Light Fortress
Chapter 126 - 114 Lonely Shadow on the River Embankment

Chapter 126: Chapter 114 Lonely Shadow on the River Embankment

"As long as I do this favor,"

"after tonight, the lady will be my most solid support in Da Du..."

Gu Shen looked toward Crow with a mix of amusement and helplessness. The guy called himself a simple man, an uncultured brute, not quick-witted, but when it came to coaxing people, he was incredibly slick. At least Gu Shen couldn’t see anything about him that seemed slow.

Clearly, he was a shrewd one.

Another person might have been swept away by now.

"You should know my strength..."

Gu Shen said, "The kind that can take on ten with one punch. For such an important matter, why turn to me for help?"

"You might be overestimating yourself. For someone like you, I could take on twenty with one punch." Crow laughed, then his tone turned serious, "The reason I’m asking for your help... it’s because you’re the only friend I have."

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll mess it up?"

"Afraid, of course I’m afraid."

"But the second time we met, when you were to treat the lady, I started to worry. Concerned you would make a mistake." Song Ci pointed to his head and grinned brilliantly, "Later it proved my worries were unnecessary... Given my understanding of you, if you can’t do something, you’d say you can’t. Since you didn’t outright reject me, it indicates you also think you can do it."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Gu Shen said, "I’ll give it a try, do my best."

He chose to act, not because he was swayed by the prospect of "having the lady as a support."

Crow didn’t yet know his real identity.

The moment Gu Shen received the S-rank from the Judgement Institute, he actually didn’t need "support" anymore. His teacher was the only Grand Judge in East Continent, "Sky-reaching Tree", with disciples all over the place, and his senior sister was "Heavenly Vision" who had surpassed the Deep Sea 12th Floor. This lineage had taken note of the existence of their new little junior brother.

Nor was it purely Crow’s request.

There was another point among many reasons that couldn’t be overlooked...

The person who introduced Shi Li might very well be the owner of the Compass.

Finding the blood and fire clue was far too important for him.

Song Ci really was a cunning fellow, he must have guessed that I was also very interested in this incident...

"Are you really going to the river bank?" Gu Shen frowned, "Can you handle it?"

"You’ve agreed to go to South Bay to face danger, how can I not go to the river beach bridge for an appointment?" Crow, grabbing the collar of the unconscious fellow, mounted the motorcycle, and waved his hand with a smile, "Don’t worry, I’ve seen this kind of scene plenty. It’s just a splash of water..."

Before he finished speaking.

He was off like a shot.

...

...

The roaring engines shattered the night’s silence.

The motorcycle crew of the South Bay District revved up, one headlight after another illuminated the long night, with dozens of dark phantoms speeding on the highway.

With every junction, more vehicles joined the throng, the group growing ever larger and more impressive. The journey from South Bay to the river bank would normally take forty minutes, but tonight it took only fifteen.

Chen San, who shared equal renown with Mr. Zhao, both commanding respect in Da Du, had taken in four sworn sons. It was said these four came from the ashes of hardship, lonely and desolate, humble to the point where people wouldn’t spare them a second glance.

But because Chen San took a second look at them,

there came the Sincere Heart South Hall...

The crew finally stopped before the river beach bridge.

It was a place far from the crowds, desolate, with only the surging muddy waves. Upon the embankment of the great bridge, one could vaguely see a figure standing alone, the wild wind fluttering his clothes...

It was actually a scene filled with poetic imagination—

If only the man wasn’t wearing a tattered, garish floral shirt.

After the motorcade came to a stop.

A lean man slowly removed his helmet, and the crowd naturally drew closer to him.

Another man, a fat one, stood by the lean man’s side, looking lost and troubled, frowning as he said, "Lao San... I don’t understand, what is Crow trying to do?"

The night was pitch-black, the wind high.

And there, by the solitary great river.

However, tonight’s duel was to settle new and old scores, so what was the use of looking dashing?

"...Not understanding isn’t important."

The man called Lao San, whose name was Qi Lv and who ranked third among the sworn brothers, stared at the man on the river bank dike with an expressionless face. He opened the rear seat and took out a black box.

This contained various disassembled firearms.

Qi Lv squatted down with the black box resting on his knees. His hands moved swiftly as if they were phantoms, in an instant appearing to sprout six arms, such that the clicking sounds of the firearms being aimed at critical parts erupted continuously in a rapid succession.

"Click!!"

A large sniper rifle was set up amidst the night wind on the river beach dike.

The man ranked fourth, a fatty, felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Crow is still as ostentatiously flamboyant as ever."

A light chuckle.

The second-ranked sworn brother, Wu Yong, with a mocking look in his eyes, commented, "But what era is it now... What use is flamboyance? Who still engages in one-on-one duels?"

He raised his hand.

"Click!"

"Click!!"

The motorcade, all clad in uniform black windbreakers, began to assemble their individual firearms at the moment Wu Yong raised his hand. The silence of the long night was shattered by the mechanical clamor, while at the same time, an invisible barrier was erected over the heads of the people, presenting itself as an azure arc-shaped projection like the firmament itself, a natural artillery mount encompassing the night over the river beach bridge.

To outsiders, nothing inside this blue arc-shaped barrier could be seen.

This was the perfect camouflage for tonight’s battlefield.

"Big Brother’s ’Heavenly Curtain’ has been stretched wide; we can start shooting now."

Wu Yong looked up. With his hands in his pockets, he stared at the misty figure on the distant river dike and asked softly, "Lao San, are you confident?"

Qi Lv did not answer.

He simply silently chambered a green sniper round into his rifle—that was the best response. Accompanying the bullet entering the chamber, he slowly closed one eye while the iris of the other eye progressively lost its whites, entirely enveloped by darkness.

A sound as if liquid was boiling and roaring emanated from within the sniper rifle.

As if... it had come to life!

It was a special-featured sniper rifle, the barrel made of a unique trait material that could withstand strong logical characteristics, paired with 7.62mm caliber, Purple Silver-embedded bullets. In the current era, this was one of the scarce technological means capable of suppressing Transcendents.

The optimal range of this rifle was about a thousand meters. The wind was strong over the river... but no amount of wind could affect his aim. If he intended to hit, he would surely hit.

Qi Lv had the opponent in his sights.

But he did not fire.

Because... the man standing on the water at the river dike slowly squatted down and raised a "shield."

That was a person.

Qi Lv furrowed his brows... Although the night was deep, the river wind strong, and waves continuously surged, he could still discern the face of the man in Crow’s hands, yet he racked his brains and couldn’t figure out the man’s identity.

Who was this?

"That’s the hostage who was taken down at the bar. Although we came to the river bank to kill Crow... the official reason for tonight’s operation is ’rescuing a comrade.’" Wu Yong watched that figure calmly and advised gently, "As for his name, I can’t remember it either, but it doesn’t matter. If you can take that noisy Crow down with one shot, you can try without worrying about the consequences."