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Chapter 335: What a Coincidence

Chen Xuan deliberately "borrowed" the Thousand Machines Lock Moon from Xu Xuanling’s hands to activate the array set outside the main gate of Beitian Academy, which could buy him at least half a minute of free time.

He skillfully pinched the Wind Riding Talisman and flew directly towards the command vehicle of the mechanism—a minivan equipped with a satellite dish. Although it was positioned towards the rear of a convoy of vehicles, the mechanical officers guarding around it only exposed its importance.

In less than ten seconds, Chen Xuan had breached the defensive line formed by the Execution Team officers and reached the front of the command vehicle, forcibly pulling open the door with brute force.

Inside the cabin sat only one person.

The person was a regular on television programs and recently a prominent representative of the organization.

Xiao Canong!

Chen Xuan climbed into the car and immediately clasped his hands around Xiao Canong’s neck. The whole process happened so fast that Xiao Canong didn’t even have time to react; he was as sluggish and stiff as an ordinary person.

To prevent any mishap, Chen Xuan deliberately scanned him again with his glasses, ensuring no abilities were detected.

So the renowned captain... is actually a non-ability user?

"Cough, cough... I guess... you are the real leader of the Wanderers?" Xiao Canong struggled to grab Chen Xuan’s hands, seemingly putting all his effort just to breathe, "At such a point... is it really necessary to hide your face so thoroughly?"

Chen Xuan frowned slightly. At this moment, he was indeed wearing a cap, sunglasses, and a mask, not wanting his real appearance to be revealed, especially when Lin Qing wasn’t here, he had to be mindful of information security. But what did that have to do with Xiao Canong? His attitude right now seemed as if he didn’t care about being captured by the Wanderers.

But the Xiao Canong before him was not someone in disguise.

Under the scrutiny of the Celestial Mist Cloud Birth True Skill, he was neither a phantom nor an illusion and indeed had a cluster of spiritual qi light points. Could it be that the captain had an identical twin substitute?

A trace of fanaticism burned in Xiao Canong’s eyes.

This was a Wanderer with direct ties to the "World Ability Center." How could an unconscious Elorie possibly compare to a real Wanderer when it came to uncovering the truth of Shixin?

When he realized that the infiltration of Beitian Academy had been thwarted, he didn’t immediately order the team to retreat because returning in defeat was equivalent to failure!

Not only had they exposed their trump cards, but they also became hostile with Beitian Academy, a local organization with deep social connections, and ended up gaining nothing, which was a severe consequence.

For the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, major failures would inevitably bring accountability, and as the planner of the operation, he couldn’t afford to have such a blemish on his record.

So Xiao Canong took a gamble.

He gambled that the enemy also noticed him outside the academy’s gates—just as he desperately wanted to capture the Wanderers alive, the Wanderers detested him as well, longing to seize him alive.

The gamble paid off.

Xiao Canong grasped Chen Xuan’s hand not to get more air but to trap the newcomer inside the command vehicle.

In this way, even the absent Zhang Yingzi could use the car’s camera to pinpoint the Wanderer’s location and activate her ability!

Chen Xuan only felt his hands lighten.

Xiao Canong suddenly vanished.

It wasn’t invisibility because the light points of spiritual qi disappeared along with him, meaning he was no longer present in front of him.

Chen Xuan turned around to find the scene outside the window unexpectedly pitch dark; the Beitian Academy and the trapped mechanical officers were all gone, as if he had entered a void world of darkness, with the vehicle interior being his only refuge.

Chen Xuan turned and pushed the car door, only to find it unmoved—not to mention that this door had already been violently opened by him, the lock deformed, yet now it showed no signs of irregularity, indicating that this car was certainly not the original one he entered.

So that’s it, he was calculating Xiao Canong, and Xiao Canong was calculating him.

This place merely seemed like the inside of a vehicle when in reality it was never a car but a space disguised as a command vehicle. In the conference hall of Cui Ting Building, they had performed a similar charade, leading a demon into a carefully crafted trap. It can be seen that before the ability was activated, this space and its simulation object could perfectly overlap, and only when they were separated did the effect truly manifest.

As Honglian would say, one moment she was with the other team members, the next moment she passed through a door and was alone.

If Chen Xuan knew nothing about Zhang Yingzi’s ability, he might have been astounded right now.

Unfortunately, his awareness of his situation was already crystal clear.

Therefore, he didn’t rush to recall himself but first activated "Shifting Form and Shadow"! During the prep phase, he had added Honglian and Xu Xuanling to the employee list, allowing him to harness their abilities seamlessly.

"Shifting Form and Shadow" allows the instant exchange of positions between two marked items, one of which was a coin he placed directly in a Hot Pepper Village branch.

The other marked item was the command vehicle itself.

The moment Chen Xuan entered the vehicle, he marked it.

Now that Zhang Yingzi’s ability was activated, it meant that this space and the vehicle were completely separated; since Xiao Canong was no longer here, he must still be in the car!

On the other side, Xiao Canong couldn’t help but laugh.

The moment the Wanderer disappeared, the chains around the necks of those outside were also released; the enemy had undoubtedly fallen into Zhang Yingzi’s "Eight Directions Sumeru."

Although Honglian had been rescued from the Sumeru space by the enemy before, he shrewdly noticed that Honglian didn’t escape immediately, having been extracted for quite a bit of information by Wang Qianduan before vanishing, indicating certain limitations to this incredible transfer ability. Based on the time difference between the two worlds, he discovered Honglian disappeared just at dawn in the Jiang City world. Similarly, Jiang Siqi, who had ties with Shixin and the Wanderers, wasn’t rescued, suggesting it couldn’t be used on multiple people at once. From this, he inferred it’s most likely a once-a-day ability, explaining why the enemy transferred Honglian immediately after dawn.

This theory was also the reason Xiao Canong decided to act promptly.

Under these circumstances, no matter which Wanderer the mechanism caught, they’d at least have a day for interrogation.

With the mechanism’s medications and interrogation techniques, even one day would be enough!

"Attention all groups, terminate the mission, and withdraw from Beitian Academy immediately," Xiao Canong ordered through a walkie-talkie.

However, before he could put down the walkie-talkie, a blinding light shone into the vehicle, causing him to instinctively squint his eyes.

When he opened them again, the smile froze upon Xiao Canong’s face.

Outside, the sun was bright and the sky was a piercing blue, undoubtedly a clear, sunny day. Even a fool would know this wasn’t what Jiang City should look like at five or six in the morning.

Worse yet, the vehicle seemed surrounded by a group of ancient people. They were dressed in simple cloth garments, holding fish forks and sticks, pointing at the car with curiosity in their eyes.

Xiao Canong felt a sinking sensation in his heart; he had been transported with the vehicle to another world.

How was this possible?

How could an ability achieve effects comparable to eroding space, even breaking through the barriers of world walls?

No... perhaps this was just a coincidental mishap...

Harboring a sliver of luck, he opened the car door and stepped out, spreading his hands toward the ancient villagers to show he meant no harm. To escape from here, the first thing was to find a point of entry connecting to Jiang City...

But this trace of luck soon vanished.

A commotion arose within the crowd, and then the villagers parted to make way. Seeing the figure approaching, Xiao Canong decided to abandon resistance; he adjusted his tie, put on his usual smile, and waved to the other party, "Hello there."

"Xiao, Canong!"

Honglian clenched her fist, gritting her teeth, and withstanding her physical discomfort, walked up to the captain, delivering a harsh punch to his face.

The punch, full of anger and hatred, instantly dented half of Xiao Canong’s cheek.

But one punch wasn’t enough.

She pinned her former superior down, alternating punches left and right, each punch bringing a spray of blood and fragments of teeth, until that detestable smiling face turned into a crumpled mess.