Book 3, Chapter 56: Extermination

The company building of United Might was located in the Deep End District.

Zhao Qian was in an office on the thirty-first floor. He was enjoying his drink while standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window.

The office had a modern look, with dark metal surfaces and fluorescent lights everywhere. It felt cold and gloomy, yet somehow dazzling.

Rain was flowing down the glass wall and his reflection on it. Zhao Qian was in his early twenties, stood at 1.98 meters, had narrow eyes, a handsome, aloof face, neatly combed hair dyed gray-white, and wore a fitted suit.

On his cheeks and neck was a barely noticeable, embedded line, a sign that he had an implanted Realm Pass.

He had paid good money to custom-make it, so it would be a part of him. It could repair itself through his tissue and wouldn’t bother him while fighting. It even had an internal shield that could effectively fend against attacks from resonators.

He trained his eyes ahead. Over there was a large, dark building. Compared to the areas filled with bright neon lights around it, the building was like a black hole or a dead monster that stood in the rain.

It was Black Orchid Co.’s headquarters shaped in the form of a bud. The building’s long arc only curled inward once it reached the top, which was as high as the heavens themselves. Zhao Qian had been to the building once and knew that there was a passage that went from the company’s underground area straight to the docking platform on the roof. Only the president and board of directors could use it, though.

The headquarters had once shone brilliantly, but now, there was not even a sign of it left. Black Orchid Co. had withered and faded away. The government had taken everything valuable from it, including its building, while the other companies split up their businesses and filled up their market.

Based on information that was leaked later, the active biosentient entity Black Orchid Co. developed was destroyed forty-three years ago. This meant that the company had never had a chance to rise to the top.

The attack they suffered later was simply the continuation of what happened forty-three years ago. Even though Black Orchid Co. didn’t want to accept defeat and kept struggling to stay alive, they had all their petals torn off and devoured.

When Zhao Qian first arrived at Central City, he immediately realized the trouble Black Orchid Co. was in and joined United Might. He also shifted part of the Zhao family’s business to Central City in secret. What remained in Yangzhi City was just the businesses they had together with Black Orchid Co. He couldn’t do anything about those, because they couldn’t sever their ties out of nowhere.

He hadn’t told his family about what was going on with Black Orchid Co. because even though the company was in decline, they could still easily control the Zhao family. Hence, Zhao Qian couldn’t say anything, just get ready in the dark to help his family swim away while the ship sank.

It showed up to have been the right choice. Since they had decided to not get involved with Black Orchid any further, his family wasn’t dragged into the mess. However, since he was still a member of the Zhao family, he got some benefits when Black Orchid Co. collapsed, but also some trouble.

The government investigated him, and the company called him in for questioning, forcing Zhao Qian to use his connections and money to solve the problem. Since then, he had spent most of his energy dealing with these matters. Fortunately, most of them had been taken care of by now.

Finally, he had some time to enjoy his favorite Alcoholic Blood, a unique drink that could make his mutated tissue more active and improve his mood.

Just then, he received an internal communication request on his Realm Pass.

He connected to the call and asked, “What is it?”

“We received some information from the Arcane Palace, Young Master. You might want to take a look.”

“Send it over.”

Zhao Qian took a sip from his glass, just as a student’s information appeared on the screen in front of him. The moment he saw the name, his eyes widened.

He remembered very clearly this student playing a key role in destroying the Mutual Aid Group and Black Orchid Co..

That day, Wei Jun had asked him for help, and Zhao Qian had hired a man to kill Chen Chuan, but he was intercepted on his way to Yangzhi City. Later on, he heard that the Mutual Aid Group was destroyed, various families and companies came under government investigation, and Black Orchid Co. went down.

It was highly likely that this student was a government pawn. There was no way he could have participated in this series of events by pure coincidence, and he even seemed to have been the one who pushed the first domino.

Zhao Qian had known about him getting recommended to come to the main campus, but he had been busy with his own problems and didn’t have the time nor energy to pay attention to it.

But now, with his information plastered on his screen, his good mood was ruined.

He read through everything, and the frown on his face deepened. When he reached the end, his expression turned dark, because it showed that the student’s chances of reaching the Third Limit were at 81%.

81%…

His gaze turned cold. While numerical data couldn’t accurately reflect a person’s real strength, it showed the baseline. With those numbers, it was basically a fact that the student would reach the Third Limit.

Once the student entered the Third Limit, he’d be a match for Zhao Qian and could do many things. If he or some other people believed that the Mutual Aid Group case was not over, then…

Zhao Qian couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. If he did, there was no guarantee that the student would not come for him. Would he even believe that Zhao Qian didn’t have any plans to kill him?

That was impossible. Since Zhao Qian was tied to the Zhao family and the Mutual Aid Group, it was set in stone that one of them had to die.

He had to kill the student while he was still weak instead of fighting him when he was strong.

Being a decisive man, Zhao Qian logged onto the Secret Python Cult’s platform through his Realm Pass and went to the site available only to the internal members. Then, he made his intentions known.

“I need to apply for an extermination.”

He intended to hire the cult’s assassins to kill Chen Chuan. This was the simplest, most direct method to get rid of him. All the meticulously laid out plans and traps were only for show and would give the student a chance to grow.

An application form immediately appeared on his screen, and a void told him to fill out the target’s name and other known details.

Zhao Qian immediately filled in everything he knew. After some internal debating, however, he didn’t mention the assumptions he had about Chen Chuan’s background.

With the form filled, he submitted it.

Soon, the voice said, “We’ve received your form. Do you have an exterminator you’d like to request? If you don’t, we can recommend one for you based on your target and your financial situation.”

“I want Phantom Form to do this,” Zhao Qian said darkly. Phantom Form had bizarre assassination methods but was highly skilled. Most important of all, he had never failed a mission.

“We’ve accepted your request and sent it to Phantom Form to see whether he is available for the mission. We will give you a reply within forty-eight hours. Please wait patiently.”

***

After taking his second assessment, Chen Chuan rested in his room so that his mutated tissue could recover from overworking and absorb the nutrients from the Treasure Paste.

On the second day, right after he left his room, the university asked, “Chen Chuan, you have been found to have reached the requirements set for you for your technique. Would you like to take your test ahead of time?”

He considered it for a moment before rejecting the idea.

The test was going to be a one-off thing, and the scores would affect his assessment points. Chen Chuan believed that he still had much to learn in terms of technique, so he decided to wait.

After leaving the Arcane Palace, he went to Mr. Zheng’s house. The moment they met, Mr. Zheng took one look at him and said confidently, “You’ve improved, Chen Chuan.”

Chen Chuan was quite surprised by that.

Mr. Zheng only smiled and said, “It’s a gut feeling. The instincts of martial artists are quite useful like that.”

Chen Chuan figured he must have improved after his fight with Hongfu, but he had also been improving every day, so he didn’t feel it.

Speaking of which, Hongfu was actually the best sparring partner. No matter how much he improved and what technique he used, she was always able to match him. Not only did he not have to worry about hurting her, but she was also able to improve with him.

This meant that the assessment wasn’t just an assessment, but also a great chance to train. But this chance was only available three times. The limited time was probably due to the university needing to use up some sort of resource to do this.

After they exchanged a few words, Mr. Zheng brought Chen Chuan to the training ground. Zheng Tongtong was already waiting there. “We’re starting combat training today. Have a fight with Tongtong first of all. I’ll decide what you need to focus on based on what I see.”

“Got it.” Chen Chuan drew the Frost King Saber out and moved to the center of the training ground, where he gave Zheng Tongtong a fist-and-palm salute.

“Please go easy on me, Senior Zheng.”

Zheng Tongtong returned the salute and said frankly, “Sure thing. Be careful now, Chen Chuan.”

He cast a glance at the saber in Zheng Tongtong’s hands. This time, she held a broadsword. It had to be her preferred weapon.

Since this was going to be a proper fight, Zheng Tongtong wasn’t going to stand still. She should bring out her true strength now.

Chen Chuan took a few steps back and gave her a nod before launching into an attack. He thrust his saber forward, but it wasn’t fast. This was mainly a move to test the waters.

With a twirl around Chen Chuan’s saber, Zheng Tongtong flicked it away. Their weapons connected briefly before separating. Both sides didn’t unleash their full power, or rather, they only released a portion of their refined force. The other portion was hidden away in preparation to be released.

Mr. Zheng’s eyes lit up. He could already tell how Chen Chuan was using his refined force. He was splitting his mutated tissue into two groups and using them in groups.

That was what he had been thinking about teaching Chen Chuan later, but clearly, the youth had figured it out on his own long ago. This was a pleasant surprise.

But there were some tricks to this as well. Chen Chuan needed to know a breathing technique that could help him restrain his refined force and protect himself, along with a refined force technique that could help him make the switch.

Mr. Zheng could tell that Chen Chuan was relying on his great endurance to withstand the yank and pull between the different refined forces. This could easily lead to him getting hurt.

Still, Mr. Zheng didn’t stop him. He would only do it at the first sign of trouble. Chen Chuan could recover from such an injury with medicine in no time. It would also deepen his understanding and memory of what Mr. Zheng was going to teach him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep