Yu Lie was in front of an unassuming storeroom in Oceanway District. He gave a code to the guard outside and was allowed inside.

The layout inside wasn’t typical of storerooms. It had been meticulously modified. After walking through a corridor with a tall ceiling and two industrial lights, he entered a lounge.

Inside were two rows of sofas, but no one was sitting on them. Instead, four men in black stood sternly behind them.

These people were members of the National Ad Hoc Special Operations Committee he had defeated before. When he walked in, they showed no hostility toward him and just gave him a nod.

One of them took a few steps forward and opened the door leading further back.

“The boss is in the back.”

“Thanks.”

Yu Lie smoothed out his clothes and went through to enter yet another corridor. Ten paces later, he reached the end and knocked on the door before saying, “I’ve come to give my report, sir.”

“Come in,” the person inside said.

Yu Lie put his hand on the handle and turned it to open the door and walk in. Sitting on the sofa behind the table was a burly man. He wore a wide-brim hat, and his clothes were stretched taut over his firm muscles. His expression was cold and stern.

The light in the room was dim. Only a few light strips gave off a soft, cold light. That was why most of the man’s body was cast in shadow.

Behind the man were two people wearing masks and thick, rust-colored combat apparel.

The two appeared heavy, as if they were hiding something under their clothes. Even though they were standing still, Yu Lie felt threatened.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he walked up to the man and bowed to him. “Mr. Chu.”

Mr. Chu remained still, but he gave off an awe-inspiring presence that made Yu Lie feel as if the atmosphere in the room was getting gloomier. After a moment, he asked, “How are things?”

Yu Lie sighed in relief before answering cautiously, “I’ve gained Chen Bitong’s trust, and he has agreed to keep me by his side, but Fang Zhixing is still wary of me, so I can’t do much.”

“Has Chen Bitong done anything recently?”

“Nothing abnormal, but I feel like he’s hiding something.”

“Instincts?”

“Instincts,” Yu Lie answered honestly.

“Instincts are important in our line of work. Don’t ignore your doubts toward any detail, no matter how minor they are. Since that’s what you feel, continue looking into him based on what your instincts are telling you,” Mr. Chu ordered.

“Understood.”

“Chen Bitong definitely has something to do with the gap in the World Ring. We can’t let him escape judgment. While there are people defending him in Jibei Road, he won’t be able to stay still when the Fu-Mu Entity splits and the gap widens. From now on, you are to stay by his side and notify me if he does anything,” Mr. Chu said coldly.

“Lieutenant Colonel Yu Lie, you did well laying down the groundwork. I will now make you an official member of the National Ad Hoc Special Operations Committee. If necessary, you will work with us to arrest Chen Bitong. I’ll get your file transferred to the committee.”

Yu Lie hesitated, and Mr. Chu noticed it. With a sharp gaze, he asked, “What are you worried about?”

Yu Lie immediately puffed out his chest and said, “I’m not worried, but Chen Bitong is really strong. If he’s really going to do something out of line, I’m worried that I won’t be able to stop him immediately, and I’ll betray your trust.”

“You just need to carry out your duties to the best of your abilities. When the time comes, someone will stop him,” Mr. Chu said and gave a signal. One of the two people behind him walked over with heavy footsteps and brought out a tube-shaped box.

Yu Lie gave it a cursory glance before opening it. The inside of the box was dark, but after a while, a gray-white worm shot out. The moment it was exposed to the light in the room, it lifted its head and opened a mouth covered in sharp teeth.

Yu Lie sucked in a sharp breath before unbuttoning the cuffs of his sleeve. Then, he extended his forearm to the worm, and it sunk its sharp teeth deep into it.

A scowl marred Yu Lie’s features. He could feel something crawling into his body through the wound on his forearm before seeping into his mutated tissue. Then, it became dormant.

A moment passed, and the worm released his arm. He pulled it back and saw dense teeth marks on his skin, but before he could heal them with blood essence, his wound closed.

Mr. Chu said, “When you want to contact us, don’t use your Realm Pass, but the implanted worm. Once you inject your blood essence into it, it will form a stable domain frequency that will let us communicate temporarily. We’ll also know where you are when you use it. Lieutenant Colonel Yu, go back now. We’ll contact you if anything comes up.”

“Understood.” Yu Lie saluted him and left the room.

After Yu Lie left, Mr. Chu brought his arm up and clenched his fist before saying, “Tell Lao Hu to come to Jibei Road’s Central City tonight and be on standby.”

***

Yu Hongming, the elder of the Heavenly Gang, was in their base at Longevity Hall of Grand Morals District. He narrowed his eyes and looked up. The rain had let up, and there were only some thin clouds left in the night sky, but he looked like he saw something. His eyes were full of wariness and scrutiny.

Just then, he noticed a presence and said, “Kuanghai? Come in.”

The door slid open slowly, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the room. Then, a tall figure came to stand behind Yu Hongming. The man fell on his knees with a loud thud and kowtowed respectfully to Yu Hongming. “Master, I’m here to ask for your permission.”

Yu Hongming didn’t turn around. “Have you thought this through?”

“This is a rare chance, Master. I’d like to try.”

“What about your opponent? Have you decided on one?”

“I’ve looked around and picked the one who killed Wei Wusheng. He should be worthy of being my opponent,” Chang Kuanghai said and clenched his fists slowly. His knuckles let out sounds that resembled steel bars being bent.

“‘When the Gate to Heaven opens, you will be pardoned by heaven itself.’ If you manage to cross, I will let you take over my position in the future,” Yu Hongming declared gravely.

“You know that I’m not interested in power.”

“You can talk to me about this when you’re qualified for it,” Yu Hongming simply said.

“Understood, Master.”

“Look for A’duan. He can help you when it comes to skill.”

Chang Kuanghai kowtowed to him again before standing up and leaving the room. He slid the door shut once he was out of the room.

Yu Hongming kept his eyes trained skyward, contemplating something.

***

Chen Chuan didn’t go back to his room that night, but stayed at Border Fusion to take care of things. Most of the time, he was reorganizing the company’s security forces and selecting people to work with the government.

Based on the information the company gave him, Border Fusion wasn’t the only one ordered to work with the government. All state-owned enterprises and companies with deep ties with the state in terms of businesses had to send over a certain number of security guards.

This was going to be a substantial force. If the municipal government could make good use of it, it could ensure many places’ safety.

It seemed like the municipal government was treating the event with great importance, but Chen Chuan couldn’t tell whether it was going to be effective. After all, the situation was really unique this time. Not only was there a gap in the World Ring, but also many of the conflicts they had suppressed in the past might use the chance to rear their heads.

Once Chen Chuan selected the security guards for the municipal government, he checked the information about the martial artists the company was sponsoring. Aside from Wei Dong, Border Fusion was sponsoring two more students from Martial Valor University.

However, they had limited potential and didn’t enjoy great benefits. If they were unlucky, they might even end up fighting in the tournament. The company was just casting their net by sponsoring these students and would screen them out at any moment.

Border Fusion was also training up its own martial artists, but this took a long time, and the effects wouldn’t be apparent within three years. Eight years were necessary for any substantial results. The company did not have the heart to use them as mere security guards, though, and saw them as part of the company’s core forces.

Right now, they were recruiting martial artists from outside to make up the number they needed. Even if they lost them, they wouldn’t find it a pity.

Aside from being security guards, these people were going to form a unit that would head to the merged space in search of artifacts.

This was the reason why the company had recruited Chen Chuan as well.

Artifacts were one of the sources behind the development of the company’s technology. After the world entered the new era, much of the new technology came from researching artifacts, so they were really important to the companies. Usually, a single artifact could bring about a technological revolution.

In the current era, in order to remain competitive, the companies had to inject large amounts of capital into sending martial artists deep into the merged space for exploration purposes.

Chen Chuan had a feeling that based on the situation he had learned, sending martial artists to the merged space alone wasn’t going to be enough. Mega corporations and groups with a certain amount of strength were likely to attempt opening the Gate to Heaven to get more benefits.

The companies who could do this were going to become even stronger and might even cut off the path for others by monopolising all the technology behind the Gate to Heaven. If they did this, though, history was going to repeat itself.

By the time Chen Chuan was done reorganizing everything in the company, two days had passed. He left the company and returned to his room.

On his way back, he received a few messages. They were all from Deng Xin, who thanked him for what he did for her. She also told him that Tonai had come to visit her, but she was going to stay in the Resolution Department, because the gang had just stabilized.

He replied to her message, then thought about how convenient it was to have Deng Xin’s ability to predict danger. Natural gifts like hers could help him avoid a lot of dangers ahead of time.

But he wasn’t envious of her, since her ability wasn’t exactly reliable. Power gained through training was more practical.

Wu Qi had to have something similar to Deng Xin’s clairvoyance to be able to deduce who was a threat to Ferris Wheel.

Active biosentient entities were living creatures. Hence, if martial artists continued training, they might get them in the future. Even if they didn’t, once they got strong enough, such abilities would no longer be necessary.

Only by possessing supreme power would a person be free of restraints.

Chen Chuan returned to the Arcane Palace and cast a glance at the towering building that seemed to have stretched into the depths of the clouds and reached the sky.

He needed to start getting ready for the Fu-Mu Entity’s split.