Roadmap to the Boundless Sky

Book 4, Chapter 60: Mercenary Group

Chen Chuan looked down at the baton swinging at his ankle. He didn’t move his torso, but he kicked outward with his left leg and rammed it against the baton.

It snapped with a loud crack, but his leg didn’t seem affected in the slightest. Without slowing down whatsoever, he sent his leg straight at the man, who widened his eyes in shock and quickly brought his arms up to shield himself.

When the kick connected, he found that it was incredibly strong and pushed his arms into his face.

Bam!

He was forced to a stop, and a shockwave traveled outward from the impact site.

A moment later, the man was sent flying away like a cannonball and crashed into a building further down the street.

Even though he had been hit, the man remained determined. He plunged his fingers into the cement wall next to him and left behind deep trails on the wall as he continued falling backward. Soon, he managed to stop and planted his feet on the ground again.

Then, he exhaled and straightened his body while glaring at Chen Chuan. At the same time, he rolled his shoulders, and his firm, powerful arms trembled. The layer of dust covering his skin was blasted away, which made him look really impressive.

He practiced a unique refined force for his arms, so he didn’t seem hurt at all after blocking the kick.

He gathered power in his mutated tissue and moved forward to attack Chen Chuan again when his expression suddenly changed. His legs collapsed, as if he had misstepped. He stumbled a few steps before falling forward and planting his arms on the ground so that he didn’t fall flat on his face. A mouthful of blood splattered on the ground.

Even though his arms appeared to be fine due to the high density of mutated tissue in them, a yielding force had seeped into his body when he took the hit.

Chen Chuan’s Heartborn Force contained the characteristics of the Void String Force, and it instantly destroyed most of the mutated tissue in his body. While he appeared fine, his insides were a mess. However, due to the stealthy nature of the Heartborn Force and how its effects only came to light afterward, the man didn’t notice what had happened immediately.

Chen Chuan stopped paying attention to him. The man hadn’t even figured out his Heartborn Force. The only reason why he hadn’t collapsed from his mental attack was because he was wearing some kind of protective gear while standing far away. To think that he actually had the guts to challenge Chen Chuan just because he had protective gear. The man was certainly confident in himself.

The man didn’t give up. With a shout, he pushed himself up, but his body kept trembling. His bones creaked, causing him to be unable to stand straight. Yet he still forced himself upright. After multiple tries, popping sounds came from his skin as it cracked, and blood gushed out.

With a violent shake, he collapsed on the ground. A layer of dust flew up. His eyes were rolled back, and it was clear that he had lost consciousness. Blood oozed out from under his skin and soon formed a large pool.

Chen Chuan took a few steps forward and looked outside. He could see a few people standing to his left and right. He first observed the person on the left. He was a man wearing sleeveless protective gear. His skin appeared brown, and his hair was curly. In one hand, he held five ropes that wound up his arm and exposed skin, which gave him a wild air.

While he was observing the man, he noticed something and turned to the side.

Boom!

A large hole blasted open at the corner of the street, and he saw a metal ball embedded deep in the hole. Its power was no lower than that of a cannonball. The effects were shocking.

Chen Chuan cast a glance in the other direction. Around two kilometers away was a young man. He was standing on higher ground with goggles on. Beside him were piles of metal balls about half an adult man’s height. He raised his chin and gave him a challenging look.

In front of the young man was a well-built man with earrings and a scarf. He appeared to be in charge of protecting the young man, since he held a sturdy black shield.

The young man grabbed a ball, tested the hold, spun on his feet, flung his arm, and threw the ball at Chen Chuan.

Whoosh!

The ball flew through the air with a whistle and rapidly drew closer.

Chen Chuan tilted his head to the side and let the ball fly past. The sound of the wall being smashed rose behind him, and dust exploded.

Calmly, Chen Chuan said into his Realm Pass, “Safe Shield, identify these people.”

“Understood. Identifying targets.”

In an instant, he received a series of information, along with videos and photos.

He gave it a quick skim. These people belonged to Galna, a famous large mercenary group from the Trokka Union.

Instead of calling it a mercenary group, it would be more accurate to call it a mercenary platform, because it didn’t have a fixed group. There were only four core members: three well-built men and a woman. All of them had their own specialties, which were shown in the videos, but none of them were here tonight.

The three before Chen Chuan were all hired hands, who had never come to the Great Shun Republic before. They had never shown up on any public platforms either, so Safe Shield didn’t have any information. However, based on the general analysis, they should all be mercenaries and martial artists from the Trokka Union.

Only one of them was different—the young man throwing the balls. He bore a striking similarity to Ladosim, one of the four core members, who was famous for his throwing arts. Even his name originated from a heroic figure from the Trokka Union. Legend had it that the hero had killed seven monsters on Mount Kanbana just by throwing rocks at them.

According to the information provided by Safe Shield, Ladosim—the one in Galna—had an equally talented brother, so this person might also be a core figure in the group.

Chen Chuan turned his attention to the roof.

The young man seemed to have sensed his gaze and thought that this was an act of provocation. He arrogantly puffed out his chest, spread his arms, and spun around to show off his back and arm muscles.

While keeping his gaze trained forward, Chen Chuan took a step forward. The next moment, an explosive boom shot through the air. In an instant, he jumped over. The billboards and windows on the street vibrated before exploding. Smoke and dust churned in Chen Chuan’s wake.

When the man with the shield saw this, he shouted loudly and jumped down. Then, he lifted his shield.

The scenery around Chen Chuan swiftly changed, and in an instant, he arrived in front of the man. One of his fists slammed into the shield.

The man’s eyes flew wide open. His veins bulged, and he roared while holding the shield in place.

Bam!

They came to an abrupt stop. The road underneath blasted apart. Shattered gravel struck the buildings around them like bullets and created multiple small holes.

The man’s arms were so tense that it looked like he was about to tear his sleeves apart, while his headband was sent flying away by the intense shockwave that came from the powerful crash of refined forces. Chen Chuan could see veins bulge on his forehead, and his earrings trembled nonstop. Even so, he stayed in place in his stance, as if he had managed to block the attack.

Chen Chuan pulled his fist back, straightened his back, and moved past the man to continue forward.

The man stayed still. After a while, with a loud crack, the shield shattered into pieces. The man started trembling violently, as if blood was rising to his head. His face turned red, and a moment later, his head blasted open with a loud bang. His headless corpse swayed a little before falling.

When the young man saw this, his eyes flew wide open, but he showed no intention of retreating. He started rapidly throwing the metal balls beside him.

This time, he didn’t just throw with his hands. He also kicked them with his legs. He kept spinning around as fast as a phantom. The metal balls came flying like a storm. The piles of metal balls beside him quickly depleted as whistling sounds tore through the air.

Chen Chuan took note of the trajectory of the metal balls, then casually extended a hand and swatted them away.

When the young man increased the speed of his attacks, he sacrificed accuracy. Countless balls didn’t even land on Chen Chuan and instead blasted into the buildings with the force of a cannonball. Their corners were destroyed and their walls crumbled.

When the young man saw that he couldn’t stop Chen Chuan, he paused and adjusted his breathing before sucking in a deep breath. Then, he grabbed a metal ball, crossed his legs, leaned forward, brought the arm holding the metal ball back, drew his other arm forward, brought his fingers up, and pointed at his face.

His movements were as beautiful as a dance, while his muscles rippled like flowing water. After a moment, with a burst of power, he spun on his feet dozens of times before stopping abruptly and flinging his arm forward.

Power surged through his muscles, and all of it gathered on that metal ball. Even the mutated tissue in his fingers generated power along with the other mutated tissue for it. Chen Chuan could see his fingertips pushing forward in one smooth motion, and his body leaned forward in a form that perfectly embodied the aesthetics of physical dynamics. During that short moment, even his hair and sweat flew forward.

This throw far surpassed his physical limits, and he seemed to have even injected some mental energy into it. In an instant, the ball arrived in front of the target.

Chen Chuan reached out and grabbed the metal ball.

A shrill howl rang out as a shockwave traveled outward.