"Consort Teng again?"
Chen Chuan pondered inwardly. It seemed Consort Teng truly had a remarkable background; her status was by no means as simple as being merely a Bo snake.
After arriving over the forest garden, the group spotted several figures waiting below and descended.
The one who had discovered the situation here was a martial artist named Guan Longwu. He also came from a military background, in his early forties, with slightly dark skin and ordinary facial features, but his eyes were exceptionally bright and spirited. In height, he was only slightly shorter than Chen Chuan's external implant.
One could tell he was a decisive, swift man. Stepping forward with a salute, he wasted no words on pleasantries and cut straight to the chase.
"Commander, we discovered something as soon as we arrived."
With that, he turned and gestured toward a corridor between two partition walls not far from where they stood, where a subterranean entrance lay.
"Beneath this, we discovered an underground space constructed using a vast quantity of esoteric materials that block mental perception. Furthermore, it spans an enormous area. A preliminary look suggests it might be a biological testing area."
Hearing the words "biological testing," Chen Chuan immediately grew vigilant. Anything involving such matters demanded extreme caution, not to mention that this had been left behind by the former imperial house.
He asked, "Have you gone in to inspect it, General Guan?"
Guan Longwu replied solemnly, "We only checked around the entrance without venturing deeper, and immediately came out to notify you, Commander. I can guarantee that from the moment we arrived until now, not a single living creature has entered or exited this place."
Chen Chuan nodded. "Well done, General Guan. Now I must trouble you to seal off the surrounding area. Without my orders, no one is permitted to approach."
"Yes, Commander. I shall see to it immediately." Guan Longwu gave him a crisp, grave salute and departed at once to make the arrangements.
Chen Chuan glanced downward and proceeded inside, leading Mingchengzi and the others.
To ensure nothing went awry, he immediately released his field, instantly enveloping the entire area.
The path leading down was a moderately steep ramp. The entrance appeared narrow, yet the interior opened up wide. The walls on both sides of the corridor were entirely inlaid with jade plaques that emitted a faint, subtle glow.
These were unique products of the Melded Lands, exceptionally effective at blocking mental prying. However, their yield had always been limited, yet the sheer quantity utilized here was astounding.
Even so, this material possessed a potent mutagenic corruption; ordinary people could not use it safely and had to wear protective suits to ward off the effects. Here, protective suits alone would likely prove insufficient—one would need the shielding of a martial artist's field as well.
Carved into those jade plaques were numerous exquisite openwork reliefs, mostly depicting records and scenes concerning snake women, which once again brought Consort Teng to mind.
Chen Chuan checked the position marked on his external implant. The underground area lay directly beneath the main pavilion, Zhanzhi Garden; from mental perception alone, even their general outlines closely aligned.
This was likely no coincidence; this subterranean area had probably been excavated back when the forest garden was originally constructed.
As could be seen, the researchers and other personnel had long since evacuated.
Yet they had left in a hurry, leaving behind considerable clutter strewn across the floor of the outer perimeter, making it look thoroughly disheveled.
At that moment, the conscious entity built into his external implant detected a dormant active conscious entity in the facility and asked whether to connect and receive data.
He immediately consented. Besides the conscious entity, he had Hongfu with him, so he had no fear of any information contamination or intrusion from the other side.
After waiting a brief while, the external implant retrieved the surface-level information from the active conscious entity within the testing zone, noting that decrypting the deeper layers would require mobilizing more conscious entities.
Chen Chuan glanced through it. Although it was merely baseline information, it was enough to glean the fundamental situation here.
The facility was divided into two major experimental zones and five sub-sectors. The "Kun" zone was primarily used to test and cultivate large field creatures.
Large field creatures represented advanced technology mastered by the world's major powers and global mega-corporations; Center City's defenses and communication networks fundamentally derived from them.
Evidently, the former imperial house had coveted this technology as well and had been secretly attempting to cultivate them.
Yet he felt matters were likely not that simple. Center City served as a node in the Ring of Worlds; if the basic properties of large field creatures were deciphered, or if targeted countermeasures were developed against them, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Judging by the lab's external data logs, it was suspected that someone had provided them with certain data, channeled from both international and domestic sources.
Fortunately, based on present indications, their research had progressed very slowly and remained superficial due to a lack of technical specifications and equipment.
As for the specifics, he would take these back to the department later and have personnel trace the clues. As an administrative commissioner of the Ministry of National Security, this fell squarely within his purview.
And within the other sector, the "Qian" experimental zone, the microscopic mutated creatures he had been wary of did indeed exist. Furthermore, a substantial amount of experimental data remained, along with several samples that had already been successfully verified.
Upon seeing this, he headed straight to that zone to conduct an inspection; the outcome was not too bad.
Perhaps because the researchers here also recognized the perilous nature of these organisms, combined with the laboratory's rigorous containment measures, there was no immediate risk of a breach.
In truth, upon seeing these things, Chen Chuan's first instinct had been to destroy them immediately.
On second thought, however, even if the former imperial house was overthrown, there was no telling whether other concealed laboratories existed, nor could the possibility of samples leaking abroad be ruled out. Thus, preserving them was still necessary; if similar threats were encountered in the future, they might be used to research countermeasures or remedies.
Having verified this area, he inspected several subsidiary experimental sectors and confirmed that no other particularly hazardous materials remained before stepping back outside.
Curiously, although the personnel had fled, they had not destroyed the primary equipment, leaving an extensive array of laboratory instruments and apparatus intact.
Considering that everything here theoretically belonged to Emperor Wenguang, who had been wholly obsessed with ascension and likely paid little heed to such matters, it was reasonable that no one had taken the initiative to dispose of them.
Once back on the surface, he solemnly instructed Mu Xiaoren, "Staff Officer Mu, seal off this facility and keep it under close guard. Do your utmost to ensure nothing inside leaks out."
Mu Xiaoren responded gravely, "Commander, leave it to me."
Chen Chuan nodded, leapt into the air, and flew back toward Youdu City with Mingchengzi.
During this time, Great Shun had deployed airships above Youdu to weave a wide-area information field, facilitating the administration of occupation affairs and the deployment of follow-up military forces.
Consequently, on his journey back, he continually received incoming messages from the city.
Following this battle, Emperor Wenguang and his direct imperial relatives had effectively been wiped out in one fell swoop.
Beneath the imperial house, the most crucial administrative organ was undoubtedly the Grand Secretariat.
In reality, the bulk of the former imperial house's civil governance and logistical military affairs had been handled and coordinated by the Grand Secretariat.
The Senior Grand Secretary, Elder Hong, had fainted under the initial mental shockwave and was now captured alive.
Meanwhile, two Grand Secretaries, Elders Fang and Shi, were discovered to have hanged themselves in Yunzhi Pavilion; two others had committed suicide by swallowing alchemical pills in their residences. Their dependents had all expressed willingness to surrender. In addition, another faction of court officials, led by a former Grand Secretary, had submitted memorials of surrender.
To Chen Chuan, the most difficult issue in Youdu City was not these officials, but rather the city's nearly ten million residents.
Under the former imperial house, the military and populace were one and the same, and all of these people possessed highly active mutated tissue, making them fundamentally distinct from the people of Great Shun.
Most critically, the vast majority were worshippers of ancient deities, posing a substantial hidden peril.
Unless the ancient deities behind them could be eliminated, the problem could never be rooted out. Yet not only were these deities numerous, but they also potentially involved upper-layer powers, greatly compounding the complexity of the matter.
However, this was no longer his concern; it would be left to Operational Command to worry about.
In addition, preliminary reports cataloging the facilities and factories inside and outside Youdu City had arrived.
The munition plants and related infrastructure within the city were now under Great Shun's military control, while to the southwest, a small underground industrial zone had been discovered.
Although the former imperial house was an archaic state, its population was massive, and it lacked neither grain nor algal oil, which meant it possessed the conditions to maintain a certain level of industrial capacity.
This industrial zone primarily manufactured high-energy nutrients. Looking at the buyer records, over ninety percent of its output was shockingly sold to Great Shun.
Even when war broke out between the two sides, the trade had never ceased; even at the height of the fiercest fighting, transport airships had continued delivering shipments toward Great Shun's military every single day.
On the surface, this appeared to be treasonous aid to the enemy, yet records showed these were imperial enterprises. In other words, they were the emperor's personal businesses; even if national interests suffered, royal profit took precedence—an entirely normal state of affairs in the former imperial regime.
Three implant factories were also discovered here, and they shockingly manufactured high-end implants banned from export by Great Shun, as well as resonance nests used by resonators.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan had a thought. He recalled reading related reports at the ministry: every year, vast quantities of such items were smuggled abroad through various channels. It seemed the former imperial house had played a substantial role in that illicit trade.
Doubtless, numerous interest groups were tied to this pipeline, though that was a matter to be dealt with after the war.
Now that the former dynasty's imperial capital had fallen, the local feudal lords were no longer a serious concern. The only figure left to consider was Prince Yi, who was backed by the power of the Chan Sect. Exactly how to deal with him would depend on directives from Operational Command.
After reviewing the general information, Chen Chuan said to the conscious entity, "Draft a report notifying the rear: the former emperor is dead, and our forces have captured and secured Youdu and its surrounding regions. Awaiting further instructions from headquarters."
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Chapter 1443