Free Web NovelChapter 189: Chapter 127: Tiger Flame Fist, Chen Junhao (Part 2)
With a teasing laugh, Chen Junhao wasn’t about to take it back.
"Don’t worry. I’ve made sure to leave myself an escape route over the years."
He spoke calmly, waving a dismissive hand. "This isn’t a big deal for me. You, on the other hand, have a competition in a few days. Don’t you want to get a little stronger?"
His words hit home. After a moment’s thought, Lu Chao decided it wouldn’t be right to refuse any longer.
While they spoke, Zhou Qiang had already taken care of the scene, erasing some key evidence.
Finally, the three exchanged a look. Lu Chao watched as Chen Junhao and Zhou Qiang prepared to leave.
Lu Chao hesitated for a moment before he couldn’t stop himself from asking, "Brother Hao."
"Hm?"
"Will we see each other again?"
He didn’t ask where they were going, as that would only increase their risk of being exposed.
But...
"Heh."
Chen Junhao paused and then let out a soft chuckle.
Zhou Qiang also stepped forward. Composing himself, he grinned and pulled Lu Chao into a tight hug, patting his shoulder.
"The Wilds!"
Standing off to the side, Chen Junhao dropped his cigarette butt and crushed it out with his foot.
As if revealing a hidden thought, he pointed toward the night sky and said, "I’m going to the Wilds!"
"A man’s life is like rowing upstream—if you don’t move forward, you fall back. No matter how much you try to keep your head down and give way, there’s always someone who won’t like it. Someone who wants to step on your head just to show how powerful they are."
"So..."
He smiled, a hint of wild ambition in his eyes. "I’m going to see if I can’t take a warlord’s seat for myself."
"Once I’m there, who will dare to push me around anymore?"
WHOOSH!
The moment he finished speaking, a gust of night wind swept past.
Lu Chao stood where he was, his gaze fixed on Chen Junhao. His friend’s smile was wild and unrestrained, his eyes brighter than ever before.
This was the first time he had ever seen him speak so openly, the first time he had seen him cast off all his burdens and reveal his true ambition.
In the end, the two men embraced and parted ways.
Lu Chao remained standing there, somewhat in a daze.
The black sedan slowly pulled away, its red taillights eventually disappearing at the far end of the street.
’The Wilds, huh...’
A flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao finally snapped out of it.
After a parting like this, there was no telling when they would meet again.
The street was pitch-black and silent, with no other signs of movement.
He finally looked up at the night sky.
The moon hung high overhead, and a layer of mist drifted like a thin veil.
The sky was vast and endless. The Alliance Country, and even Earth Star itself, was just one small part of this universe.
For some reason, he thought of the words Brother Hao had spoken before he left.
His eyes gradually brightened, and it felt as if a new goal was taking shape in his heart.
...
「Two days later.」
A shocking event erupted in the Iron Ring District, making the front-page headlines of the Ring Daily.
[GANG WAR ERUPTS ON WEST STREET, IRON RING DISTRICT. OVER SIXTY DEAD FROM HONGYI SOCIETY AND IRON BLOOD GANG. IDENTITIES OF DECEASED CONFIRMED, INCLUDING IRON BLOOD GANG HALL MASTER LIU HONG AND HONGYI SOCIETY DEPUTY HALL MASTER LI YUE...]
[LAST NIGHT, HONGYI SOCIETY YOUNG MASTER PENG ZHAOHUI FOUND MURDERED IN HIS HOME, SUFFERED THREE GUNSHOT WOUNDS! HIS MISTRESS HAS VANISHED, WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN!]
[THIS MORNING, A FIRE BROKE OUT AT THE HOME OF THE HONGYI SOCIETY’S LEADER. HIS BODY WAS INCINERATED, BURNED TO THE BONE. HONGYI SOCIETY ELDERS XU XIAOXING, WANG KUN, AND OTHERS WERE ALSO KILLED SUCCESSIVELY OVER THE PAST TWO DAYS. THE SUSPECTED MURDERER IS THE HONGYI SOCIETY’S NORTH STREET HALL MASTER, TIGER FLAME FIST CHEN JUNHAO...]
[A B-LEVEL WANTED ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR: CHEN JUNHAO, MALE, 30, ORIGINALLY FROM THE IRON RING DISTRICT ORPHANAGE, SUSPECTED ELITE LEVEL MARTIAL ARTIST...]
News alerts were pushed out one after another, appearing on everything from the hanging screens in the trams to every citizen’s personal wristwatch.
Lu Chao was no exception.
Without taking the time to read the details, he walked into the Patrol Department headquarters, already in his uniform. He headed to the second floor and entered the captain’s office for Squad Three.
Inside, Yang Wangtao sat behind a solid mahogany desk, his back to the window.
The books and documents on his desk were stacked neatly. His hair was impeccably combed into a side part, and his square-jawed face was set in a serious expression.
"Captain, you were looking for me?"
Lu Chao asked, feigning curiosity.
He’d received a call from him first thing in the morning, telling him to come to his office as soon as he arrived at the Patrol Department.
"You’ve heard about the Hongyi Society incident, I assume?"
he asked quietly. ’Just as I thought,’ Lu Chao said to himself, and nodded.
"This Chen Junhao... your relationship with him is close, but this incident... it’s having a huge impact."
Yang Wangtao chose his words carefully before continuing, "Therefore, other squads will handle the relevant cases. If something does happen... don’t do anything rash."
"But..."
Lu Chao put on a conflicted expression, deliberately showing his hesitation.
Finally, after some more persuasion from Yang Wangtao, he sighed and gave a reluctant nod.
As he walked out of the captain’s office, Lu Chao let out a silent sigh of relief. He now knew that the events of that night had been officially classified as a gang war.
In other words, his presence there hadn’t been discovered.
The infrastructure in the nearby blocks was poor, and the only surveillance cameras had been destroyed beforehand by Liu Hong and his men.
After Brother Hao left, he had gone back to retrieve all the steel nails. He’d also disguised the wounds on the bodies, leaving no trace of his involvement.
Still, with a flash in his eyes, Lu Chao sighed inwardly. ’Brother Hao...’
He had guessed that his friend was going to settle some scores before leaving Ring City, but seeing the news now, seeing the uproar that had shaken the entire Iron Ring District, he was still shocked.
Every high-ranking Hongyi Society member involved in that night’s events had been taken care of—killed by his own hand.
From this point on, it was safe to say that with the loss of its only Elite Level expert and several Peak Professional Level members, the Hongyi Society was not far from total collapse. Even if it managed to survive, it would be reduced to a minor gang.
"Serves them right. I saw the investigation report. It says the Hongyi Society’s leader and Young Master wanted to cast him aside now that he was no longer useful, make him hand everything over and retire. I remember he did a lot for the Hongyi Society back in the day, didn’t he? We even had a few run-ins with him."
"Exactly. They pushed him too far. Still, I never expected him to be that strong. Elite Level... that’s seriously impressive."
"That may be true, but he still killed a lot of people. They wouldn’t have issued a wanted order otherwise..."
Murmurs of discussion filled the Patrol Department. Some found the act too violent and bloody, while others nodded to themselves, apparently in approval of this "an eye for an eye" approach.
Lu Chao even overheard Chen Xiao explaining the key details to Xiong Cheng and another officer, mentioning the awkward relationship between the Patrol Department and gang-related cases.
"This case is a big one."
"Normally, we don’t get too involved in gang business. We don’t even investigate much, since the grudges are so complicated. It’s usually just them taking revenge on each other. The gang members are afraid of losing face, so they don’t want us interfering..."
"But this time is different. He killed nearly all of the Hongyi Society’s current leadership. The impact on the Iron Ring District is huge, and rumor has it that it’s even pissed off a certain councilman."
The voices washed over him as he walked at a steady pace. He took the opportunity to glance at his panel.
[Carbon-based Human]
[Life Energy: 93]
[Consumption Effect: Carbon-based human containing special Flame Factor. The Flame Factor within the body has begun to awaken...]
This was the data he had instinctively read from Brother Hao during their final farewell that night.
Elite Level Peak.
The highest level just below the 100-point threshold.
That was why he hadn’t been worried about him going for revenge. Unless he ran into a true Superpower Level Martial Artist, there was no way he could have failed.
What’s more... ’The Flame Factor has begun to awaken... It looks like Brother Hao’s breakthrough was so fast because he’s having a superpower awakening?’
A glint in his eye, Lu Chao was genuinely happy for his friend.
Awakening a superpower often led to a kind of transformation, just like when he had awakened his own talent. It could even increase one’s Life Energy.
He had a feeling that perhaps Elite Level wasn’t his friend’s limit.
His thoughts drifted for a moment before he paused and looked out the window.
The buildings of the Iron Ring District stood in dense clusters, and traffic flowed ceaselessly along the streets of the apartment blocks.
Gray clouds drifted high above, and hovercars streaked across the sky, heading off in all directions.
’Brother Hao.’
He didn’t know where his friend was, or which part of the Wilds he was headed for.
But Lu Chao knew, his eyes shining, that as long as he continued to push forward, a day would come when they would meet again.
When that time comes...
’May our martial fortunes flourish.’
