After leaving the fighting arena, Chai Lai removed his reporter badge and cast a wary glance around outside.
Seeing that no one was following him, he boarded an urban rail car, rode out of Center City, and made his way all the way to a settlement area in the north of the city.
This place had originally been built as a northern resort for Center City. However, an evil cult had conducted a sacrificial ritual here, leaving a vast stretch of land tainted and polluted, forcing the project to be abandoned.
The half-completed buildings from the early development were left deserted. Soon after, the city administrators underwent an internal purge, leaving no one to look after this area. As a result, it became a gathering place for gangs from inside and outside the city as well as various underground factions. A sprawling expanse of makeshift structures had sprung up around the abandoned buildings.
A large population was now concentrated here. Although the pollution on this land was severe, to these people it was by no means the most terrifying thing they faced.
Upon arriving, Chai Lai donned two layers of protective clothing, jumped down into a sewer, and walked familiar routes through this subterranean network. Every time he passed certain turns, he carefully inspected the marks carved into the corners before proceeding with peace of mind.
Two hours later, he arrived near a sector deliberately cordoned off by barricades. A man stood there, waved to him upon seeing him arrive, and led him into a relatively clean room.
The room was cramped, dominated by a large square table taking up more than half the space. Maps of every district in Weiya Center City were laid across the tabletop, with various locations marked by icons of different colors.
A young man wearing glasses stood there, deep in contemplation. Despite the surroundings, his hair and clothing remained neatly groomed. Without looking up, he said, "You're back? How did it go?"
Chai Lai removed his protective hood and said, "Team Leader, I found an opportunity to approach several fighters from the Great Shun delegation and told them about those matters."
The young man said, "Mm. Don't take any proactive action." He paused, looking up, and asked, "Comrade Luo Qiming's younger brother was there too?"
"He was," Chai Lai replied.
The young man said, "If Comrade Luo Qiming's brother truly possesses a sense of justice like he claims, he should pay attention to those things. If there's an opportunity, I will arrange another chance for you to approach him. We'll see how well you handle it from there."
Chai Lai asked, "What if he isn't...?"
The young man considered it and said, "Then we proceed with the alternative plan."
Just then, the sound of tapping on a pipe came from outside. Both men immediately fell silent. After a moment, someone entered and glanced at Chai Lai.
The young man said, "He's one of us. Go ahead, speak."
The person said, "Word from East Valley says Luo Xiao has been killed. The fragment of the Jiuhe Gui was likely taken by Section Chief Chen, the leader of the Great Shun delegation. According to our inside sources, the entire fight was over very quickly."
The young man froze, then said solemnly, "It seems this Section Chief Chen from Great Shun is extraordinarily strong." An excited gleam then sparked in his eyes. "That's good. That's for the best."
Chai Lai glanced at his watch. "I need to hurry back. Does the team leader have any further instructions?"
The young man pondered for a moment, then looked up. "One more thing. Once you return, have the newspaper run consecutive exposés covering all sorts of inside stories regarding Center City. The more you uncover, the better."
Chai Lai was startled. "We're already being watched by the Municipal Security Bureau. If we do that, the newspaper might..."
The young man sighed. "I know. Neither of us wants to see that happen. We poured so much effort into this newspaper. But it's part of the plan.
"Our mission is to accomplish the tasks assigned from above. When the critical moment comes, what must be abandoned must be abandoned—even if it is ourselves."
Chai Lai was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, "Team Leader, I will carry it out."
The young man stepped forward and patted his arm. "Old Chai, our sacrifices won't be in vain. What we wish to see will come to pass."
Chai Lai gave a firm nod. "Team Leader, I'll be heading back."
The young man said, "Old Chai, be careful out there."
Chai Lai said yes, pulled on his protective hood, and quickly departed.
***
After Chen Chuan returned to the hotel, he handed the boundary marker brought back from the mountain to the delegation's technical team for proper processing, intending to take it back together when returning to their homeland.
At this time, the reception staff on duty handed him several letters sent by local companies and social organizations in the city.
Following his earlier visit to Free Star Academy, factions and organizations that had heard of his reputation wished to invite him to serve as a combat instructor.
In Weiya Center City, this was actually quite common—typically a conventional networking tactic to initiate contact with an unfamiliar martial artist. If one accepted, subsequent exchanges would follow along with corresponding compensation.
However, he had no interest in this whatsoever. Moreover, he would not be staying in Weiya for long. Once Delegation Leader Xie concluded the visit to Kawatua and the two teams rendezvoused again, they would proceed to the Federation capital.
Therefore, he instructed the staff to decline all these letters across the board and returned directly to his hotel room.
He then tapped his boundary credential, which brought up several messages detailing the travel logs of various delegation members over the course of the day, including the areas they had visited and the conversations they had held.
As a diplomatic delegation whose members were mostly privy to confidential information, strict surveillance was necessary to ensure no one leaked secrets or violated discipline.
After reviewing the logs, he had his carried inactive conscious entity run an analysis, confirming that no issues had arisen for anyone for the time being. He then instructed the inactive conscious entity to log everything into a diary file, which would be submitted to the foreign affairs department upon their return to Great Shun for archiving and future reference.
Having dealt with that, he noticed another invitation forwarded by the municipal government at the bottom of the list. It stated that Mr. Ryan Craverdy, one of the city administrators, invited him to meet and discuss matters of mutual benefit.
Chen Chuan had known before arriving that Weiya Center City was governed by several martial artist families, and Ryan Craverdy hailed from the Craverdy family.
He considered the matter. With the year drawing to a close, they would stay at least until after the New Year, so an invitation from a city administrator warranted a response. Thus, he immediately had a resonator on the team reply on his behalf, stating that he was available over the next two days.
A reply came back shortly from the other side, proposing the meeting for tomorrow afternoon and inquiring if that suited his schedule. He replied as well, confirming he would attend punctually.
He first checked on Chaoming. The bird was still deep in slumber, but its body continuously radiated waves of heat—the result of the mutated tissue inside rapidly growing after absorbing a vast amount of nourishment.
After a brief inspection, he saw that Chaoming was fine for now. If the mutated tissue grew excessively, he would have to find a way to prune some of it away.
He sat down on an armchair nearby, brought out the black metal box, and set its lid aside.
Most of what lay inside were gold drafts from various banking houses, along with some identification documents.
Lying at the bottom, the most conspicuous item was a black notebook. He picked it up and opened it. The handwriting on every page was exceedingly fine, imbued with a trace of spiritual power. Merely sensing it with his own spirit, a briny scent of seawater immediately washed over his senses.
At the same time, his surroundings seemed to shift into the open ocean. He appeared to be locked in combat with a gigantic sea beast. Then the scene shifted, and he was aboard a ship, broadside cannons spitting fire with deafening roars. Torrential rain and howling winds swept around him next; abandoning the vessel as it was swallowed by giant waves, he swam alone through the surging sea.
Unfazed, Chen Chuan turned page after page, and the scenes transformed again and again.
These were Luo Xiao's past experiences, recorded through paper and spiritual transmission.
After skimming through, Chen Chuan realized it was no wonder this man had pillaged far and wide—his breakthrough oath had been to seize the world's greatest treasures for himself.
Throughout the notebook, Luo Xiao repeatedly mentioned that the greatest treasure lay right within Weiya. He believed he currently lacked the strength to seize it, but he had patience, believing that at worst, once the Great Impact arrived, an opportunity would present itself.
As for the wealth he had plundered over the years, part of it had been converted into these gold drafts, while another portion had been turned over to Weiya Center City.
After all, to hold off mutation, in addition to the Jiuhe Gui fragment, he required substantial amounts of medicine each year. These medicines were not free; he had to purchase them from Center City, which exercised indirect control over him through this supply.
After examining each item in turn, Chen Chuan found a piece of hide from some unknown creature lining the very bottom of the box.
He lifted it out, shook it open, and draped it over his forearm. He found that it was a hand-drawn diagram.
The lines were exceedingly crude, with virtually no landmarks, except for a red X marked at one of the endpoints.
A treasure map?
Chen Chuan pondered it, recalling the last words Luo Xiao had spoken before dying. Had Luo Xiao left this behind simply out of habit or some twisted humor from his past as a pirate?
There were no hints or explanations on the hide, only the markings of the diagram itself, making it impossible to tell what location it depicted.
He originally intended to put it away and have the technical team analyze it when time permitted. But suddenly, a thought struck him.
Retrieving the map, he noticed a circle drawn on the diagram. If this circle represented Qiyuan Lake outside Weiya City, and that horizontal line represented the Beaver Dam... comparing it this way, did this diagram depict Weiya Center City itself?
If so, it was no wonder no additional explanation was needed—the map depicted the very place where they were.
Then where did that cross mark point to?
He immediately instructed the resonator outside to connect him to an inactive conscious entity completely isolated from external fields, instructing it to cross-reference the marked location with the map of Weiya Center City.
In merely a few seconds, the inactive conscious entity produced an answer.
Chen Chuan looked at the location highlighted on his boundary credential map.
That was... the Weiya Center City Ancient Museum?
Chapter 1114