The attackers seemed absolutely certain of his position. Approaching from both sides until they were within a three-meter radius, they paused briefly before abruptly springing into action.
Swish—
The sounds of whistling wind tore through the fog.
Chen Xing was also a Strongman, but his build was well-proportioned; he had achieved a Perfect Advancement. He had already fully activated his profession's core ability, 【Strong】.
His muscles were taut, and his skin took on a faint reddish hue. Even though his target was merely a refugee, he didn't slack off in the slightest, opting to launch a sudden, explosive ambush to ensure total success.
The target was already right before his eyes. It seemed their attack was simply too sudden; the kid hadn't even reacted, not even showing a flicker of panic on his face.
'He does have a pretty face, I'll give him that...' he thought idly, subconsciously pulling back some of his strength for fear of accidentally killing him.
Their objective was to abduct him, not assassinate him.
But exactly at that moment, the target tilted his head slightly and looked right at him, his eyes entirely devoid of fear.
"Huh!" Chen Xing's expression changed drastically. Alarm bells blared in his mind as he realized something was terribly wrong.
Su Chen had brazenly activated his 【Wind Erosion】 ability, having secretly been charging it up for quite some time. The muscles in his right arm coiled tight as he clenched his fist. Twisting his waist, he whipped his upper body around.
The swirling vortex of wind wrapping around his arm churned the surrounding fog as he viciously threw a punch directly at the attacker on his left.
Bang!
Fists collided, sending ripples blasting through the fog.
Riiiiip!
Chen Xing's eyelids twitched violently, and horror washed over his face. The sleeve of his outfit was shredded inch by inch, and a dense cluster of bloody lacerations appeared across his skin, as if he were being slashed by countless tiny blades. A sharp, stinging pain washed over him.
This attack actually carried the power of elements! What the hell kind of profession was this?!
Refugee? Refugee my fucking ass!
The target's capabilities didn't match their intel in the slightest.
Fortunately, there were two of them this time.
Fortunately, he had always been cautious, insisting on a simultaneous attack.
Since this kid had chosen to intercept him, it meant the kid had completely exposed his back to his partner...
Before that thought could even fully form in Chen Xing's mind, his eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Behind the target's back, a cluster of fine, azure, hair-like fibers condensed together. It appeared slow, but in reality, it happened at an incredible speed, forming a solid, taut azure iron cable that resembled a long spear.
As if manipulated by an invisible hand, it abruptly thrust backward.
Squélch!
The fat man's face was etched with absolute terror. The momentum of his ambush made it impossible for him to dodge or pull back. It was as if he had deliberately hurled himself onto the weapon. The azure metal rod sank into his corpulent body with horrifying ease, encountering almost no resistance.
Chen Xing watched helplessly as his partner's eyes widened in sheer, agonizing terror, seemingly still trying to struggle.
But in the next instant, the fat man's body stiffened, and thin azure fibers actually began piercing out through the surface of his skin.
Chen Xing shuddered in cold terror. He could only imagine the horrific sight of those hair-like threads crisscrossing and shredding his partner's insides.
"You..." In that brief moment of dazed panic, the target didn't pause for a single second, hurling another brutal punch straight at Chen Xing's head.
Chen Xing frantically scrambled to block it, but a deep-seated dread had already gripped his heart; all he wanted to do was run.
Thud!
Having lost its support, his partner's corpse plummeted heavily to the ground nearby. Chen Xing's heart leaped into his throat, and cold sweat drenched his entire body.
At some point, the boy's arm had been sheathed in an azure arm guard, and the knuckles were now studded with vicious, brass-knuckle-like spikes.
Squélch!
This time, the target's strike pierced through Chen Xing's skin without the slightest hindrance, sending an explosive wave of agonizing pain surging through his body.
Chen Xing's eyes widened to their limits as darkness swiftly devoured his consciousness.
Two assassins closing in from both sides, both dead in the blink of an eye.
"What exceptional timing. Old Zhao had practically just left..." Su Chen lowered his arms, his brows furrowing as he stared at the two corpses on the ground.
"Moreover, they were able to pinpoint my location perfectly... They knew exactly where I was... Someone coordinating from the inside... Old Zhao?"
"No, if it were him, there would be no need for him to leave. He could have just stayed behind and ambushed me together with them."
"Hu Xiang was the one who assigned the patrol locations and shifts. Could it be..."
Su Chen found his own conjecture incredibly troubling. If Hu Xiang really was behind this, things were going to get messy.
That man was clearly not a mere 1st-tier Professional.
"However, since he didn't attack me directly and only arranged the setup, it means he still has some reservations..." Su Chen crouched down and began frisking the two corpses.
He quickly scavenged a few items: a wallet and several bottles of potion. He swiftly stashed them away, then dragged the corpses slightly further off.
...
After waiting for a bit longer, Hu Xiang estimated that the ambush should have concluded. Only then did he say, "Let's go. We're heading to the scene."
Old Zhao remained silent. The two of them walked single file toward the watchpoint.
"Why is there blood?" Hu Xiang stared at the bloody streaks on the ground, his face darkening. "What a bunch of idiots..."
Two Professionals ambushing a single refugee, yet they still couldn't control their strength properly.
Old Zhao's face tightened. "If there's blood, the 'Mist Nightmare' story won't hold up. If the resulting investigation uncovers the truth..."
A Mist Nightmare was a nearly invisible, specialized creature capable of possessing living organisms.
He shot his captain a wary look, terrified that the new cover story would end up dragging him down as well.
Catching Old Zhao's gaze, Hu Xiang felt a pang of sorrow. If he hadn't desperately needed the price that the other party had offered this time around, he would never have stooped to this.
He sighed. "Then we'll blame it on a Corpse Scarab... Old Zhao, I'm going to have to leave a few wounds on you."
A City Patrol guard leading students on a patrol would fundamentally avoid any dangerous areas. Thus, every student's death required a meticulously detailed report.
Nanfeng Academy might even send personnel to conduct an on-site investigation.
Drawing from his own experience, Hu Xiang expertly doctored the scene. Old Zhao clutched an injured arm, his face ghastly pale.
Seeing Old Zhao's agonized expression, Hu Xiang wanted to say something, but the positioning device tightly gripped in his hand suddenly flared with an urgent, dangerous flashing red light.
"The camp!"
Hu Xiang's expression twisted drastically. Not daring to delay, he grabbed Old Zhao, and his body erupted with roaring flames as he tore through the fog.
In a matter of seconds, the camp came into view. There was no Mutant attack, yet all the City Patrol guards had assumed a highly vigilant combat stance.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Hu Xiang demanded, his face grim.
"C-Captain..." Old Zhao stammered, clutching his arm, staring dumbfoundedly at a certain spot within the camp.
Following his gaze, Hu Xiang's normally stoic expression nearly shattered, a flash of pure horror streaking across his eyes.
Su Chen, the boy he had assumed was already abducted or dead, was currently standing quietly in the center of the camp, looking right back at them.
"How is he..." Hu Xiang instinctively started to speak, before snapping his mouth shut.
"Old Zhao!" Su Chen hurriedly walked over, his face etched with concern. "Are you alright? What happened to your arm...?"
"N-nothing... it's fine..." Old Zhao mumbled evasively, too afraid to meet Su Chen's eyes.
"Captain Hu, what happened to Old Zhao? Did you two run into danger?" Su Chen turned his gaze to Hu Xiang.
Hu Xiang avoided eye contact. Overwhelmed by a mix of guilt and a guilty conscience, he found himself unable to formulate a proper response.
"Su Chen, what the hell is your problem? What danger?" Zhou Zong demanded from a distance. Having been jolted awake from a sound sleep by Su Chen's shouting, he was naturally pissed off.
The other students were bleary-eyed and confused. Bai Fengxi stood toward the back of the crowd, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"Shut up!" Hu Xiang bellowed deeply. "Old Zhao encountered danger, but it was chased off when I arrived. Su Chen was right to be cautious; it's better to be safe than sorry!"
Zhou Zong felt completely baffled. 'What is Hu Xiang's deal? I only complained for a second.'
"As long as everyone's okay..." Su Chen let out a sigh of apparent relief, before putting on a troubled expression. "Captain Hu... my legs are still shaking. I'd like to rest for a bit."
He definitely wasn't going to go back out on watch. Hu Xiang was a 2nd-tier Professional; he could kill Su Chen with one hand.
Before Hu Xiang could even process this, Zhou Zong predictably jumped out again, sneering coldly, "Your watch shift isn't over yet. If everyone was as terrified of danger as you are, we might as well disband the patrol."
"Alright, take a rest for tonight," Hu Xiang decided without hesitation. He then pointed a finger at Zhou Zong. "You, go cover his shift."
Zhou Zong was dumbstruck. Had Hu Xiang lost his fucking mind?
The other students were equally confused. It hadn't even been that long, so why was Hu Xiang increasingly favoring Su Chen?
Su Chen was also quite surprised as he stared at Hu Xiang. This kind of reaction didn't seem like the behavior of someone plotting to deliberately frame him.
He had originally planned to tear off all pretenses if Hu Xiang had tried to force him back out into the fog.
He didn't believe for a second that this guy's control over the group was absolute enough to force everyone into total silence.
At the very least, he had a degree of confidence that he could rely on Bai Fengxi.
But the current situation... had become somewhat confusing.
A furious Zhou Zong stormed off to start his watch, while Su Chen returned to his small tent. The others gradually filtered back to bed as well.
"The situation is getting rather weird..." Su Chen muttered to himself.
Setting aside his doubts for the moment, he pulled out the loot he had scavenged from the bodies. There wasn't much gold in the wallet, but there were two pale gold cards.
"...Nanfeng Depository..." Su Chen stared at the engraved text. "Are these bank cards?"
"I wonder if they require a PIN..." His predecessor had truly never interacted with such high-end items before.
He then turned his attention to the remaining potion bottles. They clearly weren't Blood-Activating Potions. The liquid was a much richer, deeper crimson, and there were even specks of black sediment settling at the bottom.
"Black Flame Potion?" Su Chen couldn't be entirely sure.
Ever since snatching Zhou Zong's potions the last time, he had taken the time to visit the library, cramming as much pharmacological knowledge into his head as possible precisely to avoid situations where he secured valuable loot but couldn't recognize it.
He turned one of the bottles upside down. As if stimulated by the movement, the black sediments bloomed within the bottle, glowing like tiny fireworks.
"It really is..." Su Chen couldn't help but grin broadly.
While it was still technically a 1st-tier potion, it was far more precious than a Blood-Activating Potion. It was typically only used by Professionals whose physical conditioning had reached a plateau and required a much stronger stimulus to progress further.