After the conversation with Yan Yi, Chen Chuan went to the table and picked up the box Chen Bitong had given him and opened it to take a look.

In it was an uneven stone the size of a fist. Nothing about it stood out.

When Chen Chuan touched it, he found that it was smooth and warm. Soon, a comfortable feeling washed over his mind, as if a large burden had been removed, and he could take on all challenges.

If just touching it brought such benefits, Chen Chuan could imagine just how beneficial it would be in strengthening his mind. The stone was going to be very useful to him.

Then, he remembered something. Based on what Xue Shou told him, even if Chen Bitong’s mind and body were close to perfection, they weren’t perfect yet. So, when Chen Bitong said that he wouldn’t be able to use it, was it because he couldn’t, or was it because of something else?

Chen Chuan let this thought sit in his mind for a while before he put the stone back and went to his training room. He took out a tube of the special medicine, sat down, and finished it in one go.

As the medicine’s effects spread out, his mutated tissue became active. This time, Chen Chuan didn’t use his second self to block the distractions, and a wave of sounds and disruptions assaulted his senses.

Since he had begun mental training, even if he didn’t use his second self, he could guard his mind and not be bothered by the anomalies.

He looked up and saw a gap above him. It was like an eye that was slowly opening. Black yet fluorescent, sticky tendrils crawled out of the edges and fell down.

Chen Chuan also saw a thin shell resembling a cocoon above Central City. It blocked off the tendrils. However, certain parts of the cocoon were badly polluted based on their dark color, as if the tendrils had seeped into them.

Soon, the tendrils were absorbed by some power, and the cocoon returned to its former state. Chen Chuan then noticed that the power didn’t seem stable. Sometimes, it was strong, but at other times, it was weak.

This might be the Fu-Mu Entity’s protection. Since the biosentient entity was about to propagate, its power manifested in this way.

By the looks of it, when the Fu-Mu Entity actually started propagating, things were going to get worse. Xue Shou had said that Chen Chuan could deduce when it was going to start, and Chen Chuan believed that he meant this.

And if Xue Shou could do that, other people would definitely know it as well. Many problems were going to pop up, just as Xue Shou said.

Chen Chuan planned to deal with them when the time came.

He didn’t think much further into this and focused on absorbing the medicine.

He only ended his meditation session when evening arrived.

After taking a shower, he changed into another set of clothes, told Yan Yi that he was coming, rejected her offer to pick him up, went downstairs, and drove to Border Fusion.

Around half an hour later, the car entered the square across from Border Fusion.

When Chen Chuan got out of his car and went to the entrance, the security guards at the door saluted him.

Yan Yi was already waiting for him in the lobby. She bowed to him and led the way. They took the elevator to one of the top floors, where the president’s office was. Meng Shu was waiting there while dressed in the uniform of the company’s president.

Once he greeted her, Chen Chuan looked behind her to a gentle, quiet woman with a beautiful face. She was smiling at him.

Chen Chuan gave her a nod. The woman was Li Ying, Border Fusion’s biosentient entity. Along with the time he escorted Meng Shu back to Border Fusion, this was his second time seeing her.

After greeting each other, they sat down.

“Mr. Chen, the municipal government sent an official notice to us to that the Fu-Mu Entity is about to propagate, and they need the company to allocate a certain number of security guards to work together with the government to protect the city,” Yan Yi said and tapped her Realm Pass before handing a document over. “We’ve checked the company’s records. We worked together with the government fifteen years ago, but things are slightly different this time.

“Since there might be a gap in the World Ring, the municipal government ran some calculations based on the city’s current situation and found that things might be worse than we thought. Our company was affected deeply by an existence from the other world not too long ago, so we’d like to hear your opinion about this. What should we do?”

Since an existence from the other world had once infiltrated Border Fusion, the municipal government had to be paying close attention to the company.

“I think that it’s precisely because an existence from the other world infiltrated the company’s ranks before that we need to allocate more security guards to work with the government.

“You don’t have to worry too much about this. Based on the current situation, the existences from the other world don’t share much of a relationship with each other. So, even if other existences come, you might not catch their attention.”

There’s something in the city much more interesting to them, he added in his heart.

He then turned to Meng Shu. “I suggest downsizing the company. You shouldn’t leave the company over this period of time either.” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Meng Shu nodded. Chen Chuan’s suggestion matched Li Ying’s deductions. “Then, from today onwards, I won’t be going back until it’s over.”

“If anything happens, contact me. I’ll rush over whenever I can,” Chen Chuan promised.

***

Guanshang Jing, the security director of Ferris Wheel, was reading a report with a scowl.

He had set a series of plans in motion. Once Toge died, the Elephant Gang would descend into infighting, and Toliu would lead many members against the Swordfish Gang. Once most of the core members of the Elephant Gang would die, the Swordfish Gang could dominate Glowing Dew District.

At the same time, the heavily-wounded Elephant Gang would no longer be able to protect Deng Xin, and they could take care of her as well. It would be killing two birds with one stone.

But the Elephant Gang killed Toliu at lightning speed, and Tonai became the new boss. They also swallowed their indignity, which made all the Swordfish Gang’s efforts go to waste.

Based on the information he just got, their target from the Resolution Department had a hand in their plans failing. Deng Xin had also been brought into the Resolution Department, so no matter what Guanshang Jing did after this, it would be meaningless.

He threw the report on the table and laced his fingers while a dark look settled in his eyes.

“Looks like I can only kill them on the day itself...”

He looked at the screen beside him. On the left was a list of incomplete tasks. On the right was a box that showed that the board of directors were in a meeting that had gone on for five hours.

This was already their fourth meeting of the month. They were arguing about the company’s direction, but they could not drag this out any further. This time, they had to come to a decision.

While he was thinking, the timer stopped, which meant that the meeting had ended.

A gentle, friendly voice belonging to a woman traveled into his ears. “Mr. Guanshang, Mr. Yingwei has asked to see you in Room A of Crimson Hall. He needs to hand over some tasks to you.”

Guanshang Jing stood up and left the office to take his personal elevator. The letters above the door kept flashing until reaching the letter “A.” The doors then opened to reveal a wide and tall flower garden.

Two deep red Scarletwoods with rows of Luminescent Weed Lamps appeared before his eyes while a white cobblestone path stretched out before him.

He removed his shoes and bypassed the decorative screen. Behind it, he saw a tall, plump man, who was around sixty years old, sitting sternly on a daybed.

He wore a loose traditional islander robe made of silk with clear islander patterns. His hair was done in the topknot common to martial artists, and he had a pair of symmetrical embedded lines on his face. Not far away from him was a saber rack that held a long curved saber and a short curved saber. Both looked like works that could only have come from masters.

Guanshang Jing went to the old man and bowed. “Mr. Yingwei.”

“The board of directors has come to a decision. We’re going to carry out the Spring Formation,” Mr. Yingwei announced.

“This is their final decision?” Guanshang Jing met his gaze.

Mr. Yingwei stared into Guanshang Jing’s eyes and said, “The Union has observed us for more than a hundred days, but they haven’t given us an assessment. They never even bothered to give us a progress report. It’s clear what’s on their mind. They’re waiting for us to do something that aligns with their will.”

Guanshang Jing slowly straightened his back and said grimly, “It looks like they need that. How greedy. If we’re going to be the ones doing it, that means that we’ll also be the ones bearing the risk. Is there really a need for us to act according to their will if they don’t promise us anything for it?”

“We can’t back out now. Azure Dragon and Ocean Development Corporation have been inciting the island nations to fight us while we’re centralizing our power in Central City. Many island nations under our rule have caved to the pressure and are beginning to waver in their support for us. Our business has taken a huge hit,” Mr. Yingwei said grimly.

While he spoke, Guanshang Jing took a look at the screen behind Mr. Yingwei. Many red warning signs were flashing on their bases on the islands.

“The Strategy Team analyzed the situation and told us that this would happen the moment we decided to join the Union.

“From the second we accepted it, we couldn’t turn back. Success is our only way forward. Mr. Guanshang, I need you to steel your resolve.”

Guanshang Jing bowed to him. “I understand.”

Mr. Yingwei grunted. “Since multiple organizations in Central City are keeping a close eye on us, we can’t use our people or resources. Didn’t I ask you to hire some people before this? How are things going?”

“Bianyue Yizhen of Fierce Wave School and Yejian Hong of Serene Radiance School have both formally rejected my invitation. I don’t think they’re going to come.

“Senior Brother Gongying has said yes. He’s going to come over and work for us. Once he’s here, he can also recruit a number of disciples from Windforest School.”

“Gongying Changxiu, the eldest disciple of Windforest School. I’ve heard of him. With him and the Windforest School disciples he leads, it’ll be enough. You did well, Mr. Guanshang. I hope that you can sort this out properly,” Mr. Yingwei said.