Inside the passenger quarters on the middle deck of the airship, Xu Chan and his men rested on plush armchairs after finishing the nutritious meals brought to them.
Feeling a fullness that almost seemed ready to burst his belly, along with the rush of heat circulating through his body, Captain Hu spoke with a flushed face. "Food meant for martial artists really is something else. At least we got to taste it today."
Captain Hai remarked, "It's just too nutritious. If we eat too much, our bodies might not be able to take it."
"It's delicious, though. I couldn't stop myself." Captain Hu patted his stomach. "Getting to have a meal like this makes this whole life worth it."
At that moment, Captain Lyu chimed in, "It's delicious, sure, but we traded our lives for it."
Several men who had been laughing and chatting fell silent at once. Earlier aboard the airship, they had already heard that this operation had been orchestrated from above, designed specifically to lure out the enemy's General of State Subjugation for an encirclement.
Captain Hai kept his thoughts deep inside and showed no reaction, but Captain Lyu had felt a thorn in his heart ever since learning the truth. Captain Hu, hot-tempered as he was, did not mind. "Didn't the brothers make it back alive? Besides, even if someone up top treated us as bait, the Disposal Bureau and the Defense Department didn't abandon us."
"I'm not speaking for myself; I'm speaking for Captain Xu." Captain Lyu looked toward Xu Chan, who was seated nearby, and spoke indignantly. "How much merit has Captain Xu achieved for the country? Is this how they treat him?"
Xu Chan shook his head. "Some things are unavoidable on the battlefield. Our war against the former imperial house has dragged on intermittently ever since the founding of our country. Who knows how many people have died in that time? Weren't their lives lives too?
"If the fighting drags on, even more will die. Among them might be our younger relatives, or colleagues we know well. If resolving it quickly means fewer deaths, those above will certainly make that hard choice.
"My life isn't any more noble than those who were sacrificed before, or those who might be sacrificed after. If their turn comes, mine might come too. The moment I put on this uniform, I was prepared for that."
Everyone fell silent. Understanding the reasoning was one thing; feeling uncomfortable about it was another. The two were not mutually exclusive.
Captain Lyu looked up and said, "Captain Xu, you might be right, but I'm just an ordinary man. All I know is, if we were able to come back alive this time, the one we ought to thank is Supervisor Chen. I don't care about anyone else."
The moment these words left his mouth, everyone voiced strong agreement.
"Right, well said!"
"We only acknowledge Supervisor Chen!"
"Supervisor Chen treated us with nothing but dedication. Every one of us owes him our life."
After all, Chen Chuan had genuinely come to reinforce them, and he had arrived without knowing anything beforehand. They had felt that truth directly, so their gratitude toward him came straight from the heart.
Xu Chan did not join the conversation. Instead, he pulled a cardholder from his pocket and opened it to look at a photograph of a woman holding a pair of twins. Seeing their smiles, a gentle smile formed on his lips as well.
At that very moment, news that Great Shun had recovered the relic had reached the Consortium delegation. Soon after, word arrived that the Defense Department's army had engaged the forces of the former imperial house and shattered their battle lines in a single stroke.
The delegation immediately convened an emergency meeting. One Consortium delegate said with a solemn expression, "The Jibei Dao forces engaged in combat in the Confluence and achieved a rare rout of the former imperial house's army. This must mean something extraordinary has happened. What conclusion has the intelligence analysis division reached?"
The head of intelligence stood up. He bowed first in greeting before speaking. "Esteemed delegates, based on our limited intelligence analysis, we believe it is highly probable that the former imperial house's martial artist met with an unexpected disaster. In all likelihood, he failed in the struggle over the relic, ending up either severely wounded or dead. That is what triggered the Jibei Dao faction's full-scale offensive."
The delegate posed a pointed question: "What I want to know is whether this event was a coincidence, or whether Jibei Dao's Center City had planned it all along? Has intelligence gathered any word on that?"
The intelligence director replied, "We compiled all the reports provided by our internal contacts and other channels. We can confirm that the Jibei Dao Defense Department made no prior combat preparations whatsoever, nor were there any early mobilizations of supplies. All orders were issued in haste, and their origin traced back entirely to the Defense Department command center last night. Therefore, this matter should be considered a sudden development."
He lifted his head. "Esteemed delegates, this was very likely just an unexpected turn of events. Of course, we cannot rule out higher-level plotting on Great Shun's part, but that would extend to higher state affairs. With our current limited intelligence resources, we are afraid we cannot produce a reliable analytical report in time."
A delegate who rarely took part in daily affairs suddenly spoke up. "What about the active conscious entity at our Confluence branch? Did it not mobilize?"
The director of operations stood up from the side and said, "From beginning to end, that branch received neither telegrams nor transmissions. Bound by protocol restrictions, the company's active conscious entity could not be deployed."
A delegate seated at the table gave a calm conclusion: "In the struggle over the relic, we are already out of the game."
The delegates exchanged glances, all conceding to this reality. In a conflict where martial artists took the field, so long as their stamina remained abundant, anyone below that limit was virtually meaningless—undeniable cannon fodder.
There was no need to dwell on the squads sent out. Since Great Shun had claimed victory, they would not let a single one return. In that same situation, the Consortium would have done the exact same thing.
Osbert, head of the delegation, spoke at last. "Tally the losses from this operation. Gentlemen, we must now submit a report to Consortium headquarters: do we continue to maintain our presence in the Jibei Dao Confluence, or do we abandon all plans and withdraw from here?
"I wish to remind every delegate that each of your opinions is likely to influence our future course of action. Please consider your stances carefully before speaking."
Hearing this, the delegates conferred with one another. In the end, the vast majority arrived at a consensus: they could not abandon Jibei Dao, but rather had to provide maximum support to the local Municipal Council.
The Consortium had risen formally in the wake of the Grand Alliance's fracture, an interest group formed by global megacorporations and multinational companies. Any centralized authoritarian government in the world was an object of their vigilance. They sought every avenue to constrain and weaken such powers while propping up their own proxies.
All the more so because Great Shun was one of the world's great poles, vast in scale. If such a government were to reclaim and centralize its authority, that was the last thing they wished to see.
Moreover, Jibei Dao occupied an extremely vital geographic position. If Great Shun's central government reclaimed full control here, it could subsequently exert influence northward over Hedong Dao and southward over Huainan Dao. Both were major central cities of Great Shun. If linked into a contiguous territory, their influence would radiate across the entire Outer Ocean, posing a severe threat to the Consortium's global strategy.
Meriwether of Deep Sea Spiral Company said, "Without the former imperial house in the Confluence tying down Jibei Dao's Government Affairs Hall, their attention will shift inward. As can be expected, they will oppress and regulate the various branch companies. This runs contrary to our interests. We must find ways to prop up the Jibei Dao Municipal Council and preserve the baseline balance of power."
Mr. Chi of Yuanren Company spoke next. "Before submitting the policy report, we need to make contact with the Municipal Council as soon as possible. They understand Great Shun's domestic landscape far better than we do and should be able to mount an appropriate response and deployment. Furthermore, I propose transferring certain technologies to the Municipal Council to enhance their strength.
"In addition..."
He looked around at the delegates seated at the table. "Before the report is submitted, I hope there will no longer be any obstacles to Yuanren Company establishing its presence in Center City. I believe this is the only way to stabilize the situation here quickly."
The delegates exchanged glances. One of them said, "I agree."
"Agreed."
"Agreed!"
After each delegate had voiced their support, Osbert, head of the delegation, had the meeting minutes and the final report dispatched together by special courier to headquarters.
Their efficiency was formidable. Barely half an hour after the meeting adjourned, they swiftly sent representatives to establish contact with members of the Municipal Council.
On the other side, upon learning that the Defense Department had won the war in the Confluence, the Municipal Council felt little joy. Instead, they sensed a profound crisis.
If the former imperial house's forces in the Confluence were broken, external threats to Jibei Dao would essentially cease to exist. In turn, attention would pivot inward, and the primary target would undoubtedly be them.
Just as the council members were engulfed in panic and confusion, the swift arrival of the Consortium's representatives proved to be a shot in the arm.
What brought them pleasant surprise was that the Consortium agreed to provide them with technology to cultivate a superior active conscious entity in Center City to counter the power imbalance created by the former imperial house's collapse.
Although this entity would only nominally belong to the Municipal Council while its true ownership remained with the Consortium, the Municipal Council was in no position to haggle over such details.
So long as power at the highest level could be maintained, matters could return to the conventional political struggles over interests with which they were familiar.
After some internal deliberation, many council members felt they could not simply sit and wait. They had to take the initiative, or at least sow enough chaos to buy time. Someone proposed finding a breakthrough in the Disposal Bureau first.
"Of the three Investigation Supervisors in the Disposal Bureau, one is dead, one is still in the Confluence, and Wu Quan's performance review won't conclude until the end of the month. At present, only Han Fu remains alive. We can find a way to exonerate him, restore his post as quickly as possible, and install him in power so he can take control of the Disposal Bureau."
One council member was pessimistic. "That will be very difficult to pull off. Back then, that Supervisor Chen staged a public tribunal and punished Han Fu right in front of everyone, and Han Fu subsequently confessed. Everyone knows by now that Han Fu colluded with foreign enemies and murdered his colleagues. His subordinates have either been dealt with or locked up. Even if he gets out, the odds are no one will listen to him."
The council member who had spoken earlier turned to a security consultant beside him and asked, "Can that Supervisor Chen make it back alive?"
The consultant replied, "It's hard to say. Normally, ordinary people cannot get involved in a battle between martial artists, and being caught in the fallout is very likely. But since the Defense Department ultimately won, it is possible he might return alive."
The council member said coldly, "Then delay his return to Center City as long as possible. Also, deploy Wang Weiguang. Isn't he an enforcement captain in the Disposal Bureau as well? Have them handle this matter properly. We gave him the pure substance; now it's time for him to earn his keep."
Chapter 773