Chapter 52 The Black Raven Organization

The group moved in the direction indicated by the communication watches, discovering several more communicators along the way.

This further confirmed Chu Han's suspicion.

The group quickened their pace. After walking for about an hour, the fog ahead suddenly thinned.

A hidden cave appeared beneath a cliff face, its entrance obscured by vines. They could faintly sense human auras coming from inside.

"This is it!"

Li Yunjian lowered his voice and signaled the team to prepare for combat.

They couldn't be certain if the markers left along the way were enemy bait, so they didn't dare be careless.

Chu Han quickly approached the cave entrance and released his Mental Energy to probe inside.

He discovered five people in the cave. Three of them possessed the Essence fluctuations of a Martial Artist, while the other two had no fluctuations and were likely ordinary people.

Aside from them, there were no other living auras in the cave, only a faint scent of blood.

"There are five people inside, three of whom are Martial Artists," Chu Han said.

"Good, everyone follow me in."

Li Yunjian remained at the front, charging into the cave at extreme speed.

Chu Han followed closely behind. As soon as the two entered, three flashes of cold light lunged at them from both sides.

The two immediately used their weapons to parry, and the sound of clashing metal rang out through the dark cave.

"Listen up! We are a rescue team sent by the Jiangcheng Military. If you are the scientific research team, stop attacking!"

Li Yunjian shouted to the people inside.

He received an immediate response: "You're from the military?"

"Correct!"

A second later, a dim light flickered on in the cave, making it just possible to see the situation inside.

"That's great, the rescue is finally here."

A sobbing voice spoke. It was a young man wearing glasses; judging by his clothes, he was a researcher.

The three Martial Artists who had attacked Chu Han and Li Yunjian also threw down their weapons and slumped to the ground.

The brief fight just now had aggravated their existing injuries.

All three were Fourth-Tier Martial Artists, yet they had only managed to escape while being this severely wounded, which was enough to show how terrifying the enemies they encountered were.

"What's the situation? Where is Professor Chen? And the other team members?" Li Yunjian asked urgently.

"Professor Chen was taken by them. All the others are dead," another researcher clutching a laptop said, his voice filled with grief.

"Taken away? What happened?"

A young Martial Artist responsible for protection said, "We originally had sixteen people. Aside from Professor Chen and his five students, everyone else was a Fourth-Tier Martial Artist, and we were led by a 5th-rank Martial Artist."

"But in the early hours of this morning, after we had worked through the night collecting research samples here, we were suddenly attacked by a group of unidentified people!"

"The team that attacked us was very strong. They had two 5th-rank Martial Artists and over a dozen Fourth-Tier ones. Their leader didn't even make a move before our captain was killed by the two 5th-rank Martial Artists. The others couldn't resist at all; we were simply no match. We could only watch helplessly as Professor Chen was taken away while we fought desperately to lead the survivors out of the encirclement."

"By the time we escaped here, only five people in the team were still alive. That group seemed to be after Professor Chen; their leader specifically emphasized not to harm him."

Li Yunjian nodded after hearing the Martial Artist's description. "It seems Professor Chen is in no immediate danger for now. He must have been captured. Our mission is to rescue him."

"They have two 5th-rank Martial Artists and a dozen Fourth-Tier Martial Artists. How are we supposed to rescue him?" Han Wei raised the question everyone wanted to ask.

As soon as he spoke, everyone in the team, including Li Yunjian, fell into silence.

Indeed, the rescue squad's direct combat capability was far inferior to the team that had attacked Professor Chen.

If they weren't careful, the result would be the annihilation of their entire team.

Chu Han frowned and looked at the Martial Artist who had spoken. "Did that group have any identifying characteristics? For example, clothing, weapons, or special abilities?"

The Martial Artist replied, "They all wore black clothes and white masks. They used a wide variety of weapons, but their Essence all carried a trace of dark aura, which had the effect of eroding an opponent's Essence."

"Dark Essence with an erosive effect?"

Li Yunjian suddenly thought of something, and his expression became even more solemn. "Could it be the Black Crow Organization? They've been restless lately, attacking many Martial Artists. But why would they kidnap Professor Chen? Could it be to research something dangerous?"

Chu Han was also startled when he heard Li Yunjian mention the Black Crow Organization.

The Black Crow Organization was a notorious Slayers organization in the province where Jiangcheng was located. It was entirely composed of wanted Martial Artists, mercenaries, and Slayers.

This organization was involved in all sorts of activities: kidnapping, assassination, looting... The Martial Artists within the organization were extremely powerful. The provincial Martial Arts Association had organized multiple crackdowns but had never been able to completely uproot them.

If it really was the Black Crow Organization, then their rescue mission would be even more difficult.

"Regardless of who they are, we must find Professor Chen as soon as possible and rescue him!" Li Yunjian said with determined eyes.

Chu Han thought for a moment and said, "The most important thing right now is to first find traces of these people, then formulate a rescue plan."

Li Yunjian nodded. "Yes, Chu Han is right. So, I've decided to have everyone split up to search. Keep in touch, and report any news as soon as possible."

"A few of you stay behind to protect the wounded. Everyone else, go out and search in teams of four. Stay safe, everyone."

Li Yunjian quickly issued the new orders.

The team members were all Soldiers. Once they received the orders, they no longer voiced any objections and began to take action, even Han Wei followed them resolutely.

"Captain, I want to act alone," Chu Han said suddenly.

Li Yunjian was taken aback. "You want to be alone? Isn't that too dangerous?"

Chu Han said, "You know my abilities best. I won't go looking for death. Choosing to be alone is also to make it more convenient for me to use my abilities."

"Very well, you can act alone then."

Li Yunjian didn't think too much of it and immediately approved Chu Han's request.

Time was of the Essence now; the most important thing was to set out quickly to find Professor Chen.

Chu Han was the first to leave the cave, continuing his tracking deep into the canyon.

Acting alone, he could increase his speed as much as he liked. With the perception of his Mental Energy, he wasn't afraid of being ambushed by exotic beasts or enemies.

However, he searched for a long time without finding a single clue, until he walked out of the canyon.

Beyond the end of the canyon lay a range of rolling mountains.

Continuing his exploration outward, Chu Han was suddenly attacked by a 4th-rank Shadow Leopard.

After Chu Han dealt with the Shadow Leopard, he discovered several wounds on its body that had been caused by human Martial Artists.

"Its injuries were likely caused by people from the Black Crow Organization. If I track its blood, I might be able to find those people!"

Chu Han put away the Shadow Leopard's corpse and then followed the trail of its blood.

He eventually arrived at the edge of a cliff, where he found numerous traces of a battle between Martial Artists.

"Could they be below the cliff?"

Chu Han looked down and saw that the fog below the cliff was very thick, making it impossible to see the bottom.

Just as he was preparing to throw a stone down to test the height of the cliff, he suddenly heard several voices coming from below.

"Damn it, how deep is this cliff? Any further down and we probably won't be able to come back up."

"Let's just report to the leader that the woman fell off the cliff and died."

"It's a pity we couldn't bring back her body. That bitch was too ruthless. Even though she was heavily injured, she could still kill Second Brother in one blow. If we hadn't been well-prepared, we would have all fallen at her hands."

The voices from below were getting closer. Chu Han quickly hid behind a large boulder.

A moment later, several figures leaped up from below the cliff.

These people wore white masks and black clothes, almost exactly as the survivors had described.

And judging by their auras, each one had the strength of a Fourth-Tier Martial Artist.

"By following them, I should be able to find the Black Crow Organization's lair."