Celestial Human Diagram

Chapter 348 - 79: Cleanup

Chen Chuan waited until Toad Blade’s life signs had completely vanished before turning back. He walked over to Zhao Qian and asked in a calm voice, "Manager Zhao, have you made up your mind?"

Zhao Qian lay there, staring blankly at Chen Chuan.

He had just witnessed the entire fight. He had been certain that Chen Chuan stood no chance, yet a Third Limit Fighter had been brutally cut down right before his eyes. The dissonance between his expectations and reality, combined with his shattered hopes and physical discomfort, twisted his face into a grimace.

He finally realized it now: Chen Chuan hadn’t taken any drugs at all. It was all a sham! The man standing before him was, without a doubt, a Third Limit Fighter!

’You Xing must have died because he underestimated his opponent.’

’Now it’s my turn.’

Lying there, he met Chen Chuan’s downward gaze. He heaved his chest, his lips parted, and a hoarse, gurgling sound escaped him, as if he was trying to say something but couldn’t.

Seeing his state, Chen Chuan took a few steps closer. Zhao Qian managed to lower his head slightly. As the figure drew near, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. A spike shot out from his sleeve, thrusting violently upward toward Chen Chuan’s ribs!

But before the spike could find its mark, a hand reached out and gently pushed his forehead. His head snapped back with a CRACK as his cervical vertebrae shattered instantly. The spike, which had just grazed the Anti-stabbing Windbreaker, went limp. His hands fell, and the spike dropped to the ground with a CLANG.

Chen Chuan watched him for a moment. His palm strike had not only snapped the man’s neck, but the burst of Power had also liquefied his brain, killing him instantly.

He glanced ahead and saw the driver’s figure stumbling away on the other side of the guardrail. The man had fled the moment Zhao Qian was tossed into the air.

’He’s just running in the wrong direction. The wilderness outside Central City isn’t a place just anyone can wander.’

He was just an ordinary person; Chen Chuan had never intended to kill him. Besides, he hadn’t shown his face the entire time and was wearing a General Affairs Bureau uniform. There were no Realm Tokens recording the scene here. If Lianwei Zhongyu wanted to investigate, let them. The fall of the Zhao Family, the collapse of Molan Company—they would have their hands full with all the connections involved.

’But would Lianwei Zhongyu really go to such lengths for Zhao Qian?’ He doubted it.

As long as Zhao Qian was alive, it was one thing. But now that he was dead, he was just a bad asset to be written off, especially since he’d been under the Processing Bureau’s scrutiny time and time again.

He reached out, placed a hand on the back of Zhao Qian’s neck, and peeled away the external tissue along the seam line. Then, he pulled out the Implanted Realm Token. It should have records on it; he might be able to find something useful.

Taking out a bag, he put the item inside. He then went back to retrieve his scabbard and sheathed the Snow Monarch Blade.

He looked up in the direction of Central City. The National Path stretched out before him. The rising sun now hung above the city’s silhouette, its light pouring down the road and casting a long shadow by his side.

After standing there for a moment, he walked over to Toad Blade’s corpse, lifted the entire body, and placed it in the trunk of the car, planning to find a place to bury it on the way back. As for Feng Gai’s body, which had been in the trunk earlier, he had already dumped it on a road after leaving the city.

After closing the trunk, he went and pulled Zhao Qian’s two-handed sword from the car before returning to his own vehicle.

Soon, the engine of the Gard Car rumbled to life, and it drove away.

About three or four minutes after he left, the assistant, who had been slumped in the car, stirred. He sat up dazedly and looked around. After a moment, his eyes gradually focused. Seeming to remember what had happened, he quickly looked back and saw Zhao Qian lying on the trunk lid.

"Manager?"

He cried out in alarm and scrambled out of the car. Rushing to Zhao Qian’s side, he checked him and found that he was no longer breathing. Terror instantly filled his heart.

’Zhao Qian was the one who brought me into the company; my career depends on him. With him dead, I can’t stay. I’ve made too many enemies for him. Now that he’s gone, they’ll come after me. Going back to the company is a dead end. In that case, I might as well...’

He gritted his teeth, ran to the driver’s seat, and tried the ignition. The car started. He was ecstatic.

He knew there was a drawer with emergency cash under the car seat. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for travel expenses. He also knew about one of Zhao Qian’s unregistered accounts.

’But this isn’t enough...’

He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, but finally, a ruthless expression appeared on his face. He took a small knife from his waist, walked over to Zhao Qian’s body, and cut off his head.

He knew that the brain tissue of a Third Limit Fighter was valuable—worth a great deal of money. It would fetch a high price in any Central City.

Letting Zhao Qian’s body slide to the ground, he carefully carried the head back to the car and placed it neatly in the vehicle’s built-in cooler.

After a moment’s thought, he went back again, took off Zhao Qian’s expensive watch, wiped it clean, and put it in his own pocket. Only then did he hurry back to the driver’s seat, reverse the car, make a quick U-turn, and drive off in the direction opposite to Central City.

Meanwhile, Chi Duan lay in a wretched state on the side of the road. One of his arms was broken, hanging limply at his side. The person before him still stood perfectly steady, as if they hadn’t moved an inch since the fight began.

He gave a bitter smile. "Still not good enough." After their last battle, he had contemplated many ways to deal with this person and had made extensive preparations, but it all turned out to be useless.

So, he readily surrendered. "Can Your Excellency spare me? I’ve done right by Mr. Zhao. I will no longer serve him."

He spoke with sincerity. Besides, his opponent didn’t seem to intend to kill him; their goal was merely to stop him. Otherwise, he never would have had the chance to speak.

’Zhao Qian is most likely a goner. I was willing to repay the Zhao Family for training me, but I’ve already done my best. It’s not my fault I wasn’t strong enough.’

The figure glanced at him, then turned and left without a word.

Seeing him leave, Chi Duan’s body went completely limp. He lay sprawled on the ground, staring at the sky. ’Looks like I can’t stay in Jibei Dao Central City anymore.’

After Chen Chuan returned to the range of Central City’s Domain, his Realm Token immediately contacted Wubei. He asked him for technical support to completely erase all traces of his departure and return.

In fact, it wasn’t just for today. Ever since the incident with Teacher Wu, he had Wubei handle his movements every day.

After speaking with Wubei, he contacted Gao Ming.

Gao Ming’s voice came through. "Cousin, it seems you’ve taken care of it."

Chen Chuan said, "Yes, the plan went smoothly."

Gao Ming said, "Next up is dealing with potential inquiries from within the Processing Bureau."

Chen Chuan grunted in agreement. Because his conflict with Zhao Qian had been exposed, Zhao Qian’s death would certainly make some people at the Processing Bureau suspicious of him.

’It’s impossible for there to be no consequences; a certain faction will definitely be displeased with me.’

But he didn’t care. Since that group hadn’t cared about his interests when Zhao Qian was targeting him, he didn’t need to care about them now. The Processing Bureau wasn’t a monolith; there was naturally a faction that supported him.

Besides, Zhao Qian was dead now, so there was no point in relentlessly pursuing the matter. And once he became a Third Limit Fighter, he believed this whole affair would soon be forgotten.

After returning to the city, he drove directly to Wubei’s residence. An hour later, they met. He placed a bag in front of Wubei. "I brought back his Realm Token. As you said, Brother Wu, I didn’t wipe it."

"That’s for the best."

Wubei took it. He prepared to run a data extraction, pulling out all the residual and stored Domain information. It might contain the clues Chen Chuan was looking for.

After examining it for a while, he looked up and said, "Brother Chen, he used a deep-sleep storage method. For this kind of Domain information, I’ll need to slowly find the right path and dig deep. One wrong move could wipe all the data. It might take me some time, but this kind of storage method can definitely hide a lot of things."

Chen Chuan said, "No rush, Brother Wu. You can take your time."

Wubei agreed. He rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming. He looked like he had just encountered a problem that sparked his desire for a challenge.

Seeing this, Chen Chuan didn’t disturb him any further. He left the apartment, returned to his car, and drove to an off-platform car wash he had scouted out earlier. He had the car cleaned from the inside out.

After the car wash, he returned to his dorm at the Profound Palace Building. He went to an empty locker and placed Zhao Qian’s two-handed sword, Toad Blade’s two arm blades, and the long staff he had previously obtained from You Xing inside. His future showroom had just gained two more weapons.

After closing the locker, he saw that it was still early and went to do his daily training.

He had expected news of Zhao Qian’s death to quickly reach the Processing Bureau and Lianwei Zhongyu, but the next few days were calm and peaceful. There was no information about Zhao Qian whatsoever.

In reality, Zhao Qian’s body had been discovered early on. However, it wasn’t a road patrol or cleanup crew that found him, but an armed group from the wilderness.

The driver who had fled figured he was only a half-hour drive from Central City and could walk back on his own. However, he had overlooked the complex situation outside the city.

Central City was surrounded by armed and smuggling groups of all sizes. A person walking alone was practically a living target. He had been walking for less than half an hour when he was abducted by a bandit on a motorcycle.

The bandit extracted some information from him and decided to tentatively check out the scene to see if there was anything to gain. To his surprise, he found Zhao Qian’s body still there.

Even though it was a headless corpse, this was a Third Limit Fighter and a mid-level manager at a company. Parted out, he would definitely sell for a good price!

And because Zhao Qian had left in the middle of a convoy run, the transport team didn’t care where he went. With both the assistant and the driver disappearing at the same time, no one reported the incident. As a result, it was three days later before Zhao Qian was officially confirmed missing.

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