Book 4, Chapter 6: Target

Even though Zhuan Liang didn’t show any expression, Chen Chuan and Wen Tong could tell from his face alone that he was saying, “Don’t listen to him.”

The living room fell silent in an instant.

Wen Tong smiled and said, “Have some tea, Mr. Zhuan.”

Mr. Zhuan immediately picked up the tea cup and stared at the tea inside. He refused to look anywhere else.

After some thinking, Chen Chuan folded the wanted poster, set it aside, and stood up. “I understand what I need to do for my exam now. It’s late, so I should leave. Where should I find you after I’m done with my exam, Mr. Zhuan?”

Mr. Zhuan held the tea cup to his face, as if he was drinking tea, which effectively covered half of his face. After some hesitation, he said with great uncertainty, “Hotel...”

Wen Tong smiled and said to Chen Chuan, “Since Zhuan Liang traveled here from afar, he’s not familiar with Yangzhi City. I’ll find a place for him to stay. Once you’re done, you can tell me, and I’ll notify Mr. Zhuan.”

He faced Zhuan Liang. “What do you think, Mr. Zhuan?”

Zhuan Liang nodded repeatedly.

“Alright. I’ll be taking my leave, then,” Chen Chuan said. After saying goodbye to both men, he walked out of Wen Tong’s house.

Once he was outside, he took a look at the wanted poster again before putting it into his pocket. Then, he walked away.

He didn’t go home. Instead, he walked out of the constables’ residential area.

While this was an exam in name, the purity faction had actually tipped him off about Kenwa’s existence. He couldn’t let someone as dangerous as Kenwa roam free.

But Jibei Road was a large place. If he wanted to find Kenwa, he needed the power of the government.

While the Resolution Department were professionals in using force to solve problems, they were a bit lacking when it came to intelligence. If Chen Chuan wanted to locate Kenwa, this was out of the Resolution Department’s jurisdiction. He needed to contact another special department.

Once he walked out of the constables’ residential area, he found a public phone by the road and made a call.

In less than ten minutes, his motorcade turned the corner, and the bright headlights turned the road ahead a bright white.

Once his limousine stopped in front of him, a logistician got out and opened the door for him.

Chen Chuan settled inside and took out his Realm Pass from the limousine’s storage box. Once he put it on, he started searching for a certain channel using the domain connection entity in the limousine.

Soon, he found it.

The Resolution Department had provided him with this channel. Only the director, the deputy directors, and the lead investigators could use it. The code for it changed every month.

Then, he instructed the telegraph clerk to send a telegram through this channel.

The telegraph clerk immediately put on his headphones and did as requested.

After five minutes, the telegraph clerk said, “They sent a reply, Lead Investigator.”

“Tell them that I received a tip saying that a wanted criminal has appeared in Jibei Road, and he’s highly likely going to endanger Central City and the surrounding cities. I suspect that he came here with an important mission, so I’m invoking emergency protocol. I need information on him,” Chen Chuan instructed.

“Understood.” The telegraph clerk immediately sent a telegram back.

This time, though, even after waiting for a long while, they received no reply.

Instead, the public phone located not too far away started ringing.

Chen Chuan got out of the limousine and went inside the phone booth. When he held the phone against his ear, he heard a familiar voice. “Lead Investigator Chen.”

“Mr. Cao?”

“Yes, it’s me. I confirmed your tip. Kenwa is indeed in Jibei Road. My subordinates have been keeping an eye on him. Once you’ve confirmed where he is, what do you intend to do?” Mr. Cao asked.

“Kill him on the spot,” Chen Chuan answered without hesitation.

There was a brief moment of silence from the other end of the phone before Mr. Cao said gravely, “The target is at Farsight Harbor.”

Farsight Harbor? That was indeed a suitable place to hide. Kenwa could head straight to Central City by taking a ship. If anyone tried to capture him, he could also retreat to the sea.

“I need to tell you something, though. Before entering the Great Shun Republic, he applied for a pardon, and we’ve confirmed that the higher-ups have confirmed it. It’s now 1 a.m.. The pardon will reach his hands before noon tomorrow. You have around one day to act.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cao,” Chen Chuan said.

“Your target is cunning and arrogant. Our officers didn’t find him because they’re good, but because he revealed his tracks. He must have done so because his pardon is about to arrive, and he’s chasing the thrill that someone might come after him before then. It’s also highly likely that he has external support,” Mr. Cao said.

Chen Chuan agreed with that. The wanted poster provided information about Kenwa’s past crimes. The man was truly arrogant. He sometimes committed crimes just to provoke the authorities, so Chen Chuan wasn’t surprised that he would do this.

Besides, plenty of Third Limit martial artists had strange personalities and quirks. There were some who were normal, but even more were abnormal.

Besides, there was a hint of caution to his brazenness. When he exposed his tracks, he did so with the harbor right behind him. If he planned things properly, a veteran Third Limit martial artist could easily run away if he wanted to.

“I’ll take care of this, Mr. Cao,” Chen Chuan promised.

“I’ll have my officers keep an eye on the target. They’ll keep providing you with information until the pardon reaches Kenwa. Tell your telegraph clerk to keep in contact with my officers,” Mr. Cao instructed.

“Got it,” Chen Chuan said and thanked him again before hanging up.

He looked into the distance. Farsight Harbor and Yangzhi City were around four hundred kilometers apart. If he traveled east on the public road in his limousine, he would reach the harbor in around half a day. There was also the fact that Kenwa might not stay in one place for long, so it might take even longer.

There was another issue: The harbor wasn’t deserted. The moment Chen Chuan attacked, he would need to take into consideration all sorts of possible situations. The most important one being the existence supporting Kenwa.

As for the pardon? That wasn’t a problem for Chen Chuan.

Even if it was issued, it changed nothing. As long as it didn’t reach Kenwa’s hands, it didn’t exist. This kind of thinking was absolutely proper in terms of procedure.

Chen Chuan put a hand on his Realm Pass and sent a signal to Dawncall, who was sleeping at home.

This time, he intended to bring it along. By connecting to Dawncall via the domain connection entity in the car, he could get a bird’s eye view of the ground. It would be a great help to this operation.

In just a moment, Dawncall flew out of the residential area and landed in front of him while chirping.

Chen Chuan patted Dawncall’s head and brought it into the limousine. “To Farsight Harbor.”

“Understood!”

The motorcade headed straight out of Yangzhi City. Half an hour later, it got on the public road headed east. When they drew close to Farsight Harbor, it was already noon the next day.

Since Yu Xiao and the other security guards had taken turns to rest, they were in perfect condition, but they were all combatants with implants. Even if they didn’t rest, they could fight for days, because the implants would inject drugs into them.

Chen Chuan opened the door, and Dawncall immediately flew out of the limousine with a flap of its wings. In the blink of an eye, it was high in the sky. Then, it started flying toward the harbor.

***

More than twenty armed combatants were guarding the container storage area of Farsight Harbor. Some distance away was the cargo loading area. Through the gaps between the containers, they could see the ocean.

Kenwa was sitting on an empty spot in the middle and eating a medium rare lamb shank.

His muscles were firm and strong, especially those of his arms. He had large cheekbones, which made his face look broad, his lips were thick, and his nose was large and straight. In other words, he was a stereotypical Oceanlander. His skin was rough, and he had his black, coarse hair tied behind his head. Oil paint covered his face, which made him look boorish.

He wore combat gear and had things resembling tendons coming out of his skin. They even looked to be squirming about.

The tendons were external implants from the Linacrox Union. They could attach themselves to his enemies and could be used to replace a certain group of mutated tissue during combat, so the user could generate power with more ease and deliver stronger attacks.

With one yank from his sturdy teeth, he tore off a piece of bloody flesh from the lamb shank. In just a few bites, he ripped it to shreds and swallowed it.

Martial artists could sustain themselves through nutritional paste, but sometimes, they would indulge in good food. Kenwa loved meat covered in blood. He had no idea when he started having this sort of preference. Perhaps it was after he came into contact with that thing.

But he didn’t care. As long as it made him stronger, he didn’t mind changing in ways like this.

He suddenly stopped and looked up. There was a black dot in the sky. Was it a bird?

As a martial artist, he could see its beautiful feathers. He had never seen a bird like that, though. Was it unique to the Great Shun Republic, or was it something else?

Whatever it was, Kenwa didn’t like it. He finished the lamb shank, threw the bones on the ground, and beckoned at a sniper before making the motion of lifting a rifle. The sniper immediately removed the rifle he was carrying and threw it at Kenwa.

He caught it, checked it, removed the safety lock, brought it up, pointed at the sky, and hooked his finger around the trigger.

After a moment to take aim, he pulled the trigger.