Book 3, Chapter 225: Ferris Wheel

Book 3, Chapter 225: Ferris Wheel

The meeting room of Ferris Wheel’s headquarters had a table situated in front of a screen with a large landscape view beyond the borders of the Great Shun Republic.

White clouds and fog churned while blue waves rolled on the surface of the sea. Islands huddled on one side with names hanging above them to show the different island nations.

The islands on the ocean were as numerous as the stars in the sky. There were more than thirty thousand of them.

In the current day and age, the Great Shun Republic, the Linacrox Union, and Rolous made up powerful countries that occupied a corner of the world. As for the other countries and regions, the pressure to get ready for the upcoming Great Crash made them strengthen their ties and cooperation with each other, and they gradually formed a region-based union.

One of them was Norland, an alliance of countries in the rural north. Another was the Palaneo Region, which was between the borders of the west and east continents. Then, across the western continent was the Sarmanj Continent Guild.

Meanwhile, the Ocean Alliance was an organization formed by the island nations on the Eastern Ocean. However, compared to the other alliances, they were a relatively loosely-knit group.

When the Great Shun Republic overthrew the royal family, most of the island nations still sided with the old rulers. That was why, even after the royal family was destroyed, they remained enemies of the Great Shun Republic and were oppressed. The country kept them divided and in constant conflict with each other.

In order to break free, twenty-eight of the island nations formed a high-level alliance. Then, with external help and support, they created Ferris Wheel. The twenty-eight gondolas on the perpetually spinning ferris wheel in the company’s headquarters represented the twenty-eight island nations.

Even though Ferris Wheel’s prototype already existed during the old era, it had been less than ten years since it was truly formed.

Ever since its conception, its dual policies of researching new technologies and buying them from all over the world allowed the company to develop rapidly. They were especially strong in terms of island agriculture, marine farming, artificial landscapes, regional transportation, waste disposal, and recycling.

On this day, all twenty-eight of its directors had arrived in the meeting room and were seated around the table. The chairperson said, “The Union’s representative is going to observe and assess us for up to a year. This concerns whether we get to join the Union, so we’re going to face even harder challenges from this moment on.”

All the directors had grave expressions, because they knew that they had arrived at a crossroad. This year would decide whether the company would survive and tell whether all the capital and technology they had gathered would be enough to find a path forward, but even more importantly, they believed it would affect the island nations’ destinies and future.

Before the Great Crash, they had to do whatever it took to get ready for it.

“You should know that we’ve invited the animosity of the Great Shun Republic’s government and its companies the moment we applied to become part of the Union. We’ve already cast aside the friendly facade we once had with them. They’re going to do whatever it takes to suppress and ostracize us.

“They’re going to think of ways to crush and kill us, then divide the pieces of the company among themselves. They wish to absorb nutrients from our carcass, but we can’t be defeated. We need to succeed!

“After the end of the War on Empires, the royal family was destroyed, and the Great Shun Republic used Azure Dragon and Ocean Development Corporation to integrate into our countries and suppress us for decades.

“The cultivation and extraction of our biological ecosystem and algae, ore prospecting and extraction, marine transportation, military-grade weapons, implant technology, and other vital sectors are under the Great Shun Republic’s state-owned corporations’ and private corporations’ control.

“If we join the Union, we’ll be able to overcome those technological barriers and even get military support. If we cower at this stage, though, the island nations of the Eastern Ocean will become lambs waiting for slaughter from the Great Shun Republic and the companies of the entire world.

“The Union has their own demands, but we have one advantage: They need us. They need a stable anchor in the Great Shun Republic. To become that... we must make sure to survive.”

The chairperson put his hand on his Realm Pass before tapping on the screen a few times. More than a hundred people showed up, and beside them was a simple description of who they were.

Among them were company executives, key political figures, key military figures, agents, gang members, seemingly normal drivers, warehouse managers, and even unemployed people.

“According to Wu Qi, these people can threaten us over the next few years, and the ones who pose the greatest threat in the near term are these ones.”

The screen changed. Many people’s photos faded away, and only seven people remained. Among them were Chen Chuan, Lei Guangcheng, and Deng Xin, the three targets Big Sis Huan knew were the three greatest threats.

“If we want to make sure nothing goes wrong with joining the Union, we need to get rid of these seven threats.”

One of the directors took a look at the seven people before saying, “I remember us sending a team to kill one of the targets, which ended in complete failure. Since the target was part of the Resolution Department, they’re now monitoring us even more closely than before. Our attack increased their wariness, and our legal team is still dealing with this matter.”

“This only proves that the person is a threat to us and tells us that we didn’t treat this matter with the importance it deserves.

“We should set up another team and do whatever it takes to kill these seven targets. I hope to see results within a short period of time.”

One of the directors said, “The Resolution Department is keeping a close eye on the martial artists we hired. It’s difficult for us to mobilize them. Since the target possesses overwhelming strength, I suggest hiring people from Fierce Wave School. We’ll need the Gong family to help us with that, though.”

Fierce Wave School was the most famous martial arts school in the Eastern Ocean. Many well-known martial artists had graduated from there.

Since the Gong family had granted the school land to establish its first school, only their family’s legitimate successor could hire the school’s truly powerful martial artists.

“Then, we’ll have Gong Zhanxin go and take a look.”

The chairman then faced all the other directors. “Over the next year, for the sake of the company’s interests and the island nations’ future, we need to kill all the people Wu Qi listed!”

***

Chen Chuan finished packing. In the blink of an eye, it was already the twenty-eighth. Tonight, he was going to go back to Yangzhi City.

At this moment, he remembered the mission Liang Guanghai had given him. He did a quick check and found that there were discussions about Chen Bitong scattered here and there on the World Ring Defense System platform.

One of the main topics was about him setting up his training center in Central City. Someone had proudly showed off their invitation card, which created a huge wave of envy among the others.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Chen Chuan took a look and found that the one with the invitation card was the son of some government official in Central City. Most of the people commenting under the post were also young people with similar statuses.

From this, it was clear that Chen Bitong’s influence wasn’t limited to the merged space. His reputation wasn’t the only reason for it. The power of the faction behind him also played a role.

Chen Chuan noticed that the invitation card had a date. It matched when Martial Valor University’s new semester was going to start. By then, Chen Chuan should have come back from Yangzhi City.

After some thinking, he left the platform and went into his training room for daily training.

At 8 p.m., he walked out with luggage and drove out of the Arcane Palace. When he left, he waved goodbye to Hongfu, just like he always did, and drove off into the distance while she watched him from the eaves.

Since he had promised to take Lu Fang, he drove to Deep End District first. Around an hour later, he arrived in front of the underground martial arts school.

Lights of various colors shone in Central City at night. Even as he drove down the quiet street, neon lights and light beams intersected with each other.

Lu Fang was already waiting for him with a duffel bag in hand. When he saw Chen Chuan’s car, he waved at him and walked up.

Chen Chuan turned the heavy rotating disc on the front passenger seat’s door to open it before getting out of the car and going to the back to open the trunk for Lu Fang. Once he asked Lu Fang to put his duffel bag inside, he went back to the driver seat.

When Lu Fang got in, he saw Dawncall perched on the backseat and was quite taken aback. “What...”

“That’s Dawncall,” Chen Chuan introduced it.

Dawncall chirped at Lu Fang as a greeting.

“Hello,” Lu Fang greeted it back with a smile.

“You’re done settling things on your end?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yeah. My seniors are here. They’re not going back for the New Year, not that anyone is coming for classes during the New Year. As for Shi Yi, she won’t accept any missions during the New Year,” Lu Fang answered after turning his attention back to the front.

Chen Chuan nodded at that. He had heard from Lu Fang that while Shi Yi was a resonator, she wasn’t a citizen, so she often ran into people refusing to pay her after she completed their missions. Sometimes, Lu Fang stepped in to help her, so she would split some of her earnings with him. They had a mutually beneficial relationship.

Chen Chuan started the car and drove toward the public road.

At that moment, he couldn’t help but remember what Ni Qianqian had told him a few days ago.

For some reason, Ferris Wheel was going after his life. Whatever was happening no longer followed any logic he understood.

While attacking him in Central City was quite difficult, it was much different when he was outside.

But if he was part of Ferris Wheel, he wouldn’t attack himself in Yangzhi City. Instead, he would strike on the public road. After all, the road was spacious and out of the way. No one would provide him with support, and it would be easy to set up a team to ambush him.

But from the moment he drove out of the dorm, Wu Bei did not notice anything following or monitoring him. His tracks were also hidden, so he should be safe on this trip.

However, those who wished him harm had plenty of ways to deduce when he would come back based on his telegrams and when he usually returned to Central City in the past.

Hence, if they wanted to attack him, they were likely to do it on his return trip.

Still, that was just Chen Chuan’s hypothesis. Since he didn’t know their goals and determination, it was possible that he was just overthinking things.

Regardless of whether Ferris Wheel would ambush him or not, it wouldn’t do him harm to be prepared.