Roadmap to the Boundless Sky-Chapter 75Book 3, : Departure

After returning to the company, Zhao Qian went back to his office and immediately summoned the resonator and an implant surgeon he trusted so that they could do a complete check of his Realm Pass.

They believed that he was fine.

“Mr. Zhao, your attacker used ad aptive projection technology and didn’t tamper with your Realm Pass. It only detected the projection.

“I checked. Your attacker gathered all the domain resources on the street. To be able to do that within such a short period of time, you’d need a resonator with a resonator nest or something similar. Only big companies, organizations, and the government have that sort of ability.”

“It’s impossible to have left no traces after pulling off something this big. Can you find the attacker?” Zhao Qian asked coldly.

“I tried after the attack, but I was too late. Your attacker used many Realm Nodes to pass the projection and wiped out all of the traces at the end, making it hard for me to find him. Based on the resonator’s skill, I don’t think he’s someone from the government, but I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of them doing it as a misdirection,” the resonator answered.

Zhao Qian looked him in the eye. “If I encounter something similar, how do I defend against it?”

“You just need to set up a command to reject information from illusory domains. There’s no need to go through any implant surgeries or to change your Realm Pass.”

“Add that command right now!” Zhao Qian ordered.

He was about to participate in an important escort mission, and he couldn’t allow any accidents. While what happened today seemed like nothing, the security guards would have recorded it and sent it to the headquarters and his rivals, which meant that Zhao Qian couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes.

The resonator immediately went in front of Zhao Qian and put a hand on his Realm Pass before placing his other hand on Zhao Qian’s shoulder. Blue biolight started flashing in the resonator’s eyes.

Zhao Qian could sense a tingling sensation go through his body, as if he had been shocked, but this was necessary when a strong command was issued to a Realm Pass. He could get it set in his Realm Pass via a Realm Node too, but that was only temporary and could be canceled at any moment.

“It’s done,” the resonator said after half a minute and returned to his original spot.

“If anyone asks about today, tell them that I had a martial arts inspiration and am searching for a breakthrough,” Zhao Qian said to his assistant.

“Understood,” the assistant hurriedly replied.

Despite knowing that it was a weak excuse, Zhao Qian wasn’t going to let anyone pin the titles of being problematic and troubled on him before the escort mission. Once he dealt with it, he could begin getting rid of all the negative impacts of the investigation.

He dismissed the resonator and assistant. After they left his office, he got up and began pacing.

It had been almost five months since he participated in any of the company’s operations. The tasks the company had for now had nothing to do with him and could be finished with or without him. If he didn’t step forward to do something, the company would get real proof that there was no point in keeping him in his position.

Even though he said that he was willing to step down after this mission, that was just to keep certain people in line. If he managed to solve all his problems within and outside the company, he could retain his position.

While he was deep in thought, a call echoed in his ears. When he saw the name, he quickly connected to the call and said respectfully, “Director Xing.”

“The time for the escort mission has been decided. Make sure to do your job properly,” Director Xing ordered and ended the call.

It was only then that Zhao Qian realized that it was just a recording. The director didn’t have any interest in talking to him properly. His gaze turned a little colder at that.

Zhao Qian did his best to calm his breathing before checking the time on his Realm Pass and contacting his assistant. “The time has been set. Get the motorcade ready and contact the municipal government.”

***

A few more days passed.

On the twenty-seventh of April, Wu Bei suddenly trembled while doing his daily task of keeping an eye out on the city transportation network. After taking a closer look, he immediately contacted Chen Chuan. “It’s out, Chen Chuan. Tomorrow, the City Transportation Bureau will reroute the traffic of a few roads based on United Might’s request.”

“Got it. Thanks, Wu Bei,” Chen Chuan said gratefully.

“You’re welcome.”

***

Back at Gao Ming’s apartment, Chen Chuan said to his cousin once he ended the call, “Looks like United Might’s escort mission starts tomorrow.”

They had been unable to learn the exact time and date United Might was going to set out for their escort mission, but their armored motorcade had to report to the municipal government a day or two before leaving the city.

The municipal government had no reason nor duty to hide that fact. Hence, from this, they could deduce when the escort team was going to leave and get ready.

“According to the information Tranquil Fields revealed recently, United Might’s motorcade should have left at the end of the month or the start of the next. They were spot-on in regard to that, it seems,” Gao Ming gave an offhand remark.

“Is it possible for them to change the time?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Even if they did, it wouldn’t be more than two days away from what their original schedule was, but it’s not common to do that. The moment a motorcade sets out on an escort mission, all the big companies learn about it. There’s no way to hide it,” Gao Ming pointed out.

“Then, all we need to do is wait for tomorrow,” Chen Chuan stated.

***

It was the morning of the twenty-eighth of April. A motorcade made of twenty-five armored cars and three heavy transportation cars left United Might.

Since United Might was a big company, they received a temporary weapons permit from the government, though in truth, no one would bother to check on whether they were using it properly once they left Central City.

Zhao Qian sat in the armored car in the center. The car had a small biosentient entity, which allowed all members of the motorcade to send and receive messages with their Realm Passes even after leaving Central City.

A Third Limit martial artist by the name of Chi Duan sat next to Zhao Qian. He was someone the Zhao family had brought up with a lot of resources while the family was at the peak of its power and was usually in charge of things Zhao Qian couldn’t do due to his position. Whenever they went out on escort missions, Zhao Qian brought Chi Duan along.

Meanwhile, the headquarters had sent Peregrine Falcon as the security captain to be in charge of the safety of the motorcade.

On paper, everyone had to listen to Zhao Qian, but in truth, Peregrine Falcon was the one giving orders to the security team. If they ran into problems on the way, he would also immediately contact the headquarters with a telegraph set instead of asking for Zhao Qian’s opinion.

As Zhao Qian watched the motorbikes following beside the motorcade, he had a nagging feeling that the escort mission this time wouldn’t be peaceful. Still, the powerful weapons they carried with them gave him confidence.

He looked out at the fleeting scenery and moved to tidy up his dyed gray-white hair. Even if some problems arose, he was confident he could overcome them.

***

Chen Chuan stood in front of the window in Room One of the forty-ninth floor of the Arcane Palace and watched the bright morning sun. Just then, his Realm Pass let out a beep, and Wu Bei said, “Chen Chuan, they’re out.”

“Got it.”

Chen Chuan stepped away from the window. With his back turned to the sunlight, he put on the protective gear he had set out on the table, then the trench coat, mask, top hat, and scarf from the National General Affairs Bureau. At the end, he put on the protective gloves as well.

Then, he reached out and grabbed the Frost King Saber from its stand. After drawing it out to check it for a moment, he pushed it back into its sheath and hid its chilling light. With all that done, he left his room and took the elevator to the underground parking lot. Once he was outside, he pressed down on his Realm Pass and said, “I’m going over.”

“I’ll continue keeping an eye on them,” Wu Bei said.

Chen Chuan got into his car. As its engine rumbled, the car left the underground parking lot. The moment he got on the road, he started heading west.

While United Might had left earlier than he did, Chen Chuan was not in a hurry. Even if the raccoon could only use its abilities within a certain range, he should have no problems reaching them within an hour since the motorcade left. Chen Chuan wanted to attack once the motorcade was a good distance away from Central City.

When he was making his plan with Gao Ming, he wondered whether he could even attack when the motorcade was coming back, since the team would be at its most vigilant and in its best state at the start of their mission.

But Gao Ming told him after his analysis that Zhao Qian was a decisive person and willing to give up on things during crucial moments. Before Black Orchid Co. fell to ruin, he had already cut ties with the parts of the Zhao family that stubbornly remained linked to them. This meant that he disconnected himself from practically all of the Zhao family’s wealth, but it was precisely because of this that he wasn’t dragged down when the Zhao family collapsed.

Right now, everything was going wrong for him. If he decided to not come back or head to another Central City, it would become much harder to kill him.

Also, if Zhao Qian did go to another Central City, he could use another platform to continue hiring assassins to kill Chen Chuan, then come back after all the problems were gone. That was why it would be better for Chen Chuan to attack soon after they left. No one would ever expect that.

In the end, Chen Chuan agreed to it. Even though he had downplayed his own abilities a bit when he was discussing things with Gao Ming, he was actually quite confident in the raccoon being able to kill Zhao Qian.

He had watched how Phantom Form killed his targets after getting his tasks and knew that he had successfully taken out multiple middle management members of big companies.

This meant that middle-level managers had a hard time fighting against the unseen attacks of supernatural beings.

Even though the raccoon had lost some of its power after Chen Chuan changed the contract, it’d be good enough even if it could only injure Zhao Qian severely. After all, the healthcare of the motorcade couldn’t compare to that of the hospitals in Central City. The only thing the motorcade could do was to send Zhao Qian back.

Once it set out for the escort mission, it couldn’t return for Zhao Qian alone. Hence, Zhao Qian’s injury would lead to the motorcade splitting up and giving them a chance to kill Zhao Qian.

However, Zhao Qian had a Class B Defense Agreement with City Defense. The moment he returned to the city, a security team would come forward to receive him.

At the same time, Zhao Qian was a Class Three client of Concurrent Emergency Care. No matter how heavily injured he was, the moment they got their hands on him, the emergency treatment team would be able to save him. That was why Chen Chuan couldn’t let him return to the city. He had to kill him outside.

However, there were two glaring uncertainties about this plan—the raccoon may not be effective at all, and Zhao Qian may refuse to split up from the motorcade, no matter how badly injured he was.

Even though the chances of that happening were low, it didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. If it did, Chen Chuan would have to give up on killing Zhao Qian for the time being. With the resources they currently had, fighting Zhao Qian with brute force wasn’t wise.

Chen Chuan continued driving. A little over an hour later, he arrived in front of a small hut he had prepared at the western edge of the city and got out with the Frost King Saber. Wu Bei sent him word that the motorcade had left Central City over twenty minutes ago. In a while, Chen Chuan would have to attack them.