Evacuation

After leaving the conference room, since Chen Chuan still had to carry out further missions, he was temporarily assigned a room inside the constabulary headquarters. As for the gear he had collected from Old Feng, after signing for it, it was simply left in his possession. There was no need to return it later—if it broke, it would just be written off as scrap, though he was forbidden from selling it outside, on pain of being held accountable. Whether by coincidence or intention, the quarters assigned to him happened to be the very place he had stayed during his previous visit to the headquarters. After washing up, he changed into fresh clothes and sat down in the room. Judging by Commissioner Cao's words, they would likely clash with Molan Company's defense forces within the next day or two. That meant he needed to find a way to cut through those protective suits. The simplest approach was actually to switch weapons, as blunt trauma from a heavy implement was often quite effective. However, this would compromise his speed and require altering his established fighting style; wielding such a weapon would be far less natural to him, and developing combat effectiveness with it in just a day or two was virtually impossible. Replacing the Xuejun Saber was also out of the question. After all, he had long grown accustomed to it, and standard-issue weapons would not necessarily perform any better than the Xuejun Saber anyway. Looking at it this way, his only option was to find a solution through his jin. In that battle against Tan Wang, the heavy slash saber jin had proven effective. Yet there was a problem: channeling the heavy slash saber jin required a brief moment of wind-up. Delivering a single strike was no issue, but if he unleashed consecutive slashes, an imperceptible pause would occur during the transitions between them, which could cause a lag in his tempo. And that was even with— Now, facing this challenge, he had to figure out a way to make adjustments. A saber manual was, after all, created by a human being. It was based not only on its creator's own experience and understanding, but also on the strength and volume of their mutated tissue. If nothing else, he could say with certainty that his own mutated tissue was far more abundant and far more complex than that of the manual's creator. When practicing saber jin previously, aside from following it strictly at the very beginning, he had not adhered to it entirely later on, having made sensible adjustments of his own. Now, as his ability to mobilize mutated tissue and his methods of utilizing it grew deeper and more comprehensive, he felt he could alter how he circulated his jin even further. Present-day Chen Chuan had both the means and the capability to solve this problem. He had entertained ideas before but lacked the time to pursue them. Now, he could settle his mind and put them into practice. Though the experimentation would consume a large quantity of medicine, since the state was covering the expenses, he saw no reason to be polite. First, he closed his eyes in meditation to calm his state of mind, gradually mobilizing his mutated tissue through his breathing. After a long while, he raised the Xuejun Saber and delivered a slash. A moment later, another slash, repeating the motion over and over. This was a progression from little to much, from shallow to deep, slowly coordinating more mutated tissue to participate. As more and more mutated tissue was brought into channeling the saber jin, he felt a noticeable improvement in the fluid connection between strikes. Yet as he progressed, something still seemed slightly lacking. Saber jin, after all, required first mobilizing the mutated tissue within the body and then transmitting it into the Xuejun Saber. This sequential process inevitably caused a minute delay. However, perhaps he could do this... He shifted the Xuejun Saber, slowly guiding his breath. After roughly half a day, the blade began to hum in continuous resonance, and the red line along the spine of the saber seemed almost to come alive. When he swung the blade again, he found that the feeling of delay had faded, the transitions between strikes becoming far smoother and more rounded. So that was it... Thoughtful, he realized the purpose of this saber was not merely to transmit jin; it could also become an extension of his body. Once he bridged the mutated tissue inside the Xuejun Saber with his own mutated tissue, they could be engaged together when channeling jin, eliminating the sequential transmission entirely. This was the true purpose of the blade. Those capable of doing such a thing needed no reminder; for those who couldn't, a reminder would be useless anyway. It could only be comprehended by the wielder themselves. The reason he had not discovered this before was that establishing this communication required a process—much like a person needing to warm up before exercise, lest their movements be stiff. And for a saber, "warming up" demanded a considerable amount of time, just like the hours he had just spent. Yet in his previous battles against others, when had a fight ever lasted half a day? Even his fight with Tan Wang had concluded within an hour or so. Still, this wasn't insurmountable. First, as their mutual rapport deepened, the process would shorten in the long run. In the short term, there were also solutions: he could proactively commune with it beforehand and thoroughly warm it up, keeping the saber primed and ready at all times. Another method was to slaughter several non-threatening opponents first before seeking out the primary target. Facts had proven that the more intense the combat and the heavier the slaughter, the more active mutated tissue became. However, this still depended on the specific circumstances. Theory was one thing; actual combat rarely presented ideal conditions. But at least for this upcoming battle, he should be able to prepare in advance, since this time he was on the offensive, holding the initiative and the advantage. So over the next two or three days, what he needed to do was warm up the blade in advance, staying prepared to plunge into battle at any moment. At this very moment, in Molan Company's underground conference room, five directors were listening to Supervisor Luo's report. Beyond the construction of perimeter defense points around the building, the key focus was the interception of the high-energy nutrient solutions and the slaughter of the personnel sent out. Supervisor Luo said, "Initially, I advised against retrieving this shipment. But several directors insisted, asserting that these were corporate assets and there was no reason not to make an effort to recover them. The operations group had no choice but to send out several elite operatives, including two third-limit fighters. Not a single one came back this time..." At this point, his voice carried a tinge of dissatisfaction. "It is confirmed that they were intercepted and killed on the road to the wilderness. To make matters worse, a secure corridor reserved by the operations group was exposed in the process. This loss could have been avoided." One director spoke with a sharp edge to his voice: "Supervisor Luo, I need to remind you once again. You may make suggestions and raise questions, but whether to adopt them and how to act is entirely for the company to decide. Those two operatives were also corporate assets, not your private armed force, Supervisor Luo." Another director added, "Decisions require trade-offs. Before a choice is made, the company conducts detailed, prudent analysis and projections. If errors arise, it is merely that certain adverse factors were not factored in; we will question the intelligence department and hold them accountable. That is not your concern, Supervisor Luo. "Supervisor Luo, all you need to do is obey." Supervisor Luo fell silent for a moment before replying slowly, "Understood." "If Supervisor Luo has nothing else to say, please step outside. The company has further operations ahead, and the external operations group must remain on standby at all times." Supervisor Luo said nothing more, turning and walking out. Once he departed, the pneumatic door of the conference room slid shut. The luminescent display behind the five Molan Company directors suddenly lit up, and they all turned toward it together. Rendered on the luminescent display was a topographical map of Yangzhi, complete with waterways, mountain ranges, highways, villages, and towns. At this moment, on the eastern coastline, a blinking point of light could be seen slowly gliding southward from the north. One of the directors said slowly, "According to a telegram just received, two warships from the north have arrived at Yuanwang Port, including a troop carrier carrying a substantial number of troops. They likely steamed down from the direction of Hangu City." His tone was solemn. "This is clearly the Great Shun government preparing to deploy troops south from the Hangu City naval port to deal with us." Another director pondered for a moment and spoke up: "Yuanwang Port is only four hundred kilometers from Yangzhi City, connected by National Boulevard. Once the troops disembark, their vanguard could reach Yangzhi City in barely a day." The atmosphere in the conference room turned heavy. These Molan directors all understood that this might only be— After a moment, one director asked, "Is the information reliable?" The previous director replied, "That is what the observation post stationed there reported. But I believe this intelligence is sound, because relying solely on the forces of the various agencies remaining within Yangzhi City, it would be difficult to breach our defenses at an acceptable cost. Using the military can force us to surrender voluntarily—and that is the lowest-cost approach." All five directors fell silent. The crux of the matter was that they dared not gamble. If it were true, the slightest hesitation would leave them with no choices left. Starting now, they had to prepare to evacuate. The director who had spoken first said, "I propose that we activate Contingency Plan Three immediately." The remaining four directors all seconded the motion. Barely two hours later, at Molan Company—which had shown no movement for a long time since the Tribunal incident concluded—a convoy suddenly rolled out from the building's underground parking garage and headed toward National Boulevard in the eastern part of the city. Prior to this, they had also radioed Fatty Guo, the Blood Mark Gang boss who had been hiding out in this area, tasking him with providing support. Since he had stayed outside the city and avoided taking part in the urban strife, he had conversely escaped the previous clashes; furthermore, because of his position outside the city, no one had bothered to deliberately purge him afterward. And as the convoy drove out— This time, the participants included the Center City Disposal Bureau, the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau, the constabulary, and various municipal government departments of Yangzhi City, with Wuyi Academy having dispatched representatives as well. After the briefing officer gave a rough outline of the current situation, an official from the Yangzhi Municipal Administration asked, "Now that Molan Company has mobilized, Commissioner Cao, should we immediately sign an order to pursue them?" Commissioner Cao said, "This convoy must be taken down, but it is likely just a smoke screen. National Boulevard to the east of the city leads nowhere except either to the port or back to the headquarters in Center City. Returning to headquarters at a time like this would only expose them to even harsher strikes, so they will under no circumstances go back." He looked around at everyone. "I wager that their key personnel and armed forces will definitely choose to evacuate from somewhere else." "Then where will they go?" the Municipal Administration official asked. Commissioner Cao's gaze fell upon the sand table in the middle of the conference room. Extending a hand, he pointed toward a specific spot and said, "In my judgment, the place they will choose... is right here!"