Report

Counselor Pei's car drove a loop along the elevated highway through Wuding District before bringing Chen Chuan back to the Xuan Palace Building. After parting ways with him, Chen Chuan returned to his dormitory and immediately opened the materials Counselor Pei had sent him to read. The contents mainly provided descriptions of the field organism situations across the Center Cities, along with the Great Shun government's management and maintenance strategies for these field organisms. Ni Xixi had mentioned to him before that there was a growing movement in the world to connect all the Center Cities so that field information and resources could be shared among them. This was the so-called "Skyline Project." The report explicitly stated that this project was indeed moving forward. The plan was divided into three stages: the first stage was internal consolidation within individual nations, the second stage was regional integration, and the third stage was worldwide unification. At present, progress remained limited to within individual countries, and one of the primary drivers propelling this project was the issue of field organism fission. Every time a field organism underwent fission, it triggered significant upheaval, requiring countries to expend enormous resources on maintenance and remediation. However, if the Center Cities were interconnected, then whenever a problem arose in any one location, other Center Cities could provide timely support and reallocate resources, greatly reducing costs and enhancing national operating efficiency. Yet even within Great Shun itself, dissenting voices and objections arose from various Center Cities, and opponents were everywhere. Because this move toward national centralization would indirectly weaken and undermine the authority and interests of each Center City, it currently faced considerable resistance. The Republic of Great Shun was a global pole and regional power, possessing a tradition of strong centralization dating back to the old imperial era. If even Great Shun faced such hurdles, other countries across the world fared even worse, encountering all manner of problems in advancing the initiative. An assessment report in the annotations pointed out that if nations worldwide could cooperate fully and smoothly advance the Skyline Project, the defensive strength of the Ring of the World could more than double within three years. Yet more than sixty years had passed since the plan was first proposed, evaluated, and put into execution, and it remained stuck in the first stage. Thus, it was virtually impossible to bring to fruition. Meanwhile, as the two worlds drew closer, fissures multiplied as well. Over the past seventy-odd years, the number of Center Cities had continually increased, and the new field organisms anchoring these Center Cities were provided by mature fission offshoots. Nor were these fission offshoots kept completely under lock and key without leaving the country. Within Great Shun, while the first-generation offshoots of the nine original prototypes were strictly prohibited from leaking out, second- and third-generation offshoots could be sold after reaching a certain stage of growth to be used by other nations to establish new Center Cities. Selling such a field organism was not the end of the transaction; Great Shun still had to handle subsequent modulation and management, providing long-term maintenance and technical support, which effectively projected Great Shun's influence abroad. However, if a first-generation offshoot were accidentally lost, not only might modulation technology leak out, but vulnerabilities and weaknesses could also be targeted by adversaries. The document noted that due to the nature of these offshoots, in addition to guarding against underhanded schemes by the major corporations, one had to watch out for covetous eyes from the Confluence and certain entities lurking within. Thus, this was not merely an issue concerning a single Center City; it was a matter of national security, and even the defense of the Ring of the World. A list of primary factions requiring vigilance was laid out, taking up an entire page at a glance, with different alert levels distinguished by color. It encompassed everything from foreign states to megacorporations, and from extremist organizations to rebel forces. Judging by this alone, it looked almost as if a war was about to be fought. One could imagine the sheer scale of the maintenance operation required. It would likely not be confined to Jibei Circuit Center City alone, but could also spark various clashes and confrontations on the international stage. The report contained no clear figures regarding the number of offshoots or the exact timing of the fission, offering only a vague window between April and June. Chen Chuan could understand this. The precise timing could never be allowed to leak, and Counselor Pei probably did not know either. In all likelihood, only figures at the level of the Center City's Civil Administrator, Council Speaker, and Commissioner Liang were privy to that information. Beyond these overviews, the files also marked distributions of secure passageways and temporary military outposts, along with emergency contact channels and encrypted information bands for independent field organisms. These were preparations so that, in the event of disruptions to field communications, dispersed military and security personnel could quickly coordinate and receive superior orders and dispatch instructions. After reading through all the material, he committed it to memory. Fortunately, fighters possessed sharp memories, and upon stepping into spiritual cultivation, memorizing such details became even easier. After a single read-through, he had retained it all. Once the viewing time limit expired, the contents self-deleted completely. Chen Chuan rose from the sofa, poured a glass of water, and returned to sit by the window, gazing out at the night view while lost in thought. Teacher Xue had told him to master the Spirit-Shaking Hammer and Empty Heart Seal before April. It seemed Teacher Xue also knew something. Judging from his subsequent reminders, it was highly probable he would teach Chen Chuan something special beyond those techniques. Those teachings were likely far from simple. If he failed to make the required progress in time, he might miss the opportunity. From the looks of it, he needed to speed up his progress. Finishing his water, he placed the empty glass on the table in front of him, stood up, and headed toward the training room. The next morning, Chen Chuan went to the training class as usual. Walking into the training ground, he found Yu Lie standing there with his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. The man appeared fully recovered, showing not the slightest trace of the brutal beating he had taken earlier. In contrast, those individuals from the Special Operations Committee had not been seen since. Noticing him, Yu Lie walked over of his own accord and said, "Captain Chen, last time I lost because I was careless. Don't worry, until I have absolute confidence, I won't come looking for you again." Chen Chuan smiled faintly. "Actually, if Major Yu ever wants to spar, you're welcome anytime." Yu Lie twitched the corner of his mouth, offered no reply, and turned to walk aside. A short while later, the three replacement trainees arrived. Chen Chuan noticed that this time, one of them was surprisingly Gu Haiting. Seeing the man glance around and head straight toward him, Chen Chuan greeted him, "Mr. Gu, are you here for the training as well?" Gu Haiting smiled and said, "Teacher Chen's training class is sponsored by our company, and we also need to organize personnel to venture into the Confluence. Teacher Chen's experience is very important to us." He checked the time and added to Chen Chuan, "Once the training ends, do you have some time, Captain Chen? Can we talk?" Chen Chuan understood that running into Gu Haiting here was probably no mere coincidence, and whatever needed to be said was about due. He nodded and replied, "Of course." After waiting just a few minutes, Chen Bitong walked in from outside. Always swift and resolute, the moment the scheduled time arrived, he wasted no words on pleasantries and immediately began the lesson. The surroundings once again transformed into the scenery of the Confluence. The people around Chen Chuan vanished one by one until only Chen Bitong stood there, saying to him, "Captain Chen, follow me." With that, he turned and strode away. Chen Chuan immediately followed. Since the training session against the Imprinter, he had not faced that kind of entity again. Most of the simulated battles had pitted him against unique creatures from deep within the Confluence. This time, however, was quite special—it focused on underwater organisms. Underwater environments required different methods of breathing and movement. Chen Chuan had previously studied under He Xiaoxing and possessed a certain degree of underwater breathing capability. Chen Bitong also mastered this technique; though their methods differed in style, the resulting effect was the same. Seeing that he already had a solid foundation, Chen Bitong immediately skipped this step and proceeded to teach him what came next. This included underwater evasion techniques, how to exert force beneath the surface to inflict fatal damage on large organisms in the shortest possible time, and how to rapidly identify a creature's species and characteristics through spiritual and field contact so as to adopt targeted countermeasures. Chen Bitong repeatedly warned him that if he encountered an unknown organism without understanding its traits, he should not recklessly engage it. Instead, he should seek to evade and retreat, only considering a fight if escape was truly impossible. The paramount principle in the Confluence was self-preservation. Without sufficient strength, one should never think of solving every problem alone; relying on collective teamwork was the only way to go far. Chen Chuan agreed with this view. Unless an individual reached an overwhelming level of power, a well-coordinated team undeniably exerted far greater combat effectiveness. When this session concluded, Chen Bitong did not dismiss them right away. Instead, he said, "Come April, the training class will be temporarily suspended while we await word from above. When it resumes, you may return, Captain Chen." Chen Chuan understood that this was likely due to the impending fission of Fumu. It was anyone's guess whether the class would resume after that crisis passed. Looked at this way, only ten days of training remained for certain. He acknowledged the instruction, bade Chen Bitong farewell, and walked out alongside Gu Haiting. Gu Haiting said, "Captain Chen, I know a rather nice place. Why don't we go have some tea there?" Chen Chuan replied, "Works for me. I'll leave it to your arrangements, Mr. Gu." After leaving the building, he got into his Jiade car and followed Gu Haiting's sedan toward Jiyang District. Reaching the harbor, he boarded a mid-sized cruiser with him and headed out to sea. At that moment, he spotted a familiar large vessel anchored nearby and said in surprise, "The Rhino Horn?" Gu Haiting said, "It's the Rhino Horn's sister ship, the Ivory. But it isn't a cruise ship—it's an armed exploration vessel. Its presence in Center City is to undertake and assist with a government mission." Chen Chuan looked thoughtful. Once the cruiser reached open waters beyond the reach of Center City's field signals, it came to a halt. Gu Haiting took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, saying, "The sun is pleasant today, and the waters are calm. Come, Captain Chen, let's stretch our legs on the deck."