Chapter Fifty-One: The Marauder

The symbol of the Vertical Pupil Society was one with which Qi Chen was all too familiar; it was etched deeply into his memory. He had set himself a modest goal: to utterly destroy this organization. Yet before he could even find time to deal with these bastards skulking in the fog, they had come seeking him out instead.

Bang!

The armored vehicle lurched violently again as the SUV behind them rammed it with frenzied force—an unmistakable signature of the fog-bound syndicates. Years spent lurking within the fog had left their minds twisted far from any semblance of normalcy.

Now, with SUVs battering their armored vehicle from the left and rear, the intent was clear: to force them to a halt.

But a more pressing question loomed—how had the Vertical Pupil Society found them?

“Damn traitor!” the warm-hearted man gritted through his teeth, convinced that someone within the Department of Anomaly Handling had betrayed their whereabouts. It was the only explanation for why, soon after accepting their mission, they had run into an ambush by the Society along the road.

“Is it because of this Officer Lou?” Qi Chen’s thoughts ran deeper. After all, Fu Ying had warned them their greatest enemy might be hiding within City Three itself, so it was no surprise if the department had been infiltrated by spies.

All it took for their movements to be exposed was access to the files in the Intelligence Analysis Division. It didn’t require an Anomaly Walker; even a seasoned agent could obtain such information.

“The Vertical Pupil Society must have learned we were headed for Officer Lou, and couldn’t restrain themselves from making a move.”

“What’s Officer Lou’s position?” Qi Chen asked, curiosity piqued.

The warm-hearted man’s face darkened at once. “Second-in-command of city security…”

Clang!

Another fierce impact sent tremors through the vehicle, making Qi Chen and his companion shudder violently inside. Clearly, the Society’s goons wouldn’t relent until they’d brought them to a stop.

The warm-hearted man gripped the wheel with white-knuckled determination, steering to avoid crashing into the roadside—any misstep could result in casualties far beyond what two hands could count.

Tat-tat-tat!

Outside, the Society’s thugs kept up a relentless barrage. Qi Chen saw clearly now that their weapons couldn’t compare to the standard issue of the Special Operations Squad—many rifles looked half-crippled, their bodies bound with rags to hold them together.

This was typical of fog-bound organizations; most groups eking out an existence in the fog looked just as impoverished. The fact that the Vertical Pupil Society could field even a single Anomaly Walker set it apart from the countless bottom-feeders. But their advantage amounted only to marginally better supplies.

“Look out!”

Qi Chen suddenly shouted, catching sight of a Society thug in the left-hand SUV brandishing an old-fashioned grenade launcher. The man’s face, twisted grotesquely by the fog’s influence, was a mask of mania.

Boom!

The launcher thundered, a blinding flash erupting as the shell rocketed from its chamber. The warm-hearted man shouted urgently, “Enthusiasm!!”

The deafening explosion and powerful shockwave engulfed the armored vehicle in an instant. But at the critical moment, the warm-hearted man directed his anomalous ability, Enthusiasm, to envelop the entire vehicle.

The armored car’s material suddenly became almost absurdly soft and elastic; instead of being blown apart, it warped and rolled dramatically from the blast, tumbling over itself several times before finally crashing into a shop on the roadside.

The Society’s vehicles, caught in the close-range blast, screeched to a halt. Doors flew open as a ragged mob poured out, weapons in hand and eyes fixed hungrily on Qi Chen and his companion.

Shouting indecipherable slogans, the maniacs clambered onto the armored car, raising their rifles and spraying bullets wildly at the driver’s seat.

“Lunatics!” the warm-hearted man spat, his insides roiling with anger. He sent Enthusiasm swirling from his body and delivered a brutal punch to a thug’s face, knocking the man off the vehicle in a bloody, lifeless heap.

The remaining attackers quickly realized they couldn’t breach the armor imbued with the warm-hearted man’s power. Crazed, they turned their weapons on the surrounding shops, grinning wickedly as they prepared to force their targets from their turtle shell with collateral damage.

“Bastards!” Qi Chen reacted instantly, fury surging within him. The Overlord erupted from his body, and with a thunderous roar, he smashed his fist into a thug’s chest—a crisp crack sounded as the man’s chest caved in, blood spurting as he convulsed on the ground.

Meanwhile, the warm-hearted man released the softening effect on the vehicle, ordering Enthusiasm to rip off a door to use as a shield. He scrambled out quickly from the overturned car.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets hammered the hardened door in his hand, pocking it with dents. But soon, a series of distinctly different gunshots rang out from another direction. The remaining thugs screamed as bullets tore through them—yet, driven by a toxic mix of adrenaline and madness, they stubbornly fired back, even as blood poured from their wounds.

The man with the grenade launcher, blood gushing from his mouth, pulled the trigger with a final, vengeful squeeze.

Whoosh!

The shell screamed through the air toward a storefront.

Snap!

Yet a giant of ashen gray—visible only to those with the sight—caught the shell midair, letting it explode harmlessly in his palm. A burst of brilliant fire blossomed in the sky.

“Well done!” the warm-hearted man called, giving Qi Chen a thumbs-up before turning grimly to survey the corpses of the Society’s thugs strewn on the ground.

At that moment, the Special Operations Squad’s leader arrived, snapping to attention at their side.

“Officers! Are you all right?”

“Give us a vehicle,” Qi Chen said crisply, turning to the warm-hearted man. “We need to get to Officer Lou, fast!”

He nodded gravely, took the keys from the squad leader, and after a few brief words, he and Qi Chen climbed into another armored car.

The more desperate the enemy, the more secrets their target must be hiding.

With a roar, the armored car sped off into the distance.

……

……

Meanwhile, back at the Department of Anomaly Handling, Fu Ying was beset by a string of bad news.

Besides Qi Chen and the warm-hearted man, the department had dispatched other investigators as well. Some had just reported their findings.

But every lead they’d uncovered had been severed.

Most investigators arrived at their destinations only to find nothing—or, at best, a few cold, lifeless corpses.

Their adversary was far more ruthless than they had imagined.

……