Fission

Not long after he sent the message, Light Nest Company responded, informing Chen Chuan that their existing technology could meet his requirements. Light Nest Company now possessed graft-implantation technology. Even for an organism naturally incapable of developing mutated tissue, they could endow it with robust mutated tissue throughout its body. Chen Chuan looked into the technique. It mainly involved taking a portion of tissue from the client organism, grafting it into similar or related mutated creatures to cultivate mutated tissue, and then transplanting it back. The drawback was that this procedure caused a certain amount of damage to the host organism, potentially disrupting its entire circulatory system, which would require the company's long-term recuperation and care services. The optimal approach, therefore, was spontaneous induced growth—allowing the organism to naturally grow mutated tissue on its own and subsequently using medicine to bind and control it, which caused almost no harm. In closing, they stated that he could bring the organism in question over. With their company's advanced equipment and facilities, they could conduct comprehensive testing to provide a plan that met the client's satisfaction. After reading through it, he thought it over and decided to check internally within the Defense Department later. He recalled catching a glimpse on the platform last time, suggesting that the government also conducted corresponding research. He would decide after reviewing that. Having stepped onto the path of spiritual cultivation, his perception of external things had sharpened considerably. He had a nagging intuition that Chaoming's natural lifespan might not be very long. Mutated tissue, however, could change that. If properly controlled, its growth could bolster the creature's vitality. Moreover, giving Chaoming some combat capability would allow it to assist him. If this could be accomplished, it would truly kill two birds with one stone. After logging out of the platform, he retrieved the new aromatic medicine Teacher Xue had given him and began a new round of meditation. Like the previous aromatic medicine, this item was time-sensitive and needed to be used as soon as possible. This session of training lasted until afternoon before he stopped. He then stood up, practiced his martial drills for a bit, and sat back down to try the newly learned Spirit-Shaking Hammer and Empty Heart Seal. Past six o'clock, he emerged from his seated concentration, ate several sticks of nutrition paste, washed up, and sat on the sofa browsing the Fringe Channel while waiting for messages on his boundary credential. After a while, an avatar holding a scroll began flashing on his boundary credential. Seeing that it was Fang Zhixin, he accepted the call and said, "Assistant Fang?" Fang Zhixin said, "Captain Chen, apologies for disturbing you. I wanted to let you know that Major Yu may be joining the training class tomorrow. After all, he's a rare talent, and he has promised not to cause trouble for you or anyone else again. We simply hope you won't mind, Captain Chen." Chen Chuan said, "You're overthinking it, Assistant Fang. This is Teacher Chen's training class. Who joins is naturally up to Teacher Chen to decide. I have no reason to meddle." Whether Yu Lie caused a fuss was completely inconsequential to him. He wouldn't mind if Yu Lie gave him a warm-up before each session, though he would prefer Yu Lie to make some progress first before seeking him out again. Hearing that Chen Chuan didn't seem to care, Fang Zhixin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Captain Chen. I won't take up any more of your time. Goodbye." "Goodbye." After speaking with Fang Zhixin, nothing else came up until around seven o'clock, when Counselor Pei's contact arrived. Upon receiving it, Chen Chuan took the elevator downstairs. The moment he stepped out into the plaza, he saw Counselor Pei's car parked there, walked straight over, opened the door, and got in. Once he was seated inside, the car turned onto the elevated highway. He tapped his boundary credential and transmitted a report to Counselor Pei. These were records of his exchanges with Chen Bitong over the past few days. After reviewing it, Counselor Pei said, "Over at the Defense Department, I've received reports submitted from below regarding you, Captain Chen. I truly didn't expect you to progress so rapidly. Of all the personnel who came for training, you're the only one who has remained there throughout." Chen Chuan said, "That's only because the trainees are mostly fighters who lack experience. Those who are truly seasoned are probably fighting on the defense frontline." Counselor Pei smiled. "You're too modest, Captain Chen. No matter how much experience young officers have, few can match Chen Bitong's more than twenty years of garrison duty. Everyone is learning the same thing; anyone with eyes can see who stands out. Keep following up on this mission. But the reason I called you out today is for something else." At this point, his expression turned solemn. *Here it comes,* Chen Chuan thought. He said, "I'm listening." With a grave face, Counselor Pei said, "Center Cities are all nodes of the Ring of the World, the foremost frontline where two worlds collide. And every Center City is built atop a massive field organism. What our Jibei Dao Center City relies on is 'Fumu.' "As a living creature, it undergoes self-splitting reproduction once every fifteen years. When that happens, violent field fluctuations will occur, potentially affecting the entire Center City. In another month or two—at most within a hundred days—it will be time for it to divide." Hearing this, Chen Chuan couldn't help but connect the previous clues. No wonder the various factions in Center City were treating things with such gravity; anything involving Fumu left them no other choice. The entire information field of Center City was built upon Fumu. If something went wrong with Fumu, the field would inevitably become unstable, and communications throughout the entire Center City could suffer catastrophic disruptions. In truth, that was merely secondary. There was an even more severe situation that had to be considered... Counselor Pei said in a heavy voice, "Information transmission is crucial, but the municipal government and the various corporations all have their own independent active conscious entities. Even smaller companies and departments are equipped with some field organisms, allowing them to maintain a degree of independent operation as long as there is no severe interference. "Great Shun was founded ninety-five years ago, and with these organisms in the Center Cities dividing every fifteen to twenty years, we have accumulated ample experience in handling it. "Yet the present is unlike the past. A breach has appeared in the Ring of the World, and its primary location happens to be right here with us. "The Ring of the World is not intact everywhere; breaches appear regularly. As long as the Center City stands and the field organisms forming the nodes remain, it can always be patched up given enough time. However, this time it coincides with Fumu's reproductive fission, which makes the situation entirely different." Chen Chuan asked, "Counselor Pei, what consequences will this bring?" Counselor Pei sighed. "It will inevitably cause the existing breach to expand. More severely..." He drew in a breath. "...it could cause the fissures that were originally contained to spread, drawing the world on the other side even closer to us." Chen Chuan's expression tightened slightly. Such a scenario was indeed extremely dangerous. Once those fissures spread, practically anything could happen. Aside from the passageways between the two worlds themselves, the anomalous phenomena and entities triggered would affect the entire Center City and even the surrounding cities. Counselor Pei said, "Taking this into account, the higher-ups have already made preparations. When the time comes, neighboring Center Cities will also dispatch reinforcements to help contain the fissures within the bounds of Center City as much as possible and respond to potential unexpected developments. "However, there is another unavoidable issue. In the past, we guided and modified field organisms like Fumu so that during reproductive division, the split-off portions would not be excessively large, minimizing their impact. In exchange, however, they will be produced in considerable numbers. "These offshoots retain certain traits of Fumu itself, including the ability to traverse between the two worlds. If they aren't brought under control and restrained in time, some could very well end up on the other side. "And beyond dealing with that, we must also be on guard against the various foreign corporations in Center City. "Across all of Great Shun's Center Cities, there are only nine original specimens like Fumu. All other field organisms were propagated through division from these originals. They are the crowning achievement of Great Shun's highest field organism technology. "Once an incident occurs in Center City, these companies will definitely make a move. They may already be prepared for it right now." He said with utmost gravity, "If they obtain Fumu's offshoots, it will to some degree expose our technology and modification methods. Therefore, we must capture every single one of them without exception. "In a secure environment, this process wouldn't pose any problems. But the appearance of the breach from the other side means everything is fraught with variables." Chen Chuan wholeheartedly agreed. Reasoning backward, the breach's appearance at this precise juncture was likely no accident either. Those harboring designs from the start would never just sit idly by when the moment arrived. Counselor Pei rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That's not the only headache. Since the breach appeared, we haven't been sure just how many entities from the other side slipped through. Currently, two have been confirmed. The one at Convergence Boundary Company was eliminated by you, Captain Chen, and another was resolved by the Defense Department. But there's no guarantee there aren't more. "If any remain, they must be lying low somewhere right now. If changes occur in Fumu and the two worlds draw closer as a result, they will certainly surface. That will be yet another mess. "We don't know what types or how strong they might be, but a major portion of our primary strength will have to be deployed to guard against such potential disruptions. "So, Captain Chen, start preparing from now on. If things go wrong, you'll need to step onto the battlefield when the time comes. As for Chen Bitong, the higher-ups haven't decided how to handle him yet. Keep an especially close watch on his every move in the near future." Chen Chuan nodded. "Understood." He glanced out the window. The car was driving through the gaps between towering high-rises. Beams of multicolored light flickered and drifted overhead and in the distance, yet no matter how brilliant the glow, it could never cover the shadows lurking everywhere. Beyond the kaleidoscope of neon stretched a vast, fathomless night sky, seeming to silently envelop the entire Center City. "In addition, there are many highly volatile factors that I won't go into one by one." Counselor Pei tapped his boundary credential. "This is an explanation of the specific circumstances regarding Fumu and Center City. This information cannot be retransmitted and will self-delete after five hours. Captain Chen, be sure to review it carefully once you get back."