Roadmap to the Boundless Sky-Chapter 160: Change

Chen Chuan left the underground fighting ring and put this matter behind him. On the way out, the constable with him shared news that Fu Shouxin wasn’t the only one who had died. While Chen Chuan was fighting against Zhuo Bao, the Chain Links Gang launched a massive attack on an important base of the Blood Scars Gang and dealt a huge blow to them.

Also, an hour ago, one of the Blood Scars Gang’s companies was attacked. The gang members defending the place were all killed within a short amount of time. The cause of their deaths was a knife. All of the company’s goods and important documents were burned to a crisp, leading to major losses.

Everything happened far too coincidentally, as if all parties were working together. It was no wonder why Zhuo Bao had been acting like a lunatic and even demanded that Chen Chuan take the blame. All the events had to have shocked him so much that he lost his cool.

Anyone could tell that someone was behind the attacks on the Blood Scars Gang.

But who could it be?

Aside from the Chain Links Gang, no other criminal organization in Yangzhi City could fight against the Blood Scars Gang. After all, they had Black Orchid Co. supporting them.

This didn’t seem like something the government would do either.

There was also the splitting of the leaders’ heads. If it wasn’t a supernatural being, then it had to be some sort of technology, and anyone with that sort of technology in hand was not a nobody.

Whoever it was had the technology and power to reduce the Blood Scars Gang to such a pathetic state in an instant. Chen Chuan thought of a possibility.

It could be the doing of another company.

Only a force of power like that could possibly go up against Black Orchid Co.

If that were the case, then this was a fight between two major corporations.

But these conflicts had nothing to do with him. He just wanted to find the Head-Splitting Monster, so he could use the stimulation from the supernatural being as a stand-in for his medicine. Alas, this would not be happening.

Chen Chuan wiped down the Frost King Saber, washed up, and got ready for bed. Before he could go into his bedroom, his phone rang, and he stopped.

It was near 11 p.m. If anyone called him at this hour, it had to be something urgent.

Chen Chuan went over to pick up the phone and said, “Hello, Chen Chuan speaking.”

“Chen Chuan.”

When Chen Chuan heard the voice, he was quite surprised. He wasn’t expecting this particular person to call him. “Mr. Lei? How can I help you?”

“I received news that Liu Zhan’s position may be changing soon,” Lei Guangcheng answered grimly.

A flicker of shock appeared in Chen Chuan’s eyes, and he instantly realized what the problem was.

Liu Zhan had promised that as long as he remained the director of the Foreign Affairs Department, he would keep the fact that the department gave him evaluation points a secret, but if he was no longer around, there wouldn’t be any need for him to keep that promise. He might even reveal this fact on his own.

Lei Guangcheng cautioned him, “I only just heard about it. If he agrees to it, he won’t be immediately handing over his position, but you only have two months at most. Be careful about it.

“Liu Zhan isn’t going to wait doing nothing. He’s the sort to use everything in his possession to climb up the social ladder. You need to start thinking about what you’re going to do.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lei.”

After Chen Chuan hung up, he stood in deep contemplation for a while before checking the clock. Then, he picked up his phone and called Gao Ming’s house.

The call soon went through. “Gao Ming, it’s me. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, and I’m alone too.”

“Liu Zhan might be getting transferred, so we need to start getting ready,” Chen Chuan said.

Gao Ming immediately understood what he meant, and his voice grew serious. “Got it, cuz. I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

“Okay.” Chen Chuan hung up.

They were going to have to do a lot of things ahead of schedule.

Chen Chuan had been planning to take his time training until the rapid growth of the Second Limit was over. Then, he would have been strong enough to fight for a slot to go to Central City.

But it seemed like the world didn’t want to give him that time.

If the rich families behind the Mutual Aid Group learned that he had the Foreign Affairs Department, Cult Investigation Bureau, and Jia County’s General Affairs Department’s evaluation points, they were going to use anything they could think of to oppress him so that he couldn’t stand out.

Cheng Zitong had to know about this immediately as well. While it was late and it didn’t feel like a single night would make a difference, Chen Chuan would rather be on the side of caution instead of being careless.

He called Cheng Zitong. After his mentor answered, Chen Chuan told him about Liu Zhan’s possible transfer.

Cheng Zitong immediately thought about the consequences, and he said sternly, “If that’s the case, you need to get ready ahead of time.”

“Yes, Mr. Cheng,” Chen Chuan agreed.

He was bound to go up against the forces of power behind the Mutual Aid Group, so there was no predicting how things would end up. Even though he was quite confident he would come out on top, he had to plan out how to deal with the worst case scenarios before thinking about winning. They had to start making arrangements for the escape routes Cheng Zitong had mentioned. If anything went awry, he could take those paths to escape. As long as he was alive, his future would have possibilities and options.

After some thinking, Cheng Zitong said, “It looked like you’ll have enough time to grow, but now... Let me talk to Lao He and see whether you can train under him for a while. Then, you’d have a higher chance of winning.”

Chen Chuan perked up. “Can you?”

He Xiaoxing had only guided him for a night, and he had improved drastically. If he could learn under him for a period of time, Chen Chuan was sure that he would grow even more.

“I’ll take care of this. Just focus on what you need to do and be careful,” Cheng Zitong said gravely.

“Alright,” Chen Chuan promised. After setting the phone receiver down, he sucked in a deep breath before going to the floor-to-ceiling window. He stared at the swaying leaves and the dark sky. It seemed like he had to get ready for the incoming storm.

***

In Wubian City, Wei Jun sat on the sofa of his hotel with a sullen expression. He was really angry and gloomy.

The unrestricted defense permit test had gone wrong: Someone had killed most of the death row criminals released for the test. This didn’t matter much, since the examination committee could just release another batch of death row criminals for the test to continue.

The problem was that on another test location, the examination targets were not the only ones attacked. One of the examinees was killed by gunfire. Before he died, his limbs were broken, and his skull crushed.

Wei Jun knew this examinee. It was the guy who had boasted about breaking the commoner examinee’s limbs before encasing him in cement and throwing him into a lake. Wei Jun had a strong suspicion that someone had come forward to take revenge for that commoner examinee based on how they died.

Even though the examination committee was unlikely to take revenge for a commoner examinee, he was starting to suspect that they had leaked news about the test, and someone had come forward to take revenge.

Wei Jun was scared. His own hands were not all that clean. He had done a similar thing before, and he had even participated in the accident involving Shen Zheng. What if the murderer targeted Wei Jun this time?

He wasn’t in Yangzhi City. Aside from the bodyguards he brought with him, he had no other forms of protection.

Wei Jun clenched his fists and said to his butler, “Call my family and have them send another—no, make that two teams of bodyguards.”

“Alright,” the butler said.

But he didn’t move, and Wei Jun turned to him with a scowl. “What is it?”

The butler hesitated for a moment before he said, “The examination committee has come to notify us that since an examinee died, the test might be postponed.”

A bad feeling rose in Wei Jun’s heart. “For how long?”

“Perhaps two months,” the butler answered.

“Fuck!”

Wei Jun could not help the anger burning in him. It was already late June. Two months later, it would be the start of a new semester.

Herein was the problem: The deadline for the application to go to Central City was going to end before September. If he didn’t get the unrestricted defense permit by then, the main campus was sure to reject him.

Even though he could make use of other channels to go to Central City, he would not be getting the main campus’s slot. If he missed the chance, that would be it. The main campus wasn’t going to make it up to him.

Even if there was a reason behind why he couldn’t get his unrestricted defense permit before the deadline, so he could ask Martial Valor University to provide an extra slot for the next batch of applicants, it would mean having to compete against the next batch of recommended students.

The families and interest groups behind the recommended students always negotiated who got the recommended slots. The ones giving up on the recommendation slots could get benefits from the ones who got them. If he were to get another slot from the next batch, his family would have to provide even more compensation.

That wasn’t all. He was at a crucial point of growth as a martial artist. If he went to Central City half a year or even a year later, it would be a huge loss to him.

“Damn it...”

The more he thought about it, the more irritated he felt. He couldn’t even ask the examination committee to not postpone the test for so long. This group was made of members from other national-level governmental departments. They didn’t care about the rich families whose influence was only limited to their local region.

Once the butler saw that he had calmed down, he asked tentatively, “What should we do next, Young Master?”

“What can we do? Wait here. I’m going to visit some people and see whether I can change the situation,” Wei Jun hissed.

***

Meanwhile, after Tai Dongwei and Geng Zheng heard that the test was postponed, they exchanged looks before turning to Deng Fu and staring at him strangely.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Deng Fu put down the magazine and gave them a resigned look.

“You said that if we wait, something good may happen, and that’s exactly what happened. Did you know about it in advance?” Geng Zheng asked, unable to help himself.

“Hey, now. Don’t go running your mouth off. This has nothing to do with me. Besides, why would I mention it in advance if I knew something about it?” Deng Fu hurriedly waved his hand in denial.

Geng Zheng thought about it and decided that it made sense.

But Tai Dongwei continued staring at Deng Fu. He didn’t say anything, but thought that this was the first time he really came to know him.

When the questioning stopped, Deng Fu regained his relaxed attitude and placed an arm behind his head while he shook his leg. “Someone from the examination committee will have to come forward to take responsibility. We won’t be able to see something like this ever again, but we shouldn’t overthink it. I’m just going to repeat myself: Let’s train well so that we can live longer.”

“Yes. You’re exactly right, brother,” Geng Zheng agreed seriously.

Deng Fu was stunned, then smiled and lifted the magazine back up.

He began reading it slowly.