At the call, the silhouette seemed to sense something and turned its head partway, but it offered no reply; instead, it stepped into the fissure.
Vegadov could not help taking another step forward, but Chen Chuan’s voice reached his ears: "Mr. Vegadov, the situation inside the fissure is unclear. Going over now would be unwise."
Vegadov sighed and halted in his tracks.
He had not truly intended to cross over; it was just that the man was not only his comrade-in-arms, but an old friend.
Back then, the two of them had come together. His friend had urged him to flee while staying behind alone to cover the retreat, leaving Vegadov with lingering guilt in his heart ever since.
Chen Chuan looked at him and said, "You must understand that he is no longer your friend. No matter what he says or does, do not believe him."
Vegadov took a deep breath. "Yes, Mr. Chen, I will keep myself in check." He lifted his head, an earnest gleam showing in his eyes. "Now that it has hidden inside, what should we do?"
Chen Chuan said, "It is simple. Make it come out on its own."
"Make it come out on its own?" Vegadov looked at the fissure and asked, "How do we do that?"
Chen Chuan glanced around and said, "The First People of the past have already given us the answer."
Vegadov looked around as well, saying uncertainly, "A ritual?"
Chen Chuan said, "I took a look just now. This is an unfinished ritual, a traditional one belonging to the Isutar people of the First People. Most of the groundwork has already been laid; it is only missing the final step."
Vegadov said in surprise, "Mr. Chen understands First People rituals?"
Chen Chuan replied, "A little."
He had, after all, browsed through the secret ritual grimoires collected by the royal house of the Isutar people back at the Throat of the Star Spirit. The ritual before him was practically identical to them, and one could tell at a glance that it was a sealing ritual.
This indicated that the First People back then had already attempted a sealing, only to meet with some unforeseen calamity that prevented its completion. It was likely what the phantom visions he had witnessed earlier depicted.
And those scenes had most likely lingered because of this unfinished sealing ritual.
He said, "Mr. Vegadov, if we manage to complete this ritual, that thing will not be able to hide peacefully on the other side. It will definitely come out to stop us. We can choose to fight it here and eliminate it once and for all."
Vegadov's spirits lifted, and he asked hurriedly, "Then how do we complete it? Are we missing something?"
Chen Chuan nodded and said, "At present, we are still missing something."
Vegadov said without hesitation, "No matter what it is, we will find a way to get it."
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "You might not be able to find them." Seeing that Vegadov wanted to say more, he shook his head slightly and said, "Let's talk outside."
"All right!"
Vegadov realized as well that this was no place for conversation. Still, he was far more energized than before, because Chen Chuan had given a clear solution.
Once the two returned outside and rendezvoused with the others waiting there, Chen Chuan explained the situation inside and his assessment to the rest.
Hearing that there was a solution, everyone immediately brightened.
They harbored not the slightest doubt about whether Chen Chuan could pull it off. In their hearts, since Chen Chuan had come, he would surely solve the predicament here; their confidence in him was greater than even his own.
"Mr. Chen, what exactly are we missing?" someone asked.
Chen Chuan tapped his boundary credential, transmitting a list of everything required to them.
Looking through it, they immediately found themselves in a bind. Some of the items were fine and could be substituted, but others completely baffled them because they had never even heard of them—including a significant number of mutated plants.
Chen Chuan said, "These materials and plants are crucial. Especially those mutated plants, which played an irreplaceable role in the original ritual and were cultivated solely by the Isutar people."
Someone ventured, "Then... could we set up a new ritual instead?"
Chen Chuan replied, "Theoretically, yes. Things are different now than in the past. If one spares no expense in manpower and resources, it would take two to three years to establish a ritual serving the same function with even better effectiveness. However, we would face constant disruption and sabotage from that thing along the way. Moreover, there is no telling whether that thing might undergo new mutations. The uncertainty is simply too great.
"Using the existing ritual is the lowest-cost and most feasible approach."
These Federation Purist Faction members were not entirely ignorant of the Isutar people, and someone could not help raising a question:
"But haven't the Isutar people gone extinct? Where are we supposed to look for these things?"
"Yeah, they vanished long ago. At most, a few remnant tribes remain, but they lost their heritage ages ago."
Chen Chuan did not explain where he would find them. Instead, he said to Vegadov, "I will find a way. However, these materials may be quite expensive."
Vegadov said without a second thought, "Is that all? Leave it all to us." From his demeanor, it seemed that as long as money could solve the problem, it was no problem at all.
Chen Chuan said, "That is enough. I will need gold, not Federation currency."
Vegadov hurried to say, "No problem at all. The camp has some reserved as ritual materials, and I'll have more brought over immediately."
Chen Chuan nodded. Stepping outside, he instructed his telegraph operator to send a telegram to the Throat of the Star Spirit to request the ritual materials.
He remembered that quite a lot of these materials had been left behind there. The hardest-to-find mutated plants had grown there for nearly a century without anyone harvesting them, so there should be no shortage.
Before long, the operator had transmitted the telegram.
Chen Chuan checked his wristwatch; the next step was simply to wait.
Given the unique nature of the Throat of the Star Spirit, telegrams were received only at fixed times each day, meaning the earliest reply would come around noon.
He remained fairly patient; as long as the materials were there, they weren't going anywhere.
After twelve noon, the operator waiting before the radio station stirred. "It's here." Transcribing the telegram, he took off his headphones and presented the paper to Chen Chuan with both hands.
Chen Chuan took it and read it. The reply from the Throat of the Star Spirit stated that they would send someone through the ancient subterranean waterway to deliver the items.
Atahorca State, where the Throat of the Star Spirit was located, bordered Duwan State, where they currently were. Both had originally been territories of the First People's Ishtar Dynasty, and several subterranean river passages connected the two.
One of them was not far from where they were.
So he immediately gave word to Vegadov and the others, loaded all the gold the camp could spare into a car, and set off in search of the location.
Several hours later, the vehicle came to a halt beside a river bend overgrown with dense reeds.
He surveyed the area, and once he confirmed the location, he had the security squad cordon off the perimeter. He got out of the car alone, lit a bright bonfire, and waited.
After the night passed, just as dawn was approaching, a whirlpool suddenly formed in the water. With a loud splash, a vigorous young man emerged. Wiping his face, he spotted the bonfire on the bank. At first alert and guarded, his expression turned into joy once he saw Chen Chuan, and he waved his hand vigorously.
Chen Chuan recognized him as Awan's uncle, Tahu. The latter fumbled about in the water, dragged out a leather sack half the size of a person, and pushed it onto the shore. Then he dove back under, and after a moment, pushed up another sack.
Making two round trips in total, he pushed up three sacks, then carried them over to Chen Chuan, set them down carefully, wiped his face again, and said in Shunese that he had clearly practiced for a long time:
"Mr. Chen, Elder Gale told us to bring these. We don't know if it's enough. If it's not, we can bring more."
Chen Chuan glanced at them. Even without opening the sacks, he could clearly sense the objects within through his spirit and field.
He made an estimate and said, "These are plenty. Mr. Tahu, thank you, and please thank Elder Gale for me as well."
With a lift of his hand, the chest containing the gold drifted gently down before Tahu. "Take this back with you."
"This is..."
"Inside is gold, along with some Federation currency."
Tahu immediately shook his head. "Mr. Chen has helped us so much. How could we take Mr. Chen's things?"
Chen Chuan said, "Mr. Tahu, you may consider this aid from Great Shun. Elder Gale will understand what I mean. Just take it back."
Hearing him put it that way, Tahu hesitated, then accepted the chest. Seeing that Chen Chuan needed nothing else, he solemnly performed a First People salute, then leaped back into the river and returned along the secluded underwater path.
Chen Chuan brought all the materials back to the vehicle. He was in no hurry to return, waiting there until noon before recalling the men and heading back to camp. Upon meeting Vegadov and the others again, he nodded and said, "I have the materials."
Everyone was overjoyed. Though curious about the channel Chen Chuan had used to acquire these items and astonished by how quickly it had happened, they tactfully refrained from asking questions.
With the materials assembled, the next step was to formulate the detailed plan.
Chen Chuan immediately selected everyone who understood rituals from the group, gathered them together, and went over what they would need to do next, after which they went into details and drew up contingency plans.
The active conscious entity in the camp proved immensely useful here. There was no need for paperwork; he could directly demonstrate and explain everything clearly on the light screen. Once the plan was laid out, he had the active conscious entity participate to shore up oversights and refine details.
Following these arrangements, everyone’s morale ran high, for they could genuinely sense that under this plan, the likelihood of success was exceptionally high. In the end, they returned to rest filled with excitement.
Early the next morning, once preparations were complete, Chen Chuan led the group and the materials into the pit and arrived before the fissure.
This time, they did not see that thing appear; it seemed still to be hiding on the other side of the fissure, just as expected.
Chen Chuan walked to the front and gestured with his hand. Behind him, the others immediately dispersed and swiftly sprang into action according to their preassigned roles.
……
……
Chapter 1211