Chapter 536: Interception
Chapter 536: Interception
Chen Chuan glanced at the four approaching figures, seemingly unconcerned. He checked the time on the Interdimensional Link and realized they couldn't afford to delay any longer.
Their encounter with Gong Ying Chang Xiu had already cost them a few precious minutes, and every second mattered.
He addressed Yuan Qiuyuan and the others, "Leave these four to you. Finish them off quickly and regroup."
Yuan Qiuyuan tossed the sheath of the Snow Lady Saber towards Chen Chuan, saying, "Captain, we'll take care of them."
Chen Chuan caught the sheath and sheathed the saber, leaving the Flowing Cut Blade on the ground for his team to deal with later.
He checked the map again; the distance wasn't too far, so instead of taking a vehicle, he oriented himself and took a step forward. With a thunderous boom, a cluster of rocks exploded beneath his feet, and he vanished from his original spot.
In the command hall, Li Zhuanyuan monitored the situation everywhere, unable to relax. The rift occupied by Chang Kanghai was undoubtedly the most challenging.
Even the fastest Emergency Team would need at least twenty minutes to reach the location.
By the time they arrived, the size of the rift was unpredictable, but the good news was its stability. This indicated that the split entity was still there, and if they could stop it in time, they might be able to retrieve it.
An intelligence officer reported to Li Zhuanyuan, "Commissioner, Captain Chen is rapidly moving towards that rift."
"Hmm?" Li Zhuanyuan was taken aback. Wasn't Chen Chuan supposed to be held up by Gong Ying Chang Xiu and his group?
The intelligence officer swallowed, "Gong Ying Chang Xiu... has been beheaded by Captain Chen."
Beheaded? How long had it been? Li Zhuanyuan checked the time and realized it hadn't been long. He quickly reviewed the footage and saw Gong Ying Chang Xiu being decapitated by a single strike. He fell silent for a moment.
He wasn't sure if Gong Ying Chang Xiu's reputation didn't match his strength or if he had underestimated the man's abilities.
At that moment, Chen Chuan was making his way towards the indicated direction on the map, but his journey wasn't without obstacles. Unstable rifts kept appearing, releasing powerful air currents and strange creatures. If one rushed into these rifts without finding the correct path, there was no guarantee of a quick return.
To make matters worse, there were pedestrians on the road, including fearless souls, drunkards, and drug addicts wandering around. Some were even twitching on the ground, being devoured by flying insects.
This forced Chen Chuan to proceed with caution, but even so, he was moving faster than if he had taken a vehicle.
As he neared the street leading to the rift, Astrid stood atop a building, with a balloon-like creature floating above her.
This was a small field creature provided by Porlen Corporation for their teams. It was constantly searching and transmitting information within a nine-kilometer radius.
Porlen Corporation was renowned worldwide for its expertise in hyper-perception and information transmission, especially in small-scale regional information dissemination.
Astrid noticed Chen Chuan's image on the Interdimensional Link and recognized him. "I know him."
Sigrid's voice came through the link, "Yes, he's the one who almost sent you to the Hall of Heroes. He's approaching this street, and the company wants us to delay him for at least twenty minutes."
"Alright."
Astrid sighed, "Thankfully, the company isn't asking us to kill him."
Sigrid was surprised, "Are you afraid of killing him?"
Astrid rolled her eyes, "I'm afraid he'll kill me."
That day, she had been controlled by the strange armor's power, but a part of her consciousness remained awake. The memory of being struck down was deeply imprinted in her mind.
Sigrid reassured her, "What are you afraid of? The company has equipped you with their latest implant technology, the forefront of their research. You completed all the tests and can perfectly combine it with rift navigation tactics. It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Yes, amazing."
Astrid looked down, wondering what kind of enemy she was facing.
Porlen Corporation's hyper-perceptive implants, rift capture units, transmission sensory cords, and Astrid's innate special psychic abilities were more than enough to deal with ordinary martial artists, but...
Sigrid interrupted her thoughts, "He's here!"
Chen Chuan turned a street corner, and as he was halfway through, he suddenly halted, his body stopping abruptly amidst the air blast.
In front of him were numerous crisscrossing cables extending from one high-rise building to another, almost blocking the entire street behind him. Additionally, rifts flickered incessantly, appearing and disappearing, their opening and closing frequency far exceeding that of other areas, like countless lightning bolts converging in one place.
Simultaneously, a silver lance fell from above with a sharp whistle, embedding itself in the ground not far ahead.
Chen Chuan looked up and saw a figure in knight armor standing on a platform, and it was unmistakably the Shepherdess armor he had seen at the opera house.
The opera house incident had also involved others from Porlen Corporation.
The knight leaped down from the building with a loud clang, landing in front of Chen Chuan. As the figure crouched, their hands spread out to brace against the ground, dissipating the force.
After a brief moment, he propelled himself forward with a powerful leap, drawing a long spear from the ground as he charged. With a swift twist of his hands, he leveled the spear towards his target and thrust it forward!
Chen Chuan observed the approaching figure, noting the perfect posture, rhythm, and force, but... the movements were too slow!
The figure seemed to move, disappearing for a split second, only to suddenly reappear in front of the knight and deliver a punch aimed at their abdomen.
Just as the fist was about to make contact, the area in front of the knight flickered, and the knight vanished, leaving the punch to strike only the brightly lit rift.
At that moment, the knight emerged from the rift behind him, spear in hand, and thrust it towards Chen Chuan. However, midway through the strike, Chen Chuan grabbed the spear with a loud smack, but the knight didn't resist and immediately released it. The knight's body flickered with the rift and disappeared once more.
Chen Chuan took hold of the spear, broke it with a twist, and tossed it aside. It seemed the knight could move freely through the rift, making it difficult to capture. He couldn't afford to waste time here.
With a stomp, he leaped from a long cable in front of him and continued his charge towards the rift.
Before he could land, the rift flickered, and the knight abruptly appeared at his side, throwing several flying knives towards him. Chen Chuan rolled on the ground after landing, and as he reached the other end of the rift, it flashed, and the knight disappeared again.
Chen Chuan casually swatted away the flying knives without pausing his movement. He continued running after landing.
The knight, seeing that Chen Chuan showed no signs of stopping, grew anxious. The knight repeatedly appeared at Chen Chuan's side, sometimes stabbing with a sword or throwing objects, always appearing at different positions around him. Regardless of success or failure, the knight never lingered, immediately retreating into the rift after each attack.
Chen Chuan had no time to deal with the knight.
Suddenly, the rift in front of him flickered open once more, and as expected, the knight leaped out, sword in hand, aiming a strike at Chen Chuan. Before the strike could land, the knight darted into another rift nearby.
But just as the knight was about to fully enter the rift, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the knight's mask with a sharp smack.
After experiencing numerous attacks, Chen Chuan had learned the knight's attack rhythm and accurately seized the knight this time.
With a tight grip, Chen Chuan crushed the entire helmet, causing the metal to groan and twist. However, to his surprise, the helmet was empty inside.
The entire suit of armor beneath the helmet clattered to the ground, scattering across the floor, seemingly uninhabited.
Chen Chuan's eyes flashed, realizing that the person inside had once again utilized the rift to escape, leaving only the armor behind. Their reaction speed and control over the opening and closing of the rift were truly remarkable.
But the next time they appeared before him, they wouldn't escape so easily.
As for the other one...
Chen Chuan glanced in a certain direction, knowing he had no time to deal with them now. With a surge of power, his body was enveloped in a blast of air, and in a flash, he had already left the area.
After Chen Chuan's departure, Sigrid emerged from her hiding place, feeling a sense of relief. She looked in the direction he had left, feeling helpless. It wasn't even twenty minutes, not even two minutes, and she couldn't stop him.
Sigrid looked at the spot where Astrid had disappeared into the rift. She needed to find her quickly, or she might get lost inside.
Chen Chuan didn't encounter any further obstacles, and surprisingly, the previous attack, which couldn't even be considered a battle, had slightly boosted his mental state. It wasn't a complete waste.
Within a few minutes, Chen Chuan arrived at the designated location on the map.
The other squads that had received the same orders were still on their way, with the fastest estimated to arrive in about a quarter of an hour.
When Chen Chuan reached the location, he found the security team members lying on the ground, dead. In the distance, a vehicle was engulfed in flames, and further away, a massive rift loomed, emitting a bright light.
Bright light radiated from the rift, and snowflakes fluttered out, covering the surrounding ground with a thick layer of snow.
Standing near the rift was a tall figure, a long axe embedded in the ground behind him. The falling snowflakes were repelled by the force emanating from his skin, not a single flake sticking to him.
As Chen Chuan approached, he could see various corpses of ferocious creatures that had been killed by the figure.
At that moment, the figure lifted his gaze and spoke in a deep voice, "I've been waiting for you."
...
...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
