Book 4, Chapter 139: Meet Up

Xu Chan was bringing his group to Chen Chuan.

He, along with the other three squad captains, wouldn’t have needed that long to reach Chen Chuan, but they had non-combatants with them, so they slowed down for them.

After all, they weren’t the only ones running right now. All the creatures in the forest were fleeing due to the threat of the beetle swarm. The sky was covered in insects and birds, while the ground crawled with unidentified creatures.

They ran along with them and tore at each other from time to time.

Occasionally, some of the creatures collapsed on the ground due to the terrain or because they ran into something. When that happened, insects swarmed over them, and a moment later, not even their bones were left.

This forced them to slow down, and all the members settled in a formation with Xu Chan in the lead while the other squad captains were in charge of guarding the flanks and the rear.

The ground in front of them kept rising. At that moment, they could already see the large body of the creature underneath. It started pushing itself up, and dirt as well as plants fell down. This was a magnificent sight, and they were sure that this was a mega creature.

Usually, mega creatures lurked in the depths of the merged space and seldom went out. This was likely because they wouldn’t be able to get enough nutrients to survive far away from the other world.

While they didn’t know why this mega creature showed up, it was likely that it had been hibernating here. The arrival of the insect flood and the artifact woke it up.

Soon, they got close to the mega creature and jumped on its wrinkles to begin climbing up.

They weren’t the only ones. The other creatures also hopped onto the creature to protect themselves.

However, with so many of them climbing up, it was inevitable that they would bump and jostle against each other. They also got hit by the dirt, stones, and plants falling down. Various creatures and humans were climbing up and falling down the mega creature. If anyone fell into the mass of insects underneath, they disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was a sight that made the skin crawl.

An invisible wave came down, and the creatures blocking Xu Chan’s team’s path started falling down in droves. In an instant, the area around them was cleared of everything, including the insects.

They looked up and saw Chen Chuan standing at the top with a saber in hand and a red scarf fluttering behind him. A brilliant light shot up from where he stood and merged into one with the sky.

“Lead Investigator Chen!” Captain Lu cried out in excitement.

Since they had been running and the ground kept rising, they hadn’t been able to see what was happening at the top. Chen Chuan standing in one piece meant that the fight had ended.

“We can talk once we’re in place,” Xu Chan stated.

All of them agreed.

Once they got up with excitement and puzzlement, they looked around and saw severed limbs and headless corpses behind Chen Chuan. Practically no one had died in one piece. Shock filled their hearts, and they looked at Chen Chuan with respect and admiration.

Xu Chan was the calmest of them, as if he had expected this. After taking a look around him, he saluted Chen Chuan. “The exploration team has arrived, sir. All the surviving members are present.”

The people behind him also saluted Chen Chuan. Even though their torn clothes were covered in blood and their faces were full of dirt, they stood with their backs straight.

Chen Chuan saluted them as well. Once he lowered his arm, he met their gazes and said, “The World Ring Defense System sent me to liaise with you.”

The team grew emotional upon hearing that.

Captain Lu looked around him. “Are these people...”

“Most of them are dead,” Chen Chuan replied.

Even though they had already seen the situation, they couldn’t suppress their shock after hearing him admit it.

When they watched the fight from the cliff, most of the enemy forces were still around. In just a few minutes they had taken to run over, he had gotten rid of all of them?

“I left one of them alive to get a testimony,” Chen Chuan said.

“What do you need to know, Lead Investigator Chen?” Hai Gao asked.

“We had a few problems in the Resolution Department.” Chen Chuan gave them a brief account of how Lead Investigator Wen was killed and how Han Fu was captured for it.

“Skin Flayer was the last person seen with Lead Investigator Wen’s body. I kept him alive to figure out where the body is and to bring him back.”

They had never expected something this severe to have happened in Central City. Han Fu’s actions were treason. It was no wonder why so many Linacrox Union martial artists had come over. Many of the team members turned red with rage.

“Interrogation is my forte, Lead Investigator Chen. Could you leave this to me?” Hai Gao asked with a stern expression.

Chen Chuan nodded.

“The insect flood is about to reach us. Should we leave first?” Captain Hu asked.

Chen Chuan rejected the idea. “We can’t avoid it. Based on what I know, insect floods take up to a few days to pass, and I suspect that they came here because of the artifact. Unless we give up on it, it’ll be difficult for us to run away. But you don’t have to worry.”

He thumped the ground. “This is the Sleeping Worm, which eats small insects in swarms. This place doesn’t provide it with enough sustenance for prolonged movement, so it will return to the earth to continue sleeping once it eats. We’re actually safe here.”

Xu Chan considered it and said, “If that’s the case, all we need to do is to spend the night here.”

“Yes. We just need to be wary of the merged space creatures that will rush up here,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

“Then, let’s start setting up camp,” Xu Chan declared.

Once Chen Chuan gave his permission, his group set up the defenses.

Aside from using their own tools, they also grabbed and used all the resources the Union and the Linacrox Union had left behind.

After digging up trenches at the perimeter, they spread chemicals inside and around the trenches before setting up barbed wire. Then, they started bonfires and built enough tents to accommodate everyone for the night.

In order to prevent more merged space creatures from being lured up, they had to burn up the corpses.

While they split up to do their tasks, Hai Gao found Skin Flayer according to Chen Chuan’s instructions and saw his twisted body. He was shocked and wondered what sort of refined force could do this. He wouldn’t be able to use many of his interrogation methods on Skin Flayer, but that didn’t mean that he was out of options.

He grabbed Skin Flayer and brought him to a quiet place.

When Chen Chuan saw everyone get busy, he went to the side and collected his defeated opponents’ weapons.

He had quite a harvest this time. All of those who had stepped in to fight against him had brought mutated weapons that could withstand Heartborn Forces, like Heros’ shortsword, Qi Qianyang’s whip, and the Lightning Siblings’ fins. While Heros hadn’t used his shortsword, Chen Chuan was sure that it was a high-class weapon.

He picked them all up and wiped them down before grabbing a bag and putting them all inside. He placed it into his backpack to bring them home once the operation ended.

As for the other martial artists’ weapons? He didn’t touch them. These people didn’t leave an impression on him, so he didn’t fancy their weapons either.

After around an hour, Hai Gao came back while wiping his hands with a handkerchief and saluted Chen Chuan. “He told me everything, sir. The situation is rather complicated. I don’t think we’ll be able to retrieve Lead Investigator Wen’s corpse.”

“Why so?” Chen Chuan asked.

Hai Gao sucked in a deep breath to steady his voice. “He removed Lead Investigator Wen’s skin and bones, processed them, and put them into two different boxes to bring them back and display them as part of his collection. They’re currently in the Linacrox Union’s camp.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s a distance away, and the insect flood is almost here. By the time it passes, it’s unlikely there’ll be anything of it left,” Hai Gao said.

He took out the map he had sketched, spread it out, and pointed at a certain location. “According to him, it should be around here.”

Chen Chuan made some comparisons to figure out the approximate distance before checking the time. It was around one hour before nighttime, and he was going to need more than that to reach the camp. This wasn’t even factoring in the time for coming back. Hai Gao was right. He wouldn’t make it back in time.

Also, due to the insect flood, the people in the campsite might have already left with the two boxes.

He would have to search for them later.

“There’s one more thing. Skin Flayer said that the commander prepared some kind of ritual,” Hai Gao added.

“Did he?”

“That’s what he said, but Skin Flayer also said that he’s just a mercenary and didn’t care about what his employee was planning. The ritual just felt evil and gave him the creeps,” Hai Gao stated.

Chen Chuan nodded. “Anything else?”

“No. I asked him repeatedly, so I’m sure that this is all he knows,” Hai Gao answered.

“Is he still alive?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Keep him alive for now. We can kill him after we find Lead Investigator Wen,” Chen Chuan said.

Hai Gao saluted him. “Understood!”

Chen Chuan returned his gaze to the map to examine the location of the campsite. “A ritual, huh?”

He had a feeling that the campsite wasn’t going to be taken down so easily.

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