19: Chapter 19 Alone

Three days had passed since the conflict in the Cannon Fodder Class.

During these three days, Jiangnan City No. 3 High School was unusually quiet.

Zhao Kuang did not come to cause trouble again, but every time they crossed paths on campus, he would stare at Su Chen with a sinister, venomous gaze, as if looking at a dead man.

Instructor Lin Yi had also approached Su Chen several times, wanting him to test his so-called "mutated turtle shell," but Su Chen brushed him off each time by claiming he was feeling unwell.

During the day, Su Chen played the role of an invisible person with zero presence at school.

At night, he would appear punctually in the hospital ward at City Central Hospital.

"Focus your mind and calm your heart. Force the rampaging energy into your Dantian."

Inside the ward, Su Chen leaned against the windowsill, watching Jiang Feng, who was sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed.

Jiang Feng was shirtless, and white steam was rising from his body. His originally chubby frame now faintly revealed the contours of muscle. The residual energy of the ice heart jade marrow pill was continuously cleansing his entire body.

"Hoo—"

Jiang Feng opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of stale air. He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking with a crisp "crack" sound.

"Brother Chen, this medicine is too intense." Jiang Feng threw a punch excitedly. "I feel like my vitality value has broken through at least two hundred units! If this were in the elite class, I could Rank in the top ten!"

"It's not enough. With this amount of vitality, you won't last three rounds against real Martial Skills in the practical combat ranking tournament."

Su Chen walked up and poured a glass of water, handing it over. "Keep practicing. Until you've squeezed out every bit of the medicine's power and converted it into muscle instinct."

Jiang Feng took the water glass and downed it in one gulp. "Understood! Brother Chen, don't worry, in a month, I will definitely not embarrass you!"

Su Chen said nothing more and picked up the shoulder bag beside him.

"I'm heading back. Stay in the hospital and rest easy."

Leaving the hospital, Su Chen did not return to the slums immediately; instead, he took a detour to a scrap recycling station.

Late at night, in a rental room in District D.

In the ten-square-meter room, the only light source was a second-hand terminal on the desk, assembled from various discarded parts.

Su Chen sat in front of the screen, his fingers tapping rapidly on the worn-out keyboard. Strings of complex code cascaded down the screen like a waterfall.

Soon, the black screen flickered and jumped to a webpage filled with dark red tones.

Jiangnan City Underground Black Market, Dark Web Forum.

As soon as he logged in, a pinned, bolded, and red-highlighted post occupied the very center of the screen.

[Highest Level Pursuit Order! Bounty of Three Million Star Coins!]

[Target Codename: Shura.]

Below the post, there was a hand-drawn sketch attached. A wide cloak, a demon mask with fangs.

Su Chen clicked on the post.

The replies inside had already reached over a thousand, and mercenaries and outlaws from the entire black market were posting fanatically below.

"Three million? The Blood Axe Gang is really bleeding for this one!"

"Inside scoop! This kid killed Scarface from the Blood Axe Gang and even dissolved the body! One-Eyed Blade has gone crazy and emptied the entire underground armory!"

"Look at the bounty description, the target's bone age is under twenty, and he carries a high-level Spiritual Artifact capable of unleashing Grandmaster-level physical destructive power. Brothers, this isn't a wanted criminal; this is a walking vault!"

"I've already led a team into the ruins. The Blood Axe Gang has bribed the checkpoint guards, and the outer perimeter of the black market is now fully open. As long as he dares to show his head, the spiritual energy machine guns will teach him a lesson!"

Watching the frantic comments scrolling on the screen, Su Chen's expression didn't change in the slightest.

An ordinary high school student, if they knew they were being hunted city-wide by a massive Gang and that a dragnet had been set for them, would likely be scared weak in the knees and would have run to the gates of the Public Security Bureau overnight to beg for protection.

But in Su Chen's dictionary, there was never "retreat" or "fear."

The activation of the Sharingan not only granted him insight, but that immense Yin Release Mental Energy also allowed him to maintain an almost inhuman level of absolute coldness and rationality at all times.

"Bone age under twenty, high-level Spiritual Artifact?"

Su Chen looked at the text on the screen and read it out softly.

He leaned back in his chair, his slender fingers tapping gently on the desk.

"So that's it. They can't figure out why someone without spiritual energy can instantly kill a Martial Apprentice, so they made up something like a high-level Spiritual Artifact."

Information asymmetry.

This was Su Chen's greatest weapon and the root cause of the Blood Axe Gang's fatal misjudgment.

The opponent thought he was relying on external objects, which is why they dared to set a trap and attempt to encircle and suppress him with heavy firepower.

Su Chen turned off the terminal.

"System, open panel."

A dark red holographic screen unfolded on his retina.

[Host: Su Chen] [Current origin points balance: 390]

"Two-Tomoe Sharingan requires 500 points. Armament Haki requires 1000 points."

Su Chen looked at the balance and calculated in his mind.

"Still 110 points short for the Two-Tomoe."

The college entrance exam practical combat ranking tournament is in one month. That is the most important channel for the Great Xia to select talent, and examiners from the military and major universities will all be present.

To absolutely crush Zhao Kuang in practical combat, and even to deal with emergencies that might erupt in the wilderness at any time, relying solely on the dynamic vision of the Single Tomoe Sharingan, the margin for error is still not enough.

He needs the stronger insight, and even genjutsu suppression, brought by the Two-Tomoe.

"Must raise my Rank before the college entrance exam."

But, where to get these 110 origin points?

Su Chen's gaze slowly turned to the extinguished terminal on the desk.

In Su Chen's logic, the Blood Axe Gang, this group of heinous scum, was not a fatal threat at all.

What were they?

They were local tyrants who had entrenched themselves in the black market for years. They had numerous establishments under their control, vaults, and various confiscated stolen goods. This group had been mingling on the edge of the Star Gate cracks for years; their warehouses must be piled with low-level Materials containing faint abyssal aura and unidentified potions.

To others, these things were junk.

In Su Chen's eyes, they were piles of origin points that hadn't been exchanged yet!

"Set up a dragnet, waiting for me to drill into it?"

Su Chen stood up.

He walked to the bed and lifted the bed board.

Underneath was a waterproof travel bag. That was the spare supplies he had prepared in advance a few days ago with the money left over from selling his blood. Inside were a few sets of brand-new black cloaks, as well as Shura masks of the same style.

"Since you have gone to such trouble to set the stage."

Su Chen took off his high school uniform.

"How can Shura not attend the appointment."

...

Midnight.

On the edge of District D in Jiangnan City, the ruins leading to the underground air-raid shelter.

The ruins seemed exceptionally quiet today. The scavengers and low-level thugs who usually wandered nearby seemed to have sensed an unusual murderous aura in the air and had hidden away early.

Su Chen walked out from the shadows.

He had changed into an extremely form-fitting black high-elastic combat suit. This material offered no protection, but its extensibility was excellent. Only by wearing this kind of clothing could he avoid hindering the high-frequency contraction and twisting of his muscles when performing [Soru] and [Kami-e].

Over the combat suit, he still wore that iconic, wide black cloak.

On his face, he wore that demon mask with fangs.

Su Chen did not look for weakly defended ventilation ducts like a thief, nor did he sneak through the shadows of the ruins.

He walked directly onto the wide road leading to the main entrance of the Underground Black Market.

In the shadows on both sides of the road.

Several spiritual energy sniper rifles equipped with silencers and infrared scopes were locked tightly onto the center of the road.

"Report to the Second-in-Command, target appeared! Repeat, target appeared! He didn't take the small path, he's walking directly on the main road!" The voice of an undercover sentry, suppressing excitement, came through the walkie-talkie.

"This kid really isn't afraid of death. Let him in!" The cold voice of a bald, burly man came through the walkie-talkie. "Don't make a move on the perimeter. Wait until he walks to the main entrance of the casino, then we'll trap and wipe him out with heavy machine guns!"

Su Chen walked on the empty road, a few faint infrared red dots flickering across his black cloak.

Beneath the mask, Su Chen's Single Tomoe Sharingan emitted a bloodthirsty red glow in the darkness. He didn't look up, but every movement around him—the breathing of the sentries, the mechanical sound of bolts being pulled—was clearly imprinted in his mind.

"Let me in? Just what I wanted."

Su Chen's pace didn't pause in the slightest; his steps were as steady as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.

However, as he stepped closer to the depths of the air-raid shelter, closer to the giant underground casino controlled by the Blood Axe Gang.

A tangible killing intent began to churn and boil around his body.

The air seemed to become viscous because of this killing intent.

Ahead was the main entrance of the underground casino. It was an explosion-proof door made of heavy, military-grade alloy.

At this moment, the area outside the door was brightly lit.

Four fully armed guards were sitting in front of the door. Beside them, two military-grade "heavy spiritual energy machine guns," strictly prohibited by the black market, were set up. The thick barrels gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the searchlights, and every bullet on the ammo belt shimmered with armor-piercing runes.

When Su Chen's figure, draped in a black cloak, slowly walked from the darkness of the tunnel into the light.

The four guards were stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to believe that someone would actually dare to walk over single-handedly and brazenly.

Then, ecstasy and greed instantly twisted their faces.

"It's Shura!"

"A three-million-dollar head! He delivered it himself!"

There was no interrogation whatsoever.

Nor was there any warning.

"Open fire!!!"

The guards roared madly, their hands tightly clamping down on the triggers of the heavy machine guns.

"Da da da da da da—!!!"

The deafening sound of gunfire instantly tore through the silence of the underground space!

The two heavy spiritual energy machine guns roared simultaneously, spitting out blinding tongues of fire half a meter long. A dense storm of metal intertwined in the narrow tunnel into a death web with no blind spots, covering Su Chen overwhelmingly!

Armor-piercing bullets of this caliber would tear even a Tier 1 Martial Artist into shreds in an instant, even if they raised their Protective Qi.

Facing the incoming metal storm.

Su Chen did not retreat a single step.

Beneath the mask, that black Single Tomoe began to spin at a crazy speed.