Book 3, Chapter 30: Operation Capture The Criminal

The Resolution Department had set the operation as a test for Chen Chuan and didn’t actually put the responsibility of capturing Xiongjian Yi on his shoulders. In order to make sure they ended up capturing the man, they sent over a squad, which had been originally tasked to capture the man.

They had been keeping an eye on Xiongjian Yi from the moment they received news that he was coming back to the Great Shun Republic.

The squad members were miffed at the fact that the higher-ups had sent a newbie to capture Xiongjian Yi. This was normal within the Resolution Department, but none of them wanted to have their work given to a newbie. After all, newbies didn’t have a lot of experience, were unreliable, and far too unpredictable.

Also, over the years, few students backed by the Resolution Department had ever managed to excel immediately upon being sent on an operation. It wasn’t because they weren’t strong, but because most of them didn’t want to get hurt, and when they ran into danger, they didn’t charge straight into it.

This was a smart choice, but it also lowered their marks.

Hence, a lot of the squad grumbled about having to play nannies, but Li Fusheng, their captain, calmed them down with practiced ease.

“Captain Li!”

A squad member rushed over and handed a telegram to Li Fusheng. “We received news that Xiongjian Yi will be taking the Gong family’s True Treasure to Oceanway Port.”

“The Gong family? Why would Xiongjian Yi be on the Gong family’s cruise ship?” Surprised, Li Fusheng scowled.

He checked the telegram. It stated that Wish Carrier, the ferry Xiongjian Yi originally took, broke down halfway through, leading to all the passengers being forced to drift about on the sea. The ship command had sent a telegram asking for help.

At that time, the Gong family’s True Treasure was passing by, so they took everyone on and brought them to the port. The Gong family had changed their travel plans because of that. They sent a telegram ahead of time saying that they intended to discuss a business deal with Enclosed Shore instead of going to Weinan Path.

According to calculations, True Treasure should arrive the next morning.

After reading through the telegram, Li Fusheng immediately ordered, “Give me True Treasure’s navigation chart.”

After a while, a navigation chart was sent to his Realm Pass. According to the chart, True Treasure had truly passed by Wish Carrier, so it seemed like it really was a coincidence.

Li Fusheng recalled the Gong family’s background. In the old era, they were a royal family of a nation formed by multiple islands. They were even officially given the position to rule over the islands during the age of the Great Shun Empire. After the Great Shun Republic was formed, the Gong family aligned with the government on their own and were given an honorary title. Even now, they enjoyed a great reputation among the islanders.

The Gong family also had shares of the large companies and a large network of connections, which gave them a lot of influence.

Gong Zhanyi, True Treasure’s owner, wasn’t the heir to the family. He was merely an important member, who often represented the Gong family in other countries and negotiated with various companies.

The Gong family also had quite a lot of influence in Glowing Dew District. Since they had come to Jibei Road, Xiongjian Yi might use them to protect himself. This would make things much more complicated, especially since the Gong family was going to negotiate with Enclosed Shore.

“What should we do, Captain Li?” one of the squad members asked.

Captain Li pondered over it and said, “We won’t change our plan for now.”

The squad members gave each other high-fives.

Their thought process was simple. Why should they worry about everything? The Gong family only represented a nation of islands. Why should the Great Shun Republic care about showing them respect? They were capturing a criminal. What did that have to do with the Gong family? They should just capture whoever they needed to capture. If the Gong family accused them of humiliating them, then it was entirely their fault for bringing a criminal onto their cruise ship.

Unlike his team, Li Fusheng considered a lot more things and felt that this matter was more complicated than it seemed. But before he had all the details, he wasn’t going to panic and lose his bearings.

***

Back in the Arcane Palace, Chen Chuan continued making preparations step by step.

It was the second of February. At 10 p.m., Ni Qianqian contacted him and said, “We received news that Wish Carrier’s passengers have shifted to the Gong family’s cruise ship. Things might change.”

“The Gong family?”

Ni Qianqian told him all about the Gong family before finishing, “Based on Xiongjian Yi’s past, he’s a brutal and cunning man. If he’s on True Treasure, it’s highly likely that he’ll blend into the Gong family’s entourage to protect himself.”

“I have a question. If he’s a wanted man in the Great Shun Republic and the Gong family is a royal family of islands, the two sides shouldn’t have anything to do with each other. Why can’t we tell the Gong family about it so that they stay away from this?” Chen Chuan asked.

“How should I put this? Capturing criminals is the Resolution Department’s job, while communicating with the Gong family is the Foreign Affairs Department’s job.”

Ni Qianqian thought about her words. “If we want to communicate with the Gong family, we have to go through the Foreign Affairs Department, and things might not go according to plan. Xiongjian Yi might seem like a terrible criminal to us, but to the Foreign Affairs Department, he might just be a trivial matter unworthy of their attention. They might even yell at us for being troublesome and request us to put a stop to our operation. But is this really a trivial matter?”

“No,” Chen Chuan stated.

He had checked the case file. After Xiongjian Yi conducted his crimes, some people suspected him of having functional dysregulation syndrome.

But later on, they checked him and found that it wasn’t the case. He had taken apart more than ten corpses, arranged them in a fixed formation, and hid them in his room. The corpses even had ritual symbols carved into them. Hence, they believed that this was an ancient, bloody, and clearly evil ritual popular on a foreign island.

And that was only the information available to them. Based on the situation in Central City, the higher-ups might have kept a lot more from them.

“That’s right. It’s not. Chen Chuan, it’s all up to you whether we can bring this man to justice tomorrow. The Resolution Department has decided to execute him on the spot. We don’t need him alive, or he might just survive through this.”

Chen Chuan could understand it. If Xiongjian Yi managed to bring this to court, he might just survive and even be absolved of his crimes. So, he said, “I’ll do my best.”

On the third of February, a luxurious cruise ship arrived at Oceanway Port with 120 people and all the passengers it rescued. Thirty-nine of the people were the Gong family’s attendants, while the rest were drivers and security guards.

Once they left the checkpoint, the group got into the cars that had been prepared for them and headed to Ferris Wheel.

Gong Zhanyi was less than thirty, and his skin had a healthy tan. While he wasn’t a proper martial artist, all members of large families like his had to be trained in martial arts, and he appeared to be full of energy.

“Is he still around?” he asked.

“He’s in the seventh car behind us. Our men are with him. I don’t think we’ve managed to keep the news from the Great Shun Republic, but we’ve notified the Foreign Affairs Department in advance,” his manager answered respectfully.

“Has he been acting normally?” Gong Zhanyi asked.

“He was. But when we left the port, the Heavenly Pardon Gang contacted him. We checked. The contact was Wei Wusheng, that person’s senior brother.”

Gong Zhanyi grunted at that. After some time, he gave a simple instruction. “Have everything in order. Make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Understood,” the manager answered respectfully.

***

Meanwhile, Chen Chuan had already reached a three-story house beside the road connecting Oceanway District to Glowing Dew District. It was the place where the Resolution Department had stationed him.

The Resolution Department had already confirmed that Xiongjian Yi would leave the port together with the Gong family’s motorcade. They set up inspections on the roads in other areas, forcing the motorcade to come through this place. There were a few corners on this road, so when the motorcade passed by, they would have to slow down and give Chen Chuan a chance.

Chen Chuan checked his surroundings and contacted Ni Qianqian. “I’ve arrived at my spot.”

“The motorcade is less than ten kilometers away from your spot, so you’ll see them in at most twenty minutes. Our technicians have already checked them. Xiongjian Yi is in the seventh car. There are two security guards and an attendant with him. How do you intend to kill him?” Ni Qianqian asked.

Chen Chuan pondered over it and asked, “Would I have to pay for the car damages?”

Ni Qianqian cackled at that, and Chen Chuan could already imagine her throwing her head back to laugh. Seriously, she was so easily amused. But soon, she stopped laughing and said, “They should be counting their lucky stars for us not holding them accountable for hiding a criminal. How could they even think about making us pay for car damages? If they do, I’ll tell them to fly kites. Once you kill him, they’ll only be able to trash talk the Resolution Department, but that’s not our concern.”

“Then, I have no other questions,” Chen Chuan declared.

“Good. It’s up to you now.”

Once Chen Chuan ended his call with Ni Qianqian, he immediately contacted Wu Bei. “How are things on your end?”

“Having access to a public Realm Node is so nice. I can see everything clearly from my side. The motorcade is headed your way, and they’ll reach your side... in sixteen minutes.

“They have a pretty skilled technician in their team, so you might encounter some interference. Still, it won’t be easy for them to use the public Realm Nodes. For once, I’m fighting on my home turf. I’m not scared of them.”

Chen Chuan could hear his excitement and was glad for it. He checked the things he brought with him and waited for another ten minutes or so before he saw a motorcade in front of him.

***

The station closest to Chen Chuan’s location hid Li Fusheng. He was watching the motorcade move forward through his Realm Pass. Ever since they got off the cruise ship, they had been under their technicians’ eyes.

The technicians had only been able to offer them limited support at first, but since the Gong family was suddenly involved in this matter, the higher-ups had increased technical support for them. They were only in charge of monitoring them and wouldn’t do much else, though.

When the motorcade was about to reach the designated path, he contacted his squad. “Ready?”

“Yes!” they answered with gusto.

Li Fusheng nodded. His expression was one of extreme seriousness. The situation had become more complicated, and if Chen Chuan couldn’t kill Xiongjian Yi, his squad would immediately take his place.

He stared at the motorcade on his screen. The moment they were about to reach the spot where Chen Chuan was to kill Xiongjian Yi, their Realm Passes suddenly turned dark, and his squad members started cursing loudly.

“What’s going on?” Li Fusheng immediately removed his Realm Pass.

“We’re experiencing domain interference, Captain Li,” a technician immediately reported.

Li Fusheng’s expression changed. How could the Gong family perform domain interference within Central City before even meeting with the Foreign Affairs Department? They were clearly breaking the rules.

“Something’s wrong. Tell Chen Chuan to—”

He realized that they couldn’t send messages through their Realm Passes anymore and quickly instructed, “Shao Heng, take your team to Chen Chuan. Hurry!”

“Roger!” a burly squad member immediately responded and drove to the designated place with a team.

Li Fusheng kept his eyes trained on the road while feeling uneasy. He just hoped that nothing had gone wrong...

***

Chen Chuan also saw his Realm Pass going dark, and his connection with Wu Bei was cut off. It wasn’t just limited to Wu Bei, though. His connection with the whole outer world had been cut off.

It wasn’t hard to realize that this was domain interference.

This meant that the Gong family already knew about their plans. Even if they didn’t, they were ready for an attack, since they had intentionally set up a domain interference. Then, should he continue with the operation?

Chen Chuan cast a glance at the motorcade coming his way and decided to act according to the emergency protocol the Resolution Department had set for unforeseen circumstances in operations.

He positioned the Frost King Saber in front of him.

The first car passed by. Right after it came the second and the third.

Chen Chuan slowly began drawing the saber from its sheath.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth cars passed by.

If law enforcers didn’t receive any orders or emergency notifications during unforeseen circumstances, then they were to act according to plan.

He threw the sheath to the side and jumped down from the balcony. The saber rose high above his head, and he swung it down on the car below him.