Encounter

Xu Chan saw that the two approaching figures were a man and a woman, both appearing to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Both possessed robust physiques and looked remarkably alike, of virtually identical height. The woman standing on the right possessed slightly softer facial features and kept her golden hair cut short, though her chin tapered to a sharp point, and the upturned winged eyeshadow accentuating the corners of her eyes gave her gaze a razor-sharp edge. The man on the other side wore his hair falling over one shoulder, his facial contours rugged, yet his expression carried an air of flippancy. Both were clad in deep blue protective uniforms inlaid with silver-white decorative lines, the fabric hugging their sculpted, well-defined musculature tightly. Neither appeared to carry weapons, yet along the back of their forearms rested a flexible, fin-like blade—clearly something extraordinary. Xu Chan instantly recognized their identities: the Thunder Twins of Spiral Deep Sea Company—the sister and brother, Svea Lundstrom and Sigvard Lundstrom. His expression grew solemn. In this era, any corporation capable of standing tall in the world possessed formidable martial might alongside its abundant resources. Some relied on recruitment, while others groomed their own talent. Companies within the Consortium, for instance, cultivated their own powerful fighters from within. Massive resources were poured into these fighters, and after layer upon layer of rigorous screening, those who ultimately stood out were undeniably elite masters. The Thunder Twins and Blood Diamond were no exceptions. Facing just one would have been manageable, but dealing with three proved troublesome. Moreover, he was certain that the ones arriving this time were by no means limited to the three before him. Suddenly, a red silhouette flickered in his vision. Before he could observe or deliberate any further, Blood Diamond had already charged at him, driving a fist straight toward his face. Blood Diamond's upper body was massive and heavy. As his fist surged forward, it seemed as though the weight of his entire frame bore down behind it, generating a fierce gale of wind pressure. Even before the man reached him, the pressure pressed Xu Chan's outer uniform taut against his skin. Almost simultaneously, the siblings blurred into motion. A relentless roll of booming sonic cracks tore through the air as they flanked him from two directions. Perhaps due to their uniforms, their movements left zig-zagging, shimmering trails of light. Watching the fist expand in his vision, Xu Chan was well aware that his opponent possessed a special jin that didn't fear the impact of heart jin. Yet facing such an aggressive onslaught, rather than yielding ground or dodging, his eyes hardened, and he blasted a fist straight ahead! Only this time, his aura surged drastically. A faint radiance erupted across the surface of his knuckles, his clothes billowing outward, his eyes blazing with absolute resolve. From his spirit and presence, all three present could tell that this strike disregarded victory or defeat, ignoring all else solely to take out at least one opponent no matter the cost. Seeing his display, the Thunder Twins believed he was fighting to the death. Involuntarily, both slightly checked their forward momentum. A fighter who had mastered spiritual perception became terrifying beyond measure when throwing caution to the wind. If that were the case, there was no need for them to rush in right away; they could let Blood Diamond absorb all the pressure and danger, then step in to reap the spoils with ease. Even if that weren't so, they could wait and see before committing. Blood Diamond never expected that after their previous clash, where Xu Chan clearly knew he could endure jin, Xu Chan would still clash head-on right from the outset—and in a suicidal manner, no less. This reckless disregard for reason caught him completely off guard. Besides, they were three against one, possessing an overwhelming advantage. Under such circumstances, there was no way he would willingly stake his life in a mutually destructive gambit. Caught psychologically unprepared, he was forced to abruptly summon his spirit, causing a faint glow to emerge on the surface of his fist as well. Only spiritual perception could counter spiritual perception, yet compared to Xu Chan's resolute aura, his own was noticeably fragile. Spiritual perception required communing mentally with the world beyond; beyond personal focus and readiness, it demanded a firm, indomitable will. At this moment, he fell short on both fronts, leaving him a step behind. The two fists collided in an instant. Under that impact, Blood Diamond's spiritual perception dissolved in a fraction of a second. Xu Chan's power crashed into his fist right behind it, splintering bone with a rapid crack-crack-crack, before that overwhelmingly dominant force drove straight into his chest! With a deafening boom, a gaping hole blew open in his chest, blasting out a torrential spray of blood, shattered bones, and mangled organs. Blood Diamond, who should have been capable of withstanding his assault, was gravely wounded in a single exchange! Such was combat between opponents at their level. Because offense far outstripped defense, a single oversight—even a momentary misjudgment—was enough to decide the outcome. Having landed his blow, Xu Chan did not pause. Instead, hooking his fist where it had driven into Blood Diamond's chest, he hauled the man's body around, swinging him directly into the path of Sigvard, the younger brother of the Thunder Twins charging from one side. Sigvard had no choice but to swerve aside, letting him pass. Yet though Xu Chan evaded one side, he could not evade the other. At that moment, his back was left completely exposed to Svea, the elder sister. A cruel, bloodthirsty glint surfaced in Svea's otherwise cold eyes. The fin along her arm suddenly flared with a faint glow as she swept it toward Xu Chan's back. This fin was also a mutated weapon, capable of cleaving Xu Chan diagonally in two with a single strike. Yet just as the fin fell upon him, a subtle sheen of light flickered across that very spot. In that critical split second, Xu Chan had managed to shift his spiritual perception precisely to the point of impact! Their spiritual perceptions clashed and intertwined instantly. However, Svea's accompanying heart jin could not be fully neutralized, carving a wound into his back so deep it nearly bared the bone. Even so, Xu Chan had minimized the damage and disruption to the absolute lowest degree. While the wound appeared gruesome, his combat capability was unaffected in the slightest; it would even heal before long. Svea narrowed her eyes. Spiritual perception could not be redistributed so swiftly. Xu Chan must have allocated his power from the very beginning, waiting for her strike. This man had anticipated everything from the start. Such seasoned combat experience and tactical mastery genuinely astonished her. What was more, had he used Blood Diamond to block her side instead, she would have struck without hesitation, caring nothing if Blood Diamond were killed in the process; she would never have pulled back. Her brother, on the other hand, lacked her ruthlessness and was far more likely to hold his hand in such a situation. Had he seen through both their temperaments in a single glance? She suddenly realized that their evaluation of this man's ranking had still been too low. Having fought on the front lines for years, Xu Chan possessed boundless combat experience and had weathered ambushes and encirclements countless times. Not only did he understand an enemy's psychological state during battle inside and out, but he was also acutely aware that very few fighters were without flaws—at least among the vast majority. Thus, he knew how to seize on those weaknesses and target them ruthlessly. After their previous bout, he knew Blood Diamond had exceptional defensive durability but weaker speed and reflexes. He had fully exploited that knowledge here, crippling Blood Diamond the moment they clashed. And at the cost of a minor injury, he had reduced the engagement to a one-on-two. Now, he slowly retracted his fist, allowing Blood Diamond to slump to the ground, barely clinging to a breath of life. It wasn't that Xu Chan didn't want to finish him off, but the man's defenses were indeed formidable. Earlier, because he had to divide his spiritual perception, he couldn't concentrate all his strength. As for right now, the Thunder Twins were watching him like hawks; the instant he showed any sign of exerting force, they would strike in tandem. He sighed inwardly. Formidable adversaries indeed; once they regained their footing, they wouldn't give him an opening. Svea stared at Xu Chan. Although he had taken out Blood Diamond first, the difference in sheer capability between them was not vast. A battle hinged on split-second battlefield reactions. Even in a one-on-one duel, Xu Chan might not secure a guaranteed victory against either of them, let alone when facing a pair with seamless synergy. Yet neither of them moved to attack immediately. Xu Chan did not lower his guard, his gaze remaining sharp and stern. He could sense that the two were clearly waiting for someone. However, having just erupted with full power, he could use this breather to knit his wound and steady his breathing. After confronting each other for three or four minutes, Sigvard spoke up, "Svea?" He glanced down at Blood Diamond on the ground. Svea licked her full lips, let out a disdainful scoff, and gestured with her hand. Sigvard retreated several steps, then seized Blood Diamond and pulled him back into the forest. Facing Xu Chan, Svea backed away a few paces before spinning around. With a thunderous boom, like a streak of lightning flashing by, she vanished into the trees as well. Seeing them withdraw, Xu Chan glanced at his boundary credential. The activity reading had risen to nearly twenty. Because he had had no time earlier to mentally resist the environmental erosion, the index had climbed that high in such a brief window. The two opponents were likely in the same boat, though they might have taken suppressants beforehand. Now that he was out of combat, the reading steadily declined as he regulated himself, slowly returning to zero. After confirming they were not pursuing him, he turned and departed, following the trail markers left by his squad. Half an hour later, he caught up with his team. Seeing him return safe and sound, everyone was overjoyed. The medical personnel examined the injury on his back; after this span of time, the wound had already closed and healed. They merely administered some anti-parasitic medication to ensure nothing had burrowed into the laceration to gestate. Xu Chan checked on the squad's status. Fortunately, they had suffered no casualties during this time. Just then, a voice came through the boundary credential: "Captain Xu, the forward scouts reported finding an indigenous settlement just three kilometers ahead." "A settlement?" Xu Chan was somewhat surprised. "There are natives in this region as well?"