It Was All Just an Act...

Seven days later, at noon, the Yacheng Garrison Base was bustling with traffic. Fully loaded trucks roared down the dirt roads one after another, kicking up plumes of dust before disappearing past the horizon. Over on the immense airfield, gargantuan airships took off and landed. Jagged, looming shadows crawled across the earth, sweeping past Ji Jue to trail after the airships toward the distance. "Whoa, what a grand turnout." Ji Jue clicked his tongue in admiration as he carried his case forward, presented his credentials, and cleared the inspection checkpoint before the front gates. Across the vast plaza, numerous unserviced heavy vehicles lined up, waiting to be loaded. Fully geared soldiers gathered on off-road vehicles wore sunglasses, smoked, and passed judgment on the spectacle unfolding before them. This term's Haizhou Warden was probably dead set on making some serious waves. Settle it once and for all in a single campaign? It sounded bold and magnificent, but in reality? The difficulty was anything but ordinary. The calamity of Quancheng had plagued all of Haizhou for several decades now. Before Quancheng fell, it had been the axle of Haizhou—the tacit capital of the province—long before Chaocheng had any say in things. But ever since the subterranean collapse of Quancheng, it was as if Haizhou's backbone had been snapped. The province had languished in decline for decades. Just when it had finally begun to raise its head again through maritime trade, it had been struck by the Flame Tide calamity. Truly, a fraught destiny. Over all these years, the cavern's corruption had festered ceaselessly. It wasn't that no one had ever wanted to purge the menace of Quancheng and wipe out future troubles once and for all. But every single attempt had been loud thunder and little rain. Lacking a sufficiently formidable leader, the various major and minor cities would bicker endlessly over petty scraps, until the meetings dissolved and everyone went home. As a mere nobody among the masses, Ji Jue naturally couldn't know all the details. Yet while he might not understand Quancheng, he certainly understood the Federation. As long as taxes were paid, quotas were met, and targets were hit, why would the lords of the Midtown Council care whether commoners lived or died? Rather than counting on them, one might as well bet that this current Haizhou Warden was planning a presidential bid to make the Federation great again. Regardless, none of it had anything to do with Ji Jue. He was just an assistant playing second fiddle on the sidelines. If things succeeded, he'd get a dazzling new line on his resume, and maybe stash a few more materials into his bare reserves. Even if things went south, couldn't he just run away behind his teacher? If the sky fell, the tall folks would hold it up. Master Ji here only fixed cars. After inspecting his papers, the soldier seemed somewhat puzzled that such a young person had slipped into the ranks. In the end, though, he said nothing. He pointed out the way, cautioned him not to wander, and waved him through. Yet after taking only a few steps, Ji Jue spotted familiar faces under an awning outside the guardrail. Someone was waving vigorously, terrified he might miss them. Xiao An? Ji Jue was slightly taken aback. When Xiao An noticed him looking over, he grinned and shouted, "Stay safe, Brother Ji Jue!" "Will do, will do!" Ji Jue smiled back, a warm feeling in his chest. "Stay safe, 'Brother Ji Jue'!" mocked Tong Hua beside him, parroting in a sarcastic tone. "Heh heh." Ji Jue gave a polite smile while his fists clenched. Just wait—once he was back, he'd share some of her embarrassing moments with everyone. "Stay safe, Brother Ji Jue!" Right behind Tong Hua, a tall figure looked over as well, pushing up the polarized sunglasses on her nose with a teasing smile. Ji Jue's expression twitched instantly. "Sister Wen, why are you joining in on the fun?! And Lao Zhang, don't you start either!" Having cut off the old man cooling off in the back before he could repeat the line, Ji Jue disregarded the setting and trotted over to the guardrail. "What are you guys doing here?" "Site security. You know, the usual drill." Wen Wen jutted her chin toward the city center. "Tong Shan opens his mouth, and those below run their legs off. That brat's getting more pretentious by the day... *Sigh*, grassroots workers like us can't compare to Master Ji now that he's hit the big time. Haven't visited Beishan District in ages—who knows if you'll still spare a thought for your old friends down the road." "Quit giving me grief," Ji Jue said with a wry smile. "I've been busy... seriously busy, coughing-up-blood busy. I'll definitely treat everyone next time!" He had only gotten a wink of sleep around four in the morning last night, and the dark circles under his eyes were still on full display. After ribbing Ji Jue a bit, Wen Wen let it drop. She pointed at the case in his hand. "An Embers going out into the field with just that tiny thing? Is it enough? If you're really flat broke, we can chip in and at least get you a decent starter set." "Don't worry, I've got all the essentials on me. Besides..." Ji Jue paused and whistled toward his rear. Immediately, amid rolling black smoke, a continuous chugging sputter rang out: *putt-putt-putt*. Amid a shrill screech of grinding steel, a bizarre vehicle crowned with two colossal exhaust smokestacks drove right in under countless stunned and bewildered stares. It came to a stop beside Ji Jue with a fishtail drift, honking twice in smug celebration: *beep beep*. It looked like one of those unlicensed mini-freighters commonly seen puttering around the streets of Yacheng, yet every inch of it was clad in thick armor plating that would put military off-road vehicles to shame. Four colossal wheels paired with high suspension lifted the chassis nearly a full meter off the ground. Conduits and cables crept beneath the armor like dense tangles of vines. A row of searchlights mounted atop the cab had no use in broad daylight, while behind the cab, a massive cargo bed defied the very limits of transit authority tolerance, towering two and a half meters high. Even now, its twin diesel engines sputtered rampantly, billowing foul black smoke into the air. Watching this spectacle, the corner of Wen Wen's eye twitched uncontrollably. "What... is that?" "It's Little Niuma. Haven't you seen it before?" Ji Jue countered. "I even drove it to your office back then to register it!" "Like hell that's the vehicle you registered!" Wen Wen felt like a blood vessel in her head was about to burst. She remembered it with pristine clarity—it had clearly been a low-displacement scooter, a Little Sheep! Then, just a few days later, after he returned from the Border Realm, it turned into a tricycle. Fine, modifications were fine, but now—what the hell was this Armored Senior Mobility Scooter PLUS, this Youngster Edition Armored Personnel Carrier?! This was way too damn wild! "As everyone knows, I am a vehicle maintenance engineer," Ji Jue said calmly, pushing up nonexistent glasses on his nose. "When I have spare time, modifying my own family vehicle is a perfectly normal thing to do." In truth, with Lu Feng's assistance and Layla's supply channels, Ji Jue could have gone even wilder... He had been lusting after that heavy-duty engineering chassis from Universal Heavy Industries for the longest time! Alas, his wallet had objected... Over the past few days, after cramming items into his shopping cart like a madman, his bank account, once containing modest savings, had been completely emptied—and on top of that, he owed Layla a substantial debt. Even though Big Sister Layla had waved her hand and declared it was no big deal, telling him to go nuts, looking at her warm and enthusiastic face, Ji Jue simply couldn't bring himself to ask: *Could you get me a secondhand Condor-pattern aircraft autocannon too...?* Fine, fine—enough was enough. In the end, after calculating and pinching pennies every which way, it was still overweight. To ease Little Niuma's burden, he had slapped on two extra diesel engines. If he hadn't run out of time, Ji Jue could have concocted even more novel toys. What a pity... With Little Niuma remodeled like this, the Dalu Auto Repair Shop advertisement that Lu Ling had tearfully denounced was finally gone. In its place, Ji Jue had stamped the logo of Lu Feng's outfit, Zhengcheng Security Company. Lu Feng never minded stirring up trouble anyway. Consider it free advertising for them! "Still..." Tong Hua circled Little Niuma for a long while, asking curiously, "Can this thing actually be driven on public roads?" "Yeah," Ji Jue nodded. "That's what the traffic cop said, too." Tong Hua was stunned. "He didn't pull you over?" Ji Jue merely offered a profound smile. "He couldn't catch up." "..." Unlike Tong Hua, who perpetually maintained the wise innocence of a sheltered young lady, Wen Wen, smoking beside her, simply smiled and gave a gentle shake of her head. She had originally intended to tell him: *Don't be so stubborn, kid; if something goes wrong, remember to run fast...* Now it seemed there was zero need to worry about this little rascal. "All right, all right." Noticing more and more people glancing in their direction, she couldn't keep slacking off. She gave a final wave. "Have a safe journey, kid." "Thanks." Ji Jue grinned, looked back one last time, stepped onto Little Niuma's footboard, and the armored mobility scooter puttered merrily away into the distance. At the assembly point designated by the Security Bureau, the vehicle ahead had just departed. When Ji Jue arrived, he saw Professor Ye, escorted in by several companions, sitting calmly on a chair reading a newspaper, with the familiar vacuum flask resting on the table beside her. It was no different from any ordinary day. It was as if she were still sitting in her own workshop, poised and composed. Unlike Ji Jue, who had practically lugged an entire vehicle along, she carried nothing at all. Her hands were empty, save for the familiar ornament hanging from the handle of her thermos. Concentric layers of exquisite carvings nestled within one another, their complex mechanisms silently revolving. The puzzle ball! That single item alone was worth more than everything on Ji Jue's person plus his entire truckload of reserves combined. "Teacher, I'm here," Ji Jue called out, jumping down from the vehicle. "Hey there, Brother Ball, long time no see!" Brother Ball merely spun its spiritus once as if offering a greeting, then ignored him. In contrast, Ye Xian finally raised her head, glancing at Ji Jue and Little Niuma behind him, her expression growing rather complicated. "You really did manage to drum up quite a lot of stuff." Although she had anticipated Ji Jue's penchant for pulling wild stunts, it was still... an eye-opener! *Damn it, typical you. Every single time you get to practical work, you cook up something that makes people see black.* Without even needing the puzzle ball to scan it, a brief sweep of her spiritus perception picked up an untold amount of high-tech and unhinged work. The budget armor plate, hand-forged from composite steel by copying tank designs; the chassis and suspension modified with Non-Offensive; and that chaotic mess of stuff crammed inside the cargo bed... What was worse... "I won't even ask what that launch rack and those highly suspicious contraptions are for, but how did you end up making so much phlogiston explosive?" Her gaze fell on a corner of the cargo bed, stunned. "Aren't you afraid of blowing yourself sky-high?" Though she had harbored a premonition of letting a tiger back to the mountain when she handed him those credentials, now that Ji Jue had shown up before her carrying a full demolition combo meal, she suddenly felt alarm bells ringing: *This boy absolutely cannot be spared, or I will never hold my head high in academia again.* "No, no, I just made a little bit on the side, just a tiny bit." Ji Jue pinched two fingers together in illustration. "When I made it, the properties seemed quite stable. Stored at low temperatures with two layers of protection, it's pretty safe—as long as it doesn't detonate." *Right, right, as long as you're not dead, you're alive.* *If it doesn't kill you, push it till it does.* Ye Xian suddenly had the urge to say: *Once we're out there, don't you dare say I taught you...* But his name was already set in stone on the roster. If this bastard pulled some crazy stunt on-site, she would probably suffer total social death. Unless she made a decisive move right now and purged the sect. "Don't judge by how rough it looks on the outside; it's actually quite comfortable inside! Teacher, do you want to give it a try?" Ji Jue patted his chest in assurance. "I'll drive personally so you can rest. If that thermos wobbles even once along the way, count it as my lack of skill!" "Keep the luxury to yourself." Ye Xian shook her head, unyielding as a mountain. She folded the newspaper, set it aside, picked up her thermos, and stood. Someone in the distance seemed to notice her movement. Soon, a large motorhome—unassuming on the outside, but utterly luxurious within—pulled up right in front of her. The door opened, and the chill of air conditioning drifted out on the breeze, carrying a subtle fragrance. In an ice bucket, champagne clinked softly against ice cubes with a crisp chime, and a bead of condensation slowly trickled down. "An earthquake struck unexpectedly yesterday, so the route had to be altered. It might take about half an hour longer than planned." An attendant waiting inside reached out to take the dust smock she handed over, speaking warmly: "You can rest for a bit once you're on board. However, the chef needs you to confirm the lunch menu first... Is this gentleman traveling with you?" "Teacher, Teacher, take me with you!" Ji Jue's eyes lit up instantly. Stroking the motorhome's chassis, he completely forgot Little Niuma's angry beeps behind him, sounding like an uncouth country bumpkin: "Take me along!" Ye Xian pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed silently. "Get lost and drive your own vehicle!" "Aye, on it!" Ji Jue nodded obediently, yielding with grace. *[BEEP—!]* Only Little Niuma widened its headlights, glaring furiously at its master. Its little horn was rather foul-mouthed. After a brief wait of a few minutes, a grand, formidable convoy set out. It was as though they had been waiting specifically for Ye Xian and her party. Escorted by the military, they drove out of Yacheng along the road, then followed the path carved out by previous convoys, rolling majestically into the wilderness. As the signs of civilization gradually receded, only monotonous plains and mountain ranges remained outside the windows. The road conditions were naturally not as polished as in the city, but they were passable enough for vehicular transit. Shielded on all sides by the convoy, Ji Jue basked in his teacher's reflected glory. Tailing behind the motorhome, he had managed to secure the safest spot in the formation. Of course, in this day and age, even if wilderness raiders were given ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare touch a convoy escorted by the military. Yet what baffled everyone was that the modified armored mobility scooter in the middle of the convoy seemed to have a broken transmission. It shook and wobbled violently the entire time, yet remained brimming with power, showing not the slightest sign of breaking down or stalling out. No one knew what on earth the driver was doing. Inside the cab, the earnest cajoling and soothing carried on relentlessly: "Hey now, whatever I do out there is just putting on an act! It's just business, pure courtesy..." "You're the one I love best, of course!" "How could those junk heaps compare to you? Don't you know me? Those flirtatious rides were just trying to tempt me—as if I'd ever fall for that! A motorhome? Not even that! Look at its suspension, look at its chassis—nowhere near as good as yours! No matter how big it is, it's mediocre junk!" "Who's the cutest little car in the whole wide world? Our Little Niuma, of course, right?" Ji Jue talked until his lips were parched. Only after he finally talked Little Niuma down from its temper tantrum did he manage to gulp down a mouthful of water. All he could say was, sometimes machinery having too much spirituality wasn't a good thing. He really had to watch himself in the future. With so many hazardous materials in the vehicle, what if it got too pissed off and pulled the pin to detonate together with him? And just when he finally lay back, growing drowsy during the interminable journey and wishing to take a nap, he suddenly felt Little Niuma slam on the brakes. When he jolted awake, he thought Little Niuma was throwing another tantrum. But what crackled over the radio immediately after was a disaster alert. Ji Jue reflexively looked toward the sky. It was clear and azure, without a cloud in sight. Only then did he finally feel it: a terrifying shudder that even his suspension could not dampen. A colossal boom. From among the distant mountains, a plume of dense smoke abruptly surged upward. Gunfire erupted. The accompanying airships in the sky began to lose altitude, their colossal shadows sweeping over the convoy as they pushed forward. Immediately following, echoing across the land, was a deafening... Shriek!