Chen Chuan returned to the tunnel. Once he left the narrow path, he saw the car that had sent him still parked outside. Lan Shennan and the others had left long ago, though.

They had listened to his instructions, it seemed.

The Fu-Mu Entity’s propagated offspring were a sensitive issue. It was better to not have those unrelated to the matter staying near him while he was carrying it or disposing of it. If they ended up getting dragged into the mess, it would be bad for them.

Chen Chuan got into the car, set the briefcase next to him, and drove back.

Martial artists had great memory, so he could remember the path he had taken to get here. Besides, only those from Clear Road Transport knew about this road, so he wasn’t going to run into anyone trying to stop him.

After driving for around six minutes, he believed that he had returned to the city, so he stopped the car and got out with the briefcase.

Once he opened it, he grabbed the thick, metal box inside. With a blast of refined force from his fingers, the box shattered.

The propagated offspring appeared covered in dim light. It rose into the air before stopping. After a while, it tried rising again, as if it wanted to return to the surface.

Chen Chuan cast it a glance before grabbing the capture device from the car and shining the light at the propagated offspring. It immediately stopped moving.

Chen Chuan slowly drew the Frost King Saber while approaching it. With a swing, the saber flashed, and the propagated offspring was cut in half. Its carcass fell from the air.

Chen Chuan had thought that the Frost King Saber would react to the propagated offspring again, so he had chosen to get rid of it in a deserted tunnel.

But this time, no light appeared. It seemed like the saber had its fill and no longer cared about another meal.

Upon seeing this, Chen Chuan took out the corrosive liquid and poured it on the propagated offspring’s carcass. Soon, the creature melted.

***

Zhen Ping and Guan Xiaohui were hiding near where Chen Chuan had fought against Xiang Tiancheng.

They had heard the loud, explosive bangs before they even reached the place. Guan Xiaohui noticed that some people were fighting in the area they were supposed to go to, but after just trying to get a brief read of the situation, she nearly fainted, so they quickly retreated and only returned when all the commotion disappeared.

They were worried. Could the person from the headquarters have been involved in the fighting? How did the fight go?

Then, they saw the pits on the ground, as if mortar shells had bombed the place, and puddles of blood.

“Hey, you two!” someone called out from far away.

Shocked, Zhen Ping turned around to shield Guan Xiaohui behind her. A wary expression appeared on her face.

Then, she saw someone standing in the distance. The next moment, the man appeared in front of her without seeming to have even moved his legs. Surprise filled her heart. ‘It’s no wonder why Xiaohui wasn’t able to sense him...’

When Xiang Tiancheng saw how guarded they looked, he stood still and didn’t get any closer. Instead, he spread his arms to show that he was harmless. “Don’t be nervous, you two. I’m Xiang Tiancheng. The higher-ups asked me to liaise with you two.”

As he spoke, he removed something from his neck and threw it at them. “Take a look.”

Zhen Ping caught the thing and checked it. It was a metal puzzle piece in the shape of a torch. She took a similar metal puzzle piece from her pocket to put it together with the one she just got and found that they fit perfectly together.

Xiang Tiancheng had also mentioned his name, and it matched the one Captain Yu had told them. This proved that the higher-ups had sent him to liaise with them.

Zhen Ping’s expression relaxed minutely as she asked, “Are you from the headquarters, Mr. Xiang?”

“Yup. Anyway, just call me Officer Xiang. Did you bring it with you?” Xiang Tiancheng asked.

“Yeah. Xiaohui, give it to him.”

“Okay,” Guan Xiaohui said and went over to hand the package to Xiang Tiancheng. “We never opened it, but it should be inside.”

With just one touch, Xiang Tiancheng sensed a strange domain coming from it. He didn’t know whether this was what the group wanted, but he had to bring it back.

He patted the package a bit and grunted. In the beginning, he had thought that the briefcase Che Gaoyi had was the resistance group’s package, but by the looks of it now, it was all just a coincidence.

It was too much of a coincidence.

When he remembered what had happened, his heart thrummed with fear. He had almost died. Fortunately, the officer from the government had only wanted to retrieve the briefcase and had no intention of killing all his enemies, or Xiang Tiancheng would not be standing here anymore.

If things were this dangerous outside the city, how dangerous were things inside the city?

He had heard that the higher-ups had sent a senior officer to snatch this thing. Many resistance group members had also entered Central City as mercenaries for this operation.

According to the plan, that group would draw the government’s firepower on themselves in order to make sure that this thing left the city. He wondered whether they would be able to make it back.

Xiang Tiancheng turned to Zhen Ping and Guan Xiaohui. “I got the goods, so your mission is over. Keep my puzzle piece. When your superior questions you, show him the puzzle piece. That’s proof.”

He then took two steps forward before turning around. “Also, I don’t suggest going back into the city. It’s very dangerous inside.”

Zhen Ping nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Xiang. We know.”

The higher-ups had told them that if they successfully handed over the goods, they were to hide outside the city and not return for the time being.

“I’m leaving now. Be careful, you two.”

Xiang Tiancheng gave them a wave and left with the package. On his way out, he looked at the person watching him in the distance, though he knew that this was someone the higher-up had sent to record his movements and help him with any possible aftermath. If he hadn’t thrown the dagger during the fight, Xiang Tiancheng would have died.

Based on the rules, the man shouldn’t have revealed himself, so Xiang Tiancheng gave him a quick wave before hurrying away.

***

Back at the command center in Central City, Liang Guanghai stared at the screen with a stern expression. The other World Ring Defense System members and liaison officers were silent as well. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

On the screen was an area in Grand Morals District. The street was a mess. The buildings and road were all damaged, while the cars were turned over like toys. One of them was even buried in the wall of a tall building. From time to time, debris rolled down the street. The corpses of security guards and mercenaries covered the place.

There was a huge hole through an entire building. No regular person could guess that this was the result of a fight between two martial artists.

A tall man stood above the hole.

He was about 2.3 meters tall and well-built, but was not moving.

There was no uninjured part on the man’s body. Plenty of his flesh had fallen off and mixed with blood and dirt. Half of his brain was gone. While one of his legs had some flesh attached to it, only bones remained on the other leg. They were what kept him standing.

Half a minute ago, the man had still been fighting against everyone they sent over, even though he was horribly injured.

He had held back most of the high-end martial artists the Resolution Department and the World Ring Defense System had stationed in this area. The Resolution Department had even sent two squad captains over. Meanwhile, the World Ring Defense System sent Unit One.

These four people had ganged up on the man, but it took more than half an hour to kill him.

At that moment, a few members of the response unit cautiously approached the man to check whether he had the propagated offspring.

After a while, they reported. “Sir, we’ve checked, and we didn’t find the propagated offspring on him or any of his companions. They must have transferred it before we came.”

Liang Guanghai had expected this. The man had been really flashy. Clearly, he had only come to draw their firepower so that another group could get the stolen propagated offspring out.

But this man was simply too destructive. He had tried to steal another propagated offspring from other places, so neither the Resolution Department nor the World Ring Defense System could ignore him.

Just then, Sentry Tower said, “Detected a propagated offspring, whose domain signal has disappeared. Destruction confirmed. Verifying identity of the officer in charge... Verified. It is Chen Chuan, squad captain of the Resolution Department.”

“Are you sure?” Liang Guanghai asked.

“Affirmative.”

Liang Guanghai nodded. Sealing off a propagated offspring and getting rid of it were two different things. Before dying from damage and the corrosive liquid, the propagated offspring would release a unique domain that couldn’t be replicated.

The other members in the command center became a little excited and started talking among themselves. “Thank goodness Captain Chen succeeded.”

“He’s the most efficient in this operation.”

“That’s right. Captain Chen has disposed of three propagated offspring. The others have only reclaimed at most one.”

“Captain Chen has also been fighting really tough battles. Chen Bitong alone defeated Unit Two. Thank goodness we have Captain Chen, or things with Chen Bitong might have spiraled out of control.”

“It’s all that group’s fault. They held back too much of our manpower.”

Liang Guanghai stood in front of the railing on the second floor. His expression remained stern. Even though it was good news that Chen Chuan had disposed of another propagated offspring, there were three more propagated offspring that were unaccounted for and are still being searched for.

Just then, his assistant heard something, and she said, “Sir, after some verification, we found that the deceased might be a high-ranking patrol officer of the resistance group. We’re still trying to ID him.”

“The resistance group? Must be them. Continue searching. Also, tell Lao Xu not to relax. I don’t want him to get involved anywhere else. I want him to stay in place,” Liang Guanghai ordered.

“Understood.”

Liang Guanghai then cast a glance at Central City’s map. According to their information, United Might’s motorcade had been split in two.

Chen Chuan got rid of one group, but Liang Guanghai had a pretty good idea where the other group went, so he had already sent officers to them. The group was large and strong enough to intercept them.