CHAPTER 197: INFORMATION

After Lao Feng gave Chen Chuan and his team the general gist of the situation, he called his own team to gather up. In just twenty minutes, everyone arrived.

They were all dressed in the National General Affairs Bureau’s uniform—black trenchcoats and top hats. They gave off a professional air and had sharp gazes. They were divided into three teams, with each squad made up of fifteen people.

After observing them for a while, Chen Chuan felt that some of them were not as simple as they seemed. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it. They appeared harmless, but Chen Chuan couldn’t help but feel his attention drawn to them.

This was good. After all, they were working together. While carrying out the mission, they had to ensure their personal safety, so the stronger their teammates were, the better.

Since this was the first time they were all working together, Lao Feng gave a general rundown of their plan. The teams he brought would be in charge of providing support and replenishments, not serve as the main fighting force. That was the purpose of Chen Chuan’s team.

Chen Chuan had told the others about this setup when he called them, so they were fine with it.

Wei Changan’s team had a good impression of Lao Feng right away. He was a kind and honest leader. If he were not, he would have sent them to scout the situation as cannon fodder.

Before the operation, Lao Feng gave each of them custom-made protective gear from the National General Affairs Bureau, along with a stab proof trench coat, a defensive top hat, and a scarf and mask that could ward off the wind, sand, and poisonous gases.

This was a national-level mission, so they had to ensure their safety.

Once they put on the equipment, everyone felt as safe as could be.

To normal people, these things could ensure their safety, but to people like Chen Chuan, they were an increase in fighting power. They allowed them to fight without fear and take more risks.

Everyone was also given a medicinal bag that contained all sorts of medicine for injuries. They even received one that could keep them alive during critical moments. Meanwhile, the National General Affairs Bureau members got medicine that could stimulate their potential for a final, desperate attack.

At 10 p.m., they got into the cars the National General Affairs Bureau had prepared beforehand and headed to the wilderness under the cover of darkness.

Chen Chuan was in the car with Lao Feng. On the way, he decided to read through the information about the nutritional injections. Since bio-weapons were illegal in the Great Shun Republic, Black Orchid Co. could only buy them from foreign companies.

That was also the reason why Lionfist had gone to the borders of the Chaotic Land to search for a buyer for the Tayana Combat Spider. Aside from major corporations, everyone else would have a hard time both getting rid of and keeping such a thing.

The calorie and nutrient dense nutritional injections were vital to using the bio-weapons. The injections had a relatively short shelf life, which made it impossible to stock up on them. That was why after an organization got their hands on bio-weapons, they needed to keep buying nutritional injections every once in a while.

The companies producing the calorie and nutrient dense nutritional injections did have the technology to increase the shelf life of the injections, but the current situation limited the fighting strength of other companies and kept a constant cashflow from the sales. The governments of many countries also encouraged them to do so.

“We’ll be going straight to Tranquil Fields’ base in the wilderness. The information about its location should be accurate. There may be some changes, but they shouldn’t be big,” Lao Feng stated.

Chen Chuan nodded. Based on the information, two of the martial artists in the base had reached the Second Limit. Most of the others were local armed bandits and combat elites with implants. There weren’t any powerful martial artists among them.

The elite team in charge of transporting the nutritional injections was the same.

The information felt trustworthy.

After all, once a martial artist reached the Third Limit, many companies would spend a fortune to hire them. If they stayed put and lived a steady life at the company, they could easily enjoy benefits far above what an ordinary person got. They didn’t need to go to the wilderness and eat mouthfuls of sand whenever the wind blew at them, much less participate in dangerous activities like smuggling forbidden goods.

“What about Black Orchid? Since the nutritional injections are so important to them, I doubt that they’ll just sit by and do nothing,” Chen Chuan said.

“That’s what we need to pay attention to. Black Orchid is likely to send a group of powerful fighters to retrieve the goods. But we don’t need to worry about that too much. Lao Cao is keeping an eye on them. If they do come, his people will be in charge of taking them out.

“But Black Orchid has developed their company in Yangzhi City for years, so I’m sure that they’ll also have arranged for a group to liaise with Tranquil Fields in the wilderness. We’ll need to take those people out, but that’s all the people from Black Orchid that we should see in this operation.”

Chen Chuan understood then. The goal of the operation was to intercept the transport of the nutritional injections, but also to bait the people from Black Orchid into a trap and take them out.

“Would the Blood Ink Guards be among them?” he asked.

They had left a deep impression, because they were really strong. All the members of the guard were martial artists.

After going through a series of surgeries to strengthen their bones and muscles, they got implants to strengthen their reflexes and coordination. Once they activated the implants, they could briefly match the speed of a Third Limit martial artist, thereby stopping them from overpowering them.

If they had enough people, they could even use weapons and various equipment to launch a counterattack and even kill that Third Limit martial artist.

With that sort of strength, no martial artist under the Third Limit could fight back the Blood Ink Guards.

And there were ninety of them in Yangzhi City’s branch alone.

If they were sent to the wilderness, they would be a powerful enemy.

Lao Feng shook his head. “The Blood Ink Guards are Black Orchid’s babies. They wouldn’t station them here. After all, the cultivation of each Blood Ink Guard requires a ton of money. They also need certain equipment and their squads to fight at their best. This means a lot of logistical backup, which the wilderness can’t provide them. The conditions here wouldn’t let them fight at full strength.

“If they could, we would have noticed a long time ago. For the sake of the operation, we’ve coordinated with multiple governmental departments and monitored Black Orchid’s activities for the past two years. You can rest assured in this regard.”

Running into one or two wouldn’t be a bad thing, actually. I could use them to get an understanding of the guards beforehand, Chen Chuan thought.

Lao Feng took a look at his watch and said, “We still have a bit of traveling to do. Let’s not talk about these things, but something else. I believe you’re going to apply to go to Central City once the new semester starts. Am I right?”

A thought appeared in Chen Chuan’s mind, and he asked, “Is Mr. Cao thinking about taking down Black Orchid before September?”

“I never said anything about that,” Lao Feng said as he looked straight into Chen Chuan’s eyes.

Chen Chuan smiled at that. “I’m definitely going to Central City.”

Lao Feng gave him a serious look. “You have to. I’ve read your file. You’ve fulfilled the requirements to go, and it’s only by going there that you can continue growing at the same speed.

“But there are certain things you did that can’t be written on paper because certain people in the main campus have complex relationships with areas outside Central City. That’s why you need to contribute as much as possible during this operation. It’ll make your resume look better and help with the application to go to the main campus. So, show off your strength. I’ll give you the chance to do that.”

Chen Chuan understood what he meant. Aside from the missions he did and the fact that he got the unrestricted defense permit, his feats of killing the Mutual Aid Group members and defeating Tan Wang would not be recorded in his student file.

It was only right for them not to add them to his student file. Those things had nothing to do with Martial Valor University, and if Chen Chuan talked about them, they might lead to adverse effects instead.

However, those deeds were recorded in the files kept by governmental departments.

All of this was for the best. Not having those deeds in his student file protected him.

Other things, though, could be brought to light, like how he answered the country’s summons. It would leave a nice mark on his resume, and Lao Feng was also hinting at him to do his best to do something outstanding so that he could make his resume even more impressive.

Lao Feng was doing him a favor here.

“Thank you, Mr. Feng.”

“Don’t mention it. Watching outstanding youths like you grow is the greatest thanks to us,” Lao Feng said with a smile before looking outside. “We’re here.”

After around eight more minutes, the motorcade stopped behind a cliff. Lao Feng had one of his team members scout the area. Fifteen minutes later, the scout returned and said, “Everything is normal at the base, Sir. It’s the same as written in the information. Everyone there is getting ready to do something, most likely to collect the goods.”

Lao Feng then called one of the team leaders over and said, “We’ll act according to plan. One team should wait here with a telegraph set. Inform us if anything happens.”

“Understood.”

Soon, a team got out of their cars and blended into the darkness.

The motorcade took off again and went further into the wilderness.

“The base stands out and can be located far too easily, so it’s unlikely that they will choose to perform the handover there. We need to locate the transport team,” Lao Feng explained to Chen Chuan.

“Do you have any ways to find out where they are?” Chen Chuan asked. The wilderness was huge, so it would be difficult to find a moving motorcade within a set amount of time.

“I don’t know, but I can ask,” Lao Feng answered with a grin.

The telegraph clerk next to him sent a telegram. Soon, he received an answer. After interpreting it, he said, “They haven’t changed their original route. They just drove past the Red Forest. They’ll reach the Valley of Crushed Stones in ten minutes.”

“Continue watching them. Ask again in an hour,” Lao Feng instructed, then turned to Chen Chuan. “See? I told you that Tranquil Fields will tell us the location themselves.”

Chen Chuan found the situation a little ridiculous, but he was sure that there was some sort of logic behind these counterintuitive actions that appeared absolutely bizarre.

“If Tranquil Fields always does this, won’t Black Orchid be worried?” he asked.

“That’s because they have no other choice. I believe that Black Orchid has made the same choice as we did,” Lao Feng stated firmly.

***

At the same time, another armored motorcade was driving through the wilderness. They were the team Black Orchid had stationed in the wilderness long-term. This time, they were in charge of receiving the goods.

Since Tranquil Fields might leak the meeting spot, they proposed two rendezvous points. One of them was an armed base, whose only goal was to attract the attention of their enemies.

The other one was a meeting with Tranquil Fields’ team on their way to the designated location. The team of Black Orchid Co. would then tell them the exact place where they wanted the goods dropped off.

As for how they could find them? While Tranquil Fields hadn’t told them the route they were going to take, Black Orchid Co. could obtain that information through Tranquil Fields’ information market.

Despite being the party receiving the goods from this particular trade, they still had to spend money to get accurate information. This led to the strange situation of the party receiving the goods and the one hoping to intercept them heading down the same direction because they both got the information from Tranquil Fields themselves.

***

An hour later, after receiving another telegram, the motorcade with Chen Chuan came to a stop behind a slope.

Soon, a dim light appeared in the dark horizon. Soon, it drew closer, and those with good eyesight identified it to be a motorcade.

Before they could get closer, they heard engines roaring from another direction, the sound rapidly approaching the lights.

One of the team leaders watching with a pair of binoculars said, “Sir, it’s Black Orchid’s team.”

“Patience. Let’s wait a while longer,” Lao Feng instructed.

Once the motorcades met up, they spent a few minutes talking before coming to an agreement. A car left Tranquil Fields’ motorcade and followed behind Black Orchid Co.’s motorcade. Both parties parted ways.

The team leader turned around. “Sir?”

“Let’s wait a little longer,” Lao Feng said. He remained as calm as a cucumber.

When Black Orchid Co.’s motorcade was about to leave, they heard a rumble. Another motorcade appeared and crashed right into Black Orchid Co.’s motorcade.

Someone else had come.

Shivers ran down the team’s spines.

The team leader watched a little longer before asking, “Sir, should we continue waiting?”

Lao Feng thought about it. “Let’s wait a little longer. I trust Tranquil Fields’ willingness to sell their information to everyone who would pay for it.”

Just as Lao Feng predicted, they soon saw more specks of light on the highland across from them. It was yet another motorcade. The fact that they were able to locate the place had to be thanks to Tranquil Fields.

The team was flabbergasted. They had managed to find four buyers for the information.

Wait, no.

Judging by the situation, it might not just be four.

Tranquil Fields had to have earned buckets just by selling their information.