Chapter 772 Encounter

Xu Chan saw two people approaching, a man and a woman. They looked to be in their late twenties, both powerfully built. They bore a striking resemblance to each other and were even about the same height.

The woman on the right had slightly softer features and short, blonde hair. But her chin was a bit sharp, and the winged eyeliner at the corners of her eyes made her gaze incredibly piercing.

The man, on the other hand, had shoulder-length hair swept to one side. His facial features were rugged, but his expression seemed frivolous.

They both wore deep blue protective uniforms with silver-white decorative trim. The outfits clung tightly to their well-defined, sculpted muscles.

They didn’t appear to be carrying any weapons, but there was a flexible, fin-like object attached to the back of each of their arms that looked far from ordinary.

Xu Chan immediately recognized them. They were the Thunder Twins from the Spiral Deep Sea Company, the siblings Svia Lundstrom and Sigvard Lundstrom.

His expression couldn’t help but turn grim.

In this day and age, any company that could stand on the world stage possessed not only abundant resources but also formidable military strength.

Some relied on recruitment, while others cultivated their own talent. The companies within the Federation, for instance, all trained their own powerful Fighters. These Fighters had vast resources poured into them and underwent rigorous screening. Those who ultimately emerged were all true powerhouses.

The Thunder Twins and Blood Diamond were no exception.

’One person would be manageable, but three will be difficult. And I’m sure there are more than just these three who’ve come this time.’

Suddenly, a red shadow flickered before his eyes. Before he could observe or think any further, Blood Diamond was already charging at him, throwing a punch straight at his face.

Blood Diamond’s upper body was massive and heavy. His fist seemed to carry the weight of his entire body as it pressed forward, generating a ferocious wind pressure. Before the man even arrived, the force was already plastering Xu Chan’s uniform to his frame.

At almost the exact same moment, the sibling duo flickered. A series of deafening sonic booms, BOOM-BOOM-BOOM, echoed through the air as they closed in on him from two directions. Their movements left behind sharp, glittering trails of light, seemingly an effect of their uniforms.

Xu Chan watched the fist grow larger before him. Even though he knew his opponent had a special kind of Power that wasn’t afraid of a Heart Force impact, he didn’t choose to evade the powerful attack. Instead, his eyes hardened, and he met it with a punch of his own!

This time, however, his aura surged. A faint brilliance erupted from the surface of his fist, his clothes swelled outward, and a look of absolute resolve appeared in his eyes.

From his spirit and aura, all three opponents could tell that this strike disregarded success or failure. He was ignoring everything else, aiming to take one of them down with him if he had to.

Seeing this, the Thunder Twins assumed he was ready to risk it all. They both subconsciously slowed their charge just a little.

’A Fighter who has mastered Spiritual Sense is absolutely terrifying when they’re willing to pay any price. If that’s the case, we don’t need to rush in. We can let Blood Diamond take all the pressure and risk, then we can move in for an easy kill. Even if that’s not his plan, we can still wait and see before making our move.’

Blood Diamond never expected this. After their last clash, Xu Chan clearly knew that Blood Diamond could withstand his Power head-on. Yet, he still chose to meet him in a direct confrontation right from the start, and with a kamikaze-like approach at that. This illogical tactic startled him.

Besides, there were three of them; they held the absolute advantage. In a situation like this, he would never choose to fight his opponent to the death. As a result, he was completely unprepared mentally. Forced to mobilize his spirit, a faint glow also began to emerge from the surface of his fist.

Spiritual Power could only be countered by Spiritual Power. But compared to Xu Chan’s aura of absolute resolve, his was clearly weaker.

Spiritual Sense required one’s spirit to communicate with the Opposite World. In addition to one’s own focus and preparation, it also required a firm and powerful will. At this moment, he was lacking in both, putting him at a slight disadvantage.

Their fists collided in an instant. Upon impact, Blood Diamond’s Spiritual Power melted away. Xu Chan’s Power immediately followed, smashing into his fist, which cracked and shattered with a series of CRACKS. Then, the unstoppable force slammed into his chest!

BOOM! A massive hole instantly blasted open. A torrent of blood, shattered bones, and mangled organs exploded outward.

Blood Diamond, who should have been able to withstand his attack, had been severely wounded in the very first exchange!

This was how fights between opponents of their caliber went. Because their attacks were far stronger than their Defensive abilities, a single moment of carelessness or a single misjudgment was often enough to decide the victor.

Having landed a successful blow, Xu Chan didn’t stop. Instead, he pulled back the fist embedded in Blood Diamond’s chest, yanking the man’s body around and using him as a shield against Sigvard, the brother of the Thunder Twins, who was charging from one side.

Sigvard had no choice but to swerve and dodge past them.

But while Xu Chan had avoided one attack, he couldn’t avoid the other. He had now completely exposed his back to the sister of the Thunder Twins, Svia.

A cruel, bloodthirsty glint appeared in Svia’s normally cold eyes. The fin on her arm suddenly lit up with a faint glow as she swung it at Xu Chan’s back.

This fin was also a Mutated Weapon. This single strike was powerful enough to slice Xu Chan diagonally in two.

However, just as the fin was about to land, a faint layer of light flickered into existence. At the last second, Xu Chan had managed to transfer his Spiritual Power to the point of impact. Their Spiritual Powers instantly melded, but he couldn’t completely block the Heart Force Svia had sent along with it. A wound so deep it nearly exposed bone was carved into his back.

Even so, Xu Chan had minimized the damage and its effects. The wound looked severe, but it didn’t affect his combat ability in the slightest. It would even heal in a short while.

Svia narrowed her eyes. ’It’s impossible to transfer Spiritual Power that quickly. He must have allocated his power from the very beginning and was just waiting for my attack.’

’This man anticipated everything from the start.’

His veteran experience and his grasp of the battlefield situation astonished her.

’And that’s not all. If he had used Blood Diamond to block my side, I would have struck without hesitation. I wouldn’t have cared if I killed Blood Diamond in the process; I wouldn’t have dodged. My brother, on the other hand, isn’t as assertive. He’d most likely choose to hold back in that situation.’

’So he figured out our personalities in just a single glance?’

At that moment, she suddenly realized she had underestimated this highly-ranked man.

Xu Chan had fought on the front lines for years. His combat experience was incredibly rich, and he had been surrounded by enemies on numerous occasions.

Not only did he have a deep understanding of his enemies’ mental states during battle, but he was also well aware that few Fighters were without flaws—at least, most weren’t. This allowed him to identify and exploit their weaknesses.

After his last fight with Blood Diamond, he knew the man had strong defenses but was weaker in speed and reaction time. So this time, he took full advantage of that fact, catching him off guard and crushing him from the very start.

And by paying the price of a minor injury, he had turned a three-on-one fight into a two-on-one.

He slowly withdrew his fist, letting Blood Diamond collapse to the ground. The latter still had a faint breath of life left in him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to finish him off. It was that the man’s Defensive abilities were genuinely formidable. A moment ago, he’d had to divert his Spiritual Power and couldn’t focus his full strength. Now, the Thunder Twins were watching him like hawks. The slightest sign of him preparing to strike would trigger an immediate joint attack.

He sighed inwardly. ’True experts, indeed. Once they recovered, they didn’t give me another opening.’

Svia stared at Xu Chan. Although he had taken out Blood Diamond first, there was no significant gap in raw power between them.

A battle was decided by various combat reactions. Even in a one-on-one fight, Xu Chan couldn’t guarantee a victory against either of them, let alone two who fought in perfect sync.

But for now, neither of them made another move.

Xu Chan didn’t let his guard down. His gaze remained solemn. He could sense that the two of them were clearly waiting for someone.

However, he had just unleashed a major burst of power, so he took advantage of the lull to heal his wound and regulate his breathing.

After a standoff of three or four minutes, Siegward spoke up, "Svia?" He glanced at Blood Diamond on the ground.

Svia licked her full lips, grunted, and waved her hand. Siegward took a few steps back, then grabbed Blood Diamond and retreated into the woods.

Svia backed away from Xu Chan for a few steps, then spun around. With a BOOM that sounded like a flash of lightning, she too leaped into the forest and vanished.

Seeing them retreat, Xu Chan glanced at his Realm Token. The activity value had risen to nearly twenty. Because he hadn’t had time to use his spirit to resist the external contamination, the index had shot up in that short period.

’The two of them must be in the same boat, but they probably took suppressants beforehand.’

Now that he was out of combat, the value immediately began to drop as he regulated himself, slowly returning to zero.

After confirming that the two were not in pursuit, he turned and left, following the trail markers left by his squad members. He caught up with the team half an Hour later.

Everyone was overjoyed to see him return safely. The medical team checked the wound on his back. After some time, it had already healed. They just gave him some anti-parasitic medication, just in case something had tried to burrow into the wound and take root.

Xu Chan checked on the team’s status. Fortunately, they hadn’t suffered any losses during this time. Just then, a voice came from the Realm Token: "Captain Xu, the scouts up ahead have discovered a native settlement just three kilometers away."

"A settlement?"

Xu Chan was a little surprised. "There are natives in this region?"

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