Book 4, Chapter 116: Campsite
Book 4, Chapter 116: Campsite
Back in White Bird District, the Union’s representatives sat around the meeting table while a screen shone before them. The person-in-charge of the operations was telling them about the current situation in the merged space.
“We’ve received verified news that Lead Investigator Chen of the Resolution Department has entered the merged space. He might have gone in with a group of people. He should have received orders from his leaders to support Xu Chan’s group.”
“I thought he’s no longer part of the frontlines and has a low chance of going there?” a representative asked.
The person-in-charge answered, “Things have changed. Among the three lead investigators in the Resolution Department, one is dead, one... has been captured, and the department has also lost a large number of elites and subordinates. Right now, the only person they can send as support is Lead Investigator Chen.
“He also happens to be the strongest among the three lead investigators. He got to his current position purely through achievements and doesn’t have many connections, so it makes sense that the World Ring Defense System sent him to support Xu Chan’s group.”
Another representative asked sternly, “Will this affect our operation?”
“According to our estimates, the only thing Lead Investigator Chen can do right now is head to the World Ring Defense System’s former fort to provide support.”
As he spoke, the undeveloped area’s map showed up on screen with the World Ring Defense System’s fort marked on it. Another corner had the Union’s campsite. The two places were marked with different colors to show the difference between them and allowed people to differentiate between the two immediately.
“As long as Jibei Road’s World Ring Defense System secures their fort in the undeveloped area and ensures a base in the frontlines, they can support and liaise with Xu Chan’s group. If Xu Chan’s group gets the artifact and returns to the fort, they can get on the airship immediately and return to a protected zone.
“That’s why this fort is incredibly important to them. The imperial army’s elites are attacking the place right now, so Lead Investigator Chen’s first stop will definitely be there to ensure its safety.”
The representatives believed that to be the case as well. This deduction made sense, and it was the only way Jibei Road’s government could turn the tide.
“Is the fort still holding up? I thought that it was broken through already?”
“The imperial army’s elites didn’t manage to take it down. They’re putting pressure on the fort. They must be thinking about adjusting their pace and controlling the development of the situation based on who gets the artifact,” the person-in-charge answered.
The representatives knew this method well, because that was what their own companies did when they had plenty of resources and the necessary strength. It was their right to change the political situation of the place where their companies were based according to their own wills.
The merged space was the former royal family’s playground, so it wasn’t strange for them to do this. All sides were seeking the artifact, so their current partnership was just them using each other.
“Do you have a plan?”
“We have a plan for every conceivable situation, but we’re still setting things up and making adjustments. We need a bit of time to set everything in place,” the person-in-charge answered respectfully.
“I heard that some of the combat operatives have already fought against Xu Chan,” Morand said.
The person-in-charge turned to him. “Yes. That’s true. Biotower’s Blood Diamond, who is a cautious man, has fought against Xu Chan once. He said that Xu Chan is stronger than he expected and believes that our initial assessment of his strength isn’t accurate. We need to adjust it.
“Even though neither side used their full strength during the fight, Blood Diamond believes that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Xu Chan alone. Xu Chan also has plenty of strong martial artists helping him, so we need to form a team several times their strength to be able to chase away or injure them heavily.
“While we do have that sort of strength, we need to take into consideration the fact that the artifact hasn’t been found yet, and our preparations at the frontlines aren’t finished. That’s why we believe that we need to wait a little longer.
“Yesterday, a martial artist who can go toe-to-toe with Xu Chan arrived in the merged space and went into the undeveloped area to join the team to hunt him down. I believe that they will bring us good news.”
“He can go toe-to-toe with Xu Chan? Who is it?” a representative asked in puzzlement.
“Jesues Heros. He should have already arrived,” the person-in-charge said with a smile.
Some of the representatives were surprised. “Heros? He actually got permission to enter?”
This man was among the top thirty Third Limit martial artists in the world. However, the Great Shun Republic was incredibly wary of such people, so they performed strict customs inspection on him and had repeatedly rejected his application to go into the merged space. It could even be said that they cut him off from every possible means to enter the merged space.
The Union hadn’t had much hope in him joining the operation anymore, so they were surprised that things suddenly took a turn.
“The Customs Inspection Department relented. I think the municipal government pulled strings. They’re even more attentive toward this than we are.”
“That’s good news. He can kill Xu Chan for us,” Mr. Chi stated with full certainty.
The global ranking wasn’t actually a strict ranking. Most of the time, martial artists of similar strength were grouped into the same tier, which usually contained several dozen people. For example, the top thirty martial artists were considered to be first-tier powerful martial artists, who couldn’t really be ranked against each other.
After all, all martial artists at this level were close in terms of strength. If they fought, luck usually decided who won. Sometimes, it was also the martial artists’ condition while fighting. If two martial artists fought and one won, it didn’t necessarily mean that they would win again in another fight between them.
However, the tiers still allowed them to classify martial artists. Those in the first few tiers, such as those in the top thirty, were definitely stronger than those in lower tiers.
Osbolt, the chairperson of the representatives, said, “Heroes isn’t the only one coming. The Linacrox Union’s Wilheim is heading to the undeveloped area with our airship. He should be arriving soon as well.”
The representatives were even more shocked. Wilheim, also known as Blue Blood, was another martial artist in the top thirty. They exchanged glances. Clearly, the Linacrox Union wanted to maintain the balance.
However, they had come to an agreement before the operation. The Linacrox Union had always been on bad terms with the Great Shun Republic, so they couldn’t get as many of their martial artists into the merged space as they did. The Union was also the one in charge of transporting the artifact. That was why they weren’t too worried about this.
The person-in-charge stared at the screen and smiled. “All we need to do is wait for news from the frontlines now.”
***
Back in the undeveloped area in the merged space, Chen Chuan had finished packing and left the campsite with Yang Yuncheng. They walked along a trail in a dense forest.
When Chen Chuan was on his own, he had avoided walking in the forest, because there were far too many vitalized plants here, and they were a huge pain to fight. If he went deep into the forest, the vitalized plants would be everywhere, and worse still, he would have a hard time telling direction. The moment he ran out of stamina, he would end up dying.
When Yang Yuncheng led the way, though, the vitalized plants did not react to their presence.
According to Yang Yuncheng, the locals had lived here for centuries and reached an agreement with the plants. After hunting something, they would feed some of their prey to the plants. Yang Yuncheng had been following the same tradition over the past twenty-five years, so as long as he led the way and didn’t travel through the area too frequently, the plants wouldn’t attack them.
Also, the presence of vitalized plants ensured that they seldom ran into aggressive creatures or any other obstacles on their way. Before the morning ended, they already reached the Union’s campsite.
Yang Yuncheng was incredibly familiar with the terrain and brought Chen Chuan to a cliff from which they could observe the area. They took position and looked down.
With their vision, even though they were more than eight kilometers away from the campsite, they could see everything inside it.
The campsite was built in the shape of a dumbbell. The defenses at the south and north were the strongest. There were sentry towers, barbed wire, trenches, elevator platforms, and other such things. The rear also had quite a number of firing points. They could even see something resembling bunkers inside.
The armed guards carried huge canisters on their backs and sprayed all kinds of chemicals in the area around them. This resulted in the ground being covered in melted insect carcasses.
Forklifts drove over and scooped up the insect carcasses into pits that had been dug beforehand. Then, they poured algae fuel into the pits and lit them on fire. In an instant, smoke curled into the sky.
Chen Chuan observed them a little longer. The Union and the Linacrox Union had turned this place into not just a campsite, but a base. If they had managed to set up such a formidable place within such a short time, it meant that they were determined to get the artifact.
Dawncall suddenly spread its wings and puffed up its feathers as if it was in great distress.
Chen Chuan sensed something different. He could see his second self turning a little fainter.
Based on the information he got, this was highly likely due to a powerful signal released from a domain entity that could effectively target all creatures with mutated tissue and chase them away.
Some of the Union’s companies were particularly skilled in this area.
Chen Chuan used his mental energy and patted Dawncall to comfort it, and the Bird Reptile quickly calmed down.
Yang Yuncheng pointed and said, “That’s the mooring point for airships. The campsite gets most of its resources via air support. Look, another one has come.”
Chen Chuan looked over and saw a blue airship flying over. A large number of birds surrounded it, as if they wanted to attack it, but they seemed to be afraid of something.
Once the airship got closer, the powerful domain signal kicked into effect. Most of the birds flew away, though some remained. Gunshots rang out from the campsite, and the birds were blasted apart.
“Skadis’ Spear!” Yang Yuncheng blurted out before explaining a beat later. “That’s a famous Norland rifle, which has been used to assassinate plenty of martial artists. I wonder how many generations of the rifle have been produced... The rifles they use are from the second generation.”
Chen Chuan nodded. “Mr. Yang, I’d like to observe them from up close. Is there anywhere else that’s suitable?”
Yang Yuncheng considered it. “Come with me.”
As they drew closer to the campsite, the blue airship stopped above the mooring tower and started to come down slowly.
Most of the people from the Linacrox Union came out and stared at the hatch. They were clearly waiting for something. Soon, a man appeared.