space fell into dead silence. He glanced around and spotted an open metal shaft nearby, inside of which was a vertical ladder leading further down.
Lenoir was currently hiding on the lowest level of the subterranean facility, which was also the largest tier in the entire area, repurposed from a former insect nest.
He knew an enemy like Chen Chuan could not be confronted head-on, but that did not mean there was no way to deal with him. Right on this level, directly beneath his feet, lay a massive hoard of high explosives.
He stared upward, gripping the detonator lever. The moment Chen Chuan came down after him, he would detonate the explosives and blow the whole sector to smithereens. Not even a third limit fighter could withstand an explosion of this magnitude; even if they didn't die outright, hardly anything intact would remain of them.
Naturally, he had no desire to die alongside Chen Chuan. He was currently standing in a fully reinforced safe room and had preemptively injected restorative drugs. With this shielding combined with his physique as a fighter, there was still a slim chance he might survive the aftermath.
Chen Chuan had reached the opening of the shaft. He checked the display on his boundary credential. There were around a dozen people down there, all appearing exceedingly tense. However, upon stepping here, an instinctive warning pinged in his spirit.
His gaze flickered slightly. He did not descend. Instead, he turned and left, walking straight out of the monitoring area and casually pulling the corridor doors shut behind him.
Once outside, he searched the vicinity and quickly located plenty of algae oil stored in secure storage depots. There was also a transport truck nearby, so he loaded the algae oil onto it, drove around the camp, and uncapped and dumped the oil drums at every key location.
After completing a circuit, seeing that it was enough, he first gathered Wilhelm's spear core and then ignited the algae oil. Before long, raging flames surged across the camp, sending billows of black smoke towering into the sky.
Outside the camp, Yang Yuncheng had watched the entire spectacle from the hillside. Seeing Chen Chuan tear through the opposition as if entering an uninhabited realm, nearly turning the camp upside down single-handedly, his blood surged with excitement. Now, witnessing Chen Chuan set the camp ablaze, he could no longer stay put on the heights and immediately rushed down the slope toward the camp.
Down in the basement, Lenoir waited for a long time without Chen Chuan appearing, yet the surrounding temperature kept rising steadily. Finally realizing something was wrong, he rushed out of the safe room and checked the surface through a periscope. When he saw the raging inferno, his heart sank.
He made the grim realization that hiding here was useless. Chen Chuan didn't need to come in at all—he only had to start a fire outside.
Outside were numerous generator sets running entirely on algae oil, and because an endless swarm of insects needed incinerating, large amounts of algae oil were stockpiled up front—more than enough to incinerate the surface along with his underground shelter.
Continuing to stay here was simply waiting for death.
Yet going out to fight Chen Chuan was equally pointless; it would be nothing more than offering up his life.
In utter despair, he retreated into the safe room and pushed down the detonation lever.
With an earth-shattering boom, a tremendous explosion rocked the entire monitoring area. The blast wave hurled the top hatch plates hundreds of meters into the sky.
Yang Yuncheng had just rushed into the camp when the sudden roar of the detonation struck, sending his head spinning. Combined with the violently quaking ground, he nearly lost his footing, shaking his head hard for several moments before recovering his senses.
Meanwhile, atop an elevated platform that provided a clear view of the surroundings, Chen Chuan looked up at the billowing black smoke and checked his boundary credential; the vital signs of the last remaining people below had vanished entirely.
Continuous explosions began popping across the camp—the fire had likely touched off munitions stockpiled elsewhere.
With a heavy crash, the tall mooring tower used for docking airships leaned slowly to the side before collapsing into the flames.
Holding the Xuejun Saber, he stood atop the high platform, the blaze reflected across his jade-textured visor. The glow and swirling currents of air kept his outer coat and scarf in constant motion.
When Yang Yuncheng reached him, this was the scene that met his eyes, leaving him deeply shaken.
Chen Chuan noticed him and reached up to remove his protective visor. "Senior Yang, why have you come?"
Yang Yuncheng looked around in agitation. Truth be told, he had never imagined Chen Chuan could wipe out this entire camp on his own.
Had Chen Chuan told him beforehand, he would never have believed it. But now that the reality was right before his eyes, he was still dazed, needing to look repeatedly at their surroundings before convincing himself it was real.
Struggling to steady his emotions, he said with palpable excitement, "Supervisor Chen, I saw you from up above. I came down to see if you needed any help, but I suppose that won't be necessary. You've already destroyed this camp. Your mission was to destroy it, right? You've succeeded!"
Chen Chuan shook his head. "No, not yet."
Yang Yuncheng froze. "Not yet?"
Chen Chuan glanced toward the dense forest in the distance. "This is merely a rear base. Their main force isn't here; they should have pushed deep into the Confluence to seize that relic. They are my true target."
Yang Yuncheng nodded slowly. It seemed his assumptions had still been too conservative, though considering the strength Chen Chuan had demonstrated, it felt only natural. Still, he couldn't help asking, "Supervisor Chen, are you truly alone? Is there no backup following up?"
"My colleagues came here earlier," Chen Chuan replied. "I *am* the backup."
"So that's how it is..."
Yang Yuncheng pondered for a moment before saying earnestly, "Supervisor Chen, your next step is probably venturing into the unknown zone?"
Chen Chuan nodded.
Yang Yuncheng looked outside and said solemnly, "Supervisor Chen, there are still quite a few watchtowers around the camp's perimeter with plenty of enemies stationed there. Please rest for now and leave those people to me. I'll take care of them."
Chen Chuan was not actually tired, nor had he expended much energy. But he understood that as an ex-military man, Yang Yuncheng could hardly bear to watch an ally charge into battle while standing idly by.
Besides, as a former pioneer team member, Yang Yuncheng would have no trouble dealing with the remaining sentries, so Chen Chuan did not refuse.
"Old Yang, then I leave it to you."
Yang Yuncheng nodded heavily. "Leave it to me." With that, he turned and charged outward. In the fiery glare, a gust of wind caught his hood, blowing it back to reveal greying hair. Yet his lone remaining eye was exceptionally resolute, and his charging silhouette remained as decisive and ferocious as ever.
Meanwhile, after leaving the camp and flying through the afternoon, that airship finally reached the nearest rear communication post. Shortly thereafter, an urgent telegram was dispatched toward the delegations of the Corporate United Syndicate and the Linax Federation diplomatic mission.
Chapter 729