Book 3, Chapter 338: The Abyss

Mr. Pan fidgeted in the car.

He didn’t want to take this route not only because the surroundings here made him uneasy, but also because the Plague Gang had a horrible reputation even in the lower city district. No regular person wanted to come close to this place.

But they had no other choice. If he didn’t provide an alternate route, he would not leave the car alive.

As the motorcade continued forward, his uneasiness grew. The area was only lit up by their headlights, and it was completely silent aside from the sounds from the motorcade.

The dark tunnel ahead made him feel as if they had been cast into an endless hole. It felt extremely oppressive.

Che Gaoyi narrowed his eyes. They had been driving for more than half an hour, but had yet to see the exit. He also noticed something unsettling: The doodles on the walls repeated.

Third Limit martial artists had great memory, and his was exceptionally good. Hence, even if he had only cast them a single glance, he had memorized all of them.

They weren’t heading to their destination. They were going in circles.

Once Che Gaoyi noticed this, he shouted into his Realm Pass, “Stop the cars!”

The motorcade stopped.

“Check your cars and report your situation,” he ordered.

All the cars began giving their reports, and they soon noticed that one car was missing.

They had last communicated with it five minutes ago.

Mr. Pan found the situation off. The rumors about the Plague Gang kept replaying in his head, and he said, “Mr. Che, what’s this...”

“Why are you panicking?” Che Gaoyi asked coldly

Even though they lost a car, no one had come forward to attack them. This meant that whoever was hiding in the dark either didn’t want to fight them head-on or didn’t have the power to fight them.

“Each car is to report to me once every two minutes. We will now retreat,” he instructed through his Realm Pass.

Then, he did a U-turn while leading the motorcade. At that moment, he was recalling all the details about the route they had taken, including the changes of the doodles on the wall and the traces on the ground. Every change rose in his mind.

He didn’t even need to pay special attention to the road to bring the entire motorcade out.

At that moment, his observational prowess was as sharp as an active biosentient entity’s.

Half an hour later, they made it to the entrance of the tunnel.

“We’re out.” When Mr. Pan saw the familiar light from the Sun Vines, his nerves relaxed, and he gasped for breath in his seat.

But once they started checking the motorcade, they found that they had lost yet another car.

This shocked the group, and fear started creeping into them. They had contacted each other right before they came out, so how did another car disappear?

They weren’t scared of fighting to the death, but things like this made their skins crawl, because there was no logical explanation for it.

Che Gaoyi was the only one who remained calm. He had no intention of searching for the two missing cars. The propagated offspring wasn’t in them, and he wasn’t going to stop just because of two missing cars.

Mr. Pan looked at him hesitantly. “What should we do now, Mr. Che?”

Both roads were off-limits, so he really didn’t know what to do anymore. He was also worried that Che Gaoyi was going to strike him down in anger.

“We’ll go back to the first exit and force our way out,” Che Gaoyi said resolutely.

Even though it wasn’t a good idea to charge at the Resolution Department’s checkpoint, it was the only available exit. It was much better than facing the strange and unexplainable situation inside the tunnel leading to the other exit.

The motorcade reorganized itself and left once Che Gaoyi gave an order. On the way out, he cast a profound glance at the dark, endless tunnel behind him.

***

Back at Roaring Victory District, Chen Chuan put on an overcoat and went back to his car to have a warm drink provided by the response team.

He checked his palm. Chen Bitong had transferred a stream of mental energy into him through the last punch. It had information contained within it, but Chen Chuan would only be able to see it after his mind became stronger.

But that wasn’t going to take much time.

He could tell that he was close to reaching that state. The day was far from over, so he still had a chance to achieve it.

Even if he wasn’t aiming to see what Chen Bitong had left for him, the pure essence that was going to come next made him determined to improve his mental energy. He wanted to get as much pure essence as possible.

After the warm drink, he rested for a bit until his Realm Pass rang. Once he checked who it was, he answered the call.

“Special Officer Liang?”

“Captain Chen, I know that you might be tired from the Roaring Victory District incident, but I need your help once more. You’re the best fit for it,” Liang Guanghai said.

“What is it, sir?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Several propagated offspring have slipped from our grasp. We suspect that United Might has been hired to transport at least one of them, since their motorcade has gone to the lower city district.

“An hour ago, the officers at the checkpoint we set up at a hidden exit noticed someone trying to get out through there. The officers suspect that they were from United Might, but they didn’t see them again. I believe they left to find another exit.

“The situation in the lower city district is really complicated, so it’s not convenient for our officers to go in. They won’t be trusted. I heard that Border Fusion supports a logistics team down there, and you happen to be their security advisor. You’d have a much easier time moving about there.

“That’s why we hope that you can head there and intercept United Might’s motorcade.”

After some thinking, Chen Chuan asked, “How much clearance do I have?”

“I’ll give you authority in the name of the World Ring Defense System and the Department of Administrative Affairs,” Liang Guanghai said seriously. “You’re allowed to use any method you deem necessary in matters related to the propagated offspring. We can also set up communication channels and a response unit according to your needs.

“I only have one condition: Intercept the motorcade in the lower city district whatever the price. If you find any propagated offspring, destroy them on the spot.”

“Got it. I’ll get it done, sir,” Chen Chuan answered.

“I’ve sent a motorcade to pick you up. The lower city district is unlike the other districts. Be careful,” Liang Guanghai cautioned.

Chen Chuan thanked him before ending the call.

He waited a little while longer before hearing an armored motorcade driving over. Then, he got out of the car and went to the middle of the road.

The motorcade stopped not too far away. The temporary leader got out with the rest of the team, saluted Chen Chuan, and stepped aside to make way.

A security guard handed a brand new squad captain coat to Chen Chuan. He even got him a new ceremonial sword.

Chen Chuan put on the uniform. Once he placed the hat on his head, a man came up and put the overcoat on him as Chen Chuan tightened the protective gloves. After taking a look around to make sure nothing was amiss, he got into the car.

The motorcade swiftly did a U-turn and left as the emergency response unit and response units watched.

Gaps were still flashing occasionally. Even though some of them had disappeared, more gaps appeared while the propagation continued.

Fortunately, they only appeared above the Fu-Mu Entity and not anywhere else. Otherwise, the lower city district would descend into even more chaos than the upper city district.

Chen Chuan used the channel the World Ring Defense System had given him to contact Border Fusion. Then, through the exclusive channel the company had set up, he contacted Lan Shennan. After a brief talk, he learned a lot about the current situation. They also agreed to meet up.

A few minutes later, the motorcade entered the lower city district through the nearest tunnel.

They then found the nearest Clear Road Transport base according to Lan Shennan’s directions.

The members of the base regarded them with hostility and wariness, but the moment Chen Chuan started talking to them as Border Fusion’s security advisor, the atmosphere warmed up. They even sent a member to guide them around.

Half an hour later, the motorcade arrived in front of a tunnel.

Lan Shennan was waiting on a motorbike. Behind her were more than thirty people on armored motorbikes.

When the motorcade stopped in front of her, Chen Chuan wound down the window and looked over. “Captain Lan.”

Lan Shennan found herself a little stunned. Chen Chuan wore a wide-brimmed hat and an overcoat, which gave him a completely different feeling than before. She found herself a little self-conscious.

She took a moment to compose herself before saying seriously, “Mr. Chen, Border Fusion has asked us to cooperate with you, but many parties are wary of motorcades and hostile toward them. It won’t be good for your operation, and it’ll affect Clear Road Transport as well.”

Chen Chuan grunted at that and said, “I understand your concern, Captain Lan. You only need to answer to me. I won’t drag Clear Road Transport into anything.”

Then, he said into his Realm Pass, “Leave behind the car with the domain entity and domain interference equipment. The rest can leave.”

Since the higher-ups had told them that they were to listen to Chen Chuan’s orders during the operation, none of the members hesitated. Aside from the car with the equipment Chen Chuan mentioned, the rest immediately drove away.

“Captain Lan, do your guys know how to use these?” Chen Chuan asked.

“They can.”

A subordinate pushed her motorbike to the side while she ordered another to take over the car with the equipment. Then, she got into Chen Chuan’s car. At this point, she was no longer as tense as before. “Are you looking for United Might’s motorcade?”

Chen Chuan nodded. “Yup. It’s them. They’re carrying something really important and want to transport it out of the city through the lower city district. Can you help me?”

“They’ve caused a huge commotion, so we’ve been paying attention to them. We can figure out where they went,” Lan Shennan answered firmly.

“Then, please lead the way, Captain Lan,” Chen Chuan said with another nod.