Code Collector

"This is bad," Allen said to Jack as they headed their way to the police station. "Chen had this all planned out after all. And he was a step ahead of us."

"Don't fret," Jack said. "Chen was still my student. If I know something about him, is that he's never a step too far from his opponents."

"But he had been in contact with Jeremy all this time," Allen said. "How is he just taking him now? He could've at least kidnapped him when they were just talking to each other."

"Probably because he can't do anything as Chen," Jack replied. "If John Smith sees him, his men, or even a normal person take his son, Chen would have a hard time with hiding his movements. But since he used a prominent figure such as Matthew Gray, he can move better."

"He can swerve Jeremy away in a public place just like that," Allen said. "If he did copied someone else, it would be easier to track him. But since even John would have a hard time tracking Matthew, he was the perfect decoy. Chen had this all planned out all along."

"And he did it right in front of our noses," Jack muttered. "I think there's someone spying on us. He may be smart, but it's impossible to know our movements with that much of accuracy. He knew when to take Matthew, and when to copy him.

"Where to go, and what to do when our plan goes green," Jack sighed. "I will talk to my men later. For now, let us get to work. Put your mask on, we'll track Chen and finish this once and for all."

–

"Dynasty Shot."

A bullet piereced Chen's chest. He fell to the ground from the force, his eyes widen as he was not anticipating an attack from point blank. "What the hell…"

"Jeremy!" Gwen cried. She ran to her friend and was about to drag him away when she saw Sarah, also lying unconscious on the ground. "Floral Fairy Sarah?"

"Take her too," Gary yelled. "Chen is not moving. Hurry! Once he tries something, I'll shoot him."

Gwen grunted and used her right hand to pull Jeremy's collar while using her other hand to pull Sarah through her wrist. "They're so heavy. I can't move easily."

"Just stop talking," Gary scolded. "It was a good thing my eyes are sharp that we saw Jeremy. Just when we thought he was going to meet Dante for dinner."

"It's also a good thing that I knew something was up with Matthew Gray," Gwen argued. "If not for me, we wouldn't be even trailing Jeremy."

Gary scoffed, "Fine, whatever."

"It's also a good thing that I saw Matthew turn into Chen, an illegal trader," Gwen added. "If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't be able to do–"

"Chen moved!" Gary yelled. "Run for your life. I saw his hand twitched! Dynasty–"

Before the man could fire his attack, Chen's body vanished. Gary looked away from his scope and then returned his eyes on it. He was positioned in a building adjacent to the street Chen was. He had the most perfect vision of Chen, but the man vanished just like that.

"Your aim is impeccable," Chen said from behind Gary, making him froze in shock and fear. "I want to hire you as part of my team, but I don't know if I can trust you that easily."

"How did you…" Gary stuttered. "My aim targeted your chest. You shouldn't be able to move so easily. You just disappeared from my sight– that's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible when you have power," Chen grinned, opening his hand and revealing the bullet that Gary fired. "Skill Code from a Horned Starfish, Hyperregeneration. You didn't know that I have this Code, don't you?"

"I didn't," Gary said. "But I also don't care!"

Gary threw his sniper rifle at Chen, to which the latter dodged easily. The former then rolled to the side and pulled two pistols from hidden holsters under his coat. "Don't think I'll get beaten that easily."

Gary launched several rounds of fire towards Chen. His aim was truly top notch as he followed Chen's high movement speed with his bullets. He was making it rain with guns, and he didn't held back.

Click. Click. Click.

"Out of bullets already?" Chen smirked as he approachee Gary. "Time for you to die!"

Gary threw his pistols up, trying to distract Chen.

"That won't work on me!" Chen yelled, pulling his arms back as his claws grew on his hands. "Weapon Code, Saber Claws."

Gary only smirked as his hands opened in front of Chen, copying what the man did just a moment ago when he showed Gary the bullet. This made Chen's eyes widen after seeing what Gary was holding in his palms.

"You kill me, and we die together," Gary snickered while holding a live grenade. "You know this type of grenade. Rare grade weapon, Ram Grenade. Once I let go, this entire roof will blow up in under a second. If you won't die, you'll suffer injuries that you would never recover from."

This made Chen retract his claws and grit his teeth. He didn't expect for Gary to have tricks up his sleeves. "Fine. I won't attack."

"Good, good," Gary said. He slowly placed his free hand on the ground and sighed. "Because I would."

"What–"

"Now!" Gary yelled and suddenly, a shield started growing from the ground, protecting him. Before the dome could completely shut, Gary threw the grenade out of the dome, the weapon exploding just before the shield closed.

The dark building rooftop glowed with the bright white light from the grenade, a loud booming sound erupted from the skies that made everyone turn to the direction of the explosion.

"What was that?"

"Another accident? There was a car crash just an hour ago."

"That explosion sound terrifying, what happened?"

The crowd started to gather around the building. The sound and the light garnered the attention of everyone in the area.

"That was so close," Gary whispered as he curled inside the shield. He looked up as the pink dome slowly vanished, everything around him was filled with a cloud of black smoke. "Gwen, what's your status?"

"I have arrived at the hiding spot," Gwen said. "But there's an awful reeling in my throat. Like some sort of lump of fear."

"Don't be too scared," Gary said. "Even a man of Chen's level wouldn't survive that explosion easily."

"I know, but there's something wrong," Gwen said. "Like there was a sudden faint magic that flashed right before the grenade exploded."

"What kind of magic?" Gary asked.

"Spatial magic."

Both their eyes widened after hearing Chen's voice behind Gwen. The woman gulped as she felt Gary behind her. "Gary call for help. Now!"

"Too late for that young miss," Chen grinned. He took Gwen's phone while his other hand wrapped around the woman's neck. "Hello? I think you misunderstood something here. You underestimated me and thought it would be wise to do that trick."

"Chen, don't you dare hurt her!" Gary growled. "Or Jeremy, or Sarah. Don't you dare hurt anyone or else I swear to god–"

"Give up," Chen said before slamming the phone to the ground. This made Gary let go of his own phone in shock, a boiling rage and fear started to bubble inside him.

"How did you manage to do that?" Gwen asked. "That bomb exploded the moment Gary let go of it. You couldn't possibly dodge that attack range of ten meters in a flash."

"I couldn't," Chen said. "That's why I used my Code to teleport here. I was looking for a way to find you, but when you used that shield on your friend, I smelled your aura. I then went here now here I am, taking three prizes for myself."

Chen blew on Gwen's face, and this made the woman fall into a deep slumber. He then took his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. "Hello? Change of plans. I have three in my hands, and I'm sure Hans got the twins with him."

"Sir…" the other person on the phone trailed off. "We have a problem."

"What happened?" Chen asked. "Did Hans did his way with the girls again? That fucking pervert."

"Hans was defeated sir," the other line blurted out. "He saw the Wandering Trader with Jack and went berserk. He got caught by Jack and his men and he's probably trailing after you now."

"Jack and the Wandering Trader?" Chen laughed loudly. "Oh, how pathetic. I didn't know those two were fellows. Let's proceed with the plan without the twins then. We still have the other cop. Four shoulf be a decent number."

The other line was silent for a moment. "But sir, what about Hans?"

"Let him be," Chen said. "He got defeated, that's a shame, but we have to move on. He's dead to us now. Call the others. The second coming of the Fire Dragon has only just begun."