"We received a report from a passerby and finally discovered a suspicious target with strange behavior on Southeast-West Road. The snipers are in position, but since there are too many pedestrians, we are avoiding alarming him to prevent any harm to innocent citizens. We are still monitoring him without alerting him," Bai Xiaoling quickly said, starting the car and leaving the neighborhood.
"The situation isn’t completely clear yet, but it’s highly likely," Bai Xiaoling replied, showing her competence in handling affairs.
Chen Shouyi nodded, looked out the window, and said nothing.
It was noon, and the streets were filled with white-collar workers out for lunch, a beautiful landscape of long legs in stockings.
The car sped along, stopping quickly after a few minutes. Bai Xiaoling walked to a public phone booth, made a call, returned swiftly, took the siren down from the car roof, and returned to the driver’s seat.
"Are we almost there?" Chen Shouyi came back to his senses and asked.
"He’s already on Changting Road, about three kilometers away," Bai Xiaoling explained.
Without cell phones and unusable radio communication, the efficiency of the police action was reduced significantly.
The car continued driving, soon stopping by the roadside. A few plainclothes policemen emerged from the nearby cars, enthusiastically saying, "Advisor Chen, hello."
Chen Shouyi nodded in acknowledgment, asking, "Where is he now?"
"Come with us, he’s just ahead!"
The road was bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder, unaware of the danger nearby.
The group walked quickly for several hundred meters.
A peculiar figure appeared in their sight.
One of the middle-aged policemen suddenly whispered, "That’s the person."
Chen Shouyi immediately looked up for a closer inspection.
He wore human clothing, his physique thick and strong. A loose T-shirt fitting tight, his mere form emitted a powerful sense of oppression, and the crowd instinctively steered clear of him.
His appearance, apart from looking somewhat odd, was largely similar to that of humans, falling within the human range of appearance at least.
Yet, when he walked, he seemed extremely cautious. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NovelHub(.)net
He felt as if he wasn’t walking through a bustling and lively city, but a dangerous and unpredictable jungle, completely out of place among the people on the road.
In his eyes, Chen Shouyi saw not only intense vigilance but also curiosity and shock. Everything here seemed novel to him.
"We searched the national database via facial image search and found no matches. Most importantly, through observation, his outer ears have two helical rims, a typical trait of the Barbarians, confirming that this person is undoubtedly a Barbarian."
This characteristic was something Chen Shouyi was hearing about for the first time.
Hearing this, he looked carefully. With his sharp vision, he could see clearly even a fly a hundred meters away.
It turned out to be true, as humans have only one helix on the ear, whereas this person had two, both inner and outer, appearing quite peculiar.
Perhaps because the group stared for too long, the Barbarian suddenly looked over warily, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
"Act like you’re chatting!" a policeman whispered.
The group began chatting as they walked, and the Barbarian, after glancing a few times, quickly tore his gaze away.
"Is the task to kill him this time?" Chen Shouyi asked.
"Yes, Advisor Chen!" the middle-aged policeman replied.
"Then I’ll go ahead!" Chen Shouyi said.
"Maybe wait for the other security advisors, two of them are almost here. It’ll be safer with more people," the middle-aged policeman hastily suggested, albeit subtly. Young martial artists tend to be rash.
Chen Shouyi hesitated for a moment and said, "Alright."
The group stopped beside the glass wall of a building. Chen Shouyi embraced his sword, leaned against the wall, closed his eyes slightly, pretending to rest his mind, and instantly entered the Memory Space, quickly immersing himself in the Barbarian’s body...
A few seconds later, he opened his eyes.
The four policemen continued to chat aimlessly while waiting for the Barbarian to pass by, then would circle back to continue the surveillance.
Several groups were monitoring the Barbarian. They were just one group among others. There were also six snipers ambushed upstairs on both sides, ensuring nothing could go wrong.
Unexpectedly, the Barbarian left the sidewalk and headed towards them, seemingly attracted by the dazzling crystal objects in the showcase window.
As they got closer, the few policemen couldn’t help but tense up, cold sweat seeping on their foreheads.
"Should we retreat?" a young policeman asked, instinctively reaching for his holster, his face slightly pale.
"Don’t act rashly, and don’t draw your gun. Handguns have little effect on Barbarians. Act like nothing is happening, continue chatting," the middle-aged policeman said, looking at the pedestrians all around.
Three meters, two meters, one meter.
Everyone began to stiffen.
Just as the Barbarian was about to pass them by,
they suddenly heard a soft "zing," and a blurred sword light flashed across their retina, almost like an illusion. Before the four policemen could respond, the sword was already sheathed.
Immediately, the policemen saw the Barbarian’s body shake slightly.
The next moment, a head detached from the body and fell with a thud onto the ground, rolling seven or eight meters away.
Blood spurted like a fountain from his neck, making a hissing sound as it sprayed up.
After a moment’s silence, the nearby crowd erupted into a piercing scream, and a slew of pedestrians desperately fled, causing chaos at the scene.
The four policemen then snapped out of their daze, immediately pulling out their police badges to maintain order with loud voices:
"Don’t panic, we’re the police. This person is a terrorist, and he has been killed on the spot. Everyone, step back in an orderly manner, don’t crowd, stay calm!"
With the officers repeatedly shouting, the running crowd gradually stopped. Human curiosity soon overcame the fear of the headless corpse, and people started to gather around again.
"The task should be finished, right? If there’s nothing else, I’ll head off!" Chen Shouyi stepped over the twitching body and said to the group.
"Oh...oh, alright, nothing more," the middle-aged policeman was dumbstruck for quite a while before speaking.
Chen Shouyi opened the rear car door and got into the vehicle.
"Task completed?" Bai Xiaoling asked in surprise. She had now shifted to a clerical position in the police force and didn’t need to go on missions.
"Yeah!" Chen Shouyi nodded.
"It was just an ordinary Barbarian!" Chen Shouyi said nonchalantly.
In fact, this Barbarian was much stronger than normal ones, even more so than the Barbarian Clan Leader. Ordinary martial artists couldn’t handle him, but now, he was no match for me. Plus, being unprepared, it was nothing short of an ambush. Killing him was a breeze.
"Do you have any tissues?" Chen Shouyi asked.
"I do, do you need to go to the restroom?" Bai Xiaoling asked.
"Don’t waste time with talk, hurry up!" Chen Shouyi replied, unamused.
Bai Xiaoling gave a dry laugh and quickly handed over a dozen sheets.
Upon receiving them, Chen Shouyi pulled out his sword, meticulously wiping off the remaining blood.
As he looked at the sword, now peppered with sesame-sized chips after several battles, he felt a twinge of heartache.
This nanofilm-hardened sword, while extremely sharp, required little maintenance, but once damaged, it was quite troublesome to repair.
The surface’s hardened film had to be cleaned off first, the blade repaired, and then recoated with a new hardened film.
The cold weapon specialty shop had no repair capabilities; it had to be sent back to the factory for refurbishment.
The cost was nearly as much as buying a new one, with a turnaround requiring ten to fifteen days.
Rather than fixing it, it might be better to buy a new, better one.
"After using it for a bit longer, I’ll go buy an even better sword. This one is also getting too light for me," Chen Shouyi contemplated.
To him, the sword was but a tool, holding little sentimental value. No matter the weapon, it just needed to be useful.
Chen Shouyi sheathed his sword. "Find somewhere to eat first."