Chapter 82: Wrapping Up

The battle at the entrance of the mine was drawing to a close. The two men, fingers tightly interlocked, panted for breath, neither willing to give an inch. Their uniforms bore the marks of the struggle—torn at the seams. One of them had even lost his trousers in the chaos, his bare backside exposed.

To an uninformed passerby, it would have been difficult to imagine that the two were locked in a deadly fight.

Their eyes met, the gaze on the surface ambiguous, but beneath it seethed bitter hatred.

Xu Fan, a squad leader just like his opponent, had long been unable to stomach the other man. Suddenly, he jerked his head back, only to snap it forward like a spring.

A sharp crack sounded.

Slightly shorter than his adversary, Xu Fan’s forehead landed squarely on the other’s nose, sending a searing, piercing pain straight up to the driver’s skull.

The driver recoiled in agony, his grip loosening as he instinctively reached for his nose.

But by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

All he saw was Xu Fan’s mocking smile, and the shadow of a baton descending with vicious speed.

...

The glass window of the patrol vehicle shattered under the baton’s blow.

Xu Fan reached in to unlock the door and yanked it open forcefully.

He seized the pig-faced man by the collar as if dragging an animal, flinging him out of the car and onto the ground.

He didn’t forget to snatch the keys as well.

With the baton extended, he was ready to strike again—

“Wait!” Ye Chen’s shout stopped him. “Leave that beast to me!”

Xu Fan turned to see Ye Chen limping toward him, dragging the half-conscious curly-haired pig-head man with one hand, the other clutching his thigh.

Dark, viscous blood oozed between Ye Chen’s fingers, pulsing with each step.

“You… you’re hurt?”

“Don’t worry about me. Go check the mine—search carefully. You must find Aunt Chen—alive or dead, bring her back.”

With a swing of his arm, Ye Chen tossed A Miao and the unconscious driver together, adding,

“I’ll keep watch over these men. Go!”

Ye Chen longed to enter the mine himself to search for the missing Chen Bingfeng, but truthfully, he had little faith in Xu Fan’s combat abilities.

Except for Mouse and Foolish Two, who were clearly beyond saving, the rest still had a chance to turn the tables.

Xu Fan alone could not control them.

A single misstep, and everything could be lost.

Ye Chen crouched before the pig-faced man, stabbing his broken blade into the ground—right between the man’s legs.

The pig-faced man recoiled in terror, frantically scrambling backward, desperate to escape this demon.

He had barely moved before his back struck the tire of the patrol car.

Ye Chen’s piercing gaze bore into him. The grinding of Ye Chen’s teeth was audible, sending chills down the man’s spine.

Ye Chen enunciated each word with icy clarity:

“What will you offer to compensate for my brother’s life?”

This was the shadow of death.

A suffocating dread pressed on the pig-faced man’s chest; never before had he been threatened like this.

His face crumpled, and a foul, warm wetness spread between his legs.

He waved his arms desperately, pleading,

“Wait… wait, you can’t kill me.

“Your teammates are still alive—none of them are dead. Please, let me go!”

His protests had become outright begging.

Ye Chen yanked the broken blade from the ground, reversing his grip and ready to cut at a moment’s notice.

He glanced once toward the mine entrance, his voice low,

“It had better be so.”

Soon after, an excited, triumphant shout echoed from the mine entrance:

“Found them! I found Aunt Chen and the others! They’re alive—all three of them are alive!”

Xu Fan’s voice trembled with relief, tears streaming down his face.

As Ye Chen watched Xu Fan support a tall, gaunt figure toward the entrance, the heavy stone in his heart finally dropped.

Alive. They were alive. That was all that mattered.

...

The aftermath was left in Xu Fan’s hands. Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes unblinking as he watched the pig-faced men, now trussed together.

He kept the broken blade at the ready, unwilling to let his guard down for even a moment, his gaze fixed especially on A Miao’s fingers.

Any slight movement, and Ye Chen would leap up to sever them without hesitation.

The night’s battle had cost Ye Chen little; he had already regained his strength.

When he’d blocked A Miao’s high-pressure water blast earlier, he’d noticed a depletion of his inner reserves. This meant that skill clashing against skill would always consume some of that energy.

However, since his shield, unlike the diamond-shaped dart, had never left his hand, it wasn’t a true expenditure—just wear and tear.

So, this skill could be used in such a way as well.

Was this not the development of an awakened ability?

I believe it was.

No wonder the Cloaked Man had so many varieties of arrows—it must have been the result of constant experimentation.

The more one used and tested their skills, the more likely breakthroughs would come. And there was no teacher like actual combat.

...

That night, the escort duty was personally led by Captain Dai, accompanied by both the fourth and fifth squads.

The fourth squad was likely there to supervise and observe.

As for the fifth squad—the logistics team—their role was to ensure the detained patrolmen’s lives were not in danger.

Squad Four’s Captain Li Chuan looked at Ye Chen with a complex expression… This brat is the first in the Patrol Hall to topple a squad leader!

Qiao Mu Cao was among the group, as was the old, dutiful physician who never released any injured man before he was truly healed.

Qiao Mu Cao walked quietly to Ye Chen’s side, gazing at the dried blood on his thigh, and patted him gently on the shoulder, his smile full of admiration and approval.

The old doctor strode over, studied Ye Chen’s face, then, with a huff, turned away.

Seeing Captain Dai’s arrival, the pig-faced man, who had been listless moments before, suddenly found new energy and began to shout,

“Four-Eyed Dog, you can’t touch me! Don’t you know I have powerful connections?”

Captain Dai’s caring gaze swept over his own men, then he looked at the pig-faced man as if he were a fool.

“I know. Captain Lu approved this operation—you know what that means.

“Take them all away.”

Ye Chen edged closer to Captain Dai, curiosity in his voice.

“Captain, for someone like that pig-faced man, involved in such a major crime, what usually happens?”

Captain Dai gazed in the direction of the capital—or, more accurately, the inner city—and sighed.

“It’s hard to say for now.

“For minor issues, Captain Lu has the authority to punish directly.

“But private mining is a serious offense, because it harms the interests of the capital.

“I’ll be following up as well. You all should rest at home for a few days.”

As Ye Chen listened, his expression darkened.

Because Captain Dai had never once mentioned the pig-faced man’s crime of imprisoning Aunt Chen and the others.

But perhaps, in the face of the capital’s interests, even the lives of outer-city patrolmen counted for nothing at all.