Bainiao District, Center City.
Mr. Chi was on a call. "Please inform Sir that we have received word that that person has already departed for the Confluence. However, on our end, we may not be fully prepared yet."
The voice on the other end replied, "Sir had already anticipated this. Sir said you need not be overly anxious. If he only stays for a few days before returning, there will be other opportunities next time. If he stays for a longer period, we will have more than enough time to make arrangements."
Mr. Chi said, "Unfortunately, due to the previous failure, we lost track of his exact movements."
"That does not matter. Even when moving about in the Confluence, it is impossible for him to completely avoid contact with others. Going in and out, he will always leave clues behind. Simply keep an eye out."
Mr. Chi expressed his understanding. "Please relay to Sir that we will utilize our channels in the Confluence to gather as much intelligence on him as possible."
"Thank you for your hard work. I will pass the message along."
***
Inside the Confluence, after more than two hours of flight, the airship Chen Chuan was aboard touched down on a high-ground fortress held by the local garrison.
This location was precisely where the former imperial house's general had originally been stationed in the Jibei Dao Confluence. Now, it was completely occupied by the Great Shun military, which had erected defensive forts all around it.
As soon as Chen Chuan stepped off the airship, he heard the rousing tunes of a military band echoing within the fortress. The high-pitched, brisk rhythm of gongs, drums, and bugles brought an invigorating surge to the heart.
Principal Yao was already waiting below. As Chen Chuan walked down from the mooring tower, he said, "Commissioner Chen, welcome." He stepped forward to shake Chen Chuan's hand, then escorted him inside the fortress and invited him to sit in his living quarters, saying, "Conditions here are rudimentary. Please don't mind."
To guard against any potential counterattack from the former imperial house, the entire garrison had been frantically erecting forts and fortifications during this period. Yao Zhiyi had also been touring and inspecting constantly rather than remaining in one place, so the furnishings were quite sparse—consisting only of a few personal belongings and a simple table and chairs.
Chen Chuan was unbothered by this. Deep within the Confluence, even conditions like these would be absent. He said, "Not at all. It just seems you have been quite busy, Principal."
Yao Zhiyi picked up a beverage and took a sip. "Domestic enterprises have recently been taking over numerous manors and factories that the former imperial house did not have time to evacuate, and the garrison needs to cooperate with them. Only with these does the territory we took hold any real value, allowing us to swiftly convert them into our own military strength and supplies.
"That way, we won't have to rely so heavily on the rear. Once things stabilize, this place will even be able to provide a certain output to Center City—for instance, a portion of the nutrients and food ingredients we consume can be sourced directly from here."
Chen Chuan asked, "Is the difficulty high?"
"Not particularly. The former imperial house was using our technology as well—well, Center City's technology. So once they were routed, we could take over the remaining factories without the slightest hitch." A trace of sarcasm crept into Principal Yao's voice. "I suppose that counts as a 'good deed' done by certain people in Center City?"
Chen Chuan understood his meaning. The former imperial house's garrison territory could practically be regarded as an independent production zone. Not only was it unable to rely on provisions from the Imperial Court, but it even had to pay tribute; surviving solely on its own production was exceedingly difficult. Conducting private transactions through back channels with Center City served as a supplementary route. Thus, after several decades, it was hardly surprising that their production standards and technological equipment had achieved mutual compatibility with Center City.
While such a state of affairs was not something the government wished to see, it genuinely made taking over the enemy's assets far more convenient.
"Right, Commissioner Chen, take this..." Principal Yao stood up, rummaged through a shelf to the side, pulled out a file, and handed it to Chen Chuan.
"This is something I had a commissioned team look into. They're a commission firm formed by a group of retired military officers who specialize in providing various kinds of intelligence and information. Very reliable."
He gestured toward it. "Their contact information is inside the file. If you have need of them in the future, you can commission them to look into things for you. That way, you won't need to scout many places yourself."
Chen Chuan took the file and began leafing through it. What he was searching for this time was the True Form Tree that Assistant Ling had manifested before him back then.
When he clashed with Assistant Ling last time, the man had projected the form of that tree. Assistant Ling had been eliminated, but their tree ought to still exist.
Although he did not know its precise location, without question it had to be somewhere in the Jibei Dao Confluence. That was why he had asked Principal Yao to look into it—after all, Yao was the principal of Wuyi.
Judging from the documents, the place where the True Form Tree resided was very likely an indigenous settlement.
This probability was exceptionally high. These indigenous settlements had played no small role in resisting the former imperial house, and the military had even provided them with material support. Thus, housing the True Form Tree there eliminated any worry of exposure, and it was entirely possible that the Confluence natives were also complicit in the matter.
After reviewing the file, Chen Chuan said, "Principal Yao, thank you."
Yao Zhiyi shook his head and said in a grave voice, "This was originally the school's affair. It was my failure to manage things properly, and now you have to trouble yourself to handle it, Commissioner Chen. I feel deeply ashamed. It is I who should be thanking you." He then made a hand gesture to the adjutant outside. The adjutant walked out and returned shortly after, carrying in a heavy suitcase.
Yao said solemnly, "Commissioner Chen, this is something I prepared for you personally. Please do not refuse."
Chen Chuan glanced at it, then nodded. "Very well, Principal Yao. I accept."
Principal Yao said, "That's the spirit. There's quite a distance to cover from here to that location, and night has already fallen. Why not rest here at the fortress for the night and set out tomorrow?"
Chen Chuan was in no rush for a single night, so he agreed.
Principal Yao stood up and placed his peaked cap on his head. "I still need to inspect the forward fortress. At a time like this, we cannot slack off in the slightest. Oh, right..." Just as he was about to step out the door, he paused. "Commissioner Chen, on this trip out, you're heading to that unknown region, aren't you?"
Chen Chuan nodded.
"Then you must be careful," Principal Yao said in a low voice. "I've heard that place is far from peaceful. Supposedly, Wei Guochan and his people went there before, but they never went there again afterward. There might be something lurking there."
Chen Chuan's gaze shifted slightly. "Thank you for the warning, Principal Yao."
The next day, Chen Chuan departed aboard an airship, heading toward the area where that town was located. However, going directly there risked alerting the targets.
Therefore, he decided to make a stop at a nearby Confluence city and stay there for two days before proceeding onward.
Two days later, he arrived above the city established by Jibei Dao in the Confluence. Named Shengu City, it had originally been built through the joint efforts of the Government Affairs Hall, state-owned enterprises, the Municipal Council, and various corporations. The city's outskirts were dotted with farms and biotechnology factories of varying sizes.
Further out on the periphery lay several smaller satellite cities and hundreds of towns and villages that relied on it, more than half of whose residents were local natives who had migrated there.
The population within the city consisted of retired soldiers, mixed-race descendants of Great Shun people and indigenous locals, and laborers who had signed lifetime contracts with the corporations.
Standing on the airship and looking down from above, Chen Chuan saw towering high-rises and flashing neon lights—practically a replica of Jibei Dao's Center City, only with a smaller population, yet an even greater degree of chaos.
A complete sense of order had not been established here. Many retired soldiers chose to receive implants and become mercenaries, continuing to serve the military or accepting private employment to engage in violence. The squad Su Wei had previously belonged to was merely one of the countless small teams operating here.
As the airship he was on entered the city from above, a motorcade happened to be driving out from within.
The people riding in the vehicles were all draped in hooded cloaks covering their heads and faces. The vehicles had visibly undergone combat modifications, their protective plating marred by numerous dented bullet craters.
A man carrying a firearm glanced upward, spat on the ground, and thrust an obscene gesture toward the sky. "Another military airship! Why don't those bastards just drop dead?!"
His words drew a chorus of agreement. Men and women throughout the convoy raised rude gestures and spat toward the airship.
The collapse and retreat of the former imperial house's army had also brought about a new dilemma: many mercenary squads that fed on the war suddenly lost the soil that sustained them, or were simply no longer needed in such large numbers. Yet these people were restless; they could never bring themselves to lay down their weapons obediently, instead scrambling across the region to seize the assets left behind by the former imperial house. Consequently, they soon met with ruthless purges and suppression from the military, turning the conflict between the two sides fiercely hostile.
An elderly man in the convoy cast a cold glance upward and said, "Move out. We need to hurry and get back to town before nightfall."
He clearly commanded great authority within the group. The moment he spoke, everyone fell silent and continued on their way in an orderly fashion.
The old man looked toward the rear of the convoy, which was packed with filthy children around ten years of age. He said to the shrewd, burly man beside him, "Keep a close watch on them on the road. We paid a hefty price for them; not a single one can go missing. Those mercenaries' lives aren't worth anything—if they die, they die, no need to care about them."
The shrewd burly man nodded silently.
***
After entering Shengu City, the airship slowed gradually before a reinforced concrete skyscraper lined with dense light-filtering apertures, coming to a halt beside an adjacent mooring tower.
Chen Chuan walked out carrying his suitcase. The guard at the checkpoint examined his identification, saluted immediately, and said, "Greetings, sir," before clearing him through.
In the Confluence, he required no prior authorization no matter where he went—though, bound by the treaty, he naturally would not commit any outrageous acts.
Because he needed to investigate the whereabouts of the True Form Tree without drawing undue attention, his current identity had been arranged by Yao Zhiyi as a garrison major. This way, he would neither attract too much scrutiny nor invite unnecessary trouble.
He walked forward along the steel bridge connecting the mooring tower and the high-rise. Glancing down, he saw neon lights glittering everywhere below and the dense silhouettes of distant buildings. The wind at this altitude ruffled the red scarf around his neck. He raised a hand to press down his peaked cap, then stepped across the aerial walkway high above the city.
Chapter 873