"Boss, let's go down there and fight him!"
Up in the air, one of the Ursus mercenaries by Petrov's side was livid as he watched their comrades being butchered below.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Petrov ground his teeth so hard his jaw creaked.
"What, go down there and die? Do you take me for His Majesty's own blade?"
"Move!"
"Take these two brats back with us. As long as we can tear a chunk of flesh off the Swire family and use it to build up our manpower, we'll have our chance to come back sooner or later!"
The reason an old soldier could survive two wars was not ruthlessness, nor sheer strength—
but the ability to cut losses without hesitation.
It was a pity his brothers were dead.
But since when had there been any shortage of dead brothers on the battlefield?
One day you were drinking together and eating tumorbeast meat, and the next, the man beside you might already be a corpse.
"Hah…"
Pulling his sword out of the chest of the last Ursus mercenary, Chen Zhaoming looked up at Petrov receding into the distance and frowned deeply.
He truly had not expected these Ursus mercenaries to be carrying jet packs. If he had known, then the first sword strike he made would have gone straight for Petrov instead of the others.
Since there was no way to intercept them on the overpass anymore, there was only one choice left—
keep chasing.
With that in mind, Chen Zhaoming ran back toward the two-wheeled vehicle.
He had no idea whether he would be able to leave Lungmen immediately, nor whether a vehicle with only two wheels could keep up with a pack of men flying through the sky once they reached the wilderness.
But if he did not even try, then what—was he supposed to rely on Wei Yenwu?
By the time Wei Yenwu realized his niece had been taken, these Ursus bastards would already be long gone.
"Boss Chen, you killed that many Ursus mercenaries all by yourself?"
Under the overpass, Hoshiguma stared at Chen Zhaoming running back toward her, his body and sword both stained with blood, her face frozen in disbelief.
"A few got away. The hostages are still in their hands."
Chen Zhaoming took a deep breath, forcing down the impatience in his chest. The less that Ursus leader understood his identity, the more cautious he would be.
"Anyway, I'm not Ch'en Hui-chieh's dad anymore. If Wei Yenwu isn't in a hurry, why should I be?"
"Boss Chen, what are you muttering about?"
"Nothing."
Twisting the throttle, Chen Zhaoming looked ahead and asked:
"Miss Hoshiguma, are you still coming with me? We may end up chasing them clear out of Lungmen."
"Of course."
Hoshiguma answered without the slightest hesitation.
"If you're saving people, then you see it through. And besides, judging from your condition, Boss Chen, if you keep going alone, things are more likely than not to end badly for you."
She gave him a careful once-over. The man's back was already soaked through with sweat, which meant his stamina had been burned down to the warning line.
His swordsmanship was this frightening, yet his endurance was only average. As far as she knew, dragonkin were not exactly a race known for being physically frail.
A trace of curiosity rose in Hoshiguma's heart.
With Chen Zhaoming's strength, whether he worked security or became a mercenary, wouldn't he be far better off than running a fishball noodle shop?
At first, Hoshiguma had assumed Chen Zhaoming must have some other hidden identity.
But now it seemed that, at least during all the years he'd been running that fishball shop, he really had neglected his physical conditioning.
Thankfully, Chen Zhaoming had no idea what Hoshiguma was thinking. Otherwise, he definitely would have rolled his eyes at her.
He opened the shop at six every morning and closed at ten every night.
It was already a miracle he still found time to practice his sword. Where exactly was he supposed to squeeze in extra conditioning?
And besides, was his stamina really poor?
No—his earlier exertion still hadn't been fully recovered from!
Still, even if he explained all this to Hoshiguma, it would be like playing a lute to a cow.
After all, if he remembered correctly, Hoshiguma's physical resilience was rated Excellent, meaning that in terms of stamina and adaptability to harsh conditions, she ranked among the best on all of Terra.
He, at most, was merely average.
"Hold on tight!"
The Originium engine roared to life again, and Chen Zhaoming sped forward with Hoshiguma behind him, chasing after the tiny speck in the sky that was Petrov and his men.
These Ursus jet packs might allow flight, but their ceiling was limited, and their speed was far below that of a two-wheeled vehicle racing through a city.
But Chen Zhaoming understood perfectly well—
that was only because they were still inside the city, where roads were paved and clear.
The moment they left Lungmen and entered the wilderness, things would be different.
Out there, it would be true rough country—rock, broken ground, and wild terrain. A city vehicle like this one would lose a huge amount of speed.
Which meant what Chen Zhaoming needed now was simple:
get out of the city as fast as possible.
Petrov could leap straight over Lungmen's checkpoints without any trouble. But if Chen Zhaoming tried to force his way through the gates, he would absolutely be stopped by Lungmen's authorities.
Fortunately, Lungmen was currently docked, and the gates were thrown open. The city handled tens of thousands of tons of cargo every day in a steady flow. As long as he had the right papers, entering or leaving should have taken no more than a few minutes.
But then, the thing happened that nearly made Chen Zhaoming hemorrhage on the spot.
"The entire city is under lockdown!"
"No one is permitted to leave Lungmen without authorization!"
For a moment, Chen Zhaoming honestly could not decide whether Wei Yenwu's response counted as fast or slow.
If you said it was fast—
then when Ch'en Hui-chieh and the other girls were still wandering around outside in the middle of the night, Wei Yenwu had shown no reaction at all, leaving everything to just four guards tailing them as though the possibility of kidnapping had never crossed his mind.
But if you said it was slow—
then less than twenty minutes had passed from the moment the girls were attacked and abducted, and now the order sealing the city had already come down. If the Ursus mercenaries' plan had been to punch through the gates in vehicles, then that plan would be dead on arrival.
As long as they stayed in Lungmen, they were trapped turtles in a jar.
But the actual situation was this: Wei Yenwu was acting like one of those ancient emperors who understood nothing about warfare, had no idea what the frontline situation really looked like, yet still insisted on directing the battle from afar in whatever way he believed was most correct.
Eighty thousand versus sixty thousand. The advantage is mine?
"Abandon the bike!"
Chen Zhaoming had no time to argue with the gate officials. He had only managed to beat Petrov here because he'd used the city's superior roads to his advantage. If he failed to get out immediately, then even a single minute's delay would be enough for Petrov to vanish into the wilderness with Ch'en Hui-chieh and Swire.
"What are you planning?"
Hoshiguma followed close behind him, and there was a barely concealed excitement in her voice.
"Climb the wall, then jump."
"You're planning to jump off Lungmen's city wall!?"
Hoshiguma's eyes went wide.
"That wall is several hundred meters above the ground!"
"I won't die."
Jumping straight off would definitely kill him.
But he could use his sword to brake against the wall on the way down.
"Boss Chen... is that child they took really only your niece?"
Hoshiguma's question made Chen Zhaoming's body stiffen for a moment.
But her tone seemed casual, and then she flashed her usual bold grin.
"Still, whatever that child's identity is, saving people can't be wrong. If Boss Chen is jumping, then I'll risk my life and accompany a gentleman."
As for whether she herself would die if she jumped from a height of several hundred meters—
Hoshiguma figured she probably wouldn't.
She might break a few bones, maybe?
…
Up in the sky, thinking he had finally shaken off Chen Zhaoming and Hoshiguma, Petrov let out a long breath of relief.
But the nonstop noise from Ch'en Hui-chieh in his grasp was beginning to drive him mad.
"Let me go! Dad will definitely come save me!"
"Hmph. Your father isn't coming. If you want to make it back alive, then tell me who your father is and have him prepare a nice fat ransom!"
Truthfully, even though he had taken Ch'en Hui-chieh, Petrov still had no idea which family she belonged to. His true target had always been a direct heir of the Swire family. In all of Lungmen, the most valuable hostage by far was that little girl named Swire.
The others were just extras.
But what Petrov had never imagined was that as soon as he said that, Ch'en Hui-chieh suddenly puffed up with pride.
"Wasn't the one who beat you black and blue just now my dad?"
Petrov: "???"
Petrov felt his fist harden.
He had been wondering this whole time which family that monster belonged to—the one who could cut down an overpass from over a hundred meters away with a single strike, the one who had chased him across dozens of streets like his life depended on it.
Now the case was solved.
He had kidnapped the man's daughter.
Of course the bastard would go crazy.
"Look! My dad's here!"
Ch'en Hui-chieh pointed forcefully toward the top of the city wall, and sure enough, Petrov saw two figures climbing up onto it.
Were they trying to snipe him from there!?
Sweat broke out on Petrov's palms. Judging by the range of Chen Zhaoming's earlier strike, the flight altitude of the jet packs was nowhere near enough to take them beyond that man's attack range.
The moment Chen Zhaoming made a move, they could very well be shot right out of the sky.
But a few seconds ago he might have worried.
Now, he didn't.
"Filthy Yan trash. Quite the actor, aren't you?"
Thinking back to how Chen Zhaoming had stood there without reacting even when Ch'en Hui-chieh had nearly been strangled to death earlier, anger rose in Petrov's heart, and cruelty followed close behind.
A seven-year-old girl simply had no way of understanding this:
If those Ursus mercenaries had never figured out who she was, then she would actually have been safe.
But now—
now that they knew Ch'en Hui-chieh's father was merely a powerful bodyguard, they immediately gave up the idea of continuing to bring her out of Lungmen as a bargaining chip. Instead, they planned to use her to tie up Chen Zhaoming's attention.
And how?
Once the distance between them and Lungmen's city wall had stretched to more than two hundred meters—far enough that Chen Zhaoming could no longer threaten them—
Petrov grabbed Ch'en Hui-chieh and made a throwing motion.
"Hahaha! Didn't you say you didn't care whether she lived or died? Then watch her smash herself to death!"
And with all his strength, Petrov hurled Ch'en Hui-chieh toward the opposite side of Lungmen.
Her body flew into the air.
Ch'en Hui-chieh's eyes went wide.
"Eh?"
...
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