After their conversation on the roof, Su Wei got into Chen Chuan’s car.

He never asked for the details of the mission. Over the past few days, while he was training, he had read up on military law and learned that they were different from the laws of agent groups in the merged space. Soldiers had to obey their superiors’ orders without question, and when they carried out missions, they had to do whatever their captains asked. They could not ask any questions.

Chen Chuan drove out of Roaring Victory District and returned to Martial Order District. He stopped in front of a tram station with an underground tunnel. After showing his ID, he brought Su Wei inside.

Over the past few days, Advisor Pei had contacted him and told him that the World Ring Defense System had noticed a lot of abnormal activity around the unmended gap in the World Ring as the Fu-Mu Entity’s condition changed. The defense system had, thus, sent more people over to guard it.

Because of it, the political situation in Central City might grow even more tense. Once the Fu-Mu Entity started splitting, the World Ring Defense System was going to send missions, so he had to be on standby.

Chen Chuan had voiced his understanding. Until he reached a certain amount of strength, working with a group was much better, which was why he had asked Su Wei to see him.

Aside from him, he also applied to his superiors to bring Qin Qingque and Yuan Qiuyuan back from the merged space.

This was going to be dangerous, but it was also a chance for them to get some achievements.

While driving to the tram station, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque replied to him that they were about to reach Central City.

They took an elevator to reach the empty platform. After a few minutes, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque walked out of the tunnel while carrying backpacks.

“Captain!”

Once Yuan Qiuyuan saw Chen Chuan, he hurried over. He seemed especially excited.

“Hello, Captain.” Qin Qingque immediately gave him a standard salute.

Yuan Qiuyuan quickly did the same.

Chen Chuan saluted them back.

Then, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque’s gazes landed on Su Wei.

“Let me make some introductions. This is Su Wei. He’ll be joining us in our operations in the merged space. If the superiors give us larger operations, the three of you will need to lead a team each.”

“Oh, you recruited him? Not bad. Let’s spar some time, Su Wei.” Yuan Qiuyuan didn’t spare any time exchanging pleasantries with the new team member.

Su Wei cast a glance at Chen Chuan. When he saw no objection from Chen Chuan, he replied seriously, “I’ll be glad to.”

“That’s settled, then.”

Yuan Qiuyuan turned to Chen Chuan and rubbed his palms together. “Captain, we’ve been waiting for you to summon us ever since you left. Isn’t that right, Officer Qin?”

Qin Qingque nodded.

“Come with me. Once we’re at the place, I’ll tell you the details,” Chen Chuan said and led the way. He brought the trio out of the tram station to his car.

Once Qin Qingque saw the car, she said, “Let me drive, Captain.”

“Have you been to Jibei Road’s Central City before?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Once. Where do you want to go? Just send me the location,” Qin Qingque said.

Chen Chuan knew that she could drive steadily and quickly, so he sent her his house’s location before going to the front passenger’s seat. Su Wei and Yuan Qiuyuan went to the back.

Once the car started moving, Yuan Qiuyuan leaned forward and said, “Captain, we didn’t waste our time. Aside from guarding the base during the day, we spent the rest of our time training hard to catch up to you.

“Is it true that there’s going to be a major battle soon?”

“What did you hear?” Chen Chuan asked without turning back.

“Well, when Advisor Pei sent us here, he said that security has been tightened to a ridiculous degree in Central City. That’s why you need us. But he didn’t give us any details. He just said that we’ll know after meeting with you. Are we going to fight someone like the Iron Monster again?”

Chen Chuan kept his gaze trained forward. “That’s not it, but I can’t really tell what we’ll face.”

Yuan Qiuyuan could hear the underlying meaning from his words, and his expression turned more serious. He leaned back against his seat, though his eyes shone with eagerness.

Su Wei said nothing as he sat in the backseat. He just observed his new team members silently.

In less than fifteen minutes, the car reached Chen Chuan’s house. Once Qin Qingque parked, Chen Chuan led the trio into his living room and opened the fridge.

“Take whatever you want to drink,” he said.

He grabbed a tin of tea leaves for himself. When Qin Qingque saw this, she took the can from him and started brewing tea for him.

Once they sat down, Chen Chuan started telling them about the effects of the Fu-Mu Entity’s split and what they might face.

“Then, based on what you said, this is going to be a huge battle.”

Yuan Qiuyuan was practically vibrating with excitement. He could already see it: This situation was going to be full of chances for him to net achievements.

He knew it. He could get all sorts of benefits if he worked with Chen Chuan.

“There’s no point talking about capturing and dealing with the propagated parts after the Fu-Mu Entity starts splitting, but as the two worlds get closer, many gaps show up.

“Central City has prior experience dealing with this, but it was when the World Ring was stable. Right now, there’s a gap, and there’s no certainty what’s going to happen. It’s highly likely that some creatures from the merged space and existences from the other world might spill over.

“The higher-ups can’t give us a prediction of what’s going to happen. That’s why they haven’t given us any assignments. If we do run into something, it’s bound to be really dangerous. That’s why, while we’re working with the municipal government, I want all of you to stay safe. Your top priority is to stay alive.”

Qin Qingque, Yuan Qiuyuan, and Su Wei nodded with stern expressions.

The trio had a certain degree of knowledge about the merged space and just how difficult the creatures inside it were.

To Chen Chuan, the foreign martial artists were going to be the least of their problems when the time came, especially the martial artists who just wanted to get some benefits while the Gate to Heaven opened. It was likely that to the municipal government, not all of them were destabilizing factors.

They were just going after personal transcendence. Once the Gate to Heaven opened, they were going to face the existences from the other world, so they could be considered as free, high-grade cannon fodder. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

What the municipal government truly had to be on guard against were the big companies, forces of power, and the existences from the other world. They needed to pay attention to all of them.

Chen Chuan had a feeling that he might end up having to fight against them. Of course, he might also have to fight against a certain someone.

His mind went to the person.

While they lacked information, the four of them still came up with strategies to face off all sorts of enemies.

But they were only strategies written on paper. The real situation was going to be more complicated, so they would need to act according to what was happening around them.

Once they discussed everything, Qin Qingque said, “Captain, your house will be a great base once we get some preparations in place. The only thing we’re lacking is a domain interference entity. Without it, it’ll be easy for someone to monitor us. I suggest renting a military-grade domain interference entity from the World Ring Defense System and setting it in your basement.

“Since there might be domain signal problems after the Fu-Mu Entity splits, it’d be best to get a small domain entity too. It doesn’t have to be a high-grade one. It should let us communicate within three kilometers around it and be easy to set up in a car. If we’re not too spread out while we fight, it’ll allow us to contact each other.”

“That works. Officer Qin, I’ll let you handle it. Contact the World Ring Defense System about renting the entities,” Chen Chuan said.

There was no harm in being prepared. Since they were working with the government, they could reimburse all operation costs from the World Ring Defense System after this entire debacle. Since it wouldn’t cost any of his own money, Chen Chuan would use whatever he could.

***

Waves crashed on Central City’s northern coastline. Several white lights flashed in the distant night sky and drew closer along with the sound of propellers.

Guanshang Jing, Song Zicheng—the vice supervisor of the Security Department—the members of the Logistics Department, and a group of implant-enhanced soldiers armed with guns, sabers, and wearing straw hat-shaped helmets stood on a temporary mooring point.

The signal lights on the ground guided a small airship with no emblems to land near them.

The door opened, and a retractable ladder was lowered to the ground. A group of people walked out of the airship.

Leading the group was a martial artist with a traditional crimson robe with a left-over-right lapel over a black robe beneath. He had short hair and a round pair of glasses on his nose.

The man was in his early thirties and gave off a gentle air. If not for the long saber at his waist, anyone would think that he was an academician still studying in a university.

Behind him was a boy of around fifteen years old. He held a cross-shaped spear.

Guanshang Jing led the entire group forward and bowed. “Senior Brother Gongying!”

The others behind him also bowed.

Gongying Changxiu smiled and bowed back. “Junior Brother Guanshang.”

Guanshang Jing straightened back and said, “You must be tired from your trip. Please come with me.”

“Lead the way,” Gongying Changxiu said.

As the Logistics Department members watched him get into Guanshang Jing’s car, they remembered his gentle smile and elegant demeanor. They couldn’t help but be surprised.

Once they got into their own cars, two of the employees started whispering to each other.

“Is that Gongying Changxiu? He doesn’t look like it.”

“Yeah. I thought that I was looking at the kind boy next door. He also sounds elegant. He’s surprisingly polite and amicable.”

The person-in-charge of the operation turned around and snapped at them, “Could you two treat this more seriously?!”

“Got it, Captain.” Both of them straightened their backs.

The person-in-charge turned to the front with eyes shining with wariness and fear. He whispered, “Gongying Changxiu is also known as Phantom Gongying. His real face is not what you just saw!”