Book 4, Chapter 243: Chasing Down Abnormal Trails Through Clues

“Are all the records here?” Chen Chuan asked.

“We also have some professional examinations,” Bao Ning quickly said.

“I don’t need that. Do you have any tissue you extracted from their bodies?” Chen Chuan asked.

Bao Ning didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

He knew that at this point, he needed to cooperate with Chen Chuan in every way possible to minimize the effects and make up for their mistakes. He gave an order to his assistant, who nodded and brought a briefcase. Then, he carefully took glass tubes out from it.

Chen Chuan checked them. Blood was contained in the tubes, and it was quite thick. The blood had a brilliant, golden-red hue, and as he stared at it, the glass tubes floated, as if grabbed by an invisible hand. They swiftly rushed to him.

Despite looking calm, Zhu Xian couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes. This was the first time he saw such a thing, and he gained a deeper understanding of martial arts masters.

The two glass tubes shattered.

They were shocked, but the blood did not fall to the floor. Chen Chuan’s eyes were shining as he used his mental energy to observe the biological information contained in the blood.

He wasn’t getting any sort of numerical data from it. Instead, he was observing the mental energy and biofield. It would give him a general understanding of the two people’s current situation and make it easy for him to find them.

A moment passed, and he gained a good understanding of the owners of the blood. He also found some information from a long time ago. It was at least a few centuries old.

Aside from this, he had sensed that the two took some sort of special nutritional food that allowed them to survive until now.

After he was done, the blood evaporated. Bao Ning and the others from Enclosed Shore stood by silently and did not say anything about that.

“Before I take over the case, I’ll need to check the place where you found those two people. Is it far from here?” Chen Chuan asked.

“No. It won’t even take an hour by an airship. We’ll make the arrangements,” Bao Ning answered.

Enclosed Shore was efficient. In less than twenty minutes, Chen Chuan boarded the airship sent by the branch company.

On the way to the discovery site, Chen Chuan asked Bao Ning a few more questions about the attack. According to what he heard, he came to the same conclusion as Bao Ning did after the investigation: Someone within Enclosed Shore or a member of a foreign faction had snuck in and participated in the strike.

This made things much more complicated.

Why would they attack? Did they notice something special about the two people? Did the attackers know something they didn’t?

“We’re conducting a strict internal investigation. If we have any progress, we’ll submit a report to you. Please trust us. We’ll do our best for the sake of the nation’s safety,” Bao Ning promised.

“I hope you succeed,” Chen Chuan said.

Half an hour later, the airship arrived above the icy plains. Bao Ning pointed in a direction. “It’s over there, Director Chen.”

Chen Chuan looked through the slanted porthole and saw two large outlines on the ground. They were both around thirty meters in length. Enclosed Shore had managed to preserve the scene pretty well, so the positions in which the two people were in when they were excavated could still be seen.

Chen Chuan looked into the distance. “Go a little higher.”

Bao Ning immediately gave the orders, and the pilot rose higher. This gave Chen Chuan extra information about the situation on the ground.

A pensive look appeared on his face. When Bao Ning and the other employees saw it, their expressions changed.

A little further away from the outlines was a large mark that looked like a human footprint. At a glance, it seemed like someone had stomped down on the two people and buried them underground.

Bao Ning’s heart trembled. “Director Chen, what’s this?”

“I can’t tell yet. Let’s go down. I need to take a closer look,” Chen Chuan said calmly.

The airship immediately started going down. Soon, it was only around ten meters above ground. Chen Chuan went to the observation deck, and plenty of shattered pieces floated up.

Enclosed Shore had gathered almost everything. There wasn’t even a lot of sand and dirt left. However, Chen Chuan was mainly sensing with his biofield to see whether there was anything abnormal in this place. But after observing the area for a while, he didn’t notice anything. The evidence must have disappeared in the years since the event happened.

“Let’s go to the crime scene,” he said.

“Alright.”

The airship flew northwest. In less than an hour, they saw a railway. It was the secret one only for military use. At the very least, Chen Chuan had not known of its existence.

They traveled for another half an hour or so before they saw the place where the attack happened. The remains of the train were still present. Behind it was a railway maintenance truck. Some security guards from the company were standing around the area. When they saw the company’s airship, they fired a signal flare to say that it was safe to come over.

“After the attack, we had the place locked down and decided to report this matter to the Defense Bureaus of Haixi Road and Jibei Road. Fortunately, you were in Yangzhi City, so we could send the message to you so quickly,” Bao Ning said.

“Did you inject nutrient-dense fluid into them?” Chen Chuan asked after observing the place.

“Yes. To make sure they stayed alive, we injected some nutrient-dense fluid into them, but not much. It was only enough to keep them alive,” Bao Ning said.

Chen Chuan nodded. “I’ll go and take a look.”

He walked forward and jumped down. As everyone watched, he plunged down. When he was about to land, his biofield spread out, and his body floated to the ground.

The security guards were shocked upon seeing this. After touching the ground, Chen Chuan walked toward them, and they quickly made way for him.

Chen Chuan reached the side of the train. After taking a look around, he became sure that it had imploded. Then, the carriages had fallen to the side. Based on what remained of the biofield signals, one of the martial arts masters was taken away by an airship or a flying thing. As for the other...

He traced the track.

The other one had left on their own.

In an instant, he vanished from his spot. The people in the icy plains only felt a strong wind blow past them, followed by a low, thunder-like rumble.

From the airship, Bao Ning saw a straight trail on the ground heading to the conifer forest in the distance. His assistant asked, “Should we follow him, Mr. Bao?”

Bao Ning considered it. “No. We’ll stay here and wait for news.”

***

Around thirty minutes after Chen Chuan left, he slowed down and started walking.

There was a collapsed tree before him, and sitting on its stump was a pale, blond man. He looked exactly like he did in the photo, though he had shrunk to around two meters. He was emaciated, and his skin stuck to his bones.

At that moment, there was a large, torn apart bear by his feet. Aside from the head, most of it had been eaten. The man was still gnawing on a bear’s arm, but none of the blood stained his body. Anything that spewed out or fell down was kept away from his body by an invisible force.

The man ignored Chen Chuan and simply continued eating.

Chen Chuan stopped thirty meters away. He wasn’t in a hurry to start anything and simply waited.

Soon, the man finished eating the bear’s arm and even the bone. Once he was done, he looked up.

“Who are you?” Chen Chuan asked.

The man said something to him. Even though Chen Chuan couldn’t understand him, the language reminded him of Rolousean with some ancient vernacular expressions mixed into it.

Chen Chuan put on a custom-made Realm Pass and tapped it. When he spoke again, his Realm Pass translated his speech to Rolousean.

“Who are you?”

The man was stunned. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Chen Chuan to understand him. He cast a glance at the Realm Pass, and understanding appeared on his face. “An artifact, is it? You must be a conqueror general from the Eastern Continent.”

When Chen Chuan heard the translation, he said, “There aren’t any conqueror generals here. If there were, I’d kill them.”

The man was taken aback for a moment, then laughed. He stood up while swaying, but soon managed to straighten his back.

“I’m Zalnik, a champion hunter. I came here with another warrior to hunt an Akkala Demon, but we ran into an accident. When I woke up, I found myself somewhere behind you.” He puffed out his chest before rolling his neck and letting out creaking sounds. “Many years have passed since then, hasn’t it?”

He wasn’t stupid. Even though the geographical terrain hadn’t changed much, based on the clothes and language of the people around him as well as the loss of his own energy, he could tell that he had lost a lot of time.

“I don’t like you, so I’ll leave and return to my tribe. I hope you won’t stop me.”

Chen Chuan stared at him for a bit before saying calmly, “You’re not telling the truth. You’re carrying something that you found here, in our land.”

Zalnik’s expression changed. He flew into a rage and roared, “You tracked us down for it, didn’t you?! None of you people from the Eastern Continent can be trusted!”

He charged forward. The dirt under his feet and the trees around him exploded. A brilliant, blood-red light shot out from him, and with a loud bang, he arrived in front of Chen Chuan.

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