Book 4, Chapter 48: Advance Team

Book 4, Chapter 48: Advance Team

Once he was back in his apartment, Chen Chuan opened the floor-to-ceiling window leading to the balcony and let Dawncall fly out for some exercise.

Mutated tissue could only become strong after sufficient training. Right now, Chen Chuan no longer needed his Realm Pass to provide him with physiological data. He could observe Dawncall’s mutated tissue through his mind and biofield and tell that its mutated tissue was growing in an orderly manner. Nothing grew out of place, which showed that Photon Nest’s technology was worthy of praise.

Dawncall’s intelligence also played a crucial role. It knew what sort of movements were useful and could instinctively adjust its breathing to work together with its movements.

It was a pity that Chen Chuan couldn’t help it much right now. Dawncall’s mutated tissue was leagues different from a martial artist’s. It was also using a different way to generate power.

If Chen Chuan interfered carelessly, there was a chance that he might end up impacting its growth. That was why he would rather believe in the plan Photon Nest’s passive biosentient entity made after analysing Dawncall’s data and records.

In just a short while, Dawncall flew past the tall buildings and turned into a small, black dot in the sky. Chen Chuan looked away and started mulling over the Frost King Saber.

If he wanted to extend the time its gaps could exist, he was going to need a lot of nutrient and calorie-dense nutritional fluid.

But it was hard to find and cost a crazy amount of money. That wasn’t all. Purchases of nutritional fluid were recorded, because suppliers kept a tight control over them.

Black markets sold nutritional fluid as well, but it cost even more, and they only had a low supply of it. The quality was also often not so great. There was no chance of going in this direction for long-term supply.

If he only got nutritional fluid for only a day or two, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. What he wanted was a channel that could supply him nutritional fluid long-term.

When it came to alternatives, based on what had happened in the past, the Frost King Saber could get stronger by absorbing something from the existences.

According to the World Ring Defense System, at least one existence from the other world had snuck over. If Chen Chuan could kill it, he would be able to stuff the Frost King Saber full again.

There was one other option. When he exterminated supernatural beings, the Frost King Saber would absorb something from them, so he could start paying attention to such cases again.

He just didn’t know how much help it would be to the Frost King Saber. If it only gave a minimal boost, it wouldn’t be meaningful.

He should try it first, though, and decide after seeing the results.

Just then, Safe Shield spoke up. “Lead Investigator Chen, we just received news that an advance team from United Might is on its way to Central City. It should arrive in an hour.”

***

A large motorcade was driving down the public road west of Central City. All of the cars had United Might’s emblem on their hoods and sides.

The motorcade was made of twenty-five armored cars and ten large trucks. At the center was an armored limousine serving as the principal vehicle. A beautiful teenager sat in its back seat.

She appeared to be sixteen years old with long, black hair reaching her waist. Her bangs were cut neatly, and she wore a gorgeous dress. Her black eyes were as calm as still water. Not much emotion could be seen on her face.

She had clearly received great etiquette training. Even when she was in the car, she didn’t lean against the car seat. Instead, she sat straight and maintained her upright posture.

Beside her were a man and a woman. They were her security guards dressed in uniforms of high rank. The man had his long hair untied, and an armored mask covering his lower face. His shoulders were broad, making him look strong and tough.

Meanwhile, the woman had short hair, long, thin eyes, a sharp face, and balanced facial features. Because of it, she didn’t look ugly, but she was practically expressionless.

A middle-aged assistant sat in front of her. The assistant’s expression was stern and stiff. She checked her watch and said, “Miss, we still have forty-five minutes before we reach Jibei Road’s Central City.”

The teenager thought of something and suddenly turned around to look at a spot outside the window.

The two bodyguards paid a lot of attention to her, since they instinctively whipped their heads over while tensing their muscles, as if they were ready for something.

But the place was empty. Nothing could be seen there.

A long while passed before the female security guard asked warily, “Is there something wrong, Miss?”

The teenager looked away. “It’s nothing.”

She didn’t explain herself. The two security guards exchanged glances but didn’t ask further questions. They simply relaxed again.

However, if Chen Chuan had been there, he would have noticed that the teenager was staring at the place where he had recently cut open a gap.

The assistant brought out a report and said sternly, “Miss, based on the information we gathered, Jibei Road’s Central City is currently forming an airship logistics company to replace the logistics business we built up. When it comes to airships, we are unable to compete against them.”

Due to their safety and their existence itself having a degree of tactical and strategic significance, once an airship business started operating at a certain scale, it would become a threat to all organizations and governments. That was why all airship businesses had always been under the country and local governments’ control. It was also why no privately owned airship business could compare to the country’s airship business.

Even though it was safer to transport certain unique items on the road, it couldn’t be denied that with Central City’s government supporting the airship business, the company could offer greater safety and compensation. This meant that a large amount of United Might’s businesses was bound to be stolen right before their eyes.

“Continue. I’m listening,” the teenager said.

The assistant went back to speaking at a moderate pace with clear words. “The company believes that after Ferris Wheel’s collapse, we need to snatch their private security service along with its regional logistics service.

“Before coming here, we’ve done a lot of lobbying and attempted getting a ticket into the bidding event, which succeeded.

“But we have plenty of competitors. Among them are these companies. They’re getting the most support from the government, so we should pay attention to them.”

She removed the topmost page of the report and read out the contents.

“Package Company. This is a company set up with the help of the municipal government. They’ve taken up a lot of the businesses from Ferris Wheel, including the agricultural and marine aquaculture businesses on the island nations. They’ve also taken over all of Ferris Wheel’s technology.

“Right now, they’ve set their eyes on Ferris Wheel’s private security service and regional logistics. They’re really greedy, but the Department of Administrative Affairs might not let them take any more.

“The second one is Banyan Heart. This is a new company. Based on the headquarters’ investigations, it might have some kind of faction supporting it. It also has deep ties with the municipal government, and it might have been formed because the municipal government wanted to get more businesses under their control. Just like Package Company, Banyan Heart is our competitor.

“The third is Border Fusion. It’s a company local to Jibei Road, which has maintained a good partnership with the government for a long time. Most of their business deals come from the government.

“We need to pay attention to their security advisor. He’s a lead investigator at the Resolution Department, which means that we won’t be able to take them out with brute force. I suggest only using indirect competition.”

The assistant then mentioned a few other companies while giving a brief description about them. The teenager only listened without saying anything.

As they continued down the road, the female security guard said, “We’re about to enter Central City, Miss. Please let us activate the domain interference entity.”

“Do it,” the girl said.

After a moment, all the domain interference entities in the motorcade were activated. At the same time, everyone’s Realm Passes were connected together so that they could communicate internally. They blocked all external monitoring.

A little over ten minutes later, the motorcade entered Central City and headed for United Might’s branch company in Deep End District. Since the motorcade was huge, it caught everyone’s attention.

While everything appeared to be progressing smoothly, an unseen fight had started the moment the motorcade entered the city.

“Miss, ever since we entered the city, resonators have started attacking us. I believe that the number has gone up to the double digits. Plenty of active biosentient entities are lurking around us as well, and some people are monitoring us. I believe that they are from the Resolution Department,” the female security guard said.

The teenager replied, “I understand. The Union’s representatives and the Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation are all coming to Central City this month. It doesn’t matter if the Resolution Department pays attention to us. They won’t be able to put too many resources into it.

“This is a golden period for us. We need to use it to gain our footing.”

The assistant then said, “Leave it to us. We’ve already prepared everything and have plenty of backup plans ready.”

The unseen information warfare kept going until the motorcade reached the branch company. Due to the protection from the passive biosentient entities they had shipped over ahead of time, the domain attacks couldn’t reach them once they were inside.

The moment the motorcade stopped, the people inside started moving all the resources and important items into the company. Among them was a large, black ceramic box that was moved into the basement.

The teenager waited until everyone left and touched the smooth surface of the ceramic box to sense the waves of life force coming from it.

An embryo of an active biosentient entity was contained within the box.

Since large amounts of resources were required to help an active biosentient entity grow, even a company like United Might seldom had fully-grown active biosentient entities in its branch companies. It only had one in its headquarters.

However, the previous operation’s failure had proven that passive biosentient entities were simply not enough for crucial missions, no matter how many of them they had. If Che Gaoyi had an active biosentient entity working with him, the operation would have most likely succeeded.

The big companies and their branches in Central City all had active biosentient entities, which provided great support to their businesses, security, and defensive communications.

Because of this, the headquarters of United Might gave an active biosentient entity to the branch. It should help expand their business and gain a footing in Jibei Road’s Central City.

While the teenager was getting a feel of the active biosentient entity, someone said, “Miss, the Resolution Department is here to check whether we brought any forbidden goods.”