Roadmap to the Boundless Sky

Book 4, Chapter 91: Intercept

Water Deity crashed against the floor, and debris flew everywhere. A large circle of cracks formed on the supposedly sturdy floor.

Yang Ling didn’t feel too much pain. Water Deity’s sturdy body provided her with great protection. Even if some parts of its body were damaged, they quickly recovered due to its great healing abilities.

But now, they were captured, and they felt so greatly threatened that they entered a fight-or-flight state. They started burning every drop of energy stored in their body in order to break free. They swung their thin, long, and nimble tail, whose spikes went straight for Chen Chuan.

All he did was tilt his head slightly to dodge it, but the tail was incredibly agile. Once it shot past him, it turned around to attack the back of his head, but before it could summon enough energy, Chen Chuan lifted up the body and smashed it on the floor once more. The tail lost all of its strength and brushed limply against Chen Chuan’s protective overcoat.

Chen Chuan heard two sonic booms. When Wild Beast and Eel saw Water Deity being caught, they threw two sticks at him.

Halfway to their target, two bangs rang out, and the two sticks were taken down by a long staff and spear.

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque had been on guard since the beginning. They weren’t going to give them any chance to ambush and bother Chen Chuan.

Just then, someone else moved. It was Mrs. Ling. She dashed toward Chen Chuan at lightning speed.

Her uniform tore open, unable to endure the refined force erupting from her. It revealed a fitted protective gear underneath.

She was actually an implant-enhanced martial artist with a high compatibility rate, even though she had never shown any indication of it.

This was because she had removed all of her implants before entering Central City and put them on in a special cultivation chamber. It had taken her some time to regain her abilities, but she had successfully hidden her fighting strength.

Su Wei wasn’t around since he had gone off to protect Border Fusion, just as Chen Chuan ordered, while the marksmen had their attention trained on the martial artists, thus ignoring her, the “administrative staff.” This allowed her to reach Chen Chuan without anyone stopping her.

A sword with a sharp, crystalline blade slid out onto her palm. It was a weapon the company had crafted for her that could cut through all protective gear and even sturdy bones.

The angle and timing she picked also screamed of ingenuity. She had chosen the exact moment Chen Chuan flung Water Deity onto the floor to attack.

Chen Chuan gave her a sideways glance before turning to the side. It was only a slight movement, but it allowed him to ram his shoulder into the incoming sword. When the tip crashed against his refined force-laced shoulder, it shattered to pieces.

Mrs. Ling had clearly gone through strict training before, since she did not even pause. She let go of the broken sword and reached out with both of her hands. The veins on the backs of her hands bulged, and her nails grew as she went for Chen Chuan’s neck and shoulders.

Halfway through, she felt her body growing weaker, and her strength started fading like a waning tide.

At the moment they first came into contact, Chen Chuan’s refined force entered her body through the sword. While the design of the sword neutralized some of it, the remainder entered her body, and Chen Chuan’s Heartborn Force went into her body.

It was through direct contact too, which made it even easier than if he had to do it remotely.

A yielding force ransacked Mrs. Ling, destroying the regrown implanted mutated tissue in her body. When her fingers touched Chen Chuan’s shoulder, they snapped and broke, because there was no longer anything supporting them from within.

But Mrs. Ling remained as quick as before and crashed into Chen Chuan. However, the effect was like that of rotting wood crashing into sturdy steel. She could hear all of her bones snapping.

Chen Chuan didn’t even spare her an extra glance. While holding onto Water Deity’s leg, he twisted his waist and slammed Water Deity on the floor again. A loud bang shot up as his movements caused Mrs. Ling to stumble past him and crash into the wall. She slumped down like a sack of broken bones.

When Water Deity crashed onto the floor again, Chen Chuan sensed it struggling against his hand. He even felt a slippery liquid being secreted in his grip. It was as if he was holding a struggling fish that he had just scooped up from the water.

There was also a wave of refined force coming over.

Chen Chuan was quite surprised. He had seen active biosentient entities fight before, but even an entity as strong as Wu Qi couldn’t use refined force.

After all, refined force required a complete set of mutated tissue and techniques. Martial artists created them through generations of knowledge and research. While the creatures in the merged space had mutated tissue, they didn’t have any theoretical knowledge of how to use refined force and only used it purely by instinct.

But Water Deity did it consciously.

It was able to use refined force because it was made with the express intent of fusing with a human. All its mutated tissue had been meticulously calibrated, and its creators had run multiple simulations before letting it grow its mutated tissue. Then, they came up with a practical way for it to use its mutated tissue, so this creature was the embodiment of United Might’s technology.

All of the data from the research was stored in Water Deity in the form of information. After Yang Ling fused with it, she could swiftly understand and learn how to use the mutated tissue.

If they had more time, they could get more familiar with it and figure out what refined force would best suit them. Then, if they could keep calibrating and fixing the mutated tissue that didn’t suit them while fighting in real battles, they could keep growing, and once they reached true maturity, even Wu Qi wouldn’t be able to win against them.

But their current state wasn’t good enough for them to win against Chen Chuan.

When he slammed Water Deity onto the floor, he was holding back, because he was sure that Yang Ling hadn’t fused with the active biosentient entity out of her own free will. She was likely only a puppet, which was why he didn’t use Heartborn Force. Otherwise, he would have destroyed Yang Ling’s body and organs.

He let the refined force from Water Deity transform while adapting to it with his own refined force. Hence, no matter how much Water Deity squirmed, they were unable to break free. Meanwhile, Chen Chuan used his mental energy to sense how Water Deity used their mutated tissue to find a break between their movements.

After a while, his gaze sharpened. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a wave of refined force into Water Deity’s body. On the surface, it was as if a ripple of water had flowed through Water Deity’s body.

Water Deity trembled violently and fell limp. Most of its mutated tissue and bones fell apart due to Chen Chuan’s refined force.

Yang Ling felt her vision go black, and her connection with Water Deity was severed. She could no longer use her mind to control the body or sense what was going on outside.

Her breathing grew labored, because Water Deity had stopped functioning and could no longer provide her with oxygen. In less than a minute, she was going to suffocate.

She tried to break free, but it was useless. Water Deity’s tendrils and soft tissue enveloped her tightly. It was meant to ensure that she wouldn’t be affected while it fought, but now, it became her cage. She couldn’t shake free.

No. She couldn’t even move.

Just as her mind started fading away, she saw a crack opening before her, and light shone in. A tall figure stood before her, but his face was obscured. Fresh air gushed in, and her chest heaved. She started gulping in large breaths of air.

Chen Chuan took a look. The girl’s skin had merged with the soft tissue around her.

He had no idea how long Yang Ling had been inside Water Deity, but it shouldn’t have been too long. If she had continued staying inside, she might have truly become one with it, and they wouldn’t have been able to separate them.

But this wasn’t the case now.

When he saw that the girl was fine, he looked away and turned his gaze to the rest of the battle.

When the machineguns started going off, United Might’s logisticians had retreated back into the passage. Only Water Deity had actively come over. The marksmen hadn’t received orders to target United Might’s staff, so most of them were fine. The only injured ones were those hit by ricocheting bullets and flying debris. They had protective gear, though, and none of them were regular people, so they weren’t badly hurt.

The marksmen had put most of their attention on the Third Limit security guards who had charged forward. The bullets were concentrated on them, and as the crossfire continued, the Third Limit security guards collapsed.

Only the two Black Steel grade security guards had enough fighting experience to engage Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque the moment they stepped forward, so the marksmen wouldn’t dare to fire at them. Even though they were stronger than Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque, they couldn’t overpower them, so for a time, they entered a stalemate.

Chen Chuan wasn’t in a hurry to assist them. This was a rare opportunity to gain experience, and it would benefit Qin Qingque and Yuan Qiuyuan.

When Wild Beast and Eel saw that Chen Chuan was freed up, Water Deity had stopped moving, and Mrs. Ling looked like she was dead, they knew that the operation had failed. There was no way they could win against a frontline lead investigator, so it would be meaningless to continue fighting.

After parrying Qin Qingque and Yuan Qiuyuan’s attacks, they threw away their weapons, knelt down, and hugged their heads. It was the perfect posture to express their intent.

“We surrender and will cooperate with your investigation.”

Chen Chuan cast them a glance. The two were useless since they had enough proof this time. If they did things right, they could take down United Might’s entire branch.

“Pack things up and arrest everyone,” he ordered.

“Got it!” his team shouted in return.