Pursuit

Inside the Consortium's council hall, the members of the delegation sat gathered around the table once more. Unlike the previous two meetings, which only a handful of key delegates had attended, every single member of the delegation was present this time, completely filling the long conference table. The head of operations stood at the head of the table. With a grave expression, he addressed the gathered members: "Gentlemen, news has arrived from the Melded Lands. Camp No. 1, located there, has suffered an unexpected attack. It has been confirmed that Mr. Wilhelm of the Linakes Federation was killed." "Wilhelm is actually dead?" Shock and disbelief spread across the faces of many delegates. However, several members had already heard wind of the situation before arriving. One of them asked in a stern, solemn tone, "Has the authenticity of this report been confirmed?" "The message came through half an hour ago via encrypted telegram. The Linakes Federation delegation received the exact same report, transmitted by their own personnel. We can confirm this is no false alarm." "Who did it?" "Given the limited content of the telegram, we cannot yet confirm the attacker's identity. Judging solely by the clothing described in the cable, the assailant wore the uniform of an Investigation Supervisor from the Great Shun Disposal Bureau." An Investigation Supervisor from the Great Shun Disposal Bureau? Every delegate seated in the hall reacted immediately. A delegate asked gravely, "Is it that Investigation Supervisor sent to the Melded Lands as reinforcements earlier?" "It's possible." At this, another delegate immediately demanded sharply, "Didn't you tell us before that he went to reinforce the Great Shun camp established there? Why would he appear at our base?" The head of operations said helplessly, "We cannot confirm whether it was him. If it was, then there was indeed a flaw in our judgment." "Is that so?" the delegate pressed on. "I recall your assessment of his combat ability placed him securely within the world's top four hundred. How do you explain what happened today? It seems you've made more than one blunder. I believe it is necessary for us to audit the funding of both intelligence and operations." The head of operations bowed slightly and apologized with utmost sincerity: "Ladies and gentlemen, my deepest apologies. This was our mistake." He continued, "Those evaluations were conducted by professionals based on his past displays of power. Assuming the attacker was indeed him, the data and showings used for the assessment must have deviated greatly from reality—or perhaps he intentionally concealed his true strength." Yet another fighter capable of entering the top thirty? The delegates exchanged glances. Whatever the attacker's identity, the strength required to kill Wilhelm was beyond question. Someone asked, "Was the attacker injured? Does he retain his combat capability? Can the camp capture him?" "Apologies," the head of operations replied. "The telegram we received contained limited details. We have already cabled instructions for the next airship heading there to assess the situation, but capturing this individual will likely prove exceedingly difficult... "According to the cable, the attacker struck down Wilhelm in the blink of an eye upon meeting him. Perhaps we..." He looked around at all the assembled delegates and cautioned solemnly, "Perhaps we should be considering the safety of the camp itself rather than how to capture this man. The main force of the camp has already pushed into the uncharted zone, leaving behind insufficient strength to stop such a formidable fighter." A chill settled over many delegates. They naturally understood the importance of that base. Otherwise, they would not have requisitioned supplies across various branch companies to build it. Without the camp, even if they secured a relic, smoothly transporting it back to the rear would become nearly impossible. One delegate spoke up: "Can we initiate legal proceedings to sue the Disposal Bureau? We went there under the premise of supporting the front lines, yet we suffered an unprovoked attack from the Disposal Bureau. This is a direct breach of the Grand Alliance protocols." The head of operations looked over and noticed the speaker was a delegate who rarely attended meetings, which explained such a question. Still, he patiently explained, "Impossible. We have only a single telegram without even a photograph. The Disposal Bureau can simply deny everything." Even if they took this information to file a claim, the Great Shun government could easily counter: if wearing an Investigation Supervisor's uniform makes someone an agent of the government, would wearing your clothes mean you were slaughtering one another? Moreover, the Melded Lands sat at the boundary where two worlds met—a proving ground of blood and slaughter between two realms, an outright battlefield. Order simply did not exist there. The clashes waged within its depths were not something so-called laws could resolve; the only rule that held sway was primal violence. The strong prevailed, and the weak were purged. A delegate seated near the front asked coolly, "What is the Linakes Federation diplomatic mission's reaction? The one who died this time was their man. Have they expressed any stance?" The head of operations answered respectfully, "As of yet, there has been no word from their side." "What are your plans?" The head of operations said, "This individual poses a severe threat to our Consortium. However, due to communication constraints, we cannot make sensible arrangements until the next report arrives. In my opinion, we must prepare ourselves for the camp suffering devastating losses." The delegate said in a heavy voice, "That puts us back on equal footing with the Great Shun government. If this was what the Great Shun Defense Department aimed to achieve, then they have already succeeded." The head of operations cut in decisively: "And yet, it is useless." He looked up, surveying the entire delegation, and spoke with supreme confidence: "Because of the breach in the Ring of Worlds, the Jibei Dao government's personnel are tied down drastically. The forces we and our partners have deployed at the front cannot be matched by them at this moment. "Even if one more third limit fighter who might rank among the world's top thirty appears ahead, it changes nothing. Wilhelm may be gone, but we still have Heros." The moment the words "we still have Heros" were uttered, many seated delegates nodded in agreement. "The Titan" Heros—he was the finest card in their hand, not to mention the other team members working in coordination with him. The advantages they had accrued through their initial investments were certainly not something one or two people from Great Shun could overturn. *** Deep in the uncharted zone, Xu Chan was leading his squad through the gaps of a dense forest, moving with great care. They had been here for many days now, yet they had found no sign of the relic. The iridescent glow produced by a relic lasted only for a short time before dissipating, allowing them only to determine the general area where it had fallen. Furthermore, a relic attracted not only humans, but also the creatures of the Melded Lands; it was very likely to have been swallowed by some beast. Without drawing close, detecting it was nearly impossible, which made a patient search essential. Searching for such a tiny object across such an immense territory was extraordinarily difficult. Compounding this, the depths of the Melded Lands were inherently perilous, posing an extreme test of endurance and nerve. Over this period, the squad under his command had suffered casualties. While the core members remained intact, their technical, logistical, and auxiliary personnel had been depleted by thirty percent. Even with him present, it was hard to protect everyone. He still remembered that just two days ago, someone spotted a flash of light mere dozens of meters away, suspecting it to be the relic. But the moment the scout ran over, a creature nesting there swallowed him whole in a single gulp. Another person had been walking along fine—on a path a teammate had just traversed—only to sink inexplicably into the ground. Though his companions hauled him out, everything below his waist had melted together in some highly corrosive digestive fluid, rendered completely unrecognizable. What was worse, parasite eggs had already been injected into his body, turning him into an incubation nest. In the end, they could only inject suppressants and carry him along on a stretcher. Yet that team member had spine. Knowing he was a burden to the group—or perhaps simply unwilling to face such a fate—he took his own life that very night. Whether his watcher knew and looked away or was genuinely negligent, no one spoke of it. They could only cremate him on the spot and carry his ashes with them. Incidents like this had happened several times. In contrast, the operatives from the Consortium and the Linakes Federation, whom they had maintained constant vigilance against, had inflicted very few casualties so far. At that moment, a member assigned to rear-guard cover spoke through the boundary credential: "Captain, they're catching up again." The team possessed small field creatures, which allowed them to maintain contact with one another. Xu Chan had anticipated this. Ever since their run-in with Blood Diamond, someone had been tailing them from behind day after day. Though they had managed to shake them off a few times, their pursuers would always catch up again before long. It was unavoidable. With so many people, traversing an unfamiliar terrain was bound to leave plenty of tracks, which could never escape the notice of experienced veterans. Moreover, the Melded Lands were fraught with danger at every turn, forcing them to tread cautiously with every step, which prevented them from moving fast. He immediately instructed everyone through his boundary credential: "Keep moving forward, everyone. Follow the trail blazed by the vanguard. Don't look back. Captain Hai, take command of the squad while I'm away." Captain Hai, a burly man with a thick beard, answered right away, "Captain Xu, I'll keep the team together." Xu Chan patted his shoulder. Then, walking to the very rear of the formation alone, he waited until the rear-guard scouts had pulled back as well. After a short wait, a hazy figure emerged among the trees, roughly ripping aside the serrated vines coiling around him before stepping in front of Xu Chan. The man wore crimson protective gear with his hair bound in a topknot. His face and shoulders were exceptionally broad and heavy, giving his upper body a tremendously muscular build, though by contrast, his legs looked somewhat slender. Both of his eyes were an unusual shade of red, likely caused by the mutation of some mutated tissue. "Blood Diamond..." Xu Chan gazed at the newcomer. He had crossed blows with this man before; at the time, this person had taken a direct strike of heart jin from him and emerged completely unscathed. Xu Chan knew that if he were to take a full blast of heart jin from anyone directly, he could not possibly walk away uninjured. This proved that the man's jin and physiology held something extraordinary. However, after that clash, the opponent must have felt unable to overcome him and retreated outright, not showing himself again until now. Was his return before Xu Chan a sign of newfound confidence? Just as this thought crossed his mind, his eyelid twitched suddenly. Then, he heard a sequence of booming detonations rushing closer from afar. In the next instant, two agile figures appeared on the other side of Blood Diamond.