Here to Sever the Hidden Tide

As Chen Chuan approached, Takoda and the other two realized their presence here had been exposed. All three grew intensely wary, instinctively spreading out and glancing around.

As they understood it, someone coming straight for them meant their original plan had been exposed. Those hunting them must already have made preparations, so there might be more than just the man before them. More enemies could be lurking nearby.

While searching, Ian suddenly looked up and spotted Zhao Ming circling overhead.

He opened his hand and drew a pebble toward him through the air. A light flickered as it landed in his palm, and he raised his hand to aim upward. But just as he was about to launch it, Takoda signaled him to stop.

He did not act rashly, and during that brief delay, Zhao Ming had already flown farther away. He glanced around again and asked cautiously, "Mr. Senpar, is something wrong?"

Takoda said earnestly in fluent Federation speech, "All things have spirits. Unless we are hunting for food, there is no need to kill indiscriminately."

Ian gave him a thoroughly astonished look. Both the occasion and those words struck him as utterly bewildering. Still, Fighters were a complicated lot. With Oath Binding in the picture, there were all kinds of people. Something he considered perfectly natural might be taboo to someone else.

Considering that they still needed to fight together, he did not want to create internal friction first. He did not insist, but offered a reminder in Federation speech tinged with a Fu Luo Peninsula accent. "That could be a combat creature deployed by the enemy."

Takoda said, "I know, but it isn't a threat to us yet. There is no need to waste our strength."

His gaze stayed fixed on the approaching figure. "There is no