Book 4, Chapter 142: Setting Up A Scheme
Book 4, Chapter 142: Setting Up A Scheme
Four days passed in the blink of an eye.
Chen Chuan stood at the edge of the campsite looking into the distance while Dawncall circled above him.
The insect flood showed no signs of stopping and continued traveling on the ground. He still couldn’t see an end to them, but the Sleeping Worm was the perfect fort. They could rest safely on top of it.
Of course, the Sleeping Worm didn’t stay in a single place but kept moving. Its movements were rhythmic and coordinated. When it crawled forward, the limbs moved in such a manner that the group felt like they were on a ship riding the waves.
The Sleeping Worm was going through the path Chen Chuan had taken to the clearing.
According to what he knew, the insect flood would last for at most seven days, so in three days at worst, they could escape this situation.
In truth, Chen Chuan didn’t mind staying for a few more days. With the light from the artifact serving as a cover, he had seized every second during the day and night to train while leaving most of the things outside to Xu Chan’s group.
After training without interruption for days, he could sense that his mental energy had grown yet again. He was only one step away from perfecting it.
While thinking about it, he felt fear thrum in his heart, and he looked in another direction. For some reason, he felt some kind of danger over there.
Perhaps due to his mental energy being so concentrated now, he sensed a strange feeling from the tent behind him, as if there was something inside trying to remind him of its existence.
Chen Chuan lifted the flap and returned to his tent. His gaze fell on one of the packs hanging off his backpack, and he dug around it for a bit before taking out a fruit that looked just like a green mandarin orange.
Xue Shou had given it to him before he entered the merged space.
Its use was unknown, but Xue Shou had told him to eat it when he felt that the time was right.
Was it the right time now?
After some thinking, Chen Chuan peeled open the green mandarin orange and ate it piece by piece, even the skin. In the beginning, he didn’t feel anything, but after eating the whole thing, he felt a tug in his mind, and his body felt better than before.
He sat down on the carpet and sank into a feeling similar to when he sat on the lotus flower seat in Mistlight Island. His mind felt clear and at peace, which was really comfortable.
A long while later, he sensed something and opened his eyes. Xue Shou was sitting not too far away and smiling at him, just like he did when he taught Chen Chuan.
“Mr. Xue?”
A moment later, he realized that while the Xue Shou in front of him looked real, he had no shadow on the ground, radiated no warmth, and did not look to have any mass. This was more like a reflection of him in Chen Chuan’s mind.
Xue Shou smiled.
“The green mandarin orange boosts your mental energy and cleanses you of all the impurities you took into your mind when you absorbed quintessence. It also nourishes your mind and body so that you’ll have an easier time training in the future.
“I put a trace of my mental energy in it. If it sensed that the time was right or that your mind was warning you of danger, it would tell you to take the fruit.”
He tapped at Chen Chuan’s chest, right above his heart.
“A warning?”
Chen Chuan nodded. Just now, he had indeed sensed danger, though he couldn’t tell what it was.
Xue Shou turned to the artifact on the shelf beside him. “It seems like you’ve gotten the artifact.”
“Yes. We’re currently surrounded by an insect flood. I intend to bring the artifact back once it leaves, but this artifact is different from the others. It keeps shining, so it’s like a beacon calling upon everyone to come,” Chen Chuan said.
“Of course it’s calling upon them. We’re the ones who made it like that.” Xue Shou dropped a bombshell with a smile.
“What?” Chen Chuan stared at him in surprise. Then, he cast a glance at the artifact.
We?
He soon realized what was going on.
“This is bait?”
Xue Shou nodded and gave him an affirmative answer. “Yes. It’s bait.”
A flicker of emotion appeared in Chen Chuan’s eyes. At Xue Shou’s level, he wouldn’t be planting bait to attract people from the Union or the Linacrox Union.
“Who’s your target, Mr. Xue?”
Xue Shou stood up and went to the entrance of the tent to look outside. “Our target is Wei Guochan, the conqueror general stationed in Jibei Road’s merged space.
“If a Class Three artifact were to show up in the depths of the merged space near the former royal family’s territory, they wouldn’t give up on it. Once their soldiers failed to get it, the conqueror general might just come forward to get it.”
Chen Chuan stood up as well. “Isn’t he worried about our martial arts master?”
“We only have one martial arts master stationed in the merged space. It’s Yao Zhiyi, the chancellor of the main campus. Mr. Yao is tasked with protecting the military base and has practically no record of launching attacks. Besides, even if he left the military base, he wouldn’t be much of a threat to Wei Guochan on his own.
“What Wei Guochan doesn’t know is that another martial arts master from the World Ring has come back in secret and has gone off with Mr. Yao to intercept him.
“To make sure that nothing went wrong, I was also tasked with entering the merged space when the time was right.
“The World Ring hasn’t been completely repaired, so the imperial army would never think that the martial arts master we’ve stationed there would leave it. After all, he didn’t come back when the Fu-Mu Entity propagated, and while I’ve come to Central City, it’s not a far stretch to think that I’m just here to deal with the martial arts master from the Linacrox Union staying outside Central City.
“We’re going to do our best to kill Wei Guochan. The moment he falls, the tens of thousands of soldiers stationed at the front lines will have no one commanding them, and we will immediately attack to destroy them before the imperial army can provide any support. If we succeed, there’ll be a substantial breakthrough in the war situation in the merged space.”
Chen Chuan wasn’t expecting things to go this way, and this was even a fight between several martial arts masters. Just the thought of it made his blood thrum with excitement.
A question came to his mind, and he asked, “Do the Department of Administrative Affairs and the World Ring Defense System know about this?”
Xue Shou turned to him. “I know what you’re asking, and I can tell you clearly that since many secrets are involved in this, Jibei Road’s government, regardless of whether they’re the Department of Administrative Affairs, the World Ring Defense System, the Resolution Department, or the National General Affairs Bureau, have no idea that this is happening. They will only be officially notified when we attack.
“To make sure everything looked as real as possible, the central government was ready to sacrifice Jibei Road’s government’s team sent to retrieve the artifact.
“You must understand that when the leaders consider something, they’re not thinking about losses, but about how to get the best results by sacrificing as little as possible. As long as it benefits the overall situation, the leaders will push their plan forward. This is how war is.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “But some of your comrades and friends are among those to be sacrificed, so it would be surprising if you would be okay with it. I can understand that.
“Once I learned that you captured Han Fu, I knew what you were going to do next. You were definitely going to the merged space to liaise with the retrieval team. By then, it was obvious what was going to happen.”
Chen Chuan remembered the moment Xue Shou met him. It had been right after he captured Han Fu. “That’s why you gave me the green mandarin orange?”
Xue Shou nodded. He looked at Chen Chuan and smiled. “It was the only thing I could do outside the plan, but there was a condition to it. You had to be able to withstand a minimal amount of my mental energy. By the looks of it, you’ve managed to do it.”
Xue Shou looked outside. There were people moving about the other tents. “Those must be your comrades. Looks like you managed to meet up with them.”
A relieved smile bloomed on his lips, but there was also a hint of melancholy Chen Chuan couldn’t quite describe.
Chen Chuan looked outside. Xue Shou’s words were brutal but realistic. When leaders decided to fight, all of their decisions led to death. They had to consider the overall situation, not any single person. Not that they could.
When a regular person got caught in their plans, they could only go along with them without being able to make a splash. If he hadn’t come, Xu Chan’s group would have died.
If the deaths of a dozen people could bring them a strategic advantage, no leader would say no.
The only way to avoid being used as a sacrificial pawn was to become strong enough and important enough politically to leverage the overall situation.
Xue Shou turned back around. “Speaking of which, how do you intend to bring the artifact back?”
“I was thinking about running to the nearest fort. The artifact’s light allows me to move even at night, so I could run day and night while maintaining a speed that will not exhaust my stamina. If nothing goes wrong, I could make it back to the fort within two days.
“I just thought of something, though. Since the light isn’t fading away, it’ll keep showing the enemies where I’m going. So, while I’m heading back, the imperial army might just surround me.”
“That’s a valid concern. Based on our simulations, no matter who gets the artifact, the former royal family will send the imperial army after them. It’s going to be hard to get out of the encirclement,” Xue Shou pointed out.
Chen Chuan nodded. It wouldn’t be easy to fight an entire army by himself. They could carpet bomb wherever he was, or use airships to fire at him with machine guns. They could even attack him with an uncountable number of bioweapons.
“The leaders thought that the artifact would end up in the Linacrox Union and the Union’s hands, so they would be the ones trying to break out of the encirclement. It wouldn’t be hard for them to do so, and Wei Guochan would show up, but now, you have to face this problem,” Xue Shou said as he stared at Chen Chuan intently.