Chapter 419 h.e.l.l-for-leather Pursuit & Death Befalling
The Recchi City on a rainy day was quiet and deserted.
The outward announcement Wulan State issued practically declared that Recchi City had entered a state of war.
For that matter, people in Recchi City would not choose to go out unless there were extremely urgent or life-and-death issues to attend to.
The military and police forces that could be mobilized in Recchi City were rather scarce.
And a great deal of manpower was needed to handle the corpses and the wounded in the ruins of the square. The Flyer Base, which was responsible for the guarding work near Recchi City, had been reduced to a mess by Fire Man. Although the remaining staff there were many, the morale was completely lost. The last strike Jiang Qiannian launched before his death—the Eternal Heaven and Earth—had once again ripped open the scars to reveal Wulan State’s lack of military strength. At the time, in the entire Recchi City, the available manpower was less than 15,000.
Fifteen thousand military police were busy rushing out of the city to implement the siege plan.
Raindrops kept falling in the desolate city.
Roars of engines reverberated through large blocks.
An off-road vehicle, which was nearly 6 meters long and 3 meters high, raced onto a boulevard in the center of Recchi City.
The engines thundered without a stop.
Like a metal monster, the off-road vehicle in the cold color ran wildly in the cheerless downtown.
Li Tianlan was clenching the steering wheel in both hands and savoring the surging power from the vehicle, his eyes focused and aloof.
The choice of Wulan State.
Rekvia’s att.i.tude.
Jiang Qiansong’s early arrival.
The ups and downs at the UN meeting.
And the temporary silence of Zhongzhou State.
All that put him under immense pressure, though everything was within his expectations.
…
Yet, antic.i.p.ation and reality were totally different things.
At that point, the event was no longer about the grudge between the Snowdance Corps and the Jiang family of South America. It had already developed into a war between Zhongzhou State and Wulan State.
And the one playing a key role in the war was Schenker, Patriarch of the Rekvia family.
Li Tianlan really wanted to understand how close the cooperation between the Rekvia family and the Jiang family of South America had become, so that the Rekvia family was willing to manipulate Wulan State and the surrounding countries into declaring war against Zhongzhou State together at all costs.
What Li Tianlan had to do was not how to win anymore.
From the perspective of winning or losing, the Snowdance Corps had already won through the raid on the Jiang family of South America.
But that kind of contribution was no longer the reason they could return to Zhongzhou State.
He must reverse the situation in the entire Wulan State. Only by lifting the pressure on Zhongzhou State could he continue to be the legitimate Commander of the Snowdance Corps.
Schenker Rekvia was steering the will of Wulan State.
Thus, Schenker must die.
Li Tianlan had no route of retreat. He had enough stakes in this round. He had even placed himself in it as a stake. Now that the event had evolved to the current state, he and Rekvia, one of the allegedly four major families in Eastern Europe, had also turned into sworn foes.
The rain was getting heavier.
Large raindrops pounded on the car windows.
The ma.s.sive off-road vehicle rounded a corner into another avenue with a roar.
With the range of his sight, a troop of the military police who were heading to the outskirts of the city just finished a.s.sembling.
Through the heavy rain, the eyes of all the military policemen were set on the off-road vehicle.
An officer in the front row reached out to gesticulate and shouted something. It seemed that he was ordering Li Tianlan to pull up.
However, the off-road vehicle did not slow down a bit.
In the state of war, the officers of Wulan State raised their rifles almost without hesitation.
“Bang!”
“Boom!”
The gunshots were heard.
A louder collision sounded at the same time.
The bullets failed to leave any mark on the off-road vehicle. The off-road vehicle raced up the road like a mad ox.
The firing officers were knocked up to the air in no time, while the off-road vehicle leaped up, rolled over the cars on the road and roared ahead.
The surrounding military policemen instantly fled. Some who didn’t get to dodge were ground under the wheels. With painful howls, the armored vehicle in the front veered its gun barrel to aim the target. Regardless, Li Tianlan drove right toward it.
A deafening but dull crash blasted out. The alloy front of the off-road vehicle was slightly deformed. But the armored vehicle directly rolled to its side. The gun barrel which had no yet adjusted to the right direction fired due to a malfunction. An incendiary bomb zoomed to the sky and banged into a nearby office building, setting it on fire.
Li Tianlan glanced at the electronic map on the car monitor.
Senator Joseph’s estate was located in the east of Recchi City, about 15 kilometers away.
In the chaos, the off-road vehicle accelerated again and roared away.
In different parts of the city, the rest of the military policemen who were still gathering and had not set off towards the outside of the city were alerted simultaneously.
The harsh siren sounded in all corners of the city. Countless military policemen of Wulan State began to chase and besiege Li Tianlan.
The heavy rain gradually developed into a wild storm that Recchi City had rarely seen.
The torrential rain poured from the sky.
In Recchi City, where visibility was getting lower and lower, all the military policemen who had not set off for the outskirts swooped down on Li Tianlan.
The off-road vehicle kept running in the city at full speed.
Countless sirens began to blare from all directions.
Li Tianlan was concentrated as never before. In the silent world, the moment the sudden noises upset the people and shook their will, several nearly undetectable whooshes enveloped the sky.
The whooshes sounded like the air being pierced by a sharp blade. They were a bit dull and a bit faint.
But in Li Tianlan’s ears, the whooshes were like mighty thunder.
Li Tianlan subconsciously pressed the red b.u.t.ton inside the off-road vehicle.
The car seemed to pause for a second.
But in a trice, an immense propelling force came from every part of the vehicle.
The violent propelling force almost drove the car to the air. As the vehicle gained speed, it gradually lost control. In the pouring rain, it broke into a race at a speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour within a few seconds.
Forward!
Dash Forward!
Li Tianlan casually glanced at the rearview mirror.
He saw a long streak of flames draped from the end of the car.
The flames scorched the air, causing all the rainwater to be evaporated. The missile landed where the off-road vehicle was a second earlier. The earth-shattering explosion and collapse of buildings quaked everything in sight. Fire sparks and gravel splashed at the same time.
Li Tianlan looked back, sensed the vehicle’s worse condition, and pursed his lips.
The two engines in the off-road vehicle brought him two opportunities for carbon monoxide acceleration. He had used one a short while ago. That meant from then on, only one engine could function normally.
Given the vehicle’s condition, if he once again found himself in the same situation he just faced, he would have to abandon the car.
Having acquired such high-level strength, Li Tianlan had no fear of the short-or-medium-range small missiles. Even so, that did not mean he was not worried about making the task more consuming. Particularly in the current state, Li Tianlan needed to exploit everything he could use to save his strength.
That was why he still decided to drive even though he could sprint faster than the car did.
Because he was clueless about what was waiting for him.
In prolonged battles where getting supplies was rather difficult, every ounce of his strength meant his safety and vigor.
The sound of the missile zooming through the air was heard again.
Li Tianlan abruptly turned the steering wheel anticlockwise.
The tires rubbed harshly against the ground as the huge vehicle almost tilted to its side and pelted 5 or 6 meters horizontally.
A missile landed on the ground. The huge impact and the deafening explosion made Li Tianlan feel the blood in his throat. Next second, the off-road vehicle burst out of the range of the explosion.
A sea of military policemen began to appear in his sight.
Ahead were armored vehicles, police vehicles, and military motorcycles.
Wasting no time to argue, the moment the off-road vehicle barged out of the range of the explosion, the rumblings of gunfire drowned the sound of the pouring rain, deluging the vehicle in a shower of bullets.
“Kaboom, boom, boom…”
The crazy blasts of heavy machine guns were heard. Dense cracks started appearing on the windshield of the off-road vehicle code-named Beast, but the car was still running like a mad ox.
It rushed forward and took a sharp turn.
In the almost endless firing, the off-road vehicle suddenly wheeled around and threw several nearest military policemen to the air with fierce impact. Then, the off-road vehicle that had shifted to another direction charged into a store on the street. The crushing sound was heard when numerous items were shattered. But next, the engine started rumbling again as the car broke through the wall on the other side of the store and rushed to another street.
Some people from Wulan State finally figured out the purpose of Li Tianlan’s maniac act.
Considering the direction he was heading for and Schenker’s current whereabouts, it was not difficult to guess that after all.
It was just that Senator Joseph’s estate was right outside the city, which had almost become an important node in the siege plan. How could Li Tianlan, the lunatic from Zhongzhou State, really dare to force his way there?
Numerous military policemen subconsciously became a little doubtful.
Li Tianlan, however, was still unwavering.
Despite the deformed body of the vehicle, Beast dashed back into the main street leading to the exit of the city and sped on the wrong side of the road.
A large number of police cars flashing dazzling lights flooded over.
The deformed off-road vehicle disregarded all the impediments and kept bolting forward. The ear-splitting sound of brakes, gunfire, and shootings kept pounding Li Tianlan’s eardrums. In a clamor, the off-road vehicle left a wide streak of blood in its wakes. It raced out of the downtown and headed straight to the east.
In the east of Recchi City…
Schenker, who had received the news in his luxurious and magnificent manor, was a little restless. He not only got the news that Li Tianlan was coming towards the east of the city but also that Jiang Qiannian had died.
The Rekvia family was in Eastern Europe.
While the Jiang family was in South America.
But in fact, through years’ worth of cooperation, the two families had long been closely linked.
When the Polar Ground Alliance was still functioning, the Rekvia family was once one of its four pillars. Sure, they had the nerve to make waves in Eastern Europe. At that time, even the Tyrant, leader of the Polar Ground Alliance, had to listen to the Rekvia family, for he needed their support. For that precise reason, the Rekvia family had become notoriously vicious and callous in the Dark World.
In addition to the Rekvia family, countless Eastern European magnates acted unscrupulously when the Polar Ground Alliance was mostly thriving. That might sound kind of short-sighted. But in the days when the Polar Ground Alliance dominated everything, the enormous profit was enough to make everyone lose their mind.
Because of that, when the Polar Ground Alliance collapsed, the ones that were anxious to come to Eastern Europe to make a great haul were not the major dark forces but the a.s.sorted magnates that once formed the Polar Ground Alliance.
After that, the Rekvia family wasted no time sending an invitation to their closest partner, the Jiang family of South America.
The prospects for both parties were exceedingly bright.
But who could foresee that when the mayhem just began and with the bright future still waiting ahead, Jiang Qiannian was dead?
Schenker’s mind was in a tangle now.
The two families could be said to be equal during their prior cooperation. But with the collapse of the Polar Ground Alliance, the balance between the Rekvia family and the Jiang family of South America was quietly broken after the former lost their strong patronage. Such imbalance might not show in the short term, but the death of Jiang Qiannian was the immediate cause for everything that would happen.
He was not sure if Jiang Qiansong would blame him for Jiang Qiannian’s death.
Once Jiang Qiansong vented his fury on him, the most desirable result he could have was that the two families chose to revise the cooperation mechanism, which probably would require the Rekvia family to give up most of the benefit.
But even the most desirable scenario was unacceptable to Schenker. What made him more helpless was that although he still had a considerable amount of control over the members of the Polar Ground Alliance, after the alliance fell apart, the forces he had could no longer stick together, so they had no chance to go against the tough Jiang family of South America.
What disturbed him even more was that Jiang Qiansong, though arrived in Recchi City nearly 2 hours ago, still had not contacted him.
Schenker’s perturbed mind dwelled on all sorts of issues. Meanwhile, all his bodyguards had a.s.sembled in the hall, delivering one message after another to his ears.
Li Tianlan just left downtown.
Li Tianlan entered the eastern region of the city.
Li Tianlan was less than nine kilometers from the manor.
Less than five kilometers.
Three kilometers.
One kilometer.
“Smack!”
Under the mounting mental pressure, Schenker suddenly leaped to his feet and forcefully slapped a bodyguard beside him.
“Don’t you know it’s annoying? Annoying? Annoying?”
His face was distorted in anger. Growling furiously, he ripped off his tie and looked downright hot-tempered.
Covering his swollen face, the bodyguard backed away.
Schenker looked out the transparent French window.
The manor had an excellent location, very convenient to commute. It was indeed one of the most important nodes in the siege plan.
Schenker had come here to persuade Senator Joseph to station large troops here.
At the time, nearly 3,000 soldiers had been stationed in the manor.
Nevertheless, Schenker did not feel at all secure.
All he could think about was what the bodyguards just reported to him.
That young man who had killed Jiang Qiannian was less than one kilometer away from where he was!
“Get the helicopter ready!”
Schenker suddenly clenched his teeth and hissed, “We will go back to headquarters.”
Then, he took another glance at his phone again.
Still, the screen showed no sign of a call or a text message from Jiang Qiansong.
Schenker’s eyes were icy cold.
He knew, by far, Jiang Qiansong had definitely learned that Jiang Qiannian was already dead.
He certainly would not be ignorant that he was being chased by Li Tianlan.
But Jiang Qiansong had not contacted him yet. Obviously, the man was waiting for him to reach him first.
Schenker abruptly smashed his phone on the floor.
“Contacting Jiang Qiansong on my own accord?”
Certainly, he could start to explain Jiang Qiannian’s death on his own initiative. But Jiang Qiansong was clearly waiting for the Rekvia family to ask for his help. And, indeed, any help would come with a price.
Probably an exorbitant price.
Schenker would never do that. He would rather return to his family’s headquarters and hold Li Tianlan off to the last second.
If the Rekvia family was gone, the Jiang family of South America would suffer heavy losses as well.
Even if Jiang Qiansong really did not come to his aid, Wulan State would not want to be a wuss that anybody could pick on. Once the armies in several nearby cities entered Recchi City, the headquarters of the Rekvia family would also have a chance to survive.
one of his bodyguards grabbed out his mobile phone and started arranging the helicopter.
Schenker kept pacing in the room, feeling seconds had stretched to years.
A clamor sounded from afar.
The intensive gunshots were heard without a stop, and the uproar was getting closer and closer.
Numerous military policemen in the manor began to a.s.semble. Their messy footsteps mixed with the racket in the rear, making Schenker even more upset.
He set his unblinking eyes on the manor.
An ice wall began to spread from the gate of the manor.
The faint, blue light gleamed constantly on the ice wall.
Throngs of military policemen flooded to the gate. The fire was burning the sky out of the manor. As roars of engines became more and more distinct, innumerable flames and thunderclaps fanned out at the same time.
A silver sword light appeared silently over the manor.
That jet of sword light emerged so abruptly that it was uncertain whether the light was real or illusory. As the countless flames and thunderclaps spread out, the silver sword light also expanded into a glowing curtain.
The glowing curtain was surging in the gloomy, rainy sky. All of a sudden, it fell down like a silver waterfall.
The sword intent curbed the fire, repelled the thunderclaps, before storming to the ice wall at the gate.
From a distance, Schenker saw that a white figure appeared over the gate of the manor.
That white was rather faint, for the figure’s white clothes had been torn up and contaminated with blood.
Even so, the moment that figure appeared, it seemed that all that perceivable over the manor was his body.
His profile resembled a sharp sword. His aura was amazingly strong.
The cascade of silver sword light raged forward more wildly than before.
Large parts of the ice wall were on the verge of collapse.
“We… we got more than 3,000 soldiers!” Schenker murmured to himself.
Then, he jerked his head backward and bellowed, “Where is the helicopter? Is it here? Quick, get it done!”
“Kill!”
Outside the manor, a roar that sounded like a m.u.f.fled thunderbolt blasted out of the blue.
In Recchi City, a general-to-be who was in the Thunder-shocking Realm was radiating dark blue sparks. He was wrapped in the sparks, so he looked like a flash of human-shaped lightning.
The general-to-be soared to the sky and crashed straight into that cascade of the silver sword light in midair, banging into that white figure hovering over the sword light.
Unexpectedly, s.p.a.ce was distorted at that moment.
Next second, the ice wall that was shielding the manor and was already on the verge of collapse suddenly exploded. Large chunks of ice became horribly sharp icicles. It appeared that an ice explosion had occurred over the entire manor.
In the overwhelming ice explosion, flames and thunderbolts danced in the air at the same time, devouring everything.
That silver waterfall shattered under the terrifying power created by several thousand experts.
The silver light that filled the air suddenly burst into dreadful thunderbolts.
Matted shadows fully engulfed that white figure over the silvery waterfall.
“Bravo!”
Schenker abruptly let out a yelp.
Even though he was an ordinary person who had no knowledge of Martial Arts, he was aware of the limits of the power in the Dark World like everyone else.
He knew that an expert in the Invincible Realm could easily kill all of his 3,000 soldiers.
But when all the 3,000 soldiers went all out to launch one strike, any normal expert in the Invincible Realm would have a slim chance to survive.
With that in mind, Schenker burst into laughter. He waved at several bodyguards in the Thunder-shocking Realm and demanded, “I want two of you to go there and see if he is dead. If not, kill him. Go! Now! I will hand his head to Jiang Qiansong in person.”
But the silence from behind was all he got as a response.
Schenker immediately realized that something was wrong and whipped around.
The hall was perfectly quiet.
Those bodyguards of his were still standing on their spots. But none of them dared to move an inch.
All of them riveted their eyes to the same direction.
Where their eyes met stood a young man in shattered white clothes. He was gazing at Schenker.
Schenker trembled violently. His heart sank directly into his stomach.
“How about I hand your head to Jiang Qiansong?”
Li Tianlan, who appeared noiselessly in the hall, blinked and inquired with a smile.
The corner of Schenker’s mouth twitched for a second. He seemed to be unable to utter a word at the time.
The ice explosion was still going on outside. Flames and thunderbolts shuttled in and out. No one could tell whether the shadow that the ice explosion had engulfed or that sword intent was still there.
But none of that mattered now.
The real problem was that the real Li Tianlan had already emerged in the hall, in the presence of Patriarch Schenker!
Death had just befallen.