Book 4, Chapter 57: Overall Situation

At Majestic Light District’s Verdant Tree Street was a residential area for soldiers and their families. It was where Chen Xiaojin stayed. The security here was tight, since Central City treated this place with great importance. All cars and personnel coming in and out were closely inspected.

At around 3 p.m., an armored limousine arrived at the entrance of the street. After the person inside showed his ID and the security guard scanned it, he saluted the person inside before removing the road block and letting the limousine in.

Chen Chuan watched the scenery. The sides of the road were covered in ginkgo trees. It was autumn now, so their golden leaves flew into the air the moment the wind blew.

At the end of the road was a maple tree forest covered in red leaves. There was a green pasture between the trees, and many military children were playing there.

The limousine turned to the left and drove for a little over two hundred meters before Chen Chuan saw Chen Xiaojin training in a corner of a park. Before him were a few solid mannequins and training equipment.

“Please stop here,” he requested the driver.

Once the limousine stopped, the logistics officer ran out and opened the door for Chen Chuan. Upon getting out, he asked the other people in his security team to wait while he walked over to the park.

Chen Xiaojin was entirely focused on his training and going through his moves. It was only when he was covered in sweat and intended to go and drink some water that he saw Chen Chuan standing by the side. He was stunned, but only for a brief moment. His face lit up, and he ran over. After some hesitation, he called out to him, “Mr. Chen?”

Chen Chuan didn’t reject the title and said, “Things are quite complicated in Central City now. Mr. Lu said that someone might be watching you, so you shouldn’t go to the martial arts school for the time being. Just stay at home and train.”

Chen Xiaojin ducked his head. He only looked up after a while. “Is it because of him?”

“I can’t tell for now, but I’ll get answers as soon as possible,” Chen Chuan reassured him before reaching into his pocket and taking out something packaged. He handed it to Chen Xiaojin.

“Eat this,” he said.

Upon taking it, Chen Xiaojin found that it was a fruit. He grabbed his water bottle and drank it along with the fruit. Then, he wiped his mouth and asked, “What was that, Mr. Chen?”

“Enlightenment Fruit. It has a certain chance of increasing your potential, but it could also do nothing for you,” Chen Chuan explained.

It did not come into effect immediately after being consumed. Time was required for the effects to slowly come out.

Chen Chuan had taken one before and found that it was absolutely useless to him, but it had no side effects, so he decided to share it with others.

After giving one to Chen Xiaojin, he was going to give the others to his friends. Whether or not they got a boost in their potential would depend on their luck.

Chen Xiaojin instantly wanted to see whether it worked on him.

Chen Chuan smiled and said, “It takes time. You won’t be able to sense anything right now. Anyway, while I was watching you, I noticed that you have some details off. You need to adjust them a bit. I’ll show you.”

He motioned for Chen Xiaojin to come before him, grabbed his shoulders, tapped a few places, and corrected the flaws in where he generated power.

Lu Fang was a great teacher and paid attention to a lot of details, but he couldn’t notice the movements of mutated tissue in-depth, like Chen Chuan, which inevitably led to a lack of coordination in some places.

This was unavoidable and would usually accompany martial artists for life. They could only slowly sense and correct these flaws through training.

Chen Chuan could correct them beforehand, which would help Chen Xiaojin avoid going down multiple wrong paths.

After hearing the tips, Chen Xiaojin tried practicing his moves again and noticed that certain moves had become much easier. The power behind his attacks was also stronger. Most importantly, though, it didn’t feel tiring training this way. The more he practiced, the more his mutated tissue worked together with him, as if even his mutated tissue itself knew that this was beneficial for it.

Chen Chuan watched him train for a while before saying, “Don’t go over fifty times a day. If you find yourself gasping for breath, stop. Once you feel like you can go through the moves easily, you can increase the number. Remember to have a physiotherapist help you recover.”

He taught Chen Xiaojin for an entire afternoon and had dinner with him. Chen Xiaojin seemed really happy about it and looked quite reluctant to see him go as he walked him out.

The first thing Chen Chuan did after leaving was to contact Wu Bei. “How was it, Wu Bei?”

“I checked. There were indeed resonators and armed combatants watching Chen Xiaojin, but they left after your motorcade showed up. I tried to track them down, but I failed. They’re good, and their resonator nest is better than ours. I feel like they belong to a company,” Wu Bei provided his analysis.

“A company, huh? Wu Bei, watch over this area. If anyone visits Xiaojin or asks him to go out, tell me,” Chen Chuan said after some thinking.

“Will do.”

Chen Chuan had no intention of increasing the number of guards here because the security level in the soldiers’ residential area was high enough. As long as Xiaojin didn’t leave, he would be fine.

After going back to Martial Valor University, Chen Chuan continued with his daily training outside to keep increasing his mental energy. Once he came back, he sparred with Hongfu while patiently waiting for Huang Weiyi’s news.

A few more days passed. Since there was a meeting in the Resolution Department, Chen Chuan went to the department early in the morning. Just as he expected, the topic of discussion was how they were going to deal with the Union’s representatives and the soon-to-arrive Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation.

Wu Quan declared, “The Union is asking for compensation from us, saying that we destroyed their partnership with Ferris Wheel. They also sent their legal team to sue the Department of Administrative Affairs and our department, but this is just an excuse for them to stay here.

“We’re basically certain that the Union’s goal is the artifact in the merged space.

“Whenever a gap appears in the World Ring, an artifact is bound to show up. Now, there is even word that it might be a Class Three artifact.

“In the past, whenever such an artifact emerged, it changed the political situation of an entire region, so the military in the merged space has already started looking for it.

“The imperial army should have also received news about it and sent out a cavalry unit. We’ve fought against them a few times already, and we’re currently in a stalemate. We can only send small units to search nearby as of current.

“The World Ring Defense System has mobilized capable officers on standby to go up and fill the lines. We’ve been sending our officers to provide reinforcements, but the combatants of the Union will surely stick their noses into this.

“We’re sure that there is a group of elite combatants among them. They won’t be able to go on their own, but they can enter the merged space if they join another company's combatants.

“We’ll stall them through bureaucracy and paperwork, but it won’t last for too long. Based on the agreement set during the mega alliance, all nations and companies have a duty to fill the gap in the World Ring together. They also have the right to share and research artifacts together. They’re guaranteed to find reasons to go to the merged space through this agreement.”

Lead Investigator Wen scoffed. “While we were busy filling the gap, they never said anything about duty, but when it comes to sharing the artifact, they suddenly have the right to it. Nice plan they have there.”

“That’s why we absolutely can’t let the Union get their hands on it. Once the Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation reaches Jibei Road, we’ll need to deal with even more enemies, and the situation will become grim,” Wu Quan said, then turned to Lead Investigator Han.

“You’ve already come into contact with the Union and have been liaising with them for days. Have you figured out the identities of the combatants they brought?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m still trying to figure them out. The Union is keeping a tight control over all information about their combatants. They’re also releasing all sorts of fake news. I need more time to decipher what is real and what is not,” Lead Investigator Han stated.

Wu Quan watched him for a while before saying gravely, “I need to know the details as soon as possible. Be faster about it. I know that this is difficult, so if you run into any problems you can’t solve, tell us right away. We’ll work together with you.”

Lead Investigator Wen looked over and smiled. “Do you need help, Lead Investigator Han? If you need it, just ask.”

Lead Investigator Han looked up at him and said coolly, “No need. But I do hope that you can give me more authorization.”

“I’ll discuss it with the directors later,” Wu Quan said after some consideration. Then, he turned to Lead Investigator Wen. “Your next mission will be very important.”

Lead Investigator Wen schooled his face and nodded earnestly.

Then, Wu Quan directed his attention to Chen Chuan. “United Might is also important. Lead Investigator Chen, the company’s armed forces are strong, and they will definitely participate in the race for the artifact. You must think of a way to stop them.”

“I understand,” Chen Chuan said seriously.

After giving them a list of things they needed to pay attention to, Wu Quan ended the meeting.

Chen Chuan waited for Wu Quan to leave before stepping out, but when he stood up, his name was called out.

It was Lead Investigator Han.

Chen Chuan turned around to face him. “How may I help you, Lead Investigator Han?”

The man approached him and looked him straight in the eye. “I know that you have been monitoring United Might, but I’ve learned that the new team in United Might is only in charge of protecting the company. There’s absolutely no need for you to conduct constant monitoring of them. That’s not how you should be using Safe Shield’s resources.”

Chen Chuan met his gaze squarely. “I’m sorry, Lead Investigator Han. While you have your duties, I have mine too. I don’t need to answer to you on how I do things.”

“You need to consider the big picture. Right now, our most important target is the Union, and we need more resources to deal with them. Even if you scale back the monitoring on United Might, it’ll be fine,” Lead Investigator Han said with a scowl.

“You’re reading too much into this, Lead Investigator Han. The directors are the ones who should be considering the big picture, not us,” Chen Chuan retorted coolly.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.