Book 4, Chapter 266: Uncovering Secrets And Discovering Truths

Tall City Hotel was one of the hotels in Deep Valley City with the best defenses. Jibei Road’s Central City had invested in it and permanently stationed an entire battalion of combatants there.

Whenever a military officer from the merged space came to the city, they would stay in this hotel.

Chen Chuan had booked an officer’s quarters with his fake ID. Its security measures were the best, and it would also make it easier for him to get all sorts of information, because there were plenty of information brokers and contact people around the hotel. In less than three hours after his arrival, he received calls from no fewer than five agent companies and people who claimed to be agents. All of them offered their services to him, should he have anything difficult that he couldn’t do on his own.

They believed that there was no way a young military officer would have come here purely for military purposes. Even if he was, he could still have someone else do some of his work for him. This wasn’t the first time they did this sort of thing, anyway.

However, Chen Chuan didn’t need their help. Instead, he contacted the group that Yao Zhiyi had hired to collect the information for him.

He had read through what they had given last time and learned that the Tree of True Forms might really be in the village marked on the map. If he wanted to solve this in the way of a martial arts master, the simplest way was to charge in, find the tree, and destroy it before any of the villagers could react to his presence.

But first, he needed to make sure that the Tree of True Forms was really in the village, because it could actually move. Otherwise, he would have been able to locate it based on the tunnel Hongfu opened when he fought against Ling Jianxing.

If he ended up startling the tree, it would just become even harder to find.

Also, even without this particular problem, the restrictions placed on him from the contract made it hard to act. Since the situation was unclear, he couldn’t attack those under the Fourth Limit and use his power whenever he wanted.

He understood this particular restriction and supported it, though. Without it, the world would have descended into chaos a long time ago. Even though most martial arts masters didn’t want to waste their energy for no reason, some might have a few screws loose in their heads, and no one could tell whether they were insane or not. If such people used their mental energy, they could easily cause a lot of chaos.

Chen Chuan used his Realm Pass, went to a certain platform, and sent his message. Less than half a minute later, he got his response. The person stated that he was the captain of Crimson Bones, and he would come to meet him in a bit.

Chen Chuan gave the guards downstairs a heads-up. Soon, he heard footsteps outside, followed by gentle knocking. “The door’s unlocked. Come in.”

The person outside came in slowly, seemingly to give him time to get mentally prepared.

Chen Chuan gave him a quick onceover. The captain was a bald man in his thirties. He had a fierce face and obviously implanted skin and lines signalling that he had many implants all over his head. Chen Chuan could also see small bulges on his torso, a sign that he also had defensive implants.

These weren’t superficial implants either, like Han Cheng’s. They were implants that made the man dangerous to regular combatants.

Despite his fearsome appearance, he was timid around Chen Chuan. He bowed and greeted him, “You must be the one the chancellor introduced to us, sir. Please call me Bao Mi.”

When he stepped inside, he had quickly observed Chen Chuan. Based on his experience, he instinctively felt that this stranger was not to be messed with. His heart was trembling in fear from just standing in front of him.

Besides, since a martial arts master had introduced them, he was sure that Chen Chuan was no regular person either. He might also be one of them.

He felt a shiver crawl up his spine, and he didn’t dare to think more. He remained incredibly meek and respectful.

Chen Chuan asked him to sit. “Since you referred to Mr. Yao as the chancellor, did you graduate from Martial Valor University?”

“No. We just call him that because everyone else is doing that. When we served in the army, Mr. Yao gathered some talented people to teach them martial arts, but I’m stupid, so I didn’t manage to learn much. In the end, I have to rely on implants to earn a living,” Bao Mi said.

Chen Chuan gave him an inquisitive look. If a martial arts master gathered a group of talented people to teach them martial arts, they had to be the elites of the army. They might have even been gathered together because they had to carry out some special mission. But Bao Mi was very tight-lipped. Even though it sounded like he had revealed some information, he actually hadn’t. This boosted his image in Chen Chuan’s heart.

“I got your contacts from Mr. Yao. Based on what you learned, the thing I’m trying to find might be in that village, but you mentioned that you aren’t sure of it?” Chen Chuan said.

“That’s right. An informant brought us word of it, and his description matched our target. It’s close to what you requested, but we’ve never actually seen it, and we don’t know whether our informant actually saw it in the village or just heard about it from someone else. That’s why we can’t be sure about its existence. We don’t ever scam our clients, so we made our doubts clear in the report,” Bao Mi stated.

“That’s why I need to go and take a look at it myself without revealing my identity. Since you have an informant there, you should have a communication channel with the village. Could you get things ready for me?” Chen Chuan requested.

“I wouldn’t take up this gig if you were anyone else. That place is full of combatants, and they don’t usually let outsiders inside. This gig would not only bring trouble to my guys, but might also result in the death of my client. But since the chancellor sent you our way, I’ll accept it,” Bao Mi said before rubbing his hands together. “But if you have any other work for us in the future, could you hire us again?”

Chen Chuan smiled, finding Bao Mi quite interesting. “I don’t mind, but aren’t you worried that I won’t make it back?”

Bao Mi laughed. “I’m a good judge of character. The moment I saw you, I knew that you were an important person. I couldn’t be sure about anyone else, but I’m confident in you.”

Chen Chuan watched him for a while. The people in every stratum of society developed their own way of survival. Bao Mi had his own strengths that let him work in this field until now and become favored by Yao Zhiyi. “How soon can you get it done?”

Bao Mi didn’t immediately start making promises. Instead, he said cautiously, “I need to make some calls.”

He tapped on his Realm Pass, and light flashed in his eyes. After a while, he looked up and said, “What a coincidence. We just got someone asking us to send goods to that village. I’ve had my guys snatch that gig up. The client is in a hurry to get this done and wants us to do it by tomorrow. You can come with us.”

He sized up Chen Chuan. “But you’ll need to put on a disguise. Your face and demeanor stand out too much. You’d stick out like a sore thumb if you go with us. Anyone could see you from a mile away.”

“We’ll do it your way. I’ll make sure to pay you handsomely,” Chen Chuan promised.

“Eh, you don’t have to promise me payment. If the chancellor recommended you, I trust you.” Bao Mi stood up. “I’ll let you rest now. We’ll come and get you tomorrow before 8 a.m.. Will that work for you?”

“I’m okay with that time,” Chen Chuan said.

“Okay. I’ll be leaving now. Please rest well, sir.”

After Bao Mi left the room, he took the elevator downstairs. The members of his group surrounded him below. “Did you see our client?”

Bao Mi nodded and looked up. “This isn’t any regular gig.”

“Duh. The chancellor recommended it to us. There’s no way it’d be a regular gig.”

“It’s not the same.” Bao Mi waved his hand to indicate no and whispered, “Our client might be a truly important person. I have a feeling that we’ll be really rich after this gig, brothers.”

A big man who obviously had far too many implants asked excitedly, “Did he promise to give us a lot of money?”

Bao Mi gave him a look and said earnestly, “That’s why we call you Blockhead, Blockhead. Money isn’t the most important thing we can get from such people. It’s favors! Why do you think we were able to make our group grow so much? Is it because the chancellor pays us good money? No! It’s because of the favors from him!”

“But how’s that more important than money?” Blockhead mumbled.

Bao Mi gave him a look that practically screamed, “I can’t get through to you,” and dismissed him with a wave. He turned to a lean man with an implanted arm. “Iron Claw, this is an important gig. The people here won’t cut it. Get Gray Wolf and Lazy Bear.”

“I’ll get it done before noon,” the lean man promised.

Bao Mi then called over a curvaceous woman in a short dress with implanted makeup. “Molly, get all your weapons over.”

Molly was surprised. “Aren’t we just going on an escort mission? Do we really need to bring the big guns?”

“I have a feeling that this is a big gig. Bring them all along. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Bao Mi said.

The group schooled their expressions. The last time their captain was this serious, their group had nearly been wiped out. They only managed to survive because Bao Mi had prepared beforehand and considered all factors. It was also after they managed to successfully wrap up that gig that they became a famous group in Deep Valley City.

“Let’s split up to get ready.”

“Got it!”

***

After talking to Bao Mi, all the messages and calls from the other mercenary groups and agent companies stopped coming. Chen Chuan drew the curtains, took his suitcase to the training room, ate some food, and began his training.

In the beginning, he would ruin everything around him when he practiced the Blinding Blaze or the Fist of the Vast Sky, but now, he had gained some mastery over the two techniques. Whenever he practiced the moves he had already learned, he could restrict their power and seldom destroyed his surroundings.

***

The night passed. The next morning, Chen Chuan opened his eyes and got out of his meditative state. Almost at the same time, he heard a voice from his Realm Pass.

“We’re downstairs, sir. You can see us through your window.”

Chen Chuan stood up and went to the window. When he pulled the curtains back to take a look, he saw an armored fleet of cars in the square across from the hotel. Bao Mi stood out among the group, since he was the only bald man there. He flashed a bright grin at him, and Chen Chuan said, “I’m coming down.”

He had gotten ready the day before, so after grabbing some things, he left with his suitcase in hand. He took the elevator down, stepped out of the hotel’s entrance, and walked to the fleet of cars.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.