Erwen Island, Wave Pavilion.
After Erwen Island was officially incorporated into the Great Shun system, the island had undergone a degree of renovation, and a signal tower had been erected there.
Two systems operated here: one dedicated to serving the Wave Pavilion, and another entirely independent of it.
Beyond these, a backup field relay station had also been built at the Wave Pavilion this time. Because it was not far from the Haidong Dao Center City, it could take over at any moment should any issue arise there.
Over the past few days, Fenghe had kept himself ready to deploy at a moment's notice. He understood that the Skyline matter was of paramount importance to the Great Shun government, and for someone newly pledged like him, it was all the more a test.
At this moment, he sat beneath a scarlet blossom tree with his long saber resting beside him, watching the rolling waves in the distance. The boundary credential worn at his ear suddenly buzzed, and a voice came through: "Pavilion Master, a telegram has arrived. It might be from Division Chief Chen."
Fenghe immediately had it brought over. After reading its contents, he made his decision at once and instructed, "Prepare a boat. I am heading to Center City."
The An'ying Archipelago, Haidong Dao Center City.
Having received word from Jibei Dao that a martial artist might be heading their way to sabotage the Skyline—with the possibility of directly threatening Center City not being ruled out—Center City had immediately implemented armed martial law. Armed airships deployed one after another to patrol the exterior, and naval warships sailed out of the harbor under the guise of military exercises to prepare for unforeseen situations.
Ordinary forces had no way of countering a martial artist, but there was no guarantee other operatives wouldn't seize the opportunity to carry out sabotage, making a visible deterrent essential.
Though Center City wore an appearance of full alert, the civilians on the islands were not particularly panicked. Over the past few days, this had happened at regular intervals, and they had grown somewhat accustomed to it.
Aboard a warship, Gu Haiting of the Canglong Company and Song Yuan of the Ocean Exploration Group stood by the ship's railing. Both wore grave expressions, scanning the distant sea through binoculars.
After watching for a while, Gu Haiting lowered his binoculars and asked, "Is your company's active conscious entity ready?"
"Ready," Song Yuan replied.
Gu Haiting nodded. As a Center City was involved, active conscious entities would naturally be prepared; backed by the state, the Canglong Company and the Ocean Exploration Group had even transported two active conscious entities here.
If a martial artist did come, even if they couldn't be stopped or overcome, the two active conscious entities could stall and hold them off for a while, buying enough time for others to arrive with reinforcements.
He said, "I hear Division Chief Chen's ship is already hurrying this way. I actually hope that person comes straight for Center City—that would make things simpler. But if the enemy's goal is to sabotage other locations, defending against that will be very difficult."
Song Yuan said, "So much preparation has been made across the board just for these few days. Everything we could account for has been considered. From here on... it all comes down to whether our backbone is tough enough."
At the same moment, the vessel carrying Chen Chuan had drawn close to the An'ying Archipelago. He didn't believe Zhao Zhenye would come here, but this location allowed him to receive intelligence from all quarters to the greatest extent possible.
Yet, just as in the morning, there were no new findings. It wasn't until midday that he received a formal telegraphic reply: following consultations between the two Center Cities, and in light of the target's hazardous nature, they had decided to accept his proposal and agreed to activate the contingency plan.
He glanced at his watch. It was 11:10 AM, leaving eighty minutes until the designated activation time.
He returned to replenish himself with high-energy nutrients and waited there.
At 2:00 PM, at the Haidong Dao Center City, as calls of "Activate," "Activate" echoed from the Government Affairs Department's central signal room, the field creatures slumbering across the An'ying Archipelago began to stir.
At the same time, stimulated by a unique signal, groups of field creatures along the entire information channel awakened one after another.
Every one of these field creatures possessed the trait of pursuing identical fields. Under the guidance of specific data signals, the fields gradually expanded outward. An hour later, their fields interlinked, intermittently forming a continuous connection.
As field creatures from more and more relay stations joined in, the undulating field data gradually stabilized, relaying visual signals of the terrain along the route to various information stations.
All personnel along the route kept their eyes glued to the field-monitoring equipment, constantly observing the state of data transmission so that any issue could be resolved promptly to ensure complete signal transmission.
In Jibei Dao Center City, Qi Weizhao stood before the field screen in the Government Affairs Department's public hall. Below him were bustling staff members, while the other security team members waited before their respective screens.
They had already begun waiting here the moment Haidong Dao gave its consent.
In truth, the two Center Cities had previously conducted a sectional, short-range test. The second test had originally been scheduled for two days later; moving it forward by two days posed no major issue. At most, it would mean consuming a bit more of the high-energy nutrients invested by both sides, but given the shifting circumstances, that was acceptable.
Once the appointed time arrived, the activation of field creatures began along their assigned section as well. Before long, intermittent images flickered across the screens.
Shortly afterward, the signal technicians below beamed with excitement and spoke loudly. After confirming the status, the person in charge hurried over to Qi Weizhao, unable to suppress his thrill, and reported, "Director, we have received a stable signal from Haidong Dao Center City! The other side is sending their greetings!"
Qi Weizhao nodded, maintaining his composure. "Patch it through."
After a brief wait, the figure of a thick-bearded middle-aged man appeared on the field screen. Smiling, he said, "I am Su Shangrong, Chief of Government Affairs of Haidong Dao Center City. On behalf of the Government Affairs Department, I extend greetings to our colleagues in Jibei Dao Center City."
Qi Weizhao replied, "Greetings, Director Su. I am Qi Weizhao, Chief of Government Affairs of Jibei Dao. On behalf of the Jibei Dao Center City Government Affairs Department and all members of the security decision-making team, I extend greetings to our colleagues in Haidong Dao Center City."
As this simple exchange concluded, key personnel present across both Dao Center Cities who had been watching this moment broke into spontaneous applause.
At this instant, they felt as though they stood at a turning point in history. A thought arose unbidden in their minds: after today, the state of the entire world might very well change.
Meanwhile, Chen Chuan waited aboard his vessel. Once all the fields were connected, he would be able to pinpoint the situation across the surrounding waters; combined with telegrams from the various islands, it would be enough to monitor most of the shipping routes.
If Zhao Zhenye truly intended to sabotage a relay station, he would never stray too far from these locations and would ultimately have to draw near. But if the man's objective wasn't sabotage, but rather a trap set specifically to target Mr. Zhuan...
He considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
The probability of that was far too low. Even if Mr. Zhuan were eliminated, the Purist Faction could simply send someone else. Furthermore, that would constitute an extremely grave security incident capable of alarming even the upper echelons of Great Shun. If Zhao Zhenye had any real ambitions, he wouldn't do something like that.
Just then, an orderly excitedly reported to him that the ship's field equipment had picked up the signal from Jibei Dao Center City.
He promptly put on his boundary credential and tapped it a few times, discovering that he could indeed communicate with Jibei Dao Center City. Not only there—he could also receive transmissions from the various relay stations along the route, though with some delay and lag.
This was understandable; after all, the time for formal communication had not yet arrived, and the field creatures had not been dialed up to their peak activity.
Yet after reviewing all incoming reports, there was still no definite word regarding Zhao Zhenye, only a few vague, suspected sightings.
He reasoned that Zhao Zhenye had not shown himself either because the time was not yet ripe—since the scheduled official communication between both sides had not begun—or because he was still observing, searching for the ideal spot to strike.
For now, all he could do was wait.
Come afternoon, he finally received a piece of reliable intelligence, forwarded to him by Old Feng through a covert channel.
It detailed several anomalies observed by fishermen and deep-sea explorers, some dating from the previous two days and some acquired just today.
He immediately pulled out a map, marked down these findings alongside the locations of the earlier vague reports, and connected them with his pen. He found that they traced a vast arc that converged into a faint spiral pattern at a certain point.
Fixing his gaze on where the spiral lay, he tossed the pen aside, snatched up his cap and donned it, took the Xuejun Saber, signaled to Chaoming beside him, and stepped out of the cabin.
Once outside, he cast a glance in a certain direction, then leapt toward the sea. With a thunderous boom, he kicked up a straight shockwave of air and shot off like an arrow. Above him, a sharp cry echoed as Chaoming followed close behind.
On an unnamed islet somewhere, Zhao Zhenye stood atop a reef in loose white martial arts robes, the hem of his garment fluttering ceaselessly in the sea breeze.
It was not yet time to sabotage the relay station; striking around the moment the signal officially began transmitting would be most opportune.
Yet this was not the sole reason he had chosen to stop here. He wished to resolve a few complications in advance, so as not to have too many people interfering with him when the time came.
After a long while, a gleam of sharp light flashed beneath the bangs veiling his eyes. Turning slowly, he saw Mr. Zhuan standing on the beach, a suitcase in hand, wearing his black mask.
Zhao Zhenye said, "I knew you would come looking for me. But in truth, you didn't have to come at all."
Mr. Zhuan said, "What happened back then must have an ending."
Zhao Zhenye fell silent.
Mr. Zhuan dropped the suitcase he carried onto the ground. One could tell whatever lay inside was exceedingly heavy; when it landed, nearly half of it sank into the sand.
He looked up and said, "Zhao Zhenye, are you ready?"
Zhao Zhenye looked at him, gazing at the mask on his face. "This time, is it just the two of you?"
Chapter 983