Chapter 666: Chapter 329: The Shipyards’ Past (Part 2)

Li Ang quickly said, "Time is pressing, it’s almost morning. You all know that we’re here to carry out a covert operation, right?"

"Isn’t the Guild here to rescue people?" Bostein was stunned.

Li Ang only let Andasu convey their goodwill, while he was responsible for explaining the details.

"Yes, but the plan is not to break in directly. We need to first find where the trapped individuals are located."

Although the Shadow Shipyard is an ally, given their delicate relationship with the twelve shipyards, Li Ang avoided mentioning them to prevent any strange thoughts from the people at the Star Shipyard, and only let the Guild, especially the Order Flower Sword Corps, act as the frontrunner, explaining part of the plan.

"...Once we figure out a way to rescue everyone together, we’ll deploy our combat power to the frontlines, and crush the Empire’s and those five shipyards’ conspiracy in one fell swoop. We still need time until then."

"We understand, completely understand."

Originally worried about their families’ wellbeing, the leaders now naturally acquiesced.

"So, I need you all to continue living like prisoners for now. Don’t worry, I defeated those three individuals, and I’ll have someone disguised as them to guard you. You’ll be safe from now on."

The group led by Bostein nodded repeatedly. Li Ang added, "But there’s one thing you need to cooperate on."

"What is it? Please tell us."

"When we arrived, we heard those three asking you about some things."

As soon as Li Ang finished speaking, Bostein’s smile froze.

Though it didn’t feel like there was any hostility, it did indicate that it was a very important matter.

The leaders exchanged glances, and in the end, Bostein said directly, "We’re at this point today, and the safety of our families, our factories, and workers no longer matters. Why cling to a secret?"

The others sighed, and someone said, "The mastermind behind this is the Sky Flame, and they value it the most. They’ve betrayed us, so why keep the secret?"

Another added, "I say it because they saved my only daughter. I only have her left."

Beside the middle-aged man speaking was a still-frightened beautiful teenage girl, tightly holding his hand. At this moment, half her face hidden behind the man, she was secretly observing Li Ang and the other two.

The leaders had heard from their relatives about Li Ang’s battle with the three villains, and were now very trusting of him, with no suspicion of it being a ruse.

One of them was already near death from torture, barely able to stand with the support of family.

"It’s not about having to spill secrets, just say some half-truths. They were here to interrogate, so if we pretend to be them, we need something to report."

In fact, there was no one pretending. The Soul Apex trio was exactly themselves, but they needed to perform tasks publicly to cope with the Eye of God’s mission.

Bostein sighed, "Actually, it’s not very secretive, or perhaps, over the years, I’ve gradually doubted its value."

As the director and high-tier engineer of the Star Shipyard, he concisely recounted a certain past of the City of the Ship’s Rudder.

Built upon the ruins of an ancient civilization, the City of the Ship’s Rudder naturally has remnants of the former civilization. It’s no secret that the people here benefited from it, and the twelve shipyards benefited the most.

Aside from accumulating their own shipbuilding technology, much of the technology came from twelve buried tunnels beneath the city, with each tunnel containing different things, leading to differences in knowledge acquired by the shipyards, but with a common origin, they could naturally complement each other.

In the early days, the twelve shipyards cooperated, bringing a rapid technological and economic boom. Back then, they weren’t the twelve shipyards but rather precursors like repair shops and processing plants, eventually becoming comprehensive large shipyards.

However, personal greed later emerged.

The reason was that one shipyard discovered one more tunnel, and found treasures beyond the current level inside.

That shipyard was the Sky Flame.

The people of the Sky Flame became nearly obsessed with learning the knowledge held by the other shipyards, going as far as using relatively extreme methods, even provoking dissatisfaction from the Guild that managed the thirteenth passage, cutting off cooperation with them.

This matter ended with an internal split within the Sky Flame.

"This was during the time of my predecessor’s predecessor as director. It’s only recorded in our shipyard that within the split factions of the Sky Flame, one side held the object itself, while the other held the ’key.’ And to activate the key required knowledge, which is why they were so eager at that time.

"The part of the Sky Flame that left naturally opposed plundering knowledge from us by any means. They held possibly immense power and disappeared, and we all suspect they are now the ’Shadow Shipyard.’ Have you heard of this urban legend?"

As Bostein spoke, he was also observing Li Ang’s expression.

Li Ang was already accustomed to such matters and showed no cracks: "Someone mentioned it. I won’t want any of those secrets. Just tell me how much the Empire side knows, so I can handle things."

Bostein shook his head, "They basically don’t know, but whether they’ve learned from other shipyards, I don’t know. We do have some hidden places for specific shipbuilding knowledge, which I can inform you of."

Bostein was willing to divulge secrets, indeed showing he was also weary of passing down some rules due to such history. The knowledge obtainable from the tunnels is certainly limited, and the shipyards likely have thoroughly digested it. On the contrary, it has brought today’s calamity, which is truly not worthwhile.

Even if Li Ang obtained this knowledge, it wouldn’t be enough to build ships surpassing the current twelve shipyards, so it was naturally something he could afford to let go, as a gesture to a savior as a powerful ally.

The real hidden treasure is behind the door at the end of the tunnels, but it’s not something that anyone can just open.

And Li Ang, he truly wasn’t interested in that knowledge. He had entered the Mechanical Creation Furnace and obtained the Melting and Gathering Law, which surely contained the shipyard’s knowledge.

However, he was indeed somewhat surprised; he did not expect the past of the City of the Ship’s Rudder to be like this.

With this in mind, isn’t the group that split from Sky Flame led by Loken? Although today’s Shadow Shipyard is composed not only of dissenters from Sky Flame but also others dissatisfied with other shipyards.

As for the "powerful thing" they possess without the key, Li Ang believed it was likely the giant ancient ship.

Loken knew about the 14th passage where the ancient ship was located. The Sky Flame might be holding its activator, but activating it required the Mechanical Creation Furnace’s knowledge to start—Li Ang analyzed like this.

After taking care of the people at the Star Shipyard, Li Ang, along with Andasu and Meluna, returned.

Before the break of dawn, they barely made it back to the Rowing Team Dormitory, where a worried Reed finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, I almost thought I’d have to exhaust my brain to come up with a plan, I even thought of several pre-planned statements."

"You worked hard."

"Did you gain anything this time?"

"The gain is substantial."

Li Ang smiled at Reid, "But moving forward, digesting it will be needed."

Back in the room, Li Ang immediately took out paper and pen to summarize the information.

What Bostein revealed indicated that each shipyard should be similar to the Star. Hostages are likely held in the Machine Core Tunnel; otherwise, they couldn’t figure out how such a large space could silently harbor so many people.

The purpose of Li Ang and the other two coming in this time was to scout the hostages’ location. Now that they know the location, the missing part is how to contact them, especially while synchronizing all their actions and transporting them all away.

There is also a problem with communicating with the outside world.

The communication device cannot be used now, as the Empire detected the device fluctuations after taking over the shipyard easily. Even if this suddenly rising force doesn’t understand the common but high-end tactical nuances of Nebis, the Soul Apex people would supplement them.

At the moment, using a communication device within the shipyard would be detected.

The communication device itself is also extremely expensive. The sound-transmitting Mother and Child Stone and Magic Equipment are hard to produce, and the Shadow Shipyard only has one set. A child terminal was given to the warriors hidden in the shipyard, but everyone shares this one.

This one should be in the hands of the leader of the hidden warriors, but it’s not usable in this situation.

After pondering, Li Ang still decided to find a time to return back once.

As for rescuing the hostages, them being held in the Machine Core Tunnel actually gave him an idea, but to implement it would require the cooperation of many high-end battle strengths.