Book 3, Chapter 179: Fight

The location was in a gray zone both groups controlled. It was near the entrance of a tunnel.

The next day, Clear Road Transport sent more than twenty mid-sized and small cars out of the base, along with more than a hundred motorbikes.

Even though the road was bright enough that they could see it clearly, they still turned on their headlights.

Most of the members who came out were from the security team of the original Clear Road Transport, so they could not be underestimated.

In truth, the original security team wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in a normal crossfire. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted until now. But they couldn’t do anything against a Third Limit martial artist, which was why Toxic Ants had been suppressing them and taking over their territories and businesses.

If Lao Bian had been willing to work even a little, this wouldn’t have happened. This was what pissed the group off the most about him. When they learned that Lan Shennan had fired Lao Bian and hired another Third Limit martial artist, only a handful of people had misgivings and were worried. Most of them cheered and supported her decision.

Setting aside everything else, the new Third Limit martial artist had asked for a fight with Toxic Ants the moment he joined them and showed no signs of backing out from a confrontation. Instead of wondering whether he was strong or not, they supported him because of this act alone.

Lan Shennan had prepared firearms for everyone. She also sent some members ahead to liaise with them at important crossroads and to serve as scouts in order to prevent Toxic Ants from launching a pincer attack or ambush them while Chen Chuan fought against Gai Er.

The motorcade arrived at the place way ahead of the time of the fight. Once they were there, they saw that some of Toxic Ants had also arrived. They had begun setting up road barricades and barriers.

Lan Shennan ignored them and had her members retrieve the sandbags and barricades they brought with them. Just like Toxic Ants, they started setting up.

Neither side acknowledged the other and just did their own thing.

Lao Cao got out of his car and stared at Toxic Ants in silence.

Seeing this, Xiao Ding went up to him and took a look at Toxic Ants as well. Curious, he asked, “What’s wrong, Lao Cao? What are you staring at?”

“Some of them were originally part of us. I recognize some faces,” Lao Cao said.

Xiao Ding didn’t see it that way. “The ones who stayed are our real members. Don’t forget, they ran when we were in hot water. Lao Cao, you treat them as your friends, but they’re not doing the same to you.”

“I’m not finding it regrettable that we lost them. I’m just thinking about how prosperous we were when Mr. Li was still around. Now...” Lao Cao trailed off and shook his head.

“Yeah, business was good when Mr. Li was around, but we didn’t get much of that money. Why else would so many of them leave the moment we were in trouble? We don’t even know where Mr. Li is now. I reckon he’s already gone to the upper city district to enjoy life,” Xiao Ding grumbled.

While Mr. Li wasn’t a citizen, he had money, and there were plenty of citizens who were dirt poor. If he hired some of them, he could enjoy the rest of his life drowning in money.

Lao Cao sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

The Iron Fist Gang wasn’t that much weaker than the Moss Gang, but they had suddenly disbanded. The series of problems Clear Road Transport encountered later couldn’t be a coincidence either. The truth behind it was likely very complicated.

Chen Chuan sat at the front of an RV at the back and drank hot tea. As he watched Toxic Ants set things up, he waited for his opponent.

To others, the lower city district was chaotic and lawless, so people who fought their way to the top in such a place should be stronger than those in the upper city district.

But most of the people who fled to the lower city district had lost in the competition for power. The resources in the lower city district weren’t as great either. Also, the quality of one’s opponents determined their skill level.

Fighting against the weaker people in the lower city district all the time or not fighting at all left them weaker.

That was why, overall, the martial artists in the lower city district were weaker than those in the upper city district, but when it came to the best among them, one couldn’t just slap this stereotype on them. After all, some people came here due to special reasons, and they couldn’t be regarded with normal logic.

Just then, a Toxic Ants member walked over and said some things to Clear Road Transport.

Lan Shennan’s voice then reached Chen Chuan through the Realm Pass. “Toxic Ants said that Gai Er will be a little late.”

“We’ll wait, then,” Chen Chuan answered calmly.

This was, without a doubt, Gai Er’s attempt to wear him down. Using this sort of tactic in such a fight was completely meaningless, in Chen Chuan’s absolutely humble opinion.

He was going to wait for Gai Er, regardless. Besides, Chen Chuan had already mastered controlling his emotions. He could even use this time to practice his breathing technique to get ready.

Lan Shennan did not let her guard down, since she was worried that Toxic Ants would pull a fast one on them. She said, “I’ll check the surroundings.”

Chen Chuan grunted at that and grabbed the papers regarding the lower city district. Clear Road Transport had given them to him before coming here, so he read them while sipping a freshly brewed cup of hot tea.

Some time later, a car drove over slowly. It was a modified armored car with the face of a snarling, fearsome tiger spray-painted on its front.

Behind the car was a convertible. A few people with multi-colored hair sat in it, and Chen Chuan could immediately tell that they were part of the Moss Gang.

Based on their clothes and expressions, he could also tell that these weren’t regular gang members, but the leaders. Once they arrived, some Toxic Ants members immediately went up to greet them.

“Gai Er is here,” Lan Shennan said.

Chen Chuan set the papers aside and looked over again. The armored car had stopped right in front of Toxic Ants. The car door opened, and a muscular man stepped out. He was dressed in the same maroon martial arts uniform, wore a thick, black belt, and held a folded three-section staff, just like in the photo.

When he walked forward, Chen Chuan saw a few scars on Gai Er’s chin. His gaze, too, was sharp and fierce. There was even an unruly, rebellious look on his face.

Chen Chuan set aside his tea and grabbed the Frost King Saber before getting out of the RV and walking to Gai Er.

As the people from both sides watched them, Chen Chuan and Gai Er slowly approached each other.

There was a collapsed Sun Vine on the emptied space. While it shone with bright light, the illumination was uneven and scattered everywhere. When wind blew out of the tunnel, the vine swayed. The light coming out of it, along with the intersecting shadows swayed along with it.

The two men stood on the empty space.

One of the leaders of the Moss Gang stared at Chen Chuan and scanned him with his Realm Pass before sending the information away. After a while, he heard a reply and sat up straight.

“Yes... You want me to call him back?”

He whipped his head to the empty space and said, “But Gai Er has already gone over... Alright, I’ll keep an eye out.”

***

Lao Bian was also paying attention to the fight. His moles in Clear Road Transport were reporting the whole thing to him.

Even though their Realm Passes weren’t good enough to let him see the details of a Third Limit fight, that was fine. All he wanted was the end result.

At this moment, Chen Chuan and Gai Er had already arrived in front of each other and stopped walking.

Gai Er slung the three-section staff on his shoulder and said in a teasing yet threatening voice, “I can’t believe there’s still someone who’ll help Clear Road when they’re almost done for.

“You came here because you broke the law, didn’t you? Seriously, you just got here, so why throw your life away?

“Listen to me, brother. You can still back out of this. If we start fighting, I can’t promise you that I’ll hold back. I’m giving you a chance to walk away now. Take it, or you’re going to die here.”

Chen Chuan realized that Gai Er knew nothing about him. Didn’t he even do his homework before stepping into the “ring”?

Gai Er really didn’t know anything, because Toxic Ants never bothered to do their homework. The moment Clear Road Transport asked for a fight, they said yes as if their lives depended on it.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

It wasn’t because they trusted in Gai Er’s strength, but because they thought that it was impossible for Clear Road Transport to be able to hire anyone powerful at this point in time. If they had been able to do that, they would have gotten another Third Limit martial artist a long time ago instead of depending on Lao Bian.

Besides, why would a truly powerful Third Limit martial artist come to the lower city district to stand up for a small group like Clear Road Transport? It was impossible. The only possibility was that they had hired a newcomer who recently fled from the upper city district and didn’t know how things worked here. There was no need for them to waste their resources researching a greenhorn. Besides, they had the Moss Gang as their safety net, so they had nothing to worry about.

Chen Chuan was fully on board with them not looking into him, because this meant that Gai Er knew nothing about him, while Chen Chuan knew all there was to know about Gai Er. This was beneficial for him.

He tried using his biofield to get a read on Gai Er, but his biofield was restrained around him. Even though he kept it hidden, Chen Chuan could tell at a glance that he had never been formally trained, which was not unexpected. The knowledge and techniques about biofields were rather advanced, and not many people prioritized them. Even many Martial Valor University graduates did not master them.

Gai Er had instinctively restrained his biofield due to his years of fighting experience. This was effective against normal opponents, but useless before Chen Chuan.

The moment he came into contact with Gai Er’s biofield, he got a lot of useful information.

Gai Er’s biofield was fierce, vicious, forceful, and violent. Chen Chuan could sense a powerful intent to attack. Gai Er liked taking shortcuts and risks, though he was still cautious and alert. He was like a lone wolf. If he missed an attack, he would immediately retreat and watch the situation to look for another opportunity to attack or retreat.

Gai Er was a man who only cared about his own interests. Making sure he stayed alive and satisfying his desires were the two most important things to him; he didn’t care about other people at all.

As Chen Chuan stared at him, Gai Er suddenly started squirming. He didn’t know what was wrong, but as if his fight-or-flight response had kicked in, he took a step back and glared at Chen Chuan fiercely but warily. He removed the three-section staff from his shoulder and pointed it at Chen Chuan. At the same time, he let go of the weapon a little. With a clatter, the other two sections dropped.

In Chen Chuan’s blind spot, he brought his leg up in a discreet fashion.

This simple kick made the end of the three-section staff fly up. The staff straightened and went for Chen Chuan.