Chapter 446 - 319: Failed Ambush, Became the Target

Chapter 446: Chapter 319: Failed Ambush, Became the Target

The Captain of Celestial Punishment fell silent.

His emotions were suppressed by his chip, and he eventually gave a slow nod.

"Understood, Young Master. It was my mistake!"

After their extensive modifications, the entire Celestial Punishment squad retained only the most basic human responses. Even their emotions were controlled by chips.

This ensured they wouldn’t make mistakes by acting on emotion. Of course, there were downsides too.

Just a moment ago, for instance, the Captain of Celestial Punishment had used the combat chip implanted in his brain to run a detailed analysis of the situation. He discovered that capturing their target alive and unharmed was virtually impossible. It might even put Sun Lingchen in danger.

And in his command hierarchy, protecting Sun Lingchen’s safety was the top priority.

That was why he had directly issued the launch command through the combat network.

But he hadn’t expected Wu Liangchen’s strength to exceed his calculations.

The three subsonic bombs, specially developed for assassinations, had failed to work. Instead, they had lost track of the target.

Now, he had no choice but to change objectives. In a deep voice, he ordered, "Full search! Capture him!"

At the same time, the Celestial Punishment members from the other boats flew over. After hearing their captain’s command, they spread out, activating all their systems—infrared search, thermal sensors, and more—and began to search for Wu Liangchen.

Sun Lingchen was still seething, but he understood that he had to rely on these people right now, so he could only force himself to calm down.

By now, the frozen sea had already thawed. The speedboat, blown in two, had sunk without a trace, leaving only the churning waves.

But strangely, after searching the entire area, the Celestial Punishment squad found no sign of Wu Liangchen.

’Where did he go?’

The question surfaced in Sun Lingchen’s mind as he looked up at the distant merchant ship.

It was still there, floating quietly.

’Could it be that after his sneak attack failed, the guy ran back?’

With that thought, Sun Lingchen waved his hand.

"Let’s go. We’ll check out that ship."

The Floating Technique had a time limit, especially since this ability was granted by a Magic formation, making its duration even shorter.

Fortunately, they weren’t far from the merchant ship now, so it wouldn’t take them long to fly over.

But just as they approached the vessel, its silent gun turrets suddenly whirred to life as if power had just been restored, swiveling rapidly.

Their muzzles pointed directly at the Celestial Punishment members in the sky.

"Artillery attack warning!" A dangerous red light flashed in the cybernetic eyes of the Celestial Punishment members.

At the same moment, the ship’s turrets erupted with a series of deafening ROARS.

Brilliant fireworks of explosions blossomed across the sky.

Two members of the Celestial Punishment squad failed to dodge in time and were hit directly by the cannon fire. Their fragments scattered into the sea.

However, the rest of the members successfully evaded the barrage. The captain, in particular, performed a series of dazzling tactical maneuvers even while carrying Sun Lingchen.

Sun Lingchen paid no mind to the two members who had been blown to bits. On the contrary, he grew excited.

"That bastard is hiding on the ship! Get him for me!"

But just then, an explosion suddenly went off behind him.

Huh?

Sun Lingchen couldn’t help but freeze.

’The merchant ship’s turrets are in front of us,’ he thought. ’There’s no way an explosion should have come from behind.’

He turned his head to look and saw a shocking sight.

A beam of white light suddenly shot out from beneath the waves, striking a member of the Celestial Punishment squad dead-on.

With a deafening BOOM, the squad member was instantly obliterated into dust without so much as a grunt.

The shockwave, carrying a blast of scorching air, washed over Sun Lingchen’s face, causing it to turn pale.

"This..."

He had just started to say something when an immense force yanked him aside.

In the next instant, a beam of white light shot past the spot where he had just been, disappearing into the clouds.

A moment later, a muffled rumble echoed from the sky, making the heavy cloud cover churn violently.

Such power made Sun Lingchen tremble.

After all, if he had been a split second slower, there wouldn’t have been anything left of him.

Only now did the fear truly hit him.

And he realized just how foolish his previous thoughts had been.

’This is no longer about how to capture Wu Liangchen.’

’It’s about how to kill him and break this stalemate.’

After all, they couldn’t just float in the air forever.

And if they descended, they would be playing right into Wu Liangchen’s hands.

At this thought, Sun Lingchen changed his mind and pointed toward the distant sea surface.

"The white light came from over there! Fire!"

At his command, the Celestial Punishment squad immediately changed tactics, unleashing a massive barrage of artillery that made the sea boil.

A vicious look appeared on Sun Lingchen’s face; he wished he could blast Wu Liangchen to smithereens in an instant.

’I’m not getting the Martial Vein anyway, so I might as well just destroy it.’

At the same time, Sun Lingchen had another concern.

To capture this Wu Liangchen, the Sun family had exhausted every trick in the book, not to mention all their previous efforts.

Yao Li’s death was just that—a death. Sun Lingchen didn’t care in the slightest, and he guessed his grandfather wouldn’t care either.

After all, there were countless adopted sons and daughters like Yao Li who had been raised from childhood to serve the family.

This was a common practice among all the major families.

Direct descendants were few and far between—a precious resource that couldn’t be wasted on trivial matters.

In comparison, these adopted children were much more useful.

Raised and brainwashed from a young age, their loyalty was unquestionable.

Add in a few benefits and resources, and they would willingly die for the family.

And all the family had to offer in return was a trivial amount of resources.

No matter how you looked at it, it was an excellent bargain.

So in Sun Lingchen’s eyes, he had never even considered Yao Li a person.

She was just a rather useful tool, nothing more.

But the Celestial Punishment squad was different. They were the family’s elite, the product of a massive investment of wealth and effort, and could not be wasted.

So, if he failed to capture the target this time despite personally leading the Celestial Punishment squad, and even lost several members in the process...

...then when he returned, forget about making a name for himself—he probably wouldn’t even be able to show his face.

After the bombardment, the corpses of many fish floated on the surface, but there was still no sign of Wu Liangchen.

By now, some members of the Celestial Punishment squad could no longer hold out and began to slowly descend.

And right at that moment, the merchant ship behind them fired another volley, instantly claiming the lives of two more squad members.

A look of panic appeared on Sun Lingchen’s face.

He never imagined things would turn out like this.

He, who should have been returning triumphant, had instead become a target for cannon fire.

This caused him, a boy who had been coddled his whole life, to completely lose his composure.

"W-what do we do now?" he asked the Captain of Celestial Punishment beside him, his voice urgent.

The captain was silent for a moment before replying, "Retreat."

"Yes, yes, yes! Retreat, let’s retreat now! You’re in command!" Sun Lingchen nodded furiously.

He just wanted to escape this nightmarish stretch of sea as quickly as possible.

As for everything else, he couldn’t bring himself to think about it.

In an instant, the Celestial Punishment squad formed a protective circle around Sun Lingchen and flew toward the open sea.

The captain’s calculations were precise. Although the Floating Technique was about to fail, it would last long enough for them to reach the nearest boat.

Once aboard, they could escape their current predicament.

It wasn’t that the Celestial Punishment squad was incapable of naval combat. The key issue was Sun Lingchen’s presence, which meant they dared not take any risks.

Especially since Sun Lingchen’s greed had already caused them to miss their window of opportunity, leading to the complete collapse of the situation.

Fortunately, the squad members’ emotions were all controlled by chips, so no one voiced any complaints.

But just as they were about to reach the nearest boat, a massive RUMBLE came from beneath the speedboat. Immediately after, the vessel snapped in half.

Not only that, but in the moments that followed, the other boats were also sunk one by one.

The sea was now empty, leaving Sun Lingchen and his entourage suspended alone in the air.