Even before anything was said, Ji Jue had already sensed the gravity of the situation.
After all, he could hardly imagine what could possibly make the Grand Elder sound so anguished and exhausted. In fact, he had prepared himself for the worst-case scenario—manifesting his corrupted form to assassinate Xu Chaoxian under cover of night.
As it turned out, that wasn't it.
Instead, it was even more troublesome.
A little over a month ago, the upheaval triggered by the sacrificial temple had not been confined merely to a worldwide sweep and suppression against the Evil Transmutation Cult; rather, it had acted more like... a fuse.
Adding fuel to the fire.
Coupled with the Imperial Emperor landing in the ICU with severe injuries as a result, the ensuing chain reaction had practically thrown the entire world into turmoil.
From this, the sheer scale and terror of Tianyuan was plain to see.
Even an insignificant ripple, once amplified over and over, was enough to spawn a destructive tsunami. And the dust of an era falling upon any single place became a world-shattering catastrophe.
The Empire deployed large-scale troop reinforcements to the Mid-Continent for the fourth time, and construction had already begun on a new military garrison base in the Endless Sea. Once completed, this brand-new long-range missile launch base would place Midtown right within its maximum strike range. In retaliation, the Federation dispatched the Leviathan Fleet on patrols and began deploying the Aerial Giant strike echelon.
Both sides sharpened their weapons and fed their horses, sabers drawn and bows bent. A clash seemed imminent. As a consequence, prices for supplies such as fuel, food, medicine, and rubber on the international market skyrocketed further, while the prices of numerous commodities on the futures market took a nosedive...
Yet after their stand-off across the distance, neither side showed any real intention of fighting. Meanwhile, countless city-states outside the Federation and the Empire saw their assets drastically shrink, leaving behind a chorus of wails and laments.
Life had become unlivable.
Disputes flared everywhere, and beacon fires raged across the land.
Pushed forward by countless invisible hands behind the scenes, the Federation and the Empire remained as steady as ever, and the shifting situation in the Mid-Continent proved to be a lot of thunder and little rain. The numerous city-states across the Thousand Islands, however, were already tearing each other's throats out.
Blood feuds, conflicts, assets, water sources, grain, religion, conspiracies... there were far too many pretexts and excuses. What was more, the Northern Realm had once again crossed the White River Belt, driving straight in.
The frost period was fast approaching. When that time came, the snow-covered wastes of the Northern Realm would turn into absolute dead zones. To survive, people were capable of doing anything.
Lacking suppression and buffer zones, the numerous city-states that had long been itching for a fight dissolved straight into utter chaos.
Leaving behind complete devastation.
Like a flood discharge basin when the dyke breached.
Caught between the Federation and the Empire, yet lacking the Mid-Continent's abundant yields and sheer mass, they were like stalks of wheat in a field—flattened across the ground when the gale swept through.
The Endless Sea was vast enough, its islands naturally isolated, some exceedingly close while others were exceedingly distant. Disturbed further by storms, ocean currents, tsunamis, and countless other factors, the immense uninhabited zones and open waters could swallow an ocean of chaos without fear of backlash.
No one saw the hell; no one heard the wailing.
In fact, no one cared.
Now, in the southeastern reaches of the Endless Sea, the civil strife in the Punabantu Archipelago had raged for over a month. With the president suddenly dead and warlords warring against one another, it was completely cut off from the outside world.
From there, a plague had begun to spread silently.
"...Bloodthirst Syndrome?!"
Ji Jue blurted out in shock.
The Grand Elder's voice grew even more bitter. "No, it is a spiritual plague ranked even higher... Dreamloss Syndrome.
"Transmitted through spiritus and spread by lingering grudges and resentment. In the early stages, patients feel a lack of energy, fatigue easily, and experience frequent, fitful dreams with multiple awakenings. Then, as dreams occur less and less frequently until they vanish entirely, sleep becomes impossible.
"Yet they can hardly be called awake either.
"Tormented day after day, dazed and muddled like walking corpses, until their oil burns out and the lamp goes cold. Some even mutate, deform, and... succumb to corruption.
"A few days ago, responding to headquarters' call, our diocese in Haizhou dispatched a humanitarian medical team, hoping to save the situation as much as possible and contain the epidemic's scale.
"Though treatment is difficult, prevention is straightforward—all it takes is a single vaccine injection."
The Elder sighed wearily. "The general who recently seized power claimed we were carrying weapons and deported us. But after the medical team departed, they claimed key dignitaries were among the patients we evacuated, gave chase, and forcibly detained the team..."
In truth, when the medical team was driven out, they were left with practically nothing besides the clothes on their backs, let alone any patients.
It was entirely an excuse to extort the Church of Chongguang.
Yet when the Church headquarters called, the other party flatly denied it, claiming the Church of Chongguang had violated their religious taboos and had already been entirely deported, with no arrests or obstruction whatsoever.
Both sides stuck to their stories, locked in a fierce dispute.
Yet who to believe was something one could figure out with their heels.
Put it this way: if the Elder and Xu Chaoxian pointed at the same creature, one calling it a deer and the other calling it a horse, everyone spitting in disgust would definitely spit at Xu Chaoxian.
A sterling reputation forged through centuries of countless sacrifices and good deeds was just that unshakeable!
"Though it might be inappropriate for me to say this..." Ji Jue hesitated for a moment before asking, "The Church of Chongguang has vast businesses, huge resources, and immense wealth. Could you really not... Can't you just..."
The Elder sighed. "We are encumbered by our reputation, constrained by our stance."
Holding a blade and doing good deeds were hard to reconcile. The very reason the Church of Chongguang had endured to this day was its absolute rejection of violence. Aside from essential security, members and institutions of the Church were forbidden to bear arms, much less inflict harm.
The Church's reputation could tolerate no blemish, nor could its stance ever waver.
They could not be publicly associated with any acts of violence; in fact, they could not be connected to them at all.
They had to maintain harmlessness.
Because of this, they were welcomed and treated with courtesy by all parties. Unfortunately, this doctrine fell flat against idiots and morons—especially idiots who thought holding a gun made them peerless geniuses.
In truth, over so many years, the Church was more or less accustomed to such things, and had its own protocols and procedures. But whether it was formal diplomatic channels or coordinating pressure from multiple sides, it was all far too slow—waiting one or two months was already optimistic.
What was needed now was speed.
After all, ghost knew what could happen in a month or two. Could a warlord who seized power through a coup and immediately began slaughtering infidels even last that long?
Suffice it to say, if he had even a shred of anywhere else to turn, he wouldn't have sunk so low as to extort the Church of Chongguang...
"In truth, this matter is not entirely public business," the Elder confessed with a self-deprecating sigh after laying out the situation. "More than that, it is my own selfish heart at work. I have truly disgraced myself."
His assistant was on that medical team.
Called an assistant, they were in truth like father and son. Having devoted his entire life to the precepts, the Elder had never married, hoarded no wealth, and had no progeny to speak of. The young assistant was an orphan raised by the Church. After graduating from university and earning his medical license, he had formally joined the Church out of yearning for the radiance the Elder embodied.
This time, as volunteers, both the young man and his wife had joined the medical team.
The memory of their spirited, high-hearted departure was still fresh in his mind. But when the distress signal and the general diocese's notice arrived in the dead of night, the Elder had been thrown into utter turmoil and panic.
Even at the risk of potentially violating the precepts, being forsaken by the Holy Spirit, and being cast out of the Church entirely, he had to take action in secret.
Time was running out.
The Church had received the distress signal over two hours ago. An hour ago, the vessel's communications had gone silent. Once the medical team was brought back into the archipelago's territory, it would be too late to fish them out.
Yet in such haste, there were hardly any people capable of exerting influence over the Thousand Islands. Among them, those who were truly dependable and would not compromise the Church's reputation were even scarcer...
"I understand," Ji Jue murmured inwardly with clear comprehension.
He understood the reason for the man's agonizing sorrow... It wasn't because the matter was dangerous or troublesome, but simply that the Elder's moral standards were too high.
Leaving him so conflicted and helpless.
Ji Jue said, "In short, as long as the people on the medical team come back safely, that's all that matters, right?"
The Elder hesitated for a moment, his voice hoarse. "If necessary..."
"All right, Elder, no need to say anything more," Ji Jue cut him off. "I will do my best."
There was no need, and even less reason to put it into words.
In reality, so long as the medical team returned safely, nothing else mattered. If necessary... it wouldn't matter if everyone else ended up dead!
But why give voice to such things?
It would only leave ammunition for others.
Why should the spotless reputation the old gentleman spent a lifetime doing good deeds to earn be ruined by a gang of scumbags?
Reputation was power too—in truth, a very potent and precious power... Ji Jue didn't even need to remind him; if the Elder wanted to, he could leverage that reputation to accomplish many things.
Yet he never had.
When one had the means to indulge in excess, restraint was virtue.
Ji Jue possessed no such virtue, but he admired it from the bottom of his heart.
"Leave it to me, Elder," Ji Jue said finally before hanging up. "Just send me the registration number of the ship your assistant is on."
"All right."
On the other end, the hoarse voice finally let out a sigh of relief.
Soon, a number was sent to Ji Jue's phone. Even before it arrived, Isis's search had already begun.
Cables reconnected with the Haizhou Supercomputing Center. At the lowest level of the workshop, the computational sequence formed by endlessly interwoven spiritus crystals finished preheating and restarted.
A second later, within the signals transmitted by Federation satellites, a red dot quietly surfaced on the map of the southwestern Endless Sea.
Blinking.
Unfortunately, it was too dark, and the weather was terrible.
No matter how much they zoomed in, through the thick night fog, nothing could be seen clearly.
"Search complete. Found them; coordinates confirmed," Isis's voice rang out. "The vessel's host system is unresponsive. Systems and engines are all shut down. Currently in tow."
"What about the other ship?" Ji Jue asked.
"A retired Imperial destroyer running an old Astarte-II control system from years ago. I've accessed the current version via the ship's Wi-Fi, but the control system is too outdated and too much equipment is missing. I'm afraid I can't take over the engines."
A rare hint of displeasure surfaced in Isis's voice.
To think that the thing defeating her today was not advanced technology, but equipment so backward that taking it over was impossible... What good was elite electronic warfare?
This rustbucket destroyer was nearly a century old—it was practically hand-cranked!
"Doesn't matter. Taking over navigation works just the same."
Ji Jue looked at the position of the red dot on the map and gauged the distance slightly. "Guide them into a turn and have them steer north."
It seemed that after noticing the pursuit behind them, the ship carrying the medical team had fled some distance while calling for help. Otherwise, Ji Jue would have been scratching his head now, forced to fire up the Doomsday Express and make the trip himself.
Fortunately, from this location, there was still time.
There was no need to trouble the Wasteland Market. That bastard Ling Liu from Grey Port was a wily old fox, sly and shrewd; he'd probably demand an exorbitant price.
He took out his phone and dialed a number over in the Seven Cities.
After a few brief rings, the call finally connected.
"Hm? Mr. Ji?"
A warm voice sounded from the other end, carrying a trace of drowsiness. Faintly audible were a woman's muffled moans and complaints.
Ji Jue chuckled and greeted him. "General Minkler, I heard you were recently appointed deputy commander of the Joint Fleet. Congratulations, congratulations."
"Haha, think nothing of it! It's all thanks to the appreciation of the lords above and the respect of good friends."
Minkler's laughter grew even heartier. "Old Lu's brother is my brother! If you need any help, just say the word! I'll definitely—"
"No, nothing like that," Ji Jue interrupted his momentum of exchanging pleasantries and empty promises, asking bluntly, "I just wanted to ask—are you still interested in military merit? Well, pity there's no general this time, just a Punabantu destroyer served up on a silver platter."
"Huh?"
Minkler froze for an instant, then suddenly sprang up like a carp leaping from water.
"Huh?!"
All sleepiness vanished.
He wasn't tired anymore!
In the middle of the night, a pair of greedy green eyes practically beamed with light.
"Bro—Brother Ji! Elaborate!"
As expected of Old Lu's brother, whenever he made a move, it was extraordinary.
To think there was even a tip?!
Chapter 472