While the security screening was underway at the Crisis Affairs Center, Commissioner Liang sat in his seat, thumbing through the detailed dossiers of the personnel being tested.
All of them were individuals who had contributed during this operation. The vast majority were unfamiliar to him, with only a select few whom he followed closely and understood.
His expression was grave. The situation this time was exceedingly severe: pure substance had actually leaked outward, and even now, the breach had not been sealed.
To the various departments, the potential hazard was by no means inferior to the Fumu's split itself.
At present, the most suspicious figure was Chen Bitong; some had already concluded that he was the culprit.
Moreover, this aligned with the earlier breach in the Ring of the World, as well as the suspicious actions the man had taken during his final hours.
The clicking of high heels sounded as his female assistant walked in from the other end of the hall. "Commissioner, Captain Chen has gone in."
Commissioner Liang set down the dossier, rubbed the bridge of his brow, and said in a heavy voice, "Let us hope he hasn't crossed that line."
During Chen Bitong's final hours, only Chen Chuan had stayed by his side. Furthermore, the two had crossed over to the other side of the fissure and joined hands to slay an Auxiliary General of the former imperial house. It was exceedingly likely that Chen Bitong had spoken to him about something.
Some even suspected they had been colluding all along.
The Municipal Council's position was to immediately isolate him for investigation, but the Handling Bureau strongly objected, the Government Affairs Hall remained silent, and Liang himself had stepped forward to suppress the matter.
Yet doing so meant shouldering political risk. If the screening showed no issue, well and good; but if a problem truly turned up, then once the Municipal Council pressed the attack, he himself would definitely suffer severe repercussions.
The assistant said, "Commissioner, what if he did cross that line? Martial artists are an intensely self-driven breed. Faced with something that can advance their own cultivation, very few could ever hold back. But could it also be that he knew nothing of the implications and merely made an unwitting mistake?"
Commissioner Liang shook his head. "That possibility is far too slim."
If one did not discover and absorb it the very moment the pure substance dispersed, it would be virtually impossible to detect those scarce traces of pure substance once the Heavenly Gate closed. Anyone capable of capturing it had to have been prepared in advance.
He said in a deep voice, "If that is indeed the result, then we must do our utmost to win him over to our side. We cannot leave his fate to the supervisory agencies. I will personally arrange a security agreement between him and the Defense Department. That would perhaps be the best outcome."
***
After Chen Chuan stepped inside the building, instructions arrived on his boundary credential. Following the directions, he proceeded inward along one of the isolated corridors.
Not a single person was visible around him—only the empty hallway, bright overhead lights, and the distinct sound of his footsteps falling against the floor.
Once past this corridor, an elevator appeared ahead. At that moment, a few rustles came from his boundary credential. His credential was being blocked; he could no longer communicate with the outside world.
He glanced upward, sensing field monitoring everywhere around him at an extraordinary density. He could clearly feel its presence; the intersecting surveillance was so intense that even his second self exhibited a faint blurring reaction.
Yet acting as though completely oblivious, he walked into the elevator without breaking stride. Once inside, he saw that the destination floor was already locked in advance. As the doors slid shut, the floor jolted beneath his feet, and the lift began its steady ascent.
The indicator lights blinked steadily until it came to a stop at the twentieth floor. The elevator doors parted.
He stepped outside into a spacious atrium. This appeared to be the hollow core of the building; after walking a dozen or so paces, he could look all the way up to the building's ceiling, surrounded on all sides by tiers of balconies rising floor above floor.
He could sense subtle warning signs from the upper tiers, along with distinct metallic glints. If he guessed correctly, machine gun nests had definitely been positioned up there.
If every tier was lined with such weaponry, they could pour concentrated, overwhelming firepower into the center in an instant. In a space with virtually zero blind spots, even a third-limit martial artist would have no way to evade.
At the very center of the atrium was a descending flight of steps, dropping about ten meters below the surrounding floor. At the bottom, one could see branching, tree-like conduits showing hues of cyan and violet.
At the four corners sat four platforms, each bearing a spire-like apparatus that gave off a faint glow. Those were likely the testing equipment.
Before his arrival, a dozen or so people had already gathered here and there across the hall. Some stood alone, while others huddled together in conversation. In a single glance, he spotted Xu Chan and the others waiting off to the side.
Xu Chan noticed him as well and took the initiative to greet him: "Captain Chen."
Chen Chuan walked over and greeted him along with the two men behind him. Before they could exchange more than a couple of sentences, both men suddenly felt something and looked upward together.
Around the third level to the southeast, a middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of a garrison force commander emerged. His cold gaze swept down over them, like a streak of frigid lightning scraping across their skin.
Xu Chan said, "Yan Zhiwen. An expert fighter recruited by the Municipal Council. He's quite formidable—formerly a corporate security director and dedicated bodyguard for high-ranking officials. The Municipal Council trusts him implicitly."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. Titles and backgrounds were beside the point; Xu Chan was referring to martial strength. For someone like Xu Chan to call him formidable meant his prowess had to be formidable indeed.
It was evident that this security screening—from the perimeter guards to the personnel and surveillance equipment inside—was being conducted at the highest possible standard. Such an arrangement seemed far from mere vigilance; it looked more like preparation for an imminent move.
At that exact moment, two council delegates dispatched by the Municipal Council stood inside the security control room, observing the scene through a light screen.
With the downfall of the Ferris Wheel Company, the Municipal Council had taken a severe blow from the various government departments. Moreover, there was now sufficient evidence indicating that entities from the other side had infiltrated Ferris Wheel's ranks.
Under these circumstances, they had no ground to criticize the Government Affairs Hall. Instead, they would have to retract their earlier public statements and issue an official apology. This would undoubtedly deal a further blow to their already battered prestige.
Yet the subsequent leakage of pure substance had provided them with a breakthrough.
Sealing pure substance to ensure it did not leak out was an established consensus among national governments and corporations alike. For an incident of this magnitude to occur, the Government Affairs Hall could not possibly evade responsibility.
And if it could be proven that subordinate personnel from government departments had illicitly embezzled the pure substance, they could capitalize on that line of attack to make a much bigger fuss.
At this point, one of them asked, "Are you certain it can be detected?"
The other replied, "This testing equipment employs the latest technology provided by the Bolen Company. Supposedly, if anyone has absorbed pure substance—even a single trace—it will trigger a reaction."
Inside the atrium, a gentle female voice sounded: "Enforcement Captain Xu Chan, please descend to the West Zone testing platform for security screening."
Xu Chan had clearly undergone this kind of examination before. Composed, he stepped forward, and upon reaching the center, walked down the descending flight of stairs.
He arrived before a tree-like growth in the western section. At close range, one could see vessel-like conduits connected behind it, faint light flickering inside and out. It bore some resemblance to a resonance nest and was unmistakably a field creature.
Without hesitation, he stepped directly through its opening. The moment he crossed inside, numerous fibrous tendrils slowly drew together, sealing the aperture behind him.
As Chen Chuan was observing, Captain Lu walked over and said, "It must be Captain Chen's first time going through this screening. That thing is specifically used to check whether there are any external contaminants inside the body, as well as whether you've obtained something you shouldn't have.
"Don't worry. The equipment at the inspection center is always dependable; it doesn't make mistakes. As long as you haven't done anything you shouldn't, nothing will happen."
Chen Chuan nodded. "I see. Thank you."
Captain Lu chuckled. "You're far too polite, Captain Chen."
At that moment, a white light seemed to illuminate from within the tree-like organism, rendering it somewhat translucent, revealing the hazy outline of Xu Chan's figure inside.
A few minutes later, the light gradually shifted to green, signaling that everything was normal. The tendrils then slowly parted, and Xu Chan stepped out. Nodding to the people above, he walked back up the stairs.
Just then, the female voice sounded again: "Enforcement Captain Chen Chuan, please proceed to the East Zone testing platform."
Captain Lu said, "Captain Chen, it's your turn."
In that instant, every pair of eyes shifted toward Chen Chuan. The security personnel stationed across the upper tiers seemed to tense up all at once.
Standing expressionlessly above, Yan Zhiwen cast his gaze down as well.
Inside the security control room, the two council delegates fixed their eyes intently on the feed.
According to prior intelligence, this young man possessed extraordinary combat capability. But that did not matter. This was the Crisis Affairs Center, fortified with the finest defense systems and the strongest personnel currently available—more than enough to handle any contingency.
Chen Chuan walked up to the tree-like organism. Before arriving, he had looked into it: the screening methods were nothing more than utilizing field probes.
A martial artist's field contained an abundance of information. It was said that the world's most advanced field-monitoring equipment, when paired with an active conscious entity, could detect the medications a person had taken, their everyday dietary preferences, and even places they had visited in the past.
However, its effectiveness against third-limit martial artists who possessed a field was limited. Even an ordinary third-limit martial artist could not be fully probed. Because they had neared or attained the limits achievable by the human body, not only had a transformation taken place, but their physical forms would instinctively seal off their own information, whether they consciously intended to or not.
Thus, another kind of field-probing medium specifically designed for third-limit martial artists existed—evidently what stood before him now.
After taking a look, he stepped inside, turned around, and came to a halt. He could see all those people above looking down at him. Then, the outer tendrils wriggled, slowly sealing the entrance shut.
Chapter 597