Star Gate

Chapter 25: The Supernatural Field (I)

“Are Slayers of Tens really that strong?” Li Hao asked incredulously in the basement of Law Enforcement. Ten? That really didn’t sound like much. It wasn’t such an incredible feat as, to his knowledge, some of the older inspectors could also fight ten at the same time.

“Really that strong?” Liu Long replied with aloof pride. “They’re incredibly weak to me, but for you, a Slayer can kill several of you without breaking a sweat!”

The petite Yun Yao interjected softly, “Don’t underestimate a martial master despite what you’ve heard, Li Hao! One who is a Slayer of Tens can kill an entire contingent of ten soldiers in a single second. It’s not successive one-on-one fights against ten people—that’s an entirely different concept.”

“There’s no point in saying this much to him,” Liu Long remarked. “Chen Jian, teach him what it means to be a martial master.”

“Me?” the fatty answered slowly. “I’m not skilled at offense and I’m really slow. The kid’s speed is up to par.”

Their strengths lay in different areas. Li Hao was a bit faster than him whereas he was more adept at defense.

“Give it a try!” Liu Long furrowed his brows. “Just take him through his paces. It’s good that you’re more practiced at defense, this means you won’t accidentally kill him!”

Fine then! Li Hao was a bit saddened by the exchange. They were sending a shield to test him because they were afraid of accidentally smacking him to death. All the same, it was rather exciting.

Men usually nursed a slight competitive streak and they typically sought to be number one. While the young man didn’t know how strong Chen Jian was, the fatty was such a lumbering heft that Li Hao could at the very least run from the fatty, no?

A simple and honest smile spread across Chen Jian’s face as he glanced at the eager Li Hao. “Shall we go for a round or two?” he quickly added, “I’m the weakest in our team and not good for anything other than defense! You’re pretty quick since you know the ape style. I may not be able to catch up to you…”

Li Hao glanced at him. It was one thing if he hadn’t said anything, but now that he had… It worried Li Hao more instead. Was this fatty a secret expert?

“Chen Jian is the weakest on the team in terms of speed, attacks, and ability to penetrate the enemy’s defenses,” Liu Long said impatiently. “If you don’t want to fight him, we’ll send Wu Chao instead!”

Li Hao quickly shook his head when he looked at the man. Nah!

Skinny over there was obviously agile and nimble. Being the team’s scout, he was unquestionably sharp-witted. Li Hao knew the limits of his abilities well—he might not even get to touch the guy.

“Then here I come!” Chen Jian took a slow step forward.

Li Hao settled into the opening stance of the ape style without another word, jumping upward and back without thought when his opponent’s large fleshy hand swung at him. This guy’s palm didn’t seem like it’d land lightly.

When he saw the young man leap upward, Chen Jian subconsciously shifted slightly to the right. The unhurried adjustment drew a change in expression from Li Hao. That was where he planned to land! Not the direction he was jumping backward in!

He quickly flung himself further upward, kicking out wildly sans all grace or elegance. There wasn’t much beauty in real martial arts to speak of. The ape style was already one of the better Five Styles. Some of the others looked downright foolish as the practitioner had to sprawl on the ground and propel themselves with their four limbs. Honestly, there was no other way to describe it but ugly.

Chen Jian flashed a simple grin, as if having anticipated Li Hao’s reaction. It didn’t stem from a fast reaction speed or strength, but purely from experience! One would die very quickly if one didn’t gain any experience from fighting supernaturals.

Li Hao flailed around wildly, making use of air resistance to adjust his position. Meanwhile, Chen Jian took two casual steps. When Li Hao descended because he could stay aloft no longer, he happened to land less than a meter in front of his opponent.

They were nearly face to face!

The second the young man felt solid ground beneath his feet, he wanted to push off again. However, a massive hand loomed in the corner of his eyes—the slap from the very beginning.

“Sixteen years!” Chen Jian responded happily. “I started only when I was twelve!”

“……” Li Hao was speechless—not at his opponent’s tenure, but because he was twenty-eight!

Are you shitting me? You’re only twenty-eight? I thought you were at least forty the first time I laid eyes on you! You’re twenty-eight?? The hell??

Naturally, Li Hao expressed none of his thoughts and displayed some resignation. "My teacher once said that proficiency in martial arts depends firstly on innate potential and secondly on diligence! Hard work is more important than potential!

“I daren’t say I have potential. Even if I do, my lazy habits mean that I’m alive only because big brother Chen pulled his punches!”

“Nah, don’t say that,” Chen Jian smiled shyly. “I did, but I also used thirty percent of my power to begin with. You’re already very good to still be on your feet after taking one of my blows.”

“……” Is he complimenting me? Li Hao looked at the seemingly honest and aboveboard fatty. There… weren’t any hidden meanings behind this reply, were there? The member for defense struck me to the ground with only thirty percent of his strength. Am I supposed to be proud that I survived?

“Good, I’m glad you recovered,” Liu Long spoke up. “I was thinking that I’d let you go if you wanted to withdraw after being defeated. It looks like you’re tenacious enough.” His tone turned aloof again, “What I want to tell you is that Chen Jian is a Slayer of Tens, and one focused on defense! You must keep in mind that any supernatural is much stronger than him. If you can’t avoid even Chen Jian, don’t think of surviving an encounter with a supernatural!

“It’s normal for you to be weaker since you’ve just joined us. You’re only a probationary member for now. Apart from the guy in the self-immolation case, you’ll also be bait on other occasions. Your primary task is to strengthen yourself and help us analyze some data!”

There was no way that Li Hao would be useful right now, not a chance!

Liu Long tightened his trench coat and looked at the rest of the team. “Liu Yan, you’re in charge of this guy. Make sure he understands the full situation! Don’t have him dying randomly in the missions to come.”

“No worries, chief, I’ll take care of him!” Liu Yan chuckled merrily while Li Hao wanted to protest.

Ah, forget it, whatever. He was the youngest of the Demon Hunters and the weakest team member could easily smack him to death. What place was there for him to speak?

He didn’t want to ask anything about the team doctor anymore. Yun Yao looked kind and fragile, but who knew how she actually was? The more some people looked gentle, the more frightening they actually were.

At the very least, he was a bit more familiar with Liu Yan and had spoken to her a few more times.

Liu Yan looked merrily at the young man. “Little Li Hao, let’s chat in my office. It’s too oppressive here.”

“Wait a second, vice captain,” Li Hao said after thinking it over. He looked at Liu Long. “Captain Liu…”

“You are permitted to call me chief!” Liu Long barked out coldly, like the privilege was a badge of honor.

Li Hao said nothing. He was under another’s roof, so if the captain wanted to be called chief, then he was the chief.

“Chief, Zhang Yuan’s murderer probably knows we’re investigating him after our disturbance last night. Based on the files I analyzed, they seem to always make their move on overcast or rainy days. It’s been almost a year since the last case and given my calculations, the bad weather we’ll see in the next few days might be when they’re planning to make a move.”

“I see!” Liu Long inclined his head. “I’ll be ready. You want to say that you’re next, aren’t you? Are you afraid?”

Li Hao didn’t respond.

“Don’t worry!” Liu Long didn’t explain much, just issued reminders. “Your current goal is to understand more of the world. The more you know, the better you are able to protect yourself. We’ll think of how to take care of the self-immolation guy!”

The only choice that Li Hao had available was to trust the team. At the same time, he also felt that Liu Long didn’t have a death wish.

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