Chapter 115: The Pursuit

“That cunning bastard! How did he know in advance that we had already captured that guy?” The warm-hearted man growled angrily as he swiftly pursued the thumb-sized purple humanoid creature.

The enemy had clearly obtained more intelligence through means unknown to them and had confidently set up an ambush aimed directly at the Silver Claw’s master.

Seizing the moment when Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man were both dealing with the mist beasts' covert attack, the strange figure controlling the Silver Claw launched a thunderous and rapid assault.

In an instant, the captive they had painstakingly caught was lost.

Neither Qi Chen nor the warm-hearted man possessed any healing abilities with their powers and had no way to save the Silver Claw’s master’s life. All they could do was immediately chase after the culprit!

...

“Face! Can you still detect that creature’s aura?” Outside the coliseum, looking at the bustling crowd, the warm-hearted man’s head throbbed with frustration.

The purple creature was far too small, and the aura it emitted was not very strong. With his mental strength, he could only vaguely sense a broad area, making precise location impossible.

This burden had to fall on Qi Chen’s shoulders.

“That way!” Qi Chen’s eyes sharpened as he decisively pointed in a direction, his enhanced vision locking precisely on the purple shadow sprinting on the ground.

The two immediately gave chase, drawing curious glances from mist beasts and shopkeepers along the way.

But Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man could no longer care about such things. If that purple creature escaped, it would be a huge loss.

Their legs moved relentlessly, pushing through the crowd and shoving aside those in their way. Some irritable mist beasts tried to strike back after being pushed.

But they all saw a flash of movement before collapsing to the ground.

When enraged, Qi Chen’s overall style tended toward wildness, even more so than usual, despite having undergone the Overlord’s rigorous training within the Face domain.

Maintaining rationality didn’t mean becoming easygoing; his furious nature remained his most defining trait.

As the distance to the purple creature grew, anger surged within Qi Chen, hinting at the onset of his power integration.

...

“Hey! Don’t do this on the street!” The warm-hearted man’s expression changed as he hurriedly interrupted Qi Chen. “Watch this!”

With that, he quickly summoned his ability, Heartfelt, and threw a series of punches into the air ahead.

Under Heartfelt’s power, fist-sized spheres of air instantly hardened to a toughness surpassing iron, yet remained as light as feathers. They shot forward like invisible bullets toward the purple creature.

Bang! Bang!

A string of holes appeared behind the purple shadow like bone-eating worms, scattering gravel that struck nearby passersby, eliciting cries of pain.

Yet despite the barrage, the accuracy of these air bullets was questionable, failing to even graze the purple creature’s skin.

“Can you even hit anything?” Qi Chen scoffed. The intense running set his lungs aflame, but connecting with the Overlord’s mind suddenly spread a chilling coolness throughout his body, and his speed surged.

With increased speed came enhanced agility, allowing him to weave skillfully through the crowd and bring the purple creature squarely within the Overlord’s projected range.

“Roar!”

A fierce roar erupted as the Overlord charged forward, fists swinging toward the thumb-sized figure on the ground.

But the purple creature leapt up and swiftly darted into the body of a nearby pedestrian.

The pedestrian’s body trembled, stiffened momentarily, then turned to Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man with a mocking smile before sprinting away wildly.

“That little bastard!” The warm-hearted man was furious, activating his power possession. Heartfelt instantly enveloped him like a garment, and the power simultaneously surged into the ground beneath his feet, turning the hard earth as bouncy as a trampoline.

He bent his knees, compressed downward heavily, then leapt with all his might. The super-elastic ground propelled him to an incredible height. When landing, the surface softened remarkably, absorbing the impact and allowing him to land steadily right in front of the target, blocking the escape.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” A hooking punch struck the pedestrian’s abdomen, pain contorting his face. The purple creature immediately burst from his body and darted into another passerby’s form, playing a game of relay.

In the blink of an eye, three people—one fleeing, two chasing—reached the outskirts of Huangshi Town.

The pedestrian under the creature’s control still taunted them, pulling a grin with his hands and shaking his head with laughter, ready to run again.

But the wide-open space that expanded his escape route also gave Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man the freedom to unleash their powers without restraint.

Moreover, this time the two executed an exquisitely coordinated attack.

...

“Hit the air in front of me!” The warm-hearted man again hardened the air ahead to steel-like toughness but no longer launched the attack himself. Instead, he handed off to the Overlord, whose strength and precision were far superior.

“Roar! Roar!”

Under Qi Chen’s command, the Overlord’s fists punched rapidly and continuously, battering the area ahead of the warm-hearted man like a furious storm.

Though it appeared as an attack on the air, it concealed lethal intent.

Suddenly, sharp cutting sounds pierced the air as the fleeing figure was struck repeatedly by the air bullets, his entire back pelted until he collapsed onto the ground.

Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man seized the rare opportunity and dashed forward at top speed.

Almost no one was around here. The purple creature’s previous escape tactic was now impossible.

It seemed unwilling to use the same trick again, oddly controlling the pedestrian’s body to stagger up and stumble toward Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man.

“Roar!”

They would never give the creature a chance to approach. As the possessed pedestrian stepped into Heartfelt’s range, the first wave of attacks struck. After several punches, his knees buckled like soft mud, and his body collapsed.

At the same time, Qi Chen closed the gap and summoned the Overlord, transforming into a gray-white shadow and striking.

With a single punch, the pedestrian’s eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

The purple creature seemed unable to control an unconscious body and was forced to flee from the pedestrian’s form.

But now, it had nowhere left to run.

...