novelkee Chapter 365 - 96: Blooming
Chapter 365 - 96: Blooming
The Processing Bureau convoy headed for the martial arts school, and the armored patrol car Chen Chuan was riding in trailed behind them.
Just then, Sun Rao seemed to receive a message. After listening for a moment, he said to Chen Chuan, "Things have wrapped up over there."
Chen Chuan realized he was talking about the clash between the Swordfish Gang and the Elephant Gang and asked, "What was the outcome?"
Sun Rao sneered. "They got lucky. Their personal security must be top-notch to get them out of a gang war like that in one piece. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. Getting away with it this time will just encourage them, and they’ll definitely do it again. But that’s got nothing to do with us anymore."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. Based on what Captain Li had revealed, the Bureau had been keeping an eye on them all along, intentionally shuffling them around to give Wei Wusheng an opening and bait him into striking.
It had been a good plan, and it was more than halfway successful. Unfortunately, they had underestimated Wei Wusheng’s strength, leading to their ultimate failure. Rumor had it that the two Third Limit Fighters were both injured to some extent, which was why the Processing Bureau team hadn’t dared to give chase. They were afraid that if any of them got separated, Wei Wusheng would turn the tables and kill them.
’But did the Processing Bureau really base their assessment solely on Wei Wusheng’s previous strength? Probably not. It’s just that Wei Wusheng’s strength might have been even higher than they estimated. Perhaps...’
He gazed outside. ’After killing those two, his strength has improved again.’
The convoy soon reached the next crime scene. Unlike the chaotic street from before, the martial arts school was relatively orderly. The only fatality was Zhe Rong, who had simply collapsed while walking. No one nearby had noticed an attack; some even assumed he’d fallen victim to a sneak attack from his sparring partner during their earlier exchange.
It wasn’t until they discovered his neck had been snapped that they realized an expert had been at work.
Captain Li went to conduct the examination himself. After a long while of comparing the Domain information and the method used for Emitting Force, he finally confirmed that it was Wei Wusheng’s work. Although they had been prepared for this, a sense of stifling frustration still settled over them.
Once the result was confirmed, the rest of the work was left to the city patrol. Captain Li’s team consulted with the Bureau, gave Chen Chuan and Sun Rao a few looks and a series of nods, and then pulled out. The Bureau then informed Sun Rao that his team should resume their patrol. By the time this whole affair was over, it was already six o’clock.
The sky had grown dim. All around, neon lights on the roadsides and high-rises flickered to life. Against the distant night sky, the colossal Ferris Wheel turned slowly, like a great ring of fire.
Sun Rao spoke up. "Time for the shift change. The night shift is taking over, so we’re off the hook. Junior Chen, want to grab a bite first? I know a great venison place nearby."
Chen Chuan had no objections.
The patrol car changed direction. Ten minutes or so later, it pulled over in a bustling commercial district filled with restaurants specializing in cuisine from the Outer Ocean Islands.
Sun Rao led him into a restaurant whose lightbox sign read ’Feng’s Venison.’ Once inside, he sat down and ordered like a regular, getting scallops, lobster, sea crab, and sashimi, as well as the house specialty: stone-grilled fawn.
These dishes were typically paired with wine, but as Fighters, neither of them drank alcohol. They just ordered two glasses of lemonade instead.
It wasn’t long before their food began to arrive. Bathed in the bright overhead lights, every dish looked exceptionally appetizing: the white flesh of the scallops was sprinkled with minced garlic; the vibrant red lobster was garnished with lettuce; and the golden-yellow sea crab was presented with its claws and legs tucked in neatly.
The specialty dish, the stone-grilled fawn, was served deconstructed: a heated stone slab was brought to the table along with thin slices of meat, accompanied by tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and various sauces.
Sun Rao picked up a thick slice of fawn and laid it on the stone slab. With a SIZZLE, the color of the meat changed. He flipped it over, and once the other side was cooked, he lifted it up amidst the billowing, fragrant steam, dipped it in sauce, and popped it into his mouth.
Chen Chuan had never eaten here before. He picked up his chopsticks and followed Sun Rao’s lead, searing both sides of a slice of meat before dipping it in sauce and taking a bite. The meat was exquisitely sweet, tender, and juicy, with a unique, fresh aroma. A pleasant warmth spread through his stomach as he ate. It was delicious, indeed.
As they feasted, people were constantly monitoring them from the outside using Realm Tokens and various Boundary Points. These were Resonators assigned by the Processing Bureau.
In fact, they had been under this same surveillance ever since their patrol shift began earlier that day.
After all, besides Zhe Rong and Tong Daguang, Chen Chuan himself was another likely target for Wei Wusheng. That was why these Resonators were monitoring him around the clock.
But from morning till night, Wei Wusheng showed no signs of coming after Chen Chuan.
"I heard that Chen has clashed with Wei Wusheng before. Why isn’t Wei Wusheng coming for him? Is he not confident, or is he afraid to challenge us at the Processing Bureau?"
"Could be both. Hey, say... if Chen had helped out today, do you think we could have captured Wei Wusheng? But I heard he needs to take some kind of medicine beforehand..."
"Look how much they’re enjoying their meal. We haven’t even eaten yet!"
"I have a few tubes of Nutrition Paste. Here, tide yourself over."
The sound of a wrapper tearing was followed by the dry sound of someone swallowing.
After dinner, Chen Chuan and Sun Rao returned to the car. The driver of the armored patrol car took Chen Chuan straight to the Profound Palace Building, waiting until he saw him go inside before driving away.
Only then did the Resonators on surveillance duty finally let their guard down.
After taking the elevator back to his dorm, Chen Chuan washed up. Wei Wusheng likely wouldn’t surface again for a short while, and Chen didn’t have patrol duty tomorrow. So, after some light breathing exercises, he sat on the sofa and started browsing the fringe channels.
Today’s events had caused a huge uproar. Wei Wusheng had killed two targets in a row and escaped even after the Processing Bureau had laid a trap, so discussions about the incident were rampant.
Many analysts believed that for Wei Wusheng to assassinate his targets with such precision, he must have a major corporation backing him. The prime suspect was the Ferris Wheel Company in Yinglu District.
But some people disagreed. Tong Daguang was a member of the Swordfish Gang, and everyone knew the Swordfish Gang had the backing of the Ferris Wheel Company. ’Why would they kill one of their own?’
But many others felt that was precisely the problem. ’What’s one minor boss to a corporation like Ferris Wheel? Sacrificing him to clear their name would be a bargain.’
Chen Chuan considered this. ’The possibility of it being Ferris Wheel is actually quite low. Gongshi, the overseas royal family, is one of their main investors.’
’And an important member of the Gongshi, Gong Zhanyi, died at Wei Wusheng’s hands. They even believe Wei Wusheng took something quite important to them.’
’This time, the Ferris Wheel Company didn’t cause any trouble. In fact, they explicitly offered assistance. That proves they want to catch Wei Wusheng too.’
But on second thought, an idea occurred to him. ’Even if the Ferris Wheel Company wants to catch Wei Wusheng, they might not want the Processing Bureau to be the ones to take him in. They can’t sabotage the operation openly, but they could certainly make things difficult behind the scenes.’
’If that’s the case, when Wei Wusheng tries to escape, he might just get ambushed by the Ferris Wheel Company.’
As he mulled this over, he glanced back at the forum and noticed the discussion had turned to him.
"You guys hear about this? On the ship, Wei Wusheng was apparently going to kill everyone, but someone stopped him. That brief delay gave the cruise’s security forces enough time to rush in and save most of the passengers. No idea who the hero was, though."
"Only a Third Limit master could stand up to Wei Wusheng. Seems pretty unlikely, right? If there really was someone like that, it had to have been Du Geng."
"Right, Du Geng is the most likely one!"
A chorus of replies below agreed with the sentiment.
Chen Chuan recalled that this Du Geng was ranked highest in the current betting pools—the one person oddsmakers believed would be the last to be killed by Wei Wusheng.
’He couldn’t recall anything special about Du Geng. The main reason was that none of Wei Wusheng’s victims had lasted more than a single move against him, so none of them had left a deep impression.’
’As for the pattern behind Wei Wusheng’s targets...’ he had a theory.
’I suspect he’s ranking his targets based on their future threat level and potential. But he’s not going from highest potential to lowest. He’s going from lowest to highest.’
’Take the school master who was killed first. He was strong, but he was old and had virtually no chance of ever reaching the Third Limit. The following victims, regardless of their age, all seemed to be the sort who had hit their ceiling and lost the ambition to advance.’
’His more recent targets have been different, but when you compare them to those ranked lower on the betting list, the obvious missing ingredient is potential.’
’Most people would eliminate the strongest enemies first, but this guy seems to want to save those with room to grow for later.’
’And if that’s the case, then I, who actually fought him back then, will be the very last on his list.’
’But this is just my own idea, more of a gut feeling than anything. I have no evidence to prove it, and even if I said it out loud, there’d be no way to confirm it.’
’But while Wei Wusheng is improving... am I not improving as well?’
He considered this. His senses had become increasingly sharp recently, and he still hadn’t collected this month’s Treasure Ointment. He decided to visit Cao Guiqi tomorrow and tell him about his condition.
Having made up his mind, he finished scrolling through the more valuable discussions. When it was late enough, he went to his bedroom to rest.
Bright and early the next morning, he arrived at Motie Mountain. Upon meeting Cao Guiqi, he explained the strange new developments with his body. Cao Guiqi asked a few questions, then had Uncle Ding bring out the Zhu Jue Silver Cage again and place it before him.
Chen Chuan followed the same procedure as before, focusing his consciousness on the plant. This time was different. After only a moment of concentration, he felt like he had made contact with something.
He then watched as the white branches of the plant before him unfurled in concentric rings. Its colorful petals bloomed, layer upon layer, as wisps of silvery-white floss floated upward. The entire plant began to shimmer, resembling the sacred halo behind a temple deity’s statue. The silver floss drifted endlessly in the air, its dance irresistibly drawing the eye.
After this went on for seven or eight minutes, the faint light abruptly vanished. Silken silver threads rained down, leaving behind nothing but a pile of withered flower stems on the table.
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