Implant

Just as Wei Chang'an and his team prepared to make their move, Chen Chuan stepped out of the grain and oil shop. He glanced toward the trading market and saw two groups of people brawling. It seemed a dispute had broken out between a stall owner and a customer. Quite a few surrounding vendors had rushed in to help, but as onlookers crowded in thicker and thicker, it became impossible to see the exact details. Cai Si exchanged a few words with the shopkeeper, who nodded and called over a clerk, sending him out back to check on the situation. Chen Chuan turned his gaze back toward the building. Right at that moment, he saw a figure leap out of a fourth-floor window. Midair, the man reached back to catch the windowsill, released his grip, hit the ground, and smoothly rolled to dissipate the impact before springing to his feet. He sprinted toward their street at blazing speed. "It's 'Swift Legs' Tian Yaozu!" Cai Si spotted him as well. He immediately said, "Junior, I'll block him up front. Keep watch from behind and don't let him slip past!" With that, he charged forward, unbuckling a modified leather belt from his waist as he went. Following his instructions, Chen Chuan remained behind to seal off the escape route. Seeing someone blocking his path, Tian Yaozu instantly drew a dagger from his waist and lunged to stab Cai Si. Cai Si flicked the belt, cracking it toward his hand. Tian Yaozu yanked his hand back and ducked by instinct. A sharp gust swept over his head. Sensing danger, he stepped back again just as the metal buckle of the belt grazed past his knee, narrowly missing him. Startled, Tian Yaozu scrambled back several paces. He glared forward in shock and fury. Cai Si pulled the belt taut between both hands with a sharp snap, looking back at him with an impassive expression. From behind, Chen Chuan had a clear view. Senior Cai's fast whip-work was splendid; had Tian Yaozu not retreated with exceptional speed, he would have already been struck down. The man truly lived up to his nickname of "Swift Legs." Still, it was only a leather belt; had it been a real whip, Tian Yaozu would have had nowhere to run. Having forced Tian Yaozu back, Cai Si did not advance, keeping a measured distance instead. His belt had greater reach than the dagger. As long as he controlled the spacing, his opponent had no hope of stabbing him. Tian Yaozu, however, was desperate. He had no idea how many people were involved in the operation, and the longer he lingered, the greater the danger. He glared at Cai Si for a brief second before a ruthless look flashed across his face. Lowering his head, he surged forward while throwing an arm up to block. The belt snapped viciously against his raised arm, tearing through fabric and leaving a bloody, mangled gash across his flesh. The belt's non-lethal nature proved to be its limitation. By taking the hit, Tian Yaozu closed the distance. Cai Si frowned. Rather than forcing a clash, he sidestepped out of the way. Paying him no heed, Tian Yaozu whipped past him like a gust of wind, covering seven or eight meters in the blink of an eye. Cai Si hurriedly called out to Chen Chuan behind him, "Junior, watch out!" He remembered Wei Chang'an's words: this junior was far from ordinary and could be trusted in critical moments. That was why Cai Si had let the man pass. Chen Chuan watched Tian Yaozu rush toward him and stood his ground. Seeing Chen Chuan blocking the center of the road barehanded, Tian Yaozu's confidence surged. With a savage roar, he thrust forward, stabbing out five or six times in rapid succession. Yet Chen Chuan's footwork was blazingly swift. He slipped past every strike with pinpoint precision. For every step Tian Yaozu advanced, Chen Chuan retreated a single step, matching the exact stride of his opponent. To an observer, the distance between them never seemed to shift at all. And at that exact moment, Tian Yaozu's breath hitched slightly. This was the opening Chen Chuan had been waiting for. His hand shot out and clamped flawlessly around Tian Yaozu's wrist. Under normal circumstances, seizing the wrist of an opponent holding a dagger was exceptionally dangerous; one risked having their own wrist slashed in return. Yet the moment Chen Chuan made contact, the mutated tissues within his body surged in coordinated waves, instantly transmitting a burst of jin that sent a numbing shock straight through Tian Yaozu's entire body. Chen Chuan gave his hand a gentle flick. A faint series of clicks and snaps issued from Tian Yaozu's arm; in that split second, Chen Chuan wrenched every joint—from wrist to elbow to shoulder—clean out of their sockets. Cai Si blurted out, "Python-Body Jin!" Chen Chuan yanked Tian Yaozu by the arm, pulling him inward, and drove an elbow straight into the pit of his chest. Tian Yaozu choked out a couple of strangled gasps and dropped to his knees in agony. Slumping forward until his forehead touched the ground, he writhed helplessly where he lay. Cai Si rushed over immediately. He pinned Tian Yaozu's head underfoot, wrenched his arms behind his back, and bound them tightly with the belt. Only then did he look up, saying with delight, "Great job, Junior! Tian Yaozu is fast on his feet. If I were on my own, pinning him down wouldn't have been easy at all." He had seen it clearly: Chen Chuan's evasions had been extraordinarily fast, matching Tian Yaozu's footwork almost to the millimeter. That required moving far faster than the opponent and having the nerve to stare down a deadly weapon without flinching. Those two traits alone put him leagues ahead of most students at the academy. No wonder Wei Chang'an held this junior in such high regard. As they spoke, a thunderous crash erupted in the distance. The two turned instinctively toward the sound and saw a massive hole blasted through the fourth-floor wall of the tall building. Immediately, a figure tumbled out. Midair, the figure curled into a tight ball, snapped open, and caught a windowsill with one hand. After swinging twice to kill momentum, he released his grip, dropped to the ground, and executed several rolls before rising unharmed. It was Wei Chang'an. He looked rather worse for wear, however—covered in dust and grime from head to toe, with his clothes shredded in multiple places. Cai Si looked up. Behind the gaping hole in the wall, a towering silhouette emerged. His voice grew solemn: "Scarface!" Chen Chuan saw him too. The man wore a grayish-blue worker's smock. In one hand was a cleaver snapped clean in half; in the other, an engineering hammer. A scar ran from his forehead down to the corner of his mouth, resembling a hideous centipede crawling across his face. By rough estimate, he stood well over two meters tall, yet his body carried an indefinable sense of discordance. As Chen Chuan watched, Scarface glanced forward, strode ahead, and smashed straight through the wall in his path. He plummeted four stories, landing upright with a heavy thud that fractured the concrete underfoot. Yet as though completely unfazed, he merely bent his knees slightly before straightening right back up. Wei Chang'an had already retreated to the street entrance. He shouted up at a figure poking their head out from the fourth-floor roof: "Tell the boxing club to help hold back the crowd! Don't let anyone near this area!" The person signaled acknowledgment and quickly ducked back inside. Wei Chang'an turned back to Scarface and said, "Scarface, you're not getting away today. Give up the pointless struggle." Scarface ignored him. Tightening his grip on his weapons, he trudged forward. At that moment, the rapid thud of approaching footsteps sounded from all around—the personnel previously stationed to the south were converging on the scene. Cai Si noticed a growing crowd of onlookers surging over from the direction of the trading market. Though men had been assigned to hold them back, it looked like they wouldn't be able to keep the line. Calling out a quick word to Chen Chuan, Cai Si sprinted back toward them. Chen Chuan remained in place, his eyes scrutinizing Scarface over and over. Running to the rear, Cai Si shouted at the approaching crowd, "Constabulary business! Back up, back up!" The name of the constabulary carried plenty of weight, and most people began backing away. Only one middle-aged woman remained near the front, craning her neck forward as if deaf to the warning. Frowning, he walked over and said, "Didn't you hear me—" The moment he spoke, a foot snapped out from under her skirt, driving a kick toward his ankle. Cai Si reacted with lightning speed, raising his knee to dodge the strike. But the woman whipped her hand up, tossing a dense cloud of white flour straight into his face. Caught off guard, Cai Si squeezed his eyes shut, though a few specks still forced their way through his eyelids. Calm despite the shock, he threw one hand up to guard his throat and the other down to protect his groin. Almost simultaneously, he felt a vicious kick slam into his groin guard, while something sharp pricked his hand. Instead of retreating, he threw his entire body forward in a driving slam! The woman hadn't expected him to charge with such ferocity while blinded. The collision knocked her off balance, yet she pinched two fingers together on her lower hand and thrust the razor-sharp steel claws on her fingertips toward his abdomen. Backed by her jin, even a small puncture would allow her to plunge her whole hand inside, rip sideways, and disembowel him on the spot! Yet as the strike connected, she met solid resistance. She froze in surprise, realization dawning on her: *A stab-resistant vest?* Without armor licenses, the participants in this operation could not wear bulletproof tactical suits, but procuring a few stab-resistant vests was no trouble at all. Seizing the opening, Cai Si locked his arms around her and cinched them tight. A coiling, strangling jin surged through his limbs, accompanied by the distinct crunch of splintering bones. When he finally let go, the woman collapsed to the ground like a boneless heap. Seeing this gruesome sight, the onlookers gasped in terror and backed away, leaving a wide perimeter. Up ahead, Scarface broke into a heavy sprint, appearing entirely unconcerned by the people closing in around him. Right then, a rapid crackling erupted as the firecrackers the boxing club had been instructed to set off finally ignited. Though seemingly pointless by now, this was precisely the moment Wei Chang'an had been waiting for. Drawing a Model 15 pistol from his coat, he fired four rapid shots straight at Scarface's legs! The rounds tore hole after hole through Scarface's work trousers. He stumbled several steps under the impact, but quickly regained his footing. Through the shredded fabric, thick, black chitinous armor was faintly visible beneath. Wei Chang'an's expression darkened as he recognized what it was: "A military implant!" …… ……