Chapter 403 - 73: Deterrence, Wild Ambition

WHOOSH!!

A cool wind blew past, and an aluminum can rolled along the corner of the narrow alleyway, clattering as it went.

The RAT-TAT-TAT of gunfire echoed from a distant block, growing fainter and fainter.

Looking up, he could see laundry swaying in the wind on the balconies of the nearby apartment buildings, looking as if it could fall from its hangers and drift down from the high-rises at any moment.

His gaze swept over it all.

Lu Chao turned to look back down the alley from where he had come.

The two-meter-wide concrete path was completely empty, save for the walls of the residential buildings on either side and a few trash cans.

But his Life Sensing enveloped the entire area.

He detected a biological magnetic field at the peak of the Exploration Level. The person was standing at the far end of the opposite alley, feet planted on the wall, only a few dozen meters away from him.

WHOOSH!!

The breeze picked up again, gusting through the alley.

The rolling can came to a stop at Lu Chao’s feet. He didn’t look down, his gaze fixed seriously in that direction.

’An adept from the Biotechnology Company?’

’Or a Mage from the God-Worshiping Church?’

’With this kind of concealment technique, another Superpower Level individual—even one at the Exploration Level—might not have noticed. It suppresses almost all heat and life signatures. It’s true invisibility.’

However, he was certain that an Invisibility Technique derived from Magic would have a hard time reaching this level of proficiency.

"Are you from the Dark Web?"

Lu Chao suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

The atmosphere was quiet. The other person remained where they were, seemingly observing his movements.

Curiosity, provocation, suspicion... and a hint of astonishment and surprise.

Lu Chao sensed all these emotions directed at him. The silence lasted for a good ten seconds or more.

"Interesting."

A calm male voice finally spoke, clearly belonging to the other person.

"To think you could even detect me. It seems you really are the Celestial Hunter."

’Oh?’

Lu Chao raised an eyebrow. ’I can’t believe I actually guessed right.’

After all, he had just left the Dark Web branch, and someone was already on his tail. There was bound to be a connection.

It was highly likely the other party had been staking out the area and noticed something.

"It seems you want to challenge me."

Lu Chao asked in a deliberately low and indifferent tone, staring at the spot where the person was hidden.

The silence returned for a few moments before the other person admitted, "I do want to challenge you."

"But..."

He glanced toward the distant city block, where the sounds of fighting were gradually subsiding.

"The pay the Tan family is offering me isn’t enough. I have no intention of letting them take advantage."

WHOOSH!

The moment he finished speaking, a fierce wind kicked up.

Lu Chao stood his ground, not moving, merely arching an eyebrow slightly.

Because in his Life Sensing, the other person was rapidly retreating, until they vanished from his perception entirely.

’He’s gone?’

He was a little surprised. He had expected a tough fight.

The sense of crisis he’d felt earlier hadn’t been false. It meant this person truly possessed the strength to threaten him and also harbored a certain degree of malice.

However, for a brief exchange to make him retreat so decisively, Lu Chao couldn’t help but speculate.

’It seems seeing through his invisibility superpower made him wary.’

With a flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao confirmed that the person was truly gone.

The vague, intuitive sense of danger had also completely vanished.

He figured the legend of the Celestial Hunter also played a part. The combination of the two factors must have been what made him choose to retreat.

’Still...’

He turned, walked through the alley, and headed straight for the Superpower Bureau’s apartment building.

Lu Chao glanced from afar in the direction of the Jinggang Chamber of Commerce.

’The Tan family’s payment...’

He recalled the last thing the man had said.

It was obvious the Tan family had hired him to test him.

The man had revealed this, perhaps because he wanted to sit back and watch the show, hoping to incite a fight between him and the Tan family so he could reap the benefits.

’Quite the schemer.’

Lu Chao shook his head, then retracted his gaze.

He silently made a mental note of this incident, and of the Tan family.

He finally left Block Three.

...

「At the same time.」

VMMMM!

"Dammit, they got away."

A hovercar slowly descended at the end of a block riddled with bullet marks.

Advisor Sun’s face was grim. The street before him was covered in scorch marks, and flames licked at a car parked on the roadside.

A massive wall of rock and earth, as solid as concrete, stretched across the mouth of an alley, blocking the way.

The two black-robed figures who had been cornered and pursued had used bizarre methods and had already vanished without a trace.

"There’s something off about those two."

The lead Superpower Level security consultant walked over slowly, his peak Exploration Level aura on full display.

BOOM!

He shattered the earthen wall blocking the path with a single punch. The resulting shockwave dispersed the surrounding cold, sinister energy, shredding phantom pythons made of shadow and turning them into scattering specks of black light.

The remaining elite security personnel took the opportunity to regroup, quickly gathering under the lead of a third Superpower Level individual.

In addition, drones fanned out once more, heading straight for the surrounding alleys in an attempt to find traces of the black-robed figures again.

"Their methods really are similar to the Green Demon’s."

"I think those two must be his accomplices. It’s highly probable they’re connected to the God-Worshiping Church."

the man analyzed. Advisor Sun’s expression shifted upon hearing this, and he nodded.

The Green Demon they had been hunting had vanished without a trace. Now, unexpectedly, two more black-robed individuals with similar methods had appeared, secretly infiltrating Biotechnology, apparently intending to perform some kind of destructive ritual.

"The God-Worshiping Church..."

At this thought, Advisor Sun’s brow furrowed. He felt his mission was becoming more and more troublesome.

Those madmen always liked to conduct strange rituals and perform blood sacrifices.

Perhaps that was why Young Master Ruan had been targeted back then.

If that was truly the case, then the difficulty of taking revenge and settling the score was self-evident. After all, the methods of these church members were exceptionally difficult to deal with.

Lost in thought.