Chen Chuan walked over to the desk and picked up the booklet. Hu Xian took out a cigarette and gestured toward him with it. "Mind if I?"

Chen Chuan shook his head.

Hu Xian took out a lighter, lit it with a CLICK, and took a satisfying drag. "This is a group of wanted criminals from Central City," she said. "Don’t ask about their background, and don’t ask about whatever sob stories they might have. Long story short, they rob, they kill, and there’s no evil they won’t do. They don’t even spare children. They’re a fucking bunch of scumbags."

Chen Chuan flipped through the booklet. The first page showed a man with a full beard tied into many small braids. He had rough features, a ferocious look, thick lips, a very burly build, and dark skin.

Hu Xian said, "His nickname is ’Boxing Lion.’ No one remembers his real name, so call him what you want. He’s of mixed Tayana and Dashun descent and the leader of this pack of fugitives. He’s fought in underground arenas, worked as a mercenary, and done dirty work for big shots. The problem is, he loves to double-cross other criminals and doesn’t play by any rules. Otherwise, someone would’ve stepped up to clean up his mess this time."

Chen Chuan looked at the man’s thick arms and the strange bulges on his body. "He has Implants?" he asked.

"No kidding," Hu Xian said. "He’s from Central City. It’d be stranger if he *didn’t* have Implants. I know what you’re going to ask: how does he maintain them without the meds?"

Dangling the cigarette from her lips, she pointed a slender finger out the window. "See for yourself. Twenty steps out that door, there’s a shop selling illegal pharmaceuticals. I told you, you can buy anything here."

Chen Chuan nodded. "Understood."

Hu Xian raised an eyebrow. "Well, look at you. I thought you’d be like the other trainees and ask why no one’s in charge, then go on and on about it."

Chen Chuan smiled. "Good or evil, if something exists, it exists for a reason."

Hu Xian looked a little surprised. She glanced at him a few times. "You don’t sound your age when you say things like that."

Chen Chuan asked, "Do we know what kind of Implants Boxing Lion has?"

"Biological Armor, reinforced skeleton, and modified heart and lungs—the usual three. All obsolete military-grade models. But watch out, he’s had a full set of corrosive gland transplants. He can spit a highly corrosive liquid. If he catches you off guard with a mouthful during a fight, it’ll melt your face off. The kind of damage plastic surgery can’t fix unless you get a head transplant."

Chen Chuan nodded and turned the page. The second file was on a skinny man nicknamed "Painter."

Hu Xian said, "His real name is Song Zhi, one of the Dashun People. His skin has been modified to allow for limited control over its pigmentation. He also applies body paint to himself. He’s a decent assassin and can always blend in perfectly with his surroundings."

After a few glances, Chen Chuan flipped to the third page. It showed a young woman with an excellent figure, but she had the look of someone who was restless and unruly. Her eyes held a dangerous glint.

"This is Ran Xiaoli, nicknamed Bee Woman. She underwent sensory modification at Porlon Company. Her senses of smell, sight, hearing, and taste have all been drastically enhanced. She’s the trickiest one. She can usually smell you from one or two hundred meters out, and even farther if she’s paying attention. With someone like her on the team, a sneak attack is pretty much off the table."

Seeing Chen Chuan flip to the fourth page, Hu Xian added, "This one is named Tuoqi."

Chen Chuan looked at the picture. It was a tall, thin foreigner with a high-bridged nose and deep-set eyes. His skin was deathly pale, and all his body hair appeared to be shaved off. There were strange tattoos on his arms, chest, and legs. The file included two photos, one from the front and one from the back, but he immediately spotted the subtle differences between the two.

He looked up. "Is this two people?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Hu Xian’s face. "Brother Chen, you’ve got a sharp eye. They are indeed two brothers, but they’ve undergone a conjoining surgery. One is the front, the other is the back. The two are telepathically linked—their thoughts are one and the same—so their coordination is perfect. They’re also experts at combining firearms and blades.

"Besides these four main members, a few others joined them along the way. I haven’t gathered any intel on them yet. But anyone who makes it to the Land of Chaos has a few tricks up their sleeve. Even if their fighting skills are subpar, they can at least use a gun."

After reading through the files, Chen Chuan offered his assessment: "They’re a tough bunch."

Hu Xian flicked her ash into an ashtray. "Right? Not an easy one in the bunch. I think it’s pretty outrageous myself, sending a trainee like you after them. And you’re so young. Seventeen? Eighteen? If you don’t think you can handle it, you can back out now. Better than getting yourself killed."

Chen Chuan said, "Thank you, Ms. Hu, but I’m not considering that at the moment."

"You’ve got guts. Forget I said anything."

Hu Xian took another drag from her cigarette, crossed her legs, and eyed him for a moment. "Brother Chen, I’ve taken a liking to you, so here’s a free tip. The hardest part isn’t actually these people. The gang seems to have gotten their hands on a ’Tayana Combat Spider’—a bio-engineered weapon. In tight spaces, it can wipe out a small squad in under a minute.

"Boxing Lion came to the Land of Chaos to find a buyer for it. But he’s afraid of getting double-crossed, so he’s been trying to contact his fellow countrymen.

"The crew has been waiting here for over a month. I can’t tell if you’re lucky or not. If you had arrived a bit later, they might have already sold it, and you wouldn’t have to worry about it.

"Then again, by that point, they’d definitely be trying to get into a stronghold within the Land of Chaos proper instead of just lingering here. To find them, you’d have to go into the Land of Chaos. People who go in there don’t come out. Dying and leaving a complete corpse is considered getting off easy.

"The last trainee I had to retrieve was a step too late. I only managed to get back his skullcap, and that was just because some pervert enjoys using young men’s heads as drinking vessels."

Even before arriving, Chen Chuan had mentally prepared himself for the lawlessness of the Land of Chaos. It was a cesspool of human cruelty and depravity; nothing that happened here should be a surprise. He said, "Thank you for the warning, Ms. Hu. But I must ask, do you know where these people are now?"

Hu Xian looked at him again, then rose and walked over to a cabinet. She pulled out a map, spread it on the desk, and circled a location with a red pen. "They’re right here." She then tapped another spot. "We’re here."

Chen Chuan glanced down, checked the map’s scale, and realized the group was only three or four hundred meters away from him in a straight line.

"Pretty close, isn’t it? Don’t even think about going for a look. Once Ran Xiaoli catches your scent, she’ll remember it. If she smells it again anytime soon, she’ll find you in an instant. And don’t think about using some potion to mask your scent. Ran Xiaoli isn’t a dog, she has a brain. A strange smell like that is just a blatant sign that you’re hiding something." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Chen Chuan considered this for a moment. "In that case, if I want to know more about their situation, it seems my only option is to go through you, Ms. Hu." ’Hu Xian has lived here for a long time,’ he thought. ’She was here before them and has established property and a business. Her movements won’t arouse suspicion.’

"Clever boy. But why should I help you? I’ve already given you the intel I was responsible for. Anything else is beyond my purview." Hu Xian held out a hand, palm up.

Chen Chuan said earnestly, "What are your terms, Ms. Hu?"

Hu Xian hopped off the desk. "I haven’t thought of any yet. I’ll let you know when I do. Oh, right. If you need any weapons, you can tell me. I can’t get you anything high-end, and don’t even think about Protective Clothing. But getting a couple of guns and some ammo is no problem. Just remember, you have to pay for everything." With that, she walked out.

She went downstairs, pushed open a door, and entered a small room. A middle-aged man in a trench coat and a fedora was standing inside. When he saw her, he said, "You told him too much just now. He’s just a young trainee, still a student. He might not be able to process all of that at once."

Hu Xian was unconcerned. "Did he get scared and run off? Besides, was anything I said not the truth? Better to know ahead of time than to find out the hard way."

The middle-aged man said gravely, "Even so, you should ease him into it."

Hu Xian scoffed. "Step outside and you’re in the Land of Chaos! This isn’t one of your cozy offices where you can sit by the fire, read the paper, and chat over tea! This is a fucking wasteland where you have to sleep with one eye open, where you can get your kidneys harvested just for taking a piss, a hellhole where one wrong move gets you skinned alive!"

The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment. "What do you think he’ll do?" he asked.

"How should I know?" Hu Xian ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "The higher-ups are always dumping these promising young people on me, telling me to ’take care of them.’ I’m not a goddamn nanny!"

She sighed in resignation. "But this kid seems pretty solid. He probably won’t make a move for a few days. I’ll figure out a way to give him a hint or two later. It’s up to him whether he uses it or not."

Upstairs in his room, Chen Chuan washed his face, then returned to the desk and contemplated the map.

’I can’t let this drag on,’ he thought. ’Once that crew finds a buyer, they’ll probably leave.’

’And with Ran Xiaoli around, infiltration is impossible. A stranger like me would be detected the moment I got close.’

’No wonder the Recommended Students are reluctant to take the B Certificate exam. It really is this difficult.’

’Still,’ he mused, ’other than Boxing Lion, who might have reached the Second Limit—and who knows how much of his original skill remains after the Implants—the others are at most proficient in Fighting Skill, and their Implants aren’t combat-oriented. That puts a hard cap on their potential.’

’The more complex the plan, the harder it is to execute. The best and simplest method for me is to stop overthinking and just go right to their doorstep and eliminate them quickly.’

’To do that, I first need to confirm they’re all still here. If even one gets away, it’ll affect my evaluation. So I’ll need Ms. Hu’s help to scout them out. And I’ll definitely need some extra weapons. Best to make things as easy as possible.’

That afternoon, Hu Xian came to find him again. "I took a look for you when I went to pick up supplies," she said. "The crew is eating the same food as the last few days. All the key members are there, but they’re short a few lackeys. They probably sent them out to find a buyer. So, what’s your plan?"

Chen Chuan looked at her. "Ms. Hu, since they’re looking for a buyer, what do you think of me posing as one?"

Hu Xian raised an eyebrow. "You want to get close to them? It’s a thought. But do you have the cash?"

Chen Chuan reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a Wansheng Conglomerate gold note that he hadn’t yet had a chance to cash, and placed it on the desk. "As a deposit to show my good faith, this should be enough."

"Well now, a Wansheng gold note. Brother Chen, you’re quite well-off, aren’t you?" Hu Xian picked it up and tapped it a couple of times. "But aren’t you afraid this will all be for nothing? Boxing Lion isn’t known for playing by the rules."

Chen Chuan said calmly, "Then tell them I have more where that came from. The only question is whether they have the stomach to take it."

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