Chen Chuan cast a glance at Sancheng Huang.

He’s siding with me? He sure knows how to pick sides. If he sides with me, he’s siding with the government, Chen Chuan thought.

But Sancheng Huang was right about one thing. In this day and age, companies and governments ruled the world. Anyone who wanted to keep climbing up had to pick a side.

After all, the training resources alone were not something martial artists could get through their own efforts.

Of course, if a martial artist was content with reaching only the Third Limit and had no other aspirations, they could live more freely.

However, the Great Crash was hanging right above their heads. Once the wave came crashing down, they would be caught in it and pushed forward. They couldn’t control their own fates at all.

If anyone wanted greater power and to climb higher, they had to depend on a company or the government.

It wasn’t easy for a foreigner like Sancheng Huang to join the Great Shun Republic’s government, but he found a good way to do so.

“Mr. Sancheng, is there conflict between the three major schools?”

“The various martial arts schools were rivals in the old era, but in the new era, the number of martial arts schools started going down, and now, only the three major ones remain. That’s why they’ve come to a silent agreement to occupy a territory quietly and never bother the other. While the external disciples fight occasionally, the core disciples seldom do,” Sancheng Huang replied.

Chen Chuan laughed. “Did you just set a precedent?” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Sancheng Huang bowed and said, “There’s only one true core disciple in every generation for Fierce Wave School. The other disciples can’t learn the most advanced and secret techniques. They have to either seek out their own paths or stay in the school to help with teaching the other disciples.

“I chose to leave the school because that place is simply too small. Unless I’m the successor, I can’t get a lot of training resources.

“So, with my skills, perhaps my only way forward is to come to the Great Shun Republic to try my luck.”

Chen Chuan nodded at that. Sancheng Huang was honest and practical.

He then cast a glance at Hui Shilang’s corpse. “If this is Gongying Changxiu’s challenge letter, then he won’t be able to receive my answer, right?”

“If Windforest School’s Marked Saber doesn’t make it back, the target has accepted the duel. But I did this of my own accord. If you’d let me, I’m willing to go in your place and send the letter back to Gongying Changxiu,” Sancheng Huang declared with a bow.

Chen Chuan considered it. “No need. I look forward to fighting him, and I believe that sooner or later, I’ll see him.”

“I look forward to your fight too,” Sancheng Huang said.

Chen Chuan looked at the sky before saying, “Mr. Sancheng, Central City’s weather might change in a few days. If you’re going out, be careful.”

Sancheng Huang bowed. “Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Chen. I’m no good at anything else, but I’m great at reading situations.”

Chen Chuan laughed at that before leaving.

Once Sancheng Huang straightened his back, he watched Chen Chuan head into the towering Arcane Palace and vanish from sight. Then, he turned around and observed Hui Shilang’s corpse. He stood there and waited for the City Patrol to arrive.

***

When Chen Chuan entered the elevator, someone suddenly contacted him. Upon taking a look, he saw that it was Gu Haiting, so he answered the call.

“Captain Chen, we just received news that Gongying Changxiu of Windforest School has brought a group of disciples and a bunch of recruited martial artists into the country. I think they’re here because of Ferris Wheel.”

“Thanks for telling me, Mr. Gu. I’ve already received a challenge letter from Windforest School,” Chen Chuan supplied.

“Oh?” That caught Gu Haiting by surprise. He had only gotten confirmation at dawn that this group had arrived, and those guys had already issued a challenge letter to Chen Chuan? Weren’t they planning to hide their tracks at all?

“Since you already know, we have no need to worry anymore. Also, things are about to turn chaotic. If you need any cars or equipment, we’re willing to supply them to you,” he offered.

Azure Dragon and Ocean Development Corporation had their own plans. The Fu-Mu Entity’s propagation was the perfect time for them to take action.

But people like Gongying Changxiu were a great threat and obstacle to them. If Chen Chuan could hold him back or kill him, it would make things much easier for them.

Chen Chuan did not hold back from making requests. He was working together with Azure Dragon, but they were also using each other. Hence, after ending the call, he contacted Qin Qingque and sent a list of what he needed to Gu Haiting.

The man was incredibly efficient. After all, he was perfectly willing to supply Chen Chuan with a few things to achieve his goal.

***

Liang Guanghai, special officer of the World Ring Defense System, stood in an underground hall. The screen in front of him showed the defenses of Central City. All the places with some semblance of defense shone yellow.

His assistant was reporting the situation to him.

“Based on the plan, the Fu-Mu Entity’s propagation will start three-to-five days later, which is around the twenty-first to twenty-third of April. The exact date will be sent to us tomorrow.

“The propagation period will last for an estimated three days. The first stage is the preparation. It won’t cause too much fluctuation. It might even drop, and the less sensitive might not even feel any changes.

“The second stage is the propagation. It will propagate a few times during this stage. Based on data from other countries and our own, the lowest number of times is three, and the largest is in the dozens.

“Each time it propagates, it’ll produce a few micro parts and cause the spread of gaps. The existences from the other world and creatures from the merged space will invade Central City during that time.

“The third stage is the repair and stabilization.

“The second stage might last an entire night, and things will be at their most dire during this time.

“In order to deal with this situation, the security guards, sentries, law enforcers, officers, and implant-enhanced combatants from various parties have been stationed at key sections.

“Based on estimates, more than sixty percent of the passive biosentient entities under the municipal government’s control will be affected or paralyzed.

“The remaining ones will prioritize ensuring communications in the city, as well as making sure that electricity, water, transport, and other basic infrastructure continues running. The military will enter the city and guard every key structure and factory.

“But the government won’t be able to take care of the entire city, so the City Patrol will need to take care of regular security problems. We’ll also use public and some private domain entities to set up temporary regional communications.

“During this period of time, the municipal government will increase the monitoring. They will also interfere with any potential trouble. Right now, emergency response units and capture units have been set up in each district.

“They’re made up of veteran Martial Valor University lecturers, law enforcers from the Resolution Department, soldiers from the World Ring Defense System, and elites from the companies in Central City that have been allocated to us as support.

“No matter where the Fu-Mu Entity’s propagated parts go, the units can rush over immediately to capture or destroy them to ensure that none of them end up in other people’s hands.”

Liang Guanghai stared at the holograms as he listened to his assistant. Then, he said gravely, “As long as we capture all the propagated parts, we can keep the gaps under control. This is our greatest priority.”

Since Jibei Road’s Central City was built upon the Fu-Mu Entity’s body, the propagated parts could appear anywhere within the city.

Due to this unique characteristic, after the propagated part appeared, gaps would open between the two worlds. Only by getting the gaps under control immediately would they be able to minimize harm.

The municipal government’s arrangements were by the book, and Liang Guanghai couldn’t find any flaws in the plan.

But such things seldom happened in the past. The only other case that happened within the country was fifty years ago. Many things were different back then, so they couldn’t really use it as a reference and had to estimate most situations. It was difficult to make a fool-proof plan.

The assistant opened a document. “Also, the municipal government has unanimously approved this plan.”

She used the pointer in her hand to tap at the top of the screen.

“The municipal government will station airships and set up a joint air defense system linking Majestic Light District, Martial Order District, White Bird District, Motie Mountain, and other places to ensure that once the Fu-Mu Entity begins propagating, these districts can communicate without a problem and have enough fire power to protect themselves.”

Liang Guanghai stared where she pointed.

Majestic Light District and Martial Order District were the most prestigious areas in Central City. The government departments and most companies were set up in these two districts.

Stationing armed forces there wasn’t just to protect these areas. It was also to use absolute power to intimidate the companies.

As for White Bird District and Motie Mountain, those were the residential areas of the wealthy, where the upper-class lived. Even though the government knew that these people had their own private armed forces, they were willing to allocate a security force to them while being shorthanded.

When Liang Guanghai saw that there were at least a hundred airships above these districts, he shook his head. If each department could unify its strength and come under one leadership, they could immediately send forces to whichever place was in trouble. Then, it wouldn’t be difficult to weather this storm.

But reality was different. Some important areas had too much protection, while weaker areas were left undefended.

If Liang Guanghai had been the one allocating the manpower, he would have given almost the same number of security forces to each district.

Even if that meant that the security forces would be spread out, and defense in every part would be weak, every district would be able to hold back enemy forces. Liang Guanghai believed that it would be the best choice in such an uncertain situation.

But he wasn’t a commander, just a coordinator who gave his opinion on the best course of action. All he could do was follow orders.

“How are preparations to get the passive biosentient entities ready for use?” he asked.

The assistant made a few swipes, and a dense wave of red dots appeared on the screen.

“According to the report, the nutrient- and calorie-dense injections we’ve stored are enough for the passive biosentient entities to keep operating nonstop for five days. We’ll be able to last through the propagation.”

Just then, Liang Guanghai received a message on his Realm Pass. He took a look at it before shaking his head.

Many security-related departments had suggested locking down the city before the Fu-Mu Entity started splitting to ensure that the city could get through this situation safely.

The suggestion had just been officially rejected by the municipal government.