Book 3, Chapter 197: Merged Space

With Qi Gao settled down, Chen Chuan returned to his dorm room and sent a report to the Resolution Department.

Even though he was sure that the ritual materials he used were fine, he couldn’t guarantee the same thing for the ritual materials Hao Zhuo sold to other people.

The ones supporting Hao Zhuo’s gang might have tracked down Qi Gao because he was Hao Zhuo’s regular and friend. They had clues leading back to him.

But he couldn’t guarantee the same for the other ritual materials sold, especially since they were connected to the Plague Gang. They were connected to an evil cult, so trouble might just come knocking.

After sending the report, Chen Chuan went back to getting ready. He made sure to pack some special medicine. Even if he was going to be sent on a mission, he couldn’t neglect his training. While he was pretty sure that they were going to distribute normal medicine or provide supply channels for them, he still decided to take some along with him.

As for equipment, he brought the clothes he usually wore, then wiped down his gun, the Frost King saber, and the short saber before putting them into their respective boxes. He also packed a can of tea leaves.

While he was getting ready, he received a message. Upon taking a look, he found that it was a short voice message from Green Satchel Pharmacy.

Since he had been their drug tester before, they sent advertisements of some medicines to him once in a while and continued asking him whether he would like to become their drug tester again.

In the beginning, Fan Qingshan was the one trying to recruit him, but after Chen Chuan ignored his messages a few times, his subordinate was now the one in charge of contacting him.

Chen Chuan didn’t change his settings to automatically reject those messages. After all, he might end up working together with them again, but he wasn’t interested in it now, so he just swiped the message off.

After resting for another day, Officer Ji contacted him in the afternoon. “Officer Chen, if you’re ready, please come to the Resolution Department.”

“I’ll be there straightaway,” Chen Chuan said and put all his things into a bag before leaving his room and driving to the Resolution Department.

Officer Ji was waiting for him. After bringing him into the meeting room they used last time, Chen Chuan found a friendly-looking man with a goatee and a uniform waiting for him. Behind him was someone who looked like an assistant.

“This is Advisor Pei of Jibei Road’s World Ring Defense Command Center,” Officer Ji introduced him.

Advisor Pei went up and cordially shook Chen Chuan’s hand. “Welcome, Officer Chen. We love having such young and outstanding people like you become part of the defenders.”

Chen Chuan saluted him. “Hello, Advisor Pei.”

Once they exchanged greetings, Advisor Pei’s expression turned serious. “Officer Chen, according to our rules, you’ll automatically be promoted by one rank after joining us. I will now officially tell you that you are a Class One Law Enforcer under the Command Center. You will receive your uniform, gun, and sword once you reach our military base.”

Chen Chuan’s ID popped up before getting updated. His status as a Class Two Law Enforcer had been changed to that of a Class One Law Enforcer. “Thank you, Advisor Pei.”

In Yangzhi City, his rank would make him equivalent to the deputy chief in the Constabulary. In the government administrative system, he could join a combat force with real power straightaway through a lateral transfer.

Of course, that was just in theory. Not many Third Limit martial artists were willing to go to peripheral cities. After all, those places had no resources, and their movements were restricted.

Meanwhile, at the Command Center, Chen Chuan could lead his own unit. He would even be assigned at least two Third Limit martial artists as the unit’s main fighting force. If he got promoted another rank, he would become a squad captain and could lead three units.

“There’s still some time before we will reach the defense zone. Officer Chen, let’s talk as we walk,” Advisor Pei said once he checked his Realm pass.

He started walking forward, and Chen Chuan followed him, along with the assistant. They took the elevator, and the assistant pushed down on two buttons before it started going down.

The meeting room is already underground. If we continue going down, we’re going to reach the lower city district. Is that where we’re going?

Then, Chen Chuan thought of something else. While the lower city district was huge, it was actually made of detached, individual spaces connected by tunnels. Those spaces weren’t made by man, which meant that there were more of such undeveloped spaces, and they should be in the upper city district’s hands.

The government wasn’t the only one with these spaces either. He was sure that the companies had them too.

The elevator no longer showed any floor number and stopped after around half a minute. The doors slid open, and the assistant stepped to the side to let Advisor Pei and Chen Chuan walk out.

There was a subway ahead of them and a three-carriage train. The light in the tunnel let Chen Chuan see into the darkness that lay on both ends of the tunnel.

A few guards stood watch. They lowered their guns and saluted them.

Advisor Pei checked his watch again and said, “We’re just in time. Come with me, Officer Chen.”

Chen Chuan sized up the train before nodding and getting into the first carriage with Advisor Pei.

Once he was inside, he noticed that it was a nice place. The walls were made of beautiful decorative panels with exquisite carvings. The seats were leather, and thick carpets covered the aisle.

Advisor Pei motioned for him to take a seat before sitting down. He then asked his assistant to brew two cups of tea for them. “There are only two trains heading to the defense zone per day. One is at 5 a.m., and the other at 5 p.m.. If we missed it, we’d need to wait until tomorrow morning.”

The assistant served them tea, and the train started moving.

Advisor Pei picked up his cup and said politely, “While you’re participating in the defense, you’ll be assigned to the Command Center. You’ll hear the details of your mission when the time comes.”

Chen Chuan nodded. Since he had never participated in a defense mission, he wasn’t privy to many things yet. He would only know them once he was there.

After traveling for around eight minutes, Advisor Pei checked his watch again and said, “It’s right ahead.”

The moment he said this, the area before them turned bright, as if they had exited the tunnel and arrived at a vast expanse of land.

Chen Chuan looked outside and thought that they were outside Central City.

Only to immediately cast that thought aside.

He turned back and saw an endless plain. Further into the distance were the shadows of mountains, but no sign of Central City. Even the terrain had become entirely different.

The train continued moving down the long railway. He wouldn’t have noticed it if he had only looking around, but when he glanced further into the distance, he found that the sky was covered in dark clouds, and lightning occasionally flashed.

“We’ve entered the merged space,” Advisor Pei said with a smile.

After a brief pause, he continued, “I’m sure that Officer Ji has mentioned this to you before.

“Each Central City is located at the forefront of an intersection point between the two worlds. Through these intersection points, we can enter the merged space.

“This is an area so big that we haven’t found its edge to this date. There are many theories regarding it.”

With his teacup in hand, he motioned at the area outside. “The most widely accepted theory is that this space was created naturally when the two worlds clashed, but some people believe that this place came into being after the other world seized land and space from us during the previous eras of change.

“There’s one even bolder theory: They say that the two worlds aren’t the only ones involved in the crash. There are multiple worlds, and they’re all gathering together to form a brand new world. The original ones will be devoured when that happens.

“It’s the theorists and technicians’ job to prove which theory is right. What we need to do is to get rid of all unstable factors before anything happens and ensure the stability of the World Ring.”

Chen Chuan nodded.

Advisor Pei put down his teacup and said, “The path to the merged space is only open for two short periods of time per day. At other times, it’s closed off. This is in order to ensure that our world isn’t infiltrated. After all, whenever the path opens, we can come here, but other

things

can enter our world as well.”

Chen Chuan looked outside. At some point in time, fog had rolled in. The section of the railway they had traveled on was shrouded in thick fog, as if it was hiding the path they were taking.

“You mean, those existences?” he asked.

“Not all of them are. We still haven’t figured out everything that has entered our world, but we can be certain that something has come.

“That’s why we have to cut down the number of times we come to the merged space, and that’s why some units and members from the Command Center are stationed here long term. We provide greater benefits for these people.

“But you’ve only just come here, so take your time familiarizing yourself with the place. Then, you can decide what to do.”

Chen Chuan checked his Realm pass and found that the communication function was still available, though he couldn’t contact the people in Central City.

“I can still use my Realm Pass here?” he asked.

“We’ve set up domain connection entities here. Even though their domains aren’t as big as the Fu-Mu Entity, they can still help us maintain basic communications within the area.”

As he spoke, he tapped his Realm Pass, and Chen Chuan immediately received a connection request. He added Advisor Pei to his list of contacts.

Just then, he saw a mountain on the horizon move from the corner of his eye. When he turned to give it a better look, he found that it was standing still, like any other normal mountain. His mind seemed to be playing tricks on him.

But there was no way his mind would make him see things.

Perhaps such abnormalities were normal because they were so close to the other world.

Chen Chuan looked outside for a long time. The place was vast, bleak, and bizarre, as if it contained many mysterious things.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The train traveled for another hour or so before snow started falling. Thick, dark clouds gathered above their heads, making the broad sky look even darker.

“We’re here,” Advisor Pei said.

Chen Chuan could see a fort built along the slope of the mountain. Spotlights shone out from the huge guard towers, piercing through the wind and snow to cast a light on the area ahead.

After they got out of the train, a huge gust of wind blew at them, bringing snow in its wake. Advisor Pei was fully prepared for it, because he was dressed in a thick layer.

Chen Chuan, though, just felt a cooling sensation. As if he had been cooped indoors for too long, he took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt energized.

Advisor Pei pulled his coat tighter around himself and said in a joking manner, “No matter how many times I see you martial artists being like this, I feel envious. Let’s go in.”

After going through the strict check-in procedure, the huge metal gate ahead of them rose, and they went inside.

“What’s the fort trying to keep out, Advisor Pei?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Do you remember the theories I mentioned?” Advisor Pei asked.

Chen Chuan nodded.

“We’re not the only ones here. There are also other creatures. Certain theories believe that they are creatures from ancient worlds, though it’s also likely that they have always existed in our world. Anyway, we don’t have a concrete answer yet.”

Then, Advisor Pei looked outside. As the gate came down, he said, “They’re not very friendly toward us.”