Yu Lie followed Chen Bitong and Fang Zhixin downstairs, where he saw an extended armored car already pull out of a parking space and come to a stop before them.
Its doors were open, and a tall man wearing protective goggles stood on either side.
Chen Bitong stepped into the vehicle. Instead of taking the back, he sat in the front passenger seat. Fang Zhixin and Yu Lie followed him inside and took seats in the back.
The doors closed, and the vehicle slowly rolled forward.
Yu Lie glanced back. Those two tall men had gotten into another vehicle, and one car after another was pulling out. By a rough estimate, there were seven or eight vehicles. If each carried personnel, that made at least thirty or forty people.
To have secretly mobilized so many people—it would be very difficult to keep their movements hidden like this.
No, wait!
He suddenly realized that the breathing of those two men earlier had been far too uniform and measured. They were very likely two puppets. The craftsmanship had just been so sophisticated that he hadn't caught it at first glance.
Domestic Paper Doll Corporation made puppets too, but they didn't have this level of technique. Was it Yuanren Company...?
He withdrew his gaze. He didn't know where Chen Bitong was heading, but he couldn't ask. Doing so would neither fit his usual style nor yield any answers.
He couldn't find an opportunity to send word out about these developments either, but fortunately, the members of the ad hoc special ops team could locate him through the implant in his arm.
Fang Zhixin looked at him and said, "Major Yu, you seem a bit nervous?"
Yu Lie scoffed. "I'm excited, Assistant Fang. Aren't you excited?"
Fang Zhixin said, "Am I?"
Yu Lie said as though it were the most natural thing in the world, "Shouldn't one be excited to go out and handle business with Teacher Chen?"
"That's for the best." Fang Zhixin smiled, though there seemed to be an inexplicable undertone to his smile. Chen Bitong, meanwhile, sat there without saying a word.
The atmosphere inside the car felt a little suffocating to Yu Lie. He tried to steady himself. From the very beginning, he had maintained deliberate control over his heart rate and breathing, keeping them at a slightly elevated tempo. Had he not done so, Chen Bitong would certainly have noticed.
Before the vehicle had traveled even a single kilometer, it encountered the first roadblock, fully manned by heavily armed security and military personnel.
With such a long motorcade, someone immediately approached to conduct an inspection. But Fang Zhixin tapped his boundary credential, and the inspector's boundary credential seemed to receive a message. The man stopped advancing and instead waved toward those behind him, stepping aside as the roadblock ahead was cleared to let the convoy pass.
Yu Lie was astonished. He knew very well that inspections here were exceptionally stringent, and the clearance procedures did not belong to a single department; they were handled jointly by three authorities: the Defense Department, the Center City Council, and the Administration Hall.
Even if Chen Bitong had good ties with Speaker Quan, he couldn't bypass checks from the other two departments—not to mention Speaker Quan had just plainly refused to let him leave Weiguang District.
He pondered it. They had surely used some technical exploit to bypass authority, and there were also insiders deliberately letting him go.
At this thought, a chill ran through his heart. Chen Bitong was indeed up to something. Yet Yu Lie could not make any move right now; he could only hope the special ops team accurately tracked the locator in his arm.
Consequently, he didn't dare glance at that implanted arm for fear Chen Bitong might notice something, so he took out that coin again and tossed it idly up and down.
Meanwhile, at the warehouse in Jiyang District, Mr. Chu sat on a sofa. The light screen before him displayed feeds transmitted from various locations, surrounded by team members processing documents and intelligence.
Just then, a technician walked over and said urgently, "Sir, Major Yu's position has started moving."
"On the move as expected." Mr. Chu looked grave, seeming to have anticipated this all along.
"Sir, when do we make our move?"
Mr. Chu said, "Wait. Have Team Four follow them first."
"Yes, sir!"
Mr. Chu placed a call through his boundary credential, and a raspy voice came through: "Boss?"
"Old Hu, get over here. We've got work."
"On my way."
***
Yinglu District, Ferris Wheel Company.
Security Director Guan Shangjing was receiving updates from the dispersed corporate squads and mercenary teams.
The company had deployed numerous field creatures at key positions across the city domain in advance. This plan had been set in motion three years ago, granting them multiple intelligence channels that allowed them to obtain information faster than any other corporation.
Even so, Center City was simply too vast. Once the fission began, jamming creatures and electronic warfare were everywhere, and the split sub-bodies could manifest anywhere, leaving numerous blind spots.
Moreover, not a single piece of news had returned from Gongying Changxiu's side so far.
The analysis team deduced he had likely headed toward the largest fissure, but judging by the government's subsequent personnel deployments, things did not look promising.
If that was the case, they might not be able to acquire a split body from that direction and would have to look for targets to capture in subsequent waves of fission.
Of course, if that failed, they had prepared a final retreat option. He looked out toward the sea with utmost gravity. By now, it should have already begun, shouldn't it?
The board of directors and all company executives were probably watching that place at this very moment.
Because Ferris Wheel Company's entire future was staked on this single battle!
***
Upon the churning waves of the Outer Ocean, a naval battle among three corporations was about to erupt.
Canglong Company and Ocean Exploration Group had long dominated the crucial sea lanes on the Outer Ocean, controlling the major shipping and trade routes. This severely constrained Ferris Wheel Company's growth; being throttled here was like having a noose perpetually fastened around their neck.
They desperately craved a breakthrough from these constraints.
Thus, after Ferris Wheel Company was founded, they spent ten years secretly assembling a sea-and-air fleet with the backing of the Linax Federation and other powers, hoping to shatter the blockade imposed by the two Great Shun corporations.
It was just that the timing had never been right before. With the Great Shun government backing both corporations, challenging them under normal circumstances was practically impossible.
Now, however, the loophole in the World Ring and the fission of the field creature in Center City of Jibei Dao occupied the vast majority of Great Shun's attention. This was a once-in-decades opportunity. Thus, several island nations in the Outer Ocean and Ferris Wheel Company decided to seize this opening and launch a strike to thoroughly break the maritime blockade.
Half a month before the Heavenly Gate opened, ships scattered across various locations by Ferris Wheel Company had sailed out from their ports and secret anchorages, eventually converging at Banjian Island.
And last night, they headed straight for Shenhong Port on Bahu Island, where Canglong Company and Ocean Exploration Group's primary merchant escorts and a vast fleet of transport vessels were docked.
They aimed to wipe out all the ships anchored here in one fell swoop, leaving both corporations permanently unable to contest them at sea. When the consortium saw such results, they would never abandon them, and even the Linax Federation would lend further support.
Under the broader global climate where nations made every effort to exercise restraint and suppress conflicts, the Great Shun government would ultimately have no choice but to accept this fait accompli.
This was the true, complete "Spring Campaign" plan. It was not merely about seizing a split sub-body; it also encompassed permanently eliminating the threat at sea.
By this time, Canglong and Ocean Exploration Group had already received word of Ferris Wheel Company's fleet heading their way.
In truth, fleet movements could not be hidden from anyone. Both corporations had always known what Ferris Wheel was doing in secret. Most of the time, however, those ships were moored at islands and ports controlled by the Linax Federation, and many of the vessels themselves were decommissioned craft cast off by the Linax Federation.
Even most of the sailors had been trained or supplied with the Linax Federation's help.
They were well aware of the Linax Federation's underhanded maneuvers, just as the Great Shun government carried out plenty of covert moves on the Ying Continent.
With all nations united in avoiding head-on clashes, this could only be a duel between corporations. Neither Great Shun nor the Linax Federation would permit events to exceed those bounds.
Meanwhile, the joint escort fleet of the two corporations had already sailed out of port.
Aboard the temporary flagship Wanli, an intelligence officer was briefing Captain Feng Dingshan.
The intelligence officer reported, "Ferris Wheel Company has deployed a total of twenty-three ships this time. Twelve are gunboats converted from merchant escort frigates, two are small assault reconnaissance ships, and the remaining nine are Yuanshan-class warships purchased from the Linax Federation.
"In addition, there are twenty-five accompanying airships."
Beside him, the first mate said, "Old Feng, that's very close to our estimates and simulation runs. That ought to be pretty much everything they've got."
Feng Dingshan remarked, "They truly can't kick that habit of wagering everything on the table. They liked doing it ninety years ago, and they're still doing it today."
No one spoke. Though the surrounding atmosphere was solemn, morale was soaring.
Their joint escort fleet consisted of thirty-one combat ships in total. Twelve were Great Shun's Changwei-class warships, counterparts to the Linax Federation's Yuanshan-class warships, accompanied by thirty-six combat airships in the sky.
More than half of both corporations' combat vessels were concentrated here.
As for the other half, it wasn't that they didn't want to deploy them, but rather that movements within the Linax Federation's West Coast Fleet had prompted them to be sent off to coordinate with the Great Shun government's naval operations.
Nor were their forces limited to what was visible on the surface; beneath the water, four submarines provided by the Great Shun government followed silently in support.
On paper, their strength surpassed the opposition's, but war always carried risks, and they had no way of knowing whether Ferris Wheel Company harbored other secret weapons.
If they could destroy this fleet and airship formation, then even if Ferris Wheel Company survived the aftermath, they could forget about ever extending their reach onto the seas or influencing the nations of the Outer Ocean again; they would ultimately be trapped and choked on land.
Feng Dingshan checked his wristwatch: 4:35 AM. There was about an hour left until daybreak. Gazing out at the churning, lamp-lit surface of the sea ahead, he said with commanding resonance, "Then today, we must settle everything in a single strike. Let us wipe out Ferris Wheel Company's maritime force once and for all!"
With a crisp rustle, all the commanding officers around him saluted in unison.
And as the two fleets closed the distance, with war poised to erupt at any moment, the fourth wave of fission bodies from Fumu was about to begin inside Center City.
Chapter 542